Mini Mission: Fruit Picker

"So, are you finally getting to it?" 

She was starting to sound annoyed and her whining voice was a bit grating. She pawed restlessly on the sodden ground, making herself even dirtier than she already was. The rain had finally stopped, but the next big thunderheads were pushing over the horizon towards them. They had to hurry.

Hurry, that was so easy to say. The rain had made the bark of the tree slippery, partially softened and the moss growing on it didn't exactly make climbing easier. With every movement, Jaden cursed his own paws as well as the weather conditions and the properties of the tree. They were already quite slippery themselves and left a greenish film wherever he went. He had gotten used to this, but they were a bit of a hindrance when climbing trees, especially when they were wet. You could see a greenish smear on the bark wherever he had tried to get at least some grip, or where he had slipped. The poor tree would need a clean when they were done here.

"Now hurry up," nagged Storyteller as she glanced anxiously at the ever-growing cloud giants. A rumble could already be heard in the distance. She didn't like thunderstorms and it was obvious that she would prefer to escape the coming one and watch it over a hot chocolate inside a warm house.

"That's easy to say if you're standing ON THE GROUND," Jaden grumbled, pushing himself up a little. "That tree is really bloody high!"

"You managed it with the others, didn't you?"

Jaden gasped indignantly. What kind of logic was that? Sure, he had managed it with the others, but his strength was waning. Climbing became more difficult with every tree, and she should know that.

"So hurry up, it's getting damn cold." She rubbed her paws briefly, only smearing the dirt even more. She already looked more brown than white and her fidgeting didn't make it any better.

"You don't say!" Jaden snorted as he reached for the nearest branch. Why did the Aaku fruit have to grow so high up? He had the feeling that with each tree, the fruit had shown even more ambition to get closer to the sky. The path seemed longer each time! The branch creaked slightly under his weight and somehow he hoped that the swaying fruit at the end of the branch would give in to the vibrations and simply plop down. But it didn't. It swung cheerfully back and forth in its cheerful red against a gray background, its stem bravely withstanding every movement. He sighed. Surely he really had to crawl to the end of the branch to pick it off?

His winged ears drooped. His arms had been aching for a while, he was completely soaked and the initial joy of being able to help with the harvest had vanished some time ago. Storyteller on the ground didn't look as full of enthusiasm as she had at the beginning either. She sniffled and looked up at him. Every now and then she turned to the storm front to cheer him on or nag him. Her fur was also soaking wet and there was an almost full basket of fruit next to her. Just this tree, then they would finally be finished! But the tree was more stubborn and, above all, bigger than expected. It didn't want to be climbed and its fruit also seemed to want to hang on the branches. It had almost had to give up the fruit before and had almost fallen down more than once. Now this one fruit was still hanging there and it too seemed to mock him with its swaying movements.

Carefully, he crawled closer to it. His legs and arms clutched the cold and wet branch. He felt the bark on his stomach. It scratched, but it was the only way to get to the fruit. He didn't dare just walk over the branch. He had tried that a few trees earlier and would almost have fallen if a lower branch hadn't stopped him from falling. And so crawling was the order of the day. Slowly, very slowly in fact, as he didn't dare let go of the branch for long enough to cover a greater distance at once.

Storyteller stood at the bottom and stared up at him. "You're almost there!" she said as her last words were drowned out by an approaching rumble of thunder. The storm would be with them soon. "Just a little bit more! Let's collect the damn thing and then go home." With these words, she grabbed the basket and shouldered it slowly. This had happened more briskly during the day, now she seemed to make every movement carefully. Either out of tiredness or because her legs and arms were already so cold. She screwed up her face and adjusted a strap.

"I just want to go home," she grumbled and looked down at herself. "Take a bath. A really warm bath. And then a hot chocolate." She sighed when she got another thought. "We'll have to walk home too," she realized and gave the clouds a morose and partly anxious look. "We'll be on the road forever..."

"Maybe," Jaden interjected as he continued to work his way along the branch. "Maybe we can wait at the farm until the storm passes." He pushed a small branch aside.

