Wyndelin carefully scooted another stone into place in his make shift fire ring. Evening was starting to fall in desert. A fire would help keep him warm and he also desired to smoke the meat from a young dall sheep he'd managed to kill. Already the flies were buzzing around his kill and as soon as he cut open it's cuts they'd amass over him like a swarm of hell spawn. He reached down with his front paws on another stone and started dragging it back, shuffling awkwardly on his hind legs. There had to be a better way than this. Digging out his tanned rabbit hide he set it down next to the rock then used his paws to flip the rock onto the hide. Seizing the other end with his teeth he then drug the rock into position and rolled it off the rabbit hide next to the other stones, completing his fire ring. Perfect! He'd started building his fire on the southern end of the rocks, close to Wolfpaw Lake so he'd have access to timber and sticks without encroaching on the territory of the packs that lived nearby. "Talk" "You" Think

Eligos was on patrol around the lake region when a faint commotion caught his attention. It was the clatter of rock on rock that drew his attention, and he stood still, letting his eyes rove unfocused across the landscape to catch movement. There - an earthen-colored wolf close to his age, dragging rocks to pile them up around each other. He was difficult to see, with his brown coat blending into the shadowed rocks in the dimming light, so it took some concentration to follow his movements. Eligos watched with curiosity for a moment before he left his patrol, making his way towards the other male. The stranger might not have been in Aerie's territory, but he was close enough to make whatever he was doing there of interest, and it was odd enough to intrigue Eligos besides. "Good evening," he said when he was close enough to speak in a normal tone, but stopped a comfortable distance away to not make the wolf nervous. He cocked his head towards the rocks, gesturing. "I was interested to see what you were building, so close to Aerie." His tone was completely neutral, carefully lacking in accusation so as to not put the stranger on the defensive.

Wyndelin panted as he moved the rocks into place until he had a nice fire ring built. Though, that was quite a bit of work. He was starting to wonder if he shouldn't have just dug in the dirt and made a ring of earth instead. Well, that would be an experiment for another day. Wyndelin was about to go off in search of timber when a voice spoke to him. Wyndelin jumped and whipped his head around to see a large, red-eyed man standing there. "Oh! Well, I'm trying to get a fire going. I was going to smoke some meat from my kill." He gestured to the young dall sheep he'd slain. "It's a bit trickier without my companion here. Do you have much skill with fire? If you could help me construct one and teach me a good way to do this I'd be more than happy to share my kill. I can move farther away if you need, I wasn't aware I was so close to pack lands." He'd been so intent on his own business he'd neglected to give proper attention to his surroundings. "Talk" "You" Think

"No need," he assured the other male. "You were simply close enough to have caught my attention." He surveyed the rocks his counterpart was making a ring out of - a fire circle. That made sense. The rocks would keep the fire contained so it couldn't make it's way to unintended fuel. "I wouldn't say that I am an expert in building fires by any means," he demurred. "I have seen my brother's fires, though, so perhaps we can work it out together." The first step was probably to continue what the earth-toned wolf had been doing, and keep the fire from anything that would help it spread. Eligos swept around the ring, scraping back what little plants life was there until there was a wide bare ring around the fire circle. "My name is Eligos Adravendi," he added conversationally as he worked. "What we call the Tiercel of Aerie, the alpha." There was no particular reason not to get to know the other male while they were working together. "What method do you usually use to start your fires, when your companion is around? I've seen wolves use a few different methods. Sparks, or friction. I have seen sunlight through glass start a fire, as well." Though that had been strictly accidental, when he was a pup in the south and his need to learn everything had driven him to experiment.

