[Old] Mini Missions

"Why are you digging in sand?" 

Zhar did not jump but she did flinch. 

A shadow fell over her as someone leaned forwards. Yellow eyes looked down at her from the dark shape of a massive Kamishiba. A dark, large, and familiar shape.

"I'm building a sand castle, Sig." She answered evenly.

The Fulgora tilted her head, her brows furrowing as she mulled the words over.

"Sand… castle?" She repeated slowly. "What is that?"

"A castle. Made of sand. The name's pretty self explanatory."

Above her Sigrun snorted in contempt. The shadow moved across the ground, finally letting the bright sunlight hit her work once more. She could see properly again. Sigrun all but fell into the sand beside her. Powerful legs folded underneath her - claws carefully arranged as not to dig into her own flesh. She regarded the pile of sand with a critical eye. Whiskers flexed and flowed as she raised a lip in distaste, further exposing long (and somewhat distracting) fangs. 

"I don't see the point." Sigrun growled as she waved a paw towards all of Zhar's hard work.

Zhar could do nothing to stop herself rolling her eyes. The point, seriously? The girl might have grown up on an isolated island in the middle of the ocean but come on. Leave any kid alone in the sand and eventually they'd build something along the lines of a sand castle - or any other kind of sand sculpture.

"Fun." Zhar answered abrasively. "Fun is the point. You never built one as a kid, Sig?"

"No."

Zhar almost broke her neck with the speed in which she turned to look at the Fulgora.

"Oh Sig… that's sad."

The Fulgora simply shrugged her massive shoulders.

"No sand." Was all she had to offer as an explanation.

“You lived on an island! How the fuck did you not have sand?”

Sigrun could only offer another shrug of her shoulders. She did not know the common Kami tongue well enough to explain the bizarre terrain of her previous home - and she had absolutely no desire to return there, not even in an attempt to impress attractive Kamishiba ladies. There were just some lengths she was not willing to go to. 

“If you go, you will know.” She answered instead. 

That hardly seemed to please Zhar as the Kamishiba left out a low hum before dipping her paws into the bucket of seawater beside her to clean her paws - to a varying level of success. She leaned back on her haunches and examined her work. It was a fine sculpture as far as she was concerned. She wasn't a professional sculptor by any stretch of the imagination. But she knew enough to impress her customers with her intricate armour designs and delicate metal work. 

With no reference to work from, Zhar was working from nothing more than memory and imagination. She had started with a sketch etched into the sand - some of which was still visible where she had yet to build, such as the surrounding wall defences and watch towers. The bulk of the castle had been built, rising a good meter or so over the ground - the fragile sand supported internally by a pile of stones. Windows had been carefully carved out, small parapets ran along the walls. Small sticks acted as poles for canopies with leaves acting as tarps or canvas. A few stones decorated the sandy courtyard. The courtyard contained many small 'buildings' (made from sand of course) to represent the barracks, stores, and stables of the castle. 

"Hmm." Critical golden eyes examined the castle. "You put much effort into something pointless."

Zhar let out a rather offended squawk.

"Pointless? Screw you!"

"Oh? Then there is point?"

"Yes, you dickbag! There's a contest on - did you not see all the signs plastered everywhere?" 

Large claws scratched her chin. She had seen paper stuck on various poles and walls - but with her grasp on written common so slack, she hadn't been able to read them and thus didn't pay them much attention. 

Zhar just sighed loudly, rubbing a paw on her eyes - putting herself at great risk of getting sand in her eyes. 

"There's a cash prize for the best sand castle, alright. I could really use the money to update the forge."

Oh.

Yeah… that made sense. For months now Zhar had been complaining about her forge's old and faulty ventilation system. It seemed every other day she had to clean the damn thing of soot and debris. She had, only a few weeks ago, had a professional in to look at the system and give her a quote. Zhar had not shared the exact numbers, but Sigrun would confidently wager it was far into the thousands. 

"Need help?" She asked.

Zhar regarded her with a quiet laugh.

"With your clumsy claws? No thanks." The Kamishiba glanced at their water bucket for a moment. "Actually you could. Go fetch another bucket of water for me."