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This is in the north of the Village, close to the ceremonial fire, if that's interesting  Word Count: 315
come dance with the west wind and touch on the mountain tops
Dawali had his hands on his hips as he looked upwards, squinting against the sun to evaluate the progress of his town hall. It had to be finished by the time cold weather set in fully, but it had proven to be more of a challenge than he'd expected. Sure, he'd managed to build the stable by himself, getting good aid by the horses and not to mention the terrain, but this building was different. For one thing it was more advanced, and it was also a lot bigger. It had to hold everyone, and he had to make sure it would still hold everyone if the tribe grew in the coming years. Also there were ceremonial elements - the Chief's chair had to be in the south of the building, facing north, for example. But, today the process would be different, because he wasn't alone. Two set of hands worked a lot better than just one, and Dawali was truly grateful to have Hemming's help on this project.
"Well.. I think it's obvious that I'm having trouble getting the pillars up, to support the roof. I've been using horses but it's dangerous to swing them around on your own. And no pillars equals no walls so I've just stagnated there."
His hand gestured towards a pile of large and thick trunks that he'd gathered from the woods, tall and steady enough to support a roof. He needed them inside the building as well as along the sides, if they were to have a proper roof at all. He could have built it in the traditional way, but then it would simply be a large hut, and he wanted the Town Hall to carry some grandeur. Turning his head, Dawali maintained his squinting on one eye as he looked at his friend, smiling. Hopefully, the two would get some noticeable progress on the building today.
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[html] Yes, it is! Sorry for the delay <3
The sun was apparently very interested in what the two wolves were pondering. Hemming had a hand above his eyes to shield himself from its gaze as he joined the red wolf in looking at all that had been done so far. This truly was an immense project, and Hemming was impressed by Dawali's plans. He was just generally impressed by Dawali, as well, and was extremely pleased to be in his company and contribute just a bit. This tribe was the first family that the scrawny wolf had known in years and there was a deep fulfilment that he drew from feeling that he was giving back just a little of what he had taken. Hemming's eyebrows furrowed as he listened to his Kalona explain the challenges that they were facing, his mind working to think of an alternative method. The tree trunks were heavy and were likely impossible for a single wolf to lift without injury, but there would have to be a way for both of them, working together, to do it.
"Hmm," he murmured, turning to look back at Dawali. There was a smile on the gray wolf's face, too, as he tried to crack the problem he had been enlisted to help solve. He imagined a pulley system, but realized that it would be necessary to have something even higher than the logs themselves to loop any ropes around. Perhaps if they dug a hole for each pillar they could tilt it in gradually, rolling a second log beneath the first towards its base so it would eventually prop itself up and slide into the hole. That seemed a little complicated, but perhaps it would work. "Could we dig a hole about yay deep," he brought his hand down from above his eyes and motioned a distance of about a foot, "put the base of the log close to the hole and use a second to prop it up slowly?" He raised an eyebrow to his friend, hoping that the idea was satisfactory and that perhaps it would give rise to an effective method, but not completely confident that it would be the most efficient way to do things.
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Hehe, hardly a delay! If so, I'm sorry too 
Word Count: 314
come dance with the west wind and touch on the mountain tops
Hemming spoke and gestured with his hand to explain, and as he did so Dawali alternated between looking at him, and squinting against the sun to invision it happening on their site. It was a pretty good idea, but Dawali was worried still. And no wonder, if one of those logs he wanted to use as pillars was raised and then fell, it could easily kill one of them, or take down some of the building he'd done so far. He nodded slowly to the words his friend spoke, and took a moment to simply look from the pillars to the site. He would need... at least eight of them standing up. And preferably some more to just make sure, because the roof would probably be a little heavy. He'd never created a roof without simple straw and clay before, but he knew it could be done. The carpenters of the rest of the tribe had constructed something similar to this when they had rebuilt their old town hall. And that was what Dawali wanted to create, but he was no carpenter. Not finding an immediate solution, he voiced his concerns to Hemming.
