Said what?

by **Pearl** on September 26th, 2015, 9:11 pm

11 Fall, 515 AV
6th Bell, Evening

Kimba bleated insistently as Pearl set the bucket of milk aside. “Alright, I’ll give you your pettings now. You’ve earned them,” she said to the docile goat. “You’re my favourite anyway,” she whispered to Kimba as she leaned in and nuzzled her cheek to the goat’s head. Kimba licked wildly, trying to reach Pearl and give the woman a kiss, which Pearl tried to avoid, but failed. Laughing, she scratched the goat’s head. Fingers found a small lump behind Kimba’s right ear. Upon closer inspection she found it to be a tick, which she quickly removed from the animal. “You go tend to your kids while I get things sorted out here.” Pearl released Kimba who returned happily to her grazing and her goat family.

As she walked by the fire pit, she flicked the tick onto the red coals of the wood and listened for the ‘pop’ of the tick, which indicated the fire had ended the life of the tick. “Good riddance,” she said to it as she turned and headed to the tent with the bucket of milk. She poured the milk into the jars they kept, sealing each one and returning it to its place. The River Flower had been busy, but the work of the day didn’t end just because she wasn’t at work. Belkaia and Yuki kept the pavilion in good shape but Pearl liked to help when she was at home. It made her feel useful, and she didn’t mind helping, but rather found that she liked milking the goats and learning to cook, among the many other things she was learning around camp.

When her chores were finished she took up the most recent purchase from the market, the soap making kit, and went out by the fire to sit on the log and read over the recipes and look over each of the items it contained. One by one she removed the items and set them on the log next to her or on the ground by her feet: the book containing the instructions for exactly how to make the soap, the measuring scales, which she thought would come in very handy, the large gallon pot, the large violet glass jar, the long cooking spoon was stood up inside the glass jar. The chemicals and ingredients she left in the crate, not wishing to have them sitting out where the boys could possibly pick them up when they returned from their foraging trip with Belkaia and Yuki. They had been gone for over half a bell now and she expected them to return any time now.

Pearl watched how the flames of the fire, flickering low as they were, cast their glow upon the violet glass jar. The jar sparkled in the light from the fire mixed with the fading light of the sun. Pearl sat watching it for a few more chimes, apparently mesmerized by the dancing light on the glass. Soon a smile formed as she got idea. That would be for another night and another time with the boys, but she committed the thought to memory and promised herself that she would soon enjoy bringing that thought to life and introducing Kyanite and Garrison to something new.

LedgerSoapmaking Tooklit 50GM

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by **Pearl** on September 26th, 2015, 9:13 pm

The smile was still upon her face as she turned to look at the instructions and recipes, reading over them slowly so she would understand how the process worked and would be ready to embark on her new adventure of soap making. “Never pour water into the lye, always pour the lye into the water,” she read aloud, “if you pour the water into the lye it can cause a reaction and explosion.”
“Thinking of blowing something up?” the familiar voice of her father asked from behind her.
Pearl turned and looked up to him, smiling, “Not right now,” she teased and patted the log beside her with her free hand before she went to putting things back into the crate so he would have room to sit with her. “Planning on making soap, but I didn’t know it was so dangerous of an adventure,” she admitted.
He laughed, “With you, everything is dangerous.”
“Is not!” she swatted playfully at his chest with the instruction and recipe book before he caught her up in a bear hug.

Regardless of her age, she always felt like a little girl around him. “What are you out doing?”
“Just came by to see my little girl. That okay?” he teased.
“Always.”
“Finished up hunting with that husband of yours a few chimes ago,” he explained further.
“Oh, I didn’t know you were going with them. How was it?”
“Good. Don’t tell them, but they make me feel my age,” he chuckled.
His teasing about his age earned him another swat with the recipe book, and a scowling smile from his daughter.
“What?!” he mocked.
“You’re not old!” though she knew the statement was for her benefit as she was refusing to believe that he father could be getting older. Having already lost her mother, brother and first husband, she simply didn’t want to face the fact that her father was getting older. Being a practicing physician in Endrykas, she knew full well the aging and life span of the Drykas.
“Speaking of,” Trail let his words end there as he arched his brow and looked at his daughter.
“Of what?” she asked him, wondering what the glint in his eye was all about.
“Between us?” though he knew she wouldn’t keep secrets from her family, especially Dravite, he wasn’t really intending it to be a secret, but more of a way to get them on track for the conversation he had in mind.
Pearl nodded.
“You know I’ve wanted to retire from The Watch for a while now?”
Pearl grimaced, but couldn’t hold it for long before it curved into a smirk of a smile.
Trail laughed and hugged his daughter close. “I need more Grandbabies to keep me busy once I retire.”

