Thorn had liked the look of his first sword, at least for a first attempt but it was obvious his stick weapon had flaws.  Thorn had made his way back to the berry grove that was full of so many possible swords.  He’d attempt to make one here but this time he’d take more sticks back towards the castle to have a stock for future attempts.

Thorn came up with a good dozen thick sticks in one pile and slightly slimmer and smaller sticks in another pile.  The boy tore off several rounds of vine but this time he wasn’t done.  Thorn had thought of the flaws with his first weapon, what he wanted his sword to look like, and ideas on how to make it happen.  A blade would be useful and he didn’t have one obviously, instead, he found a rock that had a relatively sharp edge and took that to his pile of sticks.

Carefully the boy nudged sticks aside till he decided on the first one he wanted to work with.  Instead of chewing on the edge with his teeth, he grabbed the rock in his paw, just like he would charcoal when drawing a map.  With slow short strokes, he started to work at shaving one end of the stock, aiming to give the left lengthwise section a sharper edge.  He wouldn’t rush it this time but slowly and precisely make each cut.

"Thorn Carpathius"

The days have been much of the same since returning to the castle and Fern is getting… bored. While she is appreciative of Rudy’s protectiveness, there is a limit to how much she is willing to give up, and daily training with her sword is not something that she will allow him to take. However, she also does not want to worry, so the gray woman waits until he leaves for afternoon business before slipping her sword over her shoulder and swiftly making her way out to the courtyard.

It has become her new routine and, soon as her paws hit grass, Fern takes a deep breath and relishes the way the chilly air feels in her lungs. The sun is bright and the garden is firmly in the grips of the magical autumn, which only enhances her joy of the day. Moving through the garden to make her way to the training grounds, a sound catches her ear and has the woman slowing. Carefully, she turns a corner and finds one of the young pup’s working on… a stick sword? The sound of a rock striking the wood is what had pulled her attention here.

Besides looking like his dad, this pup apparently is already following in his father’s pawsteps too. A pang of hope strikes the gray woman as she wonders if any of their pups will wish to follow after their parents. Gently, Fern calls out, “Hey there. What are you making?” Moving slowly, the gray woman moves stand near him and examine his work. A soft smile is on her lips as she looks him up and down, wondering if someone has showed the pup how to make wooden swords or if he is doing it all on his own.

Being a child of Briar and Art, Fern would not surprised if the pup has come up this plan all on his own. Clever boy.


"Fern Carpathius"

It was working! Well, sort of. The wood had a tendency to follow its grain and chip away instead of slide with his cuts.  It wouldn’t be a perfect straight blade like he wanted and it wasn’t going to cut anything deeply so long as it was a wooden stick but it looked better than his last stick did at least.

The crossguard on his last sword was attached by simply vines and wasn’t solidly enough in place.  Thorn showed off his sword with pride generally and he had felt proud of it for a while.  The last day or two he’d looked at its weaknesses and tried to figure out how to fix them.

Laying a thin stick on the ground Thorn placed the stick he had just worked with on top of it.  Thorn carefully moved his mouth over as if he’d bite his stick then moved his mouth away.  He nudged the stick a bit farther up and even farther than planned when he suddenly heard a voice behind him.

Thorn swings around, a look of startled surprise that he quickly tries to cover up.  He hadn’t been surprised at all, obviously.  “Hi,” Thorn greets back, “I’m making a sword.  I made one earlier but it wasn’t very good soo, I’m fixing this one better.”

The boy paused, taking note suddenly this wolf had a sword with her!  The boy grins as a few thoughts whiz through his mind.  “Perfect!” Joy springs through the word, “you go just what I needed!" Thorn grabs one of the larger sticks from a pile.  “I can make a much better sword if you’ll use your sword.”  Her’s was too big, even if he wanted to use it Thorn realized it wouldn’t work with their current size comparison.  

Thorn pointed at the stick he’d just pulled out. “I know it's meant for fighting and not making stuff but can you try to cut a hole in the middle of this stick?  I want to slide.  I want to slide it over the other stick.  It’ll make the cross part more solid, not just hanging on by vines this time.  I’ll still have to use some though, so it doesn’t just slide off.”  After announcing his intent he looked up curiously at Fern.

