[TFCarving] Carving Contest
Saiya huffed in annoyance as she closed the lid to her carving gear. Of course now of all times would be when her equipment needed replacing when she required its services for a festival contest. She’ll have to buy proper gear another day, for now, it was time to be creative! Afterall, you can make anything yourself if you really try. Plus, there were tons of free items lying around that could work temporarily. For example, the right sharpened seashell as the blade, a sturdy stick, and some vine or rope should work! If not, perhaps some sharpened scales? Hmm, definitely a tentative backup plan. Unfortunately, she had leant her sanding kit to her mother earlier, so whatever she finds would have to be pre-sharpened without its assistance. With her tentative plan in motion, Saiya set out for the day.
Exiting her abode, the purple otter trotted her way towards the sandy shores. Several close inspections later, mainly testing her grip and smacking it on a tree trunk, Saiya managed to find a comfortable yet sturdy stick along with some good looking vines! She’ll have to cut them a little bit to prevent any mishaps with the impending tool but that’s fine! Upon arriving at the breezy shores, the ottagi took a deep breath of the lovely fresh air.
“Okay, let’s see what seashells are around for me to work with,” Saiya muttered to herself as she scanned the shoreline. About an hour later had the space-themed otter frowning dangerously as she tossed yet another rounded shell over her shoulder. Not a single one so far had the straight, sharp edge she was looking for! Sure, most shells were rounded and thus harmless, yet why couldn’t she find one meant for cutting? Well, she had found a few, but they were thin, easily breakable little shells that wouldn’t stand cutting a gourd or hardened fruit such as a pineapple.
Glub, glub
Huh? Turning towards the salt waters, she found her pufferfish friend waving lazy at her. Ah, that’s right, she was supposed to come back to collect her house mate soon. ‘Wait, maybe Sparkle can help me! I put her out here this morning so she has to have seen something that’ll help before I take her back to look for carving potentials,’ Saiya thought hopefully.
“Hey Sparkle, had fun today?” The otter inquired of her tiny friend. A few blubs with a happy little circle swim was her response. “I’m glad! Do you think you can do me a favor? By chance, would you happen to have seen any sharp shells? Scales would work too!”
The pufferfish gave a very accurate ‘I’m tired’ look before turning back towards the ocean in what appeared to be a thoughtful gaze. Saiya could also be mistaken as a ‘can I run to freedom’. Sparkle disappeared into the water with a mighty splash. ‘Man, a swim sounds good now… no, focus Saiya!’ Returning to her previous search, the otter felt herself losing hope as each shell showed to be too brittle or too soft edged. Should she try banging it on a tree in hopes it breaks correctly? Some of these shells were actually quite pretty despite their delicateness…
Glub, blub!
Turning around, the space-themed otter found her pufferfish trying to scoot a straight cut shell from the waves carrying her hard work back into the ocean’s depths. Dumping her small wooden bucket of measly shells, Saiya scooted over to her fish friend to investigate the shell. It was nicely thick with two straight cuts on each side to give a rather sharp pointy in addition to having the classic ridged back. Perfect!
“This is just what I need, Sparkle! You’ve saved me once again,” her tail wagged happily to mimic her words. Scooping some water into the empty bucket, Sparkle jumped into it with little fanfare.
“You must be tired, let’s get you back home!”
After carefully placing Sparkle into her aquarium house, grabbing a quick bite to eat, and crafting the knife, Saiya once again left her house to find something worth carving into. Truthfully, she’s not certain her crafted knife could withstand something like a coconut. Thus, she ruled out any food with an extremely hard outer shell. That mainly left gourds and fruits such as pineapples. She wasn’t the biggest fan of pineapples though. Apples were too small but would show off her attention to detail. Hmm.
“Saiya!” A voice called loudly. Looking up, she saw her friend Rook happily waving paw and tail at her. Returning the gesture, she returned his greeting.
“What are you doing?” He inquired curiously.
“Trying to find something to carve into. I’ve ruled out coconuts and pineapples so far. Have any suggestions?”
“Hmm…. oh! I did see a gourd patch nearby!” The monochrome otter clapped once in remembrance.
“It’s not a farmer’s gourd patch, is it?” Saiya inquired curiously.
“I didn’t see any house nearby?” Rook replied easily. Well, she had the funds to pay for one gourd if needed. “If this pans out, I’ll owe you a few minnows. Lead the way!”
The route was definitely closer than Saiya had expected with no houses in sight that she could tell. The duo spent their time looking through the patch eagerly. Rook’s imagination ran wild as he tried to compare the food to something. One was lumpy with lots of round edges, ‘doesn’t this one look like a cloud!’ Rook commented eagerly. The space-themed otter had found that one particularly interesting, yet no matter how she turned it the item looked like a rolling disaster to carve into. “Imagine this thing rolling down a flight of stairs,” she commented offhandedly, only for Rook to start wheezing on the ground! She felt proud of making another laugh.
Placing it down, the duo continued their search as they cracked jokes at one another. Rook’s with hardy interest, she could see future ideas forming within his eyes, while Saiya’s were mostly somewhat sarcastic but lighthearted. Finally, after what felt like a while, Rook was the one to find what she considered her perfect gourd for this festival. Upon grasping the item within her paws, the duo looked around carefully to see if anyone would appear out of thin air to claim money for it. When no one did, they skedaddled out before someone could!
“Thanks for the help, Rook! Now I can finally go finish this,” Saiya thanked her monochrome friend.
“No problem! I have to get going, but I can’t wait to see what you present for the contest,” he waved goodbye to his friend before running off after her returned farewell.
Home at last, Saiya quickly thought about what kind of face to carve into her newly acquired gourd. She wanted to be a little different, being the reserved type, perhaps something that wasn’t hyena laughing yet not sad looking either. A neutral expression? Ooo, perhaps one with slitted pupils. Drawing a crude sketch into the dirt beside her the face ended up looking more or less what she wanted:
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With a satisfied nod, she checked on her fishy friend Sparkle to see her out like a light on one of her sunny rocks. Saiya decided to feed her later, naps were important! Going back to her own activity, she began removing the top to remove the food’s insides. They’ll make a delicious pie later. Wedging the item between two rocks to prevent rolling, Saiya laid it down to start the carving process. One eye came out less straight than the other yet she found it added character. A little lazy eye never hurt anyone.
