Sharp is searching for/crafting a long, flat rod for The Three Kings - Wild Hunt. Anyone can join in to help!


the   thorn produces delicate roses
sharp

Rods, rods, rods. There had to be a bajillion of those, right? After all, she was in the middle of a dilapidated city filled with odd structures. One of those had to be what the blue-eyed one wanted. Of course, as the lizard waddled her way from the den and into the main cave, it became obvious that there was going to be a lot of searching to do. This place was huge! She had climbed to the top of a small, crumbling shelter just to see acres and acres of more ruins. Trying to find a sturdy, usable pole here would be like finding a needle in a haystack.

But wait. The blue-eyed one (Mintaka?) said, "We will need a long, flat rod, of strong metal, stone, or wood." They never specified how that staff would be procured, so long as they got it. Could she simply make a rod? Of course, that came with it's own problems-- like how she was going to make one without thumbs-- but there were other gembound by the Kings, too! Maybe some of them had thumbs like Dip-friend, or even cool magic to strengthen it!

Of course, first things first: materials. Between metal, stone, and wood, the latter two were certainly easier to find. Everything here seemed to be made out of rocks, and while sparse, there were a few living trees spread out across the ruins. Wood would be a lot easier to manipulate, though, so she set course for the closest one and started trekking.

A couple minutes of excited scampering later and Sharp stared up the trunk of a tall, willowy tree. This was perfect! The base of the timber itself was too large for a tiny lizard to dislodge, but one of the larger branches could do. She clambered up it's pale bark and took a seat on top of a lower arm. This would take a long time to fully break off alone, but maybe she could...?

Without much thought Sharp dug her claws into the peeling skin and slammed her heavy tail downwards, rattling the whole branch. The soft murmuring of shaken leaves rang into the air. She swung herself back up, and back down again, until she got into a rhythmic see-saw motion. There! An audible crunch sounded out as the bough bent a little too far and cracked. Most of it was still securely fixed to the oak, but a couple more tries and it'll be down!

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(that was supposed to be a physical combat roll but *shrug*)

The springbok had taken off to find a rod of her own, ears perked up and head swiveling back and forth, searching. She heard a loud crack and looked up, her amber eyes widening slightly.

"Erm... do you need help?", she asked, glancing at the branch.

Rather straight, she supposed, and she glanced at the other branches, wondering if one of them was appropriate enough for her to take back to the Kings. Perhaps... she wondered if a shared prize counted. She should have asked.

"If we work together, I think we can get two branches down and carry them back,", Scout said, craning her head to look up at Sharp.

The antelope circled gently and sprung upwards, trying to grab the branch in her mouth to hopefully tear it down (and not take the lizard down, too). Her body flailed as the branch gave way, and she landed on her feet and darted to the side away from the fallen branch, her bodyweight sufficient enough to drag it down. She looked up at Sharp and then down at the branch, tempted to just... take it. She sighed and waited instead, knowing that stealing something that had been worked for was the worst form of it.

@Sharp

the   thorn produces delicate roses
sharp

Sharp stilled quite suddenly as a voice called up from below. 'Who was that?' A quick peek under, and beneath the mess of leaves she could make out a long, pointed face. "Hi hi, I'm Sharp!" she shouted back, "and yeah! Need help!" the mottled lizard scrambled around sideways to take a look at them better. This new friend was tall, but obviously quite young ('younger than me!), with spindly legs and massive ears. Two branches good! Maybe we get double wings-- aap!"

Her voice suddenly cut to a squeak as the antelope began tearing down the branch. She quickly scrabbled up and leaped onto the closest bough, her claws leaving tiny indents in the bark. Sharp didn't seem upset, though, or even surprised- she just continued peering down with those big black-and-yellow eyes. The branch was on the ground safely, right next to long-leg-friend.

"Thank you a lots!" She scaled back down the tree and approached the fallen limb. "I think we gotta still take all those leaves off and make it more... less bumpy?" There were a lot of leaves and twigs branching off, which didn't exactly fit into the definition of "flat" very well. Plus, having peeling, knotted bark all over was probably not going to help her get wings. Good thing she wasn't doing this alone! "I know! I know!" she chirruped excitedly. "You have strong mouth! And I have claw hands! I use claw to peel off bark, and you use mouth to pull off twig!" Without a second to waste, the sungazer dragged her small talons across the withered rind and pulled the loose pieces out with her mouth. She didn't get very far (and it was only peeled on one side, of course), but it was progress. That's what matters most, right?

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@Scout

Scout blinked at the small lizard, surprised at their intelligence and nodded, before bending her head down to begin pulling off twigs. She'd barely gotten to the first one when a sharp splinter dug into her mouth, making her yelp and yank away, the twig still intact. Looking closer, there was a sharp of wood from where it had landed and half-splintered, and it had pricked her mouth. Not greatly, thankfully, but it hurt.

"Er... why don't I go look for another branch?", she said, a bit put off, before turning to peer up at the tree, looking for the straightest branch she could find, one that could be straighter than Sharp's.

