Áskell trotted through the steppe with the corners of a rabbit hide clenched in his jaws. The hide contained a ball of clay for him to play with if he could find a good rock to use as a work surface. Now six months old i was clear the pup was growing fast though his lanky legs and large paws still made him look awkward. His father had found a place beneath the larger stones to take a nap. This left Áskell with his magpie companion as a baby sitter and that suited him just fine. He had clay to play with and he couldn't wait to make a bowl and some beads with the help of his clever companion. The boy slowed as he spied a low, flat rock. Perfect! He bounded over to it tail wagging as he set down the hide bundle. After opening it he took one side and rolled the chunk of clay out onto the stone where he immediately began to knead it. He loved the feeling of clay and mud between his toes.

Calixta still couldn’t get over how freeing it was to be on her own in the way she was. She still returned to Praxis each night, and spent most days with her, but they still both often found things to occupy their time without one another. Today was a day that the woman found herself alone, but it wouldn’t stay that way for long. She spotted the young man up ahead, and he seemed to be working on something that caught her attention. "Hello, what’s that you’re working on?" She approached slowly, keeping enough distance that she would hopefully not startle him, or upset anyone who might be around keeping an eye on the pup. Her gaze drifted up from the material he was kneading on the stone to meet his gaze, curious about what he was doing. Things where she came from had been very simple. They kept furs, but that was about as creative as anyone got there, and while she hadn’t been around this place long, she’d already seen enough that her interest was piqued, and she was ready to start expanding her own knowledge.

"Speech" || Thoughts

Áskell mashed at he clay, separating the chunk into two pieces. He planned to make a bowl out of one pieces and then clay beads out of part of the other with the help of his magpie companion. The bird cawed gently to let him know that someone was coming. At first he thought it might be his dad but as he turned to look he saw a strange woman. Áskell didn't feel worried with his dad sleeping nearby so he cheerfully called out a greeting.

"Hi! I'm Áskell. I'm playing with clay. Do you want to play to? I can share some. I'm gonna make a bowl and some beads." He pawed at he larger piece of clay trying to lift the sides up into a shallow shaped bowl. While he did that he magpie started to bite little pieces of clay off for the beads.

The boy seemed unbothered by her approach, calling out to her with a greeting and an invitation to play. Her heart warmed at the words, and she moved in closer, taking a seat on the other side of the rock he was working at. "I’m Calxita, and I’d love to play." She watched for a moment as he worked at the clay. This kind of thing was not a common proactive wher she was from, but she had met many loners and those from other packs who had been willing to trade items like what the boy was working on. She’d always wondered how they did it, and was eager to have a chance to try it for herself.

She reached with a paw for a small bit of clay that his bird had already bit off and began to roll it gently on the stone. "Thank you for sharing with me, Askell. If you don’t mind me asking, where do you find clay around here?" She would be interested to find some of her own, and perhaps show her sister. Her paw moved back and forth and side to side, and she paid attention to the way the shape of the clay beneath her paw seemed to change depending on which way she moved.

"Speech" || Thoughts

"Ok, here let me get you some clay to!" He grabbed a chunk of unused clay and scooted it toward the woman, Callixta, so that she could make something things with.

Áskell worked on shaping the bowl, using his paws to round out the top of the bowl. He was getting better with practice. However, he realized he probably needed to flatten the bottom of his future bowls as the one he was currently working on wobbled a bit. Still, it would be good enough for now.

"My dad found it! There's a bunch of clay on the river bank just east of here."

Áskell turned his attention to the little chunks of clay. He started using his paws to carefully roll the bits of clay into sphere-like shapes. Once that was done then his magpie took a thin fish bone and started poking holes in each bead so they could be threaded onto sinew.

"Are you from a pack?"