A Little On The Shotty Side[[Antar]]

[Canali]

Summer
Day 20
Year 511 AV

Could forest animals talk to one another? Did they plot and manipulate one another such as humans did? When things were stolen of great value, did the animals rally into groups to hunt down the offender? Did neighbors chitter hello to one another upon seeing another? Every once in a while, did they appreciate seeing the sun rise the next morning; thanking the gods and goddesses they were alive? Or was life just that to them; life and nothing more? Was time meant to pass from one chime to the next with little or no significance? Eternally collecting food to survive from season to season, never taking a break in fear of falling behind? Babies were born, but did mothers savor the short time they'd spend with the young? Or was the point to raise them, shove them into the harsh world, and celebrate when they bred? Were the young even celebrated after the long and difficult act of carrying them for a period of time? When they first opened their eyes? Did animals think or live such as a human would?

Musing this as she walked, Canali listened to the sounds of the animals around her, hiding within the confines of beautiful scenery. Overhead, the sun beat down, heating the ground of Mizahar without sympathy; feeling more like a glare from an enemy than a light source. Humming under her breath, a skip infiltrated Canali's steps, making her a feather instead of a brick. Peaceful to the core, she relished in the silence. Yes, animals were echoing around her, but there were no people screaming at one another over petty things; no clang of weapons striking the opponent's defense. Only trees, trees, and more trees. Buildings didn't exist out in this vast wilderness. Personally, they wouldn't fit out here anyways. Creatures of hate would tear them down, killing the invaders.

Canali was heading for the "Cutter And Carvers". Well, not technically. After having stopped there and having been told Antar was in the woods chopping trees, Canali had set out for there, using the road. A five to ten minute walk, easily. Canali remembered correctly this morning, after fluttering around in camp when those who had jobs were leaving, Antar had forgotten to grab a lunch Canali had put together. Her job, as the cook, after all, was to keep everyone fed. This included making meals for those who couldn't catch something to eat while at work on breaks; if they had any, that is! Having sighed and made a resignation to take the meal to him right about this time, Canali was doing just that. Katahr, her male cat, had tagged along. Besides just wanting Antar to eat, there was nothing fresh for dinner tonight. Having wanted to try a new recipe she found lately, Canali wondered planned on bribing Antar into going hunting. Rumors about people going into the woods and never coming out were a nasty thing to think about while you were in the woods alone.

"Come on, Katahr. We're almost there." Head snapping up, Katahr's green eyes flicked to Canali's form, ears perked. Cautiously, the cat bounded after her; long hair flying all over the place. His pale colored tail mocked a flag as he trotted after her, high and straight in the air proudly. Katahr had been stuck to Canali's side like glue after she had rescued him. Never really straying out of sight, but far enough away to have his own privacy if need be. A smile twisted Canali's pink lips as they kept on. He was adorable!

Fairly soon, voices filled the peacefulness. Knowing they were the cutters for the "Cutter and Carvers", Canali stepped up her pace a little bit. No sounds of saws jaggedly cutting through the trunks were heard. Yes, break time indeed. Sliding through the underbrush, Canali gripped her backpack strap in one hand when they came into sight. Katahr slowed to a stop, watching the men warily. All hairs on his body stood on end, bristling. Glancing around to spot Antar, Canali strode over to him without hesitation. "Hey, you forgot your food this morning." She didn't hold it out, though, or even make a move to retrieve it from her bag.

[Antar]

'What the?'

For a second Noth had suspected a bandit approaching and had surrepticiously tightened his grip upon his axe's handle. He was the only one working round these copse of trees, the Brothers tended to spread out to work elsewhere where their talents were best harnessed, though staying within shouting distance of each other. He'd been chopping down trees all morning this time getting a better feel for the differences between them.

For instance, he had been surprised there were multiple types of pines, and they could be discerned by a number of factors. The length of their needles, the color of their bark. The shape of their cones. All were distinct marks of different types of pines, and he'd been trying to learn the particulars as best he could.

