Think Warm Thoughts!
#1
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Oce is constructing her own hut for the winter, since it it too cold to dig a den and also to make the paste that the Cherokee huts would use I believe. I'm improvising Big Grin Anyone's welcome to help her! (249)

It probably would have looked funny for a passerby to see the chocolate coloured female struggling with a strange looking frame of twigs and bark. But Ocèane wasn't too concerned about how she looked while trying to build the thing's frame, just so long as it was done soon! It was getting pretty cold out here and she would be glad of the warmth and shelter the meager structure would offer.


Before she had started on the frame she had gathered other necessary supplies and layed them out on the ground not too far from the building. So far she had almost completed the first part of the frame, but had yet to get it standing right. It would need a few more layers of branches lashed together with bark strips before she could begin layering the bark and leafy branches to insulate it against the cold.


Of course she was well aware that she could live with her brother Claudius in their family's old den but she wanted them to each have there personal space. She wanted to spend as much time with him as she could after learning of the death of their sister Noir. But the den held too many memories for her that she had to find somewhere else to call home. Her breath fogged the air as she worked, her experience travelling in the wilderness had taught her how to build a good temporary shelter and this one needed to last her the winter.



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#2
OCC: I'm not sure how much help a puppy would be, but...Hope you don't mind me joining.
IC: Ayasha was exploring again. Dawali was doing important chief stuff at the moment and left her to her own devices. So she was wondering around looking for anything interesting. She heard someone building something and followed the sound. She saw a brown female putting together a hut.

She approached. "Hello. My name is Ayasha. What's yours?" She didn't know how much help she could be but maybe she could do something. "Do you need help with that thing your trying to build?" She gave the adult a disarming smile. This would be good practice for when she was older.
#3
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I don't mind Smile Just as long as you don't mind me being a little slow ^^

She had been paying so much concentration on making sure her slowly shaping frame was strong enough, that she didn't even notice the white pelted pup until she heard a voice. The noise startled her enough to make her jump, whirling her head around to see where it had come from.

Ocèane was even more surprised to see the voice had come from a young pup. She stopped working for a moment, making sure the thing wasn't going to collapse now that it was standing. "Hi Ayasha, that's a pretty name, she spoke, looking down at the pup from her optime form. She was suddenly even more aware of her towering height in this form. "My name's Ocèane, and this thing I'm building is going to be my home" she explained rather matter-of-factly. She found the pup's inquisitiveness cute and was glad of the company.

"Actually there is something you can do if you would like the help," Ocèane began, smiling at the youngster, "You see those stips of bark laying on the grass over there? Could you bring me a few more pieces, I seem to have run out"


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#4
OOC: That's fine.
IC: She hadn't meant for the adult to jump. "Sorry scaring you, Océane." She eyed the structure again. It didn't exactly look the safest. "Are you sure that will stand OK? It doesn't look like it will." She wasn't being mean, just honest. She hoped that the adult wouldn't be offended.

About gathering pieces of bark, she nodded enthusiastically and headed off. She had an arms full within 10 minutes and brought them back. "Is this enough?" she asked with a proud grin. "What do you do? Dawali is the chief. He's letting me stay with him since he found me a few days ago." She grinned. "He's really nice."
#5
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Sorry it took so long! (359)

Ocèane could help but chuckle as the pup voiced her concern over the sturdiness of the structure. It wasn't a mean laugh, just an amused one. You startled me that's all, I'm just used to being the one sneaking up on things," she said smiling. About the building she replied, "You'll just have to stick around till it's finished, then it won't look so unsteady... You know, if it was summer I would build myself a proper hut that's nice and warm, but it's too cold for that right now." She hoped the pup wouldn't get bored with her rambling on as she built.

"Wow, look at the whole pile you brought me! That will do nicely, thank you." She praised the pup, remembering how well she liked to be praised when she was that age. Heck, she still liked to be acknowledged for the nice stuff she did for others.


She lashed a few more branches together on the ground and then lifting them carefully she added them to the structure, which now took on a circular shape with a narrow, long opening at one end for a door. Of course it was all made of basically twigs and branches but soon she could add the larger stips of bark and matts of woven reeds that would serve as insulation against the bitter cold, both day and night.

When Ayasha mentioned Dawali, Ocèane took another look at the pup, desiding to answer her question first. "I am a fire maker, I gather fire wood for the Great Fire among other things. But I cannot yet tend to it." She wondered if Ayasha had thought about what she wanted to do when she grew up, or maybe she hadn't thought about such things yet. Ocèane nodded,"He is a great Chief. I was born in this pack and he was it's leader even then."Then Ayasha's words sunk in a little deeper. What did she mean by found her? "I'm glad Dawali found you, but you mother and father must be worried sick about you." Ocèane felt another pang as she thought of her own mother abandoning this pack for another.


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#6
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OOC here!


She was slightly embarrassed that she startled the adult. "I'm sorry." Though she had to smile at the rambling. "So why did you wait until winter?" Her question made perfect sense. Why would someone wait until it was cold to build shelter from said cold. She figured it was an adult thing. They all seemed really busy with what appeared to be important stuff.

Ayasha positively beamed at the adult for her praise. It felt nice when an adult found what you did helpful. She watched fascinated as the branches were lashed together. She wondered something. "Is this something I'll need to do I'm older?" She had very little idea what she needed to do as she got older. She supposed that the adults around her would know.

At the mention of this big fire, she was utterly confused. "What is the Great Fire?" She got sad about her parents. "My mommy and I left our home after everyone got sick. She was killed when a bear attacked. Dawali found me a few days later." Though she grinned about Dawali. "He's one of the best people ever!"


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#7
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This is your OOC text! Yippee!

The skeleton of the hut was pretty much complete, Ocèane just had to add a few more branches for support. She lashed a few more with the bark strips that Ayasha had brought and worked them into place. As she was working on the last remaining supports she heard the pup's question. It must have seemed funny for someone to be building at this time of year when the ground was much too hard for digging or for making a paste to coat the sturdier huts.

"Well, I have actually just returned to the pack. My brother Claudius lives in the family den, but I wanted to make my own hut, there are too many memories in the den for me..." Ocèane answered with a hint of sadness in her voice.

Now that the frame seemed to be complete, the brown pelted female tested it a little to see if it was indeed ready to be insulated with bark and reed mats. "Not exactly, not if you don't want to. The pack usually works together to build bigger huts, but it is a good skill to have especially if you found yourself out in the cold somewhere with no pack at all." Ocèane had a fare amount of travelling under her belt already. Sleeping out there alone and hunting for your food every day wasn't easy and you had to know what you were doing to survive.

Her tropical hued eyes brightened (more so than usual) at the mention of the Great Fire.

"The Great Fire is a big part of our culture. It stands by the town hall in the north of the village, you can probably see it's smoke from here. " Ocèane paused, regarding the pup again waiting to see if she had anything to say before she continued, "It should always be burning and every year we make sacrifices to the spirits by tossing something that has special meaning for us into it's flames."

She hoped that made sense to the pup, it was not really easy to explain, "Ask Dawali about it if you are still curious, I'm sure he could tell you more than I can, I am still learning."

Her ears lowered in a sad gesture when Ayasha told her about her parents' deaths. "I'm so sorry to hear that Ayasha. It is a good thing indeed that Dawali found you when he did. If you ever get sad and want someone to talk to about stuff I'd be more than happy to."


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#8
Ayasha watched intrigued as the hut structure came together. When the adult mentioned memories but seemed sad about it, she asked "Are there any happy memories or just sad ones?" She didn't' want to upset the adult anymore than she already was. "Is your brother nice?" She hadn't met him yet but thought he must be nice if his sister was.

"Well, I don't plan on ever leaving this tribe! Never!" She said this in as serious tone as she could, with a serious look on her face. Which in her case was a pout. "Oh." She was still confused about a lot of the tradition of the tribe. So she had another question to ask Dawali. Right next to how sane her hut-mate was. At her offer of talking to her, she gave her a big smile and bowled into her, give her a hug. "OK! She said this extremely happily.
#9
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She's finished her hut now, hope it's done in time ^^

"Oh there are happy memories of coarse, I remember playing and having fun. Being a family." She replied, her eyes wandering again to her half finished structure. "I suppose it's the happy memories that make it sad now. Everything is different, but I still have family, I still have Claudius."She was speaking more to herself now than to the pup, she really didn't mean to. "Oh Claudius is very nice. He's a little shy around people he doesn't know, but he is very sweet when you get to know him". She hoped he wouldn't resent her for saying that. "Alright, that's enough Ocèane, you've got work to do" she chided herself.

The dark female moved swiftly on her two paws, her nimble fingers picking up the various pieces that would be used as insulation to keep her hut warm. Reed mats, blankets, furs and thick tree branches would complete her structure. It was going to look almost ridiculous, being a hodge podge of different materials, but they were all she had on hand at the moment and were going to have to do. She began with the thick branches and mats first, lashing them to the frame in spots they fit best. She worked her way up to the heavy animal furs. Lastly she fasted the coloured blankets and remaining furs to the narrow front entrance. It created a rather striking appearance once she stepped back and looked at it with a critical eye, much like an artists with her finished painting. Although this painting looked rather flimsy and lopsided.

She could have almost laughed at it, it really looked ridiculous. Her face cracked into a wide grin at the thought. "Well, what do you think Ayasha? Want to help me dig out a fire pit inside?" She questioned the pup, wondering what her response would be to the finished product. The structure was finished, now she just needed to give it some warmth and decorate. Good thing she had remembered to leave a small vent in the roof to allow smoke to escape, but covered enough so that snow wouldn't fall in.


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#10
OOC: Sorry. Had totally forgotten this.

IC: She listened to her speak about her brother. She didn't have any siblings. "He sounds nice. Maybe I can meet him sometime. I never had any siblings." Siblings sounded like they would be fun.

She watched fascinated as the adult put together a hut. When it was done, she walked around it, studying it. "I suppose it will work for now. Though if there's bad weather...then your hut might be flattened." She was trying to be mean, just truthful.

About digging a fire pit, she asked, "How? Are we going to use tools or our paws?" She was rather excited about being able to dig hole. That sounded like a lot of fun.


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