It's been some time now since Meleah arrived on Zeventu and joined the monastary and she has settled into her new life, even made friends among the locals of Red Hills including her original welcoming committee of one, Fenna. Not that it was difficult to befriend the small energetic fennec as she had a way to include herself in any conversation or event. Which could have been annoying if it wasn't for her always cheerful attitude and way to endear herself. Meleah still wasn't sure what exactly Fenna does for a living considering she can always be seen helping out somewhere with some task or other with that same endless energy and cheer. The locals even had some fun with this, tricking visitors by saying Fenna is the real mayor of Red Hills and the little fennec is all to happy to play along with the joke as she gives the visitors a tour of the town before delivering them to the mayor's office.

For a frontier world life certainly was quiet and idillic once you got used to all the shades of red the plantlife in the area was known for, and occasional visitors were typically explorers and researchers passing through, or port officials dropping off newly arrived resqued slaves or runaways and once in a while some people's relatives visiting from offworld. Offworlders always caused some excitement around town as people were eager to meet them to get some word of other planets, and often a small community party would be had for such guests to mingle with the townsfolk. To Meleah Zeventu, or at least Red Hills, was like a paradise with it's mild climate and the trees and plants seemingly locked in autumn with their colors, there were no dangerous animals around for miles, virtually no crime as people got along well enough for the most part.

Meleah stopped by a small patch of glowfruit trees, which grew in the wild all around the Red Hills countryside, and had been replanted here as a small orchard. She spotted a couple of ripe ones on the lower branches and picked one as she was told locals were free to pick any ripe ones from the lower branches so they wouldn't attract any animals who could destroy the orchard quickly. Glowfruit were a local product of Red Hills as it was the only area where they wore originally found, but plantations were started all over Zeventu's frontier as a reliable food source since they could be grown and harvested all year round, though the trees had to be grown in selected areas to avoid ecological damage with an invasive plant, especially any created hybrids were strictly regulated. Glowfruit got their name from the fact that after sunset the ripe fruit would glow softly for several hours, despite this luminescence the fruit was perfectly safe to eat. In terms of flavor they would be comparable to a mix between apple and peach with a hint of banana, the flesh of the fruit contained large amounts of juice for how firm it was so they're a nice thirst quencher as well as a snack.

As she was pondering who this little orchard belonged to she was interrupted in her thoughts by a cat climbing out of one of the trees and run past her towards the path she just walked along. Turning around to see where it went she spotted the cat run up to the familiar figure of Fenna who called out to it. "There ya are Beemie! Ya know ya shouldn't be out this late, girl..." She petted the cat for a moment and then spotted Meleah near the trees as she walked over "Oh hello there big Bruinette, ya finally decided to try mah glowfruit? Or ya just waitin for mah cider, Ah should get a good second harvest in a few more weeks." Meleah shook her head at the nickname, Fenna had started using it a short time after their first meeting and loved to tease her with it, she didn't particularly care for it but she just couldn't get mad at the fennec so she allowed it even after the novelty had worn off though she knew Fenna would stop it if she told her to. She held up the glowfruit for a moment then nodded at the trees "Yes, just picked one. So these are all yours then, Fenna?"

Fenna grinned as she bounded towards the orchard, followed by Beemie, and stopped near Meleah to pick a glowfruit for herself. " Sure are. Lugged 'em here all by mahself from across the hills. They didn't like it much here at first, darn near died but they settled in eventually. Sure helped that Beemie here keeps the tree hares away, though Ah'd prefer she stay inside honestly so she don't wander off too far... Cats got a mind of their own afterall, it's how Ah got her in first place. She was a ship cat on the ship that brought me here, seems she took a liking me and didn't want me to leave without her so Ah promised the crew Ah'd take care of her as they couldn't change her mind. Probably figured it was time for a new place to explore, but they sure do miss her, the crew calls regularly to see her when they pass by the planet. Seems like Beemie misses her old family as well but she's happy here and she's mah best bud." She took a bite of her glowfruit and looked down at the cat currently brushing up against her leg, distracted for a moment.

