Post by ‡§åkørü‡ on Oct 17, 2010 10:15:25 GMT -8
Ts'kal, ever since Aburoqaph's hijack of the second lesson, had been extremely careful to wake up before his simourv did. Every morning he followed the same routine so that the silly rainbow wouldn't try to teach the candidates again. Thinking about this, the candidatemaster shook his head with a soft sigh. Some of the students had found Aburo's attempted lesson funny, but he was pretty sure that most of them were just confused and probably annoyed by it. Unlike him, they had no idea just how random the little rainbow could be. The lesson didn't even begin to show off his oddness.
Rubbing a towel over his wet hair, Ts'kal walked back to his eyling, and stood surveying the mass of colourful feathers before him. Aburo, sensing the scrutiny, rolled over with a happy sigh, and flopped a wing out towards his rider. Mine! the rainbow trilled, scooting along on his side until he was close enough for Ts'kal to touch. Insistently he stretched out his nose for petting, and warbled when he got what he wanted. Wriggling in delight, the rainbow rolled onto his belly and, when His tried to walk past, extended a wing to stop him. Nope nope! More petting first, Mine! Clearly thinking himself very bright for coming up with this idea, the simourv shuffled closer and closer, adjusting his wing so that no matter what he did, the candidatemaster couldn't get through.
Eventually he relented. Leaning over his bonded's giant head, Ts'kal ruffled the feathers enthusiastically and played with Aburo's ears. The latter waggled his free ear, and, taking to the game with glee, tried to flick his ears out of His' reach. It didn't work, of course, and soon enough the candidatemaster had flattened both ears together on top of the rainbow's head, making him look a little like he was wearing a bonnet. "Ha. Got your ears, Aburo! What do you say to that?" Laughing, the rider leaned over and, holding the ears in place with one hand, hugged his simourv's great head with the other.
I'm pretty now, Mine! It's like I have a hat! Mine, Mine! Tie one of the bedsheets around my head! Aburoqaph trilled excitedly, apparently struck by some 'genius' new idea. Suspicious, his rider eyed him and released his ears, which immediately perked up happily. "Why?" he demanded shortly, backing away as though his rainbow were holding something dangerous. "I don't want your silly feathers stuck to my bedsheets, Aburo!" Hoping this was a convincing enough argument, the rider narrowed his eyes, but to no avail. His inventive simourv promptly explained that the bedsheet was for sanitation, and to keep blood off of his fluffy red feathers, so that Ts'kal wouldn't have to clean them later. As soon as His pointed out that it was a ridiculous idea because the sheets themselves would just get dirty, the rainbow deflected the argument with the illogical fact that the bedsheet would make him look pretty. He wanted to know what it was like to be pretty!
Defeated, and cornered against the wall until he gave in, the candidatemaster unhappily pulled two of the sheets off his bed, tied them together, and wrapped them around Aburo's head, tying them under his chin so that he rather resembled an old lady with a bonnet. Horrified by this act, Ts'kal seized his basket of knives and fled down the hall, hastily calling for his simourv to call the candidates and then catch a few birds to skin and gut.
Uppity, candidates! To the feeding pens, for tasty meats and stuff! This announced, the rainbow launched himself off his ledge, bedsheets waving in the wind, and soared down to do as Ts'kal had asked. When the candidates arrived, there would be ten ducks lying on the ground, and a dead cow too. Sitting proudly over them was Aburoqaph, fluttering his wings, and between his forelegs was Ts'kal, whose face was suspiciously pink.
"Candidates," the teacher intoned, trying to ignore the ridiculous bedsheet-wearing simourv above him, "today you're learning how to gut animals - namely birds, but we also have a practice cow here, as you can see. If you want extra practice on cattle, you can team up and work on that. If you need another, Aburo will get you another one." Nodding slightly, Ts'kal set the basket of knives down on the ground. Each one was short, thick and very sharp - ideal for skinning small game. Dearly hoping that the students were looking at him and not the rainbow, he gestured to the bucket of knives. "Now, each of you candidates take a skinning knife, if you haven't got one of your own. I will demonstrate how to skin and gut the bird, then how to pulverize the meat. After that, you will each try it on your own bird."
