56th of Summer, 515 AV
Outside the City
The soft fur on the collar of Rathe's coat rustled as the wind gusted past him. The weather had taken a turn for the worse today. He dropped the dula in his hand into the half-empty backpack at his foot and nudged it with the toe of his boot. It wasn’t quite the end of the season so the yellow fruit would be tangier than usual—nothing like the sweet red raspberries he’d burned through trying to get the tea house recipe right, but it was better than nothing, which was all that he’d left behind in Ajah’s kitchen.
He’d been out for bells since the noon rest, collecting ingredients for the Sunrise Nook on his leisure day in the hopes of replacing what he’d used before his boss realized anything was missing. He may have taken on more than he could chew in his haste to impress Ajah with something new. It seemed like the things he loved kept getting in the way of what he could actually do. The scant amount of fruit dotting the bottom of his bag would never be enough to convince her to let him stay on if she walked into a room full of hungry patrons.
He cracked his stiff fingers and scanned the brush for another tree. Syna would sink soon, like his dreams and he’d have to return whether he had enough to feed the morning customers or not. If he could pick a few more dula before he went back, maybe it would be enough to spread out. It seemed there was no limit to what he was willing to do to keep the smile on Ajah's face, despite the fact that the feeling would never be mutual. She was successful, unlike him and she had more admirers than even Shree.
The next tree wasn’t far off. He hurried towards it hauling his pack, his long legs carrying him the distance quickly. Once at the base of the tree, he dropped his pack in its shadow to shade the fruit so it would keep longer. Thank Zintila, when he was finished with this one, he was done. Tomorrow would be another long day and he had every intention of restocking the shelves before Ajah got in.
He gripped the tree to climb it, but as he lifted up off the ground, another gust of wind blew by. The blast knocked him off balance and he fell backward, off the tree, onto his pack, spilling his hard day’s work onto the ground. All of his hopes of keeping his job scattered, as the fruits rolled away him in all directions.
“Ah, petch!” he cursed as he scrambled back to his feet and ran after them.
Outside the City
The soft fur on the collar of Rathe's coat rustled as the wind gusted past him. The weather had taken a turn for the worse today. He dropped the dula in his hand into the half-empty backpack at his foot and nudged it with the toe of his boot. It wasn’t quite the end of the season so the yellow fruit would be tangier than usual—nothing like the sweet red raspberries he’d burned through trying to get the tea house recipe right, but it was better than nothing, which was all that he’d left behind in Ajah’s kitchen.
He’d been out for bells since the noon rest, collecting ingredients for the Sunrise Nook on his leisure day in the hopes of replacing what he’d used before his boss realized anything was missing. He may have taken on more than he could chew in his haste to impress Ajah with something new. It seemed like the things he loved kept getting in the way of what he could actually do. The scant amount of fruit dotting the bottom of his bag would never be enough to convince her to let him stay on if she walked into a room full of hungry patrons.
He cracked his stiff fingers and scanned the brush for another tree. Syna would sink soon, like his dreams and he’d have to return whether he had enough to feed the morning customers or not. If he could pick a few more dula before he went back, maybe it would be enough to spread out. It seemed there was no limit to what he was willing to do to keep the smile on Ajah's face, despite the fact that the feeling would never be mutual. She was successful, unlike him and she had more admirers than even Shree.
The next tree wasn’t far off. He hurried towards it hauling his pack, his long legs carrying him the distance quickly. Once at the base of the tree, he dropped his pack in its shadow to shade the fruit so it would keep longer. Thank Zintila, when he was finished with this one, he was done. Tomorrow would be another long day and he had every intention of restocking the shelves before Ajah got in.
He gripped the tree to climb it, but as he lifted up off the ground, another gust of wind blew by. The blast knocked him off balance and he fell backward, off the tree, onto his pack, spilling his hard day’s work onto the ground. All of his hopes of keeping his job scattered, as the fruits rolled away him in all directions.
“Ah, petch!” he cursed as he scrambled back to his feet and ran after them.
