Solo Exploring New Ground

[Seirei Dawnwhisper]

Timestamp: 1st Day of Fall, 514 AV Seirei searched through her things until she found the beads she had made a while back. When she did, she poured them out of the pouches she kept them stored in. One by one, she picked each one up and examined it critically. None of them had any obvious flaws that needed to be covered up, but some were definitely prettier than the others. These beads were separated into one pile. Other beads had already been painted a solid color. Some were blue, some white, and some black. These were split into three more piles based on the color of paint she'd used on them. When Seirei was done with that, she turned her attention to the remaining beads. Then she examined them once more. The beads that had interesting patterns in the grain of the wood were separated into one pile. Those that had different colors within the wood that had been used to make them were placed into a second pile. Both of these piles were put back into the pouches, as was the pile containing her best beads. Seirei then turned to the three piles of painted beads. She split each of the three piles in half. One pile of each color was then put back into her pouches. With her beads organized, Seirei rummaged through her belongings until she found her cakes of paint, and the bowls she'd bought to mix them in. Using water from her canteen, she filled each bowl until it was roughly half full. Then she crumbled a bit of paint into each bowl, and stirred it into the water with her small paint brush. Each time she did so, she rinsed it off with more water from her canteen so the colors wouldn't mix together. When she was done, she had six bowls of paint ready to be used, one for each of the colors she owned. Seirei picked up one of her black painted beads. She stared at it for a few ticks, picturing in her mind what she wanted to do. When she was ready, she dipped the bristles of her paint brush into the yellow paint. She swished it around in the paint several times to make sure it was coated with the paint. As she lifted it out of the bowl, she noticed that the paint was dripping off of the brush, so she tapped it against the edge of the bowl to shake off the excess paint. Then she positioned the brush in the center of the bead, and painted a wavy, horizontal line that circled the entire bead. Seirei took a few ticks to examine her work before rinsing off her brush. She dipped it into the red paint this time, and touched the bead just above the line she had just painted with the tip of her paint brush. It made a small, red dot. One by one, Seirei made a line of red dots circling the bead above the yellow line she had painted before. When she was done with that, she painted a second line of red dots, this one below the yellow wavy line. Once she finished, she paused to examine her work. Satisfied, she set the bead aside to dry. Seirei picked up a second bead, this one painted white instead of black. After contemplating it for a few ticks, and deciding on a pattern, she dipped her paint brush into the green paint. She had intended to paint a series of vertical green lines around the bead. And when the paint had dried, she would have painted horizontal lines in a different color to complete the pattern. Unfortunately, she forgot to shake the excess paint off of her brush first. As a result, the extra paint spread out over the bead when she pressed the tip onto it. This left her with a vaguely circular blob of green paint instead of the thin line she had envisioned. Seirei stared at the blob for several chimes in dismay. The design she had in mind was no longer possible because of her mistake. But as she looked at it, another possibility formed in her mind. The splotch of green paint wasn't ugly...it just wasn't what she had intended. So Seirei rinsed off her brush with water from her canteen, and dipped it into the black paint. Making sure to shake off the excess paint this time, she painted thin, spidery black lines radiating out from the splotch of paint. The end result looked vaguely like an insect of some kind. When she was satisfied with the result, Seirei set this bead aside to dry too. One by one, Seirei painted the beads she had set aside to be painted. The designs she used were simple ones that required no real skill...which was a good thing since she had no real skill at painting. But simple lines, both straight, and wavy, basic shapes such as triangles, and squares, and the like were within her very limited skill. Even then, she made mistakes. The black paint wasn't mixed as well as it should have been, so there was a lump in one of the colors - a small lump that got picked up by her brush when she dipped it into the paint. Because of that, the paint didn't flow smoothly onto the bead. The end result was a vaguely cloud shaped splotch that Seirei tried to turn into a storm cloud. Another time, she made the mistake of not lifting the brush from the surface of the bead she was working on when a sound coming from outside the tent distracted her. As a result, the triangle she had meant to paint became an upside down V with jagged lines that flared out form the bottom on either side. When she had finished with the final bead, and set it aside to dry, Seirei cleaned up her mess, and put her supplies away. Painting designs on the rather than just leaving them as they were, or dunking them into the paint to color them a solid color was a new concept to her. But if they turned out well, they would add an element to the beads that would hopefully make them more valuable. Seirei considered her work for a few chimes. When they're dry, I think I'll string them up, and see if I can sell them as necklaces and bracelets instead of just beads. she mused. That's for another time, though. For now, it's time to work on something else.

[Seirei Dawnwhisper]

Seirei looked around, eying her unfinished projects thoughtfully. She usually had several projects going at any one time so that she could choose one that she felt like working on rather than trying to force herself to focus on one if the inspiration wasn't there. When she finished one, she would start a new one, so there was never any danger of her running out of partially completed projects to work on. And if inspiration struck, she would start a new one regardless of whether she had finished another one recently or not. After several chimes, her eyes landed on a bowl she had carved several weeks back. The bowl itself could be considered finished. But Seirei wanted to practice her detail work, so she planned to carve a design on the outside of the bowl. As she stared at the bowl, her mind drifted back to a debate she and her mother had had shortly before she became ill. Her mother had told her of the way people used to make bowls in the past. Wood carvers would make a small depression in the block of wood they had selected. They they would use coals to burn out the inside of the bowl. It was long, slow, painstaking work that required them to burn out a layer, scrape off the charred part, burn out the next layer, and on. The process would repeat until the bowl was finished. Seirei believed that it was both faster, and easier to simply use an adze to hollow out the inside of a bowl. But during the friendly debate, her mother had insisted that the tried and true methods still had value. What were Mother's exact words? That sometimes the traditional methods are traditional for a reason, and that faster isn't always better? Yes, that sounds about right. Seirei mused. The memory of the debate, and her mother's words echoing in her mind made Seirei want to try the old fashioned method out for herself. But she decided to use it to make a spoon rather than a bowl since she had never tried it before. Carving spoons was easier than carving a bowl would be. It would also take less time. Since she wanted to carve at least one spoon using each method, to determine which method was better, spoons would work better than bowls for her experiment. Seirei didn't think that she would have enough time to carve two bowls today. Especially when using a method she wasn't familiar with for one of the bowls. With that decided, it was time to select the wood she wanted to use for her project. Seasoned wood was better for carving spoons than unseasoned wood was, so after some careful thought, Seirei searched through her belongings, looking for two blocks of seasoned oak wood to start with. She had bought the wood from a trade caravan out of Riverfall last spring when Endrykas had been closest to that city. Seeing the trade caravans that season had been very painful for Seirei. It was a reminder of what she had lost when her own caravan had abandoned her. But she had been unable to stop spending time browsing through the wares available for trade. As hard as it was to see the caravans, it was a welcome distraction from the fact that she had lost her freedom. Visiting the trade caravans had also gotten her away from Lian's tent, and that alone was worth the painful reminder of what she had lost. Even that pain wasn't as bad as the horror of being trapped in the place where she was brutally raped each night as Lian tried his best to get her with child. Seirei felt a sharp pain in her abdomen, distracting her from her thoughts. She rubbed her hand against her swollen belly ruefully. It was if the child growing inside her was reminding her that Lian had succeeded in his self appointed task of planting his seed within her. Or perhaps, the child simply wanted some attention. If that were the case, Seirei thought that her unborn child would be a very demanding child when he or she was born. Then again, perhaps the frequent painful kicks were simply a sign that it was growing too crowded inside her as the child grew bigger. If that were the case, Seirei could sympathize. Her belly was certainly big enough. Bigger than she would like, really. And as much as she hated the fact that bringing a child into the world was exactly what her captor wanted from her, she would be glad when it was over and done with, and her stomach was its proper size once more.

[Seirei Dawnwhisper]

When the pain eased, Seirei began looking for the blocks of wood she wanted to use once more. But try as she might, she couldn't seem to find them. Frowning, Seirei continued her search. Still no luck. Had she used them already, and forgotten about it? That wasn't like her...but then again, she had been forgetting things more often lately. As a result, Seirei couldn't dismiss the possibility that she had forgotten that she'd used the wood she had in mind. Still frowning, Seirei stood slowly. Would she have to give up on her experiment for now? Since she was trying to save up as much money as she could for when it came time for her to make her escape, she really didn't want to buy any more wood right now. Nor did she want to use some of her larger pieces for what she had in mind. It would be a waste of perfectly good wood, and the leftover scraps might not be in sizes and shapes that she could use for something else. Voices outside the tent distracted Seirei from her musings. The voices were muffled, but she could hear someone saying that they were going out to a nearby river in order to collect some cattails. It was difficult to follow what the voices were saying, especially with the tent muffling the sound. But Seirei was able to understand enough. Normally, she wouldn't have paid any mind to the conversation. But if she could get someone to take her to a river, she would probably be able to find willows there. And she would be able to make spoons out of the branches. Decision made, Seirei hastily grabbed the small axe out of her wood carver's kit, and exited the tent. Two young women about her age stood outside the tent. Both looked startled by her abrupt appearance. "I'm sorry, but I couldn't help but overhear that you're going out to the river?" she asked politely in heavily accented pavi, trying not to sound quite as eager as she really was. The two girls exchanged glances, then turned back to her. The taller of the two nodded. "We are. We want to gather some cattails. Why do you ask?" "I was hoping to get the chance to go today, too. I need to collect some willow branches for a project I'm working on. But I don't know where it is, and I'd probably get lost if I went looking for it on my own..." The two girls frowned. Then one girl's eyes widened, as if she had just realized something. She made a few quick hand signs that Seirei didn't get a good enough look at to even begin to guess at their meaning. But the other girl obviously understood, because her eyes widened as well. As one, the two girls glanced at Seirei's swollen belly for several painfully long ticks, making Seirei feel very uncomfortable as they did so. They exchanged glances again. One made a quick series of hand signs. Seirei thought she recognized one or two of them, but they had been made so quickly that she couldn't be certain. And even if she had, it wasn't enough to understand what was being said. The other girl shook her head, and made a few signs of her own in rapid succession. After a moment, the first girl nodded. Then they both turned back to Seirei. "You're one of the captives." It wasn't a question. There was no real reason to try and hide the truth, so Seirei nodded. "Would your..." The girl who had spoken hesitated, as if uncertain how to phrase what she wanted to say. "Would the father of your child allow you to come with us if we were willing to take you?" she asked delicately. "Is he here so we can ask him?" Seirei shook her head. "No, Lian isn't here, but I think he would let me go if someone was willing to take me. I was a wood carver before I was captured. Lian still lets me work as one even though..." Seirei fell silent, and shuddered. The two girls glanced at her belly again. Then they nodded sympathetically. "Anyway, he still lets me work as a wood carver. And I need the branches to make some spoons. Lian wouldn't let me go by myself, because I'd probably get lost the moment I couldn't see the city any more. But he'd let me go with someone else since I have a good reason to go." The fact that Lian would be afraid that she was trying to escape if she went out into the Sea of Grass alone didn't need to be said. The two girls had another silent conversation, using hand signs that flew by far too quickly for Seirei to understand. Then they turned back to her. "Okay, you can come with us. But only if you tell us what it's like where you lived before you were captured." one girl said. "And you have to promise that you won't give us a hard time just because we haven't bonded to a strider yet." the other girl said defensively. "We may not be true Drykas...yet...but we will be. And even so, we're still better than you since you're just a captive." Seirei frowned in confusion. Had she misunderstood what the other girl was trying to say? They weren't "true" Drykas? What did she mean by that? "I won't give you a hard time...but...what do you mean that you're not true Drykas? Did I mis...did I understand wrong? I'm trying to learn pavi, but..." "For a captive, you speak pavi pretty well. And no, you didn't misunderstand what I said. See, it's like this. My friend and I were born here. We've lived all our lives here. We're learning how to make all kinds of things with wooden beads. Necklaces, bracelets, anklets, hair wraps...those are only a few of the things we're learning how to make. We hope to open a shop someday when we get better at it. But for all of that...neither of us are as good as even the youngest person who has bonded to a strider. No one is ever considered a true Drykas until they bond. And no one who isn't a true Drykas is ever really taken seriously. Unless we bond, the very best we can hope for is that we find someone who is a true Drykas who is willing to marry us." "My cousin just bonded last week, so he's considered to be more important than we are now...and he's only four." the other girl added; there was no bitterness in her tone that Seirei could hear, but there was resignation. Misunderstand. That was the word Seirei had been looking for. She committed to memory so that she would know it the next time she needed it. As she listened to the two girls, she was very surprised to learn that you had to be bonded to a strider in order to be considered a "true" Drykas. Though it wasn't said outright, phrases like "true Drykas," "more important," and "no one who isn't a true Drykas is ever really taken seriously" suggested to Seirei that those who weren't bonded to striders weren't treated as well as those who were. Seirei couldn't help but sympathize with the two girls a little. They probably weren't being treated like brood mares like she was...but was their situation any better than hers was? No one was forcing them to bear children against their will, but what would it be like to be thought of as being less than a four year old child just because he was bonded to a strider, and they were not? "Do you have everything you need to collect the willow branches you want? We'd like to get going soon." Seirei jumped a little, startled out of her thoughts by the other girl's words. She gave the question some thought. She'd grabbed the axe she'd need to cut the branches before coming out to talk with the girls. But she'd something to carry them back with. And some string to tie them together so they'd be easier to carry. Then she noticed that the girls had a travois with them, presumably to carry their cattails with. The cattails would be lighter, and likely easier to carry than the branches would. "If I help you carry any cattails you gather, can I borrow that travois to bring back my willow branches? We might even be able to use it to carry some of both?" The two girls considered her question, then nodded. "Sure." one said with a smile. "Thank you. I'll be right back." Seirei ducked into the tent, and hurriedly emptied out her backpack. She tucked her belongings into an unused corner so they wouldn't be in the way, grabbed her string, and her eating knife so she could cut it to the proper length, and looked around to see if there was anything else she might need. She spotted Lian's yvas bags. He wasn't around to ask if she could borrow them, but they would come in handy if they happened to find any berries, or something as well. So she grabbed several of them, and stuffed them into her backpack. Then she rejoined the others. "I'm ready." she said simply.

