Mission:

Makoto emerged from the fringe regions of the jungle, heading towards the village. His cloths were messy, his feet caked in mud, and his hair was sticking up every which way. This was fairly average for him. It had been a week since he had last seen civilization, and he figured it was time to do something, since he had been a little bored recently. Normally, he'd be content to be out in the wild for months on in, but loneliness tends to grow on you when you do so. It was time for some human interaction, no matter how awkward it would be. Without much thought, his first destination was decidedly the mission board.

Makoto wasn't much for duty when it didn't have anything to do with nature, or peaceful interactions, but he had a hunch he'd be able to find something to do. Keeping pace, he approached the center of town. He received a few stares for his unruly appearance, but most people just shrugged it off. It wasn't the first time he had entered town looking a mess. Once he got to the board, he started flipping through some of the different posted papers. There wasn't much that met his preferences, but there were a few. He was heavily considering a mission to capture a deer, but he overheard some young ninjas talking about a mission to kill weeds.

With fervor his movements, Makoto quickly turned and grabbed one of the young men by the shoulders. "That mission. Give me." He could not stand the thought of plants being ruthlessly ripped from the ground by some uncaring ninja. The dude was pretty shocked at Makoto's random approach, but he didn't argue. He simply handed Makoto the slip of paper and said 'Have fun.' With his mission chosen, Makoto set out for the other side of town where he would be transplanting the weeds to somewhere safer.

[319 words]

When Makoto arrived at the garden, the scene was interesting to say the least. The weeds certainly had a lot of control over the other plants, which were fairly hidden beneath the taller 'pests'. Of course, Makoto would never refer to any plant as a pest. They were just misunderstood, or a little pushy and abundant. It wasn't their fault either. If people were more meticulous with their lawns/gardens/whatever, they wouldn't get weeds in the first place. So because they were just harmless plants in the wrong place, Makoto was going to move those little green lifeforms out of the garden, and off into the forest, or maybe a nearby field, or somewhere that they wouldn't be harmed. This was going to be a long arduous process though, seeing the total number of them. When the posting had said 4 weeks of un-plucked weeds, Makoto had severely underestimated the legitimacy of it. There were tons of them, nearly every row of produce and flowers were overrun by them. Instead of staring at them, and analyzing the situation further, he decided to jump right in and get started.

He lowered himself and got onto his hands and knees at the edge of the small area. He then began to gingerly brush away the dirt from the base of the stalks. He couldn't just rip them out because the roots would get damaged. It was a long process that required a lot of manual dexterity. Using his nails, he pushed small clumps from between the roots, and gave gentle tugs to see when the thing would pop out. Remove some dirt, pull on the stalk, remove some dirt, pull on the stalk. Over and over he repeated the process, until finally he was done. After 20 minutes of hard work and dedication, he had safely removed the first weed from the ground. Only a couple hundred left to go. With a smile, Makoto leaned back and wiped some sweat from his brow. It felt good to be saving nature, one plant at a time.

There was a clatter as a door closed, and an old lady started walking towards the garden. "Excuse me, but what are you doing in my garden? I've seen you sitting over here for awhile." Makoto looked up at her, as he stayed on the ground. "Weeds. Mission." She looked down at Makoto's hands, and how dirty they were, while holding a single weed. "Heh. Did you dig it out? All you gotta do is pull em, like this." Reaching down, the lady effortlessly yanked a weed out, clearly killing it. She cringed as her hand opened, and shook it a bit. All Makoto could do was stare at the dead weed in horror. Shrugging at his expression, the lady walked away.