Storyteller sighed again. "Then we'll be dirty even longer."

"Would you rather go home through the storm?"

She shook her head, but still didn't seem thrilled with the idea of having to wait for a change in the weather, completely filthy. She was cold and that could only be corrected by a hot bath and something sweet.

"There you go." Jaden knew without looking that Storyteller disliked the idea of having to trudge through the storm and would rather wait at the farm. "I'm almost done here, too." He had finally reached the Aaku fruit. He carefully removed one paw from the branch, which was already frighteningly thin this far from the trunk and bent downwards under the weight of the child. He pressed his one paw against the fruit, but it simply gave way instead of breaking off at the stem. He grumbled and squeezed again. When this still didn't help, he tensed up and carefully tried to remove the second paw from the branch. Now only his legs were holding him to the branch and he didn't like the idea at all. He slowly pushed the second paw towards the fruit, but had to pause briefly when he started to slip. His arms went in fits and starts and he didn't dare look down at his friend. He was afraid of losing control when doing that.

Only when his heartbeat calmed down did he dare to start picking again, but the fruit still resisted his pressure. It was stubborn. He snorted and squeezed harder. With an unpleasant noise, it suddenly detached itself from the handle and Jaden toppled over in front. He hadn't expected it and so he lost his balance. Panicked, he clung to the branch with his hind legs as he tried desperately not to drop the fruit. It would be damaged and then all the climbing would have been for nothing. At the bottom, Storyteller gasped for air, but just stood there. What could she have done to help him?

The branch swayed dangerously, but slowly calmed down again. Jaden hung there with his front paws in the air, clutching the fruit, while his legs were the only thing stopping him from following gravity and falling downwards.

"Just gone well," he sighed with relief when he realized that the fall had been prevented. But then the branch gave way and only seconds later he found himself in the mast. Storyteller had jumped to the side just in time, only to stomp towards him laughing. She shook her head without saying anything, but her laughter spoke volumes.

"Ha ha," Jaden said as he wiped the mud from his eyes and mouth. The impact had hurt and he had expected more compassion from his girlfriend. 

"That's not funny." He coughed and had to wipe the mud off his tongue with one paw. Unfortunately, his paw was also full of mud. He grimaced in disgust and wiped it off his fur. However, this only made it slightly cleaner.

"Stop laughing and help me instead." But she shook her head in disapproval. 

"I'm not stupid, I'll get even dirtier." She grinned and stuck her tongue out at him. "I hope the fruit stayed intact?" She looked around. Jaden lifted his other paw to present the aaku to her. "Heal," he said grumpily. "And nothing happened to me either, thanks for asking!"

"You're a kid," Storyteller laughed, grabbing the fruit to put it in her basket. "Kids fall out of trees from time to time." She quickly dodged the thrown clump of mud. "That's life." Another mud ball, but this one didn't hit either. "But now we're finally done with the harvest."

"Mmh..." Jaden stared at her and his face was like an open and totally disappointed book.

"Then let's go already." Storyteller glanced quickly at the wall of clouds, but not without taking her eyes off her friend. Not that there was any more mud flying in. But Jaden was busy slowly picking himself up. The mud smacked softly and dripped from his fur when he finally stood and looked down at himself. Nothing of his green fur was really visible anymore and if the stuff dried, he probably wouldn't be able to walk. Then he would have armor. Made of mud!

"Otherwise we'll get an involuntary shower," the girl continued, but was already trudging past him. "And I can really do without that."

"Do you know what I could have done without?" He still stood stock-still and looked down at his fur in horror. It was dripping happily.

She twitched the end of her tail briefly. "Don't be like that," she said, "we'll get you cleaned up somehow." She stuck her tongue out at him briefly. "But first we have to get home." And so she trudged off towards the farm, the last load of fruit on her back. It was about time they finally got rid of them and had a bath. In her mind, she was already looking forward to the warm water, even though there was still a storm front between her and her destination.

"So come on, then."