Black Beard's Rum

Axelle Napier · 06-26-2011, 01:44 AM

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Ooc.

Axelle sat next to a flat looking rock, on top of the Anathema caves. She propped her ingredients on the rock, while she waited for her fire to grow a little bit stronger. She had her barbecue stand already over the pit, and her pot on it with the water already inside the pot. Moonshine was the recipe for today. She looked over all her ingredients making sure she wasn’t missing anything. She had brown sugar, honey, water, yeast, and cooler water in a nearby bottle that was sitting next to her kitchen-sized fermenter. She added the sugar to the pot of water and awaited its boil.

The water in the pot began to boil and she kept checking it to make sure she wasn’t about to torrefy it. There were two and a half liters of water in the pot, and she added some honey. More than the recipe called for, since she liked her alcohol sweeter. The mixture was beginning to get thinner as the honey cooked off. She left the pot to boil and got the fermenter ready for her moonshine.

Axelle was busy away at her cooking. She was happy Eris had introduced her to cooking over the fire. It was kind of new and fun to her. She liked working with her hands and keeping busy. She enjoyed it greatly; especially when she was able to make her own alcohol, and not have to trek down to Halifax to scavenge more. She did enjoy traveling down to Halifax here and there.

She was so busy with her concoction that she had no time to see if anyone was coming, and if they were, they were most likely Anathemans and friendly. She would gladly share her home made drink with them when it was ready. Though, she did have others in her room in the caves.

Word Count → 310

Points → 3

Agony Acidic · 06-26-2011, 02:33 PM

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OOC: Hopefully it's alright that I've joined? [:
Word Count: 343

With her ascent into adulthood — as denoted by the recent ceremony in which she'd killed a snake, labeling her cunning and sly — she had begun to consider what profession she might actually find enjoyable. Most of them were uninteresting, or she saw no real worth in them. Should she ever decide to leave this secretive underground pack, a few of them would be useless. Starting and tending to fires was one of these things. Nowhere else that she knew of would require such a skill. Making jewelry, though appropriate for a lady, simply did not suit her. She'd considered furniture making, even medicine. The only point of interest in the latter was where they delved into poisons. In the end, she wanted some sort of security in what she did. Wandering one of the more secluded hallways in her (as of yet, unfamiliar) two-legged form, Agony sought nothing in particular.

The faint smell of something sweet however, brought her attention away from musing about professions. Spending time to form friendships and bond with Anathema members mattered little to her, but if someone was doing something interesting, she saw it as no consequence to her precious time should she decide to investigate further. If it was uninteresting she could simply walk away. The thirst for knowledge and information brought her toward the scene, ultimately finding her deep orange gaze settling on a woman. Was she cooking something? How quaint. Wordlessly, the Acidic girl approached, only reaching up to adjust the gift from her father. The gris-gris was simply a token of her age, nothing sentimental.

Alcohol was something she knew so little about, that the word didn't even exist in her extensive word bank. All she knew was that whatever this strange woman had brewed together was the source of the sweet smell from earlier. Lifting her gaze from the pot, she studied this woman's facial features. Aside from her vibrant pink eyes and odd fur pattern, Agony found nothing particularly striking. If she'd appreciated pretty things, she might have considered this woman pretty.

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Axelle Napier · 06-26-2011, 03:54 PM

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Sure ! And so promptly too, goooodd Smile

After the water, brown sugar, and honey had boiled for some time, Axelle threw in a pinch of yeast from one of her small pouches set up on the flat rock. It was only a bit, since she wasn’t making much of the concoction. The recipe she had was for about ten gallons. She didn’t have a fermenter big enough for that much.

She left the water boiling for a few minutes more, and put her supplies back into her bag. Then she looked up. She wasn’t startled, she knew someone would’ve smelled it and came. It was an interesting something. A wolf cooking. Someone needed to record this for future reference. She studied the woman before inviting her, “Come. Sit down.” She patted the ground next to her, and then continued shoving ingredients back into her bag. She positioned the fermenter just right on the ground, far enough away from the fire, but close enough to get the contents of the pot in there. She took out a large wooden spoon from her bag and mixed the ingredients together, before taking the pot off the fire. It had a handle, so she wouldn’t burn herself. It was a human pot, found in Halifax. She swished the mixture around, before pouring it in the fermenter. She then closed the lid, and left it to ferment. She had no idea how she was going to get it back to her room now. Maybe this young lady would help her…”What’s your name?”

