Crux had a plan. The news of the feast that would be held in the Steppe had reached them in the Armada and Crux had asked if he could come up with something to decorate the feast with and having been given the go-ahead he had gone about gathering up some of the flowers he'd gotten from his trip to Auster, the prettiest ones he could find and was leaving the tunnel that led to the family den and his mind was already churning about what he was going to make, his thoughts interrupted by the scent of his brother. Stratum was nearby and the boy couldn't help the way his tail started to wag, maybe he could get his brother's help?

He picked up his brother's scent trail and quickly went after him. "Statum!" He said when his brother came into view, his words muffled by the bundle of flowers he carried. "Statum wunna hep meh bwaid tese fwowers?"

Speech

Art by Talia!

When the muffled call of his brother reached him, the blond Fatalis boy was busily stacking smooth stones into a tall pile in a corner of one of the caves near their den. There was no real purpose to it, he was mostly just interested in seeing how tall he could get them to go. So he readily knocked them over, just to hear them tumble to a heap on the ground (it was very satisfying), before ambling towards the sound of Crux's voice. He was well aware that the dark furred boy didn't move quite as fast as the rest of the siblings, and it would probably be easier to meet him halfway. And that he did, catching his brother in the tunnel that led into the cavern where he'd been messing with his rocks.

"What're we gonna braid the flowers for?" he asked as he fell in step with the other boy. Without much thought he nudged his muzzle in close to Crux's, aiming to snag some of the pungent bundle and help carry them the rest of the way to wherever the other boy wanted to settle down.

"Stratum Fatalis"

Crux let his brother take some of the flowers as he mused through how to respond to Stratum's question. He led the way toward the mouth of the cave, he wanted to bask in the sunlight while they worked. "The feast." He said simply, finding it much easier to enunciate his words without his mouth completely full. "The familiars said they wanted help with food or decorating. I wanted to make a flower wreath." He settled himself just beyond the cave mouth and dropped his precious parcel at his paws.

He pawed at them for a moment, pushing them around before looking sheepishly over to his brother, shifting his weight as his cuffed leg complained about his pose. "Though I don't really know how I'm gonna do it."

Speech

Art by Talia!

He bobbed his head mutely while Crux explained his motives, and felt a giddiness in his chest at the prospect of getting to head to the feast that had mysteriously been organized for them to attend. Surely it would be fun! As they slipped into the warm sunshine beyond the mouth of the cave, the dark furred boy finally stopped and settled himself. It took a moment to arrange his crippled hind leg in a way that was more comfortable, and once his brother was settled in Stratum flopped heavily onto his rump and then over onto his flank. He deposited the flowers gently into the crook between his splayed forelimbs, and mimicked the way his brother carefully spread them across the warm stone for examination.

When Crux admitted he wasn't sure how to accomplish his task, the golden youngster grunted softly and frowned down at the flowers in his grasp. Yeah, it was going to be a bit tricky. He tipped his head to one side, then the other, noodling on the whole thing. "Wha'bout... we steal some twines.. and just tie them into a big long rope w' the flowers sticking out all pretty?" he asked quietly, glancing up at Crux to gauge his reaction. "Cause I dunno how to braid." he added with a lopsided grin.

"Stratum Fatalis"

((Minor PP of Stratum allowed by Virgil <3))

Crux tipped his head to the side as Stratum offered his suggestion and his face flushed. "I don't either." He admitted sheepishly before nodding. "If you wanna go grab some I'll start sorting the flowers, make sure they look nice next to each other." The young Fatalis boy set about doing as he said as his brother went off to find them some twine, sorting the flowers by colors so no two colors were right next to each other and he tried to make sure colors complimented each other.

When stratum returned he explained his method and set about starting to tie the stems to the twine. He took care to clip the stems when they were quite long and poked out awkwardly from the long rope of flowers they'd made... A rather awkward-looking garland of flowers.

Speech

Art by Talia!

With the go-ahead from his brother, off Stratum went in search of some twine. He was pretty sure he'd seen some among his dad's stash of crafting supplies. Surely he wouldn't be mad if it went missing, because they were using it for crafting.. right? How could he be upset if it was being used for what it was supposed to do? Ambling along towards the den, he searched for the high up spot where his parents seemed to think their things were safe from inquisitive young paws. Up on a shelf well above his head, he could see the pale string wrapped up neatly. Now he just needed to find a way to get it down...

The subtle rustling of feathers behind him caught his attention. Oh yes, here we go. Spinning around, the boy laid eyes on the giant bird that trailed his father constantly. "Marshal!" he whisper-shouted with a big ole grin. The dark bird cast a wary gaze upon him, head tipping to one side to fix him with a beady stare. "Can you get the twine down? I can't reach." he whisper-shouted again. When the giant bird didn't move, he scampered a few steps closer. Yes, child, bully the bird big enough to carry you off and leave you on a cliff somewhere.

"Dad won't be mad, I'm gonna use it properly!" he pleaded quietly, ears tipping back nervously as he tried to pester the large vulture some more. He backpedaled, and pointed with an oversized paw at the bundle of twine that was well out of his reach. "I'll put the rest of it back, come on!" he said, a little louder this time. With what could only be labeled a defeated sigh, Marshal hopped a few steps closer and with half a beat of his massive wings was able to bring the bundle of twine back down to puppy level. Wriggling with glee, he trundled over to mash his forehead against the bird's chest. "Thank you, Marshal!" he giggled as he took off running with the twine to rejoin his brother.

As soon as he'd caught sight of Crux again, he'd all but forgotten the debacle involved in getting a hold of his prize. Ambling over to the arrangement of flowers at his brother's paws, he dropped the bundle of twine beside them and blinked down at the pretty colours that had been constructed in his absence. He listened dutifully to the explanation, and filed away the notion of "complementary colours" for later. Clearly Crux was way better at all of this than he was, so he was more than content to watch while the other boy snipped twine between his teeth and carefully tied knots around the stems at fairly regular intervals. And there it was, a neat little garland of flowers to decorate the mysterious feast! "I bet this is gonna be the prettiest thing in the whole feast." he announced, confident that no one else could have possibly constructed anything better. If not for the feast, then possibly in the entire world. There were so many flowers, and so many nice colours! No one could make a better one, no way.

"Stratum Fatalis"