Beneath the shelter of the Ancient Oaks, Áskell set down his things while Ari found a clearing. A few patches of sunlight reached down to dapple the ground and though it was a chilly and windy day the trees provided shelter making it a pleasant day to start a fire and brew some tea as well as some black walnuts. Áskell was settling in well to his new rank of Shokunin. His focus turned from fighting to crafting and already he had a list of skills he wished to perfect as well as new ones to gain. Later today Ari would show him how to make ink from the walnuts they had gathered. But first… tea, and for tea they needed a fire. The duo split up and began to gather wood for the fire.

Kina

Day by day Kina grew more adventurous. She had explored a good deal of the maze but now wandered into the Ancient Oaks, the packs primary hunting territory. She wasn't here to hunt but rather to explore and examine the large trees that stretched up out of the ground. They were beautiful! She loved to listen to the sound of the wind in the leaves and she looked for a spot just just curl up and settle but that plan was quickly tossed aside when she spied another Tojo wolf. She had seen him before but never dared to find out who he was for he always seemed so sour and grumpy. This day the wolf seemed in a better mood and he was definitely up to something. She watched him set down a chunk of branch down before looking up at her. Oh! She'd been caught. Well… this was a chance to meet a fellow pack mate. Kina bowed her head and greeted the man in her family's native tongue. "Hello, sir. My name is Hattori Kina. May I ask what you're doing?"

Áskell was pulled from his thoughts as he heard movement nearby. He looked up to see a pale colored pup, one of Hattori's new brood no doubt. She approached and addressed him politely in their native tongue. After much practice with Ari, Áskell had gotten more used to speaking and understanding the language of his mother. Her question was easy enough to answer but it was then he wondered how to introduce himself. He'd already decided to cast the name Áskell aside along with the rest of his past. He hadn't quite settled on a new one but perhaps that was for the best for as he introduced himself the name that rolled off his tongue felt right. "Greetings Kina. I am Ono, Aka. What I am doing here is building a fire to brew some tea. Come, join me. I would be happy to teach you." He scooted the wood into a pile. "To build a fire we need fuel to burn. Ari and I are looking for larger branches and chunks of wood that can be broken down to fit within the dirt area we have here."

Áskell… no, Aka, gestured to a small ring of dirt where he and Ari had cleared out the grass and leaves that could potentially catch fire. It was the simplest of fire rings, without needing them to find or haul stones.

Kina

The man introduced himself as Ono, Aka, and explained that he was building a fire. Her eyes widened. A fire? Oh yes, she would very much like to learn how to make one for she knew heat would allow her to make a number of things. She also wanted to get to know the man a little bit more and figured this was a good opportunity to do both. "You mentioned making tea, are you a pack healer?" So far all she knew about tea was that it was a health drink. When she was sick she often got tea to help ease her symptoms and keep her hydrated.

While the conversed, Kina set about gathering branches of various sizes, mostly small though due to her own lack of size. She paid attention to what Aka was saying, noting the cleared off ground where they intended to build the fire. She watched as Aka set aside several branches. Between him and his macaque they had managed to break a number of the branches into smaller pieces. Kina and Yuki did the same.

Aka finished breaking the sticks he had before he looked over to see how Kina was doing. It seemed she was managing well despite her smaller size. He nodded approvingly then started arranging the wood they had inside the fire ring, leaning up the larger pieces against each other and then sticking the smaller sticks on the inside along with some dried leaves. He wandered over to his items and pulled out a chunk of flint. "By striking these items together we can make a spark. We want to try and catch the smallest twigs and kindling to start the fire."

He then grabbed a small steel rod. He set one paw on the flint to hold it stead with his weight. Then, with the steel in his teeth, he twisted her head sharply so that the steel struck against the flint. Aka did this several times, pausing to adjust the steel in his teeth until the kindling finally caught a spark and slowly grew into a small flame, eventually spreading to he rest of the tinder.

Kina

Kina watched as Aka pulled out a few interesting items, explaining that by striking them together he could create a spark. She scooted closer to watch as he took one item in his mouth and held the other in his paws. He started to strike them together and she gasped in surprise as she saw a spark. Cool! She waited with bated breath until he managed to create a spark that caught the kindling on fire. It moves slowly, a small flame at first but moment by moment it grew, until all the kindling was on fire and the flames started to lick up the large logs. "Wow! That's so neat, may I try?"