Tracks in the snow

Nian Redtree · 12-29-2010, 02:03 PM

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I apologise for my attempt at muffled speech in the last sentences. XD

Not having any way to carry the prongs for now, Nian secured them in a knot in the fabric J'adore had used to wrap the elk in. As he did this, fumbling with his paws and teeth, he asked questions. "I didn't know fabric would keep wind and rain out. How many things do you have in that bag, anyway? It seems like you always have exactly what we need." Finishing his work, he grabbed hold of the elk and tugged on it experimentally to make sure that he could carry it all right. When he was certain he looked back at J'adore and, through occupied jaws, said, "Mee' ya a' da vhillage cen'er 'en." With that, he started to drag the elk back along he route he thought he remembered as being relatively clear and free of too many obstacles.

J'adore Austral · 12-30-2010, 03:33 PM

OOC- It's okay, this is my attempt Big Grin

'Not much really' J'adore answered 'These two knifes, I always carry a few scarps of fabric, I pick a book or two to read when I get a chance. Various little things, ya ‘know'. J'adore had always carried a few odds and ends in his bag, he was a wolf of Spanish heritage and being true to that he was somewhat of an inventor, as most where. Nian started to drag away his half, 'U'hu' J'adore agreed with a mouthful of elk. The blood dripped slowly from the place where he was biting and he found himself having to top frequently to lick it away. Nian lead him down the obstacle free route, granted it took a little while longer, but when they had arrived at the village centre the elk, despite being in two pieces, was undamaged. J'adore plopped his half down a few feet away from the storage hut. 'Well, we managed to get it here in two pieces!' he smiled over at Nian. 'Do you think we should find Dawali? I mean I don't want to bother him, but it is a nice catch'. J'adore felt increasingly proud at the prey himself and Nian had achieved, he was sure this would feed the pack for a while.

Nian Redtree · 12-30-2010, 04:05 PM

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out of character text

Nian dropped his section of the elk next to J'adore's and tilted his head, thinking. "I suppose you can if you want to." He grinned. He had not really thought about it before now, but the elk really was a nice catch. The two wolves had taken in enough meat to really contribute to the tribe's stores, and he felt pleased with the accomplishment. "It really is a nice elk. Pity we don't really know much about preserving it. At least we can start butchering it, with those charts you talked about." He began to shift into optime form again, and when he was done, held out an open hand. "Could I see one of the knives, maybe? I can start skinning it and sectioning off pieces I know how to do."

J'adore Austral · 12-31-2010, 05:53 PM

OOC- J'adore talks way to much... -_-

J'adore hummed, 'I'll tell him later' he decided. He once again opened the top of his bag, proceding to pull out a slightly larger than palm sized book. Golden lettering on the front struck out in the sunlight, 'La Préservation De Viandes'. It's French, so I'll translate' J'adore said tracing his finger down the contents page and deciding on Chapter Eleven, 'Begin proper preservation by taking the carcass to a cooler, no a problem seeing the amount of snow' J'adore said looking up with a smile. 'Elk needs to get down to 40 degrees in the first 24 hours to be preserved. J'adore read more without comments, 'This chapter is about keeping it fresh' J'adore closed the book, 'We'll preserve the rest in the snow, we'll have to go to Halifax and find a human 'Fridge', then we'll dig a deep hole and bury the fridge to keep it all cool. If anyone wants to gets some we'll tell them where to find it'. J'adore looked up to Nian to see if he was up for another trip. 'You up for a trip? We'll have to cut up the elk now and bury it temporarily though'. J'adore put the book away and pulled out the chart, (The Chart!) 'This is the chart, it's for cows but there similar...' J'adore supposed the cuts of meat from cows would be the same as the cuts from elk. 'La vache, l'élan, la même chose' He repeated again, in one of his home tounges, French.

Nian Redtree · 12-31-2010, 06:12 PM

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How are they going to get a fridge to work without electricity? I guess burying it might work... Is it ok if I assume Nian now has a knife, so he can follow J'adore's directions? Sorry for any unintended PP.

Nian watched J'adore read from the book, curious about its contents. Even though the text of this book was pretty mundane, he still found himself fascinated by it. Books, being such mysteries to the illiterate wolf, had the potential to hold any number of secrets... He was mildly disappointed by how ordinary the text turned out to be when J'adore read it aloud, but perked up at the strange new word. "'Fridge?' What is that? Some sort of container?" He looked down at the elk carcass and pondered it. This 'fridge' would have to be a container of greater size than any boxes he was used to, if they were going to fit all of the elk into it. J'adore's chart made this task easier, though. Nian spread it out on the ground beside him so that he could reference it, then made slits in the skin and tugged it away from the meat. Putting this aside, he started to carefully follow the directions in the diagram and cut away slabs of flesh from the carcass.

J'adore Austral · 12-31-2010, 06:24 PM

OOC- Yep, Nian has the knife, I was meant to add that in, doh! No problem for the PP. BTW J'adore could teach Nian to read if you like.

