Duha lives alone by necessity not by choice. The world passes her by for the most part. Her past prevents her from getting close to other yaspilrmeth. The world around her is changing to the point where even she can't hide from it anymore. The Drago...
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Katja came closer to me as I pulled out leather and a bone needle. I showed her how to thread sinew to it and how to sow the leather together without tearing it. I offered her the scrap piece and she tried tearing it on the first try.
She eyed me worried at the mistake. "No like this." I said, moving behind her, gently taking her hands in mine. Her scent filled my nose, and I smiled despite myself. I gently moved her hands in the right way with the right amount of tension. The stitch worked perfectly. Katja looked amazed at it. "Now try again on your own." She did another stitch and it sat perfectly. "There you are. Now continue that all away around this edge leaving an opening at the top."
She smiled at me and it warmed my heart. I watched her sowing for a few moments before going to my cooker to start making an evening meal. "Duha... why are you letting me stay?" I looked over at Katja.
She was small and very thin like she had spent many nights with an empty belly. She was as pale as the moon and flinched every time I moved too quickly. Her black hair was lifeless and dull. Everything about her screamed neglect. "You are choosing to stay Pup. I will teach you to live independently and you will never need to rely on others again."
She put her sowing in her lap and looked around at me. "What if I want to stay with you?"
I smiled. "You can stay with me as long as you like Pup."
"Why are you calling me that?" She asked giving me a gimmus.
That is the nature I saw in her in the tavern. She has a strength in her. A thing that has been trampled but still lives under her fear. "Until a pup can hunt and clothe themselves they are a pup."
She sighed. "Does that mean you see me as a child?"
"In body and mind, Pup."
I pulled my favourite pot out and set it on the stove. "I'm not a child." She said in a petulant tone.
Setting the fire in the cooker I chuckled. "You have a lot to learn if you believe that." I looked back over at her and she had gone back to sowing.
She flinched every time she stabbed a finger with the needle. "What am I making Duha?"
I smiled into the water in the pot. "You will know when you are done. It is something everyone needs."
I cooked while she sowed. Eventually, she shouted excitedly. "I'm done." I looked around at the scrap she had sown. Moving back to her I brought out a leather cord.
"Now I will show you how to finish it." I used a larger needle to thread the cord through the open top of the thing she had made and I tied the cord at the end.
"It's a coin pouch!"
I patted her gently on the head. "And you made it. You see you won't fail if you are given time. Now I'll show you how to cut the leather to make the shape. You can keep that one." I pulled out some leather and laid it on the floor. "Here is the template...." I placed it on the leather and talked through marking and cutting the shape out. She followed my directions and cut out a shape that was nearly identical to the template. "You're good at this Pup."
