Open Vulpinsula & Surroundings The Docks The Age of Machining

[Kaii Nashirou]

Kaii took Swift's gesture approvingly and he himself rolled the blueprint and looked at the small rat tucked under his arm. His paw moved to grasp her shoulder. Not firmly enough to hurt, but just enough to hold them in place. Then he spoke with typical flat tone. "I am Gentlebeast Kaii of house Nashirou. Cryle, while I am happy to see that my work is appreciated, It is a delicate matter and highly personal one."

Kaii lowered himself enough to meet her eyes with his own. "I can understand desire to learn going past the rules. But, if you wish to stick with us, I ask you to not cause problems. Go overboard and I will not hesitate to turn you to the hamster in charge. This is a project both me and Swifttail care for deeply and while any improvement ideas can be welcomed, I am not going to compromise." The marble fox explained the issue plainly. He saw in a way himself in Cryle, bach when he was the one sneaking into the college halls, libraries or design rooms at workshops he worked at. Combined with Kaii belief in equality and merit, there was no reason he wouldn't let Cryle stay... as long as they would not cause any problems.

With that explained, he let go of her and turned to Swifttail again, albeit standing slightly to the side to also include Cryle in the conversation. "Alright. let us start with the machining. Come with me to the lathe, we can discuss what needs to be done then."

 

[Cryle]

Cryle eyed Swifttail's proffered paw with a slight, yet visible expression of confusion. It did seem to be a rather fair paw, but not as fair as it could have been. It was a paw that had seen much too much work. Her thoughts continued to race, trying to detach from the details of the drawing she'd been looking at, and there was considerable delay before she held out her own, briefly, and then dropped it back to her side once the appropriate gesture had been made, long before they could touch.

She grimaced again, in an attempt at a social smile. Wow! Her first acquaintance of Vulpinsula. She felt like the belle of the ball-bearings.

She managed to squeak out a little, "Hullo." Now that the thrill of getting caught on purpose was wearing off, the realization that she had to now actually spend time being around others was starting to settle in.

A feeling that only intensified as Kaii touched her, causing her to stiffen and flinch at the same time, pulling away from him. Goodness, she had been awfully close, hadn't she? And was he... oh no... he was... Trying to look at her face. Eyes. Eye contact. Augh. Augh. Aaaaaaughhhh... And still touching her shoulder.

A flicker, an attempt, was made to look at his eyes in turn, but the only way to survive this was to focus on the snout. Count the whiskers. A novelty - eighteen on each side.

She nodded in response to his words. She'd parse them later. But now was the time for making it through this. When he released her and they began to move, she realized she hadn't been breathing.

So... the battle chair - which did not yet include any weapons - was personal, and... deep. The cogs churned in her head. And some other cogs were churning off to the side as they passed some other project, but she paid them no attention for once.

"I understand," she said, quietly. And because such information could not be withheld: "You have thirty-six whiskers on your muzzle." And because she was not herself a machine, despite her most forlorn wishes: "Will it include a pouch for warm socks, and if it is intended for all day use, is the seat suitably firm but padded enough to not restrict blood flow? Is it designed for a particular species, or will it be adjustable for all tails and shapes?"

After all, what was the point of technology if the end user experience was misery?

 

[SwifttailTheFox]

Swifttail gave Kaii a small nod, a subtle but visible show of support for his friend’s warning. Whatever oddities this soot-streaked rat carried with her, Swift wasn’t about to undercut Kaii’s authority.

Cryle’s hesitant little “Hullo” tugged a grin out of him all the same. He dipped his head politely, tail flicking in a gentle wag.
"Hullo t’ you as well, Cryle."

Then came the flood of questions: socks, padding, tails, species. Swift blinked, ears twitching, and gave a quiet laugh.
"Goodness! So many questions!" he chuckled, shooting Kaii another sidelong glance that was less complaint than shared amusement.

He shifted his paw from the table where the blueprints had sat, stepping back enough to open some space between them.
"Well, if Mr. Pawminton’s approved, then let’s get t’ work together." His voice was even, but there was no mistaking the note of welcome threaded through it.

When Kaii gestured toward the machines, Swift’s eyes followed and the spark returned in full. His ears pricked high, muzzle parting in boyish awe as he spotted the tool in question.
"Is that the machine what spins them?" he asked, tail twitching with unfeigned eagerness.