He was growing to like the woods, the quiet times away from human voices, the smells of nature a far cry different from the smells of the city and on the job he tended to shift between his usual talkative self and being a man of few words. When he recognized the woman who seemed to approach he waved a hand to show he knew her, otherwise he'd imagine there was a good chance she'd have recieved an axe head in her stomach like the rest of those who tried to steal from the brother's company.

When Canali came over to remark about his lunch, all Antar did was grunt noncommitedly in reply as he took a swig of water from his flask. The woman must have been crazy to come out all this way , and he knew it wouldn't be for any mundane reason to give him his lunch. That wasn't how sunberth worked. There were always angles, and he was sure the girl wanted something. So he'd sit back to wait until she voiced her opinion.

Finishing his drink, he walked over to his horse Dawnstride, and patted the mare fondly at the neck before giving her a bit of water as well before he turned back towards where he had laid his tool bag and his axe. By the end of his break, he was sure Canali would get to the point of why she was here.

The way their group worked, one only had to ask. About anything, free without recriminations. Even if the asking did not guarantee them being helped...

[Canali]

For a few moments, Canali was quiet, wandering away from him to view the large trunks. How could they be so big? Circling the tree with one hand trailing leisurely across the rough surface, Canali turned her head towards Antar's general direction. "What kind of tree is this?" If Izurdin, the god of strength, had granted Canali a male body of much muscle, she might have chosen instead to be a lumberjack. To know what Antar cut down would someday build a house for someone was fascinating to her. A human or otherwise, would live in the house, raise their kids there, and trust it not to fall down in the first storm that rumbles along. The boards could go to building another whorehouse, though. The thought didn't settle well with Canali, and she pushed it away from her mind.

Seeing the tree close to Antar, Canali practically floated over the ground, rustling as a small animal would only by mistake. Katahr had taken a seat nearby, lazily grooming his fur. The narcissistic animal! "Antar, come here." Staring at the jagged edging of the trunk, Canali, without looking, took Antar's left hand before laying it against the trunk; her right atop of his. Completely unaware of whatever reaction he had, Canali kept his palm against the rugged tree. "Can you feel the life in the tree? Do you ever think about if trees can feel pain when you cut them down? I wonder what exactly carved these runes. They're so… Permanent and only skin-deep to the tree, while to us they might have killed us. Do you know why these marks are here? Had a god sit whittling one day, trying to carve something and given up halfway through? What might trees have looked like if the god wasn't interrupted? I think they might have been bowed or curved. Canoes are carved from these large trunks, right? Maybe s/he was trying to making something to play in the cool water with? Or a weapon? Arrows are made from trees. Maybe he had a giant bow? Who would he be killing, though?"

Tilting her head up towards Antar, Canali was smiling. Not just a small twitch of her mouth, either. No, shiny white teeth sparkled in the light. A little dimple on each side of Canali's mouth winked at Antar, only showing when Canali actually, really truly, smiled. Twinkling, grey eyes watched his face for a sign of emotion. The gears in her head were practically seen moving. "What thoughts are crossing your mind?" Head turning back to face the tree, Canali's dark hair hid her face. "Right.. Well… Anyways." Releasing the hold she had on his hand, which wasn't very strong anyways and seemed more like air instead of a deadweight, Canali stepped back and away from him. A light flush had colored her angled cheeks, marring the pale skin.

Fetching the lunch out of her backpack, Canali held it in one hand, bag swaying carelessly over one shoulder. "You forgot this this morning. And you work almost the hardest out of everyone, so you need it almost the most." A pause, as Canali bit her bottom lip. "However, this was the last food we had since we haven't gone to retrieve supplies in awhile for camp. By the time I get back, it'd be too late to hook up the horse and head in anyways." Another hesitation, as Canali's foot dug at the dirt below it; such as a horse would with a hoof. Finding the ground very interesting to someone who had boldly shoved a person against a tree, Canali mumbled, "I want you to take me hunting."

