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At last, Hemming was taking a trip to Halifax to raid its many curiosities. Ember, having spotted the male with his knitting, had stated that she knew of a yarn store in the city. The silver male jumped at the idea, of course (knitting with one's own fur seemed a little odd) and off they went. It was a fair walk, but excitement made it faster, and soon enough the two were wandering down the streets of the city. Hemming admired the strange fronts of the buildings, all running together and quite elegant with their square faces. Even more interesting than the maritime architecture was the things that these buildings showed off; in their great glass showrooms they held funny human-shaped plastic things with clothes on them. Most of the clothing they had passed by contained clothes that Hemming wouldn't wear, or even fit into, but there had been a couple curious items. Nothing worth taking home yet, though, and the wolf was saving himself for the yarn store. Dagrun, from her perch on the top of his head, had uttered little discouraging hums each time he had paused to look at something for too long.
Finally he would not only have some different types of yarn to use, he would be able to have a lot of it. Previously, when he was desperate for some more yarn to knit with he had attacked his own fur with a fury, pulling out the tufts that would come with even a little resistance. Also, he hoped that there would be some good books to learn from, because, though it was quite thorough, the book he had was for someone with quite a bit more experience. The wolf had the stitches down, thanks to that book, but the instructions introduced too much individual consideration for him to handle successfully. For now, he needed to be a knitting zombie, faithfully reproducing the exact stitches that he was told to. Once he started to develop a sense for such a thing he could go on to design his own socks and hats (which he would certainly have to do, because wolves had such pesky ears).
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It was a nice enough day for travelling to the city, and Hemming was a good partner to walk with. He was a very friendly wolf, and she had seen the things that he and Dawali had been building in the city. It was a very good thing for her to see, his involvement--it showed how devoted he was to his pack. Building things that wolves would use for generations to come. Ember would move closer to the little town in the middle of Aniwaya once things were more finished; the buildings looked so interesting. Right now they were unfinished, though, and wouldn't be comfortable for living in.
When she had spotted Hemming knitting she'd become very excited--she had dabbled in knitting herself, and had found a yarn shop in the city. The only material that he'd had was his own fur, though, something that she found a little odd. He hadn't gone to the city to look for a shop with yarn in it...so he'd used the one thing that he'd had availiable to himself. Eventually he would run out of fur, though, right? That was what had made her think of going to the city for some yarn.
Darkly colored wolf walked beside her lighter friend, examining the shop fronts as they passed them. The sun was high overhead, showing the time to be around early afternoon. They still had a lot of time to look. She was trying to remember the street name...it was some old human's name, an important person to them. She looked up at the next street sign, squinting. Aha! There it was! "Aha! Found the right street---Washington street. It's down this way, definitely." She grinned, encouraged.
Just as she was turning to go down Washington, though, she stopped. There was something interesting to her left, a word she had heard about but had never seen for herself. "Look, Hemming--what's this say....it's a candy shop! Human children LOVED these places!" She pulled on the door and found it unlocked. "You want to go in?"
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The wolf didn't cling to the side of his friend, but was conscientious enough to avoid getting too far away from her. There wasn't really that much opportunity to get lost out here, but it was still a possibility. Hemming might be able to find his way home, after a fair amount of wandering, but he probably wouldn't be able to find the yarn store by himself, and that was something he did not want to miss. He grinned when she exclaimed that she had found the right street, and filed its name away in his memory. The wolf might have to get back there by himself some day, after all, and with his poor sense of direction the street names just might be very helpful.
Something caught the girl's attention before they made it on to Washington street, and Hemming, just stepping off the curb, swivelled his body to look at it. He read the colorful sign quickly, just as Ember was explaining that human kids had a particular fondness for the place, and was quite pleased when the door seemed to open without a problem. With a smile from ear to ear, Hemming exclaimed, "Yes!" He took the outside of the door with a hand and pulled it a little wider as he followed the green eyed girl into the shop. Immediately, the air seemed heavy, as if it was saturated with sugar. The gray wolf's first couple of breaths made him feel almost as if he was drowning.