 

[Kaii Nashirou]

Kaii shok his head at the myriad of questions from the rat. Cryle was... definitely smart, if lacking socially in a different way than Kaii was. That he could easily tell. He wasn't as afraid of contacts because they were ultimately a natural matter. All beasts, wild and sapient ones did at least some social interactions with each other. He surely was never great at them, but it was years of experience he had gathered, combined with caring and patient education he had got that allowed him to be at the point he was at.

Already on the way to the nearest Lathe, Kaii replied to the both beasts he was going to teach now... while hopefully building the thing that he and Swift wanted to. "Splendid observation Cryle, I also have about four-hundred ninety-two hairs in my chinfur. Though I keep it cut for now so it varies. As for your questions... we are now building it for one specific beast who also has a kit. Blankets will have to do for now due to ease of cleaning them more than permanent padding would be."

When they got to the lathe, Kaii was about to start explaining how to operate it but Swifttail already got to asking questions. Kaii nodded with a small smile. "Indeed! This one is powered by two beasts who power those wheels." He pointed at the two wheels on both sides of the lathe. "And thanks to the gearbox inside, your work is translated to quite a lot of torque. Enough to mill most metals and even some milder steel." Kaii then went up to mount a small brass rod into the spindle, finding by numbers correct tool and getting it into the post, before bringing the tailstock closer.

"If you two could give them wheels a spin, that would allow me to show you how it works and tell you some more about how to operate it." He asked before putting on gloves to keep his fur from getting stuck in the moving elements. All in all, Kaii knew the risks of operating machinery.

 

[Cryle]

Cryle bristled a little. It wasn't that many questions. Just the ones she had thought they might like to hear first. Her fur flattened a little, after more brain power went through the social processing center and realized they were not being mean, as such. Always so defensive - well, she'd had to be...

She rubbed her ears back against her hat, trying to dismiss the information of the marble fox's chinfur. It was not pertinent, it did not deserve space in her mind. And then realized she'd got soot all over her ears. And all over her arms. And paws. And coat. And, oh dear, even her tail... The thrill of adventure was wearing off. Now she felt itchy.

The feeling remained in the back of her mind as she gaped at the lathe, her expression nearly mirroring Swifttail's. Even her sooty tail perked right up, the tip curling to pat the top back of her hat to tilt it up and give her a better view. Blueprints were one thing. They were floaty, disassembled concepts, instructions. Spying on the constructed mechanism through a smudged window was another thing, like watching a majestic ocean gull. Actually being up close and near it in person was like getting to chew on that majestic gull and savor its tenderness as it splits between your teeth...

She wiped the little bead of drool from her mouth with her sleeve. And now her whiskers were sooty.

She took up post by the left wheel, nodding to Swifttail as she began to apply force to the wheel with the levers of her own arms.

As she spun the wheel, trying to keep her movements in sync with the platinum-furred todd, she couldn't resist letting a few more thoughts bubble out, putting aside the fact that most of her questions had gone unanswered. Lack of specificity regarding what "kit" was, the most logical assumption to make was that it was not a tool kit, and was one of the biological ones that tended to soil things.

"Is the kit inside her? Why must the padding be permanent, what if it was covered in leather with little strips of wood pinned to the underside that would slide in and lock in place in the seat, but be easily removed for cleaning? Would there be room for crossbows mounted between the chair and wheel - no, never mind..."

She needed a real, proper look at the diagrams before asking the more technical questions.

 

[SwifttailTheFox]

Swifttail’s paws settled on the wheel opposite Cryle’s, and he let out a soft breath as they began to turn together. The lathe came alive beneath their paws, smooth and steady. He marveled at how little effort it took, yet how tight the tolerances felt. There was no rattle, no slack, and no wasted motion. Power from two beasts, precise enough to shape brass as neat as a knife through butter. The wonder put a grin on his muzzle.

Swift’s grin then only widened as the brass rod began to spin under the tool. His tail gave a restless flick. "Gates, Kaii, this is incredible… feels almost like it’s runnin’ on its own!"

Cryle’s words tugged his ears askew, and he chuckled gently without losing rhythm.
"Nah, not inside her... Piper’s little one’s already born. But Piper herself… her legs won’t carry her no more." His voice softened as the wheel spun. "This chair’s t’ help her move again. Give her some freedom back."

