One delightful perk to getting to work for a mistress who was also the alpha of an entire pack was the leniency it granted her to be able to do as she pleased with her free time. With her previous owners, Irilyth had been expected to be at their side constantly, waiting on them hand and foot for any desire they had. Manea was far more lax, giving her the freedom to do her work as a healer with virtually no restrictions or supervision. It was intriguing and liberating—but it had posed her with a curious new problem. With more time to work, Irilyth found she was running out of her supplies faster than ever, and that meant going out herb gathering or scouring for more supplies. However, the small pouch she'd pilfered could only hold a small amount in it, really meant more for carrying a few vials of medicine or poison. A new bag was definitely in order.

Sitting alone in her room/workshop, Irilyth had gathered all the requisite materials together to fashion the satchel for herself. Some freshly tanned leather from a hunt, a bone needle, and some thread she'd scavenged. She had the materials arranged out on her workbench, gazing at them with focused eyes while she tried to see the blueprint in her mind. If she plotted it out carefully first, she should only need one solid attempt at crafting it to get it right. If not... well, she knew what she'd be working on for the next few hours or so.

"Irilyth"

Avacyn made her way back to the dens after doing a quick patrol around the rock garden. She had been taking it pretty easy since her and Saracyn's trip through the north so that she wouldn't aggravate her cuts and bruises too much, but working and following through with her tasks was too deeply ingrained in her to ignore for very long. Still, she was trying to at least rest more often until she was all healed up so she walked back into the family's caves fully intending to go into her room and lay down for a bit—at least until she passed by Irilyth's space and noticed her standing at her table staring down a piece of leather.

It made her curious and she stopped just shy of passing by the entrance to the small healer's room, backing up a bit and instead turning toward Irilyth. She lingered in the doorway for a moment, giving her a curious glance. "What're you working on, Irilyth?" It was certainly no secret that she was very much the family's crafter and had many projects of her own she could be working on, but she hadn't seen Irilyth working on anything like this before and it certainly caught her attention. She moved further into the room, coming to stand beside her long time nurse and companion as she let Irilyth fill her in on the plan.

"Avacyn Mendacium"

The voice of the eldest Mendacium daughter broke Irilyth out of her pensive staring, raspberry red eyes lifting to Avacyn's genteel countenance with a polite smile and dip of her head to the Elysium heiress. "Oh! Good day, Miss Avacyn," she greeted her superior politely, looking back down to the pieces of leather with a sigh. "Well, with my responsibilities as the pack's resident doctor growing thanks to your father and uncle, I've found that my current medical bag no longer suits my needs. Far too small, you see. So I thought I'd try my paw out at crafting a new one for myself." Irilyth lifted a few pieces of leather and gazed at them befuddled, giving a defeated sigh and shaking her head. "I fear I may be too far out of my league though. I've... never really crafted anything to this scale before."

Not one to be deterred in the face of adversity, Irilyth began to cut some of the excess leather from the edges of the large piece carving out a decently sized square of leather and evening out the edges. Then she cut out a second equal square and overlaid them, forming the front and back of the bag. Okay, so far so good... Maybe she could do this after all. Cool-toned red-purple eyes glanced back up to the much taller wolf at her side with a gentle smile. "If you'd like to keep me company and offer some advice, I'd be appreciative. I know you're a clever girl, and very good at making things too." Irilyth resumed her work, picking up the bone needle and beginning to carefully sew the two pieces together along their edges, keeping one side open as the top. "How are your wounds today, my Lady? I've made a fresh batch of the elderberry painkillers you favor if you need something for any aches."

"Irilyth"

Avacyn's ears perked with interest as Irilyth mentioned crafting a new medical bag for herself since her current one was much too small for her needs now. She nodded and examined the leather that Irilyth had chosen to make her bag from and lifted her paw to feel the grain of it appreciatively. It was a nice piece of leather that wasn't too stiff so it should be fairly easy to work with. "Well, even if it doesn't come out perfectly I'm sure we can find a use for it around the pack and we can make you another," she assured her long time caretaker, giving Irilyth a smile. She settled on her haunches while she watched Irilyth begin to cut out the front and back of her new bag and when she was invited to stay and watch and offer advice Avacyn grinned and nodded. "Of course! You know you can't keep me away from a chance to do some crafting."

She watched as Irilyth began to stitch the leather together and she would occasionally point out a pointer here and there about how to hold the needle to make it easier to get through the thick leather or how to keep the stitches even. Since she had been practicing with skins and leathers after getting some pointers from Scylla she felt like she had gotten pretty good at the craft of leatherwork, though metals and stone were still her specialties. When Irilyth offered to give her some of the elderberry painkillers she preferred, Avacyn smiled appreciatively and shook her head. "I'm feeling better today, thank you." Her wounds had mostly begun to at least close together by now and the little bit of lingering soreness that was left wasn't too much to just deal with.

She looked at the pieces of leather that were left from cutting out the body of the bag and an idea popped in her head. She grinned and told Irilyth, "I have something for the strap! I'll be right back." She got up and trotted over to her room and workshop, finding the metal rings she had on hand for some of her protects, a metal stamp in the rough shape of a leaf, and a hammer. Coming back to Irilyth's room, she placed the pieces on the table with a gentle wag of her white-tipped tail. "Would you like for me to work on the strap for you? We can attach it to the bag with these metal rings to give it a little more movement when it's hanging off of you and we'll make it look pretty with these leaf stamps!"

