Teamwork!

A calm sky free from any storms greets the mages of Wingwatch in the morning. They stretch their limbs from being stuck inside the day before, and set about their jobs and fixing what had been caught in the hail and continuing to channel magic. Far from the top of the plateau, down the sharp cliffs and nests of birds, a series of docks and platforms along the coast buzzed with life. Boats filled to the brim with supplies bobbed in the water as the cargo was unloaded. A few Tortuvina hovered by the boats, taking crates much too heavy for the pulley systems and bringing them up the cliffs manually.

Tangerine, despite being groggy from the day before, was eager to help bring up the new supplies. Hopefully among them was more ingredients for the pots of tea. This time she would make sure they weren’t left outside! Oh how her body still ached from the cold wind.

Tangerine carefully descended the wooden stairs and walked down the docks towards the closest boat being unloaded. A group of Faians were hard at work walking back and forth like clockwork. One of them, a Candle Noodle whose wax was full of flowers, was struggling to push a crate as large as themselves along the dock.

“Do you need help?” Tangerine chirped as she walked closer.

The flower-wax Candle Noodle looked up surprised at Tangerine’s approach. They let out a sigh of relief and nodded rapidly.

“Yes, please! I thought I could do it on my own but this crate is way heavier than I expected.”

Tangerine smiled, placing her paws onto the back of the crate next to them.

“On the count of three!” Tangerine barks. “One-” she braces herself. “Two-” the flower-wax Candle Noodle braces themselves as well, staring ahead with a steely gaze. “Three!”

Both Candle Noodles growl as they begin to push the crate together. A few seconds passed without movement from the crate, then its weight shifted slightly. Tangerine gritted her teeth as she pushed with her entire shoulder. Her legs skidded on the dock repeatedly under the strain. Slowly, but surely, the crate began to move… not very fast. A few Faians carrying smaller or pushing lighter crates passed by the duo, giving them confused looks.

Tangerine collapsed onto the dock as the crate unexpectedly jolted forwards from her paws. She yelped as her muzzle hit the ground with a loud THUD.

“Are you okay?” the flower-wax Candle Noodle questioned. Their paws were still firmly on the crate as they looked over their shoulder down at Tangerine.

“I’m fine,” Tangerine grumbled, pushing herself back to her feet. “Maybe we need more help.”

The flower-wax Candle Noodle lowered their paws, nodding in agreement. “You’re right.”

“I’ll find some others, stay here!” Tangerine instructed. She bolted towards the lifts where a crowd had been loading supplies onto one of the lifts.

“Hey! There’s a large, really heavy crate we’re having trouble pushing, is anyone able to help?” Tangerine called out to the others. A few Candle Noodles looked in her direction.

“No problem,” a stoic Candle Noodle replied simply. She looked to the others with her, then motioned with her head for them to follow. “Where to?”

Tangerine smiled and led them back to the stubborn crate. While she was gone, the flower-wax Candle Noodle was attempting to push it on their own again. The crate hadn’t moved since Tangerine left.

The stoic Candle Noodle looked around the dock to the Faians gathered around, “alright everyone, paws on the crate, let’s get this onto the lift.”

Tangerine joined the rest on one side of the box. Paws on the side, Tangerine braced her back legs.

“READY! PUSH!” the stoic Candle Noodle shouted.

With more help, the crate began to move once more. Now with the weight of three more Candle Noodles, the crate made progress towards the lift. Every dip in the docks let out a ka-chunk as the crate slid along.

“We’re doing it!” the flower-wax Candle Noodle cheers.

A few more minutes later and the crate suddenly stopped, sending everyone pushing it falling over each other.

“Ough!” Tangerine yelped, freeing herself from the pile of noodles. The other Candle Noodle apologized, bringing themselves back to their own feet. Tangerine looked up to see they had made it across the dock! She barked and gleefully trotted in place.

“We’ll get this one loaded,” the stoic Candle Noodle spoke up. She had seemingly been the only one braced for the impact against the platform. “How about you two help load some of the other, smaller, boxes onto the next lift up?”

“On it!” Tangerine nodded, her and the flower-wax Candle Noodle rushing down the docks to help.

Down the way, a group of Lumendras and Candle Noodles were loading a large lift full of smaller and medium-sized crates. The Lumendras had formed a long chain between the boat to the lift, passing packages from one to the next.

“How efficient!” Tangerine exclaimed, her eyes sparkling as she admired their teamwork.

“Yep! It gets the job done faster too!” one of the Lumendra squeaked. “There’s still some medium sized boxes that need loading if you could get those!”

“Yep!” Tangerine rushed down the docks towards the boat. She lifted one of the aforementioned boxes by the rope binding around it. Then she trotted back down the docks to load it onto the lift.

Back and forth Tangerine walked with box after box and packages tied in bundles. Along the run back and forth she gave a gleeful smile and nod towards the flower-wax Candle Noodle she helped prior. With so much work to be done that morning, there was barely any time to stop and chat. Tangerine looked up towards the cliffs, birds circling overhead. Birds didn’t have to use lifts. That must be nice.

Lumendras circled the lift platform, fitting the last of the supplies onto the lift like a puzzle. They checked thoroughly each and every crate was secure within the lift’s walls. Tangerine clambered over some of the larger crates in the front, trying to find a spot to snugly fit in her own bundle she carried.

KA-CHUNK. Tangerine flinched. She swiftly stood up atop the crates looking around for the noise.

Then she felt the lift began to move upwards.

Tangerine lifted herself over a crate and looked down below where Faians had begun to pull the rope to lift up the platform.

Tangerine swiftly dropped the package on top of a crate behind her. “H-hey! I’m still up here!” she called out below.