Occasionally she'd glance at Sharp as she searched, before finally finding a branch and humming, "There. Could you weaken it, like last time? Then I'll pull it down."

@Sharp

the   thorn produces delicate roses
sharp

Peeling off old bark was a surprisingly entertaining hobby. Scratch at it with her claws, nibble at it, pull it up, spit it out, repeat. Others may have found it mind-numbing, but the lizard was just as content doing this. As she went she hummed a little song under her breath; the entire thing was horribly off-tone, and she just made it up along the way, but it was still fun to her.

Sharp looked up, a sheet of rind still in her mouth. Scout needed her? Sharp shall help! "Will 'fo!" she answered back, her words mumbled behind the bark. She spat it out and quickly scaled back up the tree again. Like before, the sungazer dug her claws into the bark, braced herself, and thrust her hammer-like tail up and down in an attempt to crack it.

Once again, a few swings in she heard a soft crack come from the branch's core. "Got it!" she shouted triumphantly, before quickly jumping off to let the antelope do her thing.

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@Scout

Scout sat back on her haunches before jumping straight up and grabbing the branch, dragging it down with her weight to hopefully bring it down. She brought it down and hopped away, the branch crashing to the ground. She got to work peeling off branches (and occasionally snacking on leaves), and moved on to Sharp's branch, attempting to do the same once again.

"... What's your name?", she asked suddenly, "I'm Scout."

She wasn't quite sure how she got her name. She had it since she'd started thinking. But either way, she was trying to be polite, though how successful it was varied on how Sharp felt about stranger danger.

@Sharp

the   thorn produces delicate roses
sharp

The branch snapped off quite easily in the antelope's maw, and Sharp scurried right back down to inspect it. Another nice, straight branch. It would take a bit longer to prepare both branches, but it'll definitely be worth it. She'd get, like, a bajillion wings the size of a cave!

The sungazer came a waddling back to her first bough, continuing the process of stripping bark. Unfortunately, as Sharp got up the arm the skin also became thicker and harder to peel. She tried vainly to get it off, but after nearly chipping a tiny tooth she decided to take a break.

The ungulate spoke up-- 'Huh? My name?' "My name is Sharp! Sharp-and-Spiky!" she chirped to Scout. There wasn't any particular story behind it-- she's covered in sharp and pointy scales, so that made her Sharp. Scout seemed a bit odd to her-- it wasn't describing her fur or shape, so why be called that-- but she didn't bring it up. "Where'dya usually live? I live in Monoceros," -- she said the last part as if it was a small brag-- "It's kinda small compared to here, but still really big! And there's this massive wind-thingy in the center! And, oh, there are dragons! Really, really big lizard things that look like me, but bigger and teethier and with wings! If you ever go there, you should definitely look for them."

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@Scout

"Eridanus,", she said, and smiled at the other's name. It was adorable!

Scout continued to strip the branches, happy to have company for once, and hummed, "Dragons? What are those? Are they like you?"

She'd never seen anything as big as the Orthoclase until they saw them, so they could only hope that was the biggest things got in these caves. Probably not, but she could hope.

Scout lifted her head and snorted gently, yawning widely before shaking her head, "We should keep going, and hope that the Kings like our gift. They did say that the rod could be wood, right?"

Her memory... wasn't the greatest, unfortunately. She was rather scatterbrained to her chagrin.

@Sharp

the   thorn produces delicate roses
sharp

Sharp looked to her companion. "Well, dragons are really huge; a lot bigger than me! Some of them have two legs, I think some also have four, but I'm not sure. They have scales like mine, but bigger and less pointy, and come in cool colors like black. Oh, and they all have wings! Really big wings, not like a bird's but like a bat! And they fly on them! This one I met (Dread, I think?) had little fire thingies on his side and a massive pile of gold! He was really cool, but a bit scary."

That was quite the ramble! Once she was done resting, she got back to peeling, trying a little harder this time to get it fully out. It took a while to find a grip, but soon nearly all of the skin was off, revealing smooth wood grain. It was really starting to look like a rod!

Sharp looked back to Scout. "Yeah yeah, I think it could be wood!" It'd be rather a shame if it couldn't. "And I bet the kingies will love-love-love it! But first-- can you help me push them over so we could get the little stuffs on the bottom? I think we're almost done."

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@Scout

Scout nodded and pushed the branches onto their tops, and cocked her head curiously. Dragons sounded... cool.

"I'd like to meet a dragon one day,", she said, "Are they kind? Like you?"

Wings like a bat, scales like a lizard... what an odd sounding creature. It would most likely make a lot more sense if she ever met one, but for now she was content with the amalgamated picture she had in her head. She nosed the branches, nose scrunching as she noticed the crusty bark still attached, and went to go nibble on some leftover leaves to store up her energy. She'd most likely have to carry the branches back, since Sharp was so small.

"What's Monoceros like?", she asked the lizard, blinking softly, her lashes so long that they brushed her cheeks when she blinked.

@Sharp