Travel Preparations

In order to be able to travel more easily, Iris felt it would be necessary to craft some new items. They would have to stop every night to make camp and rest on the way to their destination, after all.

In the modern world, one would use a tent for shelter and sleeping bags. Some people would go through the extra effort of bringing pillows and an air mattress, but a tent and sleeping bag were the basics.

For a tent, Iris could see together a few animal skins and then sew strips of animal hides into loops along the bottom edges. With a few sticks sharpened along the bottom edges and thicker along the top, the tent could be pinned to the ground. Alongside this, a layer of animal hide should be sewn along the middle that a long stick could be slid into. This stick could the be supported by two large sticks with a Y shape with pointed bottoms that would also be wedged into the ground.

The bed frames, mattresses, and pillows could easily be brought along for use for sleeping. They were quick and easy to reassemble anyhow. Although, they would require three beds and three large tents to accommodate the four of them. Ember would refuse to sleep with the other three anyhow.

The next thing to worry about was how to cook food on the go. While a campfire was obvious, the rest was less so. It might be best to collect suitable stones to line the camp fire ahead of time in case the stopped somewhere where there weren't any that were suitable for using. After that, two Y shaped stick with pointed bottoms and a large stick with both sides sharped could make a quick spit for roasting.

For boiling soups or tea, the clay jars Basil had used at his previous home were perfect. While Iris made Basil leave all the stone based items, Iris had previously packed the pottery in her bag where they still were. Although, Iris would still face a slightly different problem.

Water wasn't guaranteed to be easily available for the entire trip. Iris was unsure if she could just fill all the pottery with liquid and just put them into her bag. So, Iris sent Caspian to the river to fill one clay pot to test it. Iris made sure to fasten the jar with vines to hold the lids closed and attempted to put it away in the bag.

Luckily, when Iris pulled it back out, it was still the same with no sign of leakage. Iris supposed this must be partially due to the way the bag functioned. It was a dimensional storage rather than storing it directly in the bag. This meant there was less issues with leakage.

Although, Iris knew from prior experience that food would still rot if left in the storage, which meant time still flowed as normal. Thankfully there was no rotting smell on her bag thanks to it's dimensional storage properties.

With this knowledge, Iris sent Basil into the forest to gather and shape the wood items. Caspian was relegated to shaping the stones for the fire and sewing the tent. Iris began to weave grass into Matt's so that a third set of mattress and pillows could be made for Ember. As there was no other dried grass in the house sufficient for such a thing, Iris stole the grass used in the nest Ember used as a bed.

Ember helped Iris by gathering all the food left in the pantry, beauty supplies, games, and other small items that could fit into Iris's bag. Iris just let the stuff pile up for a bit before taking a break from weaving to put stuff in her bag.

Basil and Caspian ended up finishing with their tasks much quicker than Iris. Thus, they took over weaving while Iris finished packing her bag. Caspian and Basil would also be responsible for sewing the pillows and mattress together.

Iris had Ember go fill the rest of the jars with water and fetch vines so water could finish bring packed. Since there were only ever a total of five clay jars, it didn't amount to much. However, it would be enough to refill them whenever it rained or they passed by a body of water.

Iris made sure everything including dishware, firewood, and even the leftover woven grass toilet paper was packed away. Iris couldn't trust Ivy not to break into their house during the two months they were gone to steal anything. Iris would be damned if she let that spoiled bitch take anything of hers willingly.

After the grass mats were finished and sewed into beast skins, Iris got everything finished being packed. While Iris usually just had her mates carry such large objects for convenience sake, Iris didn't want to do that this time. Since Iris knew that anything that could fit width and thickness wise into the mouth of the bag could go in, Iris put everything in it. The sticks, the wooden bed planks, the pillows, and even the mattresses after they were rolled tight and secured with vines.

Finally done packing everything she could, Iris felt satisfied. Sure, the stone oven, tables, etc would stay here, but Iris had done what she could. Iris went to her mates and explained

"I'd like to go visit Holly and Fawn before we leave. I want to let them know that we will be back in about two months so they don't worry."

Caspian nodded as he chipped in

"I should go inform tribe leader James and witch doctor Oliver of our absence. It's necessary in case of war so they don't count us as casualties. Plus, I want to ensure they don't think we moved out and give our cave away."

Iris nodded and gave Caspian a brief hug and kiss as she promised to see them in a small while. Then Iris held both Ember's and Basil's hands as she walked through the cave system. Iris had been to Holly's home on rare occasion, but did not actually know where Fawn lived. She would have to ask Holly.

When they arrived, Iris had Basil knock on the cave wall, but Ember gave her a funny look as he called out

"Iris wishes to visit Holly, may be come in?"

Surprisingly Quentin came to the door with Holly. Noticing Iris's gaze, Holly apologized

"I'm sorry. Quentin and I became mates recently. Since you said you weren't interested, he ended up moving on. Then we just kind of met again and he thought I was pretty thanks to the beauty products you gifted me. I don't mean to steal away your suitors Iris...."

Iris laughed as she replied

"You don't have to worry about me. Congratulations! It's nice to see you finally got yourself a stronger male. Now I won't have to worry so much while I'm away!"

Holly looked surprised as she questioned

"Away? You aren't leaving the tribe are you?"

Iris shook her head, still smiling as she explained

"No, no, nothing so severe as all that. I'm just going on a short trip for about two months and then I'll be returning. I actually stopped by because I wanted to say goodbye to you. Caspian is off informing the tribe leader and witch doctor now. After this I wanted to visit Fawn to let her know as well."

Holly looked sad yet relieved as she replied

"Oh, well I'm really going to miss you. I'm glad you're coming back, though! I'll send Quentin with you to show you the way to Fawn's. He was just about to go out hunting anyway."

Just like that, Quentin showed up in the hallway beside Holly. Iris gave Holly one last hug before going on her way. Fawn's reception was less warm than Holly's, but Iris knew it would be. Fawn was just like that, but Iris still got along with her fine. Fawn was just a woman of few words was all.

When Iris reached the entrance, it was already high sun. Seeing Caspian approaching, Iris was happy that all of her mates were here. Iris greeted Caspian with a warm hug and a short kiss, having missed him despite his short absence.

As Ember could fly twice as fast as Basil and Caspian could run, he was in charge of carrying Iris. They would all be able to travel faster this way since carrying a female did slow a male down. With the ability to fly ahead of the rest, Ember would also be able to stop for more frequent breaks so Iris could snack on jerky and drink water. It would only be at sunset that they would all stop to rest until the sunrise when they all would set off again.