When Cryle went on suggesting wooden struts and leather to act as Piper's seat, Swift glanced sidelong at her, then let his gaze flick toward Kaii where he leaned over the machine. The marble fox’s eyes stayed on the work.

"Aye, that might be an option to explore, definitely. We've only just made a prototype when we were still out at sea, so we had limited resources then..."

 

[Kaii Nashirou]

Kaii operated the Lathe with precision, moving the knife precisely thanks to adjusting screws. With that, the brass was machined into sets of small circles to be used for gears later. He in the meanwhile continued explaining precisely how to operate this machine. He slowly showed how each lever changes the way the knife moves. How the whole power transmission happened. He was going to have the two know everything.

But they did talk too between themselves. Kaii decided to interject and elaborate on what the two were talking about. "It isn't a bad idea. But wood? It can easily chip or wear down. Better to put a metal rail, on the bottom of the leather or cotton seat put a smaller metal bar that would slide in and add a safety pin with a small spring that would secure it. That way, it won't be able to fall with bigger forces. In fact... After we are done here, I can calculate that and put a quick blueprint together."

When Kaii was done with forming the thin circles of varied sizes for gears, he stepped away and gestured at the two.

"Well, one of you can now try. I will power it and keep an eye on you. Don't fret asking but also... please, do wear those leather gloves. Losing fur or breaking paws to this isn't worth those few moments you have to spare." He warned, but it was good-intended warning. Kaii saw (and had) his share of accidents. While he wasn't too keen of bureaucracy, he did care for safety while at work.

 

[Cryle]

Cryle stared at the lathe as Kaii worked. All she really offered was a squeaky little harrumph - she was not used to her ideas being... improved. There was no argument made for wood, was there? Not one she wanted to bother with. It wasn't as if she were married to the idea, anyway. She hadn't even asked it out to dinner yet.

Something of a dark cloud crossed the rat's face as she turned the wheel. At Kaii's offer, she gestured to Swifttail to go first. She needed more observation time before trying something herself. She hadn't even spoken for eight years until she was certain she had the pronunciation down...

And her thoughts were becoming unruly, as they often did when her siblings popped up in them.

At the mention of gloves, she took note of her own paws. A sore spot... It was normal for everyone to have fuzzy paws, but hers were, like pretty much every rat who had come before and would come after her, definitely not fuzzy enough. Creepy fingers. Well, your face was creepy, you snot-nosed little twerp, who even goes up to somebeast and just tells them they have creepy paws... stupid ferrets...

No. Pay attention. Listen. Watch. Learn. You spend all this time getting here to this point, don't get weird about your paws now.

Cryle sneezed.

"Sooty."

 

[SwifttailTheFox]

Swifttail’s ears flicked at Cryle’s sneeze and muttered word, and he let out an easy laugh.
"Aye, I’m often covered innit m’self!" he said, giving her a grin before glancing around the great hall. "D’you reckon there’s a wash bay tucked somewhere in here? Be nice t’ scrub some of this off once we’re done."

Still chuckling, he turned back as Kaii finished his warning. Swift gave a small, nervous nod, tugging the gloves onto his paws.
"I’d rather keep me paws, aye."

The moment he stepped up to the lathe, though, the grin faltered. The brass rod spun so fast it made his chest tighten. Every instinct screamed to lean back, keep clear of the blur of metal. But he forced himself closer, recalling Kaii’s steady movements, his voice repeating the steps.

Set the tool depth. Steady on the wheel. Watch the cut, don’t rush it. Stop at the mark. Retract. Reset.

He swallowed and worked the controls. The knife bit, sending a curl of shining brass away. For a heartbeat his heart soared... until he wrenched the wheel too fast and the tool crashed against the rod with a jarring screech. Swift flinched, teeth bared, but steadied again. Another try. Too shallow this time, barely a scratch. Again. A little smoother, but his paw twitched and left the cut uneven.

Still, with every mistake he corrected, the rhythm began to take root. Depth, cut, retract. The pattern settling into his paws, the terror slowly giving way to wonder.

When at last he pulled the tool clear, a crooked groove marked the brass. It was far from pretty, but it was his. His tail wagged in spite of him, ears perked high, a grin breaking wide across his muzzle.
"Gates… I did it! Ha! Clumsy, aye, but it works!"