[Antar]

'It was odd for him of all people to consider thinking this, but... the girl talked too much.' He knew a con job when he saw one, and he had to give the girl some credit for the attempt.

Antar gazed carefully at the pattern of scrawls that the woman had dubbed 'runes'. They weren't in any discernable language and Noth wasn't even sure they were runes of any sort. Taking his bill hook, a large curved blade for shearing off tree limbs, he grabbed forcefully at Canali's hand, holding it on the trunk before using the pommel to tap above where the bark was scored.

Pieces of the trees flaky crust fell, dirtying their arms as what the true cause was. Inside the bark of the tree, there were tiny wriggly things, eating away at the trees innards. He returned the bill hook to its sheathe before letting the woman drop her hand and snorted. Grumbling he noted, "It's just worms, Oak's rotted."

Turning away, Antar went to the nearest tree and hooked his measuring line about it as the damnable girl followed him. More importantly, she had his lunch in tow. He wondered what was in it, and could feel the bite of hunger in the pit of his stomach. But it wasn't the first time he had worked a day with hunger gnawing away at his belly. Taking a quick rap of his palm against the tree, Antar did not feel anything to tell him this tree was rotted like the first. He didn't particularly care for the idea of what god decided to carve and whittle out the oldest trees. The oldest trees were normally dead or so ancient their strength and vitality had long been sapped. In the end they were only good enough to spread the next generation of strong trees that would one day outgrow them.

Was it so hard to cut down a bit of nature in its prime of life? Not Really.

Finding this one suitable he looked back towards Canali and then towards the tree. Making sure she was a good distance from the cedar, Noth went over to the tool bag and brought out his axe. "Two more trees today fills my quota, then we'll have time so we can hunt something for the stew pot. Find something to do till then."He gestured to a bunch of random sticks which littered the area, "Maybe even whittle a bit."

Without waiting for a reply, Noth sauntered back towards the chosen tree and began to chop a large notch out of the opposite side of the tree, where he wanted it to fall. His stance was like he was swinging a baseball bat, with one exception. His strikes were at slight angles , carving out a large notch to begin the felling process. His arms ached slightly with every small impact, as woodchips began to fly, but that didn't stop him from continuing.

[Canali]

Wincing when Antar grabbed her hand, Canali kept the intake of breath from being heard as he proceeded to chop above her fingers. Was he crazy? Delusional? Jerking away from him, Canali tossed the handful of worms and bark down, raising it against a fast speed to rest against Antar's cheek with a solid slap! Completely unnecessary of him! Uncalled for! Biting back a scathing remark, Canali stared at him; smile completely wiped from her pink lips. No dimples winked at him, and no pearly whites shone. Jaw locked, she nodded, casually brushing her palm off. Ew. To feel the live worms crawling over her skin, trying desperately to slip into a crevice was disturbing. Even more so than hearing the knife-like thing he had had, smacking against the wood, just inches from her fingertips. No words flooded from her lips like before when she was curious in the tree and wanted to share her interest; to wonder aloud and to give into childlike curiosity.

Katahr had jumped up with the thud, frightened and terrified. Orbs searching for Canali, he stiffened into a trembling hiss when he felt Canali's fear. Warningly, his tale flickered, much like a snake's would. Registering the widened eyes that stared at Antar, horrified and frightened of him. Canali blinked away the gathering tears. Katahr let a low growl loose, but didn't leave his spot except for an initial step forwards. Pointed and sharp, one fang glinted in the sunlight.

'I'll be damned if I'm going to associate with someone who will threaten me!' Unaware of her backpack having fallen off during the scare, Canali's head whipped towards Katahr and nodded. Seeing as his master was alright, Katahr settled back down. "I think I'll just head home." 'I'd rather face thieves who want to kill me than deal with your nonsense' was easily vibrating off of her in waves. Unconsciously, Canali cuddled her fingertips in the other hand, cautious of disturbing the lunch, pressing them to make sure they were actually still there. "Eat your lunch. I figured since I had gone out of my petching way to make sure you ate, to care about the fact that you'll be hungry, you could at least have some humanity." Unlike usually. "I am sure there were other ways to handle the situation of getting away from me than… Chopping right above my fingers!" Voice rough and unmasked, fear colored her words. Fear of him.

