Come down, come down sweet reverence

Ahhh spring time. Jynn took a deep breath in through her nose as she trotted into the Grapevine Cathedral. Her mouth was otherwise occupied with a bag full of dried corn that she carried with her from Boreas for she had the intention of trying to put together a trap for larger prey. Most of Jynn's traps had been for smaller prey and fish so she couldn't pass up trying to catch a peccary with this newest invention she'd learned about from Coran. All she needed was a good place to set it up.

Jynn drifted through the cathedral, sniffing about in her search for a good spot when she noticed a tall, bendy sapling. Ahhh perfect! Setting her supplies down she used a paw to clear a spot on the forest floor before getting to work. Gathering a couple sticks she started using her teeth to strip off the extra twigs and leaves off them.

She hadn't been in here since her father had been killed. But she couldn't avoid the place forever. It was right next door, after all, and although it was a place of sadness and bad memories...she decided that she would go and make a memorial for him. To make it so that there was a little more light in this world. That's what her father would've wanted, wasn't it? Not to grieve and cry and be sad forever. No, Gavroche was a happier man when he was alive and someone who fiercely loved his family. What would he do were he still alive, she wondered? Taking a deep breath, she stepped into the covered woods and set about looking for a few of the things she needed. Searching the base of a tree, she found a few feathers scattered about. Her father had wings...maybe this was a sign? Smiling a little, she gathered them up and continued her search, but instead of coming across more material that she could use, she found a...well, she wasn't sure what it was. A wolf...? A fox...? She had no idea. Curious, she watched as the woman stripped some sticks. Oh, was she making something, too? "Sorry to bother, what are you doing? Are you making something?" "Speak"

Come down, come down sweet reverence

Jynn spat out the extra leaves and twigs before using her teeth to crop the sticks to her desired length. She paused every now and then to spit out the bark and run her tongue over her teeth. She just started using her fangs to sharpen the end of one when movement caught her attention. She saw a white figure amongst the green and realized it was the bear she'd sparred some time back. "Hello!" Jynn chirped in greeting. "No, no feel free to join me. I'm working on a trap for a peccary. They're a bit hard for me to take down on my own so I hope to trap one." She gestured to the sticks as well as the twine she'd pilfered out of a human dwelling.

"My name is Jynn, by the way. You're welcome to craft something with me if you have a project otherwise I'd love to get to know you better. I enjoyed our spar."

As she spoke Jynn set the sharpened stakes down into the ground in the clearing about a foot apart. She then handed an end of the twine to her jaguar Sævor to tie up in the trees, on the bending sapling she intended to use to help spring the trap. The heavy cat had to climb up a stouter tree and use her paws to pull the sapling over.

Oh! Of course! It was the woman she had sparred with before! How could she have forgotten her!? She felt a bit silly, but she supposed she had been so preoccupied she hadn't quite realized this was the maned wolf she had sparred with not that long ago. Jynn explained what she was doing, and Saga nodded in understanding. If she had a proper tail, she'd wag it much like the wolves did, but as it was, a smile and a nod was good enough. "Saga, and I also enjoyed our spar! I think I mentioned before, but you are the first uh...Maned Wolf I've ever seen. I didn't know there were other kinds of wolves. My mother never mentioned it, I think." She settled down with the feathers she had found, pulling out some leather cords she always kept with her just in case she needed them. She placed them within reach of both her and Jynn, motioning to the older woman that she was welcome to use them if she needed to. Grabbing one, Saga intended to use a couple of them to braid into a bracelet...or maybe a necklace, she wasn't sure yet. While she laid out what she was going to use, she watched one of her companions nosing around the base of another tree, uncovering a few more feathers, only these ones were patterned and very, very long. "Pheasant feathers!" her companion exclaimed, and Saga, enthralled with feathers of all types, shot an apologetic "excuse me a moment" look at Jynn as she got up to go look. Sweeping away more leaves, she found quite the assortment of pheasant feathers. They were long, golden in color, with dark brown stripes across. She wondered if this was a nest. Maybe one they decided wasn't in a good spot? Either way, she didn't think there was any harm in taking some. Carefully picking them up, she returned to her place near Jynn and set them down. "Sorry, I like to collect them...my father had feathers, helps me feel close to him sometimes." "Speak"

Come down, come down sweet reverence

Jynn considered the bear's statement for a moment then grinned sheepishly. "There are different kinds of wolves though technically I'm not a true wolf. Just a big canine. My companion over there," she gestured to Tahmores. "Is an Ethiopian wolf, and like me he's not really a wolf, just another canine. I think our fellows envied wolves and so called themselves such." She chuckled and finished tying off the stakes from the rope Sævor handed down to her. Carefully arranging a loop on the ground she stepped back to examine the setup. The snare looked like it was about ready, all she needed to do was to bait it. Unlike her rabbit traps where she tried to set it up along a path she wanted to speed up the process by adding bait to an area she'd smelled peccaries in.

Jynn gently covered the rope loop with loose leaves then nearby she pulled a piece of rawhide from her pack and unfolded it to reveal some fruit that was starting to rot. She tossed it nearby then licked the hide and repacked it. "There we go. Mind if we scoot off a ways so we don't frighten off the prey?"