He stepped back, still grinning, and looked to Cryle. With a flourish of his paw, he offered the controls.
"Your turn, Cryle. Let’s see what ye can make of it."

 

[Kaii Nashirou]

Kaii answered the issue both of his "pupils" mentioned. Being clean was a serious matter after all. "There is a full bathroom here, made for beasts to clean themselves. After work, we should all visit it, there is a lot of things like metal dust that gets into fur and isn't too good to have unless you like having blisters and burn wounds."

When Swift took to the lathe, Kaii observed with care, ready to stop the crank and thus the machine should anything happen. The platinum fox was however careful, much unlike the marble one when he first tried using the lathe in the past. Kaii got to experience less advanced lathes in his past when he exactly wasn't in the best mental space. Thus, he valued efficiency and speed more than his own well-being, to an extend he still did.
Where Swifttail was slow and made mistakes that were a result of inexperience, Kaii in his first attempts was bold, making not too many technical mistakes. He was damn good and made exactly what he was meant to in just two attempts. The issue? He did so at the small cost of two broken knifes and almost breaking his paw. Though the result was correct, the method clearly was lacking the finesse.

It really spoke however of how much Kaii grew over the time. Now he was still the model of efficiency and hard work. Never restful, ever ready, yet no longer he was acting with only goal in mind. He cared for others, for his promises, for what will his work achieve as a whole. Contempation on the matter was further rerinforced as Swift finished, beaming with pride and absolutely excited about his work.

"You did well Swift. Clumsy as it is, you managed through and didn't destroy the knife or lathe! In that regard, you've outclassed a seventeen years old me who got to first touch a lathe in his life." Kaii stated half-jokingly, before he stopped the crank and stepped to investigate Swift's creation. It wasn't perfect of course, and tolerances were something Kaii was afraid to check for, but surely Swift proven that he knows how to handle this tool and Kaii would entrust him working on it.

Now it was turn of the rat-girl who was still very twitchy, Kaii was interested in seeing her work, but he was way more apprehensive at the same time. Steeling his muscles to stop the crank at any point, he observed as they came up to the lathe with calm but stern look. "Cryle, same goes for you. Be patient and precise. Do not rush this."

 

[Cryle]

Against every wish in her bones, Cryle stepped forward. The world dimmed at the edges. Silently, she picked up a pair of gloves, compared them to her paws, and then selected a smaller size. Gingerly, she slipped the sensory deprivation mittens on, suppressing a shudder. Her claws nudged the tips, but the fingers barely caressed hers. No matter.

She tucked her tail about her waist, removed her hat and set it aside, and faced the lathe.

The world's sounds dulled to muffled thuds and whirring.

She shut her eyes and held her arms out. The machine in front of her in her mind's eye fell apart in layers, gears, screws, rods, every little part floating away from the others, becoming two-dimensional strips of paper in a book, then re-assembling. It was not the first lathe she had used, but it was the biggest, newest, and most dangerous. This beast created for war; she had only made a rather janky little telescope and a pocket watch that she'd never gotten to work before being chased away... It already seemed a lifetime ago.

And now she was someone else. She was a fox, her tail and paws fluffy, her tone steady, her stance firm, ears pointy and proud, with exactly eighteen whiskers on each side of her snout.

"I am Gentlebeast Kaii of house Nashirou," she whispered aloud, eyes still closed. Her paws moved forward, grasping, twisting, manoeuvring the machine in her mind. Every action Kaii had performed earlier, mirrored now in her. Precisely. Just... two feet back.

She didn't touch the machine in the real world until she had finished the play-back in her head, the fox's voice narrating every movement to her a second time. Then she opened her eyes, remembered to breathe, and stepped closer, nodding to box foxes either side of her.

"Ready." And quieter, less a whisper than her tongue and mouth moving on their own, the sound barely escaping with the last puff of air from her lungs: "For Kylrie... for Piper..."

She kept her eyes open this time, and did not flinch, even as the little curling shards of brass spun away. She could barely feel through the gloves, but she didn't need to. She copied Kaii's movements exactly as he had done them, in the exact order, for the first of his gears. Her shoulders tensed at first, then relaxed as she fed the brass deeper into the knife.