Picking up the extra duck on the ground, and brandishing his knife, the candidatemaster went to work on the bird, explaining as he went. "Since you're going to be skinning the bird - or you can pluck it if you really want to, but that takes a long time - you want to make sure you don't wreck your bird. Also, you don't want your simourv to be eating feathers until it's older. You can begin by cutting off your duck's head-" this he did, and tossed the head aside, "and then cut down the breast to the anus. Make sure you don't cut too deeply because you do not want to sever the intestines. No matter what you're skinning, do not puncture the intestines." That said, he went on, listening to Aburo's happy trilling as he surveyed the duck head lying on the ground. Clearly there was going to be a gruesome little feast once all the birds were beheaded. "Once you've done that, cut off the legs at the joints, and remove the wings. From there, it's very much like skinning out any other animal, but on a smaller scale. To demonstrate: just hold onto the skin, begin cutting, and peel it back so that you can slice it off as you go. If you need a partner to help you skin it, that's fine. Once you have the skin off, put it over there, next to that rock." Gesturing in that direction, Ts'kal smiled slightly, surveying his bird. It wasn't perfect, but he hadn't done anything to ruin it. He didn't expect perfection, just competence. "Gutting is easy enough - you already know how to gut a cow or other four-legged animal, and it's close to the same thing with a bird. Bend it backwards, and cut through the belly. Cut around the anus too, so that the intestines will come loose, and then reach into the belly. Find the esophagus and trachea, hold onto them, and cut through them. Then just pull out the guts and dispose of them."
"Now," the candidatemaster ordered, "you learn how to pulverize the meat. If you've done it before, it's quite easy. You can do it with your knife, but that can be difficult, especially if it's a small knife like the ones we've got here. You can use a rock - make sure it's clean! - or a meat hammer, too. I haven't got any meat hammers so you're stuck with the primitive art of rock-wielding today." Pointing to the ground, where he'd amassed a pile of medium-sized round rocks, clean and lying in a patch of grass, Ts'kal moved to pick one up. He'd dragged a big, flat rock up here yesterday and scrubbed it clean, and there was room for several people to sit around it and smash their birds. "Cut the meat off your bird," he did so, lying the strips neatly on the flat rock, "and spread them out so they won't mush into each other. It really doesn't matter, but it's easier to pulverize one piece of meat at a time. Once you've done that, make sure they're small enough to feed to your simourv - no more than a handspan in length and preferably smaller. To crush them, just hit them with the rock. Over and over again, until they're tender. Once you've done that, give the pieces to your new bonded - they'll be hungry." Smashing his own strips of meat into submission (they weren't perfect but they would do), Ts'kal soon finished, and then picked up the finished products. "Once you're done, feel free to chat with one another until everyone is finished. Go to it, everyone."
Apparently finished with the teaching part of the lesson, Ts'kal scooped all his bits of duck together, and offered them to Aburoqaph. The bonnet-wearing simourv trilled happily, and swallowed all of the pieces together, at which the candidatemaster grinned and turned back to the candidates. "Also, give the meat to me so I can feed it to Aburo once you're done." After this, he retired to a spot a few feet away, and stood to make sure no one did anything stupid with their knives.
[/center]Rubbing a towel over his wet hair, Ts'kal walked back to his eyling, and stood surveying the mass of colourful feathers before him. Aburo, sensing the scrutiny, rolled over with a happy sigh, and flopped a wing out towards his rider. Mine! the rainbow trilled, scooting along on his side until he was close enough for Ts'kal to touch. Insistently he stretched out his nose for petting, and warbled when he got what he wanted. Wriggling in delight, the rainbow rolled onto his belly and, when His tried to walk past, extended a wing to stop him. Nope nope! More petting first, Mine! Clearly thinking himself very bright for coming up with this idea, the simourv shuffled closer and closer, adjusting his wing so that no matter what he did, the candidatemaster couldn't get through.
Eventually he relented. Leaning over his bonded's giant head, Ts'kal ruffled the feathers enthusiastically and played with Aburo's ears. The latter waggled his free ear, and, taking to the game with glee, tried to flick his ears out of His' reach. It didn't work, of course, and soon enough the candidatemaster had flattened both ears together on top of the rainbow's head, making him look a little like he was wearing a bonnet. "Ha. Got your ears, Aburo! What do you say to that?" Laughing, the rider leaned over and, holding the ears in place with one hand, hugged his simourv's great head with the other.
I'm pretty now, Mine! It's like I have a hat! Mine, Mine! Tie one of the bedsheets around my head! Aburoqaph trilled excitedly, apparently struck by some 'genius' new idea. Suspicious, his rider eyed him and released his ears, which immediately perked up happily. "Why?" he demanded shortly, backing away as though his rainbow were holding something dangerous. "I don't want your silly feathers stuck to my bedsheets, Aburo!" Hoping this was a convincing enough argument, the rider narrowed his eyes, but to no avail. His inventive simourv promptly explained that the bedsheet was for sanitation, and to keep blood off of his fluffy red feathers, so that Ts'kal wouldn't have to clean them later. As soon as His pointed out that it was a ridiculous idea because the sheets themselves would just get dirty, the rainbow deflected the argument with the illogical fact that the bedsheet would make him look pretty. He wanted to know what it was like to be pretty!
