The festival is almost upon the Hallows and Fern has decided to do some last-minute gathering. While the pack has a plethora of sticks and branches, the woman thinks that the bonfire can benefit from some actual logs. On a recent exploration of the neighboring dam, she had seen a few downed trees that would be perfect for fuel. With Rudyard keeping an eye on the children, she gathers her sword and a lumbering ax before setting out to the barn.

Once there, she hitches two of the pack’s alpacas to a large cart before leading the animals slowly down to where the white barked aspen trees butt up against the berry grove. It doesn’t take long for them to arrive at the first downed tree and Fern moves to loosely tie the lead off so that the alpacas cannot wander away. With her sword buckled in place across her back, the gray woman moves to inspect the section of tree closest her all while trying to guesstimate what size and thickness would be ideal to carry back.

"Fern Carpathius"

The bonfire festival wasn’t far away now. There were many preparations under way, and Mercury needed to wade in and see what he could do to help. He had heard of the rather hefty job Fern had decided to take on, and made his way to the Dam to see if he could lend a paw. He had spent less time with Fern then he had expected to since joining the Hallows - Especially seeing as she was half the reason he joined!

He found her studying a tree and trotted up beside her. “Hello Fern. Would you like an extra pair of paws?” He asked, voice warm as he offered the sword-wielding wolf a smile.


"Mercury"

The gray woman sizes up the fallen aspen tree, attempting to do some mental calculations about the sizes of logs that will fit in the cart. A wolf approaches and, since she is deep in thought, Fern misses the man’s approach until he standing right beside her. Mercury’s voice pulls her from her thoughts and she looks over to the tall man with a huge smile. She remembers how interested he has been in her sword and had even told him to check out the Hallows when he had the chance.

Of course, she had heard that the seafaring wolf had joined the ranks of the Hallows but, with the season long honeymoon followed by the birth of her pups, she had not been able to see much of Mercury. Eyes are bright with happiness as she says, “Mercury! It is good to see you my friend! I would love some help. I need to get this” A paw waves over the tree before turning to point at the cart, “in there.” With a small a sigh, Fern looks to Mercury as she waits to see if he has any ideas.


"Fern Carpathius"

At her warm welcome, his grin only grew, and he nodded his head in an extended greeting. “It’s good to see you Fern. I hear you have some little ones running around.” He would need to check in with her at some point to see if she wanted him to do any training with them. But that was a question for another day. For now, they had a festival to prepare for. Which included the moving of a very large log.

“Well. you don’t do anything by half, do you?” He said with a soft laugh. He circled the fallen ashen tree himself. “Alright. I think if we get Solar to lope some rope around...” he paused, looking for something heavy and strong enough and nearby. “That tree branch, and we haul it until the tree is high enough to move the cart under it… that could work. What do you think?”



"Mercury"

A soft laugh bubbles out and Fern says, “Oh, yes. I have five healthy, lively pups for you to meet! I think several of them even want to be knights one day!” Her eyes sparkle as she looks to Mercury, knowing that he would be the perfect wolf to ask for help in their training. The dilemma with the downed tree is voiced and the tall wolf speaks which pulls another laugh from the gray woman. Brows lift as she asks, “Would you expect anything less?” The words are teasing as she remembers their first meeting with a predator.

Mercury circles the fallen tree and suggests a plan to get it in the cart. With a hum, Fern steps up to the tree and nods to herself. Lifting a paw, she points out where some branches poke out of the sides and says, “We can use the axe to remove those. That should help it fit into the cart better.” With a glance to Mercury, she then moves down to where a large knob where a branch once stood and pulls out the axe, ready to chop off the excess to make it easier to get in the cart.


"Fern Carpathius"

“Knights! Well, if any of them want to run a patrol with me, just let me know.” He told her. More than happy to help kindle that fire within any of the Hallows children. At the mention of her tenacity to do things big, he shook his head. “Nope. I knew that from the moment I saw you swing your sword.” He agreed.

“I’ll use my claws to strip some of them.” He suggested. He had no experience with an axe, and struggled to imagine getting enough strength and momentum in to clear the excess. He’d get some of the smaller ones with his claws, and leave her to get the bigger ones with her axe. As she started, he did the same. Extending his claws and scraping them along the tree. Running with the grain as he weakened small branches before snapping them off.


"Mercury"

A smile is beamed at Mercury as his talk of patrols and she jokes, “Careful. If I tell my kids that, you may never have another peaceful patrol!” The laugh that follows is happy and they continue to talk, Fern is joyful to be working with the tall man again. He talks about using his claws and the gray woman nods, confident in her own ability to use the axe. Moving to the first branch, she runs a paw over the white bark and says, “Try to get it as close to the trunk as possible. Don’t want to injure ourselves when we are getting it into the cart.”

Another smile is offered before she takes the handle of the axe in her mouth. It has been wrapped with soft leather and is easy to grip and her sword training comes in handy as she methodically whacks off the first branch until it flush to the trunk. From there she moves on, slowly clearing her side of branches and anything that pokes out and might injury them. Once the trunk is free of anything that might hurt them, Fern steps back and puts the axe away before looking to Mercury. The branch he had pointed out was left intact and she asks, “Ready to try and move this thing into the cart?”


"Fern Carpathius"