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Auria's fingers itched as soon as she laid eyes on the dire weasels. Such soft, pretty fur deserved to be a trophy. Or, multiple trophies, if she had anything to do about it.
After their fights for the night were finished and all the prisoners at Fort Trevalay were freed, Auria set about her project. As everyone looted and collected supplies she set about skinning the giant weasels. The first one - that had been killed by Ciri - was almost perfect. There were a few spots stained by blood that she simply opted to cut off and save herself time. The second one was faster from start to finish. She cleaned off all the flesh and fat from the skins she could, carefully rolled them up, and shoved them into the haversack to be transported back to camp.
"I need some big jars," Auria said, to no one in particular. She was already looking for something to use to try and cleanly break bones.
"How big?" One of the refugees said, looking happy to help.
"Big enough for giant weasel brains," she answered, dropping back down next to one of the weasel skulls. She'd found a large rock and a broken dagger. Auria didn't see the refugee scurry off, but by the time she'd gotten both skulls cracked open he'd returned with what she'd asked for. She meticulously transferred the weasel brains to the jars, as well as much of the fluid inside the skulls as she could as well.
Auria walked up to Yianov with a jar in each arm. “Open up, Yianov.”
“What do you need to put in here now?” He asked, turning around and eyeing the jars in her arms with distaste. “...Really?”
“Really.”
Yianov sighed and opened the haversack again for her, pointedly looking away as she shoved them inside.
“Baby,” she teased, before walking off to find somewhere to clean her hands off.
-
Back at camp Auria set to work laying the furs out to dry. This would arguably be the longest part of the process. Thankfully they still had plenty to do, and they should dry up enough for the trip back to the Maw. She was already contemplating all the things she could do with the furs. Blankets and pillows for a little added comfort to their cots at the Maw… But one look at the boys and she had her answer. All of their clothes were looking rough. Something new would certainly go a long way to cheering everyone up, and showing off their latest conquests…
On the first night that they stopped on their travels back to the Maw, Auria stole the haversack from Yianov and pulled out the weasel brains. She made herself her own little fire and set up a large pot with some clean water in it. Rolling up her sleeves she started pulling apart the first weasel brain into pieces and adding it to the pot. It would probably take a few hours to get it all to simmer down and break apart, and she'd have to repeat the process tomorrow with the other one.
"What are you doing?" Theo asked her when she was halfway through the jar.
"Making brain soup. I need it to cure those weasel skins."
"That's our drinking water."
Auria did not look up as she plopped another chunk of brain into the pot and stirred it. "The cleaner the better for this."
"But-"
"I was already planning on going out and getting some later to replace it." This time she did glance up at Theo. He nodded once and wandered off.
Once the entire brain had broken down and everything had been incorporated into the pot Auria removed it from the fire to let it cool before adding it back to the jar for safe keeping. And then back into the haversack it went, which went back to Yianov.
She repeated this process the next time they camped.
Despite the fact that they would be back at the Maw the day after next and she could wait to do the next step, Auria was impatient. She had an image in her head she needed to get out. So on their last night of camping she rolled out the furs and cut them down into more workable sizes. Then she worked her weasel brain mixtures into the skin side, and rolled them up with damp cloth to protect the fur side. It was a tedious process but she enjoyed the work.
The next morning after they started the last leg of their journey home Auria started the stretching process. As she walked, listening to Khet and Yianov talk but not really paying attention, she tugged on the edges of a piece of fur until it was soft and pliant all the way across. She repeated the process with multiple pieces. Thankfully they wouldn’t be leaving the Maw immediately, and with all of the new hands they have around packing everything up to move to Fort Trevelay would hopefully be an easy process.
-
By the time they are finally settled in Fort Trevelay (new name pending) Auria already knew what she was going to make everyone. She started with herself first. Not to be selfish, but simply as a warmup. It wasn’t hard to find the things she needed. A heavy duty needle, spare cloth, leather, cords, and something to measure and cut with. The boys seemed content to stick close to home and figure things out here and get more comfortable, so Auria kept herself busy. It took her a couple of days, but at the end of it she had a new cloak. White dire weasel fur on the outside, and lined with black cloth and leather on the inside to be flipped inside out to be more inconspicuous if needed. She’s proud of her work. As much as she wanted to show it off, she also wanted it to be a surprise.
Leaving her new cloak tucked away in her room, she left in search of one of the boys. She found Yianov first in the hallway of the tower, heading down the stairs.
“Yia!” She called after him. He paused on the top stair and turned to look back at her.
“Yeah?”
“Turn around and stand up straight, please.”