"That sounds like it would work, but I'm still a little worried. What if we raise it up, but it just falls over on the other side? It could be pretty dangerous, no?"
Again, he glanced to the building, trying to find a way to solve his problem through merely looking at it. His brain was working hard to get this all together. Dawali was not exactly the kind of person who came up with the ingenious solutions, but he was the kind that - when trained in something - executed this skill in a comfortable yet effective manner. He was good at tasks he already knew, and not so good at solving new problems, at least not of this kind.
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[html] ;D
Hemming brought a hand to his chin as he considered Dawali's words. He nodded slowly and replied thoughtfully, "You're right." Building something on this scale was dangerous, and it would be best not to take any risks at all. The gray wolf was prone to imaginative ideas that often did not have any strong basis in practicality, and with such a tremendous project it was important to stick to the old adage of safety first. He felt a little guilty - he held the rank of Gatlvska, after all - that he could not come up with a solution, but he had never dealt with pieces so massive before. His tree house in the woods was mostly planks of wood that he had simply stuck together, the walls made of sheets of wood that he had found in a human town.
Perhaps the two wolves could use ropes, fixed to the top of the trunk and to the ground, to prevent the wood from going over in the other direction. This would require the use of some creative knot work, but the book that Hemming had taken from the human city had included quite a good section on knot tying and the wolf had been practicing. If they were somehow tied at right angles to each other and became taut when the wood was upright, it would likely prevent the wood from going over the other side. Maybe that was similar to how Dawali had been doing it with the horses. They would still have to be extremely careful.
Dawali was something like the voice of reason here, and Hemming trusted him to find any serious flaws in any plan. "What if we used ropes of the right length, tied to the top of the tree and to the ground, somehow, and then pulled it up from the other side? I suppose that if there's a hole deep and narrow enough the tree won't get a good chance to move around after it falls in," he thought out loud, tapping his finger against his chin. It was mostly speculation, but if Dawali thought that the idea had some merit in it he would continue thinking out how exactly they could do it.
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Word Count: 314 - two times in a row the exact number of words. I'm doing this on purpose, obviously ;D
come dance with the west wind and touch on the mountain tops
Again Hemming proved to state what should perhaps have been obvious, and while the male was still in the middle of speaking, Dawali's eyes lit up with excitement. Of course! Oh, why hadn't he seen that, it was so perfectly logical. While Hemming was still speaking, Dawali raised a finger in the air as if to say "eureka!" and moved towards the work horse, Belle, standing not too far away from the two. Quickly, he pulled a large coil of rope from behind her saddle and tossed the end of it to his friend. Smiling, he threw the rest of the coil towards the building in progress, and spoke excitedly with his back turned, fetching his tools from the horse's satchels.
"That makes perfect sense. I've been over that problem so many times and you solved it in less than a minute. I can't tell you how happy I am at the prospect of actually finishing this thing!"
Hammer and some large nails in hand (although some were large enough to be chisels) he turned again, smiling, eager to continue. "We can fasten the rope with this, and I think it's long enough to go all the way from the bottom and over." Not waiting for a response, taking it for granted that his friend, too, was eager to get started, Dawali moved over to one of the large trunks and started measuring the other coil of rope he'd brought. Yes, it was long enough to be fastened in the ground, then stretched to the top, tied around a spike there and handled on the other side! Suddenly halting, he squinted against the sun in the sky again, and considered the building site.
"Wait.. I suppose we have some holes to dig first..." And that wasn't really the fun part of this project, and his face did not even attempt to mask that disappointment.
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[html] Haha, I'm on to you, Marit!