[Seirei Dawnwhisper]

The three girls made their way to the edge of the tent city. Their pace was kept slower than it might have been ordinarily so that Seirei could keep up without difficulty. Once they reached the edge of the city, the two girls stopped, and turned to Seirei. "You're certain that your...that Lian would allow you to come with us?" one of them asked sternly. "If this is really some attempt to escape, it's not going to work. We wouldn't let it. And even if you did manage to get away from us, you would still be caught. And punished." "I'm not going to try to escape." Seirei promised sincerely. And she wouldn't. Not today, at least. Or any time soon, for that matter. Seirei knew that she was only going to get one chance at escape. So she wouldn't make her move until she had saved up enough to buy passage with a trade caravan, and get her by until she could find work in the city she fled to. To further stack the odds in her favor, she wouldn't make the attempt until she had the skills she'd need to survive on her own should anything go wrong. That way, if she was abandoned in the Sea of Grass again, or if the caravan was attacked, and she managed to survive, she'd have a chance of reaching safety on her own. "And you're allowed to come with us?" the girl who had spoken earlier pressed. Seirei nodded slowly. Lian had warned her that she would be punished harshly if she should try to escape...but she wasn't trying to escape right now. Other than that, she had a considerable amount of freedom so long as she was back at Lian's tent by nightfall. Besides...even if she was planning on trying to escape, how would Lian know? He was off somewhere, hunting most likely. It would be hours before he returned. "Yes. Lian lets me go anywhere I want to in the city so long as I don't try to escape, and I'm back before nightfall. I've never asked him if I could leave the city before since the issue hasn't come up until now. But I don't think he would mind since I have someone willing to go with me so I don't get lost." The two girls exchanged glances. Then they turned back to Seirei. "All right, let's get going, then. The river isn't all that far from here, so we shouldn't have any trouble getting there and back before it gets dark. We'll have plenty of time to gather what we need." Seirei followed the other two girls as they set out into the Sea of Grass. It amazed her that they seemed to know exactly where they were going. For her part, she was hopelessly lost almost immediately. Everything looked the same to her. Endless tall grass that made it impossible to see very far into the distance. Birds chirped, calling back and forth to each other, but Seirei never saw them. "How do you find your way around out here?" Seirei asked curiously as they walked. The two girls stopped walking, and looked at Seirei uneasily. They exchanged glances, and several hand signs flew back and forth between them, too quickly for Seirei to catch. "We're just used to it, I guess." one said, at last. "There are several ways." the other added. "If it were night time, you could use the stars to get your bearings. Assuming that you know how to do that. And if it were dawn, or dusk, you could use the sun to get a direction. The sun rises in the east, and sets in the west, so you can use that." she continued. "A large part of it is that we're just used to it. Sure Endrykas travels each season, but we follow a route that hasn't changed as long as we've been alive. We learned where the nearest rivers and streams in each area were when we were kids. Eventually, you'll probably learn your way around, too." Neither girl seemed to be willing to say anything more, so Seirei nodded. Seirei got the feeling that they weren't telling her something, but she didn't want to pry, so she didn't ask. The two girls smiled, and Seirei could see the relief in their eyes when she didn't press the issue, so she knew that she had made the right decision. They walked in a companionable silence for a while. And before long, they had reached the river. As they approached the river, a fish leaped out of the water, startling Seirei. The two girls grinned at her reaction. Then it was time to get to work. As Seirei had hoped, several shrubby willows grew around the river banks. Seirei walked over to the nearest one, and began examining its branches. For the spoons she planned to make, she would need branches that were one or two inches in diameter. Bigger than that, and they'd be suitable for mixing spoons, perhaps, but not the smaller spoons for eating that she had in mind to make. When Seirei found a branch that she could use, she grabbed her axe, and began hacking away at it. The first thing she needed to do was cut it away from the willow. A few good, strong blows with her axe had that task accomplished. But it would be easier to bring the wood back to Lian's tent if she cut the branch down to size while she was out here. So she began measuring out suitable lengths, and using her axe to cut the branch into smaller pieces. After she had been working for a while, she paused to watch the girls who had brought her out to the river as they went about their own task of gathering cattails. "What do you plan to use the cattails for?" she asked curiously. Seirei knew that the plant could be woven into mats, and she was pretty certain that it had some medicinal uses as well, but she was uncertain as to what those uses were. "All sorts of things, really. My younger sister is really clumsy, so she's always getting all kinds of cuts and scrapes, and such. The pollen from a cattail can stop bleeding if you place it directly on a cut. We used the last of our supply yesterday, doing just that. That's why we came out to get some more today. But my mother is a healer, and she says that if you eat the pollen, it can help with internal bleeding, menstrual pain, and chest pains, too." The girl stopped to think, and Seirei got the feeling that she was trying to remember what else her mother had taught her about the herb. "If you take fresh cattail roots, and pound them, you can get a poultice that works on infections, blisters, and stings. The sticky stuff that you find at the base of the leaves can numb your skin a little, so it's good for pain sometimes. You can boil the leaves to make something, but I can't really remember what it is...just that it's good. Um, let me think...oh, yeah! You can mash the roots into a paste, and use it to clean your teeth. You can also make flour out of the roots. If you drink that root flour in a tea, it can stop diarrhea." Seirei listened intently, trying to commit everything she was learning to memory. It sounded like cattails were a very useful herb. And while Seirei's passion lay in working with wood rather than healing people, herbs interested her greatly. Probably because her mother had been interested in them as well. And they had certainly proved useful on many occasions when she was a child. She remembered little of what herb was used for which problem, but she remembered that the adults in her caravan had used them a lot. It wasn't possible to go to a healer to get an injury or illness treated when they were traveling in between cities. And when money was tight, it wasn't always possible even when they were in a city to trade. But herbs were free if one knew where to find them, and knew what to do with them. "You can eat them too, of course. There's the flour you can make from the roots, and the sap you find between the leaves can be used to thicken soups and broths. You can also eat the white shoots you see at the base of the leaf clusters. They can be boiled, or steamed, or you can eat them raw, too. Personally, I like them raw the best." "I've always liked cattails because you can use the leaves to make dolls and other toys. We did that one summer, and sold the toys to younger kids, remember? You can also make string out of the fibers at the base of the leaves. You can even use the silly looking fluff they produce. If you stuff it in your shoes in the winter, it helps to keep your feet warmer. Or you can use it to pad a cradleboard for a baby...something that will help you out soon. When are you due, anyway?" "Towards the end of winter." Seirei replied absently. It was difficult for Seirei to keep up with the girls, since they spoke to her in pavi. Even so, she thought she was understanding most of what was being said since they knew she was a captive, and were willing to speak slowly for her benefit. And when she seemed to be struggling to understand a word, they often kept trying, using words that meant the same thing as the one she didn't know until they found one she did know. They also made the effort to correct her if she used the wrong word, or mispronounced something. Seirei found herself truly enjoying the company of the two girls. "If you think I should gather some of the fluff, I will. Should I just pull it off, or is there some trick involved? Are there any hidden thorns?" Seirei glanced at the branch she had been cutting into smaller segments. She was nearly done with her work. And while she wanted to get several more branches, they probably had time for her to do that even if she stopped cutting long enough to gather some of the cattail fluff.

