L [o/i] ve is a journey

Change of Season | Preparations

Lunaris noticed first.

The air has always been dry, and the change came very subtle. The heat used to be nearly bearable, until it became unbearable due a slow rise in humidity. Lunaris first wasn't sure if he just got sick, but when Nerivie complained, too, he was sure: something was changing.

„Well, the guard did say before our adventure 5 months ago they expect the rain of the decade." Nerivie groaned lying on the bed, like she was melting away, when Lunaris mentioned.

Lunaris felt like he was dissolving in sweat, not even the wind scoop they had opened fully could lighten the burden of their suffering.

„You know, maybe we should earn some money. I don't know how long this season last, and after going around and asking, it can take a long while."

„br-br-broke?" Lunaris asked, shocked.

„Nah, but since we don't know how long the rain lasts and when it starts, it can't hurt! Better safe than sorry."

Lunaris nodded and then also groaned, thinking of the prospect of moving while he was melting into the dust.

„And they say the air is humid after the storm. This must be some weather coming, I swear." Nerivie moaned while pushing herself up.

„Need Bath." He already learnt a few words from her language; the ones he needed repeatedly, and he had been happy to learn that his „curse" was, indeed, bound to his native language.

„Me too, but we just gonna keep sweating anyway. So why not doing some mundane tasks in the area?" Nerivie said grumpy and got up. It was no use. It was way too hot, and the air had a weird sense to it, as it weighted a ton.

Lunaris seemed to pull himself up, and the way he did it gave Nerivie the conformation: he felt the same.

„Well," Nerivie groaned and Lunris sighed, „Let's go then."

*

„So, these old trees need to be removed and transported to the indoor facitlity." The farmer pointed to the rows and rows of palms, and Lunaris could see fig dates hanging from them. A really sugary treat, and he actually had started to experiment with them, to see if he could procure a sirup for his receipies.

The trees he was eyeing were up to five, maybe eight meters high, and must weigh too much to be lifted like that.

„I wonder how you achieve that." Nerivie stated the thought for him.

„Well, first of all, their roots are planted in a way they are compact. These will die off in the next year or so anyway, but we gather their last fruits, raise new trees from their seed and set the young twigs of the old tree onto the new sproutlings. This is how we get two trees in one." The farmer explained.

„Don't they need an awful long time to grow?" The large trees looked indeed as they were standing there for longer than 10 years, but appearently, they were not older than 10 years.

„Nah, these grow really quick! They have been around for longer than us people, and are used to be killed by the floods. We just unbury them, so we can raise lots and lots of them. Most of them will get cut down for wood, and exported. The wood is quite expensive, you know?"

„So, what are you growing afterwards then?" Nerivie wondered.

„Fish." The farmer said.

„Fish?" Nerivie asked and Lunaris' eyes widened.

„Yeah, there is gonna be a big lake, right where we now stand. And a deep one, too. The water will serve as a reservoir, and it will prolong the water underground. We even let some of it go underground, where it's gonna be filtered by the earth. Cool, eh?"

„Very cool!" nerivie answered and Lunaris nodded.

„Well, let's get to work! We just need to dig around the root to see how it looks, and then, we take out the best 20 or so rooted trees and the rest is gonna be harvested for wood."

*

Cacti, trees, bushes- it was a vast selection of plants they uprooted, moved or split into a multitude of . Lunaris had made friends with a few of the farmers' wifes and merchant, who share a large variety of receipies with him. The number of spiced fruit desserts one can also put into pies was an interesting number. He also didn't know one could eat the part of the cactus, after carefully burning down the needles and removing them. What made it also interesting, he could make a gelatinous mass from them, after carefully boiling and mixing them with the acid from another fruit they harvested.

He nibbled on the cacti leaf they gave him to try: it tasted tard, a bit sour, but had a firm to bite texture. It wasn't juicy, and still contained moisture. These plants, so the locals told him, would have been swept away in the currents they expected here, and took roots out on places further away. Only a small part of the root would stay, and start growing anew.

That's such an interesting plant, too. I feel like most of the plants here live with the cycle of absolute dryness and then being swallowed by water. Lunaris thought, while he stared at his next task: getting the numerous boxes filled with prickly, edible cacti parts into the soil, so they can be placed on the flat roofs of the city housing.

Soon, the plain roofs would look just as green as the oasis, and probably would become the oasis itself...