Fantasy Changelings

[Dawn is a Changeling]

"Oh, ummm..." she knew of some tricks with fairy circles to help with navigation, though she had never tried them, but she didn't dare look at a fairy circle around him. "I think... that way? No..." she climbed a tree with the barbed hands trick, partly because she had seen it on tv, partly because birds, and spotted the shelter. She pointed at it, then got distracted by a nest. "Look! A cardinal nest!" She started to explain how to identify a cardinal nest, then realized it was too similar to other nests to be told apart by anyone who wasn't knee deep in bird knowledge.

 

[Silverwings]

Sveni chuckled, "Well, I can't really see it from down here, but you seem like you know your stuff. I'll let you lead the way. Teach you a few tricks on knowing where you are."

 

[Dawn is a Changeling]

She nearly pulled out her phone to take a picture, then remembered she had said she didn't have a phone. And anyway, the battery wouldn't last forever. Oh! She should look at Boston news when she was alone, see what people were saying about her family. She climbed down to the base of the trunk, but couldn't get off the tree because Brennigan was circling anxiously.

 

[Silverwings]

Sveni looked over as Kennedy stopped her descent. What had stopped her? The cat.. Sveni chuckled, walking over to give her a hand before they would set off. As they made their way back to the deer, Sveni pointed out ways to recognize her surroundings. A broken branch, a pile of rocks, anything that could stand out was a landmark. Once they had returned to the deer, Sveni lowered it from the tree and set it over his shoulders, "Alright, time to go back to camp. Find the tree with a large bark patch missing. Turn left and we will be there in no time. Let's see if you can locate the tree."

 

[Dawn is a Changeling]

"Did you scrape it off or was it already gone?" If it was already missing, it could have been woodpeckers, and she could find a woodpecker tree easily. If not, she would have to check every tree individually.

 

[Silverwings]

"Was either a bear or a deer, " Sveni shrugged, looking over the markings. They were mostly parallel meaning it was claw marks, "My bet is on bear. But they're old. See how the wood is worn down? Still relatively fresh, cause there's splinters everywhere, which means no animals have carried to loose bits off or nibbled on it and it hasn't seen a lot of weathering. If I had to guess, these were left behind right before it went to hibernate. "

 

[Dawn is a Changeling]

"Ok." She might still see a woodpecker, not all species migrated. "The birds out here are much more interesting than Bo-Bethlehem. Not all pigeons." She hoped Bethlehem was a city, or that he didn't know much about it.

 

[Silverwings]

"Well, yea, there's no one scarin'em off," Sveni nodded in agreement, "Its nicer out here anyway. Prettier. Used to be songbirds out here but I think they're endangered now.."

 

[Dawn is a Changeling]

She nodded sadly. "Some. Especially the raptors. Did you know the Hermit Thrush is the state bird here?" Massachusetts state bird was a chickadee.

 

[Silverwings]

"Is that so?" Sveni asked as he gestured for her take the lead, "Shall we?"

 

[Dawn is a Changeling]

She nodded and tried to find the way back. She did veer a bit off course, but saw the shelter through the trees and didn't get them totally lost.

 

[Silverwings]

"Pretty good for your first time. You a girl scout?" Sveni led the way up to the shelter, once again helping Kennedy keep steady. Once they were up, he went to the food storage area. The back side of the platform would be where he would strip the carcass down and work out the rations. This was something he would have to teach her too, but for now it would hang, draining the blood while they got to work on the shelter.

"Alright, follow me, I'm gonna need some help," The ginger made his way to the storage, digging out large leather tarps and a few regular tarps, "These are heavy. Can you put these on the table?" He grabbed some bundles of rope and collected the wood beams that would support the tarps.

 

[Dawn is a Changeling]

"No, and I'll try." It took all her effort to lift one tarp, but she slowly dragged it to the table. Brennigan gave moral support (stood nearby and glanced at her in between grooming himself). It took her a while to get all of them, but eventually she managed, already feeling very sore.

 

[Silverwings]

While Kennedy worked on hauling the unfortunately heavy tarps, Sveni worked on setting up the heavier beams. He stripped his coat while he worked, setting each beam in place before climbing up them to set more in place across them. Slowly building up the frame for the tent. Sitting on one of the crossbars, Sveni looked down at the girl and sighed. It was hard work and the man was tired already, "Hard part. Pass 'em up."