J'adore frowned thinking of a way to explain a fridge to Nian, 'Erm, it's a large metal box that humans plugged into electricity plugs and kept their food in there. We'll have to bury ours, since the electricity is extinct. There quite big... we might have to find one from a supermarket, they should be big enough'. J'adore tilted his head, intrested about Nian's expression as he read, 'Do you like books?'. J'adore had read since he was a child, but was quick to realise that many wolves hadn't.

Nian Redtree · 12-31-2010, 06:45 PM

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That would be great!

Nian had no idea what an electricity plug was, but it made sense that if they were 'extinct' then the fridge would not work the way it used to. Trusting J'adore's plan, he nodded. "Okay, you seem to know the most about these things, so I'll just follow your lead when we get to Halifax." Taking a chunk of meat and putting it off to the side, he started working on freeing another section. At J'adore's question he shook his head. "I don't know how to read. There wasn't anyone in my old pack who could teach me. I've seen plenty of books before though, and even looked at pictures in some of them. My brothers and I once found an old human building full of them... I always wondered what humans wrote about that they could fill entire buildings with books." He shrugged and smiled. "It's a bit of a mystery to me."

J'adore Austral · 01-01-2011, 10:31 AM

OOC- Cool! Do you want to start another thread revolving reading? I PPed a bit, when Nian put the meat in the bag.

J'adore could see Nian was still confused about electricity, but continued none the less. 'Okay, I expect the fridge will be quite heavy, so we may need to find an item with wheels to transport it'. J'adore watched as Nian finished off striping the elk. 'I could teach you how to read if you like. I found one of them too. In Santander, the humans called them libraries. I have my fair share of books in my hut, I travel to Halifax when I run out'. J'adore took a few breathes and re-started. ’what humans wrote about varies, generally fiction, stories and make believe, then there’s non-fiction, books that tell you how to do things, like the preserving book. They wrote about everything!'. J'adore's mind buzzed as he told Nian about the wonders of a book. He pulled a large plastic bag out of his bag and said, 'Here put the meat in here and we'll bury it temporarily, so we can head off to Halifax, find that fridge'. Nian picked up a few slabs of thick elk steak and shovelled it into the bag. J'adore tied a secure knot in the bag and pulled it over his shoulder. 'I don't have a shovel, so we'll have to dig it ourselves'. Now all they needed to do was find some deep snow.

Nian Redtree · 01-01-2011, 01:21 PM

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Sure! Maybe we could say they scavenged some books while they were in Halifax. Do you want a thread for Halifax or do you just want to end with them burying the meat and suggest the trip in the reading thread?

Nian listened attentively as J'adore spoke, taking in every word. By the time J'adore started talking about the contents, luckily, Nian had finished cutting up the contents, because he wanted to hear everything the other wolf said about them. Grinning, he put the meat into the bag J'adore provided. "I'd love to learn how to read... You're sure you don't mind teaching me? I mean, it sounds like it could be a lot of work."

After J'adore had secured the meat in the bag, Nian nodded at his words and started looking around. Wherever they buried the meat would have to be somewhere remote enough where the snow was deep, but close enough to the village so that scavengers would not come looking for the food and steal it while they were looking for the fridge. As he looked he mused out loud, "Why do you suppose they wrote so much down? Maybe they knew that they wouldn't be here now..." While the compulsion to immortalize your life on paper made sense intellectually to the dun-colored wolf, it made little sense to him from a practical viewpoint. Wolves and canines had always been around, even when the humans tried to eradicate them in the past. They were survivors above all else. So what is it that drives wolves to write? he wondered silently.

J'adore Austral · 01-01-2011, 01:53 PM

OOC- Yes, we could stage the reading thread the next day and say the picked a few books up, aswell as some pencils and paper. I'll start if you like. You can post after this and then post in the new one, it will be called, 'lecture et l'écriture'.

'No, I wouldn't mind teaching you, it's easy after you learn basic words' J'adore insisted. They soon found an ideal spot not too far away and in thick deep snow. The pair stopped to relax as they had been working hard that morning. Nian mused out loud about humans writing, J'adore couldn't help replying, 'Maybe, or to spread information and stories. I often though of writing my life down, maybe when I'm older and have more time. Hopefully I'd have made something of myself by then, alpha maybe'. J'adore sighed and flicked a loose strand of his jet mane behind his ear, thinking hat he really should get it trimmed. 'Si Evian pouvait me voir maintenant' he mused glancing at his chest. It was normally a rich tan colour with a stomach of white, but the elk blood had trickled down turning the white to a brilliant scarlet. He was a hunter for the first time in a while. 'C'mon then, let's head off to Halifax!'.

Nian Redtree · 01-01-2011, 02:15 PM

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out of character text

Nian dug down into the snow, carving out a nice deep hollow. Taking the bag of elk meat from J'adore, he placed it in the snow, then covered it up again, pounding down the snow with his paws for good measure. "It seems to me like you've already been to so many places, you could write stores about it already," he said, finishing his burial of the meat. Satisfied that nothing could get at the food and that the ice would keep it cool at least for now, he stepped back and turned to J'adore with a grin. "All right, lead the way," he said, motioning with his paw, then fell into step next to his companion as they started towards the city.

J'adore Austral · 01-01-2011, 02:18 PM

THIS THREAD HAD ENDED!

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