"Avacyn Mendacium"

Irilyth smiled happily at Avacyn’s infectious enthusiasm, the young woman’s passion for crafting shining through as bright as the morning sun. Avacyn was such a sweet and darling young girl, all the best parts of her parents. She had Manea’s heart and brilliance, and Alastor’s passion and spirit. There was little doubt in the healer’s mind that this girl, who, she’d cared for from wiggly pup to tall and graceful princess, was destined to change the world and lead Elysium into greatness.

Together, the two women worked, with Irilyth only accidentally stabbing her paws with the needle a couple of times and Avacyn giving her pointers and suggestions as she worked. Iri was grateful for the direction and knowledge Avacyn brought with her. This task would have been monumentally more challenging on her own! As the bag began to take shape and she was affixing a folding lid over the top of it, Avacyn was suddenly struck with inspiration and rushed from the small room into her workshop to return with some raw metal and metalworking tools.

As Avacyn explained what she had in mind, Irilyth’s eyes brightened in appreciation and understanding. "Oh, Avacyn, dear, that’s very kind of you! You don’t have to use all your nice supplies on me," she replied, trying to gracefully spare Avacyn from spoiling her, though if she was anything like her mother, Iri doubted the violet princess would let her say no. "You’re very talented with metalwork, Lady Avacyn. Your mother has plenty of reason to be as proud of you as she is," Irilyth complimented the young woman while she watched her begin to craft the straps for her bag.

With a few final securing stitches, the flap was attached to the body of the bag as a lid, and now just awaited the finishing touches from Avacyn.

"Irilyth"

Avacyn waved off the attempt that Irilyth made at insisting that she didn't need to use her nice supplies on her. "It's just a couple of rings! It's no big deal, I promise." The rings weren't exactly the easiest thing to get right, but she didn't mention that to Irilyth since the handmaiden was already so wary of accepting gifts as it was. Avacyn didn't have a particular purpose for them anyway and she knew Irilyth would make more use of them than she would. She grinned and gave a small, shy flick of her ears at the praise she received, turning her dark gaze toward the materials in front of them so she could get to work. "Thank you. I just really making things." Doing crafts and projects was how she escaped from the pressures of all of the other parts of her life and how she had fun so it was nice to get to share some of that with someone else.

While Irilyth continued to work on the body of the bag, Avacyn pulled the pieces of leather closer and began to measure out a length of it that would be long enough for a strap, glancing back and forth to Irilyth to make sure it was long enough and guessing what would be a comfortable length. After she had carefully cut a straight line though the leather to form one long piece, she picked it up and briefly slipped it around Irilyth just to make sure, giving the smaller woman a smile before she laid it down on the table. She then began to place the leaf shaped stamp on the surface of the leather and gave it a few good taps with her hammer so that when she lifted the step away it left an imprint of the design behind. She made clusters of leaves going down the length of the strap, giving it a motif reminiscent of the plants that Irilyth would be carrying inside the bag when it was done.

By the time she was done with that Irilyth was finishing up the body of the satchel, attaching a flap over the top. "This looks great!" she praised her long time nanny, grinning as she leaned into Irilyth's shoulder affectionately. "See? I knew you could do it." She then went to work helping Irilyth with the last finishing touches. She looped a bit of the strap around one of the silver metal rings she had brought and then took the needle that Irilyth had been using, sewing the strap to itself so that it formed a loop around the ring. She did the same to the other side before cutting out two smaller pieces of leather the same width of the strap, sewing one end of the piece to either top corner of the bag and then giving it the same treatment as she looped the pieces through the ring, attaching the strap to the bag securely.

With that the bag they had been working on was done and when she picked it up by the strap it had a bit of a sway to it from where the bag was hanging off of the rings. That made it far easier for Avacyn to slip it around Irilyth to make sure the fit was good and for the bag to lay flat against Irilyth's shoulder once it was around her neck. "What do you think? Happy with it?" she asked, her tail wagging gently behind her.

"Avacyn Mendacium"

As she suspected, Avacyn took after her mother and waved off her insistence that she didn't need to do anything special for her. It brought a small smile to Irilyth's lips. She was ever so much like her mother... Between the two of them, the Elysian ladies made short work of the bag crafting, working fastidiously to bring all the elements together. Once Avacyn had finished with the strap, she inspected the leatherwork Iri had done, complimenting it as she tested it out. "Thank you, My Lady," she replied in humble graciousness. "And thank you for your kind work as well." Keen raspberry red eyes watched Avacyn's dexterous paws move as she affixed the final metal rings and adornments to the bag, checking her own work before lifting the bag over to her.

Irilyth ducked her head and slid easily into the loop that Avacyn offered to her. With a few adjustments to the fit, the bag was sitting comfortable right along Irilyth's side, easily within reach and significantly larger than the tiny satchel she'd been carrying before. Almost immediately, the sandy blonde fae's tail began to wag as well as she tested shifting and moving about with the bag around her, pleased with how durable and lightweight the bag was! "It's perfect," she declared with a pleased smile to the young woman who had helped her out so kindly. "Thank you, Lady Avacyn! This is much too kind. I would have never been able to make this as nicely without your help." Irilyth didn't really have much in the way to offer Avacyn as a reward for helping her, but perhaps she could find some way to repay her, either now or in the future? "If there's anything I can do to repay your kindness, please do not hesitate to ask. I am in your debt."

"Irilyth"