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Here is the reference for the cross-bow she finds. This is just about several feet away from the actual borders the Inferni has made in The Dampwoods. 
The Ayastigi had traveled farther than she imagined she would on this day, much farther. As if her wanderlust from her journey outside AniWaya and the regions in general was not enough for her to be satisfied with, the Amara had taken off yet again on this cloudy day to terrain settled in the north. Flurries from the skies on this day feel heavenly, silent, steady. The snow at her feet and at her equine's hooves were still deep and sinking, but the two had pressed forth regardless. Up ahead in the skies, her Spirit Guide had soared in front of her, dodging certain flurries as if turning it into a game to see which ones Jaya could swoop out of the way from. Although there hadn't been a particular destination her heart and mind were set upon, she did know by brief word of mouth that in the north there was a storm of war brewing. A warrior in training herself, she decided to attempt to take a closer look at what was going on. Dawali would probably not approve of this; hell, he would probably be most disappointed at Asha for putting herself at the crosshairs of such a war, but she was no overall fool. She knew what she was doing, and knew of methods to remained concealed in the shadows.
The forest held many strong soldiers of tall pines, nearly all of them blanketed in white from the snowfall, robbing them of their overall emerald hue. The hooves of her steed were quite silent here, due to the fact that the grounds were a mixture of pine needles and snow. The music of a stream tickled and delighted her ears, as she gave a gentle tap of Aidan upon the neck, the equine directed them to the closest stream. Once finding stable grounds and hopping off Aidan's back, it was noted that most of the stream's outlying areas were somewhat frozen in ice. There was still running water nonetheless, and kneeling down to quench her thirst, the water was frigid and ice cold running down her throat, almost too cold to gulp in one. Licking her maw and wiping stray water away, the Ayastigi lifted her head to survey the area. She was in the northernmost patch of the woods, nearly right on the line of the borders of the Coyote Clan. The borders of Inferni had to have been only been several more feet away to where The Dampwoods were considered Inferni territory, but Asha was no fool to the warning of the borders. Her keen sense of smell, like any other canine, could smell the pungent waft of markings that signified there was an establishment close by.
Taking a short break from their travels (for herself, Aidan, and Jaya did indeed travel far in a single day), Asha had surveyed the area. Her bow and arrows were strapped tightly to her back, as they were essential tools for her survival and her hunger throughout the journey. Along the way there had been several pieces of scrap metal and debris found, all of which were strange contraptions and gizmos that amazed and intrigued her. Apparently there had even been more of the such in this area, covered with snow or moss, but there was a peculiar contraption that happened to stick out from the wedge of a tree base, and half covered in snow.
Walking over to it, she wiped off the contraption of its snow and dirt, and raised it from its previous permanent resting place. It was not big, but it was slightly heavy. Raising it to the skies, Asha had to turn it around a couple times before she "knew" of the right way to hold it. One of the "wheels" at the top of it was missing from the bottom, and the strings were broken and frayed, among how the contraption was also dirtied and soiled. It was pretty adequate for its size, and Asha surveyed it more a little closely, running her fingers over the worn surface, and trying to figure out exactly what it had been before it had been left for ruin out here. Very interesting. The body had looked almost like her longbow in a sense, with its curvature and design. Was this... was this something like a bow?
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ooc- uh slap me if I'm wrong but I'm sure that's a compound bow, not a crossbow XD My little 12 year old neighbor has one that looks pretty much like that with fancy ironsights. 
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With the winter months in full swing, Cassius had actually begun to like his little "fresh air" trips outside the house. The snow was a big enjoyment to him, he loved playing with it. He liked to pick it up and throw it at trees or other coyotes (while hiding behind rocks of course), and making snow forts and all the thing the little children do. he never had this much fun back home, unless they played in the swamps in the summer, hosting large games of tag and manhunt. But what escaped his mind was that he was a child back then. He was two years older physically, and not a day older mentally. He never grew up in his own mind. He still acted like a one year old. of course no one said anything of this, so Cassius never minded it.