Her attention was now set on the female, her pack mate. She looked a lot like Naniko, and could’ve been one of her children. She wore the same necklace around her neck as she did, the gris-gris. She had to ask, “Are you related to Naniko?” If she was her child, great, she would love to mingle with more of the D’angelo family. If not, well it wasn’t that much different. She was happy to have company either way.

Word Count → 329

Points → 3

Agony Acidic · 06-26-2011, 04:22 PM

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Word Count: 357

She had yet to visit Halifax, though with all the things her pack mates seemed to find there, maybe a visit was due within the next few days. Surely a visit would be worth it if she returned with something she could call entirely her own. Whether that's where this woman had found her items, she didn't know, but she wasn't about to ask and be labeled nosier than she already might appear to be. Invited to sit, Agony wavered between the decision to move forward but remain standing, or actually sitting down. Wavering in between the two choices silently, she finally decided that it couldn't be considered a bad thing to accept such a simple request. Sitting, she crossed her legs thoughtlessly.

Adults typically had more etiquette and tact than children, and were wholly more educated on the ways of the world. Just knowing that made her feel self-conscious as she continued to study this woman and her ways. Though she could have suspected that her general dislike for those of her gender came from her mother's stupidity and getting herself killed, or that she'd adopted the cold atmosphere of the only woman she could say she knew, she couldn't blame them. Jackson was nothing like her, and he'd grown up the same. The lid was closed, and the sweet smell eventually evaporated into nothingness. "Agony," Her name was meaningless, and held no particular sway over the teenager. Shifting her gaze back to the woman, she moved a strand of soot colored hair out of her vision to ask, "Who are you?" It was simply common courtesy to keep up conversation, and though odd, she wasn't intentionally rude.

Naniko, this woman compared her to Naniko. Though inwardly grimacing at having any line drawn between her and the white-furred leader, outwardly the corners of her mouth moved only slightly. "No, I'm not," Perhaps through association it was true, and due to her father's relationship with the woman, she might have been the adopted child, but nothing more. There were no biological lines to bind them. "What are you making?" Agony was insufferably curious despite her efforts not to be.

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Axelle Napier · 06-26-2011, 05:51 PM

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Ooc.

”Agony, a nice name.” Though Axelle wasn’t exactly sure if it suited the young female. She didn’t seem to be in agony or be anything less than content with her life. Well, this was her first impression, who knew what went on behind the curtain. Axelle stuffed the last of the ingredients in her bag, and buttoned it shut. ”Axelle is my name,” she was in a particularly weird mood today. Chipper, as some would call it. Weird for her since this didn’t come around much, only when she was high, and she wasn’t right now. Though, she wished she could be. The youth’s question was straight forward, and Axelle liked bluntness in others. It got the truth out more quickly.

Agony seemed to become bothered a bit by her question, and Axelle immediately apologized, ”I’m sorry. You look just like her… Almost.” Now that she looked at her more seriously, she didn’t really look like Naniko. All she had was the white fur, as did so many others in the Souls lands. Agony didn’t have the emerald eyes as did Naniko, and she had different hair. ”Hmm, actually you don’t look like her at all.” She had to get that out. A warm sirocco blew across the mountain, bringing a light mist of rain soon after. The fire’s embers were getting damp, and Axelle sat there watching them go out.

She was quick to change the subject, though, which was good. ”I am making rum,” she tapped on the fermenter’s top next to her. ”Black Beard’s Rum.” She dug the recipe out of her bag and handed it to Agony, unsure if she knew how to read or not. ”Quite a simple recipe, probably for first-timers.” Axelle stood up, grabbed a piece of cloth and wrapped it around one of her hands. She then picked up the grate off the still burning fire, and threw it to the side, away from the fire so that it would cool. She then picked up her bag, and took the cloth off of her hand. She threw it by where the grate was.

The fermenter had two handles on either side of it. Axelle tested its heaviness, which wasn’t that heavy, but she wouldn’t be able to carry it herself. ”Do you mind helping me carry this to my room?” She was bent over with her hand on one of the handles, awaiting the female’s answer. Why would she say no? She would get a present in return.

