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Revival
The next day, Amani rolled out of bed about as depressed as the day before. She slumped over to the living room where she was surprised to see her cat wrapped in catnip.
“Ferus!” She called out. She unwound him and let him wander off.
‘How the heck?’ She thought to herself. She looked around, realizing her house was a little messy, but not in any major way.
“Aw, I left the window open,” she said to herself. She walked over and closed it. As she retreated, she paused at the sight of her jar of beef seasoning that was both in her bedroom, and unlatched.
“Hm, that’s odd.”
She got herself ready for the day and went to grab her sunhat in her room as well as her journal to refine her sketches and ideas. She went outside and sat on the stairs. When she opened up the book, she saw something quite shocking.
There were several drawings of ideas of fruit and vegetable group combinations, such as Blueberries and Mint, Carrots and Blueberries, Peppers and Carrots and other various combinations. Underneath the drawings was written, “Don’t give up Amani. Pursue your dreems and make them a reality.”
She looked up, a little stunned. Of course, she was worried, wondering if someone had broken in. But it wasn’t a break-in to steal anything, obviously, and it was quite encouraging. Could it have been her cousin coming back to make up for the earlier discouragement? It must have been? She walked around her garden confused, but began to consider it a sign. For a moment, she even considered a dreemier possibility.
“Well, let’s give these a go, yeah?” she announced to everybody.
Everyone cheered - unbeknownst to her.
The rest of the day was spent replanting some of the plants and installing timers for her sprinklers. The Blueberries were moved to the left and the Blackberries hung up into a trellis over several other plants. Perhaps giving them options would give them a little more control. She always knew they were very opinionated! Amani noticed one of the plants actually reaching up towards the blackberries - or was that just a gust of wind? For the Carrots, she acknowledged what the journal had stated about the suggested mix - but then also carefully and gently touched one of the flowering tops of the other plants to the smaller blueberry plant. She just had a feeling that those little ones might need some solid parenting! “Those wild boys probably just need a good mommy!” she mused aloud.
The fruits and vegetables enjoyed watching her regain her cheer throughout the day, as she returned to voicing what she imagined them saying. She had taken their suggestions, but she was also becoming very creative! Perhaps she had “seen” more of them than they had even realized? Perhaps, even - she had more insight into their personalities and suitability than they did? Some of her reasoning was downright intuitive and even caused some of them to consider things they never had before! It was a very productive day and eventually, she left inside as the moon shined brightly through the blue-ish fog.
What followed was also a good day (which was dreemy night) for the fruits and vegetables. Zekka had returned with her parents, which allowed her to start reconnecting with them. She may have enjoyed being a lone wolf of sorts, but she couldn’t deny she missed them. They gave her balance, and she needed that. The Peppers dabbled in art projects throughout the day. The Blackberries all did their separate things, Björnbär read some more, Brómber hunted and Braam continued to teach Borůvka, who was a slow learner for sure, but was still learning nonetheless. Kupina was still around but he didn’t interact with his sons much anymore. He still held a grudges. The other Blueberry boys planned some more pranks, while some of the more parental plants secretly eyed the boys with new interest and toyed with the idea of adopting a blueberry child into their tribe.
Overall, it was a reinvigorating and surprising day for both Amani and the garden community.
Blossoming
As the days went by, Amani continued to work and the plants each continued to stay busy, mingling or rejecting one another.
Some relationships also began to form and blossom. Pip befriended Zekka who she invited to hang around her siblings more. Of course, Piperra was slightly annoyed because she knew the truth about her knocking out her sister. Pimenta wasn’t thrilled at first either, but having a new girl in the group who had different tastes in hobbies was a good change of pace, though of course, she wouldn’t admit it. There were other reasons for her worry, however.
“She’s annoying, thinking she’s so cool and tough,” Pim said to her sisters one day as Zekka had just left.
“Why does that annoy you? She’s just different from us,” Pip responded. “I like her.”
“Obviously you do,” Piperra said. “But she’s kinda scary.”
“I don’t think she’s scary; she just gets on my nerves.” Pim replied. She paused. “You know those rumors about her being trained by the Blackberries? Do you think there’s any legitimacy to them?”
“I don’t know,” Pip answered. “Why?”
“No reason.” There was a reason, but she wasn’t ready to share her concerns as of yet.
The rest of the Mint family continued to strengthen their relationships with everyone, including their daughter, though there were still moments where Mento and Mentă grew frustrated with Zekka’s violent tendencies. Mentă couldn’t help but wonder if she wasn’t as needed in her daughter’s life anymore, and felt as though she still had so much to give to a child in need. She decided she might need to talk to her husband about this soon, but headed off into the direction of the Blueberry bush. As Mento was out walking one morning thinking about the state of their farm, he ran into Kupina.
“Hey, Kupina! Boy oh boy - haven’t talked to you in a while!” Mento called out.
“Did we ever talk?” He snarled, slightly.
“Well, haha,” Mento laughed, “I tried.”
Mento joined Kupina on his walk.
“How have you been doing with your sons?” Mento asked.
“You mean my disappointments? Haven’t talked to them in days,” Kupina responded.
Mento, shocked, asked, “Why’s that?”