Beside the state of the air, the first thing that the wolf noticed was the absolutely remarkable range of colors that seemed to burst forth from sticks and flattened circles of candy. He stood still in the doorway and stared, feeling as if sugar was starting to condense on his fur. He had absolutely no clue where to start. With a small airy chuckle, he muttered, "My god," and stepped into one isle, running his fingers along clear packets of absurdly colored food (if it could be called that). Reaching many stacks of little metal tins, wrapped around the middle by strips of fluorescent paper, he picked one up and shook it to his ear. Dagrun seemed rather alarmed by the sudden noise, but Hemming was pleased and kept the little tin in his hand as he continued to move down the isle. If only he had a good way to carry all the lovely things he wanted to take home!
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She had never seen a place like this in all her life, she was sure. Ember didn't know what was inside all of the foil and plastic that sat on shelves before her eyes but she certainly wanted to know. The colors were very attractive, enough to make her want to get one of each one...just to set up somewhere and look at. It had said in the book that this candy stuff was edible! But she had also read that chocolate was bad for dogs. And wolves were like dogs...so it probably wasn't good for them either. What stuff in here was chocolate though?!
"I want some of this! I wonder if they have any bags in here to carry it with, though. It'll be kinda heavy...if we get as much as I wanna get" She grabbed a few of the packages, trying to read them. "Gum. Oohhhh...this is stuff you chew on! for hours!"
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Hemming picked up a chocolate bar, which was wrapped in paper of pleasing lavender color with a rather cute comic cow on the front. He chuckled a little and flipped the bar over to look at the other side. That was just when Ember spoke, and he lifted his head up to face her. A bag would be a good idea, and he nodded in agreement. Surely they would have something like that, and as the gray wolf looked around he spotted a stack of wire baskets. He laughed out loud at the girl's statement, her eagerness to collect lots of this stuff, and passed her a basket. Before popping the chocolate bar into the basket that he had grabbed for himself, he sniffed the edges. It smelled quite wonderful! Surely, with all this other candy around, it wouldn't hurt to try just a little of it right now. Pulling an edge of the wrapping upwards to open it and then pushing the chocolate bar out, he put his nose to it and inhaled deeply.
"Mmm," he hummed afterward, "Smell this." Grinning, the wolf extended his arm to wave the chocolate close to Ember's face. The gum thing sounded interesting, and he would certainly have to pick some of that up, but for now this chocolate was way too enticing.
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She looked at a few different kinds. There were bins in one corner that were filled with candy, but it seemed that this candy hadn't been kept as well as the rest of it--it was unwrapped and it seemed that the elements had taken a toll on it...this stuff was all melted together into one big blob of sugar, mold growing on some areas, along the bottom side of the barrel. It seemed that it had once been filled with sugar covered candy. Ember closed the lid, sneezing. "Don't open any of these!" She called.
She made her way down the aisles, trying to read some more of the packages as Hemming looked for bags. How was it that no one had found this place yet? It looked undisturbed, no windows broken or anything. And no one had tried raiding it, either, despite the door being unlocked. Peculiar. She took a basket and put some gum into it, then headed for the aisle that had some sorts that neither of them had seen before. M&M? What did that mean? She looked up when Hemming spoke again, waving the chocolate toward her. Whoah! It smelled delicious! She shook her head, though. "That smells great! What kind is it?" She asked, tilting her head to try and read the wrapper.
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He peered through a shelf to get a peek at what she was talking about, seeing the rather disgusting form that the ancient candy had taken. Widening his eyes a little he nodded at her warning. Why had she opened those, anyway? The were completely surrounded by clear plastic, so it was possible to see what was in there... But the male had to sympathize, because curiosity more often than not got the best of him, too. He had learned from Ember's little mishap, and so he wouldn't be doing it himself. She had, in a way, protected him from further embarrassment, granted that he didn't give that a try as well.
When she asked what it was, he flipped the bar so that the front face of the wrapper was towards her. With a grin, he replied, "It just says 'Chocolate'. But there's a cute cow, see?" The smell was making him a little giddy, and he giggled a little at their situation. They were in a little room that seemed as if it might all melt in just a second, and the two wolves would be caught up in a vortex of colorful sugar. At least it would be a happy death!
