Back to Work (Bones)

[Minerva Agatha Zipporah]

91st Day of Summer, 512 AV Tock ached. It wasn't in her body this time. She had endured physical pain before. She had suffered injuries. She had even cheated, and built replacements when part of her body was broken. But she didn't know how to replace a broken heart. She had been wandering in a daze. She couldn't focus, couldn't concentrate on anything. It was hard to eat. When had she last eaten? She might have forced down some tasteless gruel yesterday or the day before. She wasn't even sure. She didn't want to eat. She didn't want to sleep, and hadn't for days. She just wanted to give up, curl into a ball, and forget about the world. But then she remembered she'd made an appointment with Bones. Work... maybe work would take her mind off things. So she forced herself to get up, gathering a few of her babies, and heading out to meet him as planned. She reached the edge of the city, on the road that led up into the hills, and just stood there staring. She couldn't remember what time she'd told Bones to meet her here. Apparently she was early. It didn't matter. She just stood there and waited, Naily nuzzling her foot, and Choppy cuddled against her side. They didn't understand that she was depressed. They couldn't comprehend emotions. But having them there comforted her. At least she knew they would never, ever leave her.

[Ssafirsotibones]

Bones was ready to eat. And not that stuff the humans ate, the salted, dried, cooked, seasoned, muck. He wanted fresh meat. Fresh bloody meat, from a beast just killed. Nothing was better. He was sick of the food in this town, whose main meet was fish. Well, at least fish was decent. With so many fishermen and such, it was easy enough to get some fresh fish, whole and unspoiled as a fisherman came in. Buying it right off them made there work easier, as they did not need to treat it or anything. So in some ways, it was actually cheaper for him to eat that fish whole, than the engorged price humans paid for others to cut it up, filet it, cook it, and generally ruin it. Regardless, he was excited at the prospect of getting out of the quelling city for a bit, have some open spaces to enjoy, and perhaps sneak some fresh meat off a body... Even without changing, he could still enjoy some warm bloody meat raw, though admittedly not being able to swallow it whole, or to eat an entire beast at once. Plus he had to be much more careful as to what he ate, only eating the fleshy bits, and nothing else. Soon enough he was on his way, coming to the road that came out of Zeltiva. It was one of the main ways out, besides sea of course. Once he saw Tock, he gave her a bit of a wave, and approached, checking to see what she had brought with her. "I am here. Are you ready to go? I am sssure we will do well, and find plenty to hunt. Even one for you to take back alive." A thought came to Bones... Perhaps he could drag one back to his room... Eat it whole there. Change in his room, and sit there for a few days digesting, in his Dhani form... Yes, if he could, that is what he would do.

[Minerva Agatha Zipporah]

Tock nodded distractedly, barely hearing what Bones said. Her eyes were unfocused, staring off at nothing. In a voice dulled of any emotion, she replied, "Needs one alive. An' 'un'armed. Some bruises won't be bad, but she's gots ta been in as good shape as possible. No cuts, no breaks." She didn't give one damn about causing the animal pain, but she needed a pristine subject for study. Any serious injuries would be detrimental to that. "An' if'n we can," she added, "one o' two dead ones what fer dissectin'." She had never dissected something before. Having a spare in case she screwed up would be helpful. She led Bones up into the hills, not saying anything for awhile. Finally, when the silence grew too heavy, she asked, "Knows ya 'ow ta track 'em, o' somethin'? If'n ya don't, mebbe I cans magics 'er up. An' I figure on buildin' a cage, o' a trap o' somethin'. Lure 'em in, trap one reals good, 'en ya can kills the rest." She shrugged. She didn't have any inkling that Bones wanted to eat some of them. But she figured they could skin the rest and sell the pelts or something. That would give Bones some money to make it worth his time. She just needed the specimens, and she'd be happy. Well, not happy. She kept an eye out as they walked, searching for suitable trees to have Choppy cut down for her. She could build a cage on-site, once they found a good location. Then build a trap of some sort, depending on Bones's thoughts on the matter. She didn't know how experienced he was with hunting and trapping. She hadn't a clue about it, but she was confident in her ability to improvise. After all, anything was possible. She thought of Mikey, and wondered if she still believed that.