There it was, she sighed and laughed with him. “You’re always on about more grandbabies. You have two now. Kyanite and Garrison are nearly old enough to traipse along with you on Grandpa Adventures. And Belkaia is due to deliver a third one this winter.” She knew that wasn’t what he wanted to hear, but half the fun of it was teasing him back.
“Dravite’s a good man,” he paused and looked to his daughter, growing a little more serious as he continued, “You and he are working on this issue, right?”
Pearl felt the heat rise to her cheeks and it had nothing to do with how close to the fire she was sitting, “I can’t believe you just said that!”
“Said what?” asked Raven as he rounded the back of his tent and came towards the fire.
Pearl looked at Raven, those flaming red cheeks of her glowing as brightly as the embers of the fire were.
“I want more Grandbabies,” Trail stated to Raven with a wink.
Raven laughed that booming laugh of his. “Want’s confirmation, does he?” he teased Pearl then looked to Trail. “Don’t worry, Trail my friend. Those two will be producing babies left and right before long at the rate they are going.”

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by **Pearl** on September 26th, 2015, 9:16 pm

“For the love of…..” Pearl began to hide her embarrassment of them talking so openly about her and Dravite’s physical love life by fidgeting with the items of the soap making kit, rearranging them in the crate and avoiding eye contact with either one of the men. But her father wouldn’t let it go. He scooped her up from the log, causing her to drop the recipe book, and sat her on his lap with a hand over her stomach. Pearl tried to look away, but ended up tucking her head in against the man’s shoulder to help hide her face.

“Good, good!” came Trail’s response. “Soon I’ll be seeing this little belly get rounder and rounder with my next grandson.”
Raven reached down and picked up the recipe book and began looking it over, teasing Pearl. “What’s this? A book for you and that nephew of mine on baby making?”
Pearl reached up and snatched the book out of Raven’s hands, “I can’t believe you just said that!”
Both men were laughing heartily now.
“Said what?” asked Roan as he came into view with the waterskins filled.
Pearl looked up at him with a glare in her eyes that couldn’t be taken seriously for long if one knew Pearl well enough, “Not you! Don’t you dare start in too!” by the time she said the words, she was laughing as well.
Roan wasn’t exactly certain what it was that he walked in on, but had that look on his face like he hoped someone would explain it to him. He strained with the weight of the waterskins as he went to put them where they belonged.
Raven, being the helpful sort that he was, did indeed explain it to Roan, “We’re just giving Pearl here a few pointers on how she and Dravite can start producing those grandbabies that Trail wants.”
“Like they need that!” Roan chimed in. All three men now bellowing their laughter throughout the pavilion.

It was an unwinnable fight, for Pearl. She slithered off her father’s lap, stuffed the recipe book into the crate of the soap making kit, and hefted up the kit in her arm with a small grunt. She had to shift it around some, using her hip jutted out to the side to help balance it until she got a better hold on it so she could stalk off towards the main tent.
“Watch all that lifting when you are pregnant with my grandchild,” Trail called out after his daughter.
“When you retire from The Watch, you can move here and do all the lifting for me,” came her quick retort before she went into the tent, in her attempt to escape any of their further teasing. Though she feared her words were lost in their next round of laughter. She was laughing a little to herself as she set the crate down just inside the door of the main room.

Yuki, Belkaia and the boys came into camp from the South side. Garrison let out a happy squeal when he saw Trail sitting on the log by the fire pit and ran as fast as his little legs could carry him and dove into his Grandpa’s lap. Trail settled the young boy onto his knee and began bouncing him while Garrison hollered, “Gid up!”
“What are the three of you laughing about?” asked Yuki.
Trail, Raven and Roan all turned and looked at Yuki, all three of them laughing harder now.

