Work Text:
Fertile Fields
by Scorpio
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Scorpio lay in bed sleeping quietly in the night. No sound reverberated through her darkened house, no movement stirred the air. Slowly, gently, her brain waves shifted and changed as she drifted into R.E.M. sleep. Dreams and dreaming. Eyes moving restlessly behind shuttered lids, Scorpio's inner world awoke and claimed dominance once more...
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Pale luminescent mist rolled back away from her in an ever expanding circle. The few clinging tendrils of fog quickly faded to reveal the sun drenched meadow of wildflowers nestled in the loving embrace of a ring of snow capped peaks in the Cascadian Mountain Range. Looking around with slightly startled brown eyes, Scorpio watched silently as the light breeze ruffled and tickled at the riotously colored blooms surrounding her. White puffy clouds drifted by a brilliantly blue sky, forming and reforming into fantastic shapes.
A soft rumbling purr of happiness caught her attention. Looking at her side, she found her hand buried in the thick soft midnight fur of a jaguar. The huge cat was leaning against her leg, it's brilliantly blue eyes reflecting incredible intelligence and honor. Her heart was filled with peace by his very presence, and although she knew not his name, she named him friend.
Another sound caught her attention. It was a low pitched buzzing sound coming from deeper in the flower strewn meadow. The soft sound intrigued her, and without fear or caution she walked towards it. Silently, the sable furred jaguar padded beside her.
Only a few feet from where she had started from, Scorpio found the source of the quiet buzzing. With a delighted gasp, she dropped to her knees for a better view. The sleek cat gave into the temptation of a full length stretch before laying down beside her to watch the drama unfold.
Rising up from between the lush blades of wild grass, flitted the most enchanting creature that Scorpio had ever seen. Grace and beauty were pale and poor descriptors for such a marvel. Rendered in perfect detail was a man no more than four inches tall borne aloft by delicate iridescent butterfly wings that beat rapidly in the gentle warm breeze. Long curly tresses framed an animated face with sparkling eyes and full soft lips. No clothes marred his exquisite form, only a leather satchel with a single strap that crossed his muscular and lightly furred chest. With a gentle smile of welcome and amazement, Scorpio held out her hand, palm up and the tiny fairy came to land.
"What manner of creature are you, little one?"
With gossamer wings still fanning the air slowly, the tiny man smiled sweetly at her.
"Why, certainly you know of me? I'm a Muse, *your* Muse to be precise. I'm Blair, at your service My Lady."
Muse Blair gave a graceful and elegant bow, his soft curls sliding forward to sway in the whispering breeze. Confused, but instinctively trusting the fairy, Scorpio nodded.
"Blair? Where are we? And what was it that you were doing?"
Blair's smile turned radiant, the sun's bright warmth paling by comparison. He gestured broadly with one strong hand.
"This! This lovely place is the Fertile Field of *your* Imagination. Your companion there," the fairy gestured to the big cat purring in the gentle sunshine, "is the Guardian of your Hopes and Dreams. Aren't you James?"
James, the black jaguar, lifted his large head and yawned, his razor fangs gleaming.
"Guardian? What does he guard against?"
A frown passed over Muse Blair's beautiful features and he shuddered dramatically. Glancing around furtively first, he leaned forward and crooked a finger at Scorpio. Slowly, she leaned down closer to him to hear his whisper.
"Writer's Block."
Even that tiny sound was heard by the sensitive ears of the big cat. His sleek powerful body tensed as he became instantly alert. A fierce growl rumbled in his massive chest and his head whipped towards the left. Scorpio followed his line of sight to a large, broken and rusting metal machine that closely resembled a combination lawnmower and chipper-shredder. It bore obvious wounds from it's last battle with the proud cat.
Scorpio shuddered and shifted closer to James warm solid body. Turning back to Blair she tried to distract herself from the decaying form of Writer's Block.
"And you Blair? What do you do here?"
The tiny fairy standing on the palm of her hand flashed a bright grin, passion and excitement evident in his movements as he shifted his satchel around to where it would be easier to see.
"Well, as I said, I'm a Muse, so I do what all Muses do. I plant magic seeds in the Fertile Field."
Scorpio blinked, enthralled with the very idea.
"Really?! What kind of magic seeds?"
"Two kinds mostly."
Reaching into his sack, Blair pulled out two seeds and rested one on the palm of each of his hands. One was a glowing pale yellow and the other was a shimmering blue. Holding the pale yellow one higher, he gestured to it with a flick of his handsome chin.
"This one is a Tidbit Seed. When properly planted and cared for, it will grow into a Vignette Story. That's the main staple of the Plot Bunnies diet."
"Plot Bunnies?"
Blair just grinned and pointed behind Scorpio. Turning her head to look, she saw several floppy eared rabbits with delicate wire-rimmed glasses perched on the ends of their twitching noses. They were nibbling on bright yellow flowers. Scorpio turned back to see a sweet smile on the tiny Muse's face.
"And the other seed?"
Blair held up the shimmering blue one.
"This is a Snippet Seed. This will eventually grow into a Full Story Arc with Plot."
"Are they also a part of the Plot Bunnies diet?"
Muse Blair blushed deeply and a rumbling purr vibrated James thickly furred chest in what Scorpio suspected was the jaguars version of a chuckle.
"Well... The Plot Bunnies *do* eat it, but it's not a staple of their diet. It's more like an,... aphrodisiac."
Scorpio blushed as well, but she couldn't contain her smile at the thought. Blair nodded in apparent agreement.
"Yeah. Every time they get a hold of this plant, they start multiplying like mad."
He shrugged eloquently.
"Plot Bunnies everywhere."
Looking around himself, Blair tucked the two seeds back in his satchel and drew in a deep breath.
"Well, I really must get back to work. I have lots to do here today. It was lovely talking to you."
"Yes. You too. Bye Blair."
With that, the tiny fairy began to beat his butterfly wings faster and faster. Then with a little leap, he flitted off across the meadow, a low buzzing noise trailing in his wake. Gently stroking the soft midnight fur of her Guardian, Scorpio lay back in the flower strewn meadow and slowly began to drift back into wakefulness.
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Sunlight streaming in through the window, Scorpio rolled over in bed and stretched. A wide yawn snuck up on her and ambushed her before she could even wrestle the blankets out of her way. Wearily opening her eyes, she sat up and peered at the clock. Idly she wondered if she would have time to work on the new story idea that had seemed to come to her during the night...
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END