Skinning hide is not as simple a process as you would believe.

If done terribly, then the only problem would not be ruining everything around you with blood. Holes can be devastating to the quality of the material, and an uneven cut can be noticed by most everyone. While this certainly didn’t matter at the moment, a craftsman should take pride in their work, and therefore their work should demonstrate that principle. Now is no exception.

The harvested hunt smelled quite terrible when put into leather armor as Isirith wore, but the smell is even more pungent when put into blankets, as you could not boil it to harden. Still, it was a boon for Tomoe that she didn’t have to assemble it as she did with Isirith’s armor. Scaling is very effective as a defense, but tedious to create without proper tools.

Now that I think about it, I should keep a few of the skins to sell when I get to the surface. She nodded unconsciously. It would make good money, as they are in good condition and are tougher in comparison to the ones bears have. If she found something more valuable though she could swap them later.

Tomoe counted about twelve hours. It would be good enough.

With deft ease, she picked up a jar and popped open the lid, holding it a moderate distance away from Isirith’s face, wafting the scent to her.

With a sudden jerk, Isirith heaved inward, disrupting her breathing patterns and giving her a sudden abnormal alertness. Eventually, caution faded as she looked to Tomoe, smiling.

“Good early cycle!”

Tomoe gave a nod in response. It was a bit slow this time compared to the other times she nodded, showing her confliction, yet not giving away what it is.

Isirith, not minding too much, put her arms up to her bare shoulders, confused. “Why am I naked?”

“To keep you warm.”

“What? That makes no sense.”

Tomoe pointed towards different parts of her body along with her sentence, phrasing it in a way she thought would be understandable, “Body sweat. Water mixed with cold air is terrible. It is better to be naked and wiped down rather than warmer in armor.”

“Ummmm, okay!”

Tomoe, were it another situation, would have lifted an eyebrow to that answer. Instead, she started passing the protective garb to her and ushered her closer to the fire. On the makeshift spit is yet again meat, though not seasoned. Tomoe had to admit she would like a more even diet, but it would do.

As Isirith chowed down like an animal, Tomoe looked at her organized belongings, thinking about what she should do next.

Priorities.

She would retrieve the arrows from outside, then teach a bit of meditation, and end with a real combat lesson. The priority is her pupil’s strength, which will increase much faster than her own. It is easy to fill a glass from nothing to half full, but hard to fill from mostly full to the brim without anything spilling out. It is the greatest way to raise the total amount of combative power they have.

She set the spear to Isirith’s side, who was busy licking her fingers with one hand and equipping her gear with the other. “I’ll be back shortly.”

With a response taking the form of a garbled ‘okay’, she left the mouth of the cave, the constant strong wind hitting her with sudden reckless abandon. With a bit of effort, she trudged up the dead-white hill and found the essentially frozen corpses.

She frowned as she continued to think while doing the required manual labor.

With no intention of dragging all of them back, she found and gathered her ammunition one by one, bringing a single wolf back for meat and fuel.

Using a small slide, she jumped off before landing flat on her feet at the bottom of the large rock formation. She would prefer to do the job faster, as her boots were still drying and she had but her armored feet to fend off the ice.

As she started approaching the lip of the cave, she thought about what to say. She had never really done this before. When she witnessed it before though, it seemed that, though sometimes ending in tears or anger, direct and honest was the best approach.

It is not fear or embarrassment. Rather, it is something she has only felt in the background. I believe it is called anxiety. Partnered with excitement from adrenaline before a battle, it is overpowered most of the time.

“Ahh.”

She was already back at the entrance.

She walked in, immediately setting herself across the fire from Isirith. With a heavy glare, she continued to bore down a horrible onslaught with her eyes.

Isirith, a wee bit squeamish from this, started to feel like she was in a cold sweat. She knew she was already cold, but she meant the scared kind. “Ummm, yes?”

Tomoe laid off for a few moments before her hands met. Her plated fingers touched, while her thumb fiddled with the other thumb. Before she asked what was going on, a stroke of determination seemed to well up from Tomoe’s being, and she started off.

“I…”

“?”

“I am… sorry.”

Isirith cocked her head to the side, unable to resist the familiar motion. She felt very confused, was the cold messing with her?

“I pushed you too far. I should have let you rest, or forced you to use your flame more, or crafted a torch. As leader, it is my burden to bare. I failed my subordinate, I apologize.” Tomoe didn’t drop her head and bow, but her words were honest and heartfelt.

…

Silence.

Tomoe looked at her lap.

Did I do something wrong? I do not believe I did. Perhaps it is her culture? I should have thought of that! Am I supposed to apologize for that too? No, it is not my fault, it is my first time and everyone must start somewhere.

*Sniff*

“What is it?”

Looking up, Tomoe saw Isirith crying.

Tomoe’s eyes widened. Seeing someone make another cry emotionally and actually doing it yourself differed dramatically. Of course she would do something wrong in her apology. She could only suck it up now and make up for it. Sh-

With extreme force, Isirith wrapped her arms around the giant metal suit. Without a care of it being frigid, she continued hugging and crying. Water leaked from her eyes as a river, her nasal passages clogging up. She did so extremely loud, and Tomoe froze.

What should she do? What were you supposed to do in this situation? Tomoe as Kyo was almost never home, she never handled this type of situation.

No, there was that one time.

Slowly and quietly, she shrugged off her gauntlets, taking one hand around her shoulders and the other gently stroking her back. Mildly, she started swaying from left to right as she continued to brush her as would be done to a little one.