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by **Dravite** on September 27th, 2015, 10:24 pm

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When Dravite finally arrived home he was surprised to find everyone outside sitting around the fire pit and laughing; he had just been at the River Flower with Lian, making sure the man was all right after taking a fall from his horse. The horse lord unpacked the pelts and a bit of meat from the back of his Strider, stowing it away in its rightful places before taking a seat on the log outside with a young, Grass Bear pelt in hand. His arms were painted to the elbows with blood and soon both hands were heavy with salt, ready to rub into the pelt.
"Your ears burning?" Raven smirked.
Dravite smiled, so it was him they were having a laugh at? "Something like that."
"How is Lian doing?" Trail asked.
"He's fine," Dravite assured the man, "just needs some rest, we'll help him home tomorrow."
"We were just trying to convince Trail that he won't need to wait long for grandchildren," Raven boomed in his larger-than-life tone of voice.

Dravite smirked but said nothing; instead he paid close attention to the pelt, working the salt up and into the edges to begin the tanning process.
"The look on his face says it all," Roan teased.
"Watch out," Trail smiled, his voice a lot lower than most; laced with a warmth he used only around family, "you're looking at a man who likes to play with Grass Bears."
"And skin them just for sport," Dravite threatened, as if he would do the same to anyone else who decided to get a bit too familiar regarding his personal affairs.
"Oh Dravite, you're no fun to pick on," Yuki chimed as she went by him to join her husband beside the fire, "not like your blushing wife; she makes it too easy," the tall, fair haired woman quipped.
"You will have your grandchildren," Dravite smiled, "if the gods are kind."

Dravite finished rubbing the last of the salt into the pelt and rose to hang it up while the weather was on their side and the he would probably be able to get the skin cured in the sun before the season started to get colder. Before returning to the fire pit he washed his arms and hands thoroughly and took some fresh bear meat to cut into thin strips.
"How was the hunt?" Yuki inquired.
"Trail didn't slow us down too much," Dravite grinned.
"Watch it!" Trail laughed, "I can still give you young ones a run for your money."
Dravite threw the lean strips of meat into the cooking pan as he cut them away from the slab, "that you can and do," he agreed.

When his wives joined him beside the fire, Dravite was leaning forward adding a spoonful of honey to the meat before he gave it a stir in the hot pan; he sat back and let it simmer away over the fire to slip an arm around Pearl and Belkaia, "what did I get right to deserve the two of you?"
Belkaia rolled her eyes, "what makes us crazy enough to stay?"
The men laughed, "She has a point there," Raven roared in jest.

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by **Pearl** on September 29th, 2015, 3:02 am

Pearl fussed with the soap making kit inside the tent, adjusting the items in the crate so they would fit neater, leaving more room for her to put in some of the lavender and chamomile she had gathered in the crate also. She thought they would add a nice scent to the soap and possibly help with some healing qualities also, depending on if she got the right mix of soap and herbs. It was something to look in to and read up on, at the very least, and the next market purchases were already being planned in her head.

The laughter was drifting into the tent and she was smiling despite being the earlier subject of their teasing. She loved her family and knew it was all in good fun. When she could no longer stall, she stepped back out to join them, the blush of her cheeks intensifying as she spotted her husband. She didn’t go directly to him though, instead she took a path that led her to Kyanite and Garrison, giving them each a kiss on their heads. She signed, love, promise, always, to each of the boys, and then took her seat beside her husband.

She leaned in and sniffed at the pan of frying meat, looking at it trying to determine what type of meat it was. “It smells sweet. Did you add honey?” looking to her husband for confirmation.

As he drew his arm around her and asked what he had done right to deserve both she and Belkaia, she had no immediate words but she offered him a loving smile instead. It was Belkaia’s words that brought another round of laughter from the group. Leaning up, she kissed her husband’s jawline, close to his ear and whispered, “Love.”

