Breaking Down Walls

Ignita spent much of her time busy. She was helping with the stocks of some of the market stalls, organizing and keeping the storage rooms in order, and finding things to do like keeping the common areas clean and in order as much as she could. In whatever spare time she could muster she was in the smithy workshop, learning the craft of blacksmithing. She used Charlie's notes that she could find, and studied his craftsmanship trying to figure out how he did one thing or another and build on the limited knowledge she began with. She taught both Bronze and Spider some of what she knew, and anyone else that seemed interested in the craft.

Anything to keep her mind busy, distracted, and clear. Anything to keep the winter chill at bay.

She frequently drew heavy steps into the guest room of the Warlord's quarters at the end of each day, exhausted and instantly fell asleep as soon as her head hit the furs.

Her room at the base of the stairs was finally next on her list. She needed to find the reason why it was so cold when the other dens kept their warmth.

Late afternoon found her with her other duties done, and another five pins made. She sat in the drafty room and looked around with a fire in the hearth. The shadows flickered against the walls as she sat quietly trying to listen for any whispering winds of a telltale draft. It was the first time she had a chance to sit still since her journey to the Northern Mines with Bas.

She picked up a smoldering stick with embers on the end. The smoke trailed above her. She kept a careful eye on it as she walked the edge of the room making notes wherever the smoke was disturbed toward the center of the room or the wall. For the most part the smoke went up to the ventilation they had built into the den. So why was it so cold?

She hopped up into her bed and trailed the smoldering stick around it. Ahah! This wall was full of small spaces that blew the air towards the door and the vent. She placed the stick back into the fire and stepped back to look at the wall. It was a solid wall of cavernous calcite that must have formed over a collapse centuries ago. So where was the air being pulled from? She was loath to get that wall pulled down, it had excellent shelves and looked pretty with her bed underneath it. Maybe they could dig around it and stop up the holes.

She pushed against the wall she had pointed out to Bas before about creating a hidden route from the warlord's quarters. The hard clay and scattered rock crumbled against her effort. It was perhaps a viable option to get behind the wall of her bed... But there was only one wolf strong enough to help her.

And she has been doing her darndest to stay busy enough to not think about it at all.

Let's see... It was late afternoon, he could be anywhere but it wouldn't be hard to find him. He might not even have time for this, he might even call it frivolous. He might even just give her the guest room across from Spiders as her own permanently... but that probably wasn't the best idea either.

She bit the bullet and started to track him, she ran into one of the guards at the market and they pointed her toward the training arena. Oh, she hadn't been there yet, interesting.
She steadily walked up the stairs and heard what were probably sounds of training. Maybe she could at least get a good idea of what training looked like finally!

She sat at the edge of the arena, trying to be as inconspicuous as possible, and watched the fighters practice their skills. Ooooh! That's what he meant by bracing against the ground and having her legs out. She wouldn't interrupt them, but she hoped they didn't mind her observing.

Whenever Basilisk allowed her to approach him she would lean in and simply ask: "I found the draft in the wall, could I have some help fixing it when you get a chance?" She hoped such a request among the warriors wouldn't set him off, or if she could even make such a request now. Maybe she should have waited. She could have gone to work in the smithy some more... but it was too late already.
"Speech"