With her spirit energy surging through her spade, Maple digs down into the dirt, and beside her, Suzuka, who has wrapped her tails around her arms to create two giant hands, digs beside her.
"Maple?"
"Yes?"
"What are we looking for?"
"What went wrong here?"
"Isn't it just likely that Orb didn't properly remove the ice from the soil?"
"I doubt that."
"Isn't he doing a lot of things at once? It doesn't seem strange that he could have just forgotten."
"He is both a workaholic and a perfectionist. He wouldn't make such a mistake, especially when he planned so much on the quality of the soil. And besides, when we started, all of the farming didn't you notice how soft the soil was."
Stopping for a moment, Suzuka thinks back, and as it hits her, she says, "I did. It was actually rather easy to bury myself and Cyrus under the ground."
"Orb probably dug up all the land to double-check before we started. He didn't make a mistake; something else is at play here."
Reinvigorated Suzuka says, "Then we need to try our hardest."
"You really want to help him as well."
Suzuka looks shy and then says, "SHUT UP!"
"You don't have to be shy. We're friends no matter what, so you can just say what's on your mind."
Quieting down, Suzuka says, "When he was bowing down earlier, he reminded me of my parents who kept bowing down to the people that hated a hiruko(Better name for Cursed Child) like me.
Despite never doing a single thing against them, and just trying their best, people still made them act in such a shameful manner, Orb doesn't deserve to be treated like that."
Hardening herself, Suzuka says, "BUT HE DOES DESERVE A FEW PUNCHES IN THE FACE!"
"When your team loses, I hope you strike him deep in the nose."
"When your team get's your butt kicked, I hope smash into his face."
"You say that like the chances of the red team losing are even possible."
"You're adorable Maple. You think you could ever beat me?"
Soon, the two girls start to dig deep into the ground at an even faster rate than before, smiling as they do, because deep within both of their eyes is a hunger for victory, however small it may be.
-Break-
As the moon shines down on both of them, the cold that still spreads throughout the top of Fimbulwinter pushes against their overheated bodies.
Each of them has dug numerous holes into the ground, but no matter how deep either of them goes, they still see nothing strange except for deep roots with no seeming cause.
The life within all of them fades, and the two's will decrease with each hole they finish.
Suzuka's stamina allows her to keep moving, but Maple starts to become more and more sluggish as her breathing becomes deeper.
Suzuka, feeling her chaotic thoughts, says, "Maple, maybe you should take a break?"
"I can't. Not while everyone is working, I won't allow myself to be useless."
Suzuka, moving over to her, says, "Maple, you're already useful; all those horrible things you think about yourself aren't true."
Continuing to work away, Maple says, "Suzuka, you can hear thoughts, so you know the truth. That I am the leader in name only. At no point did the authority of our group pass from me to Orb, but everyone treats him as the leader.
You already know this makes me feel jealous, but worse than that, it makes me feel like a bunch of slave chains. His mind is so hectic that you can't read it, but did you know Orb wanted to go on an adventure?"
"I thought he wanted to live with all of you?"
"No, that was never his plan; he wanted to leave and see the world, but he has been stuck with us cleaning up after my mistakes and helping all of us. If he had left, he could have found a much happier place to be than here.
But here he is helping us all instead of doing with his freedom as he should. I hated the village so much for restricting my freedoms, and now, do to my own weakness, I am doing it to someone else. I hate this!"
More and more, Maple digs into the ground and shouts, "I JUST NEED TO DO THIS!"
Suzuka's soons starts grabbing her head in pain, and moments later Maple is grabbed by the pony tail and slammed into the ground from behind, and then a voice says, "You idiot."
Facing the man who slammed her, she says, "Let me go, Ganthrú."
"Make me!" he says while holding her down.
Suzuka quickly moves to an attack position, but as thoughts pass through her head,d she relaxes and calms down.
Maple, confused by Suzuka's actions, tries to struggle against Ganthrú but is unable to move him, and soon her eyes get a bit woozy. "You feel that it's called fatigue, and enough of that is just as bad as a disease. Now rest."
"I don't have time for that, I've got to help Orb."
"At Suzuka's expense. You know she can hear your thoughts and feel your emotions. Just look at her expression and see the pain you have been subjecting her to."
Maple staring at Suzuka with a tough but pained face softens, and then Ganthrú says, "I have some food and water, take a break for a moment."
"Alright."
-Break-
Scuffing down the stiff bread Ganthrú brought and chugging the water, Maple says, "Delicious," with her mouth full of food.
"Are you really royalty?"
With her mouth still stuffed, she says, "We are a village, a tribe, not a kingdom. Don't expect us to be all uptight like in Orb's storybooks."
Suzuka says, "Daddy said scuffing down food is a sign of appreciation."
Looking at Suzuka with his same mean glare, Ganthrú says, "Regardless, it can still be unappetizing for others to see the gnawed food in your mouth; it should be closed."
Quickly slowing the food, Maple says, "I will try to do that."
Turning to Suzuka, Ganthrú gives her a mean glare, which causes her to hide behind Maple.
