Finding Home (Ebony, Kayalee, River)

[Meesh]

Ebony paused. "Walnut, perch" he said clearly. It was one of the first things he had taught her, and she promptly scampered over and up onto his shoulder, where she nestled comfortably. He turned, padding over to the other two. "I'm sorry for taking over most of the area between the tree roots with herbs and storage areas. There's plenty of room though, if either of you want to join me under the tree. It's quite comfortable"

He turned when the others did, at the sound of the yelp, padding towards the sound. as did River and Kayalee. What he saw was perhaps the strangest creature he had ever seen. It was long and lither, like a feline, but clearly possessing the strength of a canine and a canine's head. The hind paws seemed more feline-ish, but the front ones were more canine. The creature smelled male, and seemed to be an aboriginal, but aside from that, Ebony couldn't make heads or tails of the species.

Shadow dipped his head, used to the stares. "I'm Shadow" he said politely, "And don't worry about staring or asking questions, I'm quite used to it. My mother is Silva and yes, Antares is my father. Feel free to ask what you will. I don't mind, really" he nudged forward the pile of leaves and sticks with a paw. "I was told you needed these?"

(By the way the sleep with me offer isn't a come on o3o Ebony just feels awkward about sleeping ten feet from the rest of the group is all XD)

[Hazelstar]

"It's alright, River, I wanted to get it myself" Kayalee meowed at the smaller occult feline. She then glanced over at Ebony, with little Walnut perched on his shoulder. "I may have to at some point since during the winter it will be to cold to sleep under my cover, possibly." Kayalee meowed at Ebony.

Silva and Antares are mates? Good for them. Kayalee looked down at the pile of twigs and leaves and nodded her head. "Thank you, Shadow." Kayalee meowed. "You are welcome to come to camp for a rest and a meal if you wish." She meowed, then bent down and picked up the leaves and twigs in her jaws and turned towards camp and began to trot towards it. "You don't have to worry about taking up on much room, we have a lot of room in our underground den." Kayalee added around her mouthful of leaves and twigs.

[Deleted]

River nodded at Kayalee, and then at Ebony when he came over. “We’ll work something out. For now, that might be the best use of those spaces, anyway. The shade and cool will help preserve the plants.”

She watched the exchange between Shadow and Kayalee, and started back toward the camp when her leader did. “By all means, take your pick of the meat we have. If nothing’s to your liking, I can always hunt something up, or if plants are your thing…” She shrugged. “Makes my job easier, I suppose.” Though she hoped the mix preferred meat. She enjoyed hunting, probably far more than she should.

[Meesh]

Ebony started as the others turned to move back to the den, nodding his head at the mixed. "I met Silva once, shortly after hatching. She seems quite the good type." Shadow purred at that, bending down to gather up the leaves and branches again before padding forward to catch up with the others.
Once at camp, the mix deposited the small pile on the ground once more "Where do you want these?" he asked, tail flicking. "And thank you for the offer, but I really must go. I'm expected back soon" he nodded politely to the three felines "I'll just help you with these, but then I better go"

"That's alright" said Ebony, padding forward. "Uhm, River, you mentioned wanting to make some sort of structures out of these, right?"

[Hazelstar]

Kayalee places the leaves she had carried in the pile that Shadow had made. "We should start making the cover over the prey pile. Right, River!" Kayalee meowed, glancing at the occult then at Shadow. "You must have walked a while to get here, and we have way to much prey. Go get some." Kayalee meowed, with a slight ordering sound in her voice. She preferred someone eat the food than in go bad. She padded towards it and sniffed at it, then picked out a small bird, it smelled rancid, another spoil. "Ugh, hopefully this cover will keep them from spoiling so fast." Kayalee meowed as she padded away a few paces and dug a hole to bury the rancid bird.

[Deleted]

River listened quietly as the others talked, until she was addressed. At Ebony’s question, she nodded. “Anywhere near the prey rock. At the front of it might be good, for now. I doubt it’ll take me more than a day to finish the structure, and that’ll keep everything more or less out of the way until needed.”