“You know, those boys should be out hunting and following in my steps but no, now they’re eating whatever the Carrots are making! They’re lazy and on top of that, Björnbär wants to be leader, even though he’s not the oldest. I will not be speaking to my sons again until they come to their senses.” He smiled, thinking of all of his training had not fallen completely to the wayside. A certain samurai daughter had soaked up plenty of his Kupi-Kata style teachings - perhaps there would be others who were interested. He might have not ever have his original clan of warrior sons - but who said a clan had to be biologically connected. True, blood was thicker than water - but dogma was thicker than blood.
As Kupina was lost in thought, Mento pursed his lips in disapproval. This form of parenting was really quite intense. How could a father be so upset with his children just because they didn’t believe everything he believed? He then paused, realizing his dilemma with Zekka. She was almost an adult now, and he had been pushing his beliefs on her, not letting her live her life the way she wanted. He still didn’t like those decisions, but now he realized what he could become if he wasn’t careful.
“You know your sons are their own men, Kupina.”
“No, they’re my sons first. Don’t defend them.”
Mento frustratedly shook his head. “Well…good day, then.” He left the side of Kupina and doubted if he should find a reason to talk to him again. He supposed he shouldn’t ever say never, but he was tempted.
The Blackberries began to eat the Carrots' food more, which led to them socializing a bit more. With Brómber hunting less, he began to try and make time to mend his relationship with Björnbär. His mind raced with decisions he would have to make, such as defying his father who he still respected and admired. Still, he made attempts and told Björnbär he wouldn’t fight him anymore on letting him become leader. The three Blackberry brothers began to finally get along. They also began to enjoy their days more as they observed the relationships of the Blueberries, which was far more playful than the childhood they had been allowed by their father.
Speaking of the Blueberries, Borůvka continued learning under Braam, who day by day taught him countless values. With these values, he began to appreciate his brothers all the more, and even began to set a proper example, though they still pulled their daily prank. Over the weeks, it was easy for Braam to see himself as a sort of tutor, then a big brother. Later, it felt more like an uncle, and most recently - dare he say it? Almost like Borůvka had become a part of his own heart. If he looked closely, he had even seen a few of the blueberry leaves around his ears looking a bit more like blackberry leaves. Or - was that just his imagination?
Bláber was also becoming particularly fond of one of his fellow farm friends, as he grew closer to Munt, who began to follow him around regularly. Something about the catnip-soaked kittymint really began to soothe and calm Bláber into a more quiet, settled version of himself. When the boys would snuggle up together when bedding down for the night, anyone who had rubbed up against Bláber would smell the definitive scent of mint, mixed with the tart smell of blueberry.
The Carrots no longer had a need to spy on the Blackberries; for once, they were actually eating their food. This also gave Curran an opportunity to click with Brómber, since both were the oldest of their families and both enjoyed talking about…well…stuff that guys do. Since the Carrots had less reason to spy and hunt, they continued to farm as they always had - but they shared a lot of their “roots” of history with their newfound Blackberry friends. Curran and Brómber found the trading of their family ways fascinating. If Curran tried very hard, he could incorporate some of the windy vine ways that Brómber’s kind had. If Brómber concentrated with all his might, he could shoot a few of his underground roots to mimic the carrots - and produce some deeper, darker blackberries that intensified their flavor within the earth.
It was also notable that Cenoria had also begun hanging out with the Pepper sisters, mainly Piperra. Though the Peppers had their annoyances with her and her with the Peppers, she did acknowledge needing some much needed time away from her brothers. She had always wanted sisters, and now she had three who had welcomed her with open arms. Though the pepper sisters didn’t speak much about B’zar - Cenoria often wondered what she could learn from the fieriest of the bunch. What - she wondered - would a spicy carrot do for their beloved Amani? She was considering this and many other things one day while returning home from hanging with the sisters one evening. As a calm began to settle amongst the group, they were greeted by a fortunate surprise.
“Hey, who's that in the distance?” Cenoria asked.
“That looks like…Azen!” Cairéad announced as they all dropped their tools and ran for their brother. They swarmed him and hugged him.
“Oh boy, guys! I've learned so many secrets of the universe while I was gone! The MAN might have been trying to keep us down - but oh boy! Have I got things to share!!! For example, those shiny things in the sky? Those are stars! And also-”
“Azen, we missed you buddy,” Curran said, as they all squeezed him tighter.
Posts of Season 2
If you are just finding out about DreeMerge Season 2 - Here is all you need to catch up! To collect your cards - be sure to do your daily curation tasks on DreemPort and if you need to ask questions live - head over to our DreemPort discord. The prize to solve the mystery FIRST is 350 HBD - go it alone, or form a tEEM and split the winnings amongst yourselves. Clues can be found in the storyline to guide your journey! Good luck!
Thanks to @shadowspub, @penderis, @bluefinstudios, @kemmyb, @wesphilbin, @melinda010100, @samsmith1971, @silversaver888, @lizelle, @kenechukwu97, @jacoalberts, @acgalarza, @blackdaisyft, @balikis95, @alessandrawhite, and @dreemsteem for making the @dreemport voting power go farther! ❤️
Images created for DreeMerge Season 2 with Midjourney