Valdís had gone to the festival to observe more than participate. There was so much to see and so many wolves present it only showed her how little she knew of the word, sequestered as she'd been in Legion. Her world had condensed down to Ásvor and what did she care about anything else? Val still kept her girlfriend at the center of the world but with her new ambitions to climb the ranks fo Legion she knew she'd need to extend her knowledge base. She moved a deer hide bundle aside and added a number of small sticks to a larger pile, carefully constructing them. The autumn evening was pleasant and the lake seemed abuzz with fireflies as well as fish that were hungrily feasting. Next to her lay a couple fish she'd caught earlier that evening and now she sought to try something unexpected. She'd seen other wolves with fire. Some how they'd managed to make it and her fox companion, Jynette, through quiet listening had gathered some of the knowledge to pass on to Valdís. Now she would see if she could make a fire and perhaps see what happened when she put fish near it. Mostly satisfied with her mound of sticks she started to move larger stones in a ring around it though she wasn't too worried with the water nearby. "Talk" "You" Think

All the activity with the fireflies left her hungry more than tired. She'd spent a considerable amount of energy, so once she discovered there was also a fishing competition, she immediately got to work. She could take the opportunity to catch a snack while she was still competing with the other wolves here, and that was a satisfying thought. The ghostly woman traveled through the shallow water somewhat slowly, trying her best not to splash more than the waves forced her to or to disturb the fish currently in a feeding frenzy. It didn't take her long to feel the strange sensation of scales against the short fur around her ankles, and immediately her neck snapped down as she sprang into action. She managed to catch a small fish with her teeth and pull it back out of the water. This one was meant to be a snack, but now she had an idea for how many fish were available. She would trot back up into the sand of the shore and noticed the other female there building something. She wasn't sure what they were doing, but she was interested in finding out. She smiled politely from around the fish and set it down, allowing it to flop in place as she tilted her head. "Hello, I'm Moonlit Wreckage. May I ask what you are doing?" She moved one of her dainty paws to sit on top of the flopping fish once it started to get too close to the stranger's work. She didn't want to risk allowing it to freely move about and ruin whatever it was this woman was building.

Valdís continued to move stones into place around the little bundle of sticks and grass that she'd created for her fire. She wanted to have some semblance of control when it came to the flames. Assuming of course that she was actually successful in creating any. Thankfully there were plenty of rocks on the shore so she had a number of options. Trotting over to another good stone that was about equal height with the others she started using her paws to push it toward the fire. As she worked another woman appeared with a fish in her mouth. She smiled and Valdís smiled back, dipping her head in greeting. "A pleasure Moonlit. My name is Valdís Thyre and I'm attempting to make a fire. I've seen other wolves manage this and after much studying and a little luck I hope to be successful." She glanced at the woman's fish. "Are you participating in the fishing tournament?" "Talk" "You" Think

She was pleased to discover that the woman seemed just as friendly as her. Her bright disposition only seemed to be likable by certain wolves, but perhaps at a festival like this- everyone was a bit more open to some company. Moon watched as Valdis rolled the rock while she spoke, hears twitching idly as she listened. "Oh, yes! I am, or at least, I hope to. Providing I manage to actually catch more fish. This one is a snack, you see." She smiled and settled down on to her stomach, her paws perfectly placed on either side of the fish as it began to cease its flopping. "Do you mind if I watch and possibly keep my fish near you? If you see any flopping away from my pile, perhaps you could help me.. if it's not too much to ask?" Her head lowered as she asked apologetically and then began picking at the fish. Once she was satisfied with her fill, she dug a slight hole in the sand near Valdis and skipped back out to the waves in search of more fish. Once successful, she'd come to deposit one of her fish in the little in-ground fish pool she'd created.