Watching him walk away, Canali shook her head in disgust. Unbelievably, he suggested she whittle while he worked. Canali didn't want to whittle, she wanted to beat some sense into that thick skull of his! She wanted to go home and retreat into her little shell; to ignore the camp for one night. They could cook for themselves once in awhile. Maybe she'd go into town and get drunk. Most likely not. No, ignoring Antar would be for the best. No reason to make it seem like something was wrong or had scared her during the day.

[Antar]

Pausing mid-chop, Noth took a step back and turned towards Canali. For a moment he thrust the butt of the axe on the ground, and then leaned on it before looking at her with a smirk, as he ignored the stinging in his cheek from her slap. It wasn't the first time a woman slapped him, and he doubted it would be the last. Normally though it was for other reasons.

Especially if there was alcohol involved.

The little furball's actions were quite amusing, and the little cat didn't scare him in the least... he could always find another item for the stew pot after all. So Noth laughed for a moment, staring between the two for awhile. He wasn't laughing at her, or at her expense, but rather amusingly as if the pair in front of him provided an interesting puzzle to figure out.

Smiling as if he was having a normal conversation he shrugged at her comments and began to eat his lunch, taking out a carrot for his horse before handing the rest back to Canali by means of apology."My my, I never thought a girl of Sunberth would be so afraid of a little knife. You really need to toughen up a bit, you were completely safe at the time, you know. I'd have chopped off my own hand as well if I had missed. But it does give you pause, doesn't it? To think something you view with childish wonder can turn into an ugly thing in the flash of a second? Or perhaps to view something with a different angle. So tell me: Was I doing that to scare you? To get away from you? Or perhaps to teach you something of more import? This is Sunberth after all."

He held out a large branch to the woman that was about as long to her shoulder and said, "Here, whittle this awhile. It could make for a good walking stick. Or if you prefer, find something else to occupy your time. It's dangerous to stalk back to camp through the wilds alone."

He just stood there a few moments staring at Canali before turning back to his work, as out of the corner of his eye he saw the kitten slink away from them both off towards a set of briar bushes. Turning back to his work, he let Canali stew things over a bit as he made the necessary strikes for a few more moments before he backed away to let the tree crash safely downwards.

Unlimbering his bill hook, he began to de-limb the trunk, taking time to load the wagon with the larger branches. In a woodsman's job there was no wasted material. Saplings, for wood strips for bows, boughs for walking sticks, even the bark of a tree could be dried and sold as tinder bundles.

Nothing was wasted, and that was how a job should be done. Efficiently. However, the girl was adding a bit of inefficiency to his work today, and that was quite... irritating to him, but Antar would never outwardly show it.

Taking out the axe again, he severed what was left at the trunk at twelve foot lengths before levering the bits to into the carriage where Dawnstride was tethered. He took a moment to pat her mane and give her the carrot from his lunch which he was sure canali would be enjoying by now. He just watched as the mare's eyes stared at him and whinnied, grateful for the attention. The silent reverie between a man and his horse was broken however by the low yowling of an animal nearby.

Canali's cat.

Taking his bow from the wagon, Noth left the wagon, with Canali and the horse behind to jog towards the briar patch he'd seen the cat stalk into. What he found there was surprising to him, the animal was tentatively pawing at what appeared to be a large porcupine, all curled in protecting its underbelly with it's quills pointing out. Laughing silently, as the kitten backed away, untouched by any quills, Noth grabbed a stick off the ground and looked over his shoulder to see Canali coming up behind him to stare at her kitten's circumstance.

Porcupines were interesting creatures, their quills could be saved and sharpened into needles for sewing, and the meat was quite tender.

