[B] A Growing Garden (Jiggle Joint x Breach)

[fluo]

Jiggle Joint jiggled and giggled a lot more these days. Such was life after an intensely productive spring. As the garden was tilled and prepared for a robust summer yield, Jiggle Joint desired some solace in the quieter moments. She wanted a moment to reflect with her thoughts. She was embarking on a new journey and was not alone. In fact, she would wager these quiet moments by herself would soon come to an end. She better enjoy it while it lasts. Staring up into the starry sky, she saw a shooting star. She made a wish.

Such were her eyes closed that she may have walked into a tree while making that feverish wish. Luckily, only her admittedly stubborn head was hit. Her round belly was spared such pain and humiliations.

[anemosagkelos]

There was a certain consequence of having so little bone in an alternate form, Breach decided, as she felt the aches in her joints increase. She may have spent too long being a whale at one time. A thought of oldness snaked into her mind and she chuckled at the thought. The days where her body felt beyond the swamp's lifetime were few and far between, thankfully, but when they did hit . . . She dropped her shoulders down and rocked back to stretch her spine. More time as a mare was in order, clearly.

Calving season was over for the whales and the young were no longer dependent on their mothers, which left her with less to do and a soul that longed for the sea while her mind grew bored on land. She could do so much more, she knew, and yet she'd dedicated it all to the whales. All the things she could do rolled through her mind as the feeling of need twisted around her. Well, a new adventure could wait, she had a kin to find. Kin calving season never ended.

[fluo]

in a stupor from her unfortunate meeting with a tree, Jiggle Joint took a delicate sniff. She smelled salt water. She was too far from the waters to be smelling the sea breeze. She turned in a half circle surveying the horizon. Where was the scent coming from?

[anemosagkelos]

It took longer than she'd have liked to admit, hooves finding every uneven patch of ground and every crevice and tangling in whorls of weeds. The clumsiness would ebb once she stopped trying to swim through midair, but for the moment, it was another hassle. Eventually, she emerged from a curtain of weeping willow and spied the kin, a very pink doe. At least they matched, she mused.

"Hello, are you expecting?" she queried as she walked down to meet the doe.

[fluo]

And there it was. She matched the smell to a voice. It took a bit longer for her eyes to catalogue what she was seeing- a beautiful Mare.

"Why hello there. Nice to meet you." She was always a sucker for good looking does and could appreciate them in her gravid state. "I am expecting. We are creating a garden at her den and in my belly." She gave a little cheeky grin. "Growing them is hard work."

And lastly, she gave into curiosity. "Are you from the sea?"

[anemosagkelos]

"From the sea, of the sea," Breach smiled, "whichever way you prefer to think of it."

The difficulty of growing foals, she welled remembered, even if it had been awhile. "It is an arduous task, but a garden sounds like a lovely place to raise foals." Unless they preferred the sea, but they could make that decision later in life.

"What would you like for your children?"

[fluo]

Jiggle Joint tried to think on of what she knew of the sea for common ground. Kelp and seaweed grew there. Some algae. She wasn't found of those slimy textures. Sea moss was supposedly healthy if you liked the taste of cave walls. But she had seen iguanas hunting for fish and it made her wander what kind of life that was- for non fish to hunt in the open sea. Perhaps in another life. For now she would focus on growing her two gardens.

"I would like for them to love daylight and wake for the sun. Those are the best growing times. But mostly, for them to have a good sense for responsibilities- work hard, play harder. Oh, a sense of humor would be nice! Mostly, I would like for the pregnancy to go smoothly. Stone fruit harvest season is upon us and my other half will be left to it herself."

She was babbling. What does one talk to a legendary about?!

[anemosagkelos]

Breach smiled, "Your children shall be early birds who wake for the sunrise. They strive to do their best whether it is work or play and there shall always be laughter to accompany them," she started and then nodded, "Your pregnancy shall be relaxed and your children shall be healthy."

[fluo]

Jiggle Joint felt immense relief.

"I hope to find you near the shoreline someday. I'll bring my greatest bounties kin or otherwise. Thank you!" And with that, the very pregnant doe moved as fast as she could wobble back home.