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She had never seen anything like this place before, none of this candy stuff. She hadn't known that the fuzzy looking stuff in the containers had been bad until she'd smelled it. Now that she was farther away from the container the bad rotten smell seemed to have gone away. She eyed something hanging in clear packages nearby, rock-candy that looked to her like real minerals on a stick. But it was edible, right? She grabbed a few of those, putting them into her basket. Better yet...Ember took the whole container. "We should get as much as we can, don't you think?" Maybe they could pick out what they wanted, go and get the knitting supplies (maybe there would be bigger bags in that store!!) and then come back to pick it up on their way out of the city. If there were bigger bags, then they could get EVEN MORE.
A smile graced the dark woman's face until she heard the word. The word she had been thinking about as she looked through the candies. "Chocolate?! Chocolate is bad for you! It's like poison to us. I read something about it in a pet magazine--it can kill dogs, I think! And we're just like dogs. Put it back, put it back!" She tried to grab the chocolate from him, trying to get it away from him before he could take a bite. She didn't want him to get sick or hurt!
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It seemed like a good idea to get a lot of the candy. It wasn't like Hemming to take a large amount of something, especially something that was for eating, but the girl's excitation and the air sugar concentration seemed to have an effect on him. He watched her grab some rock candy, which really did look like crystals, and had the sudden urge to eat it. They shone with such wonderful colors! As the black wolf shovelled it all into her basket, Hemming really did hope that she would be sharing it later. "Yeah!" he replied to her statement, nodding.
When Ember exclaimed that he shouldn't eat it and started grabbing for it he pulled it close to his chest. He figured that she was trying to eat it, and he scrunched up his eyebrows and said in a faux stern tone, "You know, if you wanted some you could've just asked. There's plenty more of these over there." Allowing one hand to unshield his own chocolate bar, he pointed. "And like dogs? I'm ashamed. We have hands." At this point he was no longer able to keep up the facade and a grin pulled up one side of his mouth. A little laugh escaped him. Of course they were like dogs! But it seemed like an uptight thing to say.
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"I'm not kidding, Hemming! Don't eat it!" She made wild grabs for the chocolate, trying to get it out of his hand. Damn, he was fast! He would have made a good warrior, had he chosen to go down that path, with that swiftness. "Dogs come from the same ancestors as us...and chocolate can poison them. Don't you think that means it can poison us?"
She stood back for a minute, throwing her hands into the air. "Fine, eat it. But don't complain to me if you end up dead tomorrow. I'm gonna leave my bag in here and go over to the other shop...have fun eating your poison!" She left her bag there, heading out the door and down the street.
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Perhaps he would have been a good warrior, if they were defending a castle of chocolate. It smelled quite amazing, and something about the air in the little store made him swift in a rather twitchy way. True, he was usually a rather fast creature, but the chocolate seemed to make him more defensive and thus more likely to actually expend energy to protect it. Usually, he would've tossed it over to the girl, surrendering it to her rather frantic grabbing. The expedition and the sugar made him strangely excited. As for everyday life, without the influence of sugar seemingly diffusing into his veins, he was quick but his clumsiness more often than not got the best of him. That had been displayed in his play sword fight with Asha, when after a few good strikes he had been rather unable to make any successful strokes and was struggling to keep himself steady on his feet. He lacked endurance as well, though perhaps all of those things could be improved with some intensive training. He was quite happy building things, anyway, and likely too passive to actually enforce any kind of punishment or even do battle at all. He would feel guilty for everything.
At her next few statements, he raised an eyebrow and looked at her thoughtfully. Her argument did seem rather intelligent and it sounded like she knew what she was talking about. Okay, he would surrender. Ember's indifference as to whether he died or not would have been hurtful if he didn't think it was a joke, but because he was in such a silly mood he decided to pursue it. Placing the opened chocolate on a shelf regretfully, he put his basket down beside Ember's and chased her out the door and the few steps down the street that she had taken. The air outside seemed rather light and, actually, it was extremely refreshing.