“Then, maybe, you could give me a lesson with it?  Then I can show off to dad my new sword and what I learned?”  The boy’s tail was whipping back and forth, those talented pup eyes looking up at Fern hopefully.  

"Thorn Carpathius"

The heavily pregnant Fern approaches the young Thorn and it seems that he is very interested in sticks. She calls out to him, causing the pup to whip around, startled by her sudden appearance and she offer a soft, apologetic smile but, thankfully, the boy is quick to tell her what he is doing. Eyebrows lift as she draws closer and the pup grins as he spies the broadsword that is slung across her back. The pup’s excitement at her weapon has the woman tilting her head as he explains what he needs it for. With a soft chuckle, she says, “Well you must be Thorn! I have heard how you want to wield a sword just like your dad.”

Looking over the stick weapon, Fern hums a moment before saying, “My sword is too big to be useful cutting a small hole in your stick.” She lets her gaze flick up to the pup, a grin on her lips as she adds, “But, I know of a dagger would be perfect for this job! Come, on. Follow me, little knight.” Turning back toward the castle, she ushers the boy onward, urging him to bring his sticks and other items with him. Paws carry them up the steps and into the grand foyer where she turns toward the great hall. While they walk, she says, “I can help you make a sword and then I can show you some things that your father taught me.”

Eyes sparkle as she moves to table, helping the pup to get up on a chair before she tells him not to go anywhere. Quickly, Fern leaves and fetches a sharp dagger before trotting back to the waiting pup with a bounce in her step. Placing the sheathed dagger on the table, she then shrugs off her sword and props it against the table near her and out of reach of the child. Looking to Thorn, she says, “Okay, tell me about your idea is for your sword. Let’s make this the best one ever.” Settling onto the seat near him, she listens intently to his ideas.


"Fern Carpathius"

She had heard about his interest in swords? Well, that was great!  Who had she heard about him from and what had they said?  His mind started to ponder this but then went back to the subject that was more important right then.  His next wooden sword had to be better than the first.

She stated what he’d feared of her sword being too large and while it made sense it still killed an idea he had, or would have until she mentioned being able to use a dagger for it!  Thorn skimmed his wood pile, grabbed a couple of his favorite pieces of wood to turn, and follow her back toward the castle.  The boy's tail slashed through the air with good cheer.  If she’d help him with a sharpened object that would open up a whole new set of options in making his weapon.  How would he do it?  Thorn had already imagined how much one hole could make an improvement but what other good ideas did he have?

New weapon and a lesson in using a sword afterward.  This could be the best day ever.  Thorn follows her into the grand foyer and takes no time taking her assistance and hopping up into the chair.  She leaves him for a moment, the boy's front paws coming up to press against the table, neck stretched forward as he eagerly waits for her.

Fern puts a sheathed dagger near him and Thorn looks at it with clear desire but at Fern’s question, he looks back up at her.  “My first sword was one stick used as crossguard, the other both the blade and handle.  I used vines to tie them together.”  Thorn shrugged, glancing at the wood he had with him now.  “But, even though it was a lot of vines it was still real wobbly so wasn’t really any good.”

Thorn put a paw over one of the thicker sticks, pushing it forward.  “Besides, real swords don’t look like one piece of metal sticking out of another, they just fit together.  So, I thought if I could make a hole in one stick, I could slide the other stick through that." Thorn pulled a thinner stick from the pile and lay it horizontally across the thicker stick. "The better the two sticks fit together then the less the shaking.  I haven’t figured out how to keep it still without more vines though.  So, it’d be stronger but not perfect.  I was using a rock to try and sharpen the stick edges like a sword's blade but, it chips on the wood, it doesn’t get smooth as the metal does.” Thorn lowered his muzzle so it was near the stick, placing a paw to mark how far up the stick his muzzle went, then moved his paw a bit farther to allow for a bit of free space on his imagined handle.  "So, a hole about here for the crossguard I think."

“I don’t think sticks can really make a good sword,” this was admitted grudgingly.  “They aren’t even like the more solid wood practice ones their just, uhm, sticks.” A hesitant pause before adding, “but, it's better than nothing to practice with, and I kind of like making them anyway.  Someday I’m gonna make real swords out of steel.  Everyone will want a sword made by Thorn Carpathius.”

"Thorn Carpathius"