The strange appearances and news of a festival was strange, but Cerberus had less to attend to now that he wasn't in his heir position for Fenmyre. Maybe it was more he just felt less inclined to impress, not that he really ever had that bearing down on him. He still did near the same duties here as he had back home and he supposed he was still always in training. But everything felt different. He was sure Ruse was looking for the best ways to spend her time too.

He had met up with Ruse outside of their dens with a few supplies for their crafting of the things they would offer for the festival. Not that he was much excited for it, but honestly more time with his sister who followed him here was worth any of his time.

He thought it would be easier for her to craft together the spears while he tended to the busted up shield he had come across. He was more for brute strength of course. But first they had to draw together the beads on leather strings for their matching set of spears and shield. He'd lay down at a V angle with Ruse before starting work on the near jewelry-like task. His paws were large but he had trained himself how to make use of them in more delicate tasks like this.

"Cerberus"

Ruse settled in with her brother as they set to work on decorating a few old and beaten up weapons to make them far more festive—and less splintered perhaps. She didn't really know what to think of the news of a feast that had been going around and honestly she wondered if it was all a hoax, but either way she always liked having a little project or task to do with Cerberus. Now that their present family was far smaller than in had been in Fenmyre she found herself spending more and more time with Cerberus, partially because she just naturally gravitated toward being with family and partially because she just enjoyed his company. Together they began to string the collection of beads they had gathered onto leather chords, making decorative strands to hang from their spears and shield.

"I brought some paints too if you want me to add a little color to your shield," she mentioned with a nod to the basket she had brought along. She had spent a bit of time chatting with the eldest daughter of the Matriarch and discovered that the heiress had a much deeper love for crafts than herself. As soon as Ruse had mentioned this project they were planning she had come up with all kinds of supplies to offer her to help. Everything from paints and brushes to adhesives to tools that looked like they were small hammers, chisels, and the like. She certainly didn't want to turn down what was obviously a thoughtful gift so she brought them along even if she didn't really know what all Cerberus had planned.

"Rusalka Alondra Klein"

Cerberus looked over to the basket that Ruse had mentioned, smiling a little to her offer, "We can paint them together." His eyes diverted down to the leather laces he was colorfully beading and once that seemed adequate he would go to move on.

Standing just for a moment so he could go through Ruse's supplies, he pulled out a chisel and rejoined her with the spear heads. "So what I usually do with these," He placed the chisel about a third of the way up on the opposite side of the point, using a bit of pressure to chip a portion of the spear head out, "Is make a little divot on each side, that way the ties have a little bit to grasp onto." He'd put the chisel down for her to try it herself on the second spear head. He shuffled around in her tools again to find a couple worn whetstones and handing her one to shape and sharpen up the tips of the spears. He would work on the shield while she did all of that.

He had to use quite a bit of force to get the iron around the shield a little more straight, nearly jumping on his paws to bend and pop it just about where he wanted. Afterward he'd take his own whetstone and start shaving down at the edges. At least to get them even with the shield itself and give it a little bit of dimension. Next would be the more decorative steps of their crafting. The painting and lacing.

"Cerberus"

Ruse grinned as Cerberus agreed to her idea of painting the shield and even more when he said they could paint it together. She nodded and looked back down at their work, helping with these decorative strings until her brother was ready to move on. After he had retrieved the chisel and returned to her with the spear head, she focused in on what he was demonstrating for her and taking in the information closely. Cerberus had always been good at teaching her things like this and she enjoyed his calm approach to pretty much everything they did together. When he handed off the second one for her to replicate she followed his lead, chipping away a small bit on either side to make a place for them to tie it to the pole part of the spear. She showed it to him to make sure it was correct and then as he pulled out the whetstones to sharpen them with she went to work, sliding the tool across the edges of the sharp stones to make them even more sharp.

It took a few tries for her to get a handle on the movement and grip the task needed, but she got there eventually and by the time she got through the second spear head it felt a lot more natural. The pieces of hard stone were whittled down to sharp edges all along the sides of them and they came to tapered points. She didn't know exactly how you fought with a spear, but she could imagine that these would be very painful if you got stabbed with them! While she was doing this she had heard Cerb working on the shield with heavy bangs to get it back into shape and when she looked up from her own work he had just about gotten it back into a smoother, more even shape that she figured was probably pretty reminiscent of what it had looked like once upon a time. Now they got to do the fun part. She smiled and picked up the paints that she had been given, setting out pots of black, red, white, green, and blue paints. "What do you think we should put on it?" she asked curiously as she pulled out a few brushes.

"Rusalka Alondra Klein"

He was impressed as Ruse continued on her task with the spears but he'd expect nothing less of her. She was of their father's blood, and he admired all of his siblings in their own way. Just about when he was done getting the shield all back in shape Ruse was there ready to start the painting. He could tell it was something she was looking forward to.

He smiled gently at her as she asked, and without really asking her he stepped forward to grab a brush, "Well," He'd dip into the white paint and start an outline on the top part of the shield, and then a mirrored line onto the other side in black. It was maybe a little reminiscent of her, but it was mostly made into the shape and colors of their father. At least the top outline that showed the ears and head of a wolf and was split into that chimeric black and white. He wanted to leave plenty of space so Ruse could come up with her own ideas, but really the face of Chimera would have fit pretty well with the Cerberus statue they would be sharing the spears and shield with. "What do you think?" He looked to her with a cheeky grin, as if she wouldn't have any objections. Their work would be nearly done, but painting it would surely take the longest.

"Cerberus"

Cerberus took the paint brush and didn't say much as he began to paint his idea on the shield. It took her a moment to catch on to what he was doing, but soon the form of a wolf's face took shape with the distinct black and white coloration of their father splitting the image in half. A wistful grin pulled at her lips while she watched him work, seeing the outline that was reminiscent of Chimera's coloration come to life on the surface of the shield. She wondered how their family was doing. Was their father getting better wherever they were? Did they think about her as much as she thought about them? She cared about all of their family, but she had been especially close to her father and mother so being away from them now had been quite the adjustment. Luckily Cerberus was making it a little easier and she was enjoying the time she spent with him.

When he asked her for her opinion she glanced up at him with a grin and nodded. "It's perfect." She looked at the shield for a bit before she picked up another brush and used the red and white paints to make a decorative border around the outer edge of the shield and then mixed a bit of the white and red together to paint a few pale pink flowers on the edges of the outline of Chimera's face since they reminded her of the color of his one eye that they shared. With her additions completed she leaned back to admire their work for a moment before nodding with finality and turning instead to the beaded strings they had put together, returning to their mostly finished spears to tie several of the strings onto the top of each one, making them far more flashy and pretty than they would have been otherwise.

"Rusalka Alondra Klein"