[464 Words]

The initial shock was a tad overwhelming, but Makoto snapped out of it after a minute. He was a little depressed staring down at the ruined plant, but as he did so, an idea came to him. Killing things only bothered him when the dead organism wasn't going to be used. All he had to do was use the weed, so that it wouldn't go to waste. Thinking quickly, he reached down, grabbed the tender stalk, and promptly stuffed it into his mouth. It was a dirty, watery, almost tasteless leafy plant. Well, tasteless was a bit inaccurate. It did have a little bit of flavor. It was very much similar to the taste of grass, but it had a hint of bitterness. It wasn't actually a bad flavor, but definitely not one that people sought out. Chewing it was another story though. It was all sinewy and fibrous. It made it pretty difficult to chew, because it kept getting stuck in his teeth, like a hundred threads of dental floss, every time had brought his teeth down. Not a very pleasant overall experience, but gladly, he didn't have to do it again.

Once he had the thing all nice and swallowed, except maybe for a few bits stuck behind his molars, it was time to get back to work. Turning back towards the field of weeds, he targeted the next closest weed and began the long task of excavating the roots. It took about as long as the first time, which was a bit depressing considering how long the rest would take at this pace, but he would not be daunting. From one weed to another  he went, slowly refining the process. The first weed took 20 minutes, by the 50th weed, he was getting them in 10. By the time he was at his 100th, he'd probably be digging them up in 5 minutes, but he had to stop for a bit. In all of his digging, he had forgotten about the ones he'd already removed. They were sitting neatly in a pile, slowly drying up in the sunlight. He had to do something about them, so his life saving tactics didn't go to waste.

Scooping up the pile in his arms, he ran down the street a ways, looking for an empty lot, or small park to plant them in. Sadly, the area was mostly housing for old people, and quite a few small gardens. After about 10 minutes of running, he did find an adequate area to plant them, but it was almost 2 miles away. He'd have to run weeds over here in small batches every couple hours. With a deep sigh, he began planting them. Better him be tired, than all of these innocent plants die. After 30 minutes of individual planting, he ran back to the lady's garden. When he got there, she was standing with a tray. "Ohoh, I thought you had gone and given up." With a smile on her face, she lifted the tray and offered Makoto a glass of yellow fluid, and a sandwich. "...Thanks." Makoto took the sandwich in one hand and the glass in the other. With three bites, the sandwich was gone, and the lemonade was swallowed in one long swig. He placed the glass back on the tray and nodded his head before turning back to the field. The lady chuckled as she went back inside.

[571 words]

With the technique master, sorting through the rest of the weeds would be a breeze. A long breeze, but it'd be pretty easy to do. The process was monotonous as he went in cycles. He would crawl about the field getting roughly 50 weeds, and then he'd run the stack all the way down to the small place he had found to plant him. As he went, the little field he planted them in started to look pretty cool. It was like a little haven of nature with all the different kinds of exotic weeds he brought there. He had decided that he might even take care of the little weed patch after this mission. He could even bring other cool things from his exploration that would look cool there. It would be an interesting assortment to use in herbal medicine, or he may even find some stuff that tasted good for tea. He was getting excited just thinking about it. So much so, that he increased his pace.

With his systematic approach, the weed was starting to look very tidy. He was certainly doing a good job, but time was flying by. It would get dark soon, so he had to get as much done as he could. He had no qualms with coming back the next day, it all depended on when the lady needed it done, not that there would be much left to do the next day anyways. He was nearly done, just a few more batches, but that could easily take a couple hours and by then it would be dark. Thinking hard, he reached the conclusion that he should just ask her. Walking up to the door, he gave it a couple thwacks with his hand, and then he paused. After a short wait, she pulled the door open and glanced at him. "Yes? Oh are you done?" Makoto looked around, avoiding her eyes, while scratching the back of his head. "Finish today? Or come back tomorrow okay?" The lady took a moment, then walked out the door and looked at her garden. "My, this looks lovely doesn't it? You're doing such a thorough job, I suppose I can wait one more day." Makoto followed her, and was greeted with a kind smile. Reaching up, he placed a hand on her shoulder and smiled back, before returning to the field.