Word Count → 416

Points → 3

Agony Acidic · 06-26-2011, 06:15 PM

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Word Count: 446

Shrugging off the compliment she was given on her name, Agony instead focused on the name she was given for this oddly colored woman. "Axelle," She nearly whispered, testing the name. She liked the sound of it on her tongue, but didn't comment further on it. Maybe some other day she would ask if it meant anything, or was a family name. She'd heard of others who passed down names through generations, or as a credit to someone they looked like who wasn't immediate family. A foreigner to substances other than food, water, and material possessions, she couldn't say what this woman was acting like other than friendly. Blinking harshly at the apology, the urge to wave it away with a blase wave of her hand surfaced, but remained unrecognized. "You don't have to be sorry," It was a mistake, and she was not a perfect child. Agony could forgive that without being asked to.

As if trying to discern why she thought they'd been related, Axelle tried to justify it in their appearance, but then took it back. No, she didn't look anything like Naniko. The orange eyed girl's previous look of dissatisfaction began to fade into neutrality. "I look like myself," A simple enough comment, and the truth. Maybe there was someone out there that she did resemble, but Naniko wasn't the one. It pleased her to know this. "Do you look like anyone you know?" Because she didn't look like anyone Agony knew. Maybe Scorpius with his bone mask, but that was about it. No, she knew no one else who looked like Axelle. Had the teenager rephrased it, she could have sound poetic or philosophical. She didn't believe in learning to read or write anyway, so she didn't care.

Rum, what was that? More importantly, was it good? Handed the recipe, she glanced down to the jumbled letters and symbols that, all by themselves, sort of resembled the runes she'd received as a gift at her ceremony, but together meant absolutely nothing. Handing it back, she inhaled abruptly. "I don't know what a Black Beard is, and I can't read," Frowning, she considered this. Maybe reading was worth more in this world than she thought. If you could make food with words, it couldn't be all bad. Watching as the fermenter and grate were moved unceremoniously to their various positions, the question of whether she would help would have gone completely unnoticed if it hadn't been for the sudden stillness. "Why?" Was her response, but she took the opposite handle anyway. Someone going to her father and telling him she'd been rude was a worse fate than taking time to help. Disappointment was failure.

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Axelle Napier · 06-26-2011, 08:23 PM

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Ooc.

”I look like myself.” Axelle nodded with a shrug, ”Good answer.” The next question made Axelle pause in thought. Did she know anyone who had her jumble of colors? She didn’t know him, but she’d seen him. ”I don’t exactly know the guy, but I’ve seen a Dahlian with similar colors to me. We aren’t acquaintances though.”

She let go of the handle of the fermenter, and received the recipe. She folded it, and then put it back into her bag. She stood up straight, talking to the girl now. ”A Black Beard, in this case, is just the name. And don’t worry, I can’t read that well either. What I can read gets me by, like recipes and picture books.” She walked over to the fermenter once more, and took its handle with the girl, ”Because I can’t carry this by myself.”

After Agony took the other handle, they started walking rather quickly toward the caves entrance. Axelle’s room was further down the hall, but not that far. After about five minutes of walking, which felt like forever, Axelle turned a corner and entered her room. It was spacey with swords, knives, and a crossbow hanging on the far wall by her bed made of furs and blankets. She didn’t have a human mattress like some, but her version sufficed. They put the fermenter in the opposite corner, by where the shelves were full of herbs and spices and there was a small cauldron on the floor nearby. Wicca stuff. She had a table made of rock where she plopped her bag down and offered Agony a seat on one of the stony chairs.

She then went to one of the shelves where she had many jars filled with different colored liquids, mostly all different shades of brown. The darker, the sweeter. She picked a darker one and offered it to Agony. ”A gift for helping me. If you don’t like it, you can leave it here.” Axelle went over to the fermenter and positioned it a little better into the corner. When she was satisfied, she stepped back and looked at it. Then she turned back to Agony, ”Or take it with you; your choice.” A gift was a gift. Pff, giving alcohol to a child, what am I thinking?

Axelle sauntered over to the shelves filled with alcoholic beverages in jars, and took one of the lighter colored ones. She brought it to her lips, and tipped it back taking a big sip. Her face scrunched up to its potency, but soon released with a simple breathy, ”Aah…” She then looked at Agony, ”I made them all myself. Sometimes I like my alcohol sweeter, making it darker, and sometimes I like it more potent, where it becomes lighter.” She pointed toward Agony’s jar, ”That one is the sweeter of the sweet batch.” Then she looked through the shelf and pulled out an almost clear jar, ”This one is the more potent of the lot.” Then she placed it back on it’s shelf along with the one that was in her hand.