Hemming was so pleased to put such an expression on his friend's face. As he continued to explain his plan, though Dawali seemed to understand his idea and it didn't seem all that necessary to continue, there was a smile creeping across his lips. He finished his statement and watched, his smile widening even further, as the red wolf started to pull out ropes. At last they had come to a satisfactory plan! With Dawali's next words, Hemming was almost as excited to complete the building as his Kalona was. He clutched the end of the rope and pulled it out a little to see how long it was, glad to see that it would be long enough to stretch across the tall logs with even a little extra slack. Eyeing the nails that the other was presenting to him now, he grinned widely and replied, "Great!" Even if Dawali had not known the exact method by which he would erect the pillars, he had come prepared.
The smoky wolf was just considering the mechanism by which they could most securely fasten the rope to the ground with the great spikes when Dawali recognized the bit of work that would postpone their fun. Slightly amused by how caught up they had become in the thrill of actually get the pillars up, Hemming rolled his eyes upward and sighed. Their brilliant plan, for the time being, was squashed by the necessary grunt work. It was not the most interesting part of the work they had to do, by far, but hopefully digging the holes would be easy work. If they did it quickly and efficiently they could be onto the fun stuff soon enough. "I guess so," he replied, "Do you have a shovel?" Such a thing would make the task go much more quickly.
Despite this little bit of tedium, Hemming's anticipation of the rest of the building process kept him stimulated and motivated, and the spirit of a smile stayed upon his face.
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Detective-Sace strikes again! And sorry for the wait :/
come dance with the west wind and touch on the mountain tops
The excitement in one was mirrored in the other, and as their magnificent plan unfolded itself in front of Dawali's eyes, he could feel a wave of relief wash over him. Finally, the building process was going somewhere, and their method would likely be successful. It was the perfect plan, and manageable with just the two of them, too, with some help from Belle the worker horse. Sincerely, Dawali felt a great amount of gratitude towards the male for having solved this problem for him. Chances were he'd never have thought of it on his own.
As the atmosphere of eagerness evaporated and both males were left staring at the site, disappointed and perhaps even a little reluctant to pick up their tools and begin the job that was necessary, Hemming's voice pointed out a flaw in their plan; they needed shovels. Dawali had none. His eyes stared at the site as he thought, before silently walking over to his collection of tools to look for a solution. He couldn't craft a shovel, and as far as he knew the tribe had none at all. His hands searched through satchels and the pile of various tools on the ground, but to no avail. Sighing audibly, he rose again and faced Hemming, shrugging with an apologetic mine.
"Honestly, I don't think we have any." His face was less than enthusiastic, until he remembered something which could prove useful. "Wait! But we have the pickaxes, they're at the stables! The ground here is hard so we'd probably need them anyways." This time he waited for a response before doing anything, in case the other had another idea that could solve the problem.
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[html] -tucks her magnifying glass away- And no worries! <3 Feel free to powerplay Hemming going along to the stables with Dawali, if that's what happens next ;3
Though Dawali might have taken a little longer to come to that idea or a similarly suitable one by himself, Hemming would not have had the confidence in it to actually complete the task without the Kalona's agreement that it might just work. The silvery male was smiling widely, an expression that would likely be the basis of all his emotions despite whatever challenges the two would face. He was always up for a puzzle, and finally spending some time with the leader he respected and admired as well as finally contributing to the tribe he now called his family made his happiness flow freely. Hemming was in no rush to help out and then get out, and would be quite content to spend his entire day, or perhaps more, exercising his rather feeble muscles and his slightly more robust brain. There was a very raw pleasure that one could draw out of building things out of simpler constituents, and fortunately for the scrawny wolf it didn't simply require brute strength.
He took a few steps towards the red wolf as he rummaged through possible shovel hiding places, his own golden eyes flicking between potential spots. No shovels, it seemed, but pickaxes sounded like a fine idea! His grin spreading ever wider, the wolf nodded enthusiastically and replied, "Perfect!" Once they had those the digging of holes would be short work, and the fun stuff would begin. Hemming was quite eager to set their plan, with its mastery of mechanical advantage and of course safety precautions, in motion. The very idea thrilled him, but the Gatlvska (finally, his efforts at maintaining that title seemed significant) forced himself to slow down. Holes first, ropes later.