Makoto did a batch of carrying weeds to his haven, and then he looked around that area for a bit. Aside from the weeds he had brought, there were also some tall grasses, a bush, a small tree with what looked like peaches on it, and some thorny stuff in a corner. It looked as nice a place as any to sleep, so he figured he stay here for the night. He was still within the village, it wasn't like any dangerous animals would come get him or anything. After his quick walk around, he ran back to the garden to do one more load of weeds. He might as well do as much as he could before heading to bed. This time, he borrowed a bucket from the lady when he went, and filled it with water from a well on the way to the spot he had chosen. One he was there, he planted the last load of weeds, then walked over to the tall grass. Using both hands, he pressed it down, creating a cushy surface, then crawled right in. Taking a few sips from the bucket, he rolled over and went to sleep, the sound of crickets caressing him into a deep slumber.

[602 Words]

Makoto awoke to a scratching noise near his left ear. When he turned to look, he couldn't see what it was. All he saw was a single strand of his bedding bobbing up and down brushing against his shoulder. The sound of grass on fabric was where the scratching came from. With some further investigation, he found a strange bug that was crawling back and fourth on the strand, causing it to bob. He smiled to himself as he watched the bug continue. After a couple more minutes, he started getting restless, and stretching his limbs. His joints popped a couple times before he finally sat up and looked around. Sometimes when you fall asleep somewhere new, you don't remember where you are. This was happening to Makoto, and it took his mind a little bit of time to boot up and start functioning correctly. Once he finally realized where he was, he hopped to his feet, brushed his put off, and picked up the bucket of water. There were some specs floating in it, and a leaf or two. Lifting it up, Makoto took a big gulp. Afterwards, he plucked a peach from the tree near him, and went on his way back to the old lady's home. The bucket dangled back and fourth bouncing against his thigh as he went.

By the time he arrived, the bucket was empty, and nothing remained of the peach but a hard brown pit. Looking around, the old lady was nowhere to be seen. She could have just been inside asleep, or maybe off running an errand or some other such task, so Makoto began on his work. As he approached the garden, he noticed he had gotten much more done they previous day than he had though. There was roughly one fifth of the field remaining to be cleared. Crawling out, he went to work clearing the dirt away from the first weed of the day. By now, he was so adept at digging them up that it only took him 2 or 3 minutes per weed. This wasn't going to be enough work to occupy his entire day. After plucking the first bunch, he quickly scooped them up and ran off to his little hidden patch. After planting them, he quickly jogged back to the garden. This time, as he went to work scooping up weeds, he heard a familiar thwack as the door closed behind the old woman. She was dragging a chair over to the garden for some reason. "Maam?" She simply smiled and waved back at him. "Oh don't mind me. Just wanted to see why you took so long yesterday."

As he worked, every few minutes he'd look over his shoulder at the old lady. It didn't really bug him or anything, he was just curious. Every time he gazed at her, she would simply smile and keep watching. Once he had about 50 more weeds plucked, he scooped them up and began the trek back to his haven. This time, as he jogged down the path, there was a soft padded sound behind him. It was at a much lower pace than what he ran at, so he simply ignored it. When he got to the place, he started planting the weeds, arranging them into groups of similar types. By now, it was so thick with vegetation that it looked rather pleasant. When he was almost done, he heard a gasp behind him. "Oh my, this is wonderful!" The old lady must have followed him to spot. Makoto turned to face her, completely expressionless. He was a little confused as to why she had followed him. "This is a nice little place you have here. I would have never imagined those weeds could look so nice." The old lady had a beaming smile as she turned and headed back down the path. Makoto finished what he was doing, then turned to run back to the garden. He quickly passed the old lady and arrived at her garden before her.