Meleah smiled softly at the sight, idly turning the glowfruit in her hand "Never had a pet myself, seems nice though even if I don't know which one I'd like... Perhaps one will choose me one day like Beemie did with you." Fenna looked up at her as she had knelt down to start playing with Beemie in the meantime. "Well they'd have to be a pretty brave one, ya are a a big gal Bruinette, even Beemie is a bit intimidated by ya sometimes even if ya are a big softy." Meleah chuckled and looked back over the orchard "Well I can't help how I was born to grow up big, but it does have it's advantages... So you moved all these trees here? Where do you get the energy? I see you do all this work around the town, I get tired just thinking about everything you do all day and I had to move heavy cargo around al day..." She looked back down at Fenna and was surprised to see the fennec staring into space with a blank expression, though still idly playing with Beemie with her free hand but her typical grin soon returned as she looked up again. "Well at least ya had others to talk to at the end of the day, Ah suppose, and ya made a new life for yaself here unlike lil' ol' me Ah'm still a show fox at heart Ah suppose and got to keep busy and make people happy. Not that Ah dislike it, Ah like making people happy while also keeping busy. It's just how Ah was bred to be, but now Ah can do it for mahself is the difference."

Meleah was silent for a moment, wondering is she should push this topic some more or if it would be best left for another time if it was difficult for Fenna to talk about, but she decided to chance it. "You've mentioned it to me before you were a show slave, but I'm curious, what was that life like if you don't mind telling me about it?" Fenna stared up at her, still smiling, but there was a subtle look in her eyes in contrast to her smile and suddenly that familiar twinkle in her eyes was back she gave a toothy grin and punched Meleah in the leg and shook her hand in the air like she just hurt her hand doing so. "Darn ya aran't as soft and cuddly as ya look, Ah think Ah nearly broke mah hand there... Anyway, sure Ah'll tall ya a bit about it, but only if ya promise to tell me more about ya own past later. Maybe over some fresh cider. Deal?" Meleah gave a nervous grin and reached down to shake Fenna's hand to seal the deal, being careful to not grip too tightly in case Fenna actually had hurt her hand. "Deal, I'll look forward to trying your cider sometime."

Fenna let go of her hand and took another couple bites of her glowfruit as she thought about where to start, glancing over to the road to make sure nobody was around. She had never really told anyone much about her past before so Meleah was really the first person she opened up to, perhaps because she had also been a slave before even if for a different purpose. Then she sat down to cuddle with Beemie while Meleah kept an eye on the road for anyone approaching. "Well it seems all fun and sunshine being a show slave,Ah didn't hate it, but it was hard sometimes...and lonely. The other slaves often didn't even want to look at yah, let alone talk because they were either so full of themselves or they were too afraid their owner would punish them for being friendly with the competition. Ah loved performing and being graded in a competition, maybe part of how Ah was bred but Ah enjoyed the attention of the crowd and mah owner. He would treat me so well if Ah won a show and those time he was the greatest owner Ah coould have wished for. If Ah didn't win though... he would run me ragged with training drills and yell at me and lecture me." She paused for a moment to take a few more bites of her glowfruit an finish it before wiping her hands on her skirt and putting Beemie in her lap as she continued.

"Training was always rough ever since Ah was little...well little-er." Fenna chuckled "Ah had to practice to sing and dance and often pushed to learn new things that could impress the judges, so Ah picked up a bunch of skills like cooking and cleaning, crafting, and sewing... Thats why Ah make mah own clothes these days! " She beamed, obviously proud about her varied skills. "It also kept me busy when Ah was always learning and doing things, so Ah still like to keep busy with something even now and making people happy makes me happy in return, just like mah owner did back when Ah won some shows in a row. He would be so proud and gentle...And he'd give me a....hands on approach to training, if ya catch mah drift." She paused briefly and Meleah was certain the fennec was blushing underneat her fur as she reminisced, probably nobdy else had ever seen her behave like that before. "Anyway, Ah still do miss him sometimes, at least when he was in his good moods. Maybe just part of how Ah was conditioned and trained but Ah never did dislike or hate him or other humans...Ofcourse Ah did not know any other way of life back then, but Ah was fairly happy during the good days."

"Other than training there was also regular grooming, to get mah fur trimmed and glossy, took a while to get all this done properly..." She patted the ample fluffy chest fur sticking out the top of her dress. "It was fun being pampered and able to fully relax for a change, Ah don't get that often these days and it's difficult to trim and brush mah own fur to be honest."
It was then that Meleah spotted someone heading up the path to the orchard, and sensing her reaction Fennec turned to look who it was before gettign up and brushing the back of her skirt for any grass. "Well seems Ah got to be going now, Ah promised Ah'd be somewhere to help, so Ah'll tell ya more some other time." She started heading down the path as she waved to the person who was waitign for her and turned aroound with a wink "Oh and Ah'll hold ya to hearing more about yahself in return for mah story, and we'll have that cider ofcourse... See yah later big Bruinette!" And with that Fenna bounded back down the path cheerful as ever, leaving Meleah to realise she hadn't even took a bite of that glowfruit this whole time.

Made in Hero Forge
Characters belong to me  Chakat_Blackwater