Once they were settled a decent ways away, Jynn relaxed a little more. All there was to do now was to wait. She didn't think it worth trying to herd or frighten the peccary toward the trap. The bait would work as the bait worked. Either it would or it wouldn't and either way at least she could enjoy Saga's company. "Oh? Did your father wear a lot of feathered jewelry or did he like to collect them to?"

She settled down and listened to Jynn's explanation of what she was, and also what her companion was. Not true wolves? Huh, she didn't know there were other sorts of canines that weren't straight wolves or dogs. She nodded in thought as she carefully braided a couple of long strips of leather, weaving some of the feathers into them as she worked on making a beaded bracelet. Every inch or so, she would slip a couple of wooden beads on, and then braid a feather in between, and she repeated the process until she was satisfied with what she had. The pheasant feathers wouldn't go on this piece, but she had something better in mind for that for later on. Satisfied with her work, she slipped the bracelet on for size and found that she had made it just big enough where it wouldn't slip off her wrist. At Jynn's asking of moving away from the trap she had been making, Saga nodded, scooping up the rest of her material hastily into her pack before getting up to follow her companion away from the trap. She hadn't really seen a trap in action before, and was interested in seeing how it worked. The young bear did her best to blend in with the background, but the best she could do was hunker down as much as possible behind the shrubbery and press herself against the ground. Her ears swiveled toward Jynn and her question, "Mmm...sort of...he had wings of his own. He couldn't fly with them, but he would give me the feathers that came off." She whispered before her attention returned to where Jynn's trap was. "Have you caught peccary like that before? I've never used a trap to catch prey," "Speak"

Come down, come down sweet reverence

Jynn set off down the trail away from the trap. There was no need to be in view of it. Peccary were loud creatures and the screaming squeal would alert her if the trap was a success. She moved down by a nearby stream. Many prey animals would go to the stream for water and the presence of two predators might drive them back into the cover of the brush, where her trap lay in wait.

She bent her head for a drink then settled down to continue their conversation. "Wow! I've seen a lot of strange mutations but never wings. That's quite something." It was a shame he couldn't fly with them. Jynn would love to fly, to sail through the air and travel so much faster, to get a view of the world below in a way she could only dream of.

Saga asked about the trap and Jynn shook her head. "No, I've set a few but haven't been successful yet. Much like with anything though it takes practice and patience. Many traps are passive so after they're set we just need to wait for the prey."

She had never seen a wolf with wings before? She had known her (adoptive) father since she was very young, and assumed that maybe it was a normal thing! Then again, her father was the only wolf she had seen with wings...other than her brother. Oh, and maybe that blue and red guy with the strange bat looking wings on his front legs...did that count? She wasn't sure. They looked enough like wings to her, so probably. She couldn't imagine herself with wings though. Such a big creature...if her fathers wings couldn't support his much smaller body, then there was no way wings of her own would be able to support her much larger, bulkier body. She frowned when Jynn said she had yet to catch anything in her traps. But went on to say it took practice and patience, which honestly, Saga understood. She was eager to see - or rather hear - when or if Jynn's latest trap would capture her sought after prey. And if it didn't work? Then she'd offer to help the Maned Wolf hunt one or two of them down to make up for the loss. "Hopefully it works this time! I'd love to learn from you sometime, I'm not as fast at catching prey as a a wolf, so traps would probably be more beneficial." She quieted then, as she heard rustling from the direction where the trap was set. "Speak"

Come down, come down sweet reverence

Jynn kept her large ears up and alert to the sounds of the forest as she talked to the bear in soft tones. She knew there were wild boar in the area. A loud squeal would signal the triggering of her trap… or perhaps a bleating, for though she hoped for boar if another prey animal fell victim to her trap she would take that one as well. Jynn's stomach wasn't overly picky.

Jynn nodded as Saga expressed her hope the trap would work this time. She did to. It would be nice to claim a victory this go around. "Perhaps I can show you a few, well… if I can get some successes with larger prey. My only working traps have caught small fish and rabbits." Jynn imagined that would not be enough to sustain a bear for long let along leave any extra to bring back to the pack.

She was about to ask more of the bear's pack when suddenly a loud and shrill squeal caught her attention. "Yea! Finally!" Jynn bounded up in excitement, spinning on her slender legs and taking back off toward the trap.

Birna lingered in Auster as spring arrived, making preparations to journey back to the north. In the mean time she enjoyed the shade and the prey of the cathedral. She'd nestled down for a nap when she heard a squealing boar. What was that about? Her ears twitched noting that it seemed like a cry of distress and perhaps one had gotten injured or stuck rooting around beneath the tree roots for food. She was terribly hungry but an easy meal could not be passed up.

Birna got to her feet and tracked the sound to its source where she saw a young boar strung up part way off the ground by some sort of trap. Before she could assess more the familiar form of Jynn raced onto the scene.

Come down, come down sweet reverence

Jynn bounded through the brush arriving at the trap about the same time as Birna the snow leopard. Jynn flashed the cat a grin but didn't even pause to say hello before her attention was all on the boar. The trap has looped around one of its front legs, pulling it up onto two as it thrashed and struggled. Dang, she was hoping it would get caught around the neck but this would have to do. Jynn circled, waiting for an opening and when she saw it she sprang, fangs latching deep into the boars neck. His hide was tough and she thrashed, teeth tearing deeper until finally her prey was dead.