[Seirei Dawnwhisper]

The two girls grinned as they exchanged glances with each other. One of them giggled. Then she blushed, clearly feeling embarrassed as she realized that Seirei might take offense at her reaction. "No, no...there are no tricks involved in gathering it. No hidden thorns, or anything like that. Here, let me show you." she said hastily. Suiting actions to words, she scrambled over to the nearest bunch of cattails. "First, you have to find one that has already released its seed. That's what the fluff is, after all - the cattail's seed. Like this one, over here. Then you just pull the fluff off. You have to do it gently, though, or you'll risk breaking the stalk, and killing the plant." As she spoke, the girl demonstrated what needed to be done. Seirei watched carefully. "Now it's your turn to try it." Seirei nodded. She set her axe down, and found a cattail that was covered in white fluff. She grabbed a small amount between her fingers, and pulled gently. It came off easily. Seirei opened one of the yvas bags she had brought, and placed the fluff inside. Then she went back to work. When she finished pulling the fluff off of one cattail, she found another one that had released its seed, and began the process all over again. Before too long, the yvas bag was full. Seirei glanced at its contents for a couple of ticks, then closed the bag up. "Thanks. I think you're right. This stuff really will come in handy." she said with a smile. With that task done, it was time to go back to doing what she had come out to the river to do. It didn't take her long to finish up with the branch she had been cutting up into smaller segments. When she was done, Seirei went back over to the willows, and began searching for another suitable branch. Several of the ones she found were too thin. One or two were too thick for what she wanted to use them for. Some had been broken, whether by an animal, or a storm, Seirei couldn't be sure. Either way, it didn't matter. Broken branches were useless to her when it came to making spoons out of them. After a while, Seirei was lucky enough to find two branches that were just the right diameter to be useful to her in close proximity to one another. Using her axe, she hacked away at the base of the first branch until she managed to separate it from the trunk of the willow. Once she finished that, she began working on the second branch. Seirei wasn't certain if she would have the time to cut both branches down into smaller segments, but she figured that even if she didn't, she could use the travois to drag the third one back. She also wasn't certain that she could find the other branch again after she'd finished cutting up the second branch. So to her mind, it was far better to cut both of them off of the willow before starting to cut them into smaller segments. Her work was made easier by the fact that after the first two branches, she was starting to get the hang of what she was doing. When both branches were free from the trunk, Seirei dragged them both a short way away from the willow one by one. Then she looked around to see if she could see any signs of danger. She couldn't see any dangerous animals anywhere, and the birds were still chirping all around them, so Seirei guessed that they were safe enough. So she knelt down beside one of the branches, and began chopping it up into smaller segments with her axe. "You said you needed the willow branches for something you wanted to make, right?" one of the girls asked after a while. Seirei paused in her work, looking up to see the girl who had spoke watching her intently. She nodded. "Yes, why?" "Do you need the bark, too?" "No." "Can I have it, then? Willow bark is good for pain and inflammation. I think you make it into a tea, but I'm not really sure. My mother said she'd show me how to prepare it when she had the time to go out and collect some. But she's always so busy that I'm afraid that she'll forget if I have to wait that long. It would be a lot easier if I could just hand her the bark, and ask her to show me what to do with it." Seirei tried to memorize this new information about willows as she had with everything she'd learned about cattails. "Does the bark need to be stripped off of the branches in any special way in order for it to be useful for that?" The girl hesitated. "I don't think so." she said after a few ticks. "Then, sure." Seirei said with a smile. To her amusement, the girl's face brightened considerably, as if Seirei had promised her some great boon. "Thanks! Would it be better if I wait for you to strip the bark off of the branches once we get back, or should I come back tomorrow?" "Whichever you prefer is fine with me." Seirei replied. "I'll wait, then." the girl said happily. Seirei nodded, then went back to work. She had just finished cutting the third branch into smaller segments when one of the girls spoke up. "I think we should start packing up now. It's going to take us a while to get everything packed up, and we've already been gone longer than I thought we would." Seirei nodded. She looked around to see what needed to be packed up. Since she had managed to cut her willow branches into pieces that were easier to work with, the cattails were the bulkier items that needed to be brought back. Seirei grabbed her backpack, and eyed it thoughtfully. She wouldn't be able to close it, but the pieces of wood would fit inside it. Some of them, anyway. So the first thing Seirei did was to fill her backpack with pieces of wood. Roughly half of them went into the backpack. While Seirei was doing this, the other girls were carefully placing their cattails on the travois. Seirei joined them when she was finished with her own task. Since the cattails were thin, even several layers of them piled up on each other didn't make a bulky pile. Which was good, since they didn't have anything to strap their load down, or keep it from falling off of the travois as they pulled it. It was for that reason that Seirei placed her remaining pieces of wood on top of the cattails. Though there was a chance their weight would crush the valuable plants, it didn't seem likely as the wood that couldn't fit in her backpack didn't weigh all that much. Instead, Seirei hoped that their weight would keep the cattails from falling off the travois. "Does everything look secure to you?" she asked the other girls when they were done with their work. "As secure as we can expect it to be since we forgot to bring anything to tie the load down with..." one of the girls said ruefully. The other girl nodded. "I'll take the first turn pulling the travois, okay?" Seirei asked after hesitating for a tick. The two girls exchanged startled glances. After a brief, private conversation via hand signs, they turned back to her and nodded. "If you're sure that it's okay for you to be pulling the travois, then okay. But you turn is going to be shorter than ours will." one said. "And if you start to get tired, or feel as if anything is going wrong, then you have to tell us right away, okay?" "Okay." Seirei agreed readily. She didn't think that pulling the weight of the travois would be bad for her unborn child, but she couldn't be entirely certain. So she promised herself that she'd pay close attention to any discomfort she felt. If it was different than the various pains and discomforts she was already coming to see as "normal" for her condition, she would stop immediately. The travois was a simple enough thing. A piece of tough leather stretched between two poles that it was attached to. The poles were long enough that a person could stand in front of the travois, and be between the poles but still have a good bit of space between them and the leather part of the travois. Seirei picked up the far ends of the poles, and started following the other girls back to Endrykas.

