Ardyn Cadeyrn Aodhán Phoenix Adravendi

It was back to the drawing hide again. Ardyn had scrapped the idea of his previous armor attempt, and now, he trooped to his favorite spot for crafting, the meeting stone. The ground was flat, solid dirt with no lumps or rocks, which made spreading out hides for marking and cutting much easier. He dropped his supplies to the ground now, unrolling the bison hide and setting heavy stones along the edges to keep the hardened leather flat. A tortoise shell of water waited by the boulder already, as this was a favored crafting spot by others in the pack, too. He had his own measurements, now, so he took up a stick of grease chalk, sketching out the shape he wanted, tongue poking from between his front teeth in concentration. Walk ---- "Speak" ---- "Labhair an Sean-Teanga." ---- "Hear" ---- Think

Coran had apparently had a similar idea, at least in terms of crafting armor if potentially not for the same result.  He carried in his mouth a coiled up black rat snake and a bone with a considerably sharp edge to it.  It could certainly look dangerous as any snake on the ground but he had already learned it to be a non-venomous species.  The kill had been fast and relatively easy.  The shiny black scales offered promise for his own future protection. Who should Coran see when he got to the meeting stone? Ardyn was there already working on his own bit of crafting.  Spitting the supplies out nearby he glanced to Ardyn and then looking at the boy's own bit of work, “Whatcha making?” Coran took his snakeskin, unraveling it to make sure it was evenly flat.  The bone was picked up by the dull end to be placed towards the snake's rear, first working to get just get a good puncture in that he could use to start a proper slicing of the snake's skin.  His paws were kept on either side of where he slashed and he would slowly move inch by inch to keep the ideal spot where he had to cut. Walk ---- "Speak" ---- "Labhair an Sean-Teanga." ---- "Hear" ---- Think

Ardyn Cadeyrn Aodhán Phoenix Adravendi

Ardyn looked up from his sketching, this time of the plates that would line his sides, grinning as he saw Coran with his snake and a sharp bone. At his brother’s question he nodded at the pattern he’d read from, saying, Armor. These will be the outer layers, but I’m thinking of looking through the metal scraps for reinforcement to put between them. I made another set, but I’m not liking how it turned out.” He eyed the snake as Coran dropped it, adding, “What are you making?” As the last segment was sketched, he set aside his grease chalk and plucked a blade made from the same metal scraps he was considering using. It was sharpened and he’d take the time to work a piece of wood onto the back edge, giving himself a surface to hold so he wouldn’t cut himself as he made the cuts. The blade sank into the hide and he put pressure on it, slicing into the hide and following the lines he’d scribed. As one piece was cut out, he glanced at Coran, and grinned again as he watched his brother work at skinning the snake. “I bet Cairo would help you make a pair of bracers like his so you could skin with them a lot easier.” Walk ---- "Speak" ---- "Labhair an Sean-Teanga." ---- "Hear" ---- Think

Coran hadn’t tried making anything before on his own and grimaced at how it was coming out with already one uneven tear.  Letting go of his cutting tool to respond, “that’s pretty complex.”  It was good to hear that it wasn’t just himself who might have to take more than one attempt though Coran wouldn’t give up quite yet.  “What went wrong with the other set?" “Um, bracers actually.” Coran grinned as he said it considering Ardyn’s suggestion.  “I thought the snakeskin would look neat but I’m not sure it will work as well in theory as in my head.”  Of course, functionality was more important than looks, but nothing wrong with looks also!  Though with that thought was shiny black really his color?  Well, if he made something that worked and it did look odd he could give it to another wolf and if it didn’t work then it simply wasn’t meant to be. The bone was picked back up and he dug it in deep into his cute hole, working again at slashing through the rest of the middle area. It felt like it took forever to get the bone through the snake though in truth it wasn’t long at all, just the tedium of precision making each second count. Walk ---- "Speak" ---- "Labhair an Sean-Teanga." ---- "Hear" ---- Think

Ardyn Cadeyrn Aodhán Phoenix Adravendi

Ardyn smiled as he worked the knife through the hide for another segment, nodding at Coran’s comment. He fully agreed. It would be complex, and who knew, he’d probably get this set all finished and then find some fatal flaw that made it unusable. Or he’d get the straps wrong for his plan to have it grow with him. He was pretty sure he wasn’t done growing yet, and he had to wonder just how tall he was going to get. As tall as their Da? Grandda? He considered that thought before Coran’s question returned him to the present, and he set aside the freshly cut segment with a rueful click of his tongue. “Didn’t feel right on me. It was pinching me and I was having trouble moving freely, and fixing it would just waste material, so I’ve set it aside. Maybe someone else will fit in it." Ardyn listened as his brother explained his idea, head cocking in thought. Snake skin would look pretty cool. “Maybe glue it to some hide bracers so you get the cool look and the added protection?” He peered at the snake skin thoughtfully pausing in cutting through his hide. There’d be enough to add to Coran’s project when he was done with his own, definitely. Bison were huge, after all. Walk ---- "Speak" ---- "Labhair an Sean-Teanga." ---- "Hear" ---- Think

Coran placed a paw to hold one side of his cut snake down, using the alternate paw to pull on the other end to fully separate the two sides.  Sitting down he considered the corpse speculatively even as he listened to his brother on both Ardyn’s own armor as well as a suggested future on Coran’s. “Yah, I might do that.” Coran nodded agreeably.  Taking the sliced snake in his mouth Coran twisted his neck about to flip the body of the snake over, leaving the scaly side on top.   “Probably better also for growing than the scales alone would be.”  It didn’t sound overly complex, at least Coran didn’t think it would be.  Funny how sometimes simple things have hidden details you didn’t expect. For the moment he moved to get a feel for Ardyn’s art, aiming for a closer view to watch him work on it.  It was obvious his brother had put more time in training on crafts than he had. Walk ---- "Speak" ---- "Labhair an Sean-Teanga." ---- "Hear" ---- Think