[FF] What did you expect, fire? (Ice sculptures, Permafrost dye, and more!)

Comet waited eagerly for customers, occasionally shooting glances at James's booth to see if anyone was going there. "Selling Permafrost dye! Custom ice sculptures! Anything that can be made with water!" Not only was this a chance to sell some wares, it was a chance to practice her magic too. If it were a friend or family visiting her booth she would give them a major discount. In other words, she would give it to them for free. If it weren't someone she knew, heck, major discount for them too! Unlike Kaimana, she did not feel the urge to earn payment for making things.

Her tail thumped a steady beat on the ground, and she lolled out her tongue. Maybe after this she would go snatch a treat from James's booth.

A festival, huh? Well, color her impressed. Twisted had noticed the massive increase in footprints crisscrossing her hunting grounds, and the faraway hustle of materials being set up, but frankly she couldn't get herself to care before. Safe to say the newly-proclaimed adult had hit a bit of a low spot. But soon the clamour was deafening, there were strange structures set up everywhere, and Twisted had to investigate.

Now, this siamese was not a very "technologically advanced" gembound. She had no interest in wheels or flaming swords or structurally sound houses. She didn't even want magic. All she needed was a moss nest and her claws. Why would she need anything else? But hell, there was a big party up in here, everyone was walking away with goods of their own, so why not treat herself to something extra? Twisted grabbed her only possession, a stolen opal (not that she cared much about it anyways) and padded off to the crowded celebration grounds.

And boy, there were a lot of gembounds here. Big ones, small ones, one that looked and smelled like raw meat, and so much more. They all ambled to various shops under the undying light of the Spire and ceiling crystals. A squeal of happiness, a brief shout-- did someone get their tail stepped on? It all felt like a fever dream. One where Twisted felt horribly out of place, the bully suddenly turning into a meek, antisocial figure lost in the crowd.

There was a familiar face, at least. One that wasn't a torbie kitten. Twisted padded to the shop and the lone wolf there, remembering all-too-late that she had tried to attack this pup before. It ended hilariously, of course, but there was still the chance she'll turn her snout the other way at her approach. Well, only way to figure out.

"Hey." Twisted walked up, her gait full of faux confidence. She was grown to full size now, her cream body angular and sleek, and while it didn't compare to a wolf it was at least a little impressive. Her narrow green eyes focused on Comet. "You're that pup from the generator, yeah? You've grown a bit. Last I saw you you were doing flips through the air." But whatever. She was too tired to continue some petty squabble from weeks ago.

She reached behind her, grabbed something large in her mouth, and plunked it down... a massive, magically-charged hunk of glittering opal.

"Here. S' big. And shiny. You can probably smash it if you're feeling angry, or turn it into a person, or something. I'm not entirely sure how that last part works. Anyways, it's your payment."

Her head tilted up: a challenge. "Surprise me."

"Oh. Hello!" Comet remembered this cat from the generator too. No hard feelings though, Twisted was already forgiven in her eyes! And she had a fun story to tell to others about her back flips too. "You too!" But even so, she had to look down at the cat due to her size.

Oh... Comet didn't really need payment. But since Twisted offered one for her, she wasn't going to turn it down. It made them equal ever since that generator fight thing. She wouldn't exactly count the cat as a friend either. An idea flashed through her mind, she knew exactly what she was going to make! "A surprise you'll get." replied Comet, accepting her challenge. And off she went, to the back of her booth where there was a pool of water that she had summoned up earlier.

Concentrating her energy from her ear towards the pool of water, she froze some of it, and stopped the spell before the whole pool was frozen over. The large chunk that was frozen however, floated to the top, and she took it out of the pool.

Comet took the large chunk of ice in her jaws, and somehow lugged it over to the front of her booth. She placed it in the very front, so people who walked by could come watch her make it too. Sort of like a show! The chunk of ice was about the size of her, and it had many random curves that made it as normal as it could be. But that was all just the easy part. She had to carve it now. And make it good too! Since she was getting paid for this, and it was best to put all your effort into doing something whether it was for a friend or not.

