to DYE for (pun intended)

At least Andromeda had good questions to ask. Halo chuckled to Dread as he worked away at the stack of beets, adding to the pile of onion skins in the pail as she went. "You know, they actually taste fine pickled... which you'd know if you did anything other than try to swipe them out of the garden to snack on." A little twinkle in her eye as she worked away at the pile of onions. "These are mostly for clothing, paper, and textiles. The dye from the onion skins will be orange, but not quite vibrant enough to color most leather. The cabbages make purple, which is one of the hardest colors to make. To get the nicest color, you need to start with something as close to white as possible before applying dye. Trying to lighten leather that much would probably come at a cost to the structural integrity, which could be dangerous if you're making armor." Really, Halo is happy to have a tangent to go off on as they work. She chatters away happily, giving Andy a long answer to her short question. "The beets will produce a vibrant red, which I've seen used nicely on leather. This batch was meant for the market, but now that I think of it, I should set some aside for Ruga."

"That looks great, well done." Halo nodded to Andy as they finish the pile of onions. She was grateful that Keahi was keeping an eye on Dread as well. What had gotten into that boy? Halo wouldn't pry, but it wasn't hard to tell. This was different than his typical brooding... a different, more teenager-y brooding had taken hold for now. Still, it seemed they'd gotten the job done, each of the vegetables in a spare pale. "Great, thanks everyone. Now, we're going to squish everything as flat as we possibly can inside the pails. Don't worry about putting your paws in it, and don't worry about bruising anything-- it doesn't really matter so much because it isn't food. We just want to make sure we can get as accurate a measurement as possible for how much plant material we have." Halo picked up a cold piece of charcoal from beside the fire pit, marking the line to which each pail was filled.

"Last step, we're going to dump the pails into the pots. The ratio we need is two parts water to one part plant material, which is why we marked how much was in each pail." Halo instructed gently as they went. "After that, we'll park them on the fire. I'll sit with them and stir for the rest of the afternoon, and you'll be free to go." Her smile was soft, genuine as she regarded the wolves that had come to help her. She stationed herself next to the large, full drum of water that lived near the fire pit, helping ladle out the two parts water for each. The dye would sit and simmer overnight, but for at least the next several hours Halo would be stirring and checking on it them intermittently.

"Halo"