Wyndelin nodded as the man mentioned that he was familiar with his brother's fires. Any extra information would be helpful. He knew of a few ways to stack the wood but getting the fire actually started was the real trick. The man, Eligos, helped to clear the plant life from around the outside edge of the ring. As he worked with that Wyndelin started adding some wood to the middle. He set down two big chunks, leaving a gap in the middle. Alas, he only had the two that would fit. "Wyndelin Wreckage, it's a pleasure to meet you. I don't suppose your brother knows a good way to cut fuel logs? That's something I struggle with, I have to just go with what I can find." Kindling was much easier to find and he started adding sticks, occasionally chewing a few to make them fit. He did take a particularly bending one in his jaws and held one end low in his jaws while he stepped on it with his front feet to snap it. He'd still need to add some tinder but he paused to root around in his scrap of deer hide. He pulled out a piece of flint and then a piece of metal he'd found at the Veteran's Plateau. "My companion strikes these together. I can kind of get the metal in my mouth and strike it but… it's difficult." He'd also managed to bash his nose pretty good. "I haven't tried the glass method. Does it work pretty well?" "Talk" "You" Think

The other male, Wyndelin, brought up a problem needing a solution, and Eligos considered it. "I never thought to ask him," he said somewhat ruefully. He tilted his head to the side, considering. "I would imagine striking it with something sharp would not be easily done, but perhaps a friction cut? Something jagged that you can drag across it? Ideally it would be flexible so you could pull it from side to side like a walking motion, but I can't imagine what material that could be made out of. In the absence of something of that sort... perhaps an alternative fuel source? Dried buffalo chips, perhaps? Or old bones, once the fire is hot enough."

Wyndelin demonstrated what his companion usually did, then asked how the glass had worked. "It worked very slowly," he said. "I would not say well, though it did eventually start a fire." He studied the rock and metal Wyndelin had for a moment. "Have you tried... setting the rock at an angle towards where you want the sparks to go, and using your paw to strike with the metal at it?" He made a ramp of a stone by resting it against another rock to demonstrate what he was picturing. "You may be able to tie the metal on your paw, or grip it a bit in the groove between your toes and your pad..." He eyed the metal dubiously. "Though it may be too sharp unless you've got something sturdy it could rest against. Trying, and having it slice open your paw, would perhaps not be an ideal end to that experiment." Faint humor colored his voice.

Wyndelin was curious about cutting logs but Eligos hadn't asked his brother about it. That was alright. Wyndelin would just have to experiment later when he had time. He considered Eligos' suggestions. "I can easily create a jagged piece of bone from my kill." He wasn't sure about alternative fuel. There were no bison chips around them and he didn't make a habit of carrying other animals waste products with him. It was a shame the glass method had worked so slowly, not that it mattered for the task at hand. Wyndelin didn't have any glass with him, but perhaps he could mess with one of his bottles in the sunlight. Well, bottle. Glass was hard to come by as it was a human relic but it might be fun to try setting up some time just for the hell of it. His ears perked up at the other man's suggestions. "I do have some sinew thread with me, though you're right. I might be able to get my toes between the main metal band and the part that curves back." Bonus point for his delicate frame! Wyndelin wiggled his toes into the metal band and carefully slid it on using the claws of his other paw. He just squeezed in and it held well… which was both a blessing and a curse. This was not going to be fun to get off. Wyndelin nodded. "I'd never hear the end of it if I manage to cut myself. But maybe I can hold the piece of flint down with something between my paw and the rock." He trotted over to his kill and chewed at the flesh of the sheep's neck until he had a small piece of flesh in his mouth. The blood was sticky in the heat and had already begun to attract flies. Thankfully there wasn't to much fat but sucked at the piece of flesh just in case. He spat it down on one of the rocks of the fire ring then chewed it in half. He picked up the flint delicately in his mouth and set it down as well. After angling one of the rocks toward the little bundle of tinder he set the flint down on the rock then added the piece of sheep hide over the back half of it. He took the other piece of hide and carefully worked it between the metal and his paw to fork a little protective layer. He tucked one end between his toes so it wasn't flopping over and blocking potential sparks. Next he took his other paw with the metal striker stuck on it and started striking. A lot. Sparks flew here and there but none seemed to be catching. "Oof, this is a work out." His toes were starting to cramp from holding the bit of hide out of the way until he finally generated a spark to catch in the tinder. Wyndelin eyed the tinder as it slowly burned. He didn't want to blow on it for risk of putting it out and he wasn't sure about trying to wrap it into any kind of next with his clumsy paws. Instead he did feed a little dry grass to the spark til the grass started to burn then he set that new spark on other areas of tinder until at last he had a small flame. "Talk" "You" Think