“Where’s Lian,” she asked as she settled herself back on the log, tucked in against her husband’s side. Having realized he was not there with him and concern heightened with each tick that her question was unanswered.
“He’s at The River Flower,” her father finally spoke, confirming Pearl’s concern.
“What happened?” she questioned, looking from Dravite to Trail and back again, rising from her seat as it was her intent to head directly to The River Flower to see if she could help. Not that they didn’t have adequate and competent staff without her there, but she would never willingly abandon or not help any member of their pavilion.

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by **Dravite** on September 29th, 2015, 9:22 pm

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Pearl started inquiring about Lian which saw Belkaia perk a brow, interested to know. Dravite looked at Trail and glanced away quickly as if to say 'don't go into too much detail, they'll never let us out on our own again'.
"His horse was spooked and he fell off, don't worry," Trail smiled, "Dravite said he's doing fine."
The horse lord nodded in agreement, "just needs rest, nothing you could have done," he rubbed Pearl's shoulder reassuringly.
"When will he be home?" Belkaia asked.
"Tomorrow most likely, Raven and I will go get him."
The auburn haired woman nodded, "does he have anything he needs done before then?"
"No, don't fuss," Dravite smiled, "he will be fine."

The watchman crept forward to check on his cooking, stirring it around the hot pan so that he didn't over cook the parts closer to the centre, "you got a problem with my honey?" He smiled back at Pearl.
Belkaia nudged him with a toe, "you put it on everything, husband; why don't you branch out a little?"
"I thought you liked it," he shrugged and cast his gaze on Belkaia when he heard her chuckle.
"I don't mind it, but Yuki could tell you about a spice or two."
Dravite looked across at the taller woman who sat close to her husband, his uncle, "that right Yuki?"
"Sure is," she smiled experiment, explore, delicious.
"Perhaps I will sit in on one of your lessons some time," he told her before taking a piece of the bear meat to taste.
"What are you cooking?" Yuki asked.
"Bear."
"Vinegar, pepper, a pinch of salt, onions, and bay leaves," she smiled, "would make for a beautiful meal, but you shouldn't taste it until you know it's well cooked," Yuki scolded, "it can make you very sick."
Dravite spat the piece of meat out onto the fire and all the men roared with laughter, "A little underdone was it, my boy?"
"Just a little, uncle."

Later on while they were eating, Belkaia sat down between Pearl and Dravite; she quickly grabbed Pearl's hand and held it to her belly, "I thought I felt some movement," the young woman beamed.

Dravite set his meal down and smiled at Kyanite who swiftly stole a piece of meat from his bowl. The man set his hand down gently against the woman's side; they felt a lot rougher than Pearl's hands, like comparing rose petals with sandpaper. Dravite felt a little nudge and smiled, leaning close to whisper something to his child, "keep growing strong my little one, yours mothers and I can't wait to meet you."
Belkaia threaded her fingers through the man's matted hair and kissed his temple as he rose, "we should start working on the Satalu, you've set it aside for too long now."
Dravite grumbled, "No anything but that."
His wife sniggered and presented the half woven band from her pocket, "here you go, I've been working on this one today."
Dravite smiled, "you're ten times better than me at this," before trying to pick up where she had left off, following the colours with his eyes until he could pick out the right threads.

He worked slowly, painfully slow in fact, brow knotted in concentration, tying knots with the thread so that one linked over another, continuing this process until he had another row finished.
"Finish your meal first," Belkaia reproached him, "the vultures are at it."
Dravite turned back to see that both his sons were raiding the bowl, "you snooze you lose," he laughed, "let them have it, I am fine."

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by **Pearl** on September 30th, 2015, 2:10 am

Pearl wasn’t convinced by their reassurances that Lian was indeed fine. If it wasn’t that big of a concern, they wouldn’t have kept him at The River Flower, especially overnight, and especially knowing he lived at the pavilion with them. Something wasn’t adding up and she looked at her father, then her husband, her brow furrowed as she tried to figure out just what it was they were up to.

Before she could figure it out, the conversation shifted and she was caught between her thoughts and trying to keep up with what they were all talking about. Honey, vinegar and something about onions. Pearl blinked several times and forced herself to focus. When she was finally able to, she had to bite her lip not to laugh when her husband spat out the meat into the fire.