[674 words]

Makoto was already gathering the last bunch of weeds from the garden when the lady finally got back. The morning session had only taken an hour and a half to finish up. It made him feel a bit silly for not just toughing it through the night before, but the clients garden was important to her. If he had slipped up and smashed a vegetable during the night, he would have felt even sillier. It's better to play it safe than sorry. Once he had the weeds gathered up, he scooped them up for the last time and ran them to his spot. For this last one, he took his time planting them, to make it look nice. He wouldn't be back to this spot for a long while, so he had to make sure it would last. Once he was done nitpicking his gardening skills, and content with the plants placement, he went and fixed up the grass he had flattened the night before. With everything set to his standards, he ran pack to the lady's home to check everything out. When he got there, she was staring at her garden. Makoto walked up and joined her, standing to her side. "It looks great. You did a good job, and you didn't even have to kill the weeds." Makoto simply stared at her and nodded in response.

The lady chuckled a bit before continuing. "You're a weird one aren't you? I've never seen someone take so much care to save a few weeds." This time, Makoto had something to respond with. "Life is precious." The lady stared at him mouth open for a moment. She must have been a bit surprised at his reasoning. Her mouth then twisted into a wide smile. "Haha, that it is. That it is. Well, thanks for all the help. I suppose you are set to leave." Makoto had been planning to leave, but looking over the garden, nothing had been watered yet, and the flowers could do with a bit of pruning. Fetching the bucket, he filled it with water from the nearest well, and came back over to the garden. "Water and prune." Makoto started out into the dirt, careful not to step on anything. Tilting the bucket slightly, he would let a little bit of water out, and then move to the next plant. he had to be careful not to pour too much. If he did, the water would over saturate the soil, and wash away much of the nutrients. He poured more for the vegetables than he did for the flowers. Produce tends to use a lot more water, and since they had been overrun by the weeds, they probably needed a little extra hydration.

Once he was content that everything had been watered, he walked over to the lady's gardening tools. There weren't any pruning shears, but there was a sharp edge on one of the gardening trowels. Makoto took the trowel, and moved back into the garden. Using discretion, he would look for dead buds and leaves on the flowering plants. When he found one, he would use the sharp trowel to cut the dead stem, as close to the stalk of the plant as possible. When flowers have dead limbs and buds, the plant wastes water trying to hydrate them. If you cut them off, the water is never wasted, and the plant is healthier as a whole. The dead portions can also block sunlight that could be used by lower portions of the plant. It was a long process to go through all of the plants, but he had asked the lady for another day. He might as well use the time he was allotted to help out. Once he had pruned all of the plants, he took all of the dead portions and placed them in the bucket with some water and soil. Using the trowel, he minced up the material and mixed it in. This mixture would work as a simple fertilizer. Using his hand, he scooped out small portions and packed it around the bases of the less healthy plants. hopefully if they got a little boost in nutrients they would be okay.

Once everything was done and set, he put the tool away, along with the bucket and turned to look for the lady. She wasn't standing there anymore, but the chair was still sitting by the garden. Walking over, Makoto lifted the chair and walked it up to the lady's porch. After he had put it next to the doorway, he started walking down the path into town to turn in the mission. He got about 2 feet away before he heard someone approaching from behind. "Wait up, I have something for you." Makoto turned to see the lady moving quickly to catch up with him. It was a little pathetic to watch because she was moving so slow, but he stood there diligently. When she caught up, she grabbed one of his hands, and tucked a piece of paper inside. "When you go to turn in your assignment, make sure you give this to them. It's just a little note." Makoto placed the note into his pocket and bowed slightly to the old lady. "Goodbye." As he turned to leave, she started waving him goodbye. Makoto smiled and kept on going. She was a nice old lady, he would be sure to stop by and check on her someday. It wasn't often that someone could see through his awkward behaviors. When Makoto got to town, he made sure to hand the clerk the slip of paper. The clerk smiled at him after she read it. "Well aren't you a helpful one?" Makoto didn't really understand the context, so he just turned and left. It was 2 days of work, but it was actually a little entertaining. He liked peaceful missions like these. With a smile, he headed out of town, right back into the jungle he had emerged from the prior day.

[1,002 Words]

[Thread total: 3,632 words]