CH53 Sewing at the farm
Alex danced around the dilapidated workshop. The harpy pictured the scene from Cinderella where the birds and rats made a dress for the step daughter. Dolls danced around, dancing between the spinning wheel, loom and handing other implements much too big for their tiny hands.
Fufi perched from the rafters. She figured out the song Alex hummed and joined in.
Merumeru brought pelts.
Edelweiss dual wielded a pair of scissors and created some leather strips to be used as thread.
Lily applied some feathers to some sewing needles to use as fletching. She shot them around the rafters and used that to hang the garment above the ground.
Rose danced around a pelt with her water gun, cutting it into the thin strip that would be perfect for a trim of a dress. She then fired a staccato of water shots along the length to create holes for the thick leather thread to be sewn into.
The scene resembled an early Disney movie. Threads spun, fabric flew, and shuttles moved back and forth, resulting in a sleeveless, ankle-length white dress with a soft leather hood lined with white and fawn fur, possibly rabbit. Despite not having ankles, the garment nearly reached the ground on Alex. Throughout the creation process, Alex moved with the grace of a winged ballerina. Ultimately, the dolls, Merumeru, assisted Alex in changing into the heavy wool and fur dress, which gave Alex the appearance of an arctic explorer.
Merumeru held Alex’s phone and Alex navigated through a few screens to bring up the status page.
Name: Alex Parker
Class: Magical Girl
Level 2
Sex: Female
Race: Harpy
Strength: 12
Constitution: 8
Dexterity: 17
Intelligence: 7
Cuteness: 17 (+1 from clothing)
Skills:
Cleaning: 2
Cooking: 1
Dancing: 2
Tailoring: 3
Toymaking: 1
Feats: Empower Doll
Spells: Animate Doll
Lesser Grow Plants
Traits: Mental Resistance: 2
Cold Resistance: 1 (+1 from clothing)
“This one has +1 to cuteness and cold resistance.” Alex showcased the new outfit.
Fufi and Merumeru nodded, impressed by the cute garment.
“Well what do you think?” Alex looked up to Fufi, then back down to the slime girl.
“It’s cute,” Fufi said. “Care to twirl for us?”
Alex sighed, “Fine.” The harpy smiled rigidly and spun around a few times.
Merumeru clapped. “Merururururu!”
“Merumeru likes it, I do too.” Fufi flapped her wings a couple times.
“Hmm, is this the quickest we have thrown an outfit together?” Alex asked.
“It might be. You are definitely getting better at tailoring.” Fufi said.
“Well, it looks like there is still plenty of wool, hide, and fur left. Let's make some similar outfits for Kaide and Martha.” Alex used a claw to drink from a waterskin on the shop table then got back to dancing.
As the sun began to set, Alex and the dolls completed two more outfits on the workshop table. These new designs, similar to Alex's creation but with the addition of sleeves, were suitable for both nymphs and humans, who, unlike harpies, possessed arms.
“I’m surprised there were so many tanned hides and furs. I didn’t think Bob and Martha had this much.” Alex looked at the scraps left over from what Merumeru brought.
“Ru ru mememe,” Merurmeru explained, pointing to the hides and furs.
“Yes, thanks for bringing them inside Merumeru. You were a big help.” Fufi gave the slime girl a head pat with her wing.
“I’m a little stumped about how to modify the carriage to work in the snow though. Did you ever see a snowmobile when you were in my world Fufi?” Alex asked the flamingo.
“No, what’s that?” The pink bird replied.
“Well it is like putting a couple ski’s on the front of a carriage then a track that spins on the back. You know like a tank’s track? Have you ever seen a tank?” Alex asked.
Fufi and Merumeru both shook their heads.
“Ah, how to explain it? You have the wheels with cogs on them that notch into interlocking plates. They spin around the wheels but make contact with the ground so they have a lot more surface area.” the harpy tried.
Alex poked the phone with a claw. A few more pokes and swipes the photo app was open. Scrolling through it, there were mostly pics of jeeps, forest and a few selfies. Alex winced when old Alex showed his face. Eventually the phone displayed an image of a black and blue snowmobile.
“Here, like this. See it is sorta like a sled but it has that metal track thing on the back?” Alex pointed and gestured at the cutely adorned phone.
“Ru?” Merumeru looked at the phone and squinted her blue eyes.
“Hmmm, it looks like a lot of metal. It doesn’t have a place for a horse to pull it.” Fufi stated matter-of-factly.