[Ssafirsotibones]

Bones had to take a few ticks to puzzle out what she had said. Common after all was his second language, and Tock did not exactly speak the most clear common... Alive and Unarmed? She wanted one without weapon? What kind of creature did she think was going around, with blades and weapons? Had she ever even seen a wolf that she thought they had hands? Or wait... Did she mean unarmed, as in she did not want it to have any arms... Well he supposed that would make it more difficult for it to fight back, and easier to carry... It couldn't run off... But then she went on to say she wanted it without any cuts or breaks... Plus she wanted a few dead ones for cutting up? How much did she think a wolf weighed? "How exactly are we getting ssessse back to Zeltiva? Wolvesss are pretty heavy, I will have trouble carrying even two by myssself for long, let alone more. Unlessss you brought sssomessing along to carry ssem on?" Really, what exactly did she think Bones was, a pack mule? Dead weight was petching heavy, and it was about pretty much at his limit in human form to carry two wolves by himself... If he could even do it and get them all the way back. Bones was not really sure though on that... "I know a bit on tracking, if it isss fresssh and obviousss enough... Ssough I by no meansss am to ssskilled at it... Usssually I jussst look around, hunt around, till I find one... Ssen you fight ssem like any osser foe... If we have to, I can knock one out, and tossss it in sse cage..." Though how was she planning to get the cage with the wolf in it back? That would be bulky and heavy, and hard to carry around with a wolf in it. Bones missed her comment on using magic, not really noticing it amongst everything else she said, trying to figure out the logistics of all this.

[Minerva Agatha Zipporah]

Completely unaware that Bones was having trouble understanding that she wanted the wolf unharmed (it's not like there was anything wrong with the way she talked, after all), she replied, "I's gunna cut down a tree, an' builds me a cage on wheels. Easy 'nough what fer ta pull 'er back in 'at, aye? Worst case, make two trips what fer ta come back fer the dead ones, aye? Nothin' to it..." She could possibly Animate the cage to roll on its own. That was a fairly simple Animation, if all she programmed it with was forward motion. It would just depend on whether it was worth the time and effort... two people pulling the cage on wheels should be enough strength, and it would just depend which she thought would take more time, Animating the cage to roll better, or making a second trip. "Anythin' we done needs, I builds 'er onna spot," she said. She was quite skilled at improvising. Anything built in the woods would lack some of the finer touches, like carving to make it look pretty, or a paint job, or any intricate parts. But she was a skilled enough carpenter to build a strong and stable cage with the tools she had on her. Plus her Animated babies to help. She probably should have thought to explain all this to Bones in advance, but her mind just didn't work like that. She tended to just see the whole picture, the completed project, and just do it. Belatedly realizing she was somewhat taking advantage of Bones for manual labor, she told him, "Whatever I dun need, pelts n'stuff, we can done sells 'er fer ya, aye? Fetch ya some mizahs, make 'er worth yer while. Dun wantcha done thinkin' what 'ow I's usin' ya o' nothin', aye? Yet a mighty fine bloke, done 'elped me out a lot, an' I wanna done makes sure ya knows I done appreciates 'er..." It wasn't common for her to express such things. She usually just did what she did, and left it at that. But... recent events... had left her considering her actions, and the impression she left on people. She wanted to make sure Bones knew she appreciated and respected him. She grew quiet for a time after that, lost in thoughts once more of what had been going on with her for the last week. There was a dark cloud hanging over her, but maybe a good fight would help her shake it off.

[Ssafirsotibones]

A cage on wheels? Well, he supposed that would work. It beat carrying things back by hand. And he had not really been looking forward to doing that... Though he had not known she was a craftsmen such that she could make it out here. He guessed it would be harder out here, than say in a workshop, but she seemed sure of herself, and that she could handle it. "I guessss ssat would work... Beatsss doing it all by hand... And you don't want to be holding a live wolf, ssat would not be fun... Ssough I doubt making a sssecond trip would work, leaving out sse dead onesss... Ssey would be gone or eaten by sse time we came back for ssem." Pelts though? What did she... Agh, she meant skinning it, and selling them... Well, he supposed some hunters did do that... Usually he just hunted for food, to eat himself, and did not bother with all that fancy stuff. The rest of it though... It was a confused mash of common, he did not get any of the rest of it... Really, why did she talk like that? Though it was a bit ironic, considering he had speech issues... But he was pretty sure he was at least understandable. "Don't worry... I am jussst doing it to help you out. Ssso what ssshould we do firssst? What do you need me to do?"

[Minerva Agatha Zipporah]

