ORIGIN - domestic life

It'd been a few (rowdy) days with his new houseguest, who he'd discovered soon enough was more moth than leopard. The one time he'd tried to light the fire, the kid was intent on shoving his face into it, and- well, Attikias wouldn't have that on his hands. He'd spent a majority of his time teaching the kid some things, showing him around the jungle cave that made up his world. A pit stop at Elspet's place, a stare up into the gills of the Monarch, a frightful experience where the cat nearly launched himself into the Fern Trench, all accentuated the various explorations they took.

Of course, when they were home, Attikias worked on his own little projects, expanding his hut for the kid and making his own little private area. There was even a curtain he could fold up and down! That, there, was a success, he'd say, even if he woke up to Asteri on his chest anyways.

The kid was out while he was home, seated on the log by the firepit. He was hungry- and he'd run out of jerky. He needed to cook. Might as well do it while Asteri was out. Who knew what the leopard would do if he tried to light another fire? Even if it wasn't magic this time, it still worried him, even if he could control the situation a bit more with the small kindling he'd gathered up.

On a tree stump laid a small rabbit he'd hunted down, skin peeled off and hung up to dry for future use, feet shorn off and head cut to avoid looking at the poor thing's glassy eyes staring up at him. Blood had been drained into a jar, this time- he had ideas for dyes, now, and it'd come in handy in the future.

The thing was small, though. It must've been young; it'd be enough of a meal for the two of them, but Attikias expected Asteri to grow hungry again soon. Sure, they could both eat raw meat, but there was just something about cooking. Could Asteri eat fruits?

Attikias idly bit into the dwindling supply of apple-like fruits, twinging his eyes at the inherent coldness they brought. These infernal blue things were frozen sometimes, especially flourishing in this colder weather, but they were tasty.

A stick prodded at the fire idly as he used his other hand to eat the side-dish to the main course. He had to put some more wood on it soon and set up the spit, but for now he watched it grow with peace in his mind.

@Astéri

Astéri
seek what sets your soul on fire

This cave was so much more greener than the other one with the fire! That one had lots of bright pinks and purples and blues when it wasn’t lit up with orange, but this one had green, and green, and green—

—and it could have orange and yellow and red, too, he quickly learned, with his first forays into what he learned was called ‘magic’.

Apparently magic could do other things; lots of things, but his magic made fire.

He could make fire, and it seemed that if he did it right, he could make the fire grow from plants, too.

That could get out of hand, though; he was glad that nothing burned too much when he first discovered it. Astéri wasn’t the empirical type, but he still learned more about fire with every encounter he had with it, and he learned that it could spread very fast; something that was thrilling and exciting to him, but apparently not so thrilling and exciting to Attik.

So he tried not to light things on fire too much.

Tried not to.

As it stood, he hadn’t been thinking about fire at all, recently (well, not much); he had been out exploring. Attik had showed him lots of different places in the green cave, including that big, scary trench he had almost fallen into, (he still got a shiver every time he thought about that; he didn’t like falling or heights) but there was still so much to see! There were trails through the green every which way, new things to find, new places to explore!

He didn’t find anything too interesting, but the novelty of this new cave was more than enough for him; as he walks down one of the trails that leads to Attik’s hut, pollen and various bits of leaves and sticks still cling to his fur, and if he could purr with contentment, he would be absolutely rumbling away. There’s a certain bounce in his step as he makes his way back to what he’s quickly starting to consider as ‘home’—and as he draws near to Attik’s hut, he smells the best thing of all.

Smoke.

He bursts into a run as he draws near to the little hut, tail lashing to side to side with excitement, and all but crashes into Attik himself in excitement as he makes a beeline for the little fire pit.

“Attik!” he cries, grinning a little kitten grin, already beginning the process of 'see how close I can get to the fire before it hurts or before Attik pulls me away'. “You made fire!”

@Attikias

It's a miracle Attik hears the kid before he crashed through the brush into the clearing, startled for a brief second before calming at Astéri's visage before him.

He isn't given a lot of time to prepare for an entire leopard barelling into him. "Hey, bud!" Comes the greeting in return, a brief rub at Astéri's head with his knuckles amplifying the cheeriness repeated back. Of course, he knows this game of 'oh, FIRE?', and draws his legs closer when the feline lets off and turns his attention to what made him crash through in the first place.

"I did. I was gonna cook us some supper-" he starts as he stands, leaving the mostly eaten fruit on the side of the dried out log he was seated at. His pants are dusted before he walks on over to the rabbit. When he picks it up, he turns his head with a careful eye and gives off a soft "hey!" when Astéri's getting too close to the flame for comfort.

The spit isn't far, and he gathers it up in his other hand before grabbing a few last implements, a hardy leather and the bone needle he used to carry so long ago. "What've you been up to, lil' moth?" The elf's seated shortly again to tie the pink meat of the rabbit to the smooth, burnt stick after the y-shaped branches are put into place. "Find anything cool?"