Defeated, and cornered against the wall until he gave in, the candidatemaster unhappily pulled two of the sheets off his bed, tied them together, and wrapped them around Aburo's head, tying them under his chin so that he rather resembled an old lady with a bonnet. Horrified by this act, Ts'kal seized his basket of knives and fled down the hall, hastily calling for his simourv to call the candidates and then catch a few birds to skin and gut.
Uppity, candidates! To the feeding pens, for tasty meats and stuff! This announced, the rainbow launched himself off his ledge, bedsheets waving in the wind, and soared down to do as Ts'kal had asked. When the candidates arrived, there would be ten ducks lying on the ground, and a dead cow too. Sitting proudly over them was Aburoqaph, fluttering his wings, and between his forelegs was Ts'kal, whose face was suspiciously pink.
"Candidates," the teacher intoned, trying to ignore the ridiculous bedsheet-wearing simourv above him, "today you're learning how to gut animals - namely birds, but we also have a practice cow here, as you can see. If you want extra practice on cattle, you can team up and work on that. If you need another, Aburo will get you another one." Nodding slightly, Ts'kal set the basket of knives down on the ground. Each one was short, thick and very sharp - ideal for skinning small game. Dearly hoping that the students were looking at him and not the rainbow, he gestured to the bucket of knives. "Now, each of you candidates take a skinning knife, if you haven't got one of your own. I will demonstrate how to skin and gut the bird, then how to pulverize the meat. After that, you will each try it on your own bird."
Picking up the extra duck on the ground, and brandishing his knife, the candidatemaster went to work on the bird, explaining as he went. "Since you're going to be skinning the bird - or you can pluck it if you really want to, but that takes a long time - you want to make sure you don't wreck your bird. Also, you don't want your simourv to be eating feathers until it's older. You can begin by cutting off your duck's head-" this he did, and tossed the head aside, "and then cut down the breast to the anus. Make sure you don't cut too deeply because you do not want to sever the intestines. No matter what you're skinning, do not puncture the intestines." That said, he went on, listening to Aburo's happy trilling as he surveyed the duck head lying on the ground. Clearly there was going to be a gruesome little feast once all the birds were beheaded. "Once you've done that, cut off the legs at the joints, and remove the wings. From there, it's very much like skinning out any other animal, but on a smaller scale. To demonstrate: just hold onto the skin, begin cutting, and peel it back so that you can slice it off as you go. If you need a partner to help you skin it, that's fine. Once you have the skin off, put it over there, next to that rock." Gesturing in that direction, Ts'kal smiled slightly, surveying his bird. It wasn't perfect, but he hadn't done anything to ruin it. He didn't expect perfection, just competence. "Gutting is easy enough - you already know how to gut a cow or other four-legged animal, and it's close to the same thing with a bird. Bend it backwards, and cut through the belly. Cut around the anus too, so that the intestines will come loose, and then reach into the belly. Find the esophagus and trachea, hold onto them, and cut through them. Then just pull out the guts and dispose of them."
"Now," the candidatemaster ordered, "you learn how to pulverize the meat. If you've done it before, it's quite easy. You can do it with your knife, but that can be difficult, especially if it's a small knife like the ones we've got here. You can use a rock - make sure it's clean! - or a meat hammer, too. I haven't got any meat hammers so you're stuck with the primitive art of rock-wielding today." Pointing to the ground, where he'd amassed a pile of medium-sized round rocks, clean and lying in a patch of grass, Ts'kal moved to pick one up. He'd dragged a big, flat rock up here yesterday and scrubbed it clean, and there was room for several people to sit around it and smash their birds. "Cut the meat off your bird," he did so, lying the strips neatly on the flat rock, "and spread them out so they won't mush into each other. It really doesn't matter, but it's easier to pulverize one piece of meat at a time. Once you've done that, make sure they're small enough to feed to your simourv - no more than a handspan in length and preferably smaller. To crush them, just hit them with the rock. Over and over again, until they're tender. Once you've done that, give the pieces to your new bonded - they'll be hungry." Smashing his own strips of meat into submission (they weren't perfect but they would do), Ts'kal soon finished, and then picked up the finished products. "Once you're done, feel free to chat with one another until everyone is finished. Go to it, everyone."
Apparently finished with the teaching part of the lesson, Ts'kal scooped all his bits of duck together, and offered them to Aburoqaph. The bonnet-wearing simourv trilled happily, and swallowed all of the pieces together, at which the candidatemaster grinned and turned back to the candidates. "Also, give the meat to me so I can feed it to Aburo once you're done." After this, he retired to a spot a few feet away, and stood to make sure no one did anything stupid with their knives.
