Open Lake Horatio Contemplative Waters (Open for 1)

[Seto Kurama]

The Pantone Demon

Hearing his comrade he was going to log out, to take the easy way out, he smirked as he tilted his head over his shoulder towards Alonso.

Getting cold feet on me are ya? And here I thought the almighty Alonso could handle it!

He mused in a humorous fashion before turning his attention back to the half way completed log cabin fire. It wouldn't be long now, only a few minutes at tops before It was finished, than the two could relax or himself If Alonso decided to hop off. Considering his companion whom didn't take this game anywhere as serious as him or Lucia, It wasn't much of a surprise. Compared to him, he stayed in this world as long as he could, usually the equivalent of eight hours or so in the other world. He didn't often sleep well so It didn't matter much in the other world, and with Michiko usually around for the majority of the day to help take care of his daughter, he didn't have much need for sleep. Since his wife disallowed him from participating in his favorite past time, even at the academy, he had a even bigger excuse to get as little sleep as possible. As such, he often got his sleep here even If it didn't translate to his other body. Sitting there in front of their log cabin fire, his grin was beginning to wane after thinking about his other world self yet It found itself reinvigorated when Alonso made mention that he had him at the word "efficient". His statement reminded him a little of himself in the other world, having a desire himself to be highly efficient himself when he was teaching his students. That made his grin turn into a smile, especially when he remembered Alonso was willing to stay as long as possible to learn this. This wouldn't take long but still. Of course, he had a little laugh when Alonso was showing a concern for his life but tried reassuring him he wasn't at that "age" to have a mid life crisis, hopefully yet.

I think you be fine. You don't seem like the type that's trying to act younger than they are, or trying to make up for any time you lost in your youth. I wouldn't consider having free time much of a issue either. I'm ten years older in the other world and I got more free time than I know what to do with most of the time.

Remembering they still had a fire to finish, he gave Alonso a gesture via a nod from his head to follow along.

Back on topic though, a log cabin fire pretty simple to make, not to mention stable compared to something like the regular teepee fire which tends to collapse on itself once It's been burned through enough. As you can clearly tell, a log cabin fire is for all intents and purposes, just a make shift, square fire pit where you lay smooth like branches on top of one another in the form of "layers". All you have to remember really is that each layer is laid differently. The bottom branches that make the base always run parallel than the next layer, perpendicular. You simply rinse and repeat that until you think have enough. Obviously the more you add, the longer the fire will general last.

With his right index finger, he than pointed towards the center of their incomplete log cabin fire before speaking once more.

Once your finished with the frame, you want to put something extremely flammable within the center like dead, dried out grass, bark etc. That will function as your ignition of sorts when you get an actual fire going. For the efficiency part, you can build a teepee fire within your log cabin fire. Don't worry, it's not as hard as it sounds. You just get several large branches and stack them against each other in the same way a real teepee looks when it's put up. It's not required of course but it will help keep the firing going. On the downside however, It does make cooking harder since you can't simply lay whatever you want to cook across the fire. Well not entirely true if you wanted to make a rectangular log cabin fire with much longer branches but that's more work obviously.

Upon reaching the end, he made a grin with his eyebrows raised.

Now comes the hard part, starting the fire itself. Without tools like matches or flint and steel, you only got two options and no, there not fun. The first is what we all used at the dawn of time, friction. Simply grab two branches and rub them together quickly like until you get a fire going. The second method is reflection. If you something shiny like a weapon or something akin to a glass lens, deflect the sun's light on your tinder or whatever you got for flammable materials.

Tilting his head in Alonso's direction, he crossed his arms.

Wanna try? It's better If you experience it yourself than me just telling you, and yes, like I said, getting it actually going probably won't be fun. If anything, it's a royal chore without certain abilities.

Switching his focus on the log cabin fire, he was curious what Alonso would do. He could complete the frame easily but actually getting it ignited once they got tinder would be the difficult part. Aside from his abilities such as his mastery of speed, he wouldn't have much too difficulties due to having done it more times than he could count but Alonso? He already knew he was most likely going to get frustrated or worse depending on how easy his temper took take control. Well there was only one way to find out.