Her blank expression melted away into something akin to awe and bliss. This was it. Creation. And they had told her she would need to find a male for such things... Gross. Never. She would create her own rat the way she saw fit. A rat of metal and wires. A rat that could be fixed when it broke...

 

[SwifttailTheFox]

Swifttail’s ears pricked at Kaii’s words of praise, and a grin spread across his muzzle before he could rein it in. His tail gave a small, pleased wag. Coming from Kaii, who’d just handled the machine with such certainty, the compliment felt weightier than he wanted to admit. He ducked his head, trying to play it off, though the warmth stayed in his chest.

Then it was Cryle’s turn. Swift leaned back slightly, watching with growing curiosity as the little rat prepared herself. Hat off, tail tucked, paws stretched out like she was about to conjure a spell. He blinked when she shut her eyes and whispered Kaii’s name, confusion tugging at his brow. But as her paws moved, steady and sure, his surprise melted into something closer to awe. She mirrored Kaii’s earlier motions with uncanny precision, each cut neat and measured, as if she’d been born at the lathe.

When she drew back at last, the brass gleamed with clean grooves, straighter and truer than anything he’d managed. Swift’s eyes flicked between her work and her face, then over to Kaii. A grin tugged at his muzzle again, tempered now by respect.
"That looked real clean! What d’ye think, Kaii?"

 

[Kaii Nashirou]

Kaii had to consider what just had happened. He sure knew of some beasts that were capable of being perfect copy-cats, even if they were not felines, but what he just saw spoke of either an attempt of mockery directed at him by somebeast clearly very knowledgeable at the matter or Cryle was just having a very unique type of doing things that included performative arts.

It did show one thing for sure, Cryle knew what they were doing. Kaii stepped over and pulled out the set of his most precise measuring tools. It didn't take too long before he could give a verdict.

"A very clean job indeed Cryle." He confirmed in his flat tone. "Definitely shows you have a skill with lathes. But," Kaii had pointed at the device a bit further away. "The copying lathes are there. They are the ones used in replication. I doubt not your skill at all, you have shown you can use the lathe. Yet my question is, can you use it to create, or copy? What Swifttail did, while maybe not as precise, was his very own. And a true engineer is akin to an artist. In all their work, they have to retain their uniqueness. Copying is something to be left to tools or machinists."

He emanated patience, educative desire to teach what he had known. Kaii simply rolled out the design he had prepared and allowed for the other two beasts to see it. He used a pencil to point at specific parts of the blueprint as he explained now what will happen next. "We need to start with the little moving gears that will allow for the legs to bend and retain the locking capability. We have the brass circles needed for them and as such we now can move to the next task that will require us to cut the tooth spaces. Come with me please."

Soon they were by the next machine, much smaller gear cutting table. Kaii put on one of the circles from the lathe on the vices. There he picked up the measuring compass and a piece of charcoal, using the two to mark out perfect circles on a piece of paper that were marking total depth, pitch depth and working depth as well as circular pitch. It took him a while, but he slowly explained the process. "... and all of that needs to be done because gears do have a very specific type of movement that requires calculating the involute. Or you can draw it all if you know the measurements. Either way it is required to avoid grinding the teeth and causing issues."

Finally, he had a drawing of the gear all done. He could now put it on the brass circle, centre it and clamp the vices, picking up the metal saw. He didn't start cutting yet. "There are more of those to be done. all the measurements are at the schematic, I want you two to calculate and draw the proper gears so you can use it for cutting out the gears we need. I am at your service if you have any questions after my explanations."

 

[Cryle]

Cryle blinked slowly. They had copying lathes? That made... sense. She stared down at her gloved paws, the silvery fur of her cheeks turning a pale pink. She was supposed to feel proud, but she just felt scolded, somehow. But he hadn't said she couldn't copy him! How else did anyone learn, if not copying their teacher? And she had created it. She'd just... been him while doing it...

Yet she said nothing, simply touched the telescope strapped to the front of her baldric. It was a crooked thing, mismatched parts and lenses, reminiscent of some witch's chimney or wizard's hat from silly kit's books. But it worked, and it was hers, and she had made it as a silly kit. That was enough.