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Okay! I just sped up that part because it's boring  Hope that seems fine
Word Count: 370
come dance with the west wind and touch on the mountain tops
Pickaxes could do the trick, and as Hemming agreed Dawali smiled again. Now, it had been his turn to offer the solution! Quickly striding over to Belle, he motioned with his hand very briefly that Hemming should wait a little, and he tied her rope well onto one of the logs there. He didn't want her to run off while they were away, and she was young still, it was one of those things she might just decide to do. Then, turning back to Hemming, he pointed in a southward direction and spoke as they began walking. "The stables aren't far away, maybe a ten minute walk or something."
His estimation proved to be a little off, but around a quarter of an hour later the two males were in the right place, and Dawali soon entered the appendix on the structure's side to fetch tools. While rummaging through a makeshift chest he'd made he spoke to Hemming, his voice muffled through the materials of the box. "Do you think we need some more of those spikes, too? Perhaps we'd better bring them along..." Various other sentences like it flew across his lips as he It was all just excited chatter for his own part, and he was more than thrilled to even begin digging now. Any job was more fun when you shared it with someone. As he pulled his upper body out of the chest, some rope, spikes and two pickaxes with him, he grinned and tossed some of the tools to Hemming. The pair then exited the structure, and soon enough they were back at their site. Belle stood where she had been when they left her.
Quickly dumping the extra tools in a random location on the ground, Dawali strode over to the structure and started to figure out where he wanted one of them to be. Finally, he concluded that they should make the walls first, and then see how many others they needed. His rust-colored arms swung his pickaxe and then left it standing in the ground at the spot he'd chosen. Standing up, he looked at Hemming, mostly just for a confirmation on his choice. "We should start with the outer walls, maybe?"
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[html] Certainly 
As Dawali secured the horse to one of the logs, Hemming grinned and turned his gaze across the beginnings of the town hall, and then in the direction of the stables. The wolf had been there before, but had approached it from the opposite direction. It was during his first few days in the tribe that he had stumbled upon the building and had watched with a tentative curiosity as the horses whinnied inside. That was when he had met Ember, too, and with a kindness and hospitality that were only two of the virtuous traits that defined her she had helped the newcomer to set up a den. To this day the silvery male called that place home, and it had become quite a cozy place to spend the night even if he didn't spend any daylight there.
The walk was pleasant, as it should be in such pleasant company, and though it took a little longer than Dawali had thought, Hemming didn't even notice. The wolf never had a good sense of time, anyway, and even if he had noticed the few extra minutes they would not have flustered him in the slightest.
He followed Dawali to the smaller part of the building, lingering in the doorway as his leader dug through a box of tools. Hemming felt a little sorry that Dawali was doing all this searching, but until the younger wolf knew where everything was there was little else he could do. "May as well, just in case," he replied and chuckled a little as Dawali continued to mutter excited nothings. Glad to make himself useful, Hemming slung some rope conveniently around his neck, held a pickaxe in one hand and clutched a few spikes to his chest. The walk back seemed a little longer, if only for the weight the two had gained.
Unceremoniously, Hemming dropped the things he had been carrying besides Dawali's pile, and turned in time to see the pickaxe rend the earth. Grinning at the Kalona's question and the obvious excitement in his face, Hemming replied, "Sounds good!" before picking up a pickaxe himself and striking the ground in a spot that was near enough to the other to be proper, but not so close that the two pickaxes being swung at once would be dangerous.
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Idiom question: In Norwegian there's an expression called "et steinkast unna" which translates to "a stone's throw away/clear of/apart", and means "not that far away". Is this a valid expression in English as well? Because my dictionary translated "steinkast" to "stone's throw" but the idiom might still not work. It made me curious!
