Shore Leave: Geartopia [Open to All]

[meat_mooks]

||Attention all crewmen, shore leave is now in progress, attention crewmen, shore leave is now in progress...||

Stacy's voiced called the entire crew, until all of them were gathered at the Obs Deck. Then, a dossier appeared on the screens, along with the image of a rotating planet.

Planet Designation: Geartopia
Status: Terrestrial, H-class.
Non-

Comments

horse renting!

[a_cyclone]

Maybe it was a silly thing to get excited about, but Maxine? Was definitely excited for the horses. She'd never actually had a chance to ride one before, but it sounded like a lot of fun! Plus there was something really cool (and sometimes romantic) about the notion of riding horses in the Wild West, honestly, it was just like in a book! Which counted for a lot.

The problem was that she only had so much money, and she was worried about losing it all on renting a horse. She peered at the rights they were selling, wondering if she could haggle, or if she had anything she could barter.

Re: horse renting!

[tetsuwan_atom]

"Hey! Are you gonna ride a horse?" A bale of hay with legs appeared to be addressing Maxine; Atom had actually been carrying it over to a barn.

[a_cyclone]

Maxine was a little surprised to see the apparently talking bale of hay, but she recognised the voice, anyway. "Hi Atom!" she greeted cheerfully, before she said, "I want to, yes. But I was worried that I might not be able to afford it or something? Because it's kind of pricey and we were only given so much, right? So I was trying to decide if I could..."

[tetsuwan_atom]

He set the bale down for a second, holding it to make sure it didn't roll off.

"Well, that's what I was thinking, too, but this farmer said I could ride one of them if I helped him out. So that's what I'm doing!"

[a_cyclone]

"Oh, that sounds great!" Maxine said cheerfully, nodding to Atom. "You're lucky-- I mean, bartering help like that is much more effective than trying to buy it..." she trailed off before she asked, "Maybe I could help, too, and then they'd let me?"

[tetsuwan_atom]

"I bet they would," said Atom brightly, waving over to a farmer a bit of a distance away. "Hey, if Maxine helps, can she ride a horse, too?"

When the man (who looked like some sort of pumalike creature) gave him a wave in the affirmative, he turned back to Maxine. "I'm supposed to help carry this to the barn and herd the Shepolafant into the corral. Do you know how to herd stuff?"

[a_cyclone]

Maxine brightened even further at that, and nodded enthusiastically. "Great! I'd love to help then, if I can. I've never actually herded anything, but I know sort of how it works, and I've seen it in movies and stuff? So I think I have the right sort of idea, if nothing else, maybe. I'd do my best, at least."

[tetsuwan_atom]

"Me either," said Atom, "But it shouldn't be too hard, right?" He finished placing the bale, then made his way to the nearby pen, outside of which a herd of Shepolafant were grazing in a sort of contemplative fashion.

Atom walked up to one, unsure of how to get it to move, exactly. He pushed against its side, but it merely walked a few steps forward, continuing to graze.

[a_cyclone]

"No, it shouldn't be too hard! I'm sure we can both do it, if we work together," Maxine replied brightly. She all but skipped out to the herd with him, looking over the Shepolafant thoughtfully.

She let out a thoughtful noise as she looked. "Maybe I could use the wind to herd them?" she asked.

[tetsuwan_atom]

Atom backed up a little. "Can you do that?" Technically, he could just pick them up and put them in the corral, but he wasn't sure they'd like that.

[a_cyclone]

"I can!" Maxine said cheerfully. She let the wind pick up a little, to demonstrate. "Maybe I could use to gently nudge them that way? I could surround them so that they have to go the way they want them to..."

[tetsuwan_atom]

"I guess we could try that," Atom said thoughtfully. A lone Shepolafant looked up at the sudden picking up of the wind, eyeing the rest of the field warily.

[a_cyclone]

"Okay!" Maxine watched the animals carefully, and their reactions. She didn't want to frighten them or anything! Carefully, she picked the wind up further, along the edges only, trying to push them forward, toward the corral, gently.

[tetsuwan_atom]

A bunch of the animals did begin waddling off toward the corral, but a couple of them hunkered down stubbornly and resumed chomping on the grass.

Atom, suddenly getting an idea, drew in a deep breath, then whistled loudly. At this, the remaining Shepofalant pricked their ears and looked up. He flew over to a big one, shooing it toward the corral.

[a_cyclone]

Maxine smiled brightly as Atom worked on the strays who were obviously a little bit more stubborn than the rest. "Good luck!" she cheered helpfully, and she began to focus her wind a little bit more-- not enough to hurt them or anything, of course! But enough to herd them a little bit further.

[tetsuwan_atom]

Slowly, the Shepofalant began making their way into the corral, some looking at them a little reproachfully as they did so and munching on the grass on the way. When they were finally inside, Atom shut the door, fastening the gate.

"Okay, chores done!"