Having no real purpose as of yet in this land, Sparhawk found that he had quite a bit of time on his paws. His nose led him to a strange place of black sand. The big man wiggled his paws down into the cool sand, enjoying the feeling of it between his toes. Content with his current location, he set to work. Up and down the beach he went, combing for driftwood. It took a while, but he eventually amassed quite a large pile. It would make a wonderful blaze. Taking a bit of bark, he shredded it and placed it beneath the teepee of wood. With flint and steel, he struck several times until the sparks held. Hungrily they ate the kindling. With a bit of breath and some coaxing in his mother tongue, the fire burbled happily, eating the wood. The red and silver man settled down in the chilly sand, the fire already warming the area around him. Taking up one of the sapling that he'd brought down with him, the big gent began striping the bark away, being as thorough as possible. "Speech"

With the polar bear taken care of Mæva had to decide if she wanted to work her way back toward where her father was or not. So far she hadn't heard him call for her and felt fairly confident she was within hearing range and if not she was certain he'd be able to track her down. Curious about the man who first appeared she picked up his trail and tracked after him through the snow. Mæva was pretty sure he knew she was following but she tried to be stealthy anyway.

When she finally caught up with him she found herself on the shores of a beautiful black beach. Now where did he go? Aha! A fire sprang up in front of him and she bounded over.

"Hi again! What are you working on? That was a neat trick with the fire."

It was hard not to hear the squish of paws on sand, but Sparhawk ignored it. Had it been a rushing predator, the sound would have happened in a quicker succession. As such, he wasn't surprised when the form of the youngling that he'd saved from the bear popped up. Casting a crimson glance sidelong at the girl, he chuckled. "Fire is good thing to control." Especially in the snowy north. When asked what he was doing, the big man reached to the side, grabbed one of the saplings, and handed it to the girl. "Makink spears." He never really used spears except when fortifying an area. With claws, he picked at the end of the spear until a bit of bark gave way. Once it did, he carefully peeled it down the length of the sapling before spitting it to the side. "We remove the bark, yeah? Is good to have smooth spear." Again he showed her the process of peeling the bark away. "What is your name, younglink?" "Speech"

Mæva couldn't argue with that logic. Fire would be a particularly useful thing to make. She didn't know how but back with the band she had a friend that could. Hopefully he'd tag along after her soon. Mæva settled down, resting her belly on the sand as she leaned in closer to get a look at what the man was doing. He handed a sapling to her and she eagerly took it, carefully setting it down between her paws.

"What's a spear? What do you do with it?" He mentioned removing the bark and she nodded. Her curiosity was piqued. Turning her head she reached down and started scrapping the bark off with her fangs, spitting any bits that got stuck in her mouth to the side. She then noticed the man was using his claws and she quickly shifted tactics. She started working her claws down the sapling. "I'm Mæva, but you can call me Mae." Her name was pronounced like maveric with an uh at the end but it could sometimes be a bit difficult for others to get their mouth around. "What about you, what's your name?"

The girl child was eager to learn and she took the sapling quickly, beginning to strip off the bark with her teeth until she noted what he was doing and changed tactics. She asked what a spear was for and Sparhawk gave a good natured chuckle. "Some people use spears for hunt. I use spears to defend." Sitting the first stripped sapling down, he started on the next. "Is dangerous where I come from. We put spears in ground, pointy end out. Bears not get in without getting a poke, yeah?" Crimson eyes glinted with mirth as he spoke. He really was a happy go lucky brute. After giving her name, Sparhawk nodded and gave his own. "Am Sparhawk. Good to be meeting you, Mæva." He spoke her name correctly, though his voice was still heavily laced with that accent. The red and silver man had always fancied having children some day, but he had never been one to force it. If it happened, it happened. If not, that was fine too. "Have rock." The big wolf thumped a nice sized rock in front of the girl. Taking up one of the spears that he had stripped, he held it in both paws and began sliding it back and forth over the edge of the rock. Pieces of wood began to come away and, slowly but surely, it took on the shape of a point. "Spin stick while you work. Make it even on all sides. Careful not to take too much away or tip will break." Now that he had showed her, he motioned to her rock. "Now Mae try." "Speech"

Mæva listened attentively as he explained what spears were for, namely guarding against bears. "Ohh, that's a good idea!" She'd have to keep this in mind when they arrived at their destination. She could make a barrier of spears around their den so they wouldn't have to worry about bears. Well, normal bears. She was still a bit shaken to have been attacked by a bear in winter when they were supposed to be hibernating. She'd never seen a white one either or one so big. But it was early winter, maybe some bears were just a bit slow.

He introduced himself as Sparhawk. He set a rock down in front of her and she reached out a paw to roll it over to herself before focusing on what he was doing. She watched for a moment before trying it herself. She used her jaws to move the tip of the sapling onto the rock then she let her paws take over, carefully working it back and forth on the edge. Occasionally she'd bend her head down and grab it for a better grip from which to turn it.

She paused. "Like this?" It wasn't a point yet but she was getting close.

He'd worked his spear to a point and tapped it with one toe pad to test the sharpness. All the while, he kept a red eye on the girl and her progress. She was a quick learner and he appreciated that. While he enjoyed children, he didn't like repeating himself too much. When she asked if she'd done it correctly, the red man took up the spear and tapped the tip just as he had his own. "Is good." Rising, he took the two spears that he'd crafted and, grasping the hilt of each, thrust the flat end into the sand. He positioned them at an angle with the pointy end sticking outward. "You see? Now any bear that wants to eat you will have to get through spear first. Good, yeah?" He motioned for her to put her spear in the ground like he had. "You are now showing me." "Speech"

Mæva's tail started wagging as the man said she was doing a good job. She ran the pointed end over the rock just a few more times for good measure than looked up at Sparhawk as he took two of the spears. She grabbed hers and trotted after him, watching as he thrust the unsharpened end into the to dirt. She grinned and nodded. This was a great idea!

Mæva stepped forward and eyed the ground for a moment. She tipped her head then adjusted the spear in her mouth. She sized the ground up, made one more movement then thrust the unsharpened end of her spear into the ground. It was a bit too low so she took it in her teeth and adjusted the angle. "There we go. How's that? This is a really neat idea."

Sparhawk watched as the girl repeated his actions and was smart enough to adjust the angle of her spear as it thrust up from the sand. The big red man grinned and nodded. "Is very good. You spear pro now." A deep, rumbling chuckle reverberated in the brutes wide chest. "Very good at keeping bears away. Bigger sticks used for bigger bears. Sometimes we use whole trees where I am coming from." In the far, far, far north where it always snowed and the land was eternally white, the polar bears grew giant and aggressive. Everyone learned how to make spears. "You keep these if you want. Just killing time." With a little salute to the young girl, he started off down the beach. "Keeping yourself safe, miss Mæva." He was off to find some dinner maybe. Or a nap. "Speech"