As he caught up to her, he said, incredulous and huffing, "So you're saying," he kicked a pebble on the street, "you wouldn't care if I died?" Trying his best not to let the grin he was feeling shine through, he looked up at the girl with wide eyes, his ears back in fake sadness. "And," he added after he had taken a few steps, interrupting his sad puppy routine, "I think I'd have trouble complaining if I was dead, anyway, so I don't think you have to worry about that." At this statement he was unable to contain the grin, and so he let it shine as he reached the pebble and kicked it again.
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He caught up with her and questioned her, and she almost laughed before putting a rather serious face back on. "No. Not if you don't give me the candy." Haha! Of course she was kidding. She had tried to get it away from him so that he wouldn't get sick or die! What a silly thing for him to say. "Why do you think I tried to get it away from you in the first place, dunce?"
They walked along toward the shop and he spoke again. She responded with a laugh this time, nodding her head in agreement. "Now that's true! But who else would I have to hang out with? I guess I better keep you around and keep you from eating that chocolate." She said. She added a little skip to her step, excited. They were off an a knitting-and-candy adventure! Who knew what they would find in the next shop. Probably yarn...but still! The mystery!! The door to the shop was broken, like she remembered, and she kicked it a few times before pulling on it. Nope. "Can you help me pull this door? I think it'll take both of our weight."
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Hemming couldn't think of a witty retort to the female's question, so instead he looked down bashfully, a smile on his face, and kicked the pebble again. He had made his point about the whole being dead thing, and was glad she had understood because it was a fairly obvious statement. If she didn't agree and see the clear nonsense of her previous phrase, Hemming would have been discouraged. He would have faked it, at least, given a groan and turned around to take just a few steps towards home. None of that foolery was necessary though, and, just a little, he was sad for the lost opportunity. He'd take advantage of her words in another way, though, and raising an eyebrow he looked at her coyly. "Oh? I'm sure there are plenty other wolves around that would provide such compelling company. Wolves just as handsome and perhaps even as charming as me." He maintained the smirk for just a moment before breaking into another brief fit of chuckles. That sweet air, though he had left it far behind in that candy shop, seemed to be with him still. The wolf was acting so silly.
When they reached the yarn store, Hemming grinned in awe, staring at all the lovely colors that were visible through the storefront. He let Ember kick and pull on the door, his attention moving back to her only when she asked for assistance. "Yes!" he said as he hopped towards her, clutching the broad handle as she did. "Count of three?" he asked, before saying, "One, two, three!" As they pulled in unison the door popped open, and after a little stagger backwards Hemming regained his footing. Smiling and staring into the room, where rows of shelfs filled with wool spread out before him, he gestured with his hand and urged, "After you!"
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There were so many different kinds of yarn that her bantering with Hemming ceased as she took them all in. Wow! The warrior went from shelf to shelf. Why hadn't they brought a bigger bag?! Or some kind of a wagon?! She frowned at the thought. Maybe they would have some kind of a canvas or something here that they could put stuff on and drag it back. Or a bookbag or something. It was a craft's store...maybe they would have something like that here.
Just as she was thinking that she spotted something, a big hiking backpack sitting beside a big box of glue-on gems. Ooooohhh, shiny! She went for the bag of gems, looking at them and holding the bag up to the backpack. They would look really good glued onto there! She reached to put the gems inside the bookbag, but found that there was already something inside. She pulled it out, looking at it. A first-aid kit? Hmm. She opened up this kit, looking at it. Medical stuff! That would definitely come in handy.
She looked from the kit to all the different kinds of yarn, biting her lip. Ember wanted the supplies...but she also wanted yarn. Damnit. No, she needed the kit. She shoved it back into the backpack. She would put yarn in around it....but that would mean that she couldn't get very much yarn. She'd have to be picky."What kinds are you gonna get? I like the fluffier stuff." She said, finally glancing up from her newfound treasures.