@Alonso Thorlion

 

[Alonso Thorlion]

He remained quiet throughout the demonstration and put on his best student face. By student face that meant his usual stoic visage likely to scare random children who did not know any better. The combination of layers and the structure seemed to be nothing more than a study in architecture, just with sticks and dirt. Simple, yet with a complicated twist. "I don't exactly have anything to reflect, so I just hope I don't break the sticks before making a spark when it comes to lighting it up," Alonso replied as he gazed between each area of the makeshift fire.

But now was the time to see if he learned properly. "We can just flip the fish around when cooking it. Or shove a stick through its mouth. But let's see here." The large man crouched over the fire and started the initial layout. What was already organized proved useful, although, the Felis began poking each branch to make small adjustments. He wanted the perpendicular nature of the cabin to be as precise as he can make it. Making the cabin part was the easiest procedure out of everything regarding the creation of a campfire.

In the back of his mind he considered how primitive this was compared to the grander bonfires a larger group may require.

For now it was satisfactory for their needs. Mixing up dried leaves in bark inside of the fire cabin, his thick fingers pressed and pushed the material around until it was too his liking. Every so often Alonso took a pause, realigning both the sticks in the dry material, as though trying to find that perfect balance. He was at a slower pace than what someone may desire, but if Seto had a problem with his speed oh well. The man warned his friend he enjoyed efficiency after all.

The tepee part of the building was his next step. Grabbing up a few sticks, the feline man gazed between them and the inside of his cabin, brows furrowed. "These need to stand up somehow ..." And that was when it clicked. Placing a few sticks back on the ground, Alonso took about three of them and began to test out the simple form of the tepee, then with some manner of force shoved the sticks into the ground to keep them standing. Content with the outcome, he snagged the other sticks and did something similar.

"Think I'm almost done here," he said. By now he was confident in his overly precise creation. Grabbing up two sticks, the man began to furiously rub them together. And again. Okay, the next time should do it. His brow decided to twitch. "Come on fucker light up."

@Seto Kurama

 

[Seto Kurama]

Critical Failure

1

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The Pantone Demon

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Not wanting to disturb his companion's concentration, he kept himself initially silent as he watched him at work. He kept his eyes over the fire, watching his progress, but in doing so, It became abundantly clear this was going to take time. That was fine however, It wasn't as If he had been expecting anything less, though that did make him question how long It take. With that line of thinking, he would find himself challenged as the moments quickly turned to seconds than eventually minutes but It didn't deter him from studying closely. Despite the dangers the forest could provide, he kept his eyes over the fire, watching Alonso use that massive intelligence of his to complete the assignment he had given him. With laser like focus, he first laid his branches upon his own with pinpoint accuracy than as If that wasn't good enough, he went to work, making sure they were all proportioned correctly with one another before moving onto the tinder for the ignition. With one hand, he took the bark he had torn off from branches and mixed them together before placing them at the bottom of the pit. Surprisingly, when his friend moved onto building the teepee, he found himself a little impressed by how fast he had constructed it, given that many of the leftover twigs and branches were of various sizes. He vaguely remembered not having such luck the first time he had made one. He ended up going cold that night. He sighed to himself, thinking of the past, than as Alonso called out for him, citing he was nearly finished, he found himself yanked back into the present, much to his delight. Turning back his attention on his companion, he eyed his hands as he attempted to make a fire for the first time yet failed.

He tried again.....yet in epic proportions, not only did he fail to ignite the fire, he ended up breaking the two sticks in half and accidently hitting the side of the fire with one of his hands. With a sympathetic smile, he placed his hand on Alonso's shoulder.

Well....don't feel too bad, no one gets it on their first several tries. Best to wait a few minutes before trying again.

Knowing frustration would most likely settle in, he would try to defuse it, even If he knew that might be a impossibility, given the task. While he waited for Alonso, he pulled himself off the ground and made his way over to the side of the fire he damage and went to work. Luckily for the both of them, through careful pushing and pulling of a few branches & twigs, It only took a minute of small adjustments before It was good as new. Once he was finished inspecting, he turned back to Alonso.

Danger adverted. Did you wanna try again? Or are you done? If so, I won't fault you for it. I know it can be a pain in the ass. If that's the case, grab a decent looking stick and shove it down it's throat. With the teepee you built, we won't be able to lay across the fire with a few sticks.

@Alonso Thorlion