As they shared the evening meal, she was happy to sit quietly and listen to the conversations around her. She was content sitting with Dravite and picking at her meal. It wasn’t that the dinner was bad, but her appetite was getting finicky as of late. Pearl was all too happy to set her dinner aside in favour of placing her hands on the rounding stomach of her wife. The miracle of birth never ceased to amaze her, regardless of the countless times she had witnessed it.

Her fingers touched their husband’s as he placed them on Belkaia’s stomach with hers and when he leaned down to speak to the babe she couldn’t help but to smile, tears welling up in her eyes as the sweetness of it all. She sniffed back the emotions and smiled to them both. Pearl could have sat like that for many more chimes, but leave it to Belkaia to get them all back on track. It was quite humorous to hear Dravite grumble about having to work on the Satalu that he picked out.

“That’ll teach you,” she smirked and set about to clean up after the evening meal. She put what was left of the contents of her own bowl in with Dravite’s for the boys to finish up if they wanted it, with the exception of one small piece which she saved and handfed to Dravite as she passed by him. “You’ll need the strength,” she told him sealed his bite with a small kiss, as if she had something in mind for later.

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by **Dravite** on October 11th, 2015, 12:19 am

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The peck to the lips from Pearl was met with a smug little smile; it seemed they had differing ideas about what this strength was that he would need for later. Dravite picked up one of the yarn colours he was missing before setting back to work, returning to Belkaia's side. His first wife leaned against him as he wove the three colours of yarn together slowly, "now the blue one," Belkaia would coach, "and then the white; just keep following that pattern," she smiled.
"It takes so long," the man complained.
"You sound like that whiny little boy that didn't like to sit through his common lessons as a child," Belkaia teased.
"And you sound like that nagging little girl that always wanted to play tag but could never keep up," he countered, looking down at his work as he spoke.
Belkaia slapped her husband's shoulder and scoffed, "you were so mean to me when we were children, and I was so scared of you."
"And look now," he laughed, "it is you that does all the bossing."
His wife smirked and shook her head; she would let him get away with that one this time, "get back to work, Husband."
"Yes, boss!"

The horse lord worked quietly, stealing a glance at Pearl every now and then; she had this way of occupying his thoughts when he least expected it. Dravite hated to admit it, but the closer he got to Pearl, the more time he found himself wanting to spend with her, even ignoring some of his duties to do so. Even as he sat weaving the thread into Satalu to represent their pavilion, he planned a little escape for the two of them in his mind, wanting steal her away even if just for the night.

When the boys came to join them, Dravite set his work down for a time as Kyanite turned and threw himself down in the man's lap, leaning back against his father like a worn-out cub. The man thread his burly fingers through the boy's hair and kissed the top of his head, "touch," he encouraged, lifting Belkaia's top to reveal the growing baby-bump beneath.
Kyanite rested his ear against his mother's stomach and smiled, "brother!"
"I don't think you've convinced him," Dravite smirked, "Kyanite still says it's a boy."
Belkaia stroked her son's loose curls with her free hand and cuddled Garrison close with the other, "maybe he's right," she whispered, "do you want another little brother, Ky?"
The boy beamed, "this many," he held his hands up with chubby little fingers splayed.
Belkaia laughed, "Well, I can only promise one this time."
"Garrison looks confused," Dravite chuckled, "I wonder what he's thinking?"
"Probably wondering if I ate more than my fair share of the meal," Belkaia giggled.
Dravite's laughter then was a roar, "did Ma eat all the bear, Garrison?"
Garrison smiled a cheeky little grin and curled against Belkaia shyly, "yes," he replied as if we were guilty of something.
"What a little piggy," Dravite poked the boy's little belly, "now I have three little piggies to feed."
Kyanite laughed and called back to his father, "you're the piggy!"
Dravite grabbed the boy and sniffed at his neck as if preparing to take a bite out of him, "oink, oink, oink," he grunted and watched both boys scream with laughter.

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by **Shakune** on November 11th, 2015, 10:16 pm

Grades!

Pearl :

Dravite :

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If you have any question about your grade, please don't hesitate to PM me

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