Leonard is busily putting the finishing touches on a small hut that seems more than halfway sunk into the ground and covered with branches. He's stripped to the waist and sweating, looks more than a little grimy.

Joseph comes up the path from the direction of Robin's house. He walks slowly, as if preoccupied by something.

Three-Blades' now recognizable howl sounds from the edges of the bluffs, give or take a few yips. She appears into view, panting. Trotting over towards the Wendigo, she finally flops over and sprawls. This is really giving me a work out.

Leonard glances down at her, grinning. "You could use the execise, then." He tightens and tucks and then stands back, surveying his handiwork as he wipes his forehead with the back of his hand. "Think we're about ready."

Three-Blades snorts indignantly, and gets back onto her paws for a moment to show she's not tired. But then she flops on her side again, loathe to move for now. My head sweats enough.

Joseph looks over the sweatlodge hut and hen smiles at Little Bear, nodding his approval. "washte. You have the fire and the stones?"

Leonard nods. "Stones are in the fire, water's in the stream. I'll get it and clean up at the same time."

Duane is suddenly there, out of the darkness, like a shadow come to life. "Hey, 'sup?" he calls as he paces nearer. "Y'all sweating tonight? Cool."

Three-Blades wiggles around in the grass, to cool off some. Duane makes her pause in her wiggling, as she gets back onto her paws and trots over to the greet the Uktena packie.

Leonard glances over, suprised. "Flamecaller. Yeah, for the totem quest tomorrow. YOu're just in time."

Duane smiles down at Three-Blades, the expression fleeting - as usual. "Word, man, the wind told me y'all were up to something, and get my black ass over here pronto. So," he says, looking around, scanning, "anything else needs getting?"

Leonard goes and fetches a basket from the cave, and hands another to Duane as he passes him. "Water. C'mon, you wash up."

Three-Blades flicks her tail tip and glances back at Leonard. If wolves could haul rocks. She whuffles, and backs up a moment to shift up to a form that might be a bit more useful.

Three-Blades contorts and blurs as she is transformed. You shift into Homid.

Joseph disappears into the cave, and when he comes back out, he's sans everything save a simple cover over his most private parts. Even his feathers are out of his hair.

Duane takes the basket, then sets it at his feet to peel off his red t-shirt and bandanna. Next, he sheds shoes and socks, then rolls up his pantlegs to below the knee and begins to quietly wash himself. He can be heard humming n uneven tune to himself as he does so.

Yi blinks at Joseph a couple of times. "Uhm?" Her brain gets back on track, as she moves to go looking for a bucket or something to carry water in. Ok, they're packies, sure, but stripping? If it weren't so dark, her blush would be evident.

Leonard strips down and jumps right in what's got to be snowmelt-cold water, squatting and taking the remnants of last year's horsetail from the bank. Without a murmur of protest he begins scrubbing his skin.

Taking his time, Duane eventually follows Leonard's lead, stripping and stepping into the freezing water. "/Shit/, man," he mutters, shivering as he scrubs.

If the elder Wendigo notices the Gnawer's blush, he doesn't show it. He busies himself with checking the stones and the hut's consruction. Apparently, Joseph already had a bath, so he doesn't join the boys in the water.

Leonard grins ferally at Duane and submerges himself completely for a few seconds, surfacing and shaking his hair at his more delicate cousin.

Yi glances at her three packmates, rather hesitantly. This, is something she's not used to. That thought, she moves carefully to find some secluded spot behind any grasses and begins to take off her shoes and other outer clothings.

Duane tries to keep his hair out of the water, so as not to disturb the tight braids. WHen he's satisfied, he steps from the water and slips back into his boxers - his equivalent of

Joseph's breech-cloth. Taking just a moment to pinch some dark eath between thumb and forefinger, he heads back to the sweatlodge.

Leonard stays until his teeth chatter, scrubbing at his skin until its raw and, in some spots, bleeding. He's chanting something under his breath in some jaw-cracking language that to the Western ear might sound like Welsh.

Yi eyes the others rather suspiciously, and scans her surroundings before slipping into the creek. COLD. She grits her teeth from crying out at the shock of the water, and ducks underneath the surface. Good thing she took a shower earlier.

Duane gives Yi a short perusal - perhaps a bit less than innocent, but not leering - and then begins to rummage amid his backpack for a moment. Not finding what he wants, he rises, waits for word from Joseph.

Joseph, satisfied with the hut, the stones, and the fire, finally stands. He watches the others bath, even Yi, with an indifferent eye.

Joseph says "We don't have anyone to pass stones from the fire. So I will do it for you, and will sweat myself later."

Leonard steps out of the stream, shifting up to glabro to heal the scourings he's made and to haul the water easier. He brings his basket up to Soulcatcher, careful not to spill too much.

At least the water is cold enough to remind her of where she is, and reduces the blush from her hot face. After some repeated dunkings, she finally slips out of the water, and shifts briefly to lupus to shake off the water. For a little bit, she considers what to do. Then, she shifts back to her birth form, puts on her shirt which thankfully is long enough to cover the essentials, and heads over to the others, wringing out her hair.

Joseph smiles at the basket. pleased, and hands it back to Leo. He gestures for the three of them to move, clockwise, into the hut.

Duane goes first, muttering something in Lakota under his breath as he goes, ducking his tall frame to get inside the lodge.

Leonard nods and shifts down, stooping as he goes both to avoid hitting his head and from carrying the water. He follows after Duane.

Yi glances at the two entering, then to Joseph. They've mostly been silent, so she simply ducks her head, and enters after quietly.

Leonard settles the basket in the middle of the cramped lodge, then sits back. The floor is covered with fragrant pine and sagebrush, and its completely dark once Soulcatcher closes the hole.

Joseph lets Leo, who's probably done this the most of the two in the sweat lodge, lead the cerimony. The elder Wendigo takes up his position by the fire and one by one brings the first sixteen small stones from their bed of fire and places them in their pit, inside the hut.

Yi is a little paranoid, the close quarters giving her a little bit of an edgy feeling. Finally, she has to say something, but whispers quietly. "So...what do we do?" The whisper is barely audible, as if she was afