Saren was tinkering around his den, there was work to be done. He remembered Eligos encouraging crafts to happen at the meeting and boy was he ready to hear those words. If there was going to be a festival where they traded their crafts he was glad he was here for it. It made Saren want to start working on all of the ideas he had been filing away. Using brain to tan hides, weaving things together to make things stronger, the idea of possibly bringing these ideas to life made the boy absolutely giddy. Saren stepped outside of his den and began to sniff out the older wolf who had been appointed as his mentor. He had met Aureus the one time and they seemed to be interested in crafting as well, maybe they could make something together.

TIED TO WHAT IS LATE, AIN'T YOU NOW

Aureus shivered, quickly slipping into the ravine before breathing a sigh of relief. A frigid northern wind had started blowing over night and it was continuing well into the day. This would be their first experience of a winter in Boreas and while no snow had fallen it was still colder than he was expecting this early in the season. Aureus had finished his patrol and decided to get a fire going. As he slipped farther into the ravine he noticed Saren.

"Hey Saren! How are you today? Would you be interested in helping me get a fire going?" He'd been assigned the boys mentor and while he couldn't help much with the healing he could teach a few things that might help. He knew healers would make teas and ointments and hot water could be useful in this instance. He was getting plenty of practice in building fires and could pass on what he'd learned.

Saren turned his head as he noticed the scent of Aureus coming down into the ravine. He had come up and asked him if he wanted to help make a fire. Make a fire? Saren was familiar with the idea of fire, but not with the concept of controlling one. He felt that something like fire could get out of hand quickly if you didn’t know what you were doing. He seemed a little shocked at the male’s offer, to him it was as if the man was suggesting arson. Then again if Aureus wanted to burn down the pack why would he come to Saren? Was it because he was new and if the pack burned down because of him Aureus would be left unharmed? Saren’s mind whizzed around with thoughts as was its custom and it was all very confusing. His first impression of this wolf must have been totally wrong if they were willing to risk life and limb to take down the pack. Should he report this? Was this something Eligos needed to know about? Surely he did if there was such a danger living peacefully within the pack. Saren’s eyes were glazed with fear as he stammered out “I-I d-don’t w-want to b-burn down the pack?” His stutter was something that he had spent time on while away, trying to speak either without it or keeping it barely noticeable. It wasn’t gone for good though.

TIED TO WHAT IS LATE, AIN'T YOU NOW

Aureus hadn't expected Saren's reaction. He stared in surprise as the boy stared back at him in absolute horror and asked why he wanted to burn down the pack. Burn down the pack? Aureus grinned and started laughing, shaking his head. "No, no, we won't burn down't the pack. Well, as long as we're careful. Here, I'll show you!" He scanned the ravine and spied a good rock. Reaching up he reached out a paw and dug around it til the rock slid down the ravine side to the ground. Aureus then rolled it over to where Saren is. "First thing we need to do is build a fire ring. This can help contain the fire and it can give you a nice edge to rest things on. "Aureus moved back to the ravine and located another stone which he flipped over til it was placed next to the other. "We just go one by one til we have a nice sized ring. Maybe a couple feet in diameter."

So Aureus wasn’t trying to burn down the pack,”Th-That’s good.” Saren stammered out. He was still baffled as to how the man thought they could control fire though. Fire was a beast all its own and he had no idea how one conquered it. He started to do the same as his mentor, hunting around for medium sized rocks to put in a circle on the ground. They would need a lot of rocks and Saren wondered why Aureus bothered to flip the rocks over to the ring instead of just picking them up. Saren tried this once before he remembered that rocks didn’t taste that great. It took some time, but once they had finished the ring of rocks on the ground he looked questioningly at his instructor. What were they supposed to do now?

TIED TO WHAT IS LATE, AIN'T YOU NOW

Aureus examined the circle of rocks and nodded approvingly. "Ok, to start a fire we're going to need something to feed it and something to start it. We'll want to find some large sticks or logs, some smaller sticks for kindling and dry leaves or pine needles for kindling." The tinder would catch fire more quickly and make it easier to start. He trotted off looking along the ravine and gathering sticks of various sizes here and there and bringing them back toward he ring.

He did manage to find one large branch that had cracked in two. Using his teeth he worked at the split until he had two nice pieces, each about six inches in diameter. That would make for great fuel wood. Trotting back with his bounty he set one piece down then fetched the other and set it down, stretching his jaws.