Solo [Auction Hall] Flowers

[Lilou]

Winter 20th, 513 AV

Lilou sat in a deep, dark room, legs crossed as her eyes flitted around the space she could see. She was in the auction hall, a place she’d only been in once before… and she barely remembered that time. It had been so long ago. She was still slightly sad about what was happening… the Drears had decided a few of their slaves simply weren’t worth the effort, and decided to sell them off. Surprisingly, she was one of those few, and had taken the long ferry ride early that morning to the city. It had been a funny blur, someone poking her up just as the sun rose, and shoving her outside to get on a boat, telling her she was being sold. The two other slaves with her had seemed… stressed, but she was just confused. Sold? She was a Drear slave! She didn’t entirely understand it, but someone had mentioned she wasn’t going back to Riverwave… and that was sad.

Impatient from all this waiting, the little girl’s leg bounced up and down. Around that ankle was a small chain, leading to the wall, and keeping her where she was… though she didn’t mind. It wasn’t like she was going to go anywhere anyways. Running away was silly. Some slaves talked about it, but she didn’t really understand the concept. Why leave? Where else was there to go? A man had told her, long ago, that ‘You better not leave, no one will want you’. He hadn’t been a nice person, but she’d listened. Thinking over the words… suddenly the slave panicked. No one wanted her! She wouldn’t be bought! No one would take her to work and she’d sit her for ever and ever. No sun, no plants, so much boredom. She almost cried at the thought… she couldn’t stay here forever! She couldn’t!

Luckily, someone came by to bring her out of her thoughts. ”Up” a man ordered, unchaining her and dragging her out of her small hollow. She stared at him in confusion. No one wanted her, so why was she leaving? Along with a few other slaves, she was lead up a slippery flight of stairs and… into the sun! She almost squealed in delight, but knew that it wasn’t a good thing to do. Important people didn’t like it when she made noise, so she tried not to. Instead, she stared in awe at the giant crowd before them… there were so many people! Short, tall, skinny, fat, woman and man. Her jaw dropped in amazement and her feet stopped moving, until someone shoved her forward. She stumbled into a line, not caring for the rough treatment… everyone was just so amazing!

The first man began talking, introducing the first slave. People called out numbers, numbers so big Lilou didn’t know what they were. Hundred… what was a hundred? It sounded like a lot. She could count to ten, and was very proud of that. Ten was a big number. She wondered if hundred was bigger or smaller. Would she be worth hundred? Probably not. After a lot of people shouting and calling and yelling, the first person was taken off the stage, and lead away. It went on like that lots of times, eight hundred, two… three… four… and then it was her! She started in surprise when the man grabbed her shoulder, and suddenly realized… everyone was looking at her. Staring, talking, and the numbers were back again. The last number she heard… there were oh so many… was FOUR hundred and… and… something else. Fiffy? What was a fiffy? She wanted to ask, ask how many tens that was, but knew questions were bad too.

She was pulled off stage, and in moments was brought before the most beautiful woman she’d ever seen. Well… one of the most pretty. There were so many pretty women here! Lilou stared in awe at the pretty woman, wondering if this was who had bought her. She and a man chatted a bit, talking about things the slave decided to ignore, and passing over bags and other things. And then… the woman was talking to her. ”I am Elanai… I run a flower shop in the city. You will be helping me, growing flowers… okay?”The woman’s hand rested gently on the girl’s shoulder and steered her away from the crowd. Flowers! She would be growing flowers! Lilou’s face split into a giant grin and she nodded enthusiastically. ”You are good with plants, am I right?” Another nod. ”And your name?”
“Lilou!”
”Excellent Lilou… this way…” This last was said when, on their way out, the slave girl spotted the prettiest tree and bee-lined straight for it. Elanai was only able to stop her by grabbing the back of her tunic. “Oops” she muttered, and remembered what she was doing… and the flowers. Flowers were so much prettier than plain plants, as much as she liked those. They walked through the busy city, the pretty woman occasionally having to drag Lilou away from other pretty things as they passed them. The city was so interesting! It wasn’t far, and they didn’t have to cross any bridges either…

