the first cut is the deepest

Twig greeted him warmly and invited him to join her. Brandr settled down, his neck gracefully arcing round as he opened one of the pockets on his armor and pulled out some strands of leather. He gently laid them down and began to sort them. He had a light strip of doe hide and two leather strands of buffalo hide that were darker than the first. He wanted to see what these strands looked like braided.

"Oh, a skinning knife? That would be very useful to have. What are you making it out of?"

Brandr carefully used his paws and his teeth to tie a knot at the top of the three strands so that they were joined together. he then pulled out a rock and balanced it carefully in his jaws before setting it down atop the knot to help hold it in place. "I have several thin leather strips. I want to practice braiding them. I'm hoping to make some stronger strands to hold my hide bundles to my back. Either that or I'd like to make another necklace for my wife.

"How have you been lately?"