Sky Mesa by the colors they forgot to read

for @Soto!!!

At first, Aderyn had mulled over whether or not she should even bother with the given task. Gardening in a creepy desert didn't seem like the most lucrative of occupations. Thankfully, the saplings weren't too evasive, and she begrudgingly begins the agriculture.

The yearling selects the location easily enough. The mesa has surprisingly clean water, and Aderyn is no poor climber. It's enough of a hike, however, enough to assure her no strangers will mess with her work.

Soto is strange, the coywolf decides. She almost pities him, in a way. The one-eyed man who's seemingly early midlife crisis forces him to collect bland leaves. Well, it ultimately isn't her business.

The cultivation of plants isn't a foreign idea for Aderyn, though the local flora is majorly bizarre to her. The garden is split into two small regions; one housing the specified sprouts, arranged in a careful manner. The other area grows with other, more vibrant verdure. An ever-growing crowd of seasonal flowers, and available berries. 

As the garden blooms, so does a new pastime.

things are quiet enough in luneshale soto is comfortable roaming. between fiamma and towhee, nothing gets by without their notice.

he climbs out of the shale and into the lowlands. the bite of winter here is lessened, and it is this thread of warmth soto pursues up the mesa.

there a surprising scent greets him -- he keeps his head low as he stalks, eyes searching for the familiar.

He is just in time, as the latest batch of green shoots has planted. Aderyn splashes water from the crystalline pool onto the nearest plants, yapping an overenthusiastic greeting. "Hey, over here! Hola! Hi!"

She bounds closer, careful not to trample the plants, searching his expression for any hint of approval. "Entonces tengo tus plantas aquí y las mías allá. Ten cuidado, por favor."

i am so sorry for the wait <3

it’s her excited yaps that broadcast her location; soto prowls towards her, ears tilting as she cycles between two languages. 

spearing between the glistening dirt was the first sign of cultivation; soto’s gaze widens as he recognizes the product, their gentle green surface glittering with crystal water. 

cómo? he asks breathlessly, hunching down to peer at the tallest sprig in the bunch.

no worries at all, I am also slow!

When he steps forward, however, something raw and wretched boils in Aderyn's gut. He bends over the plant like it is his- but it's not his!

She had raised it, tended to it. It is, undoubtably- MINE!

Demeanor drastically altered, the coywolf impulsively steps forward, snapping at the air near his snout.

his moment of awe ends the second he feels a shift in the air.

he looks up too late to see the stormcloud change in her demeanor. her teeth graze across one ear, splitting the tip.

new blood welts there, falling drop by drop into the freshly minted soil as soto processes what has just happened.

and then his eye darkens.

too long has he controlled his urges.

too long has he listened to juarez and nino.

but they are not here to stop him now.

soto reaches for her with a snarl, intending to see the life extinguished from her pretty eyes himself.