[Seirei Dawnwhisper]

They hadn't been walking for long before one of Seirei's new companions stopped, and gestured excitedly to the other. The pavi hand signs flew between them too quickly for Seirei to understand much, but she did get the sense that the two girls were very happy. Whatever had made them stop was good news, rather than something potentially dangerous. After a few ticks, they turned to Seirei, as if suddenly remembering that she might not understand enough pavi to know what was being said. "We found some blackberry bushes! And just look at all the berries just waiting to be picked! I know we need to be getting home soon, but we're not that far away from Endrykas, so we should have some time for picking berries. Besides...with a treat like this, I'm sure everyone will understand if we're a little late getting back." Seirei wasn't at all certain that Lian would understand, or be forgiving if she were to show up after dark, but what choice did she have, really? The other girls were her guides out here, and if they wanted to stop, she couldn't very well go on without them. Not that she really wanted to. Blackberries were a welcome treat indeed. Seirei had many happy memories of picking them with her older brother. So Seirei grinned in response to the others' obvious excitement, and pulled out the yvas bags she'd brought in case they were needed. "Maybe we can use these to put the berries in?" she offered. Seirei hesitated for a tick. "They won't get stained though, will they? They don't belong to me, and Lian wasn't around for me to ask him if it was okay for me to use them." "We probably shouldn't use them, then. It's possible that they wouldn't get stained if none of the berries get crushed, but if they do, the juice will stain them. It's okay though. We always bring bags out just in case we find berries of any kind. Here, you can use one of ours." Seirei accepted the yvas bag that was offered with a smile, and a murmured thank you. The girls waded right in, and began picking the blackberries eagerly. But Seirei chose to watch them for a few chimes first. Although she had picked blackberries with Jared as a child, she was forever scratching her hands terribly while doing so. No matter how careful she had been, the thorns seemed to seek out her tender flesh, determined to pierce it in revenge for her taking the berries. But these girls seemed to know how to avoid the thorns, and by watching them, Seirei hoped to learn how to do it too. After a while, Seirei joined them. She reached out, and carefully closed her fingers around one of the nearest berries. "Not that one!" one of the girls exclaimed. Seirei froze just as she touched the berry, releasing it, and pulling her hand back instantly. "What did I do wrong?" she asked, startled. "You didn't do anything wrong, exactly...but that one's not quite ripe yet. See how it's still red?" Seirei examined the berry carefully, and nodded. The berry in question had started to turn black, but it was still red in some places. "You shouldn't pick any berries that aren't a deep black color. Green ones are completely unripe, and will make you sick. Red ones don't taste as sweet as the really ripe ones. The best berries to pick are the large, plump ones. They should slip off the stem easily when you try to pick them. If you have to tug at a berry to pull it off, then it's not completely ripe." "I'll keep that in mind." Seirei said with a smile. Seirei went back to picking berries. This time, she took the time to study each berry to make sure it was fully ripe before picking it. It took longer to do it this way, but Seirei wanted to make sure that she only picked the best berries. She worked in silence for a time, utterly focused on weaving her hand around the thorns carefully in an attempt not to get pricked by them. Sometimes it worked, and sometimes the thorns won, stabbing her sharply as she stole the precious berries they protected. When she had finished picking all of the ripe berries in her section of the brambles, she started to move to a different section. "Did you get all of the berries in the middle of the bush, too? Or did you just stick to the outer areas?" one of the girls called when she saw Seirei move. "Just the outer areas, why?" she asked in slow, careful pavi. "You should always check the middle of the bush before you move on to another area. The very best berries are often hidden there." Seirei peered into the center of the bush, taking note of the leaves as she did so. Three oval shaped leaves were grouped together in clusters, and the edges of the leaves were jagged, as if they had teeth. Seirei took a tick to try and memorize the appearance of the leaves so she would be able to recognize them again if she saw them. Then she went back to what she had been doing earlier. Sure enough, there were several large, plump blackberries deep within the brambles. Seirei stared at them for several ticks. They looked delicious. But there were an awful lot of thorns between her and her prize. Still, the berries would be so sweet and juicy... Mind made up, Seirei decided to make the attempt. She reached into the brambles carefully, trying to keep her hand well away from the sharp thorns. When she reached the first berry, it almost fell into her hand as soon as she touched it, yet another sign of how perfectly ripe it was. Seirei grinned. She withdrew her hand just as carefully, and popped the berry into her mouth. It tasted even better than she had imagined. The promise of more berries that tasted just as good as that one had, Seirei reached into the bush again, and again. Sometimes she succeeded in escaping the bite of the thorns, and other times, she didn't. But Seirei thought that repetition was making her better at the task than she had been when she started. When Seirei's bag was full, she looked up to see how the other girls were doing. They were already finished, and had been waiting for her. Seirei felt a flush of embarrassment heat up her cheeks as she realized that they had been waiting for her. But they didn't tease her for being slower than they were. Instead, they reassured her that she would get faster and more confidant in what she was doing with practice. Then it was time to go, so one of the other girls lifted the poles of the travois, and they began walking once more.

[Seirei Dawnwhisper]