Also, sorry for the crapness >>
Word Count: 334
come dance with the west wind and touch on the mountain tops
Working with the pickaxes proved efficient, and soon they had created a small hole in the ground, and it was growing. His arms told him he had not been good enough at maintaining their strength throughout the summer. There had been enough to do in the warmer months, that wasn't it. But the tasks had required much more of his legs and back than his arms in particular. Also, Dawali liked to practice his skill with the bow during his spare time, and he had found no time to do so lately. When the tribe had been hunting with their younger members he'd certainly noticed the difference. The bow had been not as used and his arms not as strong, but he had managed. Now they ached, but he granted them no attention; he had a task, and he was going to finish it. Stopping for a moment, he visually estimated the size of the hole before looking at the trunks lying not far away. It would need to deepen, probably. But the width was probably fine. Striding over, stick in hand, he intended to measure it more thoroughly. He didn't want to make mistakes. He marked the width of a trunk on the stick, and measured it against the width of the hole at their feet. "This width should do nicely, but perhaps it should be deeper, so we're certain it doesn't topple?" One thing was certain: he wasn't exactly going to dig all the holes first, and then fill in trunks in each of them, for that he was too impatient. No, he wanted to see their plan put into life, and to test if it would work. After all, digging all the holes first and putting the trunks in later, that would be a total waste of time if their technique didn't work, right? That was what he told himself, but he was certain it would work, and knew that he was impatient. It was like his birthday all over again.
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[html] Yes! People do say that in English, but it's not all that common in an everyday context (at least where I'm from). It's interesting that you have an equivalent idiom, though, I wonder how universal it is!
Also, that Dawali kiritar is totally awesome >D
Hemming's arms grew tired as they worked, but his excitement was enough to keep him from slowing down. The anticipation of putting their plan into action somehow masked the throbbing of his scrawny arms, which really hadn't been up to much lately, and the general upper body tiredness that he felt. If he was going to be doing this often he would have to find a way to maintain some strength, he thought, and as he swung at the earth rhythmically the wolf pondered the value of swimming. It was something he wasn't able to do, shamefully, but it would be exercise that he needed. The sea was a wonderful place, and to be able to go out just a little bit further would be a valuable skill.
As he entertained that thought he worked like a robot, continually swinging at the same pace and thinking little of what he did. His arms were allowed to feel the burn when he stopped their movement, leaning the pick axe against his leg and reaching his hands out forward to stretch them. Hemming's eyes followed Dawali as he measured the tree trunks and the width of their hole, and grinned when the widths were quite similar. Turning his smiling face to Dawali, he nodded and replied, "Yeah, just a little deeper."
The silvery wolf rubbed his hands together with glee before grabbing the end of the pickaxe's handle from where it was leaning on his leg. He continued to smile as he scraped the bottom of the hole, pulling up dirt with a fervour. Hemming wouldn't have been able to wait to dig all the holes, either, and though he would acknowledge his impatience he stressed it to himself that it was really his desire to ensure the plan would work that was preventing him from digging more holes first.
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That's so cool I love idioms. And thanks - I'm totally in love with it<3
And - sorry for the incredible wait :/
come dance with the west wind and touch on the mountain tops
Their pickaxes kept swinging through the air, and before long the hole had increased in depth - enough to try to put their plan into life. Stopping the work, Dawali let the tool drop to the ground and rubbed his hands together as he looked from the hole to the trunks. So, ropes time and everything! Smiling wordlessly at Hemming he made an expression that said enough, no words needed: 'Come on!'. He strode over to the trunks and found a spike and hammer, before considering the trunk. So, which end should the spike be fastened to? Both ends were cleanly cut (he'd prepared them months ago, but never done anything more about it) and thus fit a spike. One end was thicker than the other, and while the thick end down would give better stability, the thick end up would give more area of support for the roof. Confused already, he made sounds of confusion and looked at his friend. Again, the old man needed a kick in the bum. "Uhmm.. so, what'cha think? Thick end up or down?" They'd dug the hole for the thick end, but they were going to pack earth around it anyway so in that sense it didn't matter which end they decided on. Hammer in one hand and spike in the other, Dawali stood at a loss as he waited for Hemming's response. No doubt he'd have a good answer this time as well - Dawali might end up leaning on this guy for a lot of things. He was a good friend to have, and there was nothing the red wolf appreciated more than having a loyal friend amongst his tribe's members.
