Chapter 14 Carpenter

Chapter 14 The Carpenter

"We probably wouldn't know," Sirius replied.

"Are there working teleportation arrays in Misty Forest?" Xavier asked.

"There are damaged magical teleportation arrays. Their ruins are still scattered throughout the forest, and no one knows if they can be fixed," Kruger said.

"Oh," Sirius was a bit disappointed.

He and Xavier would still have to travel far to gather materials. He really wished the magical teleportation arrays were intact.

"Having teleportation arrays would indeed be much more convenient. Do you think the residents of the forest would be willing to help fix them, if a method could be found?" Xavier asked.

"I can't speak for the other animals, but I'm willing to offer some help," Kruger said. "Camping out in the forest is no fun at all; it'd be great to shorten the trip."

"Where are those magical teleportation arrays located?" Sirius asked.

"I don't know," Kruger said. "But Zat, who lives in the Calamus Swamp, should know. He's a wizard and probably knows a thing or two about magic arrays."

"Alright, I hope your guess is correct," Sirius said.

"What are we supposed to deliver to the Lace Brothers?" Xavier asked.

"Oh right, it's getting late. You should get going. The items are over there. They're pretty heavy, but the two of you should be able to carry them," Kruger said, lifting a large cloth bag.

Sirius took it, but the bag was much heavier than he had imagined, yanking his hand down towards the ground.

Xavier reached out to catch it and almost got pulled down too.

"What's inside? Why is it so heavy? Mind if I open it up and see?" Sirius asked.

"Sure, it contains axes and hand saws, plus some assorted files, planes, and other things," Kruger replied.

"They look really big," Sirius said, peering into the bag.

"Oh, the Lace Brothers are giants," Kruger said.

It was getting late. After storing the goods to be delivered in their baskets, Sirius and Xavier left Green Valley and set off for the pine forest.

The pine forest was across the river. First, they had to find the river.

Kruger had pointed them in a general direction. Sirius walked a bit uncertainly; he had a feeling they were going deeper into the forest.

"Do you think we're going the right way?" he couldn't help but ask Xavier.

"We should be. I can sense a damp mist spreading from this direction. We must be getting close to the river," Xavier said.

"What are your thoughts on that magical teleportation array?" Sirius asked, to break the monotony of the walk.

"If we can repair them, going anywhere would be very convenient. But it would likely be a huge job, requiring many magical materials and knowledge of their exact locations," Xavier said.

"Once we gather the materials, can we reactivate the magical teleportation arrays?" Sirius asked.

"Not really. Neither you nor I are proficient in magic; I'm afraid we wouldn't be able to fix and restart them," Xavier said.

"We need a mage... or a wizard would work too," Sirius said.

"That's way off in the future," Xavier said.

We don't have anything right now and have plenty of more important things to do.

"Delivering goods to the Lace Brothers, then going to trade for some iron ingots with the groundhogs... Ugh, why are we always on the move?" Sirius lamented.

"At least we're almost at the pine forest. Look over there—there's a bridge to cross the river," Xavier said.

"Kruger said that after crossing the river, it's not far to their place. They are the best carpenters in Misty Forest. Maybe we can get some advice on building houses or making furniture," Sirius said.

"I really hope we can sleep in a bed soon," Xavier said.

"A bed made of dry leaves is quite comfortable too," Sirius said, having grown fond of the simple bed he'd slept on for a long time.

Chatting made the walk go by quickly. Before they knew it, they had crossed the bridge and found a wide path leading deep into the woods.

At the end of the path stood a tall wooden house. Beside the house were many bundles of logs and two huge bears.

"Humans, it's been a long time since we've seen humans," one of the bears straightened up and looked at them.

"He's not human; he's an elf," Sirius corrected.

"Are you here to order furniture? Or to build a house?" the other bear asked.

"Neither. We're delivering tools from Kruger," Xavier said.

"Oh, our new tools have arrived. Come on, let's see the new tools," said the first bear.

Sirius handed over the bag. The two burly bears leaned in together to look, making the bag seem like a small bun sandwiched between them.

"The tools are as good as ever," one of the bears said. "Where do you live? Will you get back home in time after delivering the tools?"

"We live in a hollow tree very far from here. We'll likely be spending the night in the forest," Sirius said.

"Spend the night?"

"In the forest?"

The two bears spoke together.

"Yes, in the forest," Xavier said.

"Why don't you stay the night and head out in the morning?" one of the bears asked.

"We have extra rooms. You're pretty small, you probably don't eat much either," the other bear said.

