[ToxxicRenegadeAngel]

Bulbiferum was his formal name, but he didn't like it much; it was a mouthful to say, and although he suited his namesake - the rich colours of his hide reminiscent of the flowers he cultivated - he usually asked others to call him 'Lilyfer', which made for some interesting encounters, especially when someone was expecting to find a female by that name.

He lived in the fields which led up to the base of the Nori Volcano, growing flowers in the rich soil formed from volcanic ash.

[ToxxicRenegadeAngel]

His home was in a cave, carved into the rock of the volcano itself, and it was warm all year round due to the magma which ran underground. He had clawed the cave himself, little by little, and now had a spacious, if unusual lair to himself, the entrance of which he kept filled with thousands of flowers which would normally have required a greenhouse to grow, but which flourished in the naturally hot cavern, benefitting from the reliable sunshine overhead.

[ToxxicRenegadeAngel]

On this warm, sunny day, he found himself as he usually did, out in his fields tending to the lilies and orchids he resembled. He grew them mainly for pleasure, taking great pride in nursing the plants from seedlings to bright flowers and crafting displays out of them for use around the continent. A handful of individuals would also be lucky enough to receive his precious blooms, selling the popular flowers on for great profits, especially around Midsummer and Halloween.

[ToxxicRenegadeAngel]

He lifted a bright orange bloom to his nose and sniffed, inhaling the rich floral scent deeply; this particular species were his favourite, and a selection of them already decorated his lair in pots, witchlights providing them with pseudo-daylight so they would keep growing. This particular bloom was sweet-smelling, but the stem and leaves were tainted, and so it was with a heavy sigh that he set to pruning the plant, removing the bloom and carefully carrying it to the basket which sat on the ground nearby.

[ToxxicRenegadeAngel]

Dried blooms could be used for many things, though they would sadly lose their scent, and as he placed the orange bloom in the basket alongside the others he had collected, he thought about what they would become. The new chemical resin that he had purchased would turn them into gems, set in a clear plastic, or if spread thinly could make them into bookmarks or greetings cards if he pressed them first, and he was torn with indecision with what to do with them.

[ToxxicRenegadeAngel]

For now though, there was work to be done, and he took another deep breath of the gorgeous smell which wafted around him on the breeze as he returned to the row of plants he was examining. Each was carefully inspected for rot and other blemishes which would make it not meet his selling standard; those whose blooms were still healthy would be salvaged, as the previous bloom had been, but there were some which were too far gone to be made use of.

[ToxxicRenegadeAngel]

The bloom he now examined was brown and wilting, with black and white spots forming on its leaves. This flower was no use to him, and though it saddened him it needed to be removed in order to protect those around it from suffering the same fate.

He removed the plant down to its roots, and carried it over to the compost pot - a large plastic bin with a panel cut into the bottom, held in place with a stick through a set of loops.

[ToxxicRenegadeAngel]

He lifted the lid, and tossed the plant into the top of the pile, grimacing at the smell. Whilst unpleasant, the compost added nutrients to the post and containers in which he grew his own flowers, and helped boost any plants which didn't seem to be drawing enough nutrients from the soil, though they were few and far between.

When he needed compost, he would remove the stick and gather what he needed from the bottom of the bin, the stuff that had decomposed the most.

[ToxxicRenegadeAngel]

He would spread it on his flower bed, or wherever it was needed, and push the soil back over it, trapping the compost beneath the earth where the elements couldn't touch it or wash it away. He sometimes sold bags of it with his seeds, and was proud of the praise he received for it's quality.

It was a warm day, and he wiped his forehead with the back of his arm before returning to the row of plants to carry on.

[ToxxicRenegadeAngel]

Lilyfer beleived very strongly in the old saying 'honest pay for honest work', and working the land was as honest as you got. People had asked him in the past what it was that drew him to the volcano and how he could live with the danger, but he usually just smiled and said he was happy with a simple life.

He smiled his easy smile now, as he used a bit of twine to tie a wilting stem to a support post in the hope that it would help it perk up.

[ToxxicRenegadeAngel]

"How's the harvest coming this year?"

Vesta's voice carried across the field from where she landed, and Lilyfer glanced over with a grin on his face to see her waving at him from the edge of the field. She looked well, and he was glad to see her - she had been travelling for the past month, and he had wondered how she was getting on. From what he could see, she was slightly thinner than she had been before she left, though the grin she bore cleared his worries.

[ToxxicRenegadeAngel]

He stood up and stretched, cracking his neck to the left and right, before making his way over to greet her with an enthusiastic embrace.

"It's going very well, thank you - how have you been? Tell me all about it, all of it - where did you go first?" He grinned as she began to talk, and settled in to listen to her stories about the wide world she had witnessed after she left on her trip the month before.

[ToxxicRenegadeAngel]

"Well, first I made my way west to Roraldi Forests - the hot springs there are so relaxing, I felt like I was a brand new person when I left! And there were so many things to see - I flew over gorgeous waterfalls, strange rings of mushrooms which produced their own light, and some very odd trees. I thought someone had left a bunch of statues lying around, they looked just like they were made of glass - they even shined in the sunlight!"

Vesta beamed, and took a quick breath.

[ToxxicRenegadeAngel]

"Then I flew south, down over the Vast Plains. I saw a pack of Sahound chasing a herd of Zipala, with all of their bright coats shimmering against the pale grass. I think I saw a Gyrophant, but I'm not sure - I was on my way and didn't think to turn around until I was long past it."

Lilyfer was amused; it was just so like her to be so excited about what was around the next turn that she forgot to look closely at what was right in front of her.

[ToxxicRenegadeAngel]

"As I flew towards Aldrecht, I could just about see the ruins of the old Cathedral in the distance; it looked so sad and lonely, abandoned to ruin. I wanted to have a look, but the sun was low and I didn't want to miss my reservation at the inn, so I flew on to the City."

She paused a moment, to take a breath, and Lilyfer pictured her flying and spotting the Cathedral, and being torn between nosing about in the ruins and not being locked out for the night.