Noth couldn't help it if his eyes seemed bemused as he whispered, "Well look what we have here, something for the pot. You might want to call off the furball before he hurts himself."

[Canali]

Ignoring Antar's words, Canali jerked the branch from his hand. A sliver of worry slid through her, though, at the thought of him being hurt from her grabbing the stick as such. Canali would feel terribly guilty if he were to have been harmed by her foolish actions. It was bad enough the neon hand print across his face showed her anger. There had been absolutely no reason to resort to physical violence. In one hand was the lunch he had handed back. Having frowned at that, Canali almost mentioned the fact that he needed to eat. Instead of doing so, she sulked back over to her discarded backpack, tossed it over one shoulder, and walked back to where she had entered the small area before plopping down on the ground.

Aware of the fact that Katahr had wandered away, most likely to hunt and explore, Canali picked up the branch, holding it awkwardly away from her. Small limbs had sprouted from it in every direction, creating a dangerous weapon, but a gorgeous addition the tree. What could the branch be made into? Trying to use her imagination, Canali tilted her head one way and then the other, staring at it as if it was a chest to be unlocked only after completing a puzzle. Deciding that a spear would be a great addition, as she could learn how to fish, Canali starting breaking most of the limbs off, starting at the thickest chunk. They cracked, coming off easily. Perhaps she could convince Antar to take her fishing, too?

Glancing up, Canali saw him working. The muscles in his back were tense, twitching with each movement. His legs were spaced apart enough for balance, and he was concentrating on his work. He was lean, but mostly muscle and handled his tools with precision, but a carefulness. Antar wasn't bad looking, either. In fact, Canali had known a lot worse looking males. Men who would have hit her back after earlier, or taken advantage of the wilderness and them being the only few around within hearing distance. She was sure women at the taverns fawned over him. Let them have him! He didn’t seem like the type of a person to use a common whore, though. Biting her bottom lip, Canali watched him work for several more moments; admiring the view. Catching herself, a light blush circled her cheeks, itching up her neck. Now was not the time to physically admire a man who she was supposed to be angry at!

Pushing the thoughts of Antar out of her mind, Canali turned back to the branch. All but four or five twigs had been broke off, set to the side in a pile. Staring at it, another idea came to Canali. A slingshot! Yes, there were two twigs which created a Y on the stick! All but two of the twigs were broken off. Excited now, Canali dug into her backpack, aiming for the dagger that had been found awhile ago. Though it had needed sharpening, the knife was a good thing to have around. Protect herself with. Holding the dagger in her leg hand, thumb pressed upon the top part of the blade, Canali angled the stick away from her. A stab wound would keep her from going hunting!

Pressing in with force, Canali carved a deep chunk out of the soon-to-be slingshot. It barely made a dent. Deciding to start with the actual Y of the weapon, Canali began to carve inwards, creating a deep V soon enough. The hardest part of this was creating a curve where the twigs connected with the branch. Frowning and biting hard on her cheek, Canali tried to angle the dagger into a curve. No such luck. Deciding to make small, short, thin cuts, she almost had a curve. Jagged and uneven, but almost. Happy with her workmanship, Canali settled the knife next to her, tip holding it in the ground. Now to find something to make the sling of the shot.

Setting the carving detail off to the side, Canali bent back over her bag, rustling through it. Ah ha! Having found several things in the streets of Sunberth, she had picked up a leather strap. Just a small one, but big enough to make a slingshot with! Now, how to go about doing it…

Spotting Antar in her peripheal vision moving away from camp, Canali grew curious. Shuffling to her feet, she followed after him. The leather strap and carving in hand. Resting one hand on Antar's upper arm, Canali peeked around him. Her hair danced upon his skin. Katahr was feinting at a porcupine. Giggling softly, she clucked to Katahr. Ears perking, he glanced around, before spotting Canali. Seemingly proud of his catch, he trotted easily back over to her.