Once they were far enough from the city, she searched around a bit until she found some white birch. They were common in mountainous regions, and perfect for what she had in mind. They could grow up to eighty feet tall, the base being two inches thick and narrowing down to as little as an inch at the top. Perfect for cage bars. She stopped Choppy in front of one, and told him, "Leg up, grip... Chop!" Bracing himself with one foot on the ground and the other gripping the tree, he started cutting through it with a strong, steady motion. A narrow tree like this would only take him a few minutes to get through. And since Tock was planning on a six foot wide cube for the cage, one of these trees could be cut up to make a good dozen six-foot-long bars. If she spaced them two inches on each side, she'd need a grand total of a hundred or so bars to build all six sides of the cube. Nine or ten trees would do it, and at the rate Choppy could chop without having to worry about taking breaks or getting tired, he could cut down that many in an hour or two, tops. She had packed several coils of rope in her backpack, along with nails, and of course she never so much as went to the store without her toolbelt on. She could nail together a line of logs for the 'floor' of the cage, with rope woven between the logs at either end to help secure them and hold them in place. Then a basic framework could be built with thicker logs at the ends for stability, with rope wrapped around the corners of the cube to hold the logs, then she could nail them together to create a stable structure. After that it would just be nailing the bars in place along the frame. With Naily helping drive the nails on the lower parts, and her and Bones working together, the job should be completed sometime into the afternoon. They had left not long after sun up, traveled a few hours, and then would need a couple hours of cutting and a few more for assembly. When Choppy got the first tree down, she handed him her hatchet while she took a small hand saw. "We needs ta cut off the branches," she told Bones. "Save any thick enough ones, but the flimsy ones jus' put 'em aside." She might want to bring those smaller branches back home later as well, because she never threw anything out. They wouldn't help for the cage, though. "My baby'll cut the trees down an' 'elp cut 'em up. An' we'll 'as 'er done soon, easy peasy..." While Bones worked on clearing off the branches, Tock would work on cutting the tree into segments, wishing Cutty were here to help with that part. Later, once the bulk of the assembly was done, she would work on making wheels and trust Bones to find their prey.

[Ssafirsotibones]

Bones simply walked along, going along with what clearly Tock had planned out, even if she had not told him of it really to well. First it was trees. They had to be felled and chopped up. Most of that work was done by one of her odd tools, which walked around on its own... Perhaps one of these days, he should ask how that worked exactly... Perhaps it was his long stay in Alvadas, that made him not question even so odd a thing as her odd tools that were half alive. She seemed to have quite prepared for what she was going to do, which further lent support to the fact that she had known ahead what she was going to do, but had not bothered to tell him. Pulling out rope, and nails, and tools and such to work with. Then they set at it, positioning bits of wood, nailing it into place, sorting it, figuring out what went were, and putting it all together. It all took several bells, before the construction work was all done. Hacking off the branches and such, with the hatchet, was not to bad. He made it a game really, trying to see if he could lop off the branch with only one swing each. Some of them it did not quite work, and took a second or third strike, but with his strength, he made quick work of the measly branches. Holding up the hatchet high, and dropping it down on the edge of the branch, cleaving through it and separating it from the column of the tree. But eventually, they were all done, and the roughly made cage was complete. Now she just had to fit the wheels, and make them, though he was not sure out of what. He put his hand to his gladius hilt, and made sure the weapon was loose in its sheath, moving it a bit, and taking it out once to make sure it was in good shape. Once he was sure it was, he put it back, and looked around, trying to see if there were any tracks... He doubted any animals would be nearby after all that racket they had made... They would have to go for a walk for awhile, to find some. "Once we are done, all we can really do isss ssset off, and walk around. Hopefully, after awhile, we will find sssome tracksss. Or run into a pack... Hopefully we find ssem ssough... But until we find a trail, ssere isss nossing to do but wander." Bones took a few moments to oriente himself, making sure he knew which way he was... He delved into his surroundings, tasting at the air once, to taste its wonderful flavor... Nature... Not like the nasty taste of city air... Outdoors, in the wilds, it tasted so much better... And deep down, at some primitive level, he could sense something else... Something he knew from the direction of the city, was a thing far to the west... It was far off, but he could feel his nest, or at least the general direction... That direction was west... Which meant on the way back, they simply had to head away from that, which would be east, to get back to Zeltiva.

[Minerva Agatha Zipporah]