[Lilou]

Winter 20th, 513 AV

The building Lilou was lead to seemed like the perfect flower place. It was a beautiful glass thing, with domes and flowers and plants and... everything! She was hopping with glee as Elanai opened the door, inside... a burst of scent, sight, and sound reached her. An amazing mix of so many flower-smells, their bright colors, and a lovely sound of water... most of the water in Riverwave had been still water, so the sound of it moving was so pretty! Right in front of her was the first flower she saw, a bright red thing with petals... so many petals! She didn't know many names, but she recognized this one.

Not being able to help herself she squealed and darted forward, coming to a crashing kneel before the plant. It looked like she'd crush it at first, but a surprisingly delicate finger reached out and brushed one of the petals. She gaped over it adoringly, until she remembered what she was doing. With a surprise squeak she leaped up and turned to face the woman. "Sorry sorry sorry" she blurted out, squirming awkwardly. She wasn't supposed to leap around and squeal and things. People didn't like it. "It was just so pretty..." she added as a miserable excuse, staring into the ground.

Elanai, instead of hitting Lilou like the slave expected, simply smiled. ”No worries... I'm glad you're enthusiastic about this, though. Now... do you know what that one's called?" The girl shook her head, massively relieved that she was not being scolded. "A rose... they're very popular. I have a number of different colors... white, red - like you just saw - yellow and pink. I'm going to need to teach you all the names, so if I need a particular kind, you can fetch it for me." The girl nodded in understanding, remembering the name instantly. Roses... roses... it sounded familiar, and fit well with the flowers themselves. She glanced back at them, smiling at the small serrated leaves, and even the few spikes she'd noticed earlier.

"So… what’s next?” she asked, excited to see what other flowers there were. She could see so many around her, short tall, thin and leafy… "Lilacs. They’re also quite common…” The next plant showed was very different from the roses, where each flower was big and obvious. In this, the buds gathered in large conical clumps, lots and lots of them… more than ten. They were a pretty purple color too, though not as bright and brilliant as the roses were. It was quite a large bush, really, covered with lots and lots of the bunches. Next to it was a similar version, but the flowers were nearly white. "Lilac” she repeated with a nod, lodging the appearance and name away in her memory.

In a similar manner she learned the names of all different kinds of flowers, from lilies to peonies, orchids to hydrangeas. That last had caused a little pronounciation trouble, with Elanai having to repeat the word several times until Lilou was able to pronounce it. "Hy-hy-hydrangeeea!” she’d concluded, finally figuring it out. There’d been hyacinths and daisies and tulips too, in all kinds of colors. There was also a few fern plants growing in the garden, apparently people liked leaves mixed in with their flowers too. Overall, there was just so much to learn! She’d only learned the names, but the woman said she’d learn how to cut each kind, how it fit in a bouquet, how to weave a wreath, and how to group different kinds of flowers to make them look pretty! Apparently each kind of flower had a meaning too… some were for mourning – carnations – and roses were for love.

It was still amazing how many colors there were too… most flowers had two or three different colors to them, and some had even more! They made the whole room bright and happy… honestly, Lilou couldn’t wait to start working! Flowers were more colorful than normal plants, though the cacao beans were orange or red, sometimes. This was so, so much better than Riverwave though. She kind of missed Mistress Opal’s music though… but that was okay. If she had to choose music or flowers, she’d pick flowers. She understood them. As she mused on this, the slave’s face was split in a wide grin, still staring at all the flowers around her.