[Antar]

As quietly as possible Noth slung his bow behind his back. Looking around for another stick , he found one with slight V at the end. Picking it up he snapped off the excess about an inch over the gnarled knot where the branch split. Working his way forwards towards the hedgehog as the cat was called back to Canali, Noth picked up a rock.

It wasn't a big rock, but it was at least three to four pounds, and hefting it in his hands seemed to assure him that it's weight was sufficient. Quietly, he stalked his way forwards , keeping his feet from the leaves as he closed in on the hedgehog who was still curled up in a scared bundle of quills. He caught a small gleam of a beady little eye glaring at him as he got within length of poking it with a stick. It was hissing now, a sheer warning to his approach. Almost as if the critter was saying, 'Don't you dare poke me with that stick."

That thought only amused Noth as he considered what he was going to do. He wasn't going to end it's life by poking it with the stick. That was what the rock was for.

Taking care Noth thrust the stick forwards along the ground, and under the belly of the porcupine before flipping it over like he would if he was shoveling something. Not wanting for it to get away, Noth followed this action by holding it down with the forked stick with his left hand as the creature hissed, and thrashed the air with its legs. In his right, he raised the rock and threw it downwards and the sickening smack of it hitting the poor addition to the nights stewpot signalled it's demise as its skull was crushed. For a second or two, the body jerked once or twice before it fell limp.

Straightening up , Noth smiled - pleased with his handiwork for a moment. The quills would come in handy if he could remove them safely. For a moment, he pondered how he might use them, but jerked his attention back to the present. The kill still had to be strung up for transport back to the camp after all, and he was wondering if he should gut it first. He'd do that in a little while, but the first thing he did was cut a loop of rope. Taking care, he bound the animal about the paws and tied a tight knot to anchor it safely. He stowed the carcass in the wagon Dawnstried was tied up to, making sure it was covered by canvas so the little kitten wouldn't be able to get to it before they could prepare it.

He placed his bow back on the wagon, and patted Dawnstride's side as she whinnied for his attention before gathering up his axe again. Turning back towards the trees he spared a quick glance to Canali , glancing over her workmanship with both the sharpened stick and the Y'ed branch. It wasn't the best work, but then again, neither was his. He knew just enough of what he was doing in many things to know that there would always be room for improvement. Scratching the back of his head as he looked away towards another nice pine tree, Noth muttered a question for the girl."Interesting, so what are you planning to make with those?"

[Canali]

Watching as Antar beat the porcupine to death, Canali frowned. Perhaps this hunting trip wasn't a good idea. If she was disturbed by the killing of this creature, maybe she shouldn't have even asked. Just delivered Antar's lunch and left. Then all of the incidents afterwards wouldn't have even happened. The problem with the blade and the worms wouldn’t have happened; her cat wouldn't have found a porcupine and Canali wouldn't have had to deal with Antar. A smile grace his lips, transforming his face. "You should smile more often," burst from Canali's mouth before she could stop it.

Moving back to the main area, Canali climbed on the trunk Antar had cut down. The bark scraped her knee, causing it to bleed, but she ignored that and made her way down the trunk. Just about halfway, Canali plopped down to straddle the log before turning sideways and dangling her feet over. Careful of falling off and injuring herself more, Canali moved with caution while folding her legs under in a criss-cross-applesauce fashion. Katahr bounded onto the trunk after her, easily strutting after her. His long hair flowed, bouncing with each step. Reaching out, Canali itched him behind the ears. "You're a very good killer, Katahr." Praising and cooing to him, Canali watched as he flopped down, purring. He seemed to enjoy the attention, lavishing in it like a street dweller would well cooked food.

Jumping at Antar's words, having completely forgotten he was there, Canali gave a sheepish smile. "Well… I wanted to make a slingshot. Unfortunately, even with all of my bad carving skills combined, I made this wonderful masterpiece… Only to realize I didn't know how to put it together." Meeting his eyes before flicking to his cheek, Canali ducked her head. "I'm sorry for smacking you. It was completely out of line." Truthful regret colored her words, along with the one sided smile that was plastered on her thin face. "You wouldn't happen to know anything about slingshots, would you?" Holding the two pieces out helplessly, Canali's grey eyes unconsciously grew big to pout at him.

