Significant amounts of his time, when not dedicated to the daily running of the pack and fawning over Kirsi now that she was here, had been invested in this grand project he'd been crazy enough to begin undertaking. It was only in the planning stages just yet. He'd been gathering sticks and tying colored strips of tanned hides to them to use as markers so that he could outline what he wanted and actually see it laid out before him instead of just in his head. The conclusion he'd come to was that he'd need a LOT of stones moved to make this thing. Staring up at the gnarled roots of the massive redwood stump, Ignatius held in the defeated sigh that threatened to let itself loose as he drove another wood stake into the ground.

Yeah, a lot of stone. Maybe he needed to scale back his idea? Or... hmm.. He had the basic shape of the arena outlined. It left plenty of room for the coal beds in the center as well as room for fights to take place around them. He just wasn't sure if it was possible to build the walls up very high without them crumbling. It was far easier to just use buildings that were already there than to make something from scratch apparently. He needed to do a lot of testing before he settled on a firm plan it seemed.

Song was still lacking when it came to meeting his new pack mates, even Ig seemed like a stranger. The Destruction put his mind to having a conversation with anyone today. The ivory giant took to a quick patrol in the gorge, and found a whiff of his alpha’s fresh scent. He veered easily, lowering his head as he loped softly in the general direction he thought Ignatius had gone. Soon enough his efforts were rewarded with the brilliant coated alpha.

He appeared at the other side of the clearing, Song’s icy eyes falling to the wooden stakes curiously as he crept forward cautiously. He took in his surroundings quickly and returned his gaze to Fyri’s alpha. He stopped in the middle, head tilting to the side slightly as he gave voice to that curiosity.

”What are you doing, Ignatius?” His tail wagged absently behind him and his eyes started to wander around the redwood stump. He tried to put the pieces together but found himself completelly unable.

The sound of someone approaching drew him back from his mental wandering through thoughts of what mixtures of clay and mud might be most effective to bind the rocks he'd need together, and how important it would be to get them right if he were to build anything very tall. Turning to face the wolf - Song, a man he'd had little chance to chat with since his joining - who'd walked up and give him a smile, walking closer for ease of conversing and abandoning the remaining stakes for a moment.

"Working on a bit of a long term project. Here, it's a little easier to see from over there," he replied, making his way to the massive redwood stump and scaling it with a few quick leaps until he stood atop it, looking out through the large, twisted roots to the shape he'd laid out with the stakes. It wasn't perfect, he still needed to make some adjustments and spitball more ideas based on how well he thought he could build up the walls. Right now the stakes outlined two oval shaped rings around the behemoth of a stump, implying the width of the walls that would encircle the spot. The colorful strips of leather used to make the stakes more visible flapped lightly in the constant breeze that ran through the gorge.

"It's going to be an arena of sorts, although there's kind of a long way to go before it starts to resemble one at all. Right now I pretty much have the size I want for it" the space was enormous, but it had to be if there were ever going to be more than a few spectators "However... I'm not sure exactly how to design it from here. It's a bit difficult to lay out any clearer plans without actually building it. But the walls will be sort of staggered on the inside, so that wolves will be able to be seated on steps and see over one another. And-" he leapt back down from his perch, making his way towards the center of the space where a few rectangular spaces had been marked out with stones and more stakes "Here is where the coal beds will be- have I told you about those before?"

The fiery alpha turned as Song approached, offering a welcoming smile as he drew more near to speak with him. The Desteuction straightened as Ignatius led him up an old redwood stump. Ivory paws scaled the old bark. He came to a halt just behind the ice touched man.

Song let his gaze shift from Ignatius to the land before them. An arena. Song titled his head with interest, never hearing of such a thing as described to him before. He shifted only slightly as he watched Ig leap down to the middle of his said planned arena. Coal beds? The confusion might have been obvious in his features as the man asked him if they'd been mentioned before.

"No, I dont believe you have." the tall Destruction followed Ignatius to prevent having to raise their voices.

It was possible that Ignatius was growing visibly excited as he prattled on about his plans. It couldn't be helped, he was still struggling not to be impatient as he picked away at the project day by day. Getting to talk about it a little bit with someone who didn't yet know what he was working on was rather enjoyable - it gave him the chance to see what someone with an unbiased perspective reacted like.

