isleofavalon | Surprisingly Spicy Sheep

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Surprisingly Spicy Sheep

🧙 WHO: Barbara & Tifa
⚔️️ WHAT: MORE FARM FIRE FUNTIME ADVENTURES
🕒 WHEN: September
🗺️ WHERE: The farm!
⚠️ WARNINGS: Sheep with a baaaad attidude.

[Barbara is back on the farm again. She's honestly getting a lot more experience with farmwork here than she did at home. As the daughter of the dragoons' captain, she was thrown in with the rest of the children helping out during harvesttime, but Avalon is the first time she's gotten so frequently up-close and personal with agriculture.

It's nice, usually. It's what humans do, without being overwhelming... usually.

Today she's with Tifa, answering the call for sheep-shearers. Barbara is staring into the pen at what look like perfectly spherical balls of wool, with the only difference being four stubby legs. Oh... and some scorch marks.

Well, they've got shears. She's used to burns. And Tifa has a dolphin. Barbara climbs over the fence, looking for the least nervous sheep.]

Tifa know sheep?

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[Tifa's been turning the shears over in her hands, looking them over.]

Not really, but how bad could it be?

[She grew up in a small mountain town so one would think that she'd have some experience with animals, but she could hardly take care of her cat when she had one—always running off and her never knowing where it went... Sheep are a completely different ballpark, let alone fire-breathing ones that are only just a bit bigger than her hands.]

Still need to get the hang of using these, so we should find a calmer one first... Wonder if we could bribe them with some food?

[Most of them appear pretty docile just by looking at them, but one can never be too sure.]

[When Tifa asks how bad could it be, Barbara gets a funny little feeling that they both might find out the answer to that in ways they don't expect before the end of the day.

The idea of bribing them with food has merit, though. It's a good way to deal with rowdy dragonets. And it was one of the ways Ceres dealt with Barbara before she was old enough to have a good sense of judgment.

But Barbara doesn't really remember what sheep eat... hm. Maybe time to call in help.]

Moogle! [At her summons, the moogle materializes, crawling up onto Barbara's shoulder.] Sheep, what treats?

Oh... that's all you want to know? Well! They like oats, and lettuce, and squash, and watermelon. That's the kind of food you'll find for them around this time of year!

[Ah, another moogle! Tifa wants to poke its belly, but she'll resist the urge, instead looking around them for a sign of any of those four things. It's a sheep's pen so there's bound to be something here for them to use as bribing chips... Even if it's just nicer grass than what they're eating from the ground.

And lo and behold, at the other end of the pen is a small trough filled with food that a few of them have chosen to graze at while they wait for their turn.]

You mean like this?

[She beckons Barbara and the moogle over where she spots some pieces of lettuce and squash and some oats sprinkled into it.]

Think we found ourselves a bribe.

[And some sheep, one of which she picks up between her hands, and its stubby legs flail in the air.]

[Ah! Excellent. As Tifa grabs the sheep, Barbara scoops up some of the squash chunks. She approaches the sheep, which is bleating a little to be on the ground, and offers the fruit--

--and the sheep promptly shoots a little jet of flame. Barbara jerks in surprise, but manages not to drop them. She quickly starts shearing with the scissors in her other hand, a little clumsily and erring on the side of not nicking the sheep as it chows down.]

Sheep like toasted fruit?

[While Tifa holds it still, besides its legs flailing, it chews contentedly on the squash bits and Tifa can't help but giggle at the sight unfolding in front of her. Barbara herself is someone she's found herself intrigued by, so watching her shearing the sheep, albeit a bit clumsily, is endearing to say the least. Not to mention the moogle that floats next to her.

The sheep bleats for more, and now Tifa turns to said moogle for help while the two girls remain occupied.]

Think you can grab another small handful for us? Maybe some of that lettuce, too.

[She's careful while she adjusts the sheep, cradling it in her arm instead, so that she can set her hand atop its head. She can feel it shaking under the shears, but she can't exactly blame it... She'd be nervous too.]

Easy now... We're all calm.

Of course, kupo! One shearing salad, coming right up!

[The moogle retrieves a nice big leaf for Tifa's sheep, carefully letting the (other) little fluffball engulf it as Barbara finishes up with her shearing. With both hands, it goes easier as she gently pulls the last of the wool away and guides the scissors.]

Good sheep. Baa.

[The sheep baas back--and then it belches. Barbara quickly yanks the fresh wool away and jumps back from the fireball that comes out of its mouth.]

Thank you.

[Okay, she can't resist. She reaches out and pokes the moogle in the belly, stifling a giggle at how soft it is. Like he's made of dough.

But then it burps out a small ball of fire once it's devoured the greens, and even Tifa lets her arm slip from around it, holding the sheep out away from her like it's a bomb that's about to go off. The fire calls out her own familiar now, where it pokes its dolphin nose up from the grass near Barbara's feet and chirps, worried.]

