The man pursed his lips as he wrapped the string around Sonhu's chest. Checking the measurement of the thin red string with black markings.

  His skin was a faded cobalt, his hair long, silky white, and, even when braided, reached his hips. His left eye was a somber green, his right covered by a leather patch. His figure thin, his jaw sharp. His fingernails were long and pointed. He had human-like ears that ended in a point.

  He tsked as he loosened the string,

  "Arms out." He said with a hoarse voice.

  Sonhu lifted his arms, and the man wrapped the string around his bicep. Cole stood just to the right of the two, watching as Sonhu was measured. Sitting beside the man on a wooden stool was a fey woman.

  She was somewhat shorter than Ruffus. Where Ruffus had blue skin, hers was a soft pink. Her head was round and tapered off where hair should be, it was shaped more like a rose with its frills. Her eyes are big, purple with black irises. Unlike Ruffus, whose head seemed large compared to his body, hers was uniformly small. She wore a thin white dress. Protruding from her back were a set of dazzling dragonfly-like wings, two on each side of her. Thin and transparent. She was one of those rare fey that resided in one of the few Syrgerd stories Sonhu remembered. A fairy.

  Sonhu tried not to stare, but his eyes drifted back to her every once in a while. She paid no mind to Sonhu, though. Her eyes followed the blue man's hands as he adjusted the string.

  Suddenly, the man pulled the string back and began rolling it around his hand. He handed it to the fairy woman and then sighed.

  "Is there a problem?" Cole asked.

  The man chuckled with his shaky voice.

  "Of course there is. The time frame is not possible." He responded.

  "I'm sure you can make do," Cole said calmly.

  "You and that priest, you work me dry." He said, standing up.

  "If it is too inconvenient, maybe you should have someone else go with you on the hunt," Sonhu suggested to Cole.

  "No." Cole said patiently, "The Ilgen is insisting, and everyone else has jobs."

  "But, to make the Talmari a full set of huntswear in three days. Too much, it is too much." The man waved his hand.

  Ilgen Pander and Cole had decided that Sonhu's first contribution to the commune was to aid Cole in the upcoming hunt. The trip was planned to last almost a month, and Sonhu was not sure how comfortable he was leaving Ketra alone at the commune for so long. To his surprise, Ketra had yielded to the idea with little resistance. She had been taken in Sonhu's words and had made fitting in a high priority, but she still drew stares for her behavior.

  "Spare sets of clothes for Sonhu and Ketra can be put on hold. If you prioritize the gear for the hunt, you can do it." Cole insisted.

  The man thought for a moment.

  "I suppose." He said, annoyed, "Laeza, I trust you can handle getting the kvinne's measurements." He said to the fairy.

  "Of course." She said, delighted. Her wings moved so fast it startled Sonhu as she began to head towards the tent where Ketra had been told to wait.

  "Come with me," Cole said to Sonhu as the man turned to a worktable and began to fiddle around with tools and threads.

  Sonhu followed Cole to a set of crates beside the dorms of the two crusaeders. He opened one after another, grabbing supplies and laying them out on a small tarp that lay on the ground below the crates. Sonhu watched as the man counted supplies, returned some, pulled some out until he was satisfied with the set he had laid out.

  There was a leather pack, three flasks of water, a small shovel, a pair of leather hunting gloves, a sleeping bag, a small leather tarp, a bow, a quiver, a hunting knife, a sheath, a flint, a small spool of rope, and bandage wraps.

  "What is this?" Sonhu asked.

  "This," Cole said, picking up the shovel and handing it to Sonhu, who took it awkwardly, "is your supplies for the hunt."

  "This is it?" Sonhu said, looking back at the supplies.

  "This and the clothes Johan is making for you."

  Sonhu looked at the shovel in his hands.

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  "How good is your bowmanship?"

  "Poor. I've not had to use one often."

  "Well… we'll work on that later." Cole said, waving his hand, "First, I need you to practice digging your sleeping holes."

  "My what?"

  "Follow me," Cole said as he walked off towards the woods. Sonhu followed him.

  Eventually, they stopped in a clearing. The dirt here was loose, and there were clear patches where it had been dug up and refilled. Cole walked around the clearing, kicking at the ground, kicking up the loose dirt. Eventually, he kicked a solid patch of dirt. He gave it two more taps with his foot, then turned to Sonhu and said,

  "Here."

  "There?" Sonhu looked at the solid spot of dirt, "You want me to dig a 'sleeping hole' there?"

  "Yes." Cole said, "It should be about your height, and a little more than your width. Oh, and remember to dig it slanted so that the place for your feet is lower than your head, you wouldn't want the blood to rush to your head."