 

[Dawn is a Changeling]

"T...the tarps?" She sighed. She was already so sore and wasn't sure if she had the strength to lift them any higher. Then she had an idea. "Hold on!" She found a rock and placed a log atop it, then put a tarp on one side. "Catch!" She jumped on the other end, shifting herself to be heavier, and the tarp flew toward him. She crossed her fingers. Please catch it, please catch it!!

 

[Silverwings]

Sveni quickly caught the tarp, nearly coming back down with it as it's weight yanked him forward. He shifted himself back onto the post, working the tarp open so he could tie them into place. This repeated until they were tying the last of them to the floor. Sveni sighed in relief when the last was done. Already the inside was at least 10 degrees warmer, perfect.

 

[Dawn is a Changeling]

She sat down, relieved, and Brennigan calimed her lap. "So, what is this?" she looked at the structure that had taken all afternoon and battled the exhaustion pulling at her eyelids.

 

[Silverwings]

"Our tent. Made from tarps and leather to keep the rain and cold out." Sveni answered as he dropped from their new rafters. With a rather stiff landing, the cold from the morning air made his feet sting, "Agh! Ok.. see the ceiling? How its open? Let's the smoke out. It's still covered about a foot about to keep the water out." He stood, putting thick, rough hands on his hips, "Shall we build your bed? You could find little things here and there to decorate it too. I used a wolf fur to make mine softer and comfortable. I might have more, we can do the same for yours."

 

[Dawn is a Changeling]

She nodded and smiled, despite her aching muscles begging her not to. Making a bed for Brennigan crossed her mind, but she realized they'd probably both prefer to be closer. "How do we make a bed?"

 

[Silverwings]

Sveni picked up the frame pieces he'd hung to dry, finding them a bit damp still. He hummed in discontent. It would do. By the time they were done she wouldnt be able to tell, and the heat in their tent would dry it out soon anyway. He nodded, "Ok, get some od that spare rope, where going to work your frame together." The process was rather quick with four hands tying and then hammering. Sveni would do the hammering letting Kennedy decide the exact dimensions for herself. He only ever spoke up to remind her to give herself wiggle room. Soon the frame was complete and the man spread out the moss and ferns he'd collected for the beds stuffing. Tying leather to cover the frame, The cot was ready to be stuffed to the girl's liking, "Alright, take as much or as little as you want and pile it in there evenly as you like. Make sure you test it out too. I'm gonna go get some furs for you to choose from for the top."

The man wandered out of the tent, going to their storage for the furs. Hed need to move that inside. That meant he'd be making a loft. He grunted as he heaved the handmade box and began carrying it into the tent. Sveni set it by the entrance with a loud thud and panted for a second, "Lets see what we have.."

 

[Dawn is a Changeling]

She had just finished filling the mattress (it was officially Brennigan approved) when Sveni came back in with the furs. They had a very distinct smell that she didn't recognize, the closest thing to them that she knew were antique stores. She felt bad about all of them, maybe because of Niall, but also because she had just seen a real deer die and it wasn't distant anymore. She knew she didn't want fox fur, foxes were cute. And she was pretty sure wolves were very endangered around here, so she didn't want to use any of those. Deer were too fresh in her memory. So she decided to go with rabbit fur. It was soft and made her feel the least guilty.

 

[Silverwings]

Sveni chuckled at the choice, finding enough pieces to cover the bed, "Fur in, or out? Keep in mind, it still sheds." The man worked on stitching the pieces together so it would be practically seamless when rested on. It didn't really need to be pretty. She could make it prettier later if she wanted, "The inside of the furs are soft too. Feel it." The text was smooth and soft and surprisingly pleasant to the touch. Some of the other furs didn't have such quality to them, but the rabbit hides were always pleasant. The man often used them for clothes in the winter, "If you really like it, We can make you some clothes with whatever is left. It'll keep you warm."

 

[Dawn is a Changeling]

"Oh, right." She had completly forgotten about a coat. She had been worried about clothing that could blend in with anything, and couldn't afford a coat anyway. "Yeah, I don't have winter clothes. Oh, and probably out?"

 

[Silverwings]

"Alrighty, all we gotta do it tie this down and your bed is pretty much set," Sveni worked on tying the fur patchwork over the top of the frame in a way that could give under her weight and not stress the furs, "Should last a good long while. Now we gotta put it somewhere."

He looked around. The best spot would be perpendicular to his, next to the fire to keep warm, "I'm thinking there. What do you think?"

 

[Dawn is a Changeling]

"Sure. Brenni will love the fire when he gets used to it... someday." He was currently eyeing the fireplace warily, as if expecting it to randomly burst into flames.