Bismuth stared down at his pre-collected material, squinting sharply as he thought with great effort about what he needed to grab next. He had the moss already twisted in twine, thin pieces of wood, a sharp and thin piece of metal to be used as a makeshift chisel, and a heavy rock to hammer the end of it with. Now all he needed were a couple of rocks or stones to make the actual wind chime out of. He had attempted this long ago in the past and so knew of a technique that would work, but without a fellow primate he knew there would be a few struggles. But he wanted to spruce up his den area a bit, regardless of how much effort it would take. Heliodor twittered cheerfully above him from his perch upon the wall, rustling his wings. Bismuth glanced up at the bird with a bemused expression. "Already found a nice rock for me to use?" With a grunt he got to his feet, eyes downcast to inspect the crumbling wall he had settled beside. Sure there were prettier rocks to be found in the mountains, but they were far more fragile and brittle, and he wanted to work on his skills with more boring rocks before trying it with the more precious gemstones. No use accidentally wrecking the ones he had already collected for safekeeping. He let out a pleased noise upon finding some nicely shaped stones at the base of the wall, slightly rounded on one side while flatter on the other. He began to pick up a few of them in his mouth, wanting to grab a couple to take back to the rest of his supplies. They would do very nicely. Word count: 290/1500

She hadn't been in the North for a while. Last she heard, there had been a pack that had claimed her homeland. Her mother's resting place. But as she drew closer to the wall, she couldn't smell anything in the wind. Either she was still too far away to smell the pack, or maybe they weren't there anymore. It had taken her quite a while to get here from Auster, but she had wanted to visit the graves of her mother and father. And perhaps...well...she hoped that her lost brother might be there, too. Alive, of course. She had a few pieces of material with her to craft a simple token to leave on the graves of her parents. A necklace, though she wasn't sure what kind yet. Maybe a lock of her fur...maybe a gemstone she had gotten from the castle...amber was always her mother's favorite. She breathed a sigh as her mother's former companion soared above her, keeping an eye on things while Claire roamed below. As she neared the wall, she heard the chirping of a bird and the gentle clattering of rocks against the stone. Though she was curious, she continued her path forward. Though it would seem her path was destined to cross with whoever it was since he was near one of the openings that led to the other side of the wall. Well...it would be rude of her not to at least greet him before continuing her journey, right? "Good day, sir!" She called out to the colorful male, but then she noticed he had a rock or two in his mouth. "Oh! Would you like some help?" She started into a trot, moving towards him just in case he did need any help. WC: 581/1,500 "Speak

Thoroughly startled at the sudden appearance of another wolf, Bismuth almost dropped the stones in his mouth. His eyes widened in surprise, and he stumbled on one of the larger rocks beneath his paws while trying to face the stranger. He wasn't normally this clumsy around rocks, but they had caught him off guard. He looked over her for a moment as she moved towards him, taking the time to compose himself. She was larger than him, covered in a monochromatic coat. "'m good, fanks," Bismuth said around the stones still in his mouth. Deciding it would be easier to talk without anything in his mouth, he quickly moved over to where he had positioned the rest of his supplies beside the wall, setting the stones down gently next to everything else. "Just making a wind chime out of some stones, they make a good den decoration." Well, his den was more of an expanse of tunnels, but the sentiment was still the same. An ear twisted back momentarily as he looked at her, a little unsure of what to say next. She seemed nice, and had even offered to help him. "You're welcome to join me, I have extra supplies." Word count: 782/1,500

"Oh!" She exclaimed quietly as the male seemed to nearly trip over the pieces of stone and rock on the ground as he turned to face her. She didn't think about her accidentally catching him by surprise, and she sort of felt bad. But he seemed fine, and even said as much around the rocks he had in his mouth. She watched for a moment as he moved to set the stone down with some other supplies she just now noticed, and the male explained he was going to make some windchimes out of rocks to decorate his den. "Oh, I've never seen a windchime before, it sounds wonderful!" Was she being too courteous? Too ladylike perhaps? Heck if she knew! It was simply how she was. Funny considering she had an old grumpy man for company most of her life. Weird how his temperament and mannerisms didn't rub off on her. She and Greed were the complete opposite of each other, and yet they were like two peas in a pod. "You're welcome to join me, I have extra supplies." Her ears perked and she offered a smile, "Oh! That sounds lovely, thank you!" She closed the gap between them, though was careful not to invade his personal space. She glanced up and noticed a pretty yellow cardinal on the wall above them, and she nodded a greeting to the bird before turning her attention to the stranger again. "My name is Claire, it's a pleasure to meet you. Thank you again for the offer, while I didn't plan on making a wind chime, I do have the mind to make a simple gift for someone dear to me." She slipped off the makeshift travel pack she had and carefully pulled out what she had. A few feathers, leather cords, strips of fur, some assorted dried herbs, and a handful of precious stones she had found around the castle. "You are welcome to help yourself to whatever you need as well!" She offered in kind as she set about arranging them neatly before deciding what to use. WC: 1,130/1,500 "Speak

It was understandable that she hadn't experienced wind chimes before, not everyone was well-versed in crafting with rocks and glass as his family were. "They are! Especially when made of coloured glass, but I'm not quite at that level yet." One had to start from somewhere though, and that's what he was doing with the stones. Once he mastered that, then he'd move onto more precious gemstones, until finally he felt comfortable enough in his skills to work with glass. His ears perked up at her plan to make a gift for someone, having had prior experience to not only making gifts but also transactions and barters where he gave items he had crafted himself. Bismuth glanced at the materials she had, taking note of the feathers, as well as dried plants. He had very little knowledge of plants, and was unsure of if they were to be used in whatever she was crafting. "I'm Bismuth," he said after settling himself beside his amateur work station. Bismuth had noticed the precious stones she laid out, different types than what he had back at his den, but his plan was to work with plain stones. At least for this windchime. "Thank you, but I'd hate to accidentally ruin your materials. I'm still a bit new to this myself." He chuckled softly, partially out of embarrassment. Bismuth then set to work on making the wind chime. He started with using the make-shift chisel and rock (to be used as a hammer) to punch a hole through the stones via the flatter sides. It was difficult work, made harder by his lack of dexterous paws, but slowly and carefully he was able to make holes large enough to poke the twine through. Only one stone cracked in half after a particularly rough tap, which he considered a success. His tongue poked out from between his front teeth as he moved onto threading the twine through said holes and tying them off, concentrating greatly on his work. It took multiple attempts for each stone, but finally all he had left to do was tie the twine around the ends of his thin piece of wood. He admired his work - it was a little crooked and off-centered, but done well enough to achieve the goal of making a wind chime. He would attach the thing piece of wood to a hanging beam in the main shaft of the mine near the entrance, and hopefully when a gust of wind blew by it would rattle the stones so they gently clacked against each other. Bismuth finally looked up from his work, forgetting Claire was even there while he had been working, and looked over at the gift she was making, wondering how she was going with hers and if she needed any help. Word count: 1,598/1,500