Áskell still had Stjarna for the afternoon before he'd switch her back for Kina. Today, instead of the usual fight lessons he'd opted to teach her how to make wooden spears. He found a good space in the gulley and set down the sticks he'd been carrying. Around one of the sticks a square of hide hide had been tied around it to make a little bag. "Alright, here we are. This afternoon we're going to learn to make simple wooden spears." Áskell took a stick and rolled it to himself before rolling another toward Stjarna. He had plenty of sticks so theoretically if they messed up a few there'd be plenty still to work with.

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

Stjarna trotted along after Áskell, admiring the flowers growing in the gulley as she followed along after her new teacher. Álarr had taken the other girl, Kina, out to go flower picking as well as teaching her some basic healing. Star meanwhile was going to do some lessons with Áskell. She had an interest in crafting so when he said he knew how to make wooden spears she was immediately interested. Not that she really planned to use them, it was more for the knowledge. Having the natural defense of her thick skin and shocking fur she did alright in close combat. "Ok!" She stated as she grabbed her own stick and looked to the older man for further instruction.

Morganna had only recently left the bamboo in preparation for the coming humid season that would set her painful mushrooms to sprouting. Her heart hurt in a way she hadn't expected being separated from her older siblings and... whatever Tori was, uncle perhaps? So of course when she smelled home she had to stick her nose in.

Seeing the familiar form of Askell, her tail waved in greeting. He looked kinda busy, but that didn't stop the aurora coated child creeping closer, looking at the gathered sticks with interest. She caught the end of his instructions. "D-do yer mind if I join you?" She asked hesitantly with a cant of her head in questioning.

"speech"

Kenway was sniffing about the gulley to see if any coyotes had moved in on the patch of the... vacated band they had used for fight practice. Instead, scents of strange wolves crisscrossed the area and his tail beat happily at his back. Nose to the ground, he almost ran right up the backside of the old man before the voices of girls caught his attention and he lifted his head. "Whoa where'd y'come from? Whateryerdoin? Can-I-do-it-too?" The boy didn't wait for an answer before grabbing two of the sticks and tossing one to the purple girl and taking a seat next to the pretty blue pup, sliding down on his elbows to lay next to her since he knew himself to be big and clumsy. "Y'can keep'em, I just wanna know how'ter make'em." he clarified with a thump of his tail.

"speech"

Áskell had been about to continue the lesson when a yearling from Tojo-Kai arrived. He couldn't quite remember the name but he believed it was Morganna. He smiled politely at her. "Certainly, go right ahead. We are going to be making simple stick spears." They could use them as weapons, use them in traps or even use them to roast animals. There were many uses for this skill. He offered her one of the sticks. As he did yet another pup appeared. Goodness where were they all coming from? Then again it was a nice day to be out.

"Ah, hello. My name is Aka, we're making basic wooden spears. You're welcome to join, here, select a stick." He gestured to the pile of thin branches. "The first thing we want to do is get rid of the extra branches and leaves, so that you have a clean, straight-ish stick to sharpen." Áskell took a branch between his teeth and began to demonstrate.

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

Stjarna's ears perked up at the sound of someone else approaching only to see a very fascinating looking yearling that apparently Aka knew. She smiled politely and nodded in greeting. The third pup to arrive came sniffing in almost right up to Aka and she giggled as he joined them asking a million questions. Aka answered and offered to let the boy join them before continuing along with the lesson. Star turned her focus back to Aka as he began explaining that the first step to making the spear was to strip off the excess branches. Using her teeth she seized a leaf and plucked it off before grasping one of the extra little branches and peeling it down. Continuing along she worked her way around the main stick.



Speech

Morganna offered a smile to Aka and was about to take one of the sticks when a large boy who lumbered more like a bear than a wolf, came rolling up to the gathering running his mouth at a mile a minute. He tossed one of the sticks in her direction and plopped himself down unceremoniously next to the blue girl without even waiting to be invited. Morganna allowed her quills to quiver and sat close enough to the ruffian to poke him in the backside before turning her attention to the lesson at hand.

Her stick was slightly curved, but she didn't let that perturbe her too much as she began to strip away the extra branched and leaves. It was a good stick, sturdy, but with a little bit of give in it thanks to the relative greenness of the wood. It certainly wasn't bamboo, but she imagined this lesson could be applied to bamboo all the same.

"speech"

Kenway readily grinned when the old man introduced himself, "Ken," he offered in return, cut short in his introduction with a yelp when the purple girl stabbed him with her quills. His mum was kinda purple too, what was it with quillie purple girls and the stabbing? Huh?

Maybe they were related?

But no time to dwell on that, everyone else was removing their twigs and bits faster than he was and he didn't want to be left behind. Angling his jaws he tried to strip the length of the stick all at once and earned himself a splinter in his gum for his trouble. It was going to be fun explaining that one to Sakana later. Taking his time to finish up the rest of the task, he finally had a branch free of burdens. Maybe once his stick was sharp enough, he'd stab the other girl back.

"speech"

Áskell watched as Stjarna worked, nodding quietly to himself before examining the work the other two were doing. Morganna was working efficiently, stripping her stick of extra leaves and branches. He nodded approvingly then turned to see what the raider boy, Ken was working on. The boy was a bit slow to start but he soon caught up with the girls and Áskell gave him a nod as well. "Good work, now we need to sharpen one end to make a spear."

"There a couple ways to make the pointed end but the main one is to start rubbing one end of the stick across the edges of a rock, rotating as you do so until you end up with a point." Áskell went to demonstrate, picking up the stick in his jaws and carefully angling the point toward the rock. He then held it in place with his paw to apply pressure while rotating with his teeth. He set the stick down. "It takes some work but won't require you to sharpen bone or stone. That would be another lesson."

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

Stjarna spat out the last of the leaves, licking the remnants of bark from out between her teeth before she peeked at what the other two were doing. They seemed to picking everything up quickly. Her tail wagged back and forth, excited to have some company for this lesson. They soon moved on to sharpening the stick. Oh boy… this looked like it was going to take more coordination than she normally had.

Picking up the spear in her jaws she trotted over to a large rock. She carefully repositioned the spear in her mouth so that her jaws were closer to the tip she wanted to sharpen for better leverage. She used her paws to help balance it. Star eyed the rock for a moment then started rubbing the end of the spear against the rock as she worked to make a sharpened point. It took some doing but with a little persistence she soon had a basic spear.



Speech

Morganna watched closely as Aka demonstrated how to sharpen the stick. She thought Fuji would have a much easier time of it with her dexterous paws if it was something she ever decided to take up, but for now, it was Morg receiving the lesson so she picked up her stick and moved to find an exposed stone that was rough enough to sharpen a point on, but smooth enough that it wouldn't tear the whole stick to a stringy mess.

It was a challenge to maneuver the stick, but it began to take shape brown bark giving way to white inner wood, sharp and strong.

"speech"

He still had a splinter in his gum and he worried it with his tongue as their instructor gave them their next set of steps. He watched as each of the others moved off to find a stone and he had to ask, "Could yer sharpen it with a blade? Or lash one ter th' end instead?" It seemed that steel would probably do a better job of piercing skin if these were to be used for fighting.

While he waited for an answer, he searched around for a stone, and began to drag the wood back and forth against the surface, smiling at the smell it generated, his mind already ticking over other ways he could use this revelation.

"speech"