Before long, the edge of the tent city was in sight. Seirei was grateful to see it, because she was starting to feel the strain her pregnancy was putting on her. Although they hadn't walked all that far, or done an unreasonable amount of work, Seirei was starting to feel tired. By the time they reached Lian's tent, she was more than ready for a rest break. Seeing her obvious fatigue, the two girls insisted she rest while they unloaded her wood off of the travois. When they were finished, one of the girls made her farewells, and left, taking the travois with her. The other girl lingered, hesitantly. "I know you're probably tired now, and you really should rest. But you did say that I could have the willow bark once you stripped it off of your wood...would it be easier if I came back later?" Seirei considered the question for a few ticks. It was true that she felt tired and worn out now. A nap would probably do her some good. But Seirei had never needed naps during the day before Lian had planted his seed within her, and she hated the fact that the unborn child was disrupting her life so much. The unborn child had never asked to be born...had never asked its father to force himself on her nightly until well after he succeeded in getting her with child. But it was changing her life in ways that Seirei had never even imagined. And part of her resented the unborn child for the disruptions it was causing in her life. That part of her was currently in control, so she refused to indulge in the stupid need for a nap imposed on her by an outside force that she had no control over. What she did have control over was what she did about the urges forced upon her by her pregnancy. "No, it's okay. I can rest later. Stripping the bark off of these pieces of wood won't take that long." Seirei said, betraying none of the resentment and betrayal she felt at the changes being forced upon her against her will." Seirei pulled all of the wood out of her backpack, and lined it up with the other pieces that had been unloaded from the travois. Then she disappeared into Lian's tent for a few ticks with the bag filled with blackberries. When she returned, the bag was empty, and a knife in hand. She also wore a sheepish expression. "What's wrong?" Seirei shook her head. "Nothing, really. We got everything back okay even without using anything to tie it to the travois. It's just that...I had some string with me that I had completely forgotten about until now. I'm sorry." The girl grinned. "Don't worry about it. Like you said, nothing happened. Besides, you were distracted by other things. Learning how to harvest cattail fluff, and such." Seirei recognized the hand sign the girl made to accompany her words. It was one that signaled amusement, but not amusement of the malicious sort. She wasn't teasing Seirei in any way, or if she was, it was lighthearted, and good natured. So Seirei felt relieved, and found herself grinning back. After a few ticks, she got to work. She used her axe to split each piece of wood. When she was done with that, she set her axe aside, and picked up her knife, along with one of the pieces of wood. Using the knife, she started at the edge of the wood, and carefully stripped the bark off. "How did you learn to speak pavi?" the girl asked after a while. "Most of the captives I've met don't know our language. Or if they have managed to learn some, it's only a few words. Not anywhere near as much as you've learned." Seirei had been about to start stripping the bark off of a second piece of wood, but she paused, to look at the girl as she answered her question. "My father is a Drykas. Or maybe he was one. I haven't seen him in years, so I don't know if he's even still alive or not." The girl's eyes widened in surprise. "But then, how did you..." "End up a captive?" The girl nodded. "My mother lived with one of the trade caravans that come to Endrykas each year. That's how my parents met. They remained friends, but they never really loved each other, and they never married. When I was born, my mother didn't want to give me up...and I suspect that my father was happy about that. So I lived with her in the trade caravan. We came to Endrykas each year, and my father made it a point to be in the city around the time he thought we'd be there, so he could see me. He's the one who taught me the pavi that I know. I grew up with that arrangement, and I was happy. We all were. Then my mother got sick, and she...never recovered. Our caravan was plagued by a series of bad luck, and I was blamed, because I was...different. Half Drykas. Eventually, they drugged me, and abandoned me out in the Sea of Grass. Instead of dying, I was captured." "But...that's...that's awful! But...I guess it's good that you're alive, at least." Seirei nodded, though she wasn't certain that she agreed with the other girl's words. There were times when she wished that she hadn't survived. "And...and you seem to be adjusting to your new life well. From what I can see, at least." Seirei said nothing. She was far from "adjusting well." She hated being a captive. Hated the fact that Lian forced himself on her every night, and often times each morning before he left. Hated being helpless to stop him from violating her whenever he felt like it. Hated being treated as little more than an animal, one useful only for the children he wanted out of her. Hated...she hated a lot of things. But she was glad to hear that she looked as though she was adjusting well. It would give her the element of surprise when she was finally ready to make her escape. "Hopefully things will get better when your child is born. I know that you didn't have any say in getting pregnant, or in who fathered your child...but...but once it's born, it will be your child. Yours, not Lian's. You're the one who will have given it shelter within you until it was ready to be born, and you are the one who will raise it. Being a mother will give you a place among us beyond being a captive. You may even be able to find happiness here. We're a good people, if you get to know us. Maybe we can be your new family now." The girl clearly meant well, but that didn't stop her words from hurting Seirei. Lian wasn't her family...and he never would be. How could she ever accept the man who tormented her so as family? And yet...Waisana had said that the unborn child would be hers, too. Could they be right? Could she come to love the child Lian had forced on her? Did she even want to? Although she didn't blame the child for the acts of its father, she wasn't certain she could ever see it as her child, or love it as such. Still, the girl meant to be encouraging, so Seirei smiled weakly, and nodded before continuing her work. Before long, she'd finished stripping the bark from each piece of wood. Seirei gathered the thin pieces of back, and put them in the bag she's used when she was picking blackberries. Then she offered it to the girl. "Thank you so much! I had a lot of fun today, and I know my friend did, too. Maybe we can do this again some time." the girl exclaimed, smiling brightly as she spoke. This time, Seirei's answering smile was a genuine one. She, too, had enjoyed their outing. "Get some rest, okay? You don't want to make yourself sick, or hurt your baby by ignoring your body's needs." With those parting words, the girl raced off. Only belatedly, did Seirei realize that she had never introduced herself, or learned either girl's name. She wasn't sure it mattered. For all that the girl offered to go out with her again, Seirei was less than certain that anything would ever come of it. Seirei yawned. Grumbling to herself, she realized that the girl was right. She really did need a nap, and it was stupid to ignore her body's needs out of sheer stubbornness. So Seirei retreated into the tent, and lay down. She was asleep within moments, weariness overriding her discomfort. Her last thought was the hope that she would wake up in time to get her project started at least before it got dark.

[Seirei Dawnwhisper]