Word Count → 514

Points → 5

Agony Acidic · 07-22-2011, 11:13 PM

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OOC: Sorry for the wait!
Word Count: 540

Listening in quiet incomprehension of who the Dahlian's were, the bit she understood was not being an acquaintances to the person with whom Axelle apparently shared bits of her appearance. Having stuck to the labyrinth of corridors and dens that was Anathema, she had no real forethought about leaving it for some time. It was an unclean world out there, and she preferred the solidarity here. No one bothered anyone else without reason. Thinking on that, she privately wondered if the black and white woman thought her to be a nuisance, but didn't question. Feeling that if she had, it would have been mentioned by now, they carried the fermenter back to the den and Agony was offered a seat. Pursing her lips quietly with thought, she shook her head in silent refusal, but let her shoulders relax.

Eying the highly decorated walls with interest, Agony let her fiery gaze roam across the bladed weapons and crossbow, eventually landing on the cauldron and thought to ask what it was for, but was interrupted prematurely before she had the chance. A clinking of bottles alerted her to Axelle's movements, and she found the woman by a shelf full of glasses, all varying in darkness. This, she found out, revealed the strength of the alcohol. Offered one, it was set on the table and Agony paused politely before reaching for it, not wanting to seem over-eager to receive it. "Thank you," As if against her will, the girl's tail wagged for a moment. Yes, she was indeed pleased to have some sort of gift from the pretty woman before her. That it was alcohol, and thus she might have been frowned upon by those more close-minded, didn't seem to phase her.

Further explaining that she'd made all of the alcohol on the shelf, Agony's gaze shifted to appreciation for what the woman had set up for herself here. If nothing else, she knew what she was doing when it came to the beverages. Bringing her own to her charcoal lips, Agony drank. Surprised to find it much like her father's description of sweets or candy, she sipped for a moment more before putting it back down. Jackson might enjoy it as well, though it wasn't exactly in her to share anything that was entirely hers with the other, more foolish boy. He had, after all, caught a rabbit for his initiation into Anathema's adult ranks. He was an honest boy. Agony was... not quite. "It's very sweet," And despite it, she wasn't entirely sure what to make of it yet. "You have a talent for this." Whatever its formal name might have been.

Considering the jar itself, she ran a pointed claw around its edge, staring into the dark liquid. Ultimately she brought her gaze to meet Axelle's with sudden clarity. "Would you teach me to read what you know," Beginning in a steady voice, she cleared her voice while considering what this woman might want in return. No one in these lands did anything for free. "If I helped you with commonplace tasks? I can carry things and I'm very good at cleaning." And if that wasn't something Axelle could use, there were other people she could learn from. Maybe Ravesque.

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Axelle Napier · 07-24-2011, 12:30 PM

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ooc

When Axelle was done rearranging the jars so they fit right on the shelf, she turned back to Agony in time to see her say ‘thank you’. The two-toned female watched as her young friend drank in anticipation. There was no hiding the young female’s thoughts. They were clearly written in with her expression. She had no ill feelings about the drink, but she was unsure of what to think of it. Axelle didn’t say anything. She was a child, this was probably her first sip of alcohol, and Axe would give her some time to decide if she’s a drinker or not.

Seeing that Agony refused to sit, Axelle sat on one of the stony chairs by the table. She looked up at her new friend, offering her a seat again. This time if she did not take it, Axe wouldn’t ask anymore. Agony kept talking saying that Axe had talent for alcohol making. She smiled at the comment, ”Thanks.” She thought she was pretty good, and now to have confirmation from another boosted her confidence. Now she knew she was good.

Axelle straightened up when she heard the question. She furrowed her eyebrows in thought. She wasn’t much of a teacher, and didn’t really know much about reading, herself, but she would be willing to share the trade. In her opinion, reading was a good skill to have just in case one ever needs to be able to read in a situation, which is like… all the time. She would just need to figure out a way to teach it well… She would do it for free for the female, but then again having her there when she needed something done wasn’t a bad idea either. ”I’ll make you a deal: I’ll teach you how to read and you don’t have to do anything for me now, but in the future if I need something- you’ll be there to help. Deal?” Cleaning wasn’t a bad idea either. Axelle looked around her den and it wasn’t really that dirty. How would you keep a cave clean? It’s natural to be dirty. She was a wolf after all, cleaning didn’t really mean anything to her. She liked to live in dirt, but not filth.

Word Count: 374

Points: 3

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