When Kayalee spoke, River nodded. “I’m on it.” She went and retrieved the bones – mostly ribs – and formed a crude base for the structure, sticking the bones partway into the ground to keep them standing. Other bones held were placed around the ribs to secure them in place, and she added in a few sticks to cover some of the larger gaps. “Now we need the leaves and hide scraps…and maybe some cobweb to help hold it all together.” She began placing the leaves, turning the basic, crude structure into a canopy.

[Meesh]

Shadow hesitated, then nodded his thanks, pulling a small rodent from the pile before settling down out of the others’ way to nibble on it politely, glancing at the odd creature curiously. “Thank you for your hospitality” he said politely, eating carefully. Ebony grinned at the mix, before padding forward to help with the construction work going on. Picking up a branch between his jaws, the feline carefully wove it in between the bones of the structure, slowly closing up the holes until a crude wall had formed. “This is turning out pretty well” he commented, surprised. “I may just want to try this with the herb storage, if you’ll show me how to build the bone structure, River. May need to wait until our next hunt to get more bones, though”

Walnut, recognizing the word storage as one Ebony had trained her at, squeaked and jumped off Ebony’s shoulder, scampering off to the storage. Ebony watched her with some amusement. “She’s got the point down, anyway” he commented.

Shadow blinked at the retreating rodent, but decided not to ask.

[Hazelstar]

Kayalee began lacing leaves into the structure, filling up the small patches which would let in to much heat. She glanced at Walnut as she fled towards the herb den, she very narrowly avoid stepping on her tail as she moved around the structure, looking for any openings. Kayalee wrapped her jaws around a twig then wove it into an open space then filled it in win leaves. "Ebony, do you have any cobwebs in your storage?" Kayalee asked as she gingerly wove a think deer hide into the structure, trying not to knock anything out of place. "I hope this doesn't collapse under snow in the winter, or get blown away in the high winds." Kayalee meowed, half to herself.

[Deleted]

She purred as the other two helped, watching as the structure became more and more like the shade she had envisioned. Her purr deepened when Ebony commented on wanting to try it with his herbs. “I’d be happy to, though we might have to modify things a bit for herbs. It’ll have to be more secure so the plants don’t blow away and yet open enough for someone as large as you two to pop in and grab a mouthful of whatever.” She frowned in thought. “If crushing isn’t a problem, a simple rock o top of a pile would take care of the ‘blowing away’ problem…” She shook her head. “But you’re right. More bones will be needed for the entire structure. For now, maybe we can utilize that second antler and some branches, maybe one of the leg bones we haven’t used for this thing…it may be a bit gruesome for you, but the skull would work very well for part of it.” Ideas filled her mind, and she tried to push them aside. Building had become fun for her – like a puzzle, figuring out what piece goes where in order to make something solid and secure. She had to think on the prey canopy now, though, and save the herb one for later.

She blinked as the rodent ran off. That was…weird…and amusing to Ebony, so River didn’t worry about her suddenly running away. She thought it was silly of Ebony to keep the rodent as a pet, but that didn’t mean she wanted him hurt by her running off.

She turned to Kayalee when he commented on the structure collapsing. “Since we’re using wood and leaves, we’re going to have to replace some of it periodically, anyway. Te cobwebs should help keep things from blowing away, and I’ll be able to use more hides for the canopy as I hunt more creatures. Those should be more durable than leaves when it comes to snow.”

[Meesh]

Ebony nodded, turning and padding towards the herb storage, where Walnut was now curled up happily, asleep by all appearances. "I have a few" he replied, gathering them up carefully before bringing them over to Kayalee. Peeling one of the cobwebs away from the other, Ebony carefully wrapped it around the sticks and bones, securing the leaves in place. "Is this how you wanted it?"
He nodded at River's ideas thoughtfully, tail flicking in concentration "Skulls would work perfectly, actually, as would antlers. Most of the herbs shouldn't be crushed before use, or else they use their efficiency, but I can use the underground part of the storage for the herbs that can't fit in the skulls. As for the rest, we can build a sort of shelter with an entrance too small for the wind to escape into-ooh" Ebony's eyes lit up with an idea as he dashed over to the tree where the storage den was. "Okay, what if we build a three sided structure, with the open side facing the tree? To get inside, you would have to squeeze in between the tree and the open part, which means the wind can't blow anything away. The problem is, it would have to be tall enough for an Absonding to fit into comfortably"

he paused, tail flicking as thoughts, images, and ideas scrolled through his mind. "Oh,t his could be very interesting"