Seirei drifted slowly back to awareness more than she woke up. And for several chimes, she existed in the pleasant, comfortable state between waking and sleeping where the worries of reality couldn't reach her. Then the excitement of the experiment she wanted to do cleared the sleepy haze from her mind, and she got up. She felt much better after her nap. Now it was time to get to work. Seirei picked up one of the pieces of wood she had split earlier when she was stripping the bark off for one of the girls she had gone out into the Sea of Grass with. Then she rummaged through her things until she found her charcoal sticks. As she did that, she put her belongings back where they belonged. With luck, Lian would never know that she had left Endrykas. She didn't think she would get in trouble for doing so since she had been back before dark, and hadn't been trying to escape, but it was hard to be certain. Seirei was all too willing to believe the worst of her captor, no matter what she had told the girls about having permission to go with them. And she really didn't want to get in any more trouble than she already was in simply by being a captive. For several long chimes, Seirei simply stared at the piece of wood in her hand, picturing the spoon she wanted to make in her mind. When she had a good image of what she wanted to do in her head, she used one of her charcoal sticks to sketch the image onto the piece of wood as best she could with her admittedly limited skills. Drawing on the wood was very different than drawing on paper. Paper was smooth, and even. The charcoal stick ran over it's surface easily. In contrast, the surface of the wood was rough, and uneven. It was harder to keep her lines straight and even as she drew, because each time the charcoal stick ran over a bump in the wood, it jerked a little. But since what she needed was nothing more than the roughest of sketches, it didn't matter all that much. Once she was finished with the first sketch, she picked up another piece of wood, and began working on a second sketch. And a third. And a fourth. And a fifth. By the time she had finished with the final sketch, Seirei found that she was slowly getting used to drawing on wood. While still more difficult than trying to draw on paper, she thought she was starting to get the hang of it because it was easier for her than it had been when she had started. When Seirei was finished with her sketches, she set the five pieces of wood aside. Then she took one, and made two cuts just behind what would be the bowl of her spoon with her saw. Doing so would make it easier for her to know where she had to stop cutting the excess wood off so that she wouldn't risk damaging the bowl of the spoon. Then she began using her axe to cut around the edges of her sketch, essentially rough cutting the spoon she was trying to make. As she made her cuts with the axe, Seirei always chopped down towards the handle rather than towards the bowl of the spoon. Just as with the cuts she had made initially, this would help prevent damage to the bowl of the spoon if the wood started to split as she cut it. Even with all of her precautions, a loud shout startled her just as she was making a cut. Her hand flinched, and the axe came down harder than she had intended. As a result, the wood cracked under the blow, and the handle of the spoon was destroyed. With an annoyed sigh at the thought of the lost work, Seirei set the now ruined wood aside, and picked up another piece. Perhaps she would find a way to salvage it later. It seemed highly unlikely, but Seirei had learned that just about any piece of wood could become useful under the right set of circumstances. If nothing else, she might be able to use it to practice on. This time, she succeeded in rough cutting the spoon properly. To actually shape the spoon, she would need more control than an axe would provide, so she set it aside in favor of her knife. She began with the bottom of the spoon bowl, and began working her way towards the handle. Slowly, but surely, the spoon began to take shape under her careful hands. Finally, it was done. Seirei picked up another piece, and repeated the process. Using the axe at first to rough cut her spoon, and her knife for the shaping of it. Working with the wood soothed her in ways that little else could, and she quickly fell into a state where nothing else existed but the wood in her hand, and the task she was doing. Time ceased to have any meaning for her. Seirei continued to work in this manner until all four pieces of wood had been transformed into spoons. When she was done, she allowed herself a few chimes to examine her work. Some were definitely better than others, but all four were useable. The next step was to carve out the bowl of the spoon. And this was the root of her experiment. In the past, a coal would be used to burn out the bowl on the spoon, bowl, or whatever else needed to be hollowed out. These days, it was considered to be both faster, and easier to use an adze. Since this was the method that Seirei was used to, she would use it on her current batch of spoons. It would also give her some time to figure out how she would get the coal she would need for her experiment. She didn't know much about building a fire, but she was pretty certain that you needed wood to get coals. And she didn't think that people in Endrykas burned wood. With wood as scarce as it was here, it would be a shame to do so. But...would a grass fire leave anything that could be used as a coal the way a wood fire would? Seirei pondered this question while she looked for her adze. When she found it, she sat, and braced her spoon with her feet to hold it steady. Then she began scraping the wood that needed to be hollowed out with the adze. With slow, careful strokes, she began to see progress in her work. It would be easy to hollow out the bowl too much if she wasn't paying attention. Then the walls of the spoon would be too thin, and it would most likely break before long with repeated use. On the other hand, the bowl of the spoon had to be deep enough that it would hold whatever someone wanted to eat with it. If it were too shallow, it wouldn't be useable. When Seirei thought the bowl of the spoon was deep enough, she set her adze down, and examined her work. It was still a little shallow, so she went back to work. After a few chimes, she checked her progress again. This time, it was good enough. Seirei set the spoon aside, and stood so she could stretch muscles that had started to stiffen up. But after a short break, she was ready to get back to work. So she sat once more, and began work on her next spoon. As before, the soothing motions of working with the wood, and the scent of the wood stirred up as she scraped it lulled Seirei into a near trance. She worked in a blissful state of utter concentration where nothing else existed other than the task at hand until all four spoons were done.

[Seirei Dawnwhisper]

Finishing her task startled Seirei out of the blissful state of concentration she had fallen into. For a few chimes, she just stared at the fourth spoon blankly, trying to wrap her mind around the fact that her work was finished. Only it wasn't, really. The four spoons still needed to be sanded so that whoever used them wouldn't be at risk of getting splinters when they did so. So Seirei set the spoon down, and rummaged through her belongings until she found her carver's kit. Once she did, she took out the cloth she had for just such a purpose. With cloth in hand, Seirei picked up one of her spoons, and began rubbing the cloth over the spoon vigorously. Every once in a while, she would pause in her work long enough to rub her fingers over the area she had been working on to judge how smooth it was. If it was perfectly smooth to the touch, she would move on to another area. But if she felt any signs of roughness, she would begin again on the same area she had just been working on. Seirei took great pride in her work, and no finished product was going to leave her hands in a state where someone could get splinters from it just by handling it. When Seirei was finished with the first spoon, she moved on to the second. And the third after that. And finally, the fourth. After all four spoons were completely finished, she held them in her hands, and stared at them for several ticks. They were perfectly useable as they were. But Seirei eyed their rather plain looking handles, and wondered if she could improve their appearance by carving some designs into the handles. She decided that it was worth the attempt, but that it was a project for another time. For now, she had an experiment to complete. So she started over from scratch. She examined the pieces of wood she had brought back from the river. Her mother had always told her that the wood itself would tell a true carver what it wanted to be. A true carver would be able to see the shape of the final project within the raw material of the untouched wood. And experience had taught Seirei that her mother had been right. Though she wasn't as skilled at it as her mother had been, she could often see shapes in the wood she had to work with. And if she went with the shape that she saw rather than trying to make something else with that particular piece of wood, she found that the end result turned out better. It was with those thoughts in mind that Seirei selected five more pieces of wood for her next batch of spoons. Drawing out the spoon sketches on each of the five pieces of wood took considerably less time than it had with her first batch. Part of this was due to the practice her had gotten with the first four. Getting used to the way it felt to draw on wood rather than paper helped as well. But part of it was also due to the fact that she took less care with the drawings this time around. Her limited skills at drawing meant that her attempts weren't going to be all that good no matter what she did. But last time, she had overestimated how accurate she needed the sketches to be. In this case, a rough sketch really did mean a rough sketch. Rough cutting the spoons did take her longer than it had with the last batch, however. Remembering the mistake she had made, destroying one of her potential spoons in the process, she was determined not to make the same mistake twice. Seirei vowed that she would not allow herself to become distracted again. When Seirei was finished, she cleaned up the discarded bits of wood, and set her spoons aside. Then she began digging a hole in the ground. She wasn't certain how deep a hole needed to be to make a good fire pit, but she erred on the side of caution. So it was entirely possible that her fire pit was deeper than it needed to be. It was also wide enough to hold small, but decent sized camp fire. Seirei was very careful about clearing everything away from the fire pit. She wanted nothing that could burn within range if she made a mistake, and the fire escaped the pit. Seirei was also careful to make sure that she had her water pouch close at hand should it be needed. Fire was a serious threat in the Sea of Grass, and she was determined not to make a mistake that could cause a disaster. When she thought she was ready, she lined the bottom of the fire pit with dried grass she had picked during the summer with a thought of using it to try and teach herself how to weave. Seirei retreated into the tent for a few ticks so that she could get her flint. Then she looked around for a suitable stone to strike it against. It didn't take her long to find one, but she still hesitated, staring into the fire pit pensively. Grass burned quickly. Too quickly to give her the coals she would need for her experiment. Would twisting the grass into a bundle work? Seirei thought she remembered doing that last season when she had tried to cook some eggs Lian had found while hunting. It might work...but Seirei wasn't certain that it would. And she absolutely had to have coals for her experiment. Her eyes drifted to the fragments of wood she had cut away while rough cutting her spoons. Were they really something that Seirei would be able to use later for future projects? Seirei began examining them carefully. Some of the wood fragments were too small, or too splintered to be of any use. These were set aside. Several flawed fragments of varying sizes joined them. Whether the flaws had existed naturally in the wood or whether they had been created as Seirei was rough cutting her spoons didn't truly matter. They were too flawed to carve anything out of. Any attempt to do so would likely break them. The rest looked like they might be useable in some form or another, so they were set aside in a different pile. By the time she was done sorting out her wood fragments, Seirei had a good sized pile that could be used to get the coals that she needed. She put a few of the smallest fragments on top of the grass. Both would catch fire quickly if Seirei's memories of watching her older brother start their camp fires were correct. But the small wood fragments would hopefully burn long enough for Seirei to add a larger fragment in to feed the fire. Seirei fussed with her arrangement for several ticks. Her lack of knowledge and experience with building fires made her very uncertain as to how to proceed. Still, she couldn't just stare at the fire pit for the rest of the day. So she began striking her flint against the stone she had found in the attempt to create some sparks. It took several tries, and when she did finally manage to get some, they landed on the bare ground she had cleared away around her fire pit. Seirei watched in dismay as they burned out in a matter of ticks. She sighed, and started over. This time, the sparks landed in the fire pit, but they burned out too quickly. Seirei had the distinct feeling that her own rushed movements had caused them to flicker out. With another sigh, she started over once more. This time, when she finally managed to get some sparks after several chimes of repeated flint strikes, Seirei was determined not to repeat her previous mistake. Moving slowly, but surely, she ever so carefully placed one of the smaller wood fragments into the pit. It caught on fire, much to Seirei's relief. So she added a second, and when that caught on fire too, a third. Before too long, she was adding a few of the larger wood fragments. After several ticks of just staring at the fire she had just made, Seirei realized that she had, indeed been successful. Now, she just had to wait for the wood fragments to char, and give her coals she could use to make her spoons.