“No no, it runs on an engine.” Alex said.
“Is that like that magic spring that turns the wheels on the carriage?” Fufi asked.
“Um, kinda? An engine spins but not from spring tension.” Alex tried to explain.
“Hmm, we could ask the nymphs to make some parts out of wood. Do you think that would work? Could that make that track thing?” Fufi didn’t sound convinced.
“Hmm, I don’t know, maybe? I’ve never heard of a track made out of wood. The pieces move a bunch like a chain.” Alex frowned.
“Well you know what happens if two pieces of wood rub together a whole lot.” Fufi said.
“I know, it’ll start smoking if there is too much friction. I wish we knew some good miners or smiths. Yeah, it is a far fetched idea but I am worried we’ll end up like mister Pike when he tried to climb Pike’s peak.” Alex flapped in frustration.
“Ru?” The slime girl asked.
“It is a guy from my world. He had a journal that was famous about how he said his team could make it to the summit in a day. The next day’s entry says they would make it with another day, and so forth. They ended up giving up and going back down.” Alex said.
“Going down is always easier. Maybe we could get some sled things for the carriage.” Fufi said brightly.
“I suppose so, that’ll have to do for now.” Alex gave up.
When they came back to the farmhouse, Alex noticed another stone pipe in the walled off area.
“What’s that second one for?” Alex looked at the slime girl.
“Merumeru me ru.” She explained proudly.
“Okay.” Alex pretended to understand.
Dinner was prepared when they got back. Kaide set the table and Martha buzzed about the kitchen. Bob sat in a chair at the head of the table. Ki stood off in a corner looking at the window at the plants.
With some help from Merumeru, Alex offered the two dresses to Kaide and Martha.
“Meru!” the slime girl said, hopping up and down while offering the garments to their respective owners.
“Why thank you young lady.” Martha accepted the gift with a big smile.
“Such a nice dress.” Kaide held up the dress in front of her then looked at Alex. “We’ll all match!”
“Oh, I guess we would match. I was on a roll so figured I’d make some for you two. I was surprised you had tanned so many rabbit pelts.” Alex said.
“Did we tan rabbit pelts dear?” Martha asked Bob.
“Hmm, there were some pelts but I don’t know if we had any soft ones.” Bob seemed puzzled.
“Huh, I wonder where Merumeru got them then.” Alex looked at the slime girl.
She just smiled.
Everyone shrugged.
Ki cleared her throat. “I found some old records after searching around a bit. There is some info about that spot you seem to be headed to.”
“Food first, you can discuss plans after eating.” Martha cut off the nymph.
Kaide chuckled.
They made some small talk and eventually finished eating.
Alex, not having hands to help clear the table, decided to see what Ki had to say. “So what did you find out, Ki?”
“Well several generations ago when the hero was summoned to this world. That little town was where he started as an adventurer. But that wasn’t the first spot that he stepped foot on in this world. Some records in the church’s basement had reference to a shrine up in the mountains to the northwest. The hero was summoned by Catalina, the goddess of purity. He stayed there and was celebrated as the person who would deliver the world from the demon queen. They arrayed him in shining armor and he came into town mounted on a white stallion, everyone rejoiced.” Ki said the last part sarcastically.
“So you think it is a temple up there to the goddess of purity?” Alex asked.
Ki nodded. “Or at least a ruin. I haven’t heard anyone speak of that deity in decades. It might be abandoned.”
“Well, it is almost like we are walking in the hero’s footsteps a bit.” Alex said.
“Just be careful. When you leave the forest none of us nymphs will be able to help you anymore.” Ki sounded concerned.
“Is there anything up there you know about?” Alex wondered.
“Hmm, sometimes some demons try to sneak in. There are a few up there who cultivate ice. Most of the demons that have a death wish tend to come from the south where the occupied kingdom is. I don’t know if they even have a king anymore. Being a puppet government for the demon queen I don’t think many would give them classes like king or duke. How can you be noble when your lands are not even owned by you?” Ki explained, sipping some tea.
“Oh, one other thing. Do you think you could make something for me?” Alex asked.
“What’s that?” Ki asked.
“Well, we were brainstorming some ideas to help the carriage handle snow. Could a piece of wood be made in the form of a skis that could be used to move it across snow?” Alex said.
“Oh that won’t be a problem. Kaide and I can help out in the morning. This will be good practice for that young nymph.” Ki said.