Shadow got to his paws, rodent now finished. "Thank you again for your hospitality" the mix commented "But I really better head off now- I'll be back in a few day with more branches, if you need them. Otherwise, our borders are open" with a nod, the mix turned and bounded off

[Hazelstar]

Kayalee nodded. "More bones and hides would help that problem, probably." Kayalee meowed, then took some of the cobwebs and securly wrapped them around sticks and bones. Kayalee glanced at River, noting a little sparkle in her eyes as she spoke about building the canopy and helping Ebony with his herb problem. "That sounds like an interesting idea, Ebony, but we need to be certain that it will work." She meowed, thinking about his idea. What if the wind is to strong and it collapses? How will we make it tall enough for an absconding to fit in? Will there be shelves for the herbs? What if we get raided and someone steals the herbs? Kayalee shook her head to clear these thoughts from her mind.

[Deleted]

River waved her tail in farewell as Shadow left. She then blinked as she worked out the problem in her mind. “Facing the tree would work, and the tree would provide a little shelter from the elements. We can do some digging – I know about the underground thing, but if “underground” is only about half as high as an absconding, it’d be okay, wouldn’t it? You wouldn’t be surrounded by earth, anyway. And if we had a hollow that deep, the structure wouldn’t have to be very tall, and enough bracing should keep it steady in most weather… Shelves won’t be a problem if it’s built over a hollow, either, because the shelves can be dug right out of the earth. As for raiding…” She sighed. “That’s going to be a problem no matter what sort of shelter we build. If we can figure out how to trap a raider, it might be different, but…” She shook her head. “We’ll just have to defend it.”

[Meesh]

Ebony nodded, eyes sparkling with the possibilities. "About half my height is fine- I'm pretty sure the Absonding effects only takes place when Kayalee or I are completely enclosed in rock, so if the overheard is in branch or bone, we should be alright. He padded over to the den he had made in the tree branches. "If I move my nest over to these tree roots, I can just build the structure over the hole already here- leaves are pretty good for keeping water away, so we won't have to worry about the rain."

He frowned at their questions about raiding. "Well, if we had enemies, or any cause for them, that would be one thing. But I think we don't have to worry about that for a long while"

[Hazelstar]

Kayalee flicked her ear. "I think half way underground would work." She meowed, she wasn't completely sure though. "The shelves would also probably work." She added, then was drowned with a thought. Earthquakes. Her tail twitched, she had thought about that disaster as she made the underground den. An earthquake would destroy everything. Everything! She didn't voice these thoughts though, she didn't want to frighten anyone. They may not even happen in this area. "I don't think a trap would be a good idea. Someone who doesn't know or forgets it's there could get seriously injured by it." Kayalee meowed. "We probably won't have to deal with them anyway." Kayalee meowed, trying mostly to convince herself. As long as The Cult doesn't come back.... Kayalee thought, her aqua eyes flashing.

[Deleted]

“If Kayalee’s willing, next time we hunt something sizable, we’ll get started,” River decided. “Until then, Ebony, you can probably have all the skulls big enough to hold your supplies, and that second antler. We can form something crude but effective to last us a day or two.”

She nodded when Kayalee shot down the trap idea. “I suppose. I don’t think I like the idea of watching my pawsteps in our own camp, anyway.” She blinked as Kayalee’s eyes flashed, and it took her a moment to figure out why she was so concerned about an enemy attack. “You’re thinking about the cult, aren’t you? If it’s any comfort, I’ve been to the river garden recently – well, shortly before evolving – and the only scents that indicated anyone was living there were very stale.”