[Antar]

'Puppy Dog Eyes.' By jove it was the first time he'd seen them outside of five year old punks that wanted candy or stared at you because you were sidling up to pull a job over on their twenty -three year old lady mother. Gods above... it was horrible.

First in line was the fact that he, Antar, a rogue who'd as soon gut someone as pay them the time of day, was the target of them. Secondly, and the more important thing to note was that they were coming from beneath the lashes of a twenty year old woman who would have served up a right and proper price on the slave block.

Noth knew it was just another of the 'fairer' sex's tricks to con someone into doing something for them. He'd seen it work plenty of times, with barmaids wanting larger tips, and braga's workers who wanted to garner a night's pay. But he never wanted, any woman to stare at him with 'puppy dog eyes.' It was too much, a danger to his refined sense of detachment from the world.

And if one wasn't suitably detached, bad things would follow in the future. However, she did seem to want his help on this slingshot of hers pretty badly... 'Argh... this was so annoying to him.'

Figuring the easiest way to deal with the situation would be to give her what she wanted Noth swiped the Y'ed branch from her hand, he pondered a look at it for a second. It wasn't bad, for a starting job of carving, but there were a few things he thought might improve the chances of this actually working. He was an archer first, so all sorts of projectile launching weapons were fascinating to him. He wondered how to make them work, how to make them shoot farther, faster, and more importantly: kill things quicker. So an idea of helping Canali create something to help her hunt was an agreeable use of his time... save for the puppy dog eyes. Those were revolting to be looked at with.

Pulling his dagger from the sheathe at his left shoulder, Noth stared intently at the wood, for the most part, Canali's whittling had served to debark the top half where the two branches met. However, where the handle would be was still covered in thick tough bark. Using the sharpest part of his kukri's inner edge, Noth began by keeping the branch pointed away from himself as he began to whittle down to where only a small bit of brown could be seen before the white wood shown through. He surmised that was good enough for what he intended to do next.

At the top of each branch of the cleft where he would attach the leather straps he carved out two smaller notches in the wood, making sure they became grooves about 1/8th of an inch in depth which circled all the way about the wood prongs where the cords would go. These would serve as anchor points for the leather straps when he tied them on, but first there was one more thing he had to do. He sheathed the blade and walked towards a clearing where only a patch of dry grass was and sat down indian style on the ground before translating to his knees. Drawing his blade again, he carved out a circle, cutting the dried grass and placing it to one side.

Once he had cleared a section of the turf away, Noth scooped up a section of dirt with the flat of his blade, using it as a makeshift hoe to quickly dig out a small fire pit to prevent any problems arising from what he was about to do.

He made sure to clean the blade, wetting it a little with water from his own canteen, completely drying it before he placed it back in its proper place at his shoulder.Then, from the wagon he gathered small bits of rope, and walked back to the freshly dug fire pit, using his dagger again to cut small strips of line.He used these to tie the bundle of dry grass around the soon to be slingshot. He knew from the greenish tinge the piece was made out of pine, and a very wet wood. Wet wood tended not to flex as well, and if Canali used it before it was heat hardened, it would be far more likely to snap or break. The rogue knew, the best wood bows were those that were dried to a degree and then re-soaked in resin and oils over the years in a long line of maintenance.

And to him, Resin was just another word for tree sap. Taking his bill hook he sauntered over to the rotted oak and swung up higher, biting a deep groove into the wood.

From there, he swung again this time notching out a small triangle into the tree, about three inches deep.Then he waited, but he didn't have to wait long. The rotting tree was dying, and the new divot caused a bit of sticky sap to congeal quite quickly as the old tree's last defenses tried to scab the wound. Just like blood would scab over in a human. Oaks were known for their hard woods, but they were exceptional sap producers, even though it wasn't sweet like maple sap which was turned into syrup.
Even better, the brothers had shown him the Oak sap burned at a lower heat then most other saps, and was one of the key ingredients they used in their stains and varnishes.
He thrust the drygrass wrapped package into the tree notch, letting it become thoroughly soaked before hooking it out with the flat of the bill hook.