His hand pats at Astéri's side and returns with a swathe of stubborn colors, a smile on his face as he wipes it off on his pants. "You definitely look like you had an adventure." The finishing ties are left aside as he pulls out twigs as gently as he can.

@Astéri

Astéri
seek what sets your soul on fire

Attik’s petting is met with the soft swish of a tail and a headbutt as Astéri presses into his hand, happy as always to be pet. Then, it’s back to the fire—although Astéri makes sure to remember to keep his tail away from the flame, this time. It had only taken once for him to learn that lesson.

“Oh, food?” Astéri asks, taking a sniff and trying to discern whatever it is Attikias is planning to cook over the smell of embers in his nose. “What are you gonna cook?”

He’s too encapsulated with the fire to look over and check, but he hopes it’s rabbit. He likes rabbit. And mouse, and whatever other small creatures he can get his paws on…

He dances back a little once Attikias gives him a warning, taking his eyes away from the fire for just a moment to stick his tongue out at him. He wasn’t that close!

Still, he knows Attikias is right about things, so he tries to stay slightly farther away from the fire as he stares at it.

Slightly.

Attikias’s question prompts a spate of words from the little leopard. “Been exploring!” he replies, enthusiasm entering his voice and his tail beginning to twitch in excitement once more as he remembers romping down the various trails in the cave. “There was lots and lots and lots and lots of plants! You should come with me next time!”

Exploring was fun, but he bets it would be even [i]more[i] fun next time if Attikias came along!

@Attikias

"Rabbit!" His voice was plain and simple, and he smiled down to Asteri. It wasn't hard to catch- but he'd have to move that trap soon. They've started to catch wind of it, and he was worried about Asteri somehow getting caught in one someday.

That was an issue for future Attikias. For now, he stuck his tongue back out with a chuckle. "Well, we are in a forest! I'm glad you had a good time." He tossed out the last of the stubborn sticks, patting down his hands. "Next time, I promise."

He rocked back onto the log after all is said and done. Well, now to just relax while the meat cooks. "You and I could eat this raw, but I think the cookin' it makes it sit better. Plus, it's tasty. So no touching yet, okay?" There's the lesson of the day right there. It's not like he's forcing it on Asteri, but it's at least helpful for the kid to know, if he wanted to.

Second lesson: "Wanna watch me carve?" He's had the leopard's company for carving before, but- ah. He'd been neglecting the knife he had in his little collection. Approval or not, he reached for his bag and flipped it open, pulling out a thicker knot of wood he sheared off of a branch a while ago and the dully glowing utensil.

The moment its dull edge hit the wood, though, it was like his hands were mere gloves. Lost in his work, the knife swirled over and over, its edge guiding the doe's life into the wood. Her form was clear as day in his mind. The silky coat, the large, round eyes- it was almost like she was the one creating this visage of her.

Emotion struck Attik hard. She was here- her essence, her form, her being, in this knife, and she had expressed herself out through him. Even with the perfection the blade brought, he held doubts. Was this good enough? Was she satisfied?

It took some time for him to get it comfortable with perfection, but when he was done, he held it up, reverence laying heavily in his chest.

@Astéri @Game Master Dark (guess who finally carved Deer Time)

The carving was truly lifelike. As the blade swept down the last of it, paring away the last shaving, perfecting the final detail, there was a sudden, dull flash of red light.

The light flared on the knife. And then it vanished; and the carving, instead, was the one to briefly glimmer, a heartbeat pulse-

-and the soft echo of a heartrending cry, a bleat of fear and agony, swept up from the carving itself.

As the sound faded, so did the light, for the most part; but it lingered, for a few seconds, shining last of all in those large, innocent eyes.

The wood felt warm in Attikias' hands.

@Attikias

Astéri
seek what sets your soul on fire

Astéri bobs his head in an eager nod, tail still twitching with energy as he looks up at Attikias. His carving is cool; he hadn’t really understood it the first time, unsure how he could turn a piece of wood into something that didn’t look like a piece of wood at all, but an animal, but—wow, he sure did.

The process was like magic, and Astéri wants to do something like that with his claws some day. It’s not the same as Attik’s dexterous hands, but maybe it’ll still work?

He settles down as Attik reaches for his materials and sits down to carve, firey eyes gleaming excitedly in the light of the firepit. It’s just a knot of wood now, but in just a few minutes…

...except, this time, it's special. Even Astéri could see that, even if he doesn’t know quite what makes Attikias work so fast yet so efficiently. The animal takes shape in the wood so quickly it’s all the little cub can do to keep pace, his eyes widening as he watches Attikias work.

There’s a deer in his hand in mere moments, and as Attikias holds it up to the light, the fire outlining it in a way that makes it look so pretty, he hears—

—oh. Something sad… Astéri looks up at the deer’s eyes and is convinced, just for a brief moment, that they’re looking at Attikias.

He stands up and sniffs at it, and the wood seems to be not quite wood—it smells almost alive, Astéri thinks.

“...was that magic?” he breathes, his voice full of childish wonder.

@Attikias