Another adventure out in the winter was planned for today on Cass' calendar. He knew he had to get back to work on the traps for the war, but he liked breaks every once in a while. Leaving the house's walls, he went out into the forest behind the mansion, picking up and throwing chunks of snow along the way. Strolling through the woods, he got so far until he stopped in front of some sticks. It took him a while to notice the wolf skulls stuck atop them. He jumped back, not expecting something that brutal of Inferni. He knew these guys were bonkers, but he had no clue they were this homicidal. He knew though, considering the coyotes' reputation for hating wolves, that this should have been expected anyway.
Not crossing the borders of the mounted skulls, he walked alongside the Inferni borders, skipping rocks and throwing snowballs again. However, again he noticed something. It was a horse, a brown one not to flashy, standing out in the middle of nowhere. Taking a closer look, he noticed a hawk, and... a wolf! The wolf didn't seem to try to walk nearby, and must know of the borders. Smart, he thought, as he traveled further along the borders to get a better look.
He squinted to see the wolf better, but it wasn't much. All he could tell was the colors and the fact that it was holding something. Holding what was the question. Against better judgment, the hybrid decided to yell out to the wolf, since he had no intention of crossing the borders. "'Ey! You right there! What d'ya got over there?"
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You're probably more right than I am. I usually can't distinguish all the fancy names from one another like my boyfriend can, haha.
So this contraption in all of its ruin, it must have held some sort of miraculous purpose to it. The Ayastigi was pretty certain it was something used once in warfare. The structure of it simply screamed like it was designed after a typical longbow, as the body of the apparatus held such curvature that was notable to be witnessed upon a longbow or any sort of bow for that matter. She just couldn't figure out what the wheel like gadget at the top was supposed to signify or do for that matter. Even in its ruin and its stain of dirt and erosion, it still looked like an attractive, impressive thing to wield. Flipping it around and inspecting it even more, Asha decided to hold it in the manner of a longbow, somewhat. One amber eye closed, focusing one eye upon a distant tree as if she was focusing upon shooting something from a distance. Giving something of a little snort, there was a small, peculiar smile to pass over her muzzle as she inspected the thing even more.
It wasn't until a shrill and loud voice had broken through the tranquility of The Dampwoods and of her concentration, as instantly her russet hued ears perked up and her amber eyes now focused upon the distance beyond the point to where she was originally focusing on shooting in the first place. Squinting her vision a little more to see the outline of a figure, there was another individual situated far, far away. Asha couldn't really depict his details well, but his pelt seemed to hold four different shades of auburn, and upon his forehead what seemed to be like some goggles of some sort. The individual had asked her what she had been holding, and looking to the contraption in her grasp once, she then responded to him in an even level shout right back. "I don't know! I'm thinking it's some sort of high tech weapon, or something!" After that, the Ayastigi simply gave a shrug to her shoulders to further warrant that she didn't know what it was.
Seeing that the individual had remained in place instead of wandering closer, Asha wondered if he had been standing on official pack territory. She wouldn't be surprised by such a thing, and furthermore, didn't want to chance herself waltzing into a territory without permission. However, seeing as how shouting and yelling as a form of communication wasn't about to work with the Amara well, she then decided to approach a little closer. Mindful of the true borders, she stopped at a comfortable distance from him, at least now to where their voices wouldn't be yelling at one another, and yet she would still be on the other side of the Inferni border. "It's missing a couple of things or two, surely. I think it might be something like my bow upon my back." She gestured to the bow and arrow set that was strapped against her back. At the same time, she also held out the contraption a little more to the male, so he could inspect. Now that she was closer, his features were more distinguishable, and noted that he had very violet eyes.
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ooc- I keep everyone waiting too much D:
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When he shouted at the wolf, the other responded with a feminine voice, revealing that the wolf was female. It made no difference to Cassius, while the female held up a peculiar looking device. The hybrid was instantly interested, and he cocked his head to the side. The contraption looked familiar. His mind was thrown aside for a quick second as he chuckled at the wolf's response. Nothing seemed high tech to him and he casually responded, "Lemme take a quick gander at that 'high tech device' ya got right there." he reached out to the object she held out to him.
