Twig had once made an obsidian knife with a man she met once. She hadn’t forgotten the way he looked at her or spoke to her. In the moment she had been flattered and a bit flushed but when she thought about him now she only felt a bit shameful. Still, the thoughts brought her to thinking she needed a new skinning knife. Somewhere between the volcano erupting and now she lost track of her skinning knife.

She settled in the plains, it felt good to be able to work in the place she considered home. Before her dainty paws were a couple supplies. A nice barkless branch that she hoped to fashion into a handle, a piece of antler shed collected from an old carcass, as well as some tanned leather. This wouldn’t take all that long.. she hoped.

Brandr was on the hunt for a good place to settle down and do some crafting. Ever since he'd met Tyrian and learned how to braid leather he was anxious to give it a try. By braiding the strands he hoped to make something stronger that could be used to hold larger bundles of furs or be used for various decorative pieces. He did want to use the leather to make something for Corentine but he wanted to practice polishing his skills first before trying to make something that he wanted to give to his wife, or his daughter for that matter. He felt he'd grown distance from Lucine but he wasn't sure the best way to go about closing that distance.

As he wandered he suddenly spied Twig. She seemed to be working on something and he felt it could be fun to work with someone else for awhile. He missed the company. "Hello Twig, is it alright if I join you? I thought I might do some crafting myself today."

Twig was about to begin when the sound of pawsteps caused her to look up. Brandr came into view and he seemed happy enough to approach her curiously. He greeted her warmly, it felt good to have a packmate approach just to enjoy her company. After everything that they’d gone through Twig more than believed she belonged here in Abaven. ”Please, it’s always nice to be in your presence.” She offered him with a wink. She knew he was married, but that was why flirting was fun with him.

”I’m working on a new skinning knife.” She wasn’t sure if he had seen the obsidian blade that she once carried. Twig repositioned her chosen wood handle, thankfully it had already been worked down where she wanted it. What would take her the longest was making the antler the correct size. ”What did you bring with you?” Twig asked curiously whileshe peered at his items curiously.

Twig greeted him warmly and invited him to join her. Brandr settled down, his neck gracefully arcing round as he opened one of the pockets on his armor and pulled out some strands of leather. He gently laid them down and began to sort them. He had a light strip of doe hide and two leather strands of buffalo hide that were darker than the first. He wanted to see what these strands looked like braided.

"Oh, a skinning knife? That would be very useful to have. What are you making it out of?"

Brandr carefully used his paws and his teeth to tie a knot at the top of the three strands so that they were joined together. he then pulled out a rock and balanced it carefully in his jaws before setting it down atop the knot to help hold it in place. "I have several thin leather strips. I want to practice braiding them. I'm hoping to make some stronger strands to hold my hide bundles to my back. Either that or I'd like to make another necklace for my wife.

"How have you been lately?"

Brandr settled down with his own supplies as he asked about her own planned items to make the knife. She wasn’t sure if her plan was going to work, but if it was only to be used for skinning and no real cutting it should have been fine. ”I lost my last one during the eruption. I don’t know if this one will be as good.” She admitted as she started to work with her items. ”I have this nice wood.” She offered up the decorative handle. ”and this antler piece that has been sharpened.”

Twig showed him that part as well as she used her clumsy paws to meld the two items. Twig took her chosen leather pieces and worked carefully to wrap it around the fitted pieces. ”I’ve never heard of braiding before.” As she wrapped her knife she watched him worth the leather strips. It seemed straight forward enough. ”And I’ve been alright. Everything that’s happened has been so hard on my nephews. It’s been hard to relax knowing they are having such a hard time of everything.

With the rock securing his strands Brandr began to work on the process of braiding. First he brought the left strand over the middle strand so that it became the new middle. Then seizing the right strand delicately in his jaws he moved it back over the center. This would be easier with Blanda's help but he had no idea where the silly raccoon had wandered off to. He paused to admire the antler and wood she was using to make a new knife. "You have good materials to work with, I'm sure it will be a suitable knife." He said confidently.

"I learned of braiding from a young man named Tyrian when I was doing some traveling." It had been nice to take a small trip when he was scouting herd movements. Brandr had a tendency to be a homebody. There was so much out there to learn. He gazed at Twig for a moment and nodded somberly. The eruption had been hard on everyone and he worried especially about the youth. "I've been wondering about them. I wish I knew a good way to help. I've been wondering how my own daughter has been doing with the loss of her grandmother and this volcanic mess." It had felt like ages since he'd talked with Lucine and he even felt a bit cut off from his wife. He knew they were both grieving, he just wished he could do something to help them.

Twig focused on her working, her paws were clumsy and she wasn’t entirely confident in her ability. Hopefully she would get a couple few good uses before she would have to rewrap her blade. Brandr encouraged here though and as she finished wrapping the tang to handle. She did her best to fasten them together, while she didn’t know how well it would work in battle. The main purpose of the knife would be to aid her in skinning the animals she caught.

He told her a little about his braiding, though she’d never heard the name of the braiding man before. Brandr offered his own observations about the boys as he told her about his own daughter who’s life had been ravaged by the volcano. ”Losing both parents, their pack… I don’t know what to do. Beat and Tempo are convinced they’re cursed.” She felt defeated when it came to helping her nephews. She sighed heavily, no matter how helpless she was she knew that she could come to the wiser male. ”I’ve never been a mom before. It just feels like I’m failing them.”

Brandr continued working on his braid, moving in steady, precise motions in order to achieve his goal. This first strap would be a short one, more of a prototype than anything. Soon he'd finished and he removed the rock from the strands, eyeing it for a moment. He could see where he needed to make areas of improvement but it wasn't half bad. It would work for a test anyway.

He listened as Twig spoke and let a moment of silence fall between them, a frown casting a shadow across his face. Brandr nodded. "I know that feeling. No matter what I try, nothing seems to do the trick. I feel like I should know what to do…" He sighed. "However, I suppose that's not being fair to either of us. No one at any point gave us all life's answers. The best we can do is keep trying. I hope that now that we're settled back into Abaven and the worst is over that maybe we can heal along with the land."

Twig wasn’t sure what Brandr thought as he let silence fall between the two of them. She averted her gaze, instead looking over her finished work. She’d have to put it to good use. Maybe a good hunt would take her mind off her deep troubles. If only she could convince her little nephews along with her. A soft sigh left her lips before she looked back up to Brandr as he spoke.

He was honest with her, the older man felt similarly to her. His family was troubled and he wished that he could solve the problems. His next words made her feel a little better, they shouldn’t be expected to have all the answers. Sometimes it wasn’t possible and you didn’t need to feel guilt over it. The fact was hard to really accept, but she tried to let the relief flow over her.

”I hope so, Brandr.” She said softly, letting her gaze lift up to the sky in search of the answers.

-end?-