She started by getting out the rough outline, taking off the chunks of ice with her claws and teeth. Sometimes she made a mistake or two, and cut off a bit too much, but it was not too noticeable. It was getting easier to see what exactly she was carving.

With the rough outline down, the next step was the carve out the distinct parts. She started at the bottom, and worked her way up the statue, chunks of ice falling onto the floor as they were cut off. This was a bit easier than the outlining had been, and she made no mistakes as she went up and down. A leg here, an ear there, oh, is that a tail?

Comet smiled as she worked, taking constant glances at Twisted. It was soon seen that the statue was of a cat, and not just any cat, it was Twisted! She had carved the cat in a sitting position, with her tail curled around her paws. Everything was finished, except the face. The expression was important. "What expression would you like?" she asked.

@Twisted

Huh, well that was something. Twisted watched apathetically as the white wolf
accepted her payment. She half expected her to lunge at the feline, so the fact she seemed friendly was a relief. She settled herself back down into a sitting position, curling her broken tail around to the best of her ability. First Comet... froze water? And then took it out, and bit away at it? Her green eyes narrowed in confusion, staring at the frosty hunk until it carved away to reveal... oh.

It was a statue of her. Sitting up, tail around, like a snowy version of her. It reminded her vaguely of that one incident she had during a blizzard oh-so-long ago. Surprisingly good, too, for something carved with teeth. Comet asked her what expression she wanted: "Uh, I dunno. Growly, I guess. Make me look intimidating," was her reply. Twisted briefly pulled back her fangs to demonstrate.

A question struck her. "Hey, how am I supposed to carry that exactly? 'Looks pretty big, and I doubt the caves are gonna get colder just so it doesn't melt."

Comet was not surprised that the cat wanted her to carve the statue so that the face was intimidating. It seemed that being powerful and scary was something that was very important to Twisted, but the cat was a customer, so she wouldn't ask.

Turning back to her work, she was about to continue carving the statue when the cat asked her something. "Well, there is a cave called Ursa. It's really cold, and if you store it there it won't melt!" she shivered just thinking of her own experience there. the cold even penetrated through her own thick fur.

The wolf looked back at the statue, and carved the intimidating expression that Twisted wanted with her teeth. But she wasn't done yet! Comet walked into the back, which contained a pool of water. She had done it before, using her magic to create a really cool kind of dye! Her spell went into the water, and soon a portion of it had turned into Permafrost. She scooped it up with a wooden container and carried it to the front in her teeth. Placing it down, she dipped in her tail, covering it with the Permafrost. Then she turned her back to the statue, and wagged her tail, splattering the entire statue in the dye. Now it was sparkly! She made sure to add and extra amount of the dye on the teeth, making them look extra shiny and scary.

"Done! How do you like it?"

@Twisted

"Exit Comet"

Twisted cooly watched the statue get finished, a snarling mouth and glaring eyes being carved in as requested. Man, did she look that good? The siamese couldn't help but puff out her chest a little looking at it. Her ear twitched a little at Comet's advice-- she almost asked where such a cave was, but then her eye drifted over to the gaping tunnel mouth spewing snow by the far wall and she closed it again. Pretty far, but this commission looked absolutely freezing, so it'd probably survive the trip.

When the last touches were added, the final paint splatters splattered, and the statue was looking positively frightening, the broken-tailed stray came to spectate. Wow. This little pup really was a good sculptor. "Ehm... uh... It's okay, I guess," she scoffed, trying (and failing) to sound unimpressed. "Worth the stone, at least." She twisted her maw around the most grabbable part of the limbs, wincing a bit at how cold the ice was against her teeth. Woof.

"Well, bye." Twisted experimentally dragged it, and once she confirmed it wouldn't break apart immediately, began on her way of transporting it across the cave. And there she went.