InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "Pudding!!"

fallen_star (fallen_star) wrote in mirage_rpg,
@ 2008-10-31 16:48:00

Entry tags:

andy gallagher, ayla, complete, day 21, group activity, severus snape, yvaine

Day Twenty-One ; Group Activity
Who: Yvaine, Andy Gallagher, Ayla, and Severus Snape ((Posting Order))
When: Day 21 ; Early Morning
What: Group Activity ; Picking and Stomping Grapes
Where: First to the Winery, then to the grape fields, then back to the winery
Rating: PG-13
Status: Complete

Yvaine had been trying to ease herself into a schedule that consisted of wakefulness in the day and sleeping at night because of her fear of that horrid vampire coming to claim her in the night once he healed. She had no idea how quickly vampires healed or how slowly, so she decided it would be best not to take her chances. She had gone to bed a little before sunset, and she had awoken a few hours before that time.

Afraid to leave her room, she simply waited until she thought the sun would rise, peeping out her door every so often to verify that the darkness had or had not lifted. The stars twinkled down from her ceiling almost mockingly. Yvaine knew it was all in her imagination, but she also knew that fear was driving her to purposefulness. What good was a star if not for twinkling in the evening? Her only comfort in this was that a star should be twinkling in the sky. While one was upon the earth, they were to survive as best they could.

A scuffling outside her door sent her heart to beat rapidly beneath her breast. Of course, she knew no one could come into her room unless she wanted them there, but the idea that Lestat might be scratching at her door, waiting for her to come out so he could exact his revenge remained unnerving.

When at last the sounds seemed to grow fainter, she calmed herself, and slowly cracked open the door. Clear blue eyes scanned over one side of the hall, then the other. She thought she saw the back of a golem moving down the stairs. A soft grey glow had begun to light the hallway. Daylight was coming soon. Her gaze was drawn toward a white envelope that had been stuck to her door. Written in an interesting hand was her name “Yvaine” on the front. Curiosity won over her, and peeled it from her door, taking it inside to read.

Instructions:
Go to the winery. You will be picking and stomping grapes. This is mandatory. If you do not go, a golem will find you and take you there. Do not leave until the activities are finished, or a golem will take you back.

It also told her the time she would need to be there, and it informed her that she would be among others. That time was quite soon. Yvaine was excited. She had seen this sort of thing before, and she had thought it looked like a lot of fun. A dress like hers wasn’t so great for stomping grapes, though, so she closed her eyes and asked aloud, “Um… I need clothing that would be acceptable for a day like this?” She waited a moment before opening her eyes, and there on the floor, folded neatly, were a pair of pants and a shirt. The pants only came to just below her knees where they tightened with the help of strings sewn into them. They were the colour of dry earth. The shirt was a dark blue-grey like a stormy sky, short sleeved and almost conforming to her figure. They were the sort of clothing items one wouldn’t mind soiling in grape juices.

She peaked out her door again. The sun was rising at a quick rate. She waited only a little longer in her room before the time arrived for her to go, and the sun was bright enough that she wasn’t afraid of vampires coming to hurt her.

Yvaine left her starry night sky room, soon leaving the building and heading toward the winery. When she entered the building, she saw a few steps leading up to a platform where what looked like large vats sat. At ground level sat four baskets with a large notice beside them where it could not be missed. “You will take these to the hills to pick the grapes for half an hour.” They were good sized baskets, and she chose one for herself, but the evening star thought she should wait for the company of others before setting out to collect the grapes.

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_ayla_
2008-11-07 10:55 am UTC (link)

Ayla was slightly startled by the heap that had been dropped near them by the stony golems. The black greasy mass wriggled and, much to her surprise, a man appeared. Ayla visibly flinched from the look on his face and took a step back. She was a master at reading body language, and it was clear from the look on his face that he was angry. The look reminded her of one Broud might have had. He was the most volatile of all the Clan men, and she had taken the brunt of his anger on many ocassions. She did not want to be on the recieving end of this black clad man's anger, she decided promptly.

Better to become invisible and stay out of his way. She said nothing and mutely followed after Yvaine as she headed for the vines. She had picked some grapes a few days before with Kadaj, so she was familiar with the way the vines grew. Crouching below the dense canopy of grape leaves, Ayla took hold of a large cluster and pulling her flint knife from a pouch at her waist, quickly sliced through the vine and deposited the bunch in her basket. She made short work of the other clusters that surrounded her before she picked up the basket and moved down the line.

She looked back to see that Yvaine was having success as well as Andy. He seemed rather pleased with himself, showing Yvaine his clusters of grapes each time he pulled one from the vine. It made Ayla smile slightly before she went back to work. She was very familiar with this type of work, picking, harvesting, storing different fruits, vegetables, plants and herbs, so it did not take her long to get her basket full to overflowing. It was quite heavy, but years of hard labor made her strong and she lifted it with ease.

She avoided looking at the greasy haired man and tried to scuttle around him so as to stay out of the line of his sight. She carried her basket to the platform that appeared to be set up for the stomping of grapes. Two large half barrels with holes in the bottom that drained into a trench sat atop the platform. The containers looked like they would hold four or five people easily. The trench drained into a pipe and set up at the bottom of the pipe was a large container for collecting the juice.

Ayla carried her basket up to the first barrel and dumped her grapes into it. She descended the steps and returned to the vines to gather more grapes. Again she filled her basket to overflowing and took it to the platform to deposit them. She stood atop it for a time, observing the others to see where they were in their work.

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