Being back on Alias Island truly felt like coming home. The trip back to north eastern Boreas felt like far less of a chore than leaving it had been—though she was slightly sad to leave the packs in Auster and southern Boreas behind. They would only be a quick trip away as long as she was traveling with just herself or with only Alastor so she knew she would visit the packs and the wolves she enjoyed there again soon enough. For now she was just happy to be back in the place that she had wanted to stake her claim on from the beginning. Maybe it would have felt more triumphant and victorious if she had won her initial claim and found her power that way, but this was satisfying in its own way. Her priorities had shifted dramatically over the last couple of seasons and this was her putting her family and their needs first instead of her own desire for glory. This would give them a permanent home that they could grow into and defend and for that she was grateful.

At the very least she knew her son was happy to be back. He had made his displeasure at their traveling known very clearly from day one and he certainly seemed fond of the island that had been their home through much of their pups' childhoods. They were home and now they could settle back into the caves that they never should have left. She had spent a good bit of time over the last few days getting things situated in their respective places. Their sleeping chambers were once again lined with plush furs, Irilyth's supplies were stored properly once more, and they had already begun getting a good stock of fresh meats now that they had the cool caverns to store them in again. It would take a bit of time to finish fleshing out the gardens she had planned for Irilyth and the training grounds she wanted to put together for everyone else, but they were off to a good start.

Today though she had put aside some time to work on a project with her son—assuming she could get him to stay in one place long enough to do it. Her children had grown so quickly and they were very nearly approaching their first year. Pretty soon they would at least reach their adult heights even if they had a bit of maturing and filling out to do still so this would be a good time to start working on some armor and weapons for each of them. Avacyn seemed to have a pretty clear idea of what she wanted armor wise, even though it was pretty much just a replica of her own, but she wasn't sure what Saracyn would want. She gathered up some supplies and then went to find her fire ball of a son. A little grin pulled at her features when she found him. He was getting awfully close to matching her in height and she had no doubt that he would go on to match his father one of these days. "Saracyn," she said, getting his attention, "Would you like to work on a little something with me? Maybe a weapon or two for you?"

WC: 548
Total: 548/1500

Manea | Temno | Ciemny

Cerulean blue eyes followed the movements of his two birds as they glided gracefully back and forth in the cool air over Alias Island, dipping around the dense evergreen woods that lines the lower elevations of the island's terrain. His lips curled up in a wry grin while he watched them and they watched him, waiting for him to test their reflexes. His paw flexed over a pinecone, neither side moving, just staring, nerves tensed. Then, with a sharp whistle, Saracyn tossed the pinecone into the air as high as he could. His black falcon Veior dove for the pinecone, snatching it up with razor sharp talons in the blink of an eye and crushing it to pieces. Saracyn tossed another pinecone into the air with another whistle, and this time Vindr dove down after it, catching it with its talons before likewise ripping it apart. A proud grin crossed Saracyn's lips at the effective lethality of his new avian friends. If he dominated the ground with his massive physique and dangerous teeth, his birds would own the skies.

Sitting back with a sigh, Saracyn looked around the familiar land of Alias Island. Oh, how he'd missed his home! He still didn't understand why Mom and Dad had forced them all to leave so abruptly, but it didn't matter now. They were all back home and staying for good this time. No more stupid, tiring travel, no more having to pretend to get settled in to a new home only to have to pack up and move again a half season later, no more pretending to be fine with not having something to call his own. This... this was all theirs! It always had been and always would be. Since he was a little puppy, this island had been what he'd known as home. Now as he grew and was aging into a tall, lanky adolescent with nearly enough inches on him to rival his sire, he had a fierce pride in their private island home and in his family and pack.

His mother calling his name caught his attention and snapped him out of his idle daydreaming, turning to face his dam with crooked smile. "Hi Mama," he called back to her, waving a white paw to her. Manea asked if he'd like to help her with some crafts and make some weapons for himself, and Saracyn's usually cool, indifferent eyes lit up with excitement. "Oooooh, yes please!" Saracyn had always been fascinated with the weapons his parents and pack mates used, longing for the day when he was old enough to have some tools of war for himself. It seemed his patience had paid off and that day had finally arrived! Rising to his paws and shaking out his coat, Sara gave a short, sharp whistle to his birds to follow and then padded over to join his mother. "Where are we gonna make these? I have some ideas for things I'd like to try."

WC: 497
Total: 1,045 / 1500

"Saracyn Mendacium"

Saracyn was becoming more and more like his father every day and she was enjoying him grow and mature before her eyes. The way he turned to look at her with a toothy grin was signature to his father and it made Manea smile back in return. Seeing the spark in his gaze at the mention of crafting a weapon for him made her day and she wished they had more time to spend like this, exploring his passions and what he was excited about. He clearly had a knack for hunting and fighting, much like she and Alastor did, but even within those fields there was so much variation, so many ways to get to a similar goal, and she was having a wonderful time seeing what paths her children would take.

Manea gave a quick glance at the birds that Saracyn had been training with before looking back down to her son as he came to join her with a question over where they would be crafting and mentioned that he had some ideas over what he might want to try. She gave him a curious look with a smile at that, wondering to herself what he might have seen or been interested in out of what he had witnessed from his parents and pack mates. "I have some supplies waiting for us by the caves," she told him as she turned back the way she came, walking back with Saracyn at her side. "And just what has gotten your attention in the way of weapons, my darling?" she asked with a little tilt of her head while they walked.