"Oh yeah," he muttered, tossing the broken bow in his hands and observing it. It looked extremely familiar, although he didn't see something exactly the same. "I reckon we've gots a compound bow 'er somethin' right here. I ain't seen one o' these in person a'fore, but I seen one in a book an' stuff." the female briefly mentioned a few missing parts, but Cassius had a remedy for that. He pointed over to where she was previously. "Go'ver there an' lookit wherevers ya found this thing'r. I'm sure them missin' parts are 'round there somewheres."
He studied the contraption further, muttering to himself exactly what parts were missing. He looked at the female, showing her exactly what to look for. "You see, the cam's missin' right here," he noted pointing to the space where it looked like a wheel would be missing, "It looks like a misshapen wheel, and the obvious, the string's been torn 'part, but I'm sure you could find some extras somewheres. If anythin' this here's an easy fix," Cass concluded, smiling to the female.
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Nonsense, it wasn't a wait at all.
From the get-go, the violet eyed male's instant attraction was focused upon the now hunk of metal garbage she held in her grasp. It could have very well been just another pile of scrap metal to some, but apparently to Asha (and also of this fellow), there seemed to be an evident value within it. Instantly he had commanded that he have a look see at the contraption, and without making another word, she willingly handed it over to him. Seeing as how he observed and inspected it throughly, it appeared as if the male had been familiar with something of the sort before. Very fortunate luck to have ran into him at the right moment, huh? Or actually, him notice her with the compound bow. Her russet ears twitched at the words that fumbled from his muzzle as he inspected the apparatus, and her ears had especially pricked forward when he mentioned the compound bow part. "So it is a compound bow that you speak of." Asha trailed off, her amber eyes widened a little more as she observed the bow with much more profound interest than before, now that she knew what it was. He had not seen one in live person before, but surely recognized it from somewhere.
The male had then directed that the missing parts might have been in the area to which she originally found the contraption. Tossing her glance over her shoulder, she eyed the spot in which she had dug up the thing in the first place. He then began to explain which parts could be missing and possibly be found in the area, in which for a moment she studied the wheel specifically, before nodding her muzzle and head fervently. "A wheel, you say? Alright, I'll see what I can find." She said, before carrying off back to the spot in which she found it originally. It took some digging through the snow, removing some piles of dirt, and sniffing around before there was something buried even farther down. It took some digging and effort to unearth it, but once she did, it was quite a dirty and eroded round like piece of a tool. She held it up, and waved it in his direction. "Hey! I think I might have found it?!" She shouted, as she hurried back to the male. She found it rather peculiar that he didn't cross over his territory boundary, but didn't decide to question it at the moment. Trying to dust most of the wheel off, it looked chipped in some areas. "I... think this is it? It looks like some pieces broke off, though. Can it be mended?" She held the dirty, spare wheel up to him to see if he could do anything about it.
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As the wolf went back over to her previous spot on the other side of the borders, Cassius studied the bow more closely. It was quite old, chipped in most places and rotted of age. The string was no worry, but any snapped or shattered pieces might prove more of a challenge for the mechanic. He picked at some dirt and mud in one of the many cracks in the main body of the contraption. It was fascinating to him, for sure, but it wasn't extraordinary. He'd seen even more complex objects, much like engines whether of a car or boat. He took a boat up here albeit a very slow one, hence the amount of time it took for him to travel the whole way. He got it to work by himself, using his tools and some mechanic's books. It seemed like a feat to almost everyone, but to him it was a like a simple task like walking.
When the female came back with a wheel-like object, he knew she had found the right piece. However, it was broken and chipped like the bow itself. He cleared his throat to speak. "Well, although it is broken, he started, picking up the part from the female's hand, juggling it in his own, "It can be fixed. It's nothin' a little glue can't fix up." He dug into his right flannel pocket, taking out a small vial with capped nozzle. On the faded label it read: "SOOPER-GLU", with intentionally misspelled words. Cassius had found the vial (along with a box full of others) in an empty store in New Orleans with a broken sign that read "Hm Dpot" above the transparent door (the name unknown to him was "plexiglas door"), which were shattered most likely due to other scavengers.
