6: Sowing the Seeds

[Dirgecallers]

Jaskia sighed as she left the emergency meeting with the other beasts.. The gravity of the situation was not lost on her, as she knew that they had to resolve this, and quick. A quick scan of the beasts that were walking with her, Elsine, Timothy, Mrs. Flowers and Nibs. A good fair amount of abbeybeasts. Hopefully they'd be useful.

Jaskia was a few seasons shy of her middle seasons, and not so sure she could do this kind of thing anymore. She adjusted the brim of her straw hat, from which her floppy ears poked through, as she walked along with the others, keeping pace with them. "The dibbun could be anywhere, you are all correct, splitting our time here seems the right way to go about searching for Acer."

"Mebbe Acer be in th' shed? Oi know th' Dibbuns play thurr," Flowers interjected, and the others nodded along in agreement with this assessment. It wasn't a bad guess as to where to find a dibbun after all, and Jaskia would have to commend her for thinking that...

"I always keep the shed locked in case a wayward dibbun becomes too curious," she reassured them, just in case anyone wanted to know. There was something about the shed too, the way it reminded her of what had happened a few seasons ago, but again, was it possible that it could be what she was thinking?

"If there is anybeast that would know about the grounds it would be you"  Jaskia felt Elsine's eyes sort of bore into her, even if she didn't mean to. Perhaps it was just the trait of a beast that was getting older, as she felt herself involuntarily pacing up and down, as she had her mind in order.

"So I guess I'm a part of this, whether I want to or not..." Jaskia said, at last, every other beast seemed to be helping after all. It had occurred to her that staying back here in the gardens, they would probably throw another feast again after the dibbun had recovered. At the least, she should go along with it, the garden was her domain after all.

She turned to the others. "I will be quick, I know that speed is of the essence," she remarked as she turned, quickly making her way into the stairway, her feet making light thuds as they clambered up the stairs. Luckily, she wouldn't have to search hard for what she needed, as she entered her room. It was right where she'd left it, underneath the bed in her room. Jaskia bent down to get it, tucking the scroll underneath her arm, breathing a sigh of relief as it was still intact. Quickly then, she'd run back down, time was of the essence after all.

Jaskia reached the bottom again, breathing heavily, she wasn't a youngbeast, but she'd hold the scroll tight. "Do you all remember last summer? Mrs. Flowers...you might remember it actually. We were digging the patch for some cabbage, and I had asked you and the other moles for a spot of assistance?

"We discovered a tunnel under the garden. How deep I don't recall, but it was bad enough that we couldn't cover it up right away. Not enough to stop creatures from falling in. So, what happened was an extension to the shed was built, just enough to cover the hole..."

She passed the map around to the rest of them, so that they could all get a feel for what it contained. She was met with a murmur of thanks from the other beasts. Nibs looked at her with an approving nod, but all the same, he still had a question. "If you have a key for this shed, it would be most helpful for us."

Jaskia blinked, nodding again as she patted the satchel that she had over her shoulder. She'd been carrying it when she was called into the emergency meeting, and she still had it here. Granted, she hadn't thought that she would be separated long from the gardens when she had gotten the call, but it seemed now that she would be quite busy. She held out the key to them.

"If Acer be in th' tunnels, thurr be nobeast better'n a moler t'look furr 'ee," Mrs. Flowers replied.

Jaskia knew that everybeast must be thinking it too, all on their minds. The worst possible thing that anybeast could think of: a dibbun alone, scared, unsupervised, and in possible peril.

Jaskia would start walking with them, whether she knew it or not, she was definitely on her way to guiding them out of the abbey proper, and onto the grounds. As they walked, Jaskia started talking to distract herself, as well as to inform them. "The tunnels are quite large, at the bare minimum, there is about space for four or five beasts to walk with ease once you get inside. The entrance is big enough for one or two beasts at a time to enter, and that's why we had to cover it up, it was just too big to fully make sure that it wouldn't pose a danger to the rest of the Abbey."

"I know I said I would help you search... I'm going to go down there with you too." She saw the other beasts giving her looks, and she could understand where they were coming from. "I know...I spend a lot of time in the gardens, but it's my abbey too, and I'd like to be a part of this." Indeed, that was how she could be a part of things a bit more, by putting her best effort here to helping find Acer, getting him safely home.

They walked through the gardens on their way to the shed, as Jaskia guided them through, getting the key ready, as she would see the lean-to up against the larger shed. It was definitely smart to get more acquainted with what they needed, as she would turn to them again, unlocking the main shed. "I don't know what we'll find in there, but as for myself, I'm just going to get myself a tool," she said, as she would unlock it, taking out a rake. It wasn't much, but it made her feel a tad more comfortable as she stood there with the rest of them.

Then, Jaskia unlocked the lean-to, propping it open, so that the others could see inside. There it was, the entrance, the heavy wooden door , and behind it the Hole itself. The Door had been erected to try and prevent whoever entered from immediately falling in, at the very least. However, they would need to head down this dark path, whether they liked it or not.

Looking them over, she could see that Nibs already had a spade, Tim had his kitchen utensils,...the others didn't seem like they'd need any, especially not Mrs. Flowers. "We're all set to go then? I'll just lock things up here," She remarked, closing the shed tools' door, and heading over to the lean-to, she paused at the door so that they could all decide who went first. Not that she was thinking she'd go first, the danger itself was still very much dwelling in her head.

Finally though, she headed through it, despite whatever misgivings she might have. Her fur was standing up almost, as she entered through the tunnel mouth, biting down on her lower lip, as she knew that this, was the point of no return. Well, maybe that point had already passed some time ago, back when she had been originally deciding whether or not she was going to go down.

"Nothing to do but go forward", she sighed as she immediately noticed just how dark it was down here. Jaskia was a gardener, she always had to be around sunlight, feel the soil under her paws...there was nothing quite like that, but here,she couldn't put her paw on why. The Space seemed to close around her.. Turning to Nibs, she couldn't help an involuntary shudder.

She didn't even like going down to the cellars, which was perhaps why she hadn't interacted with Nibs all too often, as she looked around, trying to stay close to the light, holding her rake at the ready. "Well...if there's any place for an escaped dibbun to be...this is probably it," she said with a sigh of defeat, as she looked down the long dark of the tunnel.