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[html] !
And sorry for the wait D:
He put his pickaxe down a few meters away from the hole hastily, excited to begin the real fun. There was an enthusiasm in Dawali that seemed to be mirrored in the gray wolf, and in a sense the energy of each canine fueled the other. The logs were nice and trim, which Hemming was rather pleased with. Dawali had already invested a lot of work into this structure, and the preparatory steps he had taken made the work they were to do today much quicker and more encouraging.
At first, Hemming would have assumed the answer to Dawali's question obvious, but as he took a moment to consider the other point of view the idea dawned on him. For a moment he simply thought, staring at the trunk and the spike in turn. After a lot of very excited and rushed thinking, he said, "I think the thick end should go down." There was a bit of inflection at the end of his sentence as he turned his gaze to the eyes of his friend. "While the thick end would support the roof well, I think it's best to have the heavier bit at the bottom, for stability. We can compensate for the lack of contact on the roof, if we need to... But if we do the joints right and well, I think it should be fine." He hesitated, not sure if his explanation was a good one or if his reasoning still made sense even to himself. Furrowing his brow, he stared at the log again, trying to imagine the construction of the Town Hall done using either orientation of the logs.
"Or perhaps," he started again, "We could alternate between having the thick end up and having it down. The best of both worlds." The gray wolf chuckled, throwing a smiling glance to his fellow worker.
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You r patient with me<3
come dance with the west wind and touch on the mountain tops
The speed at which Dawali's brain worked was overwhelmingly fast compared to how he failed to find a conclusion. He envisioned the process as his friend described it, the cons and pros. The red wolf male found himself nodding, his hand resting lightly on his chin. "Yeah you're totally right. Thick end down it is!" As soon as the words were out of him, his hands moved towards the smaller end of the trunk; ready to strike. He made a small notch in the middle of it first, to place it better. Hemming's sentence and following chuckle was mirrored in Dawali, and he found that his voice imitated the sounds from his friend. "Or maybe not - it sounds like a lot of work and I'm fundamentally lazy!" His hands proved him wrong as they worked furiously to force the great spike into the tree. It didn't really take long - the wood had not been cut too long ago, and it was still relatively soft. For wood, that is. Soon as the spike was in, Dawali went to the horse and picked up two coils of rope, throwing one of them to his friend. They would need four ends to make it perfectly safe, no?
Smiling, Dawali was silent now, his hands working quickly to make intricate knots in the middle of the rope. This was an art he excelled in. Trained by his mother, Dawali was more than skilled with weaving and knotting, and could make anything from fine fishing nets to baskets and blankets. Soon, he had joined the two ropes and fastened them securely to the protruding spike. There wasn't really much room for error with such a huge and heavy log - it could be really dangerous if one wasn't careful.
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[html] <3!
Kiri made Hemming beautiful, too!
It was an overwhelmingly pleasing feeling to know that he had helped solve a problem that Dawali was struggling with. The enjoyability of this entire event kept a smile on the Gatlvska's face the entire time, kept his heart beating with strength and happiness. This sort of camaraderie, two guys working on a challenging project, was something that Hemming had never experienced in his entire life. He enjoyed building things by himself, but this partnership gave so much more. The wolf would not be able to describe it, but he could feel its effects in the way that his tail wagged freely, the way the muscles in his face strained with the maintenance of his unerasable smile.