Valdís grinned. "Fish make an excellent snack." She gestured to the two fish she'd caught earlier. "I'm sure you'll have plenty of opportunities to catch more. This swarm of fireflies is a feast for these fish. I've never seen a body of water so active with wildlife before." She moved to her deer hide bundle and pulled out a strange chunk of metal. She'd found it in the Veteran's Plateau clear back when she'd met Basilia. At the time she'd brought it back to her den as some type of unique decoration but she was quickly learning of the benefits of this useful metal. She looked up at Moonlit and nodded. "Certainly, its no problem." The fire ring Valdís had created would also help serve as a barrier if this fish started flopping about too much. Valdís placed the metal chunk on one of the stones near her kindling. As a final touch she added some chaga fungus to help catch the sparks she hoped to make. Taking a piece of flint in her mouth she whipped her head down at an angle to strike the flint against the metal. It took several tries and she still hadn't created anything. Setting her flint down she stretched her neck. "I'm not sure how wolves do this without breaking their necks." She took a moment to glance at the fish pile and though there was some twitching it didn't look like any of Moonlit's catch was making a break for it. Taking the flint back in her mouth she set at it again until finally she got a spark going. Tendrils of smoke drifted gently heavenward. Then slowly an orange glow could be seen. Valdís blew gently on the sparks until she had a small fire going. "Aha! Well, we'll see how long this goes for." Valdís tended to her fire a few minutes more before resting one of her fish on the stones near it, curious if it would warm the meat or catch the whole thing on fire. "Talk" "You" Think

Once she managed to catch another one of the frenzied fish, she would trot back up just in time to see Valdis attempting to use flint to start the fire. It was interesting to watch her move so awkwardly, but nothing seemed to be happening. When she mentioned she had no idea how wolves did this without breaking their necks, Moon laughed and set her fish down in the little keep she'd dug out for them. When the fire actually did spark, her pale eyes widened as the glow quickly lit up the area around them. Everything was so much brighter than it was a second ago, but the feeling of the fire's warmth was alluring compared to the cold of the ocean. "Wow, you did it, Valdis! That's amazing!" She admired the fire for a second, a wide grin spread across her muzzle. Without much more to add, she ventured back off into the sea again and again, returning to warm up slightly next to the fire, deposit her fish, and give Valdis a grin as she enjoyed herself. "Out of all the inventions I've thought up, never once did I think of inventing the presence of the elements. This is a very wonderful thing you've learned to do, Valdis. Where did you study?" She was curious as ever about such a thing, and couldn't be more willing to learn as well.

Éldi wasn't having much luck where he was at and so he moved farther down along the shore. He hadn't gone far when he caught the scent of smoke and saw the flickering of a fire. He froze for a moment, wondering if the fire was intentional or not. Following the scent of smoke he came upon two women. One was fishing and the other was tending to a fire. She looked to have it under control. Éldi had seen fires before, Valkyrie was able to start them. It was something he wished to learn but hadn't quite committed himself to yet. "Evening ladies. Just passing through. I wanted to take a shot a fishing that cove there." He walked past them a little ways down the shoreline to a small cove where he quietly entered the water and dove after a fish.

As soon as she strolled up, Moon was paying extra attention to her demeanor. She was happy to discover that they were also participating in the fishing tournament, immediately she began to dig another hole fit for holding fish next to her own.

When she was done, she found the woman and ran up next to her in the water.

"Hey! I'm Moon, I just made you a little pit for all your fish up there if you want to use it. I got one similar going for myself, but it's almost full." She grinned and got to searching for her next fish.

ooc: I'm good on Eldi's tries so I'm probably going to post only with Valdis for now. He'll just be off doing his own thing.

