The little fire had burned down to coals, the pine pitch was ready and soon Dagrún was going to learn how to make fancy pointy sticks. Well, if she could find her spearhead. She'd used one of her sharp claws to cut a shape out of clay that she dried and then Álarr had fired for her. Sure it was a bit wobbly and not straight but she loved it anyway and when Sperla, her kestrel, told her that she could use pine pitch to fasten it into a notch in a stick to make a spear well she had to give that a shot.

Dag let out a cry of victory as she found her spearhead. She set it down and then went combing through the range for a good stick. She didn't want anything to thick or too long. It had to be juuuust right. There were a number of trees near the barn and she immediately started looking to see if she could find something suitable. When at last she did she picked the whole stick up in her mouth and trotted back toward the little fire the kestrel had made.

The days were passing quickly by and with each new sunrise the growing purple shaded pup was learning exactly how much trouble he could manage his way into. The world was huge, there were a million different things to do, and he had a loyal group of siblings at his side that he knew he could almost always convince to tag along in some mischief. When he saw Dag chewing on a stick his interest was piqued, and Fin bounded over with a fast wagging tail cutting the air behind him to see what plans his sister had for the lackluster toy. "Y'know if you're hungry I can catch you a mouse." He offered with a teasing grin. Of course his siblings were getting big enough to catch their own small food, it didn't mean he couldn't taunt them. "What'cha doing?" His head tilted, his ears flopping to the side and the hummingbird that was hovering between them gave him a glare as it was forced to dodge the flopping fur. "Speech" "Thinking" "You." table art by nightauctor

Dagrún paused in her walking as her brother showed up. She grinned, little tail wagging, as she set the stick down so she could speak properly. "I ain't gonna eat it! Sperla's teaching me to make a fancy spear. You want to try it? You just need a long, straight-ish stick to start. I've got extra spearheads you can use." She glanced back at the kestrel, placing a paw on her stick.

Sperla looked up at her charge and grinned. "Very good, now that we have all the supplies we can get started. Go ahead and pull the excess twigs off the branch and put a notch in it for the spearhead. You'll want to use one of your canine teeth to split the top of the stick." Dagrún nodded, she picked up her stick and began using her teeth to pull off the excess twigs and any leaves. Once that was done she bent her head and carefully worked one of her canine teeth into the top of the stick to split it.

The concept seemed simple enough and Fin needed little convincing to join in the crafting session. He moved up beside Dag, taking a seat facing the kestrel instructor and reaching over to the pile of materials to snatch a stick. It seemed only fair, after all he was already behind in the learning and if he had to go out and find his own stick he'd make it back and find the lesson already over. He placed his paws so they held the long stick upright and began to work with his teeth tearing the smaller branches off of it. Occasionally he threw glances as Dagrun to check her work too and make sure he was understanding correctly. "I wish my hummingbird was this useful." He commented between mouthfuls of wood, shooting a terse stare up towards the black and purple hummingbird that followed him everywhere. "Speech" "Thinking" "You." table art by nightauctor

Dagrún glanced at the hummingbird. "It's cute though, does it talk?" She knew only a few animals could speak the language of wolves. Sperla had a heavy accent but she was still easy enough to understand. Speaking of…

"Ok, my stick is done!" Dagrún looked to Sperla for the next set of instructions. The bird hopped over to the split in the stick and inspected it, her head moving in the usually jerky motion of birds. "Ok, get the spearhead ready. I will prep the pitch." The bird was still wary of letting the little pup near fire or hot items. Dag reached over and grabbed the bone spearhead she had, scooting the other one over to her brother while Sperla took a small stick of pine pitch and heated it up over the fire. Once it was stick the kestrel hoped back over to the stick that Dagrún was holding up with her paws. The bird dabbed the sticky substance into the split then Dagrún carefully stuck the spearhead into the split, being sure not to touch the pitch. She let go then gently set the spear up to dry.

Sperla then turned her attention to Tyrfing for when he'd need pitch added as well.

Once the stray branches were peeled from the bark, Fin got to work splitting the tip of the stick the way the kestrel had instructed and the way he'd seen his sister do. If he had supersized fangs like his dad he figured the job might be a bit easier, but after a few hard careful gnaws he felt it give way and break apart. He turned his head to watch as Dag's companion got to do the fun and dangerous part, and twirled the stick between his paws as he waited for his turn with the pitch. "Yeah he talks, but mostly it's to insult me." The purple pup replied offhandedly. "Do better and I'll be nicer." The disgrunted reply came from above. The hummingbird companion was like a hardened coach to Fin, and rather then shouting encouragement from the sidelines about how well he was doing, the little bird merely tweeted about his various mistakes. Fin still liked the little thing, though he'd never admit it. The encouragement to strive for perfection was something that drove him further too, and Fin didn't want or need praise for 'acceptable' performance. When the kestrel was done with Dag's, Fin grabbed the offered spearhead and carefully eyed the hole in the top of the split stick. He wanted it done perfectly, so he knew he'd need to spend time working it into the pitch and getting it angled properly. "What's after the spearhead is in?" The pup asked the Kestrel. Was it done already? That was too easy! It couldn't be! "Speech" "Thinking" "You." table art by nightauctor

Dagrún carefully tilted her head so that the bare end of the spear was on the ground and the part near the spearhead was resting on a rock so that it could dry completely. She chuckled as Fin explained his companion liked to insult him. "Sperla doesn't insult me so much but if I mess up I get The Face Of Great Disappointment." She winked at he bird then flopped down on her belly, tail wagging lightly as she addressed her brother. Sperla ignored the girl and spoke to Fin. "Now you have to wait for the pitch to harden. You can just lean it against a rock to finish drying. We can wrap cord around to secure it even more but that can be quite tricky with paws." Dag had to admit she was rather jealous of how agile the kestrel was with her beak and her talons and even more so of the wolves that had primate companions with nimble hands and fingers. Still, she was sure she could find a way to do it.

Leaving the stick to dry sounded boring but Fin supposed they could find something fun to do with them afterwards. He mirrored his sister, placing his spearhead up against the rock to try and then falling to his belly with a dramatic groan of boredom. "Y'know, maybe after they're dry we can play with them." He offered after a moment. "Fin, we don't play with weapons." The hummingbird interjected, but Fin waved him off with a flamboyant gesture of his paw. "We could spar, but no biting only hitting with the sticks." It sounded like a blast to him - who was his companion to say whether or not he was allowed to play with sharp objects? His sister was fun, surely she'd agree that it sounded like a wonderful and educational idea. "Speech" "Thinking" "You." table art by nightauctor