Cassius proceeded to pop the top off the vial and carefully squeeze out a semi-opaque liquid onto the gear, spreading it over the areas where the pieces fit. He then pressed the pieces together with a strong force, scarping the leftover glue from the sides. He looked at the wolf, with the gear still in hand. "I -uh- I'm gonna need to keep it like this fer a few minutes. D'you mind if we go back to the mansion? It's not far, and I can clean this here bow up while this dries," he said politely, pointing in the direction of the D'Neville Mansion. "You won't get in any troubles if yer w'me." He closed the glue clumsily, with his one free hand, and placed it neatly back in the pocket. "Yer horse an' birdie can come too. We got stables fer the horse an' stuff so they'll be safe." He turned away, but quickly turned back to the wolf. "M'name's Cassius, by the way. Or Cass fer short," he added with a chuckle.
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The Ayastigi simply let him do his observation and work. She was filled with excitement and prospect that such a compound bow could and would be useful to her down the road, especially since it seemed so high tech, despite how broken and dirty it really was. It wasn't a problem, for if the Inferni male could fix it up, she could certainly clean it up the best that she could. Listening as he stated the obvious, he then proceeded to pull out a vial in which he said that glue could be a solution in order to fix the contraption. Glue had been something she had not heard of before, and was especially fascinated by the way it looked like a clear, whitish almost liquid. Something a lot like syrup or maple sap? "Is glue something like thick sap from the trees, or something? I've never seen or heard of this glue before." She commented, noting that it had quite a funny name to it as well.
Watching as he applied the glue to the appropriate places, the male then spoke of heading back to the mansion that wasn't far from where they were at. Glancing around for just a moment, Asha then shrugged her shoulders to herself, as if to say, oh, why the hell not!. She was apprehensive at first to cross over the borders, but since he said that they were surely okay in each other's company, it eased her nervousness. There was little news of wartime she had only heard snippets of, and of course the Kalona's daughter of AniWaya didn't want to get herself in trouble with another pack for a foolish mistake, so as long as things would be okay, she would love to follow him back to the mansion. Even though she would be the type to get into trouble anyways, wartime was a serious, serious matter. Stating that there was also room for her equine and her Spirit Guide, there was a broad smile to pass over her muzzle. "Excellent! Thank you for all of this! If it was just me out here still, I probably would have ended up leaving it behind as scrap metal." She said, as her arm outreached from behind her to snap her fingers, a gesture for her steed, Aidan, to come along. Giving a soft nicker and raising his head, he then began to trot over to the two canines, whipping his tail behind him and neighing once again at the presence of the other. Jaya would be content with soaring high above them, or hopping along the branches of the trees. As the male had finally introduced himself as Cassius (or Cass for short), Asha nodded her head to this, and while walking along as Cassius guided the way, introduced the three travelers from AniWaya. "Cass? I'm Asha Amara. This here is Aidan, and my Spirit Guide above is Jaya. Don't mind Aidan if he gets a little fussy every now and then; he probably won't like the stable, but I'll tie him down just in case." Asha noted.
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After he applied the proper materials to fix the gear and in all the bow itself, the female asked him about the glue. she thought it was some kind of tree sap that magically made things stick together. He chuckled at this question, although he didn't mean to sound like she should have known what it was. "Naw, it ain't. It's called..." he paused, briefly fumbling over the word that they used for it. He never could quite get it right. "symmetric? Nah- synthetic, thasit, synthetic." He nodded, still holding the gear in place with his hand. He studied the bow a little more, carefully remembering every detail about the structure and thinking about making one himself at a later time. That would have to wait. "It was pro'l'ly made in a lab or factory or somethin'."
She thanked him for helping her with the bow as they walked towards the mansion, saying she would have left the bow behind as scrap if he wasn't there. Cassius resisted the urge to tell her that would make her stupid, but held back because he knew that she probably didn't see it his way. "No problem o'course! I pro'l'ly would'a found it if you hadn't anyway." He looked back at the bow in slight admiration and hidden jealousy. He thought it was an especially interesting contraption. The wolf in literally a snap had called her horse and bird over, Aidan and Jaya respectively.