[Seirei Dawnwhisper]

Keeping one eye on her fire to make sure that it didn't get out of control, Seirei went back to work. It would take time for the coals she needed to form, but she wasn't certain how long it would take. And Seirei wanted to be ready. So she picked up her knife, and began shaping her new batch of spoons. Once she had finished her fifth and final spoon, Seirei examined her work carefully. None of the spoons had any obvious flaws that had to be dealt with. That was one worry taken care of. Seirei also took note of a few she thought she might want to set aside so she could try her hand at carving the handles later. Eying the fire again, Seirei saw that the coals were finally ready. And after a few ticks of searching, she found the one she wanted to use. She couldn't simply reach in and grab the coal she wanted. Not without risking serious burns, at least. So Seirei began looking around for something she could use to separate the coal she wanted from the rest of the fire. Nothing. So Seirei had to go ask Lian's neighbor to see if they had any tongs she could borrow. Fortunately, they did. Seirei used them to drag the coal she wanted to the edge of the fire pit. Once more, Seirei had to look around, this time for something to hold the coal against her spoon. Glancing briefly at her fragments of wood, she found one that would work. A sharp pain tore through her abdomen, making her gasp softly at its intensity. It felt like she was being kicked from the inside...which she probably was. There was nothing Seirei could do other than wait for the pain to pass, and so she did. She didn't want anything to distract her while she worked. After a chime or two, the pain eased. "You sure are an active child." Seirei murmured softly, staring down at her belly. Seirei picked up the tongs once more. Then she carefully picked up her coal, and set it gently on what would be the bowl of her spoon. With that done, she set the tongs down, and slowly picked up the spoon, careful not to dislodge the coal. Holding the spoon in one hand, Seirei pressed down on the coal with her wood fragment with the other hand. If I remember correctly, I'm supposed to blow on the coal so that the wood will burn. And I'm supposed to use something to focus the air onto the coal as I do so. Seirei didn't have anything to focus the air, so she did the best she could by bending down, and blowing on the coal directly. At first, nothing happened. She waited...and still nothing happened. Growing frustrated, Seirei blew harder. That caused the wood to catch fire. It was supposed to do so, and Seirei was expecting it...but it burned faster than she had thought it would. Before Seirei could stop it, the entire bowl of the spoon was engulfed in flames. With a startled cry, Seirei dropped the burning wood into the fire pit. Seirei stared at the ruins of her work in dismay for several ticks as they burned. Then, with a sigh, she decided to try again. This time, she used a smaller knife to cut a small depression in what would become the bowl of her spoon. Hopefully that would make it easier to keep the coal in place as she blew on it. When she was satisfied with her work, she selected another coal, and used the borrowed tongs pick it up, and place it in the bowl of her spoon. Then she dropped the tongs at the edge of the fire pit, and picked up her wood fragment. Like before, Seirei used the fragment of wood to hold the coal in place as she blew on it carefully. As she had hoped, the depression the coal was sitting in made it easier to keep the coal stable as she blew on it. Having learned from her earlier mistakes, Seirei didn't give in to impatience while blowing on the coal. She used slow, even breaths, not wanting the coal to flare up as it had before. Her extra care paid off. When the inside of the bowl caught fire, Seirei was ready for it. It burned quickly, becoming engulfed with flames, but this time Seirei didn't panic, and allow the entire spoon to burn. Instead, the bottom of the spoon's bowl started to turn black as it began to char. By now, Seirei didn't need to keep holding the coal in place as she blew on it. The bowl of the spoon was deep enough to hold it in place without aid. When the bottom of the spoon's bowl was completely charred black, Seirei stopped what she was doing, and placed the coal back into the fire. She examined her work for a few ticks, then started using a small knife to scrape the charred bits away carefully. It was slow, meticulous work because she didn't want to gouge the spoon by mistake if she worked too quickly. When she was finished, she examined her progress. Was the bowl of the spoon deep enough, or would she have to start the process all over again? After several chimes, Seirei decided that while it wasn't quite as deep as she would have liked, it was good enough. Especially considering that this was her first attempt with this method of making spoons. Seirei glanced at the remaining spoons that still needed to be finished. It was getting late, and she wasn't certain that she would have time to finish them before Lian returned. So she reluctantly set them aside for another day. I think I'll use the adze on the rest of these. she thought as she gathered the spoons up. Using coals was an interesting experiment, and it certainly is effective, but I think I like the normal way better. she decided. Seirei turned back to the fire, and slowly filled the pit with dirt, smothering the fire. When she was certain that it was completely out, she returned the tongs she had borrowed. She still had a little time left, so used her knife to finish shaping the spoon she had made. Then she grabbed her sanding cloth, and got to work smoothing the surface of the wood so that the person who used it wouldn't get any splinters. It didn't take long, and when she was done, she got her drill, and carefully drilled a small hole near the top of the spoon's handle. That way, it could be strung on a string and dried, or carried around with other utensils more easily. She took a tick to admire her work. Then she finished cleaning up her mess so that Lian wouldn't be bothered by it when he came back. Not that she especially cared if he was bothered by her presence, and the messes she made while working, but if he was in a good mood, he was harder to anger when he forced himself on her. Sometimes that made the difference in a painful night, and an agonizing one. It didn't take Seirei long to pack her things up, and when she was finished, she retreated into the tent to wait for her captor to return.