Solo (Job Thread) Busy hands, busy mind

[Akilah Windsong]

Fall 1, 513 AV

The goats are loud and rambunctious in front of her and she watches them quietly. At her side, Vespera is curled up, snoozing in the late afternoon sun. A last day of heat and warmth before winter takes it away.

Unconsciously, she starts to stroke her dog's fur, his short hairs soft to the touch. Vespera gives a contented sigh as she works her way through his body, turning slightly so she is rubbing his sides now. The little devil is partially awake, she knows, but he's too lazy to start running amok now. Not when the weather is so pleasant.

Sitting here on the grass, watching the herd, it's too quiet for her. Too calm. She needs to get up and work her hands, pushing her idle thoughts to the side.

Pushing away the memories and feelings that lay just too close beneath the surface. Like a scab, she picks on it when she has too much time on her hands and she is tired of the pain it brings.

Getting up, she looks around for a likely candidate and approaches a herd of goats. By now they're used to her and while a few run away playfully, the most are content to keep eating and fighting each other. They ignore her as she moves in their midst, staring at the colours on their back. At this time she is still unable to discern them individually, but Grothous, her boss, has no problems with that.

If she lived long enough, maybe she would be able to.

(She should have died.)

[Akilah Windsong]

Akilah sits among the small herd she had isolated, listening to their calls and cries as they jostled around her. The fall season was a calm one for the first time, no territory disputes between the queens, no eager young ones running amok the hills chosen as the grazing grounds.

The few sheep that were kept in the herd for cohesive purposes were waddling around covered in thick wool. Soon she would have to separate them so they could be sheared before returning to the goat herd. Soon, but not yet. She watched the ones near her, wondering if they got lonely. They were transplanted from their home to this strange herd of excitable beasts. Did they miss their herd? Did they care?

(Would they fight, would they cry, would they bleed and break and...)

She kept her hands busy, her mind busier, by going from goat to another, placing them on the wooden stool Grothous had given her before examining the hooves. Their hooves grew too fast and often needed to be trimmed. There was also the fear of hoof rot that haunted her. Akilah lifted each hoof to examine the underside. The goats waited patiently as she first cleaned the hoof using a pick. The dirt, packed tight, took a few minutes of picking before falling to the ground. Next, she carefully trimmed the hoof, making sure the sides of the hoof and the heal.

Carefully and slowly, her task was. Once she had went too fast, cutting into the flesh of the goat. It kicked itself free, leaving her with a dark bruise that lasted a month.

Cutting away the hard growth, she evened the plane of the hoof as she worked. Before letting the goat go, she prodded the hooves to see for any softness or black spots.