The wagon Attikias had made for Carja was extremely useful, especially now when she had to pull so many logs to and from Ursa. It had taken a long, long time to get all the material they needed to Cepheus, but she'd gotten it all there with Attikias' help, and now they could get to building.

The dragon unhitched herself and dumped the logs over into the massive pile of them, stepping back and stretching like a cat to release the tension in her back. She shook herself out and retreated to the pond the houses would be in front of, taking a nice long drink to ease her parched throat.

Once her thirst was quenched she got to work, digging into the soil that had been designated as 'her bit' by Attikias when he'd arrived to select where the houses were going to be. She dug a general outline of the shape she wanted the house to be, adjusting it a few times in order to get it perfect.

Then, once that was done, she started digging.

It was hard. With her hands still recovering from her backfired spell, they were weaker than they should have been and not as deft as she would like. It took a few minutes of hissing and drawing her hands back to rest them before she realized that something needed to be done.

"... I got it," she said suddenly, and lifted her paws, a grin spreading across her face, "Shovel hands!"

Carja cast her magic and slammed her hands down, ice forming into thick, sturdy shovels. She started digging much more efficiently now, moving along like a mole as she dug out the foundation and the floor for her house. It had to be deep for her plan to step down so that her height wouldn't affect the height of the house and so she could look out a window without it looking strange from the outside. Everything would have to be bigger but that was fine.

"I should grow plants," she said with a hum, "Flowers and things, maybe?"

By the time she was done she was absolutely covered in dirt, her pretty black scales smudged all over. She ignored that for the time being and crawled out of the hole, shaking herself off before she got to work getting the logs upright and into the holes she'd made for them. Once that was done she filled the remaining space with gravel and clay, making sure the logs wouldn't budge.

It took time to get all of them up and stable, even more to make sure they were all the same height, too. But once that was done she could move on to creating the basic frame of the house.



The lights had brightened and dimmed by the time she was finally finished, her muscles aching as she set the last support beam onto the frame of the house, her wings flapping to keep her aloft. The roof was done and the framework was complete and stable, ready to be put together properly.

Carja landed on the ground and flopped over with an exhausted groan, stretching out again as she made herself comfortable on the soft, lush grass of Cepheus. At some point she had to think about what she'd make her nest out of this time. Sticks were nice but they also poked into her hide so...

But that was for after her long rest.

Timeskip

About a day later and after a small meal, Carja was ready to get back to work.

She set up the walls so that they were ready for the clay to be set in them, preparing her fire breath for setting the clay like Attikias suggested. Apparently it would make the clay waterproof and unable to be dissolved like it normally would in water.

Carja gathered up clay and started building it up, finding a pleasant rhythm in the activity, her wounded hands grateful for the more gentle task.

As she heated up more and more, she found that her fire wouldn't come easily. Smoke rose up from her nostrils in annoyance, making her tail flick anxiously. This didn't bode well... if her magic backfired again she feared she'd never gain the courage to use it.

Carja breathed deep and stepped back, fins rising and falling as she tried to calm herself, the heat dying down. It was no problem, just a little flash of heat. Everything was fine.

She turned to the clay and inhaled, only to catch something in her throat and cough, smoke and bits of flame bursting out of her maw into a massive cloud that was both blinding and suffocating. She flapped her wings to blow it away, wheezing and hacking off to the side, bitterness welling up.

She hated how she'd called it. Stupid, stupid magic.

After a coughing fit that lasted far too long in Carja's opinion, she sat down heavily and glared at the ground, pouting as she dug her claws into the dirt. She'd been frozen into a block of ice by her magic, stabbed by it, horrifically burned by it, and now nearly suffocated by it.

"FUCK!", she shouted suddenly, rearing and slamming her hands down before she leaped upwards, tossing her head and throwing an angry fit that had honestly been a long time coming. All that happiness and all that optimism just meant she forced all her bad feelings down and now they were coming out!

After a few head tosses and beatings of her tail against the ground, she drew herself up and inhaled, lip wobbling for just a moment before she breathed out slowly. She felt down deep, her magic almost guiltily coming to her call, flowing through her and giving her a sense of relief, letting her relax for just a moment, all the pain fading away.

"... Since when have I ever given up?", she said softly, "Never. That's the answer. I have never given up!"

Not now, not ever.

’This time,’ she thought, approaching the house again, ’This time it'll work. And if it doesn't, I have so much time to make it.’
Breathe in, breathe out. Breathe in, breathe out. Breathe in... and breathe out.

Her confidence struck a match within her, a flame catching and burning brighter than it ever had before. She breathed out and flame came unbidden, heating up the clay and drawing out its moisture, turning it hard and solid. It would withstand the elements, now, and it wouldn't falter.

And neither would she.

With a proud smile she continued, finally, moving on to cover the rest of the walls with clay, leaving the inner walls bare. She had a different idea for those. But she was proud of herself! This house was really coming along, now.

Using stones, clay, and sticks, she managed to make walls all the way up to the roof. With a particularly smooth rock she smoothed it all out before blasting it with flame, baking the walls and ensuring no moisture remained.

It took hours to do, but by the time she was finished she was absolutely happy with it.

"My house," she said with a happy coo, "All mine~!"

She couldn't wait to fill the place up with various things. Gemstones, gifts, art, plants... everything and anything she could get her hands on.

After a few long days of building, though, she made her way outside again and curled up, sighing softly as she settled down to sleep. It didn't take long, for she was exhausted, every bone in her body turned to jelly.

Exit Carja to sleep