Some of the lift workers looked up in shock, others kept pulling.

“Just hold on tight! You’ll reach the top of the cliffs shortly!” The familiar voice of the stoic Candle-Noodle shouted to her.

Easier said than done… Tangerine flattened herself against the crates, making sure the package she had sacrificed herself for was secure by her side. The least she could do was make sure it and herself didn’t fall off together.

Despite the stoic Candle-Noodle’s insistence that it would be a “short” ride, it felt like an eternity. Tangerine rested her head in her paws, watching the ocean below slowly get further away. She was now among the birds, soaring around her among their own nests. A few looked at her with tilted heads and puzzled looks in their dark eyes. Tangerine tried not to pay them any mind. She kept her gaze across the ocean, staring in the distance at Wither-covered Raydes. Hopefully their efforts would not be in vain.

Tangerine stood up as she finally neared the top of the pulley system. As she arrived on level, a lumendra waved a flag to the others below. The pulley system stopped with a long drawn out creaking noise.

“Did you ride the lift all the way up?!” the signal Lumendra gasped.

“Um, accidentally….” Tangerine replied meekly, reaching down to pick up the package that had caused her such trouble.

The lumendra let out a long sigh. “At least you’re safe! While you’re up here you can help unload everything.”

Tangerine nodded silently, jumping down from the crates to go place her bundle of packages in the proper tent. She found the package’s friends among a secluded corner. Now that the trouble-making supplies was out of her sight, she walked back to help with the rest of the non-troublesome crates and packages.

Tangerine managed the larger but lighter crates of supplies, carrying them on her back or simply pulling or pushing them into the outpost. She had less help up here than down below, as mages were busy going about maintaining the spell and a bulk of the supply crew were loading the last of the pulley lifts.

She pushed another crate into a supply tent and swiftly turned to leave until she bumped directly into another Faian.

“Sorry!” Tangerine yelped before she could even see who she collided with. She rubbed the side of her head that was dizzy from the impact.

“Hmph.” Was all she heard as a response.

Confused, Tangerine looked up in time to see the bright white flame of a Candle Noodle’s tail turn the corner and leave the tent.

Tangerine jumped to her feet and rushed outside, but the stranger was nowhere. She sighed.

“Hey Tangerine! Can you come help?” A voice called to her. Tangerine rushed over to the lifts to find the flower-wax Candle Noodle from earlier!

“Hey!” she greeted. “Another heavy crate?”

“Er, kind of.” They pointed towards a long rectangular box. “It’s a little awkward to carry on my own…”

Tangerine walked around to the other side of the crate, lifting it up onto her back. “Then we’ll carry it together!”

The flower-wax Candle Noodle’s ears and mood lifted at Tangerine’s cheerfulness despite the hard work. They reached down and lifted the other side of the crate onto their own back.

“Okay, step with me,” Tangerine instructed. “One paw, then another,” Tangerine began walking slowly, giving her friend time to match her step.

Walking under the weight of the crate was awkward at best, silly at better. It took some time of awkward half-steps and stumbling over their own feet for the two Candle Noodles to match each other’s walking pace. Once their pace was in sync, they marched seamlessly towards the supply tents, rectangular crate perfectly balanced between them.

Tangerine and the flower-wax Candle Noodle carefully lowered themselves and let the crate slide off their backs, landing with a soft thud onto the dirt between them.

“Thanks again for the help! I got it from here,” the flower-wax Candle Noodle said.

“You sure?” Tangerine jumped back and forth in place. The thrill of teamwork had lifted her spirits that had drained away on her long ride up. “First one back to the lifts is a fish!” Tangerine yelled, swiftly turning around and booking it back to the supply lifts.

“H-hey! That doesn’t even make any sense!” The flower-wax Candle Noodle called back, rushing to catch up.

Together Tangerine and the flower-wax Candle Noodle brought more supplies back and forth- faster and more efficiently than they could have alone. As the last of the lifts began to arrive, more help from the docks below arrived up the series of stairs to assist in the effort.

Among the last of the crates being offloaded, Tangerine found the tea ingredients! She dedicated herself towards making sure these crates would be put away securely.

“Now nobody should have to run out into an oncoming storm for ingredients!” she declared, placing a bundle of leaves down into an open-top crate.

“What’s that about tea?” Tangerine looked at the entrance to a tent as the green-and-yellow Lumendra scurried in.

“Oh, I put the tea ingredients in here to keep them safe from anymore storms!”

“Good!” The lumendra nodded in approval. “I hate to ask because you’ve been working hard all morning, do you think you could bring one of those inside for the lunch tea?”

“Aw, don’t worry about it! I can do that!” Tangerine brushed away the Lumendra’s concerns. She pulled out one of the medium-sized crate of tea supplies from the group.

“Thank you, Tangerine! I’ll meet you inside!” The lumendra scurried away back manage tea production.

“See you there!” Tangerine called back.

She carefully began pushing the crate along with her shoulders. She stepped side to side, steering the crate around as she crossed the clearing and into the large gathering hall. Once inside she placed the crate of tea ingredients to the side of the large pot. A fire was already brewing under the pot while the Lumendra prepped the cups and other materials.

“Thank you! You must be exhausted!” they exclaimed.

“A lot,” Tangerine sheepishly replied. She slowly let herself collapse onto the floor where she stood.

“Aw, come on now! Come sit down and wait for the tea and food to be ready, you’ve done a lot of work today!” the Lumendra tugged at Tangerine’s paw, until she stood up and stumbled over to a bench. How was she to deny the caring Faian’s help?

Tangerine rested her head upon the table, closing her eyes. Though the management supplies was hard work, she was proud to have been able to help in any way she could.