“...Are you gonna push me down the stairs?”
Auria rolled her eyes. “I might if you don’t turn around and stand up straight.”
Yianov turned with a sigh so his back faced her and straightened up. Auria pulled out a tape measure from her pocket and quickly measured his height and the width of his shoulders.
“Thanks,” she said, stuffing the tape measure back in her pocket as she headed back towards her room.
“You’re welcome? What did you do?”
Auria glanced back over her shoulder and couldn’t help but laugh as Yianov tried to touch his back to see if Auria pinned anything to him.
-
Yianov’s cloak proved to be a slightly more difficult project than Auria had anticipated. She wound up having to ask Kining for help, since she wanted to incorporate the dragon scales she’d gathered into his by means of a hood. They were tougher than her needle could handle. Kining was able to help her get them all connected, and then attached to a piece of leather that would be the interior of the hood. Taking the hood back up to her room she got it attached to the main body of the cloak. Using the tools she borrowed from Kining she used the leftover scales to make a portion that draped down over the shoulders.
By the time she was finally finished with Yia’s cloak her fingers and shoulders hurt badly enough she was almost ready to give up the entire project. But hanging this one up next to hers convinced her to keep going.
In the morning before heading down for breakfast, Auria poked her head into their new war planning room on a hunch.
“Morning, Verus,” she said as she stepped inside.
“Auria.” The bear was nowhere in sight and she didn’t miss the red glow in his eyes.
“Kind of a weird question, but, can I borrow your cape for a bit?” She could tell by the look on his face that it was a weird and unexpected question. “I’m just practicing some leatherworking, and you’ve got that neat cross-chest strap so I’d like to try and recreate it. I’ll freshen up and oil the leather for you, too.”
Verus shrugged one shoulder before undoing the strap, and passing the cape to Auria over the table. “Alright.”
“Thanks, I’ll bring it back to you later!”
Auria headed straight back to her room. This was obviously the best way to get the right measurements for Verus. Yia, Khet, and Theo she could just blow off when they questioned her about why she needed their heights. Not Verus. And technically she didn’t lie to him. She was actually going to recreate the leatherwork for his current cape for the new one she was making.
Verus’ cloak would probably be the easiest, since it only goes over one shoulder. Auria opted to line the inside with red fabric, since his current one is red, and make the entire outside out of the weasel fur. Given the weight of the fur she did opt to add an additional strap to the harness to go over the other shoulder to insure it wouldn’t slip down. Once she had all the measurements she needed she cleaned and oiled Verus’ current harness. Draping the cape over one arm she headed out to look for Verus to return it.
As she passed the war planning room she heard voices - including Verus’. For some reason explaining to the others why she had Verus’ cape was mortifying. The idea of just going and leaving it in his room crossed her mind… but she didn’t want to do that without permission. With a quiet groan to herself she stomped over to the door and yanked it open.
“...I would definitely trip you before you even had a chance to think about even trying to push me off the balcony,” Yianov said, not even looking up at Auria as she walked into the room.
Auria walked over to Verus and handed him his cape, not bothering to listen to Khet’s response back to Yianov. “Thanks again.”
Before Verus could respond Khet was trying to get her attention. “Where you been hidin’, Kit? I’ve hardly seen you since we got here.”
“My room,” Auria answered. “I forgot how much I missed having privacy. Plus I thought I had listened to every single possible hypothetical situation at least twice while we were traveling so I’ve been trying to block them out of memory for when I would inevitably have to listen to you two go over them again.”
“It’s combat practice,” Yia said.
“And since when does anything ever go according to plan?” Auria challenged, relieved no one seemed to care about her having Verus’ cape.
-
After taking stock of how much fur she had left in her pile, Auria determined she would have enough left over to make one more cloak. She knew the perfect person for it.
Heading down from the tower, Auria started her search for Cirieo. She found him on the path between the bath house and the barracks.
“Hello, Ciri!”
“Hello, Miss Auria,” he greeted, hobbling to a stop and smiling up at her. “What can I help you with this morning?”
“This is going to sound strange. I can’t tell you why yet, and I promise it’s not for anything nefarious. But may I measure your height and your shoulders?” Auria asked, pulling out her measuring tape from her pocket.
Ciri gave her a look as he thought it over. “Is it a secret or a surprise?”
“Both, actually.”
“Alright, I trust you.”
Auria quickly took Ciri’s measurements, thanked him, and let him get on with his day. When she got back to her room she quickly put together a cloak for the halfling, including a number of places to put extra daggers and knives. She also lined it similarly to her own, so it could be made to look more plain in pinch if needed.
