Despite not being chosen to compete for the position of heir Indigo knew that he needed to step up and take on some puppy responsibilities. He was getting big, tall, gangly, and his fur was growing! Along his scruff and up to his forehead his mane was developing. He still didn’t know how full the thick fur would come in, but for now he boasted a mohawk and the beginning hints of a goatee.

He tried to hold his head high, feeling proud that he had been given a task to begin with. His father liked to give him little assignments but this time it seemed more important. The boy’s vivid violet tail wagged absently at his hips as he looked for his partner. He wanted to make some alcohol for his aunty, and he knew that fruit would be near impossible to find so he’d managed to acquire some honey for the sugar alcohol. Hopefully Iolaire would be able to use it in her healing work.

”Malalia?” He called out finally as he had trouble finding her. He remembered her from right after the raid, and had seen the bond she had with his brother and hoped he might make a friend too.

Striding across the snowy plains, Mal went careening around the corner, nearly crashing into Indigo in the process. Luckily she screeched to a halt before she did, slamming her forepaws to break her progress, though a little flurry of snow went up anyhow. "Sorry, sorry!" The young woman finally arrived a few minutes after they'd agreed to meet. She'd been training on the Sea's Plain, as usual, and Mal thought she'd had enough time to finish up before they met.

Then she'd looked up and realized where she was supposed to be.

The tawny girl gave a friendly wish of her tail, head tilting slightly as she grinned at the taller boy. "Hey, Indigo. Ready to start?" She'd never had any encounters with alcohol, much less made it from scratch, but hey, it was a first for everything. Today, they'd be making it with honey.


[ooc: So so so sorry I'm finally replying to this!!! I had no idea the deadline was yesterday but I just saw that Sea extended it, luckily. I'll definitely be around all day to complete it >.<]

Indy stood up straighter as the young she wolf came barreling towards him. He was huge for a puppy, and already was gaining in inches on the older yearling. She apologized as soon as she saw him, sending up a flurry of snow into the boy’s newly formed mohawk. They both knew what they were there for, and Indigo nodded his huge violet head in answer. ”You c’n call me Indy if you want.” He offered with perked ears and a wag of his tail. Indigo seemed too formal between friends, and he really wanted to be friends. He felt like the black sheep of the family already, he wanted more friends. He wanted to feel like he fit in.

”Aunty Io helped me get everything set up…” he started softly as he aimed to lead the way to a laid out old hide. The honey was in makeshift containers along with jars of water, and the secret ingredient of yeast. ”Do you know what to do?” He asked with a subtle tilt of his head in curiosity.

"Indy, then." She grinned, giving her own little tail-wave. Perhaps Indigo was a touch formal, but it was a nice name to her, anyway. Her own was a bit of a mouthful, she knew, and he was welcome to use a nickname or the whole thing.

She shook her head in answer, and sat before the array of honey, yeast, and water, curiously looking over the ingredients. "I think the general idea is to just mix it all together and wait? That's all I've got, though," she chuckled. Her encounters with alcohol had been few and far in between. It was a curious thing that stripped you of your logic, your senses, your basic coordination.... She chuckled inwardly at the memory of watching squirrels nibble at the squishy, fermented fruit beneath berry bushes, amused when they ran in place or tripped over their own paws.

"So what do we do?"

She agreed to call him Indy and the young boy smiled softly as his tail continued to wag. He wasn’t sure what kind of nickname he might have for her, she didn’t seem opposed but she didn’t say anything for a shortening either. Indy didn’t often make hasty decisions anyway, so he decided to think about it.

”I think so.” He lowered his ears, showing his lack of confidence in his ability. He was a good listener though and retained the knowledge even if he was cautious about his recollecting. He moved over to the biggest receptacle, which was empty at that moment. ”I’ve never done it before.” Indy confessed, ”But I guess it’s easy?” He rolled the large jar closer to the supplies. ”Uh, honey first. Then fill the rest with water, and add the yeast.” He nodded to himself. ”I’m not sure how to seal the jar though.” Then they waited.

Well, dang. They both had zero experience with making booze. Indy wasn't the only one feeling under-confident in this, and her ears planed back uncertainly. Mal just didn't want to mess up, or worse, get someone sick with making their concoction. But ... the process sounded simple enough. Wasn't it?

Well, there was nothing to it but actually doing it. Mal checked with Indy first before taking a jar of the honey and emptying it out into the receptacle that Indy had rolled forward. Once that was done, she started on a second jar, watching the golden liquid puddle into the container. Her brows furrowed slightly as the younger wolf posed the question of actually sealing it. "Ahh... maybe we can find some tanned deer skins and cover the opening with it?" She flicked her ears, laying down the now-empty jar of honey, and swung her gaze to Indy. "And use a strip of leather to tie off the top."

Indigo wasn’t quite as nervous about messing up, if they didn’t quite manage to finish their goal to perfection at least it could be used to clean wounds if not to drink. Indy watched and held the second jar steady as Malalia poured the honey into the jar, they’d repeat the process with a second one and she offered her suggestion on sealing their concoction.

”That would probably work.” Actually he wasn’t even completely sure that it would, he thought for a long moment, his disproportionate paw at his chin as he visibly displayed his thinking process. ”What if he coated the leather in bee’s wax too?” That would give them an even better seal, and if they had to sit for so long maybe it would help keep it fresh.

While the boy took a moment to think, Mal simply hummed, and continued to dump the remainder of the honey into the jar, moving on to add the water next. She watched, curious, as it swirled around the honey, only taking her eyes away when Indigo made his suggestion. She smiled lightly, nodding. "Sounds like a plan." Probably. She had little experience with storage or preservation, or... any of this, really, save what Riva had shown her about preserving some herbs. But she could imagine that beeswax would help form a tighter seal than the dry, untreated leather.

Mal tossed a quick glance around their station, thumping her tail. "Ah... do we have any over here? Do you mind getting the leather, too?" In the meantime she would add in the water and the yeast, unless Indy had any objections. She was happy to do either job, though.

She didn’t look at him very much, but he could see that she was focused on pouring the liquids. Indigo felt like he wasn’t doing a whole lot, but there wasn’t much to do beyond mix everything together. It seemed like keeping it sealed would be the most difficult part of their task. Malalia didn’t give him any hesitation in his plan of using the wax, he should have expected much in the way of suggestions. She wasn’t too much older than he was and his experiences likely were only barely less than her own.

Indy knew his way around Io’s cabin, he and his siblings were always welcome inside. So long as he stayed away from her danger garden. She had promised to go over the plants there one day, but for now the boy would respect his boundaries and only go after his intended targets. While Malalia mixed their liquids Indigo found his wax and some spare leather.

”Arright, I gotch eet.” He told her with his mouth full of said supplies as he spread them out on their picnic like place on the ground. They were almost done, and though the task was ‘easy’ the boy felt quite accomplished.

Once the water was mixed in, Mal bent down to give a tentative sniff of the yeast, only to pull back, ears planing at the pungent smell. Gross. But was part and parcel of making the alcohol, she supposed, and Mal dumped the yeast into the jar without complaint. And... that was everything, as far as the mix itself was concerned. As soon as they sealed the jar, task completed. Now, how long it'd take to ferment, she didn't know... but she was a bit curious to try the finished product. That was for another day, though.

Only a few moments passed between Indigo fetching the rest of the supplies and the mix coming together. Mal chuckled softly at his muffled reply, and took up the skin with a flick of her tail. Gingerly laying it across the top of the glass jar, she pulled down the leather tightly with her paws, sliding into an awkward half-crouch, and motioned for Indigo to tie it off with the rope.