Valdís grinned. "Thank you! That was a lot of work but its very exciting… and also a bit scary." The fire was wonderful on this cool autumn evening and Valdís found herself enjoying the heat it gave off. "I'd heard rumors of wolves who had mastered fire and so I did some reconnaissance. I talked to several and from various snippets of conversation I was able to put it together. Of course some items I discovered myself." She placed a paw on the chunk of metal she'd pulled from the Veteran's Plateau. "I heard of wolves striking rocks together but one day while wandering around in the Veteran's Plateau I found this chunk of metal and it sparks far more easily." She was about to continue when a strange male entered their presence. She dipped her head in greeting. "Evening, go right ahead." The man appreciated Moonlit's offer but said he'd be fine and he moved on to fish into the cove. Content next to her fire Valdís pondered another item she'd like to craft, pottery. She'd seen wolves with jars and pots and things they'd found in the junk heaps to the west and other abandoned human locations but Jynette actually had experience in making pottery. Valdís had watched the process but had yet to try it herself. She got up and wandered along the edge of the shore line looking for clay. It didn't take long for her to find some nice ruddy deposits. Carefully she waded in then turned back to the bank and began to use her paws to scrap off chunks which she carefully rolled back over towards the fire. She wasn't worried about picking up grass and debris on the way. It would help the structure and she planned to add fiber to it anyway to help prevent cracking as it dried. "Talk" "You" Think

"That is astounding, Valdis." So Valdis was just a natural, got it. She lived and breathed this inventing stuff, it seemed.. that was the kind of inspiration Moon really needed. She had gotten so lazy and gave up on a lot of what she had wanted to accomplish. She often thought maybe her dreams and all these inventions in her brain were just impossible for one wolf to create... but here was Valdis, creating fire. Moon was still adamant on filling her cache completely with fish. She honestly did not know if size mattered in this tournament or not, having arrived late she missed if there was ever any sort of explanation on all of this. For now, she was just enjoying herself as she plucked any and every fish that she was able to catch right out of the sea. The male did not want to stay, so she decided to use the cache she had dug out for him for herself after adding her last fish into the first one. Just as she did so, she watched Valdis move by with a rolling ball of clay. What was she up to now? "Excuse me if I am being annoying, but what are you doing now?" Without being able to help herself, she casually slid in beside Valdis. Her wide, pale eyes inspected the clay as she trotted along quite benevolently.

Valdís looked up as Moon spoke again and shook her head. "Oh, don't worry about it. It's nice to have a bit of conversation now and then. I'm going to try and make pottery. I'll mold the clay into a shape that can hold stuff. When it dries it should be solid." Though it would still be fragile. She'd broken enough items to understand that. In truth she hadn't decided yet what she was going to put in them. It was more a quest for knowledge and a need to be useful that pushed her. Although, now that she thought of it, she'd love to gift a nice set of clay jars to her girlfriend. Ásvor practiced healing arts and poisons and Valdís believed jars would be useful. Setting the clay roughly onto a rock she started working it into a slab with her paws, carefully making sure it was a good thickness. "Do you do much crafting, Moonlit?" She trotted over to a palm and stretched up the length of it, using her teeth to tear out some of the palm fibers. When she had what she wanted she returned once more to the clay and started working the palm fibers into it, carefully folding the clay until she had an even distribution. The fibers would help prevent the clay from cracking as it dried. "Talk" "You" Think

Satisfied with his catch Éldi pawed through the fish, quickly eating the little ones. He'd save the bit fish for later but he wasn't going to just leave it lying around with all these wolves. He wanted to show it off to Kaler. Maybe that would shut the cat up for a bit about Éldi's supposed lack of fishing skills. Seizing the fish in his jaws he started to leave, pausing just long enough to nod a farewell to the women before he went on his way. Perhaps Valkyrie was at the festival somewhere and was interested in a fish dinner. Bah! Who was he kidding? She was probably a more adept fisher than he was. No, this fish was all his and he was going to enjoy himself and pig out for the rest of the festival.

-exit-

Valdís continued to need the fibers into the clay until they were well distributed. Next she carefully rolled the clay into a ball and began to knead and crush it before finally punching her paw into the center of it. Cautiously she began to clean up the edges until she had a shallow dish. Gently touching it with her paw she continued to touch it up until she had a decent bowl. Satisfied she sat back down by the fire while she waited for the clay to dry enough so that she could carry it. She'd likely be here all night and for a moment she was tempted to go ahead and try heating it next to the fire but again she decided against it. It wasn't worth losing the bowl to a little impatience. It was a lovely night and she could spend all of it relaxing by her fire. "Talk" "You" Think