She followed after grabbing her hat, half-pondering the design in her head as she twisted it 'round in front of her. Copying... Was it time to ask? Perhaps not just yet... There was still their goal to consider, first. How much of it would they accomplish today? How much would it cost, or were all these materiel free? Would she even be allowed back in here once they found out she didn't belong? Would they allow her to leave with a copy of the designs - if not, would she remember enough to make her own?

She watched stoically as Kaii drew the first paper for the cogs. And winced as he mentioned teeth grinding. She couldn't help it then; she reached into her hat and withdrew a little bag of little pale-yellow triangles and shook a few out directly into her mouth. No teeth grinding here! Just honest candied pineapple chewing.

She offered them both the opened bag, out of politeness, but hoped they'd decline. More pineapple for her.

"Question. Can I remove the gloves now? It will be difficult to do detailed work with them..." She turned her nose towards Swifttail, but didn't meet his eyes. "If so, perhaps I should work on the smaller half of the gears, while you work on the larger ones? My experience really is with the smaller things..."

 

[SwifttailTheFox]

Swifttail nodded slowly as Kaii gave his measured verdict. The lesson about copying versus creating sat heavy in his ears. Truth be told, he’d half expected to be the one scolded more sharply; his crooked cuts were far rougher than Cryle’s clean work. But then again… she had appeared out of nowhere, and it was clear Kaii’s suspicion hadn’t let up since. Maybe that explained the sharper edge.

He let a grin tug at his muzzle anyway, tail-tip flicking.
"Gates. Got a way’s t’go meself before I get as good as either of ye, honestly!"

Cryle’s sudden unexpected offer of candied pineapple, from her hat, no less, pulled his ears askew. Swift chuckled under his breath, politely shaking his head. Though in his own head, he totally thought: Hat pineapple… best not risk it... Who even knows where else it’s been!

When she then asked about the gloves, Swift tugged at his own pair, then glanced between her bare paws and Kaii.
"Best ask the Master Engineer that one. But… they’re mostly so fur doesn’t get caught, aye? An’ you haven’t much t’catch in the first place." His tone was light, but his eyes softened; she’d looked so uncomfortable in them that he couldn’t help but speak up.

The talk of splitting the gears drew an easier wag from his tail.
"Aye. I think that is fair. I’d best be startin’ big at m’ current skill level." He wasn’t about to fuss with the fiddly ones just yet.

As Kaii laid out the schematics, Swift leaned closer, ears tall, chest tight with anticipation. Excitement and nerves tangled in his belly, the same dizzy rush as waiting in line for a thrill ride. This time there’d be no copying, no following step for step. This would be his cut, his gear. His chance to prove he could make something truly his own.

 

[Kaii Nashirou]

Kaii turned and looked at the two of his pupils. His dearest friend and the rat-girl who both, to his appreciation, made very valid points based on assessment of their skills. After denying the pineapple himself with a gesture of his paw, he nodded and at last, turned to Swifttail first. "That is a very good idea. I wish however to see you do the mathematics and sketching behind it Swift. I doubt not your mind, neither the skill of your paws. Plenty times you did show me they are more capable than I am. But in this field, no matter how skilled you are, the numbers you need to calculate will always define what you need to do. After all, it is precision work."

He offered his pencil to his friend, alongside the measuring compass, keeping his flat tone, albeit highlighted with passion for both his work and teaching alike. "And do not diminish your own skills. You know me enough to tell I value passion, desire to learn and ability to think way more than actual skill. If I were to do just examine the effects, my own craft would never be something I would enjoy."

Turning now to Cryle, Kaii slightly leaned to be at their level. "Swifttail said it the best, if there are no fast moving parts, you can ditch the gloves, albeit at your own risk. Always good to have a protective layer after all. But with smaller paws, for sure working on smaller things is reasonable. Just also make sure to show me all the calculations before you begin."

For lack of social intelligence, Kaii was rather observant and he did notice their paw wandering to the telescope. It wasn't anything phenomenal, but it was the proof of what Kaii spoke of before. He politely extended his paw. "Before that however, may I see this telescope? I will let you observe my personal craft if you will allow me to do so. The way a beast creates speaks a lot of them after all."