"Lilou?” Elanai called, bringing the girl out of her gleeful stupor. "Oh, oh yes?” she blurted, straightening in surprise to look at her new Mistress. "As a test, can you water all the plants? I assume you know how to check if they need water or not.” Lilou nodded… she knew that much. "Good. There’s a watering can with a lot of other gardening tools over there… fill it in the big barrel next to it.” Wordlessly, the slave darted off in the pointed direction, picking up the first watering can she saw… a big tin one that looked a lot like the ones she used to use. Next to it, just like the woman had said, was a big barrel full of water. She wondered where it came from… would she have to fill it? Probably. But that was okay, she didn’t mind carrying things, as long as she could help plants.

[Lilou]

Winter 20th, 513 AV

With a full and heavy watering can, Lilou headed to the nearest flower, the lilies. She liked the lilies.. so many different colors, and pretty big petals. Bending down, she stuck her finger into the soil as far as it could go. It still felt dry down there, so she picked up the watering can and carefully pored some of the water onto the bases of the plants. She felt like water would hurt the pretty petals. Since the container was so overfull, as she tipped it some of the water came out and sloshed onto her boots. They were fine though… just a little damp, but she’d had wetter. Riverwave was surrounded in water, and sometimes you had to walk through it. She never liked that though… crocodiles and other scaly monsters lived in the water. But there didn’t seem to be any monsters here!

When the soil looked darker and waterier, she moved onto the next flower, pouring water onto them too. She finished the patch of lilies without once taking her eyes off the beautiful colors, though occasionally stooping to check the soil. There was a little river stream thing behind them, so the stuff at the back felt moist enough. However, there were so many lilies that her bucket was nearly empty by the time she was finished. She let the rest out onto a patch of orange chrysan… chrys… chrysanthemums. That was it. She had to life the watering can as high as possible to pour out the rest of the water. That done, she darted back to re-fill her can. Though she had thin arms, they were remarkably strong for her age, and she was used to heavy things anyways…

Lilou finished watering the chrysanthemums and found a patch of… what were their names again… it was a funny name! Short and simple… mums! She liked the feel of the word on her tongue, and she muttered "Mums mums mums” to herself over and over again as she watered these too. She wondered where Elanai was, and glanced around… the woman was on her knees on the other side of the greenhouse, a trowel at her side and a tiny plant siting in a clump of soil on the path. As the slave watched, distracted, her Mistress dug a small hole near the edge and placed the sprout and its soil in, patting down around the edges. Elanai glanced up and smiled at the girl, who squeaked in surprise and turned back to her task. She didn’t want to be caught not working… as nice as the woman seemed, she would still be hit if she wasn’t working… right?

Watering the entire garden took about a full bell, and ten and one cans of water. It was a lot. By the end, Lilou’s arms hurt a little and she didn’t want to carry the can anymore… it was too heavy, when full. When it was back in its place, however, she felt much much better. She nearly yawned… she was tired. What did Elanai want her to do next? Hopefully it wasn’t more watering. Learning? She liked learning! She wanted to learn all about these flowers. When her Mistress noticed she was done, the woman stood from her own work to stare around the rest of the flowers.

"Good job!” she commented with a smile, glancing down at the much shorter girl. "It’s getting a little late… we should probably get some dinner… I believe the other two are back, they were out today.” At this Lilou frowned. Other two? There were more people here? She wasn’t sure if she should be happy or frightened. It meant less work for her, and more people to teach her though. That was good. She nodded, glad to stop. Food sounded nice… she wondered what kind of food she would eat. Hopefully it would be something different from the usual. Her Mistress seemed nice, and the ‘we’ made it sound like they’d eat the same food! To think! It was positively amazing… Together the pair left the greenhouse and moved into the residential part of the building, where the more mundane things took place.

[Translucent]

Congratulations On Your Hard Work!

Lilou:
XP:+ 2 observation, +2 botany, +2 gardening,
Lores: Auctioned! Kenash: So many beautiful flowers and trees, Botany: Roses come in varieties of colors. Lilacs are common, Hydrangea is a hard word to say, Gardening: Testing to see if they need water, Elanai: New Mistress.

Notes: Lovely thread! I kind of want to pick up Lilou and buy her myself…

As always PM me if you have issues.