Áskell raced after his magpie companion. The bird was going to teach him how to make fire today and his dad had finally agreed to let him learn! His dad was visiting Ashen and there were rumors that he empress of Ashen was going to hold a training event for all the pups. Kelly was excited to meet new wolves his own age and to learn more about sparring and fighting. But first there was fire.

Kári, the magpie, landed on a nearby stone and instructed Áskell to first build a fire ring out of stones so that the fire was less likely to escape. Yea, it would probably not be good to burn down Ashen on his first visit. Áskell immediately started looking for stones and when he found good ones he used his paws to scoot them into place.

Gossamer couldn't wait to start fighting but the training session hadn't started yet so instead she followed after Ásta with a bundle of herbs in her mouth. She was going to learn how to make a couple different tisanes. If she made a really good one maybe she could gift it to her Aunt Io. Ásta, her giant fox companion, forged ahead with a travois full of supplies. They hadn't gone far when they noticed a boy and his bird doing something weird with rocks.

Gossamer swiftly pulled ahead of the fox so she could speak to the boy. "Hey! What are you doing with those rocks?" Was he just bored or was he doing something worth knowing? If it was useful then she wanted to know to. Ásta caught up and stood next to Gossamer.

The young pup wanted to explore more her world, her home so she became more used to it sooner. Eyes of blue landed in anywhere she found interest in. Her mother gave her permission to explore as long as she wasnt up to do anything stupid. And sure to follow her mother’s orders she went off to wherever she could go and like that she found a pair of pups with other creatures. As that picked her interest in less than a second she dashed forward wagging her tiny tail behind her. “Hi!!” She greeted as she took her time to see what they were up to. “Mind if I join? What are you doing?” She asked with her cold expression onto them. She always wanted to learn everything so she could stand beyond others. “I am Panic Phantom Klein by the way.” She said before taking a seat. "speak"

Áskell finished scooting the rocks into a ring when an unfamiliar girl showed up to ask what he was doing with the rocks. He was about to say something sarcastic in response but then another girl showed up. Were these all the empire pups that were going to get together for training? He hoped he wasn't the only boy who would fight. The second girl introduced herself as Panic. She was a Klein to! They had to be related in some way.

"Hi! I'm Áskell Klein. My companion, Kári," he gestured to the magpie, "Is teaching me to make fire!" He puffed out his chest, clearly proud that he'd be learning something so cool.

The magpie hopped up on one of the rocks that formed the fire ring. "You ladies can help if you like. We need to find fuel to feed the fire. Look for sticks of varying sizes. We want big ones, medium ones and small ones." Áskell started looking around for sticks. Whenever he found one he picked it up and brought it back. "Are you guys here for the big fight training as well?"

Gossamer turned to look as another girl joined them. She introduced herself as Panic and then the boy introduced himself as well. They were both Kleins. "I'm Gossamer Fatalis, Princess of the Armada." She perked up with interest as the boy stated that he was making fire. That was something that she wanted to learn to do but she also wanted to get her tisanes made. "That's ok, I think I'll just watch how you make it. I've got homework to finish." She jerked her head toward her fox companion who was expecting two complete tisanes by the end of the day.

Gossamer grabbed a couple bowls from the travois and unrolled a rabbit hide onto a flat stone nearby. She had dried chamomile and lavender for one tisane. Then she had dried comfrey and marshmallow for the other. Time to get mashing! She took the dried chamomile flowers and started mashing and kneading them with her paws until she had a good consistency. She then scooped them into the first bowl before turning to the comfrey. She then started mashing that one as well.

Gossamer nodded at the boys question. "Yup! I'm going to be a great warrior like my parents some day."

"Hi! I'm Áskell Klein. My companion, Kári," So he was family? She didn't know there was family outside of Ashen but that mattered little. The family was still family. But moving from that, making fire seemed even more exciting. "Ohhh, I wish to learn too!" She exclaimed with enthusiasm. "You ladies can help if you like. We need to find fuel to feed the fire. Look for sticks of varying sizes. We want big ones, medium ones and small ones." Panic nodded as she felt very eager to learn and help. Like that she stood up and went to look for sticks and any wood she could carry within her tiny jaws. And like that she began collecting just a bunch at first before retrieving then back to the Magpie. "Are you guys here for the big fight training as well?" "Certainly! I must make my mother and my family proud." Looking at Gossamer she asked. "What is the Armada?" "Speech"

Áskell shrugged at Gossamer, the speckled girl with the green eyes. If she didn't want to help build the fire then that was fine with him. He looked to the other girl who was interested in building a fire to and that immediately made her way cooler in his mind. "Great, we'll build the best fire ever!"

