Crafting materials, unless previously gathered, were something hard to come by in Auster right now. With the winter rains, everything was soaked through, barely having time to dry out even a little before more rains came. And so, with her mind set, Bellamy slipped from Auster and headed into Southern Boreas. If the pack had noticed her leave and reunite with Acere… that would be one thing, but this trip would take long. She had already made young Gavroche promise to keep her trip a secret, but had also gotten one of each color of feather as part of her gift. She had something specific in mind, after all. So, with his bag slung around her neck, she gathered crafting materials as she went, along with some strips of hide that would make the item wearable. By the time she settled in the Buffalo Knolls and set the materials out, she had gathered a different array of things. Strong vine, flowers, flexible twigs, grasses, and more… Crafting wasn’t really her forte, but the woman wanted to make something for Ethne’s Leader. Her little girl was doing so much for the pack… it was the least she could do. Taking some of the flexible twigs and grass and pulling them close to her, Bellamy began the process of trying to weave them in the shape she wanted, the intent to use the grass to make them hold the shape.

"Speech," 'Thought.'

It had been a pleasant surprise to run into the Avalon duo in the gulley. Their charges had each taken a liking to each other and the older men had had a wonderful conversation over tea. In an effort to give each child a more rounded learning experience Áskell had agreed to take on Stjarna for a few tasks while Álarr would escort Kina. Stjarna had expressed an interest in both fighting and hunting so he decided to find a nice spot where they could work on a little lesson. In his mouth he had part of a buffalo hide, a bag of tools slung across his shoulders.

They arrived in the knolls and he hunted for a spot to settle down. It was then he spied a black and white wolf working with some items. Deciding it was a good chance to settle down and maybe have a conversation he cleared his throat and set down the hide. "Excuse me, may we join you? I thought we might do some crafting today and it looks like you're also working something."

I wish you could see me for something more than the things I'm confined and condemned to be

Stjarna bounded along after the Tojo man, excited for her own little adventure. It had been fun to meet Kina and to spar with her. Their little camp was like a mini-pack. Today Áskell had promised to show her how to cure and preserve a hide so she was eager to start. She scrambled along after him, slowing pace when they noticed another wolf. From her distance Star couldn't see what the other woman was working on but it seemed to be a project of some sort. Maybe she was a hunter to and working on a craft? She bounded along after Áskell as he spoke to the woman. She peered out from behind his legs with a smile. "Hi!" she chirped.



Speech

Bellamy hadn’t expected company, but when the man and a small girl came over to her Bellamy could only offer a smile. Despite what had happened to the Raider girl, she did have a soft heart for kids. “Not a problem at all.” Her gaze flicked to the girl. “Hello sweetheart.” Her tail began to wag slowly. “My name is Bellamy of Foi, a member of Ethne.” Her gaze shifted back to the bracelet she was working with at her paws, trying the wind the hide around it now. “You smell of a pack, sir. Where are you both from?” It certainly didn’t hurt to have some conversation in the middle of the crafting… though Bellamy mentally cursed that she didn’t have some twine. Maybe she could tear the hide stripes up smaller and use that to hold the bracelet in place instead?

"Speech," 'Thought.'

The woman gave her ok and introduced herself as Bellamy of Foi, a member of Ethne. He was unfamiliar with the lands of Foi, as he assumed the title meant but he had heard of Ethne. Their packs were neutral towards each other and from his understanding leaning on the warm side. "A pleasure, Bellamy. My name… well, I go by Aka and I am a wolf of Tojo Kai. This is Stjarna, a wolf of Avalon. I ran into her caretaker while escorting my own charge and well, we all seem to have made friends." Áskell grinned, the first truly warm grin he'd had in a long while.

Áskell laid out the hide, rolling it out so the flesh side was facing up. He turned to Stjarna. "Ok, Star, the first thing you need to do before you can tan a hide is to scrap off all the remain flesh. If you don't it could rot and smell terrible. You can use your tongue, or a bone like a scapula to scrape it." Áskell pulled a small rabbit scapula out of his make shift bag and handed it over to her. "Go ahead give it a try."

I wish you could see me for something more than the things I'm confined and condemned to be

Stjarna settled down in the grass, her tail wagging lightly as she listened to Áskell introduce them. She nodded her head as he introduced her. The other lady seemed nice, but soon it was time to focus on her lesson. She was happy to work and let the adults do the talking. Star sat up and listened as Áskell explained what she needed to do in the first step toward tanning a hide. Ok seemed straightforward enough. Star bounded forward and snatched up the scapula in her jaws before moving back to the hide and getting right to work. She used her paws to pull it taught then scraped with the scapula. Once some of the flesh was up she dropped the scapula and licked it up as a snack. Yummy!



Speech

The two wolves would move to join her, Aka of Tojo Kai, a pack she didn’t recognize the name of… and Stjarna, a pup of Avalon. “The wolves of Avalon are a good sort. Their leader, Corbie, helped my family in a time of need.” She turned back to the bracelet she was making, keeping the hide wrapped tightly around the rougher materials. Once she had managed to get the base in place, she would tear some more bits of hide with her dagger, ears swiveling toward Aka as he began to instruct the young girl on what she should be doing. Would she have become a more skilled crafter if she had a mentor to teach her how to do things? She would work on tying the first of the outer strips around the bracelets, fumbling with her paws as she tried to make sure it would be wearable.

"Speech," 'Thought.'