 

[Cryle]

A whirlwind of emotion! Elation - they didn't want any candy; she dumped another few pineapple triangles into her mouth. Distress - he just had to bring up the weird paws thing again... Betrayal - Swifttail was to do all the math? But that was the fun part...! Relief - After tucking the bag of candy back into the inside of her hat and securing it with several pins, she yanked off the gloves and all but hurled them away (delicately placed them nearby... but in her mind's eye, they achieved orbit and left glove-shaped holes in the ceiling.) Followed then by joy - Ohhh, Swifttail just had to do the math for his own half of the gears. Yay, math. Then, finally, a bittersweet cocktail of nervousness and delight...

She gingerly unclipped the telescope from her baldric. The last time anybeast else had touched it, she had bitten their ear clean through. Grubby-pawed brothers. But... Well, this was a beast of science, and he was showing interest.

Her paws trembled a little as she held the crooked thing out towards Kaii. Half copper tubes, half whittled wood, mismatched in every aspect, but with a slightly collapsible frame, which she displayed as she gave it a twist and a yank, briefly aligning the parts so they would slide out and add another third to its length. The crookedness is what somehow kept the whole thing from collapsing on itself again.

"Be... gentle," she said, and winced as she did, because of course he would, wouldn't he? This was not some bully who planned to use it to smack a fish to death. She also reached into the toolkit on her belt and pulled out several spare parts - lenses and eyepieces, which she fanned out between her thin, nimble fingers almost like playing cards.

"I've several thicknesses and smoked the glass on some for daytime observations, this one is best for planets, this one is for stars, this one is for the moon, this almost black one is for the sun, but not recommended. This eyepiece is for my left eye, that one is for my right eye, because they're different eyes, the knob on the side there is to focus the lenses, this twiddly bit here holds the lens against the inner screw-threads, and this flat part keeps it from rolling if you rest it against a railing, and these little hooks are for claws so you don't drop it, and I made these clips for my baldric, see, so I can get to it with just one paw, and on this lens, notice the little etching? Those are distance measurements, the longer line is for the horizon, well - I'm not sure what I was meant to measure, but it sounded like a good idea at the time, this lens, see how it's colored, can you? I can't, but it has no curvature at all, so it can go on top of other lenses, it's so green things will pop more, I have difficulty seeing green things, and red too, I don't know what red is supposed to look like at all, but this lens helps see the circles around one of the outer planets, it's hard to spot with this telescope because it's a travel telescope, but if you ever get a chance to use a larger stationary one, they have them on Magh, you're not allowed to really, but I know the way in to use it, anyway, you can really see the circles on that planet, I was going to find the library later today to see if there's book on planets and if anyone named it yet or else I promised I'd name it Kylrie after one of my sisters, I'm not allowed in the library on Magh anymore after the late fees incident, that's just what I call it but actually there were no late fees I just stole the books because they wouldn't let me pay to bring them home or to read them inside, it's not really a library and more of ... oh, but if you combine these two lenses but slip them in reverse, you can kind of magnify smaller things, that's what I've been researching lately, they call them 'micro' scopes, and I have this idea, once I find some nice soft silk and sturdy leather, I'm going to replace my glasses with some goggles and one eye will have a microscope attachment and the other will have a telescopic attachment, but both adjustable so they can start out at the same distance for normal seeing, did you know silk is made from bugs."

Her cheeks were no longer pink. In fact they were a rather dark blue. She wobbled, and then slowly sat down on the floor, blinking as the world throbbed and spun around her.

 

[SwifttailTheFox]

Swifttail took the compass and pencil gingerly, the weight of them heavier than they should have been. His ears folded back, tail slowing, as the request sank in. Math. Precision. Numbers. He was barely comfortable adding tallies when smithing… how could he possibly calculate gears?

He turned the pencil between his claws, fidgeting. After a long pause, his voice came out low and hesitant.
"Kaii… I’m not sure I can do this. I’ve not much learnin’ in numbers. Back home, I only ever learned enough t’ count stock and barter fair."

The admission hung between them, heavier than iron. His shoulders sagged.
"Maybe I should just stick t’ the forge instead. That’s work I know. This… feels too big fer me paws."

Kaii said nothing at first, his attention turning toward Cryle as she held out her telescope. Swifttail stayed quiet, paw tightening on the pencil as the little rat launched into a dizzy flood of words about lenses, fittings, etched lines, even silk from bugs. She spoke with such wild passion that she was wobbling on her paws!