Her name was Asha Amara, an intriguing name indeed. He had a unique name as well though, so he didn't really have much to say about the fact. "I'm sure he won't be fussin' too much, one of the other residents s'got a horse too. Name's Macshine 'er somethin' German. He's an oddball, but at least yer horsey won' be 'lone," he added, reaching out to pet the horse, but hesitated and pulled his hand away. He wasn't especially good with horses. as they arrived at the house, he rounded to the back, showing Asha the stable. Righ' here miss, I'm sure he'll be jus' dandy. It won' take much longer fer the glue to be dryin'.
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Her head was even more inclined to turn sideways, as indeed he had applied yet another foreign and strange sounding word to the sticky substance that bonded the material together. There was a world of vast information out there, more dead technology and ruins that she would ever begin to know about. Those of her tribe and of her culture were more of the organic, natural, traditional ways. Most of those in the tribe didn’t seem to take a grand interest in the bigger mechanics and ruins that were out there, that could be used for greater prospects and to simplify life. Those of the tribe, however, didn’t mind putting in hard work and putting forth extra effort when they knew such contraptions like the compound bow can make life easier. It was alright to explore and maybe even put use to these futuristic gadgets, but usually the more natural and organic way seemed to have prevailed just fine with the AniWayans.
Strolling with him now to their destination to the mansion, Asha had all to do but keep her eyes off the compound bow device. It looked very strange, and she tried with all sections of her psyche to make sense of each gadget that had still been connected upon it. Stating that the Coyote would have found it if she had left it for scrap metal to be snowed upon, there was a simple nod that canted her russet red muzzle to this. It made her burst even more inside with the prospect of finding it before anyone else had happened to come along and fetch it, for she knew the compound bow would bring about many interest, question, and fascination to the tribe back in her lands.
The young warrior had continued to walk along in silence, simply listening to what Cass had to say about Aidan finding a temporary stop by the mansion. As Cass attempted to reach out to perhaps pet the muzzle of the equine, Aidan let out a harsh snort and a whinny, jerking his head back. Asha’s eyes narrowed upon the steed as if to silently tell him to behave, but Aidan’s attitude was certainly all his own, and often uncontrollable. " “Sorry ‘bout that. It takes him a minute to get used to new company. Thank you for the offering, though. I’m sure we won’t be long at all.” It was said mainly in reassurance to know how antsy Aidan got when he was left alone, especially in a foreign environment. Once reaching their destination, Cass diverted them to the designated area to leave Aidan. Tying him up with the rope that was tied up neatly on his reign, Asha gave a pat on his nose as Aidan stomped a hoof in protest, as she walked back to Cass. Jaya above had decided to stay with Aidan, in which he had landed upon the steed’s back to pace up and down. Returning to Cass, she acknowledged the glue drying. " “Great! Do you think we would be able to test it out after it has dryed? And, nice dreary mansion going on.” Asha commted, adverting her gaze to the adobe before her.
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When the horse retorted in a harsh snort, Cassius stumbled back, almost falling right on his butt, but he regained his balance. Asha promptly apologized about Aidan's behavoir, but the coyote didn't mind. "Oh, that's jus' nothin' there miss," he replied, standing back up. "I never been so good with them horses. Kinda ironic fer a Southerner," Cass chuckled, although he wasn't sure if Asha got the joke. He brushed himself off, although he never touched the ground, and he continued on to the garage. "Oh yeah, I think that's possible," he assured, knowing he would want to test it out as well. "Yeah, well if I had designed it I would've made it a little cheerier. C'mon, it's right over here," he pointed to the garage's side entrance.
He led her over, opening the rickety door to the room full of miscellaneous broken down cars. He walked past the cars and pointed out a ladder poking from the ceiling. "This is where I've been livin'." He jumped up, grabbing the ladder and pulling it down so they could climb up. Poking the hatch, Cass peeked inside, seeing everything just as he left it. He pulled himself up, turning on the kerosene lamp that hung from the slanted ceiling. "Welcome to my little niche," he said to Asha.
The hybrid then promptly reached for a clamp, and placed it around the gear he held onto for so long. Having it clamped tightly together, he let go of the gear, shaking his hand from the sudden release of pressure. That should hold it fer a whiles. Now, he reached for the bow. "I can make some adjustments t'this here bow now. You don't happen t'have some extra string on ya, right?
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