"Thank you, you are very kind bears. Is there anything we can help with?" Sirius asked.

"I'm Big Lace, and this is Little Lace. You can help us collect honey. We have many beehives that need harvesting," Big Lace said after thinking for a moment.

"Even if you didn't help us collect honey, we'd still want you to stay the night before leaving. But I must say, having your help with the honey is wonderful. If we did it ourselves, we'd just eat every last bit from all the hives," Little Lace said.

"Your honey must be delicious. I'm Sirius, and he's Xavier," Sirius said, pointing first to himself and then to Xavier.

"Yes, that's why we always can't help but eat all the honey," Big Lace nodded. They were now formally acquainted.

The beehives were right behind the wooden house. Since the Lace Brothers were bears with thick fur, there were no bee-keeping veils provided for Sirius and Xavier.

They had to go in unprotected.

"Do you think we'll get stung all over our faces by bees?" Sirius asked Xavier.

"No, bees are gentle companions for elves," Xavier said.

"Oh, they'll only sting me," Sirius remarked.

Since elves don't get stung, Xavier took on the task of harvesting the honey, while Sirius sat a little farther away from the hives to watch.

After a busy spring, the bees had turned the collected pollen into golden honey, and the honeycomb frames were almost bursting at the seams.

Xavier held a small knife for cutting honeycombs, slicing off most of the comb and loading it into wooden barrels. The thick, sweet honey oozed from the blade and the bottom of the hives.

"I can smell the sweetness of the honey," Sirius sniffed the air.

"The color and scent of this honey are very enticing. Bears with a sweet tooth really can't resist," Xavier said.

"Let's raise some bees too, so we'll have plenty of honey to eat," Sirius said, cupping his face and licking his lips.

"Sure, we can ask the Lace Brothers if they'd be willing to trade some beeswax with us. Just coat the inside of a box with it, and it will attract bees to move in," Xavier said.

"And then we'll have delicious honey to eat," Sirius licked his lips, as if he could already taste the sweet honey.

Xavier quickly finished harvesting the honey from all the hives, filling three large barrels.

The two bears' eyes were glued to them.

"Brother, I think..." Little Lace slobbered from the corner of his mouth.

"No, you don't," Big Lace said sternly, but his constant drooling ruined the effect.

"Do you need help filtering the honey and bottling it?" Sirius asked.

"Yes, leave it to us to do it ourselves, or we'll just eat it all in one go, beeswax and all," Big Lace forced himself to look away.

"The kitchen is over there," Little Lace showed him the way.

Sirius walked into the kitchen and found several large glass bottles, a funnel, a piece of gauze, and what looked like a rolling pin from the tall cabinets.

Just as he finished gathering the items, he saw the Lace Brothers shove Xavier, who was left to guard the honey, aside, each bear happily digging into a barrel.

"I really couldn't help it, this honey is so sweet and fragrant," Big Lace stuffed a large piece of honeycomb into his mouth.

"Mmm mmm mmm!" Little Lace's mouth was full, and he could no longer speak.

"Is it really that good?" Sirius asked.

"Could we try a bit of the honey?" Xavier asked.

"Of course! Our honey is the best in the forest! But no one else has ever discovered it," Big Lace licked the honey off his thick paw pad.

"Thank you! Then I won't hold back!" Sirius happily stood beside the honey barrel as Xavier cut a small piece of honeycomb for him.

The honeycomb cut by the knife dripped honey, and Sirius moved to catch the drip with his mouth, almost biting Xavier's finger.

Sweet, with a faint floral sweetness, not overly cloying, but the kind of sweet taste that makes one squint with pleasure.

The honey slowly spread over his tongue, and when he pressed the beeswax lightly with his tongue, the sweetness flooded his mouth.

"This is really delicious honey! It's the most delicious honey I've ever tasted!" Sirius praised loudly.

"You have good taste, for a human, so I've decided to let you try our brewed mead and freshly baked honey cakes too," Big Lace was very pleased with such praise.

"Besides mead and honey cakes, there's also a special Bear Dinner," Little Lace said.

"Bear Dinner?" Sirius was immediately captivated.

"Yes, Bear Dinner," Little Lace proudly puffed out his belly.

At the unnoticed edge, Xavier lowered his head to gaze at the golden honey on his fingertip, his expression unusually hesitant.

Finally, he raised his hand and quickly dabbed that bit of honey on the corner of his lips, giving it a light lick.

Author's Note:

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Good night, good night.