Dagrún scrambled along the river bank after Sperla. The kestrel had found a hill of dry clay and was going to show her how to take that dry dirt and turn it into workable clay that pots and ceramics could be made from. They were also going to meet Gossamer today and she was excited about that. Halla was trailing along behind her and would like be doing prayers and other sorts of rituals. Halla had gotten a fire going and was engrossed in what she was doing.

Dag settled down as Sperla prepared to layout the plan for the day. They were going to make something called 'ink' that you could use to draw on stuff. "Ok, so the first thing we need to make walnut ink is of course walnuts. You go look for some that have fallen on the ground and I'll get a bowl and water ready." Dagrún nodded and walked along the bank until she found a walnut tree that had dropped numerous walnuts now that it was nearing the end of the season. Dag rolled the walnuts onto a piece of hide then picked up the corners and trotted back to the campsite. She set down her haul with a pleased grin on her face. "Ok, now what?"

Gossamer followed after Natha with a bunch of marigolds hanging from her mouth. Today Ásta was going to teach her how to make a poultice out of the flowers for bug bites and burns. She was eager to get started. First they needed to see where Dagrún and her charge had settled down. It didn't take them long to find the Fireside wolves. Fire smoke gave the location away and they arrived in short order. "Hey, getting started already? This is my body guard, I'll leave you to introductions."

Gossamer moved away from Natha and set her travois down before turning to the fox. "Ok, what first?" Ásta smiled. "Well, it's pretty simple to start out with. The poultice is typically made from the flowers so you'll want to remove the flowers from the rest of the plant. Jus a couple will do for now."

Gossamer nodded and started pulling and chewing the flowers off two of the marigold stems. So far this was really easy.

Natha strolled after Gossamer. She was there for several reasons. The first was to act as a body guard for the princess, the second was to fish, and the third was to be introduced to a peasant pup who liked to make things. While the two weren't necessarily friends they'd agreed to meet again and share in each other's company. As Fireside was still considered in a mostly neutral standing apart from one bad actor that Natha happened to be quite familiar with, she didn't see any harm in the two working on lessons together.

When they arrived Gossamer left her to introduce herself so she did. "Hello, you must be the little crafter I've been hearing about. My name is Natha." There, she'd done her introduction and immediately flopped down on her side to lick at her paw and clean her ears.

Sperla hopped over to the walnuts and examined them, tossing aside one that was still a bit green. "Looks good. Ok, add them to the water in this bowl and we'll bring that to a boil. You'll see the water start to darken as it pulls color from the walnuts." Dagrún nodded and one by one added the walnuts into the larger ceramic bowl that was not hers but one that she 'borrowed' from Álarr. She was sure he wouldn't mind her using it to make ink. Once the walnuts were in the bowl she added water from the water skin until Sperla told her to stop. Next step was to set it near the fire and get it heated up.

It took awhile but eventually it started boiling. After it had boiled for an hour or so they pulled it away from the fire to cool. That's when Gossamer arrived with her giant fox and a cat. At first she thought the cat was another companion but Gossamer introduced her as a body guard. "Hi, nice to meet you. I'm Dagrún Finnvi. So… what's a cat doing in a wolf pack?"

Gossamer left Dagrún and Natha to talk. Wolves in general seemed surprised to see a cat in a wolf pack and she could understand why. When she first met Natha she thought the lynx was just a very strange looking wolf. "Ok, I've got my flowers."

"Alright, the next step should seem familiar. You'll put the flowers in a bowl and mash them. Since this is for a poultice instead of tea you'll want to mash them well." Gossamer nodded and grabbed one of the ceramic bowls out of the travois the fox had been carrying. She put the flowers in it then picked up a bone and turned her head so she could mash them more effectively. It was really tricky to coordinate with the bone so at one point she started using her paws till she had a nice orange mush.

Natha continued her grooming without sparing the pup a second glance though in truth she was listening intently in case the pup dropped any useful information. She filed the name away and chuckled at the usual question. She fixed the youth with her golden gaze. "Curiosity of course and also I like the idea of having others who can hunt for me as I age." She didn't go more into it. Her relationship with the pack was mutually beneficial. He offered her skills as a fighter and explorer in return for food, shelter and protection. She assumed it was the same with a number of wolves in the pack who had not been born into it first. Natha stretched out like a sphinx as she watched the pups. They were so busy making things but that suited her fine. It was hard for busy paws to get into too much trouble.

Dagrún thought on the cat's words for a moment and nodded. She supposed that did make sense and she wondered why more cat's didn't join packs of their own volition instead of becoming a companion for a wolf. "So, what do you do in the pack? Are you a hunter?"

Soon the walnut mixture was cool and Sperla perched on the rim of the bowl. "Ok, now you need to remove the walnuts and we'll boil it again til it darkens more as excess water evaporates." Dag nodded and grabbed a scapula that she used to flip the walnuts out. Once that was done she scooted the dark liquid back toward the fire which her companion was building up again. hey would let it boil again and pull it away to cool. Once that was done they'd have some ink to use.

Gossamer looked to Ásta now that she was done with mashing the flowers. The fox inspected it for a moment. "Ok, that looks good. You'll add enough water to get everything wet and we'll heat it up a bit near the fire." Gossamer set the bone aside and then followed instructions as she scooted the bowl with the poultice near the fire.

She let out a sigh at Dag's question. "Natha's my body guard, well today anyway. She's one of our warriors."

Eventually, when the poultice mixture was heated, Gossamer would slip it into a little jar and pack it away in the travois so she could show her aunt when she got back. According to Ásta the freshly made stuff didn't last long before it would start to mold. They'd done a lesson on drying herbs earlier so she had some drying marigolds waiting in the den for her.

Before Natha could respond to Dagrún's question Gossamer jumped in. One of her ears flicked but she let it go. The Armada pup had gotten the gist of her position and that was good enough for now. Although Dagrún was young the lynx didn't want to overshare when it came to the Armada or is members. The sun was climbing higher in the sky and bringing warmth with it so Natha tucked her paws underneath her chest and began a light doze, her ears ever on alert for threats to the pups. It turned out to be a mostly quiet and peaceful day. When the girls were at last done with their items they bid each other farewell and Natha escorted Gossamer home until the next planned meeting. She was curious what the girl planned to do with the ink she had made.