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His mouth was agape as he stepped into the store, the wolf feeling immediately that he was surrounded by something very, very wonderful. Face breaking into a grin, he cast a brief glance to Ember and replied, "Um, um, um, I don't know!" As Ember wandered off, he skipped down a row, his hands moving out to his sides to occasionally squeeze a particularly lovely ball of wool. He almost felt like giving a little squeal! The wolf held it in, though, knowing that he was a full grown male and trying desperately to somehow suggest that. He stopped suddenly as he passed a wall full of nice thick wool that looked very soft, and upon fondling it he found that it was remarkably pleasant to feel. Grinning, he shuffled through the colors to find some he liked. Upon not being able to decide, he tried to hold many balls of each color in his arms - a subdued, rustic orange, a nice gray-blue, and a teal color - and failed, utterly. Shoving them back into the shelf, he turned and walked quickly back to the front. There was a nice collection of knitting bags, as they were labelled, and he selected one that was shades of blue and green before heading quickly back to the wool he had found. Putting the balls he had previously tried to carry into the bag, he grinned and continued to walk on. They would make such nice hats, or mittens, or anything, really!
Hemming didn't really know how to make anything, as the book he had picked up from which he learned how to knit had seemed to be for more advanced knitters, demonstrating techniques rather than dictating exactly what he should do to make something. Perhaps there were patterns here he could use, and once again he sauntered up to the front of the little shop, where there was a bookshelf filled with books and magazines. Browsing through them, he chose a book of mittens, a book that had various things including hats and scarfs, and a nice big one that had many sweaters. One day he would be good enough to do those, perhaps! They looked like a lot of work.
He slipped those books into his bag and began to wander again, stopping at a stand of knitting needles. These were much nicer than the ones he had made out of twigs.
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She walked up beside him next to the stand, looking at the needles as well. What were the different sizes for? Knitting different things? She examined them closely, trying to figure this mystery out. Ember had only knitting with really small needles before...but there were some awfully big pairs here. Which ones should she grab? Maybe a set in each size? She wondered what Hemming was going to get, or if he had laid some sort of a claim on these needles himself. Ember glanced at him sideways, clearing her throat. "I want some of these. Take what you want first, and then I'll pick some"
She had the backpack over one shoulder. "There are a bunch of little pockets in this thing...it'll be good for carrying candy back. What do you want to do when we get back home? Want to hang out?" She asked, putting the bag on the ground. She reached behind herself for some yarn, putting it into the bag.
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Hemming propped his chin on his finger and thumb, evaluating the needles hanging before him. They had been hanging there for years, and surely they were getting lonely. Since no one else had wanted these, or at least had not found them, there was surely no harm in taking a lot of the needles. There were multiples all of all them, too, so his gluttony would not affect Ember's ability to find what she wanted. The wooden needles were nicer, he thought, and seemed much more suitable for tribe life. On a purely aesthetic basis they were the clear winners. There were even more choices than just wooden or metal, though, as there were other needles that were pointy on both ends, and needles that had a cord between them, and needles that were just sticks. Why would he buy ones that were just sticks if he could get ones where they were attached and use them for the same purpose? They wouldn't get lost that way. So, by-passing the straight ones with knobs on the end, he picked out one of every whole number size of the circular needles, and every half number of the double pointy needles. His bag was pretty full, and he reminded himself that he could always come back if he needed to. Once he got a chance to look through the books he had picked out he would know what kind of wool to get. Grinning at the realization that this was a relatively short walk away, he smiled at Ember. "We can always share, too. I have a lot." He opened the bag and peered in, the way one might peer at one's baby. How lovely.
It was good that Ember had room for candy, because Hemming certainly didn't have a whole lot. With a little giggle, he suggested, "We could have a knitting party."
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The dark female took a look at them once more before grabbing a few more, shoving them into her bag. She had a sufficient amount now...but knitting by herself would be really boring. The idea suggested by Hemming made a wide grin crack on her face and she nodded emphatically. "Definitely! Who else would do something like that other than me and you? I'm not really good at knitting, though...I bet you could show me a few things"
She volunteered the male for lessons, still grinning. "I think we should go back to Aniwaya now, after grabbing our candy. Ooh! There's another bookbag up there by the front. We should shove as much candy as we can in there and then head back" Ember picked up her own bag, slinging it over her shoulder. She went to the front to grab the other bag so they wouldn't forget it, too, then looked to Hemming.
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