WC: 272
Total: 1317 / 1500

Manea | Temno | Ciemny

Even if they didn't get to spend much time one-on-one with how busy she always was, Saracyn loved his mother dearly. Manea had been the foundation for his learning, was the keystone of their family, and seeing how she and Alastor maintained a happy marriage both grossed him out and gave him a goal in life. He wanted what they had. All the happiness in the world guaranteed through power, dominance, and bloodshed. Seeing how happy Manea looked to work on this craft with him brightened Saracyn's spirits, and the boy who had more recently become a loner was happy to be in the company of his parent. He didn't see the likeness she did in him to his father, but he would have been proud to be following in their footsteps if he did.

On their way back to the cave, Manea asked what he had in mind for his weapons, and Sara glanced down at the bracers his mother wore. "Yours, Mama! I want daggers I can wear around like you have," he replied. "I was thinking maybe having two different styles though for different purposes, y'know? Like, a regular thin straight dagger for stabbing, and maybe a thicker serrated one for cutting and skinning." It was clear Saracyn had put a lot of thought into this, and he wasn't done yet. "I've been trying to think of a way to make the blades extend from the wrist with a mechanism or something, so that way I wouldn't have to worry about trying to pull them out in the middle of a fight." He'd seen the way his mother's fight with that pirate woman had gone and reflected on it a lot. One thing he'd thought about was how Manea had to turn away to draw her dagger and stab the wolf and how it had left her exposed. If he could mitigate that, he would be even more deadly in a fight or on a hunt.

WC: 329
Total: 1,646 / 1500

"Saracyn Mendacium"

Manea's brows lifted with pleasant surprise when Saracyn admitted that his inspiration came from none other than her own bracers and daggers that she carried with her most places. The only time she didn't really have them on was when she was relaxing around the den. They were handy tools even outside of fighting so she was glad to see that he was thinking about these kind of things. That was proven even more true when he went on to say how he was interested in different kinds of daggers for different purposes—and even added in his own spin of finding a way for the knife to extend and retract on its own. She gave an impressed nod and grinned. "You've really put a lot of thought into this!" she replied with a chuckle, clearly impressed with how well thought out his idea for his weapons was. It made her wonder just how long he had been thinking and day dreaming on this. "I have seen a set of retractable blades like that before... I'm sure we can figure out how to make that happen for you, my darling."

When they got to the caves she brought him over to a space she had set up in the main chamber that connected all of their dens together. There was a stack of different leathers along with some tools to cut out the pieces they would need and a couple odd and end pieces of metal that had been collected over their travels—including a couple of daggers. They didn't exactly match the description of what he was wanting, but perhaps they could be modified or used in the meantime while they looked for something better. She laid down on one of the furs that was spread out in the space, settling in so that she could pull off her bracers so she could pass them over to him to take a look and get some more hands on experience with them to hopefully give him some ideas for how to go about crafting his own. "Go ahead and see what you like and don't like about those. You can go through the leathers we have to see if one of these suits you and we can start with the base of the bracers at least."

Manea | Temno | Ciemny

As he and his mother entered the cave workshops, Saracyn was practically quivering with excited energy. He was so ready to build his first weapon, already imagining all the uses he could have for them! How would he use them first? Maybe he'd skin a beaver, or lobotomize a bear. Maybe both! Laid out on the workbenches were stacks of differently dyed leathers, some more supple and some harder and tougher. There were also fastenings and pieces of metal, as well as a few daggers. All the basic tools to get started. While Saracyn trotted over to the bench, he heard Manea settle down off to the side before she passed him her bracers to take a look at.

Saracyn took his mother's bracers and began to turn them over, inspecting them from all angles. A softer, more malleable leather would be needed for what he had in mind. His mother's daggers where thin and discreet, exactly what he had in mind for his, except where hers had to be manually drawn and wielded, he wanted a mechanism to extend and retract them automatically for him. "I think this is the kind of leather I want," he said, picking up some supple calf leather before looking over the daggers. "These are all kinda thick... I think maybe we might need to make our own blades. And I dunno how the mechanics are gonna work yet... but I kinda want them to be tucked away like yours, then extend when I put pressure on them or flick my paw like this." Saracyn demonstrated the motion to Manea, hoping she could at least visualize what he had in mind. It seemed difficult to the almost yearling—but not impossible.

"Saracyn Mendacium"

Manea watched her son examine her bracers with a smile, giving him all the time he wanted to look them over and sort through the materials they had on hand. Sometimes she looked at her little stars and all she could see was the tiny, glowing fluffs they had been when they were born, but right now while Saracyn was working on his first weapon she saw more of the adult he was becoming. It had always been the greatest joy and gift to be a parent in her family and to see the children they bore grow into strong, capable wolves was all she could really hope for in this life. He pulled out some of the calf leather from the pile and she gave an approving nod. That was definitely a good choice to build the bracers themselves from. Soft enough that it wouldn't rub or irritate his leg while wearing them, but sturdy enough to stand the test of time and use.

He went on to talk about the daggers he had in mind and demonstrated in more detail what he was thinking for the mechanism he wanted for the blade to extend and retract from the bracer on its own. She nodded again, her head tilting with thought. "We can certainly find some thinner blades. That won't be a problem," she assured him, peeking over at the selection they had at the moment. "A couple of those could possibly be retrofitted into what you're looking for... With enough metal work and grinding they could be thinner. It would probably be easier to look for daggers already made closer to what you're looking for though." She lifted her paw and pointed to some of the stiffer leathers, adding, "You'll probably want to reinforce the part of your bracers where you want the blades to attach with some of that so you don't wear out the calf leather too quickly."

Manea | Temno | Ciemny