She never spoke, only comforted.

…

“...I’m sorry.” Isirith said, finally unlatching from the heavy plates. “It’s just, no one has ever said sorry to me before. It meant a lot more than you think it did.”

For a moment, Isirith once again had a moment of calm maturity, wiping a tear from just below her eye. After a few moments more of serenity, she gave a beautiful smile. It wasn’t toothy, it wasn’t over exaggerated. A simple closed lip smile, one that gave off a wonderful radiance. Inside, Tomoe sighed with relief, she wouldn’t know what to do if it didn’t go well.

...When did she get so close with Isirith?

She almost instinctively shook her head. No, it doesn’t matter. She prefers it this way. Her mind hardened, taking on a less emotional turn. They could stay like this as long as it didn’t get any closer. She wouldn’t risk her life for her, so she shouldn’t pretend she would.

Just lord and servant. As code dictates.

She glanced at the still flushed cheeks of Isirith, then closed her eyes. Caring and loyal are two different things. This, she must remember. In the meantime, this much should be fine.

Now, there are things to be done. As if to clear the awkwardness of the situation for her, gave a disgustingly sudden change of topic.

“Alright. Training.”

Isirith’s expression froze. After a few seconds, it warped to a deep frown, a tad bit silly one. A hard, overdone sigh was given to express her unliking and yet consent to the notion, and she went to pick up a spear.

“No.”

She turned around, facing confusion for not the first time today.

Tomoe patted the ground next to her, and Isirith sat down on the spot. Without words, Tomoe took a stance of meditation, her fingers together and her thumbs a few inches above, not stretching to touch the other.

Inhale.

…

Exhale.

As she repeated, she heard Isirith soon follow her pattern. Shutting her eyelids, she pondered and talked at the same time. Subconscious and conscious worked in sync.

“You will learn to relax while still. Then relax while moving. Then relax while active.”

“Ummm, okay.” A new favorite phrase of Isirith’s.

“Close your eyes.”

“But you didn’t even see me!”

“I don’t have to.”

“...Whoah.” Isirith was probably honestly astonished at Tomoe’s ‘psychic’ abilities, but the psychic herself could care less. It could be easily determined without sight.

...

It turns out, Isirith is quite patient.

Perhaps her ability to cast sorcery had an effect on the meditation, but she had stayed in a passive state for a while. Tomoe thought at first she was sleeping, but she was wrong. It seems like she had already managed the first state. A bit anticlimactic to be sure, but helpful timewise.

Since the lesson is going to end much sooner than she thought, then she might as well teach practical skills. No need to waste time. “We are moving on.”

Isirith opened her eyes, adjusting her previous posture, “Okay,” she said, “that meditating stuff was cool though. Kind of like hanging upside down.”

“Advanced meditation tomorrow. For now, medical treatment.”

“Ok!”

“Then real combat.”

“...Oh. Ok.”

“Now, watch.”

Starting immediately, and slightly catching Isirith off guard, Tomoe cut a deep gash into the lower part of her arm. Blood leaked rapidly from the clean cut, and she shook her arm a bit, sloshing it around. “Now, treat me.”

“What!?! How?!”

Tomoe did nothing, simply sitting there as Isirith had a panic attack. The goal was to represent a real situation where you might get an injury, sudden and unsuspected. Isirith’s face, however, showed her dismay at the crazy teaching methods going up a notch. After slipping a bit out of her jumbled brain, she reached for one of the cut furs and starting wiping it up. To her complete horror and dismay, the blood ran out faster.

Scrambling, she shoved it over the wound, and even stuffed a bit of it inside. After seeing the deluge fade, she gave a sigh of relief. That is, until Tomoe flexed and it shifted off. Not only that, but the wound was larger, and it became a flood.

Isirith, pale as death, started hyperventilating. Tomoe presumed that Isirith had never felt like this before. Totally helpless, she started to break down, Tomoe still giving an intense glare into her very soul. She fell onto her side and hugged herself, avoiding the ever growing puddle with her eyes.

“Watch.”

A simple word, but one that brought calm with it.

Simply, with one hand, she plucked one of her hairs she previously cut from her bag. “If needed, take it from your scalp,” she said, picking up a needle, “if you keep your fingernails at a certain level of sharpness, you can cut them off and use them as a needle substitute, though it will be much harder.” She demonstrated, with one hand, sliding the hair through the tiny hole and doing an efficient one handed knot.

With superior swiftness, she threaded it in and out of her skin. It slipped in and out of the epidermis and dermis, and with a final hard tug, the split sides of her body hugged each other tightly, being tied off with ease. The blood stemmed, and she just rubbed the flakes of wet and dry fluids away.

...

So far, it had been an emotionally draining day.

Isirith had no idea whether to be freaked out, impressed, or some other thing that she was not aware of before. Probably everything she just said.

She could practically feel the frown on Tomoee’s face, however. Her being screamed disappointment. “Little too much…”

Isirith’s eyes shifted towards the puddle she had so eagerly darted away from. A LITTLE!?!

“I will produce more.” Tomoee said, her head moving towards the meat they had stockpiled. Isirith had no idea what she meant by that, but it felt ominous. It might have been an attempt to calm her, but it failed miserably.

“Try again.”

Isirith’s head almost flew off her neck as she looked at the absolute madfeel-male. And then she looked at herself, a surge of sadness welling inside her.

It truly is sad that she is used to it by now.