Antar brought it back to the firepit, and placed the now wet bundle inside.
Holding his hand over the pit, with his back between Canali and his actions. Obscuring her view, the rogue took a quick glance around to note all the other woodcutters had gone. So the coast was clear. Concentrating his djed, he drew forth the Res as a fine mist below his hand before sending it down like a small cloud to smother the wrapped bundle. With a bit of thought he sparked the integral spark, transmuting a small piece of the outside into flame.

He leaned back as the fire started, within the enclosed pit,, smoldering the sap enclosed twigs and heating the wet wood. For the next fifty seconds, the sounds of cracking and popping was heard, not of the sap covered branch being destroyed, but as signs of steam being released over the pit from the sappy grass, slowly turning into coals like the tip of a lit up cigar.

When he thought it had been enough, Noth concentrated again, drawing forth another small ball of Res to hover over the pit , drawing the embers away to let the coals burn themselves out to reveal what was underneath.
Noth used his dagger to fish it out, noting the Y'ed branch was now fire hardened, where the slight bark was left was now a smooth polished brown and only a bit of charring on the hilt could be seen. He scraped that bit away and covered the small pit with dirt, before upending a bit of water on it.

He didn't want to leave any trace of coals which might spark a fire later, and he wasn't concerned if animals had smelled it, animals tended to stay away from fire. It was an ingrained instinct in them he supposed. But to be sure no other troubles came acalling because of it Noth wanted to make absolutely sure it was out, and the ground wet with water.

With the fire was doused did he walk back towards Canali to silently grab the strip of leather from her hand and look at it.

It was a sizeable amount.

About ten inches in length, with a width of about four inches. He gave the now treated Y'ed branch to Canali to hold, while he retreated back to the wagon.

Using his knife, he split off a two inch by four inch rectangle, before halving the 8x4'' inch down the length to give him two 8'' x2'' pieces of leather.

He then bisected the straps again to give him a 1" x 8inch' strip, which he bisected twice more to get four, 1/4'' x 8'' cords. Thinking of what was next, Noth fished in his bag of tools for a moment, before withdrawing an awl to punch two holes at the center mark of the 2'' x 4" rectangle, effectively creating a place to "tie" the straps down. Walking back to Canali he mimed her holding the Y'ed branch tightly as he began to tie the straps on. First looping one of the quarter inch cords around the bough and into the notch he had made, tightening it with a taught line hitch before securing the piece to one of the holes of the 2"x4" inch 'launch strap'.

He duplicated the same thing for the other side with another cord, drawing it tight to connect the slingshot together. The other two strips he had made by cutting the cords, he fastened snugly to reinforce the tension of the stringed contraption before going back to his personal pack. Pulling out a ball of grease he used for his own bow, he went back to canali and took the almost ready slingshot back into his possession.

Noth liberally applied the grease to the corded strip, letting the concoction of animal fat soak the leather to make it pliable, and more importantly, flexible. When he was done, he took a pebble from the ground, and test fired the slingshot, noting how the leather straps gave and rebounded. Satisfied, he gave the contraption back to canali and walked over to his axe. "Leave me be a moment, I need to get one last tree."

Checking to see his axe was dry Noth wet the edge a bit before venturing towards a small pine. He measured it up and checked it for rot before finding it suitable. With care, and without rushing the rogue began to chop away at the bark of the tree... he really didn’t want any more interruptions, but he wouldn’t tell Canali that. As is, he surmised the slingshot itself would be suitable for a few hunts, but the straps might have to be replaced. Leather wasn’t the best material for strings, most bows used animal gut cured in oils, and tallow. Hopefully, if they were any more successful with the hunt, they might find a few pieces to experiment with.