Hemming raised his eyebrows at his Kalona's next comment and he exclaimed, "I can hardly believe that!" With a grin, the wolf shook his head, catching a coil of rope as it was tossed toward him and slinging it over his shoulder for safe keeping. It was heavy and his bones were tired, but he could work all night on a fuel of happiness alone.
The movement of Dawali's hands on the rope intrigued Hemming, and he took a few steps closer to him as he watched intently. Now, the male had found diagrams of how to tie knots in a book he had found in a fishing village, and had even replicated a few of them clumsily, but the way Dawali tied the knots was an absolute art. The genial grin on the timber wolf's face turned into an open mouthed expression of awe, his golden eyes trying to follow the quick movements of the other's fingers. When the rope was secure on the spike, Hemming looked up to his friend's face. "Wow," he said, that smile crawling back, "That was remarkable!"
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Hemming was always a sexy biatch <3
Word Count: 344
come dance with the west wind and touch on the mountain tops
The ropes were as tightly fastened as if they were part of the spike, and one rope only. He took pride in doing his knots well, and he knew that the ones he had chosen was the safer kind: if they failed, other mechanisms within the knot would take over, and the lashing would still hold. He smiled as he got up and clapped his hands a little, as if to signalize that he was finished. A chuckle rose in his throat at Hemming's flabbergasted face. He had forgotten that most that did not come from AniWaya were not familiar with these tying techniques, and no wonder; they had been developed and tested through generations of tribesmembers. Most in AniWaya knew these knots to some extent, but Dawali had been fascinated as a young male, and collected them - from neighboring tribes also. In the past, they had been used for everything: making rope, clothes and even walls for huts - everything made from plants and fine animal hair. Now, they had sophisticated their ways of making these things, but the art refused to die as long as there were buildings to build. In lack of spikes, lashing could do the job just as well. "Thanks - my parents taught me, it's a traditional AniWayan art." He paused, glancing back at the knots before taking some steps towards the lower end of the log, and continuing. "Can teach you, if you want!"
Without words he grabbed the one end of the log, and lifted his face to look at his friend, as if to signalize that he should take the other end. They would have to place it by the hole before they began to lift it - the poor horse wouldn't be able to do it on its own. "It's too heavy to lift, I think, but we can just drag it along the ground, no?" He could always wash it and prepare the wood for the indoors later. This structure would be out in the open for a long time before the roof was over it, anyway.
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[html] But not this sexy. XD
Sped through the moving the log bit, lemme know if I should change anything!
Hemming did not think that the pack he had been born into was particularly interesting. It was one of the reasons he had become bored and, gradually, drifted into the wilderness. If they had traditions they did not perform them or even mention them. The sense of family within the group, unlike in AniWaya, was practically nonexistant. It was a starting place, but not somewhere to spend one's life. Sometimes, the male wondered what they were up to, and if they thought about him once in a while. It seemed unlikely that as they went about their everyday life they took a moment to think of their past. They had forgotten their European origins and traditions, and who was Hemming to think that he was more important than that? A wolf with wanderlust was probably not all too uncommon, either, and the pack had probably lost many drifters in its time.
AniWaya, by contrast, was swarming with traditions and culture. It offered a social kind of stimulation that Hemming had never had, a way to spend life that was exciting and meaningful. Though he was learning something about the tribe every day, and he did his best to immerse himself in it, the wolf felt as if he was standing in a tide pool while the ocean roared just a few meters away. He had a lot to learn, but he would enjoy the process and take his time. The nature of the tribe allowed itself to be revealed gradually, and without too much effort. Hemming was slipping into it without even knowing it.
The idea of Dawali sharing his knowledge was a positively thrilling prospect, and Hemming widened his eyes as if to emphasize his point, "I would love that!"