Looking over her shoulder towards Suzuka, Maple says, "Is everything ok. He isn't thinking any evil thoughts, is he?"
"No, his mind is actually quite nice, it's devoid of all forms of thoughts. Right now, he is asleep."
Looking at Ganthrú sitting down beside them with his eyes open, she says, "Did he really fall asleep with his eyes open?"
Maple laughs, which almost causes her to choke on her food, so Ganthrú quickly strikes her on her back and says, "Only one thing at a time."
Regaining her ability to breathe, Maple says, "I thought you were asleep?"
"I trained myself to take power naps whenever it is necessary, and I find an opportunity."
"Wait, forget about that, what are you doing here?"
"I came to check on you."
"Why?"
"Because you had an idiotic look on your face, similar to the nonsense that Dumnorix usually has, that of someone who was going to charge headfirst into something they shouldn't."
Standing up, Maple bows and then says, "Thank you for all the help you gave me and for stopping me from hurting Suzuka."
"You're welcome, now return to the underground and rest, tomorrow people will be feeling down, and as a leader, you have a responsibility to be in your best form for them tomorrow."
"Sorry, but I can't do that. I need to work."
"Are you insane? There is nothing here to find, the plants are dead and decreased."
"But there might be a secret hidden here as to why that has happened, and as the leader of Aplos, I have a responsibility to figure it out and fix it so it doesn't happen again."
"Just leave it be. There is no use in that."
Turning to stare directly at Ganthrú, Maple says, "Everyone is trying so hard to build a place where they all truly belong. I would rather choke on my fist and die than not go even further beyond. A leader accepts control and all the rewards that come with it. A nicer house, a better education, more control and power than the average person could wield, so I must bear the responsibility of helping everyone to the best of my ability before I lie in my comfy bed. I live in luxury and serve my people!"
"Serve my people?" Ganthru mutters under his breath.
Suzuka runs forward and hugs Maple, saying, "I will help you through it all."
"I know you would because you're a maximum cutie, Suzuka!"
Ganthrú, moving forward, says, "Allow me to help."
"Do you really want to?"
"I was all but a dog to the ministers for the last few decades, why should I stop now?"
"Alright then. The three diggers will get this done!"
Ganthrú beside her says, "How?"
"Huh?"
"Did you come up with any plan on how to actually do this differently than before?"
Maple freezes for a moment and says, "Let's just wing it!"
With a stern look, Ganthrú says, "You know putting some thought in your plan is just as important as being willing to spend hours doing copious amounts of labour."
Ashamed Maple says, "Sorry."
Suzuka, with her hands up, says, "I could use Gozen battle arts to simulate your soul, and allow you to think better."
"I AM NOT AN IDIOT!"
"Sorry!" Suzuka shrieks.
Maple freezes, then hugs Suzuka and says, "You genius, I just figured out what we need to do!"
Turning to Ganthrú, Maple says, "I need you to go get all the Red branch knights who can use Red branch battle arts, and while you're at it, take a bunch of pixies' as well, and bring them here. I have figured out how to solve this."
"Are you sure about this?"
"Definitely!"
-Break-
-The following morning-
Walking through a crowd of People in front of the former field, Willow says, "Why did we all have to come up here again?"
Reaching the front of the crowd, Willow sees Orb with Teal hair and says, "That's a new colour. How are you feeling?"
"Shocked."
"Why?"
Orb points forward, and Willow sees his wife covered in mud along with Suzuka and the Red branch knights lying in a pile, completely exhausted. All the fields are completely cleared of the dead plants that propagated them yesterday as well.
"Willow."
"Yes, Orb."
"Your wife."
"I know, isn't she cute?"
With Red hair, Orb says, "NO!"
Walking forward slowly, Orb says, "Maple, you know, making Senán forcefully wake everyone up and sending them over here was a bold move, especially after what happened last night. So could you please explain to me why you would do this?"
Taking out a shattershell, Maple shouts, "EVERYONE, WE WILL BE WORKING THE FIELDS AGAIN TODAY!"
"Huh?"
The crowd start talking, and Orb says, "Maple, I don't know what kind of prank this is, but we can't waste time again today. We essentially just burned through 7 days of time and labour. That can't happen again."
"It won't because everything will work out this time."
"Maple, you can see the crowds; their hearts can't handle this."
As the animosity and worry from the crowds is fully directed towards Maple, she feels pushed back by the pressure they exude, but from her side, Ganthrú walks up and says, "Everyone, please listen to what I have to say."
Name: Marshal Bee
Height: 3 cm
Type: Herbivore
Description: A bee-like wonderbeast with white and black hair throughout its body, and surrounding its neck is golden fur similar to that of a feathered boa. On their backs is an extra-large stinger they can shoot out to strike their attackers, and unlike a normal bee, it doesn't kill them. The true power of a Marshal Bee is their ability to have multiple thought processes at the same time, allowing them to constantly think about a large series of things all at once.
Fact: The honey made by Marshal bees is incredibly sweet, so they have constantly been captured throughout history to try and farm this. Though due to their mental capabilities, they are able to constantly adapt to any situation the humans through at them, outsmarting them like veteran soldiers.