There was a flicker of a smile as Song responded, and Ignatius nodded, only pausing a beat to try and decide how best to explain. He'd need to introduce these things to all the members who were not yet familiar with the culture he'd come from sooner or later. "Allow me to make up for neglecting the subject then." Lifting a paw, Ignatius displayed the scarred pads. It was clear to even those largely inexperienced with wounds that they were old burns. "Where I come from, fire is a large part of daily life, for both practical and religious reasons. It's a symbol of many things, but more importantly, it's a key part of the training that most wolves go though. More commonly the warriors."

"It's believed that if a warrior can remain brave and cross a bed of live coals without flinching" Ignatius began while walking a straight line from one side of a marked out rectangle to the other, "that that wolf will be less likely to waver on the battlefield. Of course there's other times that we do this. Some wolves learn to dance across the coals, for entertainment, displays at festivals or important events, and occasionally during hard years when my people made offerings to the gods. Personally, I am mostly interested in using them for festivals and training purposes. It makes for quite a sight when you invite other groups to watch your pack walk across fire in the twilight hours."

"What do you make of these things? Like the ideas? hate them? I'm curious how many might be receptive. Of course, if you aren't as clumsy and hesitant as me, your paws won't end up like mine, I assure you," he mused. Hopefully the others would take to his customs well. There was still plenty more to be taught and adapted, more customs to be cultivated into something uniquely Fyri's own. In time he hoped to adopt pieces from what new pack members brought with them, to blend and mesh many ideas into something all it's own.

His alpha obviously enjoyed what he was about to explain, Song perked his ears and let his icy gaze watch the fiery form of the man before him. Her tuned, offering a paw. Song felt startled at the sight of the gruesome burns. Fire. An energy source feared by most animals, while he hadn’t seen it but a couple of times he had a healthy respect for it. He eyed Ignatius curiously, he didn’t know how he felt about fire being used everyday. However, Song could not deny his interest in how the man used fire to train their warriors.

Song’s icy gaze remained on his alpha as his paws walked the length of his intended arena before explaining the belief. He still wasn’t completely sold on the idea of burning his paws, but he could see the logic path. Song didn’t know about the gods or things like that, but couldn’t deny how impressive he might look over a bed of hot coals. Ignatius turned back towards him, eager to pick the Destruction’s brain on everything he had just taken in.

”I won't lie. I don’t like the idea of being burned. However, it does seem a sound way to test one’s mettle.” The ivory man looked over the area that would one day be a test of more than just strength. ”I think I’d like to see it done before committing to anything.” He didn’t want to show a lack of bravery in the face of the coals, but he also didn’t want to burn his paws. ”I do thoroughly enjoy the idea though.” He thought for a moment. ”When we race over the coals, can we be holding torches as well?” He didn’t know the specifics but he was sure when he added torches to the images in his imagination everyone looked more impressive.

Ig laughed and shook his head quickly, "Fear not, you certainly won't end up with paws like mine unless you're moving too slow. I hesitated more than a few times and didn't care for them afterwards." That, and he might have been pushed by an over-exuberant Sephira once and fell in the coals and- well that was a story to reminisce in another time lest he start remembering how it felt to burn the shit out of his feet.

"Absolutely. I should be able to demonstrate well before the arena is actually finished." he had to think a moment at the suggestion of torches. He'd seen similar things done, but he'd never tried to carry anything himself. "Maybe, once everyone who is going to do it has had some practice, that might be a nice idea. Although when starting out it's best to only have to concentrate on walking. Food for thought though..." It could be fun to have some sort of performance planned out for their very first festival.

Turning back to the stakes strewn across the ground, he sighed and moved to push the one's that he hadn't used yet into a slightly neater pile. "I think I need a bit of a break, this might be a little easier to map out with fresh eyes." Glancing back towards Song, Ignatius paused for a moment, canting his head before adding, "You know, it's a crime how little I feel I know about my members. If you've nothing else to tend to I'd enjoy getting to know you a little more Song."

The more he spoke to Ignatius the better he felt about the man, he was his alpha after all and that was a good relationship to bolster. The fiery man laughed with Song as he spoke his mind, and answered everything appropriately. Song even managed to give Ig something heavier to think about. He liked the idea of some kind of performance.

Song tilted his head curiously as the alpha shifted himself to put the stakes into the semblance of a pile. He mentioned that he should break for now and Song nodded. Ig looked over his shoulder at him, making mention that he would like to get to know the golden marked wolf a little better. ”It would be my pleasure, Ignatius.” Song offered the alpha as his tail wagged lazily behind him. ”What would you like to know?” There wasn’t much in Song’s short life that had happened, though his family history was long. ”I’ll be three this summer, I come from a land called Dimenticato and my family ruled a pack called Ahlon for.. who know how many generations now.”