Moving to the end of the log, Hemming bent his knees to grip the end. He looked up as his friend spoke, nodded and replied, "K!" As the grey wolf bent his knees a little more to clutch the log more securely, he began to shuffle his end of the log towards the hole. Occasionally he would look up to Dawali to make sure everything was going smoothly on his end as well. The wolf was excited to get to the part of the construction they had needed to think about, and hoped dearly that the plan they had come up with would work. If not, they were clever wolves and they could come up with something else. Hemming was confident that it would work, however, and didn't entertain thoughts of failure.
Once the log was positioned correctly, Hemming stood up, looking from the hole to the wood. He put the coil of rope he had slung across his body beside the log, since it wasn't at risk of being tangled anymore. They would have to set the horse up, unless Dawali had done that while he was over there, Hemming assumed, and everything would have to be in the right place and well orchestrated. At last the wolves had reached the moment they had been waiting for!
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Yes he was, I say so! Sorry for the wait - been out of the country without internet, and then had massive concentration fail :/ This post is also sort of crap - manthing is playing halo 3 and the noise is disturbing me :/
Word Count: 377
come dance with the west wind and touch on the mountain tops
His face twisted into a smile as he spotted the enthusiasm on Hemming's face. It was a good thing, to know one's value. The red wolf considered knowledge very valuable, and thus the ability to teach was a powerful characterization. His father had been second-in-rank in his carpentry profession, and although Dawali had rarely paid attention to it, he knew that he had taught many a young soul the arts Hemming was teaching him now. Perhaps it was simple logic behind it, since this in many ways 'AniWayan outsider' could know the secrets of his father's profession. No, these were probably universal rules and knowledge. And Hemming was no outsider here, far from it. This was not the traditional AniWaya, this was the AniWaya they had created for themselves in this new place, and as long as Dawali was its Kalona they would stop differing between 'outsiders' and 'true AniWayans'.
The two of them slowly moved the log close enough to the hole to start working properly with it. Hemming stood up now, and Dawali did too, walking over to the young horse to get her ready. It wouldn't be hard: her equipment was the right kind for this. All he had to do was lead her over there and fasten the rope at her, then force her to move forward. She was a well-trained animal, and intelligent: she would know what he meant by his hand gestures and calls. Leading her over to stand by the hole, directly across from where the log lay, he grabbed the right one of the four ends and joined it with a loose piece of rope. Again with the knotting, and soon he had constructed a system of ropes that would pull equally from both sides of the horse when she moved forward. "Right, she's ready. All we have to do now is get the right end somewhat into the hole, let her do the heavy lifting. If we hold it steady with the ropes on the other side, all we have to do is ease it into place, right?" His smile was encouraging, and he slapped his hands together as if brushing away dust. There was no dust; all there was was the symbolic gesture of the working man.
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[html] Don't worry, I'm ridiculously slow anyway x___x Your post wasn't bad, either! A bit of vague powerplay, lemme know if I should change anything!
Hemming watched with interest as Dawali knotted all the ropes, trying to keep track of where all the different strands went but ultimately unable to. The gray wolf could envision these things in his mind but would have taken a very long time to actually get all the ropes and such set up, and the ease with which the feathered wolf managed to get the system together was impressive. The male had some practicing to do, and he looked forwards to learning from his Kalona even the basics of this knotwork. It was a remarkably useful skill, especially when it was necessary to hoist logs up and have them work in particular ways. With no knots the task would be extraordinarily difficult, and with bad, improvised knots it would be dangerous.
The male grinned at Dawali's next statement and nodded excitedly, chirping out, "This is thrilling!" Finally their method would be put to the test, and Hemming had high hopes for its efficacy. He stepped towards the hole and nudged the log a bit so it lined up a bit better before drawing back, clutching his piece of rope in his hands. As Dawali signalled to Belle and she started to move forward, doing her job with more skill and obedience than the male would have imagined possible, Hemming watched the log carefully. It seemed to be slipping into the hole just as he had hoped it would, and though it was not completely vertical yet everything seemed to be going smoothly. Holding his rope from a distance to help stabilize the log as it was being raised, Hemming cast an exuberant glance to his fellow worker.
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