I think... Are we all okay!?

[Please don't splash! That will only make it worse!!!

The sheep baa's again, seemingly unperturbed by the fright it gave them all.]

[The moogle, startled by the sudden gesture, makes an involuntary sound somewhere between a gasp and a giggle, rubbing its fur where Tifa poked.

Barbara, meanwhile, stares at the sheep, the wool clutched to her chest to protect it from any more blasts. But it's just looking at them like it hasn't done anything unusual. In fact, it's pointing its nose at Barbara, sniffing hopefully in case she has any more tasty greens.]

Barbara fine. [...] Feed less fast, next time.

[Tifa's familiar emerges from the ground, flapping her tail about while she rises up to meet Barbara and the sheep, staring at the little creature with curiosity. A new friend, she likely thinks, and it looks between Barbara and the dolphin, its nose still twitching as if to ask, "more food?"

She tries not to laugh too much at the scene, so all that comes out is a small giggle.]

Looks like you ate a bit too fast, little guy. We're going to hold off on the food for a bit, until we can get more of that wool off you.

[It bleats gently again and rests its chin on her arm, black beady eyes staring up at the dolphin and moogle.]

I think he's got it out of his system. We should be okay now.

Dragon sheep. Maybe want hoard of wool.

[is that a joke? yes.

Barbara sets to snipping away the rest of the sheep's coat, which is quicker work now that she's got started and is also reasonably assured it's not going to belch any more fire just yet.

When she's got it all off, she gives the sheep a pat, and Exactly One piece of squash, before stuffing the wool into her bag.]

This one, done.

[Alright, which one's next? Tifa picks up the next nearest sheep that's having some troubles climbing high enough to grab some food from the trough, and it bleats gratefully at her when she leans its nose in to snatch some of the food before lifting it further to Barbara.

And she bursts into a fit of giggles at how big and round this one is.]

You know, for the smallest one, I think this one's got the most wool I've ever seen. Here, feel.

[She motions to Barbara and the moogle, and then her entire hand vanishes into the wool.]

[Is that really a sheep? It looks like a cloud, and an almost perfectly spherical one at that. She's surprised it isn't rolling along the ground outright.

She reaches out to the sheep when Tifa offers it up, tentatively poking her hand at it and then reaching in further--it takes far longer to actually reach the sheep than she would have expected.]

How sheep grow that much? [She begins to shear, more confidently now that she's done one already.] Need tell wool, stop.

I guess that's why we're shearing them...

[Tifa's hand is completely lost in the wool, so she happily leaves it there, holding the sheep in place while Barbara starts shearing.

This one's a little harder to get because of its thick hair, and some of it will start to fly off in tufts when a breeze blows by, sticking to their hair and clothes, as well as the moogle's. Tifa's familiar, however, leaps up from the ground and tries to catch some of it blowing in the wind like a cat on the hunt for a bird.]

Seems a little strange we're doing it now, though. Weather's only going to get colder from here. Won't they get cold, too?

[When the dolphin starts trying to corral the errant tufts, the moogle quickly begins doing the same, rolling up the stuff caught in its fur into rolags.]

Bet I can catch more, kupo!

[Barbara smiles at her familiar. It's making a friend!]

Sheeps little. Maybe easier to keep them inside. Maybe safer, with fireballs.

[The dolphin protests with chirps before she's diving into the ground and coming up to snatch a tuft of wool right out of the air in front of the moogle, but quickly spits it back out when she discovers that it is definitely not fish, or food of any kind.

Lesson learned.]

I'd have thought the opposite, [Tifa responds with a giggle.] I wouldn't want my barn catching fire because one little sheep ate too much.

[Though she would think the smartest thing to do would be to fireproof it first...]

They do look kind of cute without the wool though... in a funny way...

[The sheep that they've just finished shearing has already started to shiver under their hold.]

[Heh... Barbara has to smile at the dolphin's disappointment when it finds the wool inedible.]

Maybe barn have magic for fireproof. [That's a guess, ad now that Tifa brings it up, Barbara's going to ask about it. She wouldn't want all the work on the farm to be undone by one errant sheep.]

Sheep cute, but sheep look cold. [She's noticed the shivering too.] Make fire for sheared ones?

You think they'd like that?

[She huddles the sheared, naked sheep closer to herself, and it bleats happily(?) back at her, sticking its tongue out to lick appreciatively at her chin. Her familiar comes in to poke her nose at the creature, chirping at it and bumping her own nose against Tifa's chin as well. Can't let anyone else be number one but her, of course! And then she's going right back to playing with the moogle.

The sheep's eyes then look to Barbara, as if it understands what she's implying.]

Hmm, what do you think, little guy?

[Beh!

That's a yes.]

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Surprisingly Spicy Sheep

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