When the cage structure was complete, there were two doors. Lacking the material to make proper hinges out here, she had rigged them simply with coils of rope tied just loose enough to allow the structure to swing. They were tied across the top, connecting the horizontal top log of the door to the top edge of the main frame. She opened the door on each end until they were horizontal and parallel to the ground, rigging them with ropes slung over an overhanging tree branch to keep them open. The end of the rope was tied down to the bottom of the tree securing it in place. When the rope was released, gravity would swing the doors down and slam them shut. Then it was just a matter of rigging a way to seal the cage down the moment they needed to. This was done with a second rope, tied first to one end of the cage, then up to the door where she tied a pulley from her block and tackle set. She then fed the rope back across the length of the cage, attached another pulley to the other door, then connected it to another on the back end of the cage. The end result was a crude but simple trap. She positioned Choppy near the first rope that was holding the doors open. She aligned him precisely and manually checked his aim several times to be sure he was exactly oriented on the rope. Upon her command, he would cut the rope and the cage doors would drop into place. Then, when Tock pulled on the second rope, it would tighten the pulley system and brace the doors shut, thus preventing the wolf from banging against the doors to open them. She'd then wrap the remaining rope around the cage and tie it tight. Once she got the wolf home, she'd need to see about arranging a more permanent setup. For now, though, this would do to catch one. All they had to do was lure a wolf here, get it to chase Bones through the cage while Tock hid off to the side, and once Bones was clear of the trap, Tock would slam it shut and trap her specimen inside. While Bones scouted around to get a feel for the area, she used the leftover wood to cut and carve out a set of wheels for the cage. She kept them small and simple, since they only needed to last long enough to get the cage home. She'd carved wheels a great many times the last couple of seasons, so this was an old and easy task for her. Once the wheels were cut, carved, and attached to axles made from another pair of six foot long tree segments hooked onto the bottom side of the cage. Belatedly realizing she hadn't explained any of this to Bones, Tock showed him the setup. She normally didn't like explaining things... the way her mind worked, she just saw the end result, and didn't stop to consider each step along the way. She tended to assume other people would see things the same way, but sometimes realized they didn't. "Chase one through 'ere," she told him, walking through the opening to demonstrate, "o' git 'im ta chase ya, aye? Izzat work? 'En Choppy, whoosh!" she said, not wanting to actually say the word 'chop' since it would set Choppy off early. She held her arms out and gestured to indicate the doors closing, "'Ey done falls shut, seals 'em in, bada bing, easy peasy, aye?" She planted her hands on her hips, studying what she had made. It wasn't her best work... she almost wanted to continue working on the cage just to make it look less crude. But that would cost time they shouldn't be spending out here. Being away from the city was dangerous, after all. "Oy, so lezgo find one, aye?" she said. Having a moment to think without having something to work on was making her mind wander again. Making her think of Mikey. That was the last thing she wanted... she needed to keep busy. Keep working. She let Bones lead the way, certain he knew more about the hunting parts than she did. She followed along, pausing to mark a tree with her chisels here and there, so she'd have marks to follow back the way they'd come. Otherwise she was sure they'd get lost. In between marking trees, she searched for signs of tracks. But she couldn't tell one animal track from another. So when she spotted one, she crouched down close to it and focused her mind, trying to sense an Aura. She concentrated hard, feeling a slight twinge of pain in her mind. She wasn't sure what to look for, so she just tried to learn anything she could. She focused, pushing the Djed forth, gradually seeing a very faint, very thin glow start to surround the track. Whatever slight bits of fur or other leftover bits the animal left behind left the faintest aura, though it was hard to read. She started to feel drained already, but she got a sense of... of... fear. She sighed, letting the power go and rising, putting a hand to her head. Whatever left this track hadn't likely been a predator, but rather had been prey. Maybe Bones would be having better luck, because so far, her attempts at finding signs of a wolf weren't going well...

[Ssafirsotibones]

Bones spent a bit of time scouting, while Tock worked on some other aspect of the trap he was not needed for... He looked around, trying to find the common signs of animals having gone through... Tracking after all, was about looking and observing, and noticing signs, that another beast had gone through. He went in a wide circle around the worksite, trying to find traces... It took him awhile, and he was on his second trip around, before he saw anything. He looked at some trees, and saw some broken branches at the tips, some of the low to the ground ones, which might have been snapped by a passing beast... And not to far from that, heading away from Zeltiva, he saw some tracks... But he was not certain... No wait, these tracks were cloven... Probably a deer or something with such feet, not a wolves pads... Petch... He supposed they could try that direction, perhaps the wolves had been hunting the deer or whatever was through here... Though these tracks were not exactly fresh. But a direction was better than staying here sitting on their hands. When they were done, Bones was not exactly certain what had been made... Really, it was a cage he guessed, but he knew little of design. He had helped in the construction a bit, doing physical labor, but little else. Bones was pretty sure Tock was overlooking a fact... They would have to bring the wolf all the way back here, after finding it... Since they were not going to find it sitting right outside the tent... Which meant they would either have to toss it unconscious into the cage, or chase it in. Not easy... "How are we sssupposssed to take sse cage, to ussse it, if it isss ssstrung up in sse tree? I don't want to have to run all of sse way back here, wiss wolvesss on my tail... Or to carry a live wolf all sse way back here, even if it isss unconsssciousss. Perhapsss ssat part of sse plan isss lacking... We are likely to find ssem many chimesss, or even a bell or more from here." If she still wanted to leave, and go off to look for the animals, Bones would lead her in the direction he had seen those old animal tracks. Though really, it was little better than guesswork at this point, unless the found more pertinent tracks, or fresher ones. Though who knew how far they would need to go to find them.