With a good chunk of daylight left, Auria decided to go and find Khet. She didn’t bother looking inside the fort proper, or in the tavern. Knowing Khet he would be in the tree fort he built himself just over the bridge. Sure enough, when she walked up she could hear the familiar sound of his whet stone on his axe.
“Hey! You got time for one more?” Auria called up, gesturing to her scythe when Khet poked his head out of the window.
“I always got time for you, Kit,” Khet answered before disappearing inside again. Auria flipped her scythe upside down to rest the back of the blade on the ground, and put one foot on the beard. When Khet came out he reached down and grabbed her scythe by the snath and hoisted her up almost effortlessly. “Upsie daisy.”
“Thanks,” Auria said, leaving her scythe in Khet’s hands and slipping inside. She opted to lean against the wall near the window so she could look outside, despite the fact that there were plenty of places to sit. “This is nice. Probably gonna suck in the winter though.”
“Nah, it’ll be better than just a hammock out in the snow. Won’t be hard to get some shutters for the windows.” Khet was already sharpening her scythe. The sound of the stone on the metal set her teeth on edge, like it always did. “You gonna tell me why you been hiding the past week?”
She clicked her tongue and rolled her eyes. “I have not been hiding. Is it so terrible for a girl to catch up on some privacy and quiet after traipsing through the woods with a bunch of stinky boys for days on end?”
“Guess not.”
They chatted as Khet worked. It was probably the most they’d talked since Scout had died. Part of Auria felt bad about that, but she also didn’t know how to bring it up.
Once Khet was finished Auria accepted her scythe back. She didn’t bother checking it. She trusted Khet’s work.
“Okay, one more favor, stand up and turn around.”
“Why?” Khet asked at the same time as he complied.
“Just stand up straight,” Auria said, taking Khet’s measurements once he did.
She quickly shoved her measuring tape back in her pocket. Before she could talk herself out of it she wrapped her arms around Khet’s middle from behind and gave him a quick squeeze.
“Thanks,” she said, grabbing her scythe from where it was leaning against the wall and slipping out the door. She scrambled down the ladder as quickly as she could with one hand.
When she got back to her room Auria decided working on Khet’s cloak was more important than going to sleep at a decent hour. She stayed up late carefully lining his cloak with the green fabric from salvaged Chernasardo ranger hoods, as well as giving him a hood of his own. He’d more than earned it as far as Auria was concerned.
-
The next morning Auria woke up to a knock on her door. She crawled out of bed with a groan. When she opened the door she blinked at Theo a few times before quickly stepping into the hallway and closing the door behind her.
“Theo!”
“Good morning,” he said quietly, holding out a plate of breakfast out for her. “You weren’t at breakfast and Jet wanted to start getting ready for lunch.”
“Oh. Thank you, Theo,” Auria replied, taking the plate. “I stayed up later than I should have last night. Uh, wait here for a second, okay?”
Theo nodded, so Auria slipped back into her room. She set her breakfast down on her side table, and went digging for her tape measure. Once she found it she rejoined Theo in the hallway.
“Can you stand up straight for me?” Auria asked, showing him the tape measure.
“I’m six feet and two inches tall.”
“I… Okay. Can I measure your shoulders?”
Theo was quiet for a moment. “Alright.”
“Thanks.” Auria quickly took the measurement and rolled the tape measure up. “Oh, and when you see the others, can you tell them to come to the war planning room after dinner? And Ciri, too!”
“Yes.”
“Thanks, Theo. See you later.”
Auria slipped back into her room. She hadn’t really meant to give herself a deadline to finish Theo’s cloak, but this way she didn’t have to go running around finding everyone telling them when to meet. Theo would most likely see everyone, especially if he was helping Jet in the kitchen.
She quickly ate her breakfast and set to work. Theo’s cloak was the largest one out of all of them because he was the tallest, which was part of the reason why she’d saved it for last. She had plenty of practice from working on the others that it felt like it took no time at all. Auria put in as many pockets and pouches she could justify for anything Theo might need for his spells, as well as places for Prim to tuck into.
-
Auria went down to the mess hall early, and talked Jet into letting her eat dinner early. She didn’t want to get stuck eating with the boys, and then them trying to convince her to talk about what she wanted to talk about at the dinner table. Mostly because there wasn’t really anything she wanted to talk about. She just had something to give them, and she didn’t want to do that in the mess hall.
She hung out in her room for about an hour after dinner started. Then, she put on her own cloak and gathered up the others. As she headed to the war planning room she could hear everyone’s voices, and as she opened the door, weighed down by stark white fur, they went silent.