Swift’s whiskers twitched. It wasn’t that he’d never performed sums before, but the sheer scale and complexity of what Kaii had set before them… it felt like a mountain. One slip, one wrong number, and the whole design could fail. The weight of it threatened to smother him. Yet as his eyes followed Cryle’s crooked telescope in Kaii’s paws, mismatched, imperfect, but clever and uniquely hers, a thought stirred in his mind. Maybe creation didn’t need to be flawless from the start.

He knew Kaii had heard every word. His friend’s silence was heavy, deliberate, buying time as he examined Cryle’s work. That deference was welcome, giving Swift a moment to breathe… but it was agonizing too, knowing his confession still hung between them, waiting for an answer.

Then Cryle toppled flat with a little wobble. Swift blinked, ears perking, and the corner of his mouth twitched. He stifled a laugh, mistaking her collapse as pure theatrics after such a breathless display. Gates, she’s a dramatic one!

 

[Kaii Nashirou]

Kaii promptly set the telescope on the desk to the side and moved to hold Cryle that showed the symptoms of asphyxiation. "Take a moment and breath. You need not to say it all at once. I am not going to bore and leave after I asked a question." Ever-prepared Kaii had some water in his tool bag, both for cleaning and drinking if needed. He took out the flask and opened it with his free paw, offering it to Cryle. While he processed all that she said, he first decided to respond to his friend.

Looking up to him, Kaii shook his head. "It is okay Swift. No beast is perfect nor knows it all. The question simply is... would you like to learn it? Believe me, numbers may seem daunting, but same can be achieved by precise paw movements with a compass. Maybe you think you will not manage, I am sure you will. Maybe not immediately, but that is given. I too would not know it if I didn't train for the past twenty-one years and counting. There is no shame in making mistakes if you desire to delve into the question of why they are mistakes and seek amending them."

While the words were sincere, Swift could've noticed that Kaii's tail limped a bit. After all, the marble fox did believe in his own words, but he regularly failed to apply them to himself.

Kaii however now helped Cryle to stand up again and after making sure she can stand on her own, let go of her. "Cryle, let me give you a piece of advice. From one beast with mind that is unable to quiet to another... It is clear to me you have put a lot of work and passion into it, thus I now know you are a mind seeking answer akin to mine. But it is important skill to also learn how to at least for a moment disconnect from it. Questions yield more questions. Answers are never enough if not thoroughly made to the barest parts. I know that well. Knowing how to stop that stream and focus on one specific question however... or even to let your mind catch up to your own thoughts? You may conisder it stupid, but it does help by a lot. And while time is scarce and finite resource, it is worth to regather your thoughts for the sake of staying on topic even."

He then pulled out his pen and again stepped to the desk. "Now. Cryle, I do believe in your skills. Show me how you can tackle the smallest gears and their math. Swift, pay attention now. I will show you exactly how it is done."

 

[SwifttailTheFox]

Swifttail spun the compass in his paw, claws tracing the cold metal edge. The tools felt foreign in his paw. His ears dipped low as Kaii spoke, each word meant to reassure but instead stirring that old ache of inadequacy. He wasn’t afraid of the work itself, just the thought of getting it wrong before he even began.

He gave a hesitant nod, voice quiet.
"Aye... I’d like t’ learn it, Kaii. Maybe jus’ need t’ see it done a few times, get the feel of it first."

He at least knew how to learn by observation. His old master smith Oren Tidewell had taught him that back in Iskatyut. The old sea otter would take up a bar of iron and say nothing for hours, just hammer and heat, over and over. The metal molding slowly like clay in a distinct process from start to finish. That was how Swift learned: through the rhythm, the feel, the slow build of instinct. Maybe this wasn’t so different from Cryle miming Kaii at the lathe after all.

He straightened a little, tail curling behind him as he stepped closer to the desk. Cryle was steady again, her energy slowly re-centering while Kaii gathered his instruments. Watching her work reminded him that every beast here had their own struggle. His was patience, hers was stillness, and Kaii’s, perhaps, was the burden of his own brilliance.

The marble fox moved with deliberate grace, setting his tools just so, and Swift’s eyes followed every motion. The tension in his chest began to ease, replaced by that same quiet thrill he felt when he first stepped into the massive shop... the anticipation before creation.

Maybe numbers were just another kind of rhythm, he thought. One he could also one day master.