He started hunting around, looking for sticks. Whenever he found one that he thought was good he trotted back with it to the fire ring. He soon had a collection of sticks. "What do you two want to be when you grow up?"

His magpie examined the sticks. "Ok, start stacking the largest sticks in the bottom, then the medium ones and then we can put some leaves on top." The bird picked up one of the larger sticks and dragged it into the fire pit. Áskell soon joined laying the larger sticks in a row then adding the medium ones on top of those.

Gossamer busied herself with mashing dried herbs which she thought was really fun. However, she also would glance up now and then to watch the other pups work on building a fire. She pulled out some dried lavender and mashed that with her paws in a kneading like motion before dumping it into the bowl with the chamomile. She then turned to the dried marshmallow, mashing and crushing it with her paws before dumping it into the bowl with the comfrey.

She looked up at Panic's question. "Armada is the pack I live in. I think our packs are allies." She thought awhile on Áskell's question and shrugged. "I don't really know. Either a warrior or a healer, maybe both." Though she felt her siblings were better at the healing part than she was so maybe she should stick with fighting. But she really liked making things with plants.

Panic nodded upon the bird's instructions, making sure she picked the best of sticks, putting larger ones first, and a perfectionist, as she could be, she made sure all were placed correctly. No one out of order, this was how she did her things, just like her mother. And like that she went putting them the middle-sized over the larger ones. This was certainly something fund and she felt it could be of use later in life.

Then her cousin asked both a question. "I wanna be a Daimyo like my mom, rise in the empire as she did!" She explained. She really wanted all the power to herself, and be the best of the best. After all, she was the daughter of who she saw as the best wolf in the whole empire.

"What's a daimyo? Is that like a fighter? I want to be a warrior when I grow up!"

Áskell finished staking his sticks and then he padded over to some nearby fallen leaves. He took a big scoop of them and dumped them on top of the fire for kindling. His magpie then flew to the travois and pulled out a piece of flint and a metal stick. The bird set them down on the edge of the fire ring. "Ok, now we need to try and start the fire. The dry leaves act as kindling. They'll catch fire more quickly than a larger stick. I strike metal against flint to make a spark. Now watch." The bird picked the metal stick up in its beak while holding the flint between its talons. It then whipped its head to the side, striking the metal against the flint. It did this several times before a spark leapt from the flint onto the kindling. Áskell held his breath as he watched. Slowly the spark began to grow and then soon it became an actually fire, growing from the kindling to the small sticks to the medium sticks and eventually to the large sticks.

He let out a cheer, his tail wagging.

Gossamer now had all her dried herbs in their respective bowls. Picking up a stick she tilted her head and carefully stirred each tisane until it was thoroughly mixed. She grinned and set the stick down. She leaned in to sniff lightly at each mix to make sure it matched what Ásta had made a few days earlier. She was pleased with the result and set the tisane's aside before listening to the boys magpie as it showed how to start a fire. She'd seen Ásta use similar tools to create sparks. Putting her things away she figured it was time to head back before her family wondered where she'd gone. "Well, it was nice to meet you two but I have to go now." She dipped her head and finished packing before turning to leave.

-exit-

"What's a daimyo? Is that like a fighter? I want to be a warrior when I grow up!" "Those are the betas or the empress council. My mother is one of them! I wanna be at the head of the empire like my mom does." She explained with her chest inflated in pride but then she focused back on the lesson. "Ok, now we need to try and start the fire. The dry leaves act as kindling. They'll catch fire more quickly than a larger stick. I strike metal against flint to make a spark. Now watch." She placed dry leaves there and what happened next surprised the shit out of the greyish pup. A spark was all it took to rise fire. "Wowwwww that was AWESOMEEEE" Her tail wagged hard. "Speech"