The Start

[Criala 728]

There was a pot within the 'aheral's hands as she walked. The pot wasn't anything fancy or special, just an ordinary small pot. Tucked in between her thumb and the palm or her hand was a trowel. Neia was walking through the Father Grove, looking for something by the way her gaze trailed here and there. Whatever she was searching for took her to the upper part of the Grove, down the path of Morea's Forest housing and into the forest at the path's end. 

 

It was only here that she stopped. An open space at the edge of the forest. A look around to see how far away the other trees were, then a look upward to see if there was space up there for a tree to grow and leaves to branch out. Apparently satisfied with what she saw, she nodded to herself and bent somewhat so she could set the pot down a short ways away. There was a small sapling just barely peeking out of the soil within the pot.

 

She knelt down onto her knees, taking the trowel properly into her hand. With the trowel in hand, she began to dig a hole in the dirt. Every so often she glanced at the pot, then back to the growing hole, to double check what size she was making the hole. 

 

After a short time, she stopped her digging. One last glance from the hole to the pot then back told her it was the right size. Reaching over with one hand, she grasped the edge of the pot and lifted it so she could place it beside the freshly dug hole. Carefully, and going slowly so that she didn't make a mistake, she used the trowel to scoop the sapling out, dirt and all. With it out of the pot, she lowered the trowel so she could transfer it into the hole. Once it was transferred, she used the trowel to pile the dirt over the sapling and back into the hole. All of the dirt was soon back in place, and she patted it down.

 

She eased herself up from her knelt position, taking the now empty pot with her. There were only some remnants of dirt left inside it now. There was a satisfied look on her face, seemingly proud of the final result.

 

One last look at the now planted sapling, and she was off, heading back down the path from which she came. "I haven't planted and grown anything in a long time, but this'll do the trick. Now to let Andria know when I see her again."