  "And I need to dig a 'sleeping hole', why?"

  "So you can get at it for the mountain. The hole is good for keeping you warm during the winter and will allow us to sleep on a flatter ground."

  "I've slept in the woods before, without a hole." Sonhu protested.

  "Maybe so, but have you slept on a mountain? In the dead of winter. With minimal warming layers and no fire."

  "No fire?"

  "Yes, it will scare the game away."

  "How will we cook our food?"

  "Our food will be nuts, dried berries, jerky, and pemmican."

  Sonhu's heart sank. This hunt was growing more ominous by the minute.

  "Now get digging. We won't have much time on the hunt, so I need you to practice."

  Sonhu walked over to the spot where Cole stood. He lifted the shovel and brought it down. It barely penetrated the surface of the earth, and so Sonhu began to dig his first sleeping hole.

  The sun was now obscured by the mountains. The wind howled in Sonhu's ears. His palms and knuckles screamed in pain. The joints in his hands ached, and he clawed at the ground with his shovel. He was panting and out of breath. Up to his knees in loose soil. His fur coat was dirty and muggy.

  "Alright. That is enough for today." Cole said, "Fill this one back in and then get your supplies from beside the lodges. Tomorrow, meet me at sunrise outside the lodges with your bow."

  Cole walked off, leaving Sonhu alone in the clearing. Sonhu looked around at the two holes he had already dug and filled in. Sonhu stood up, his shoulders aching as he got behind his hole and began to shovel the dirt back in. After a few moments, he gave up and started just pushing it in with his hands.

  When it was filled in, Sonhu picked up his shovel and trudged back to the crusaeder lodge. He gathered his supplies into the pack, slung it over his shoulder, and made his way back to the tent, where Ketra sat, waiting patiently.

  Sonhu stared at her for a moment, and a silence hung in the air. He set his bag down with a thud.

  "You're dirty," Ketra said flatly.

  "Cole had me practicing for a while, so yeah. I'm dirty." Sonhu said, doing his best to suppress annoyance at the comment.

  "Come over here," Ketra said, leading Sonhu to a wooden basin full of water at the back of the tent.

  "Where did you get that?"

  "Some of the village women helped me." Ketra said with a hint of pride in her voice, "Now take off your shirt."

  "What?" Sonhu said, furrowing his brow.

  "Just do it." Ketra command.

  Sonhu reluctantly obeyed. Ketra then grabbed a mug, filled it with water, and then poured it on his head. The water was freezing, and Sonhu flinched. Ketra then began rubbing spots of his fur with her hand.

  "What are you doing?" Sonhu asked.

  "I am cleaning you," Ketra said incredulously.

  Sonhu doubted the efficacy of her tactic, but made no reply.

  "Now your pants."

  "Absolutely not," Sonhu said, but he conceded to the determination in her expression.

  He now knelt on the small hide that lay on the floor beneath the basin, nude and fighting off embarrassment as Ketra continued to pour water on him and rub away the dirty spots. He watched as the pools of water flowed down the floor of the tent. Most of it made its way out of the entrance of the tent, but some grazed the corners of the bedding to Sonhu's annoyance.

  When Ketra was down rinsing Sonhu, she went over him with a rag to dry him off. When she was done, Sonhu quickly got dressed.

  He winced as he lifted his shirt over his body.

  "Are you injured, my kitty?" Ketra asked.

  "No. I'm just sore from today's training."

  Sonhu then felt Ketra's fingers on his back, and suddenly, warmth flowed through his body, and the pain began to numb and fade. He let her do this for a few moments before he pulled away.

  "What did the Ilgen have you do today?" Sonhu asked her, then sat down on the bedding and began to get comfortable.

  "He introduced me to other communers today. A pink one wrapped a string around me for a while today." She told him as she settled herself into the bedding close to Sonhu, "I made sure to follow the rules today." She added, proud of herself.

  "That is good," Sonhu said, lying down on his back towards Ketra. He paused, then he asked, "Will you be fine when I am off on the hunt?"

  "Nothing can harm me." Ketra stated, "I am concerned about you being taken from me."

  "I know," Sonhu said. He then carefully planned his words, "I am very proud of you for allowing the Ilgen to designate me for this hunting trip in spite of how you feel."

  Ketra perked up at these words.

  "It does a lot of good for us to please the Ilgen, and you have done a good job of following the rules."

  "Of course I did." Ketra purred as she put an arm around Sonhu and pulled herself closer to him, "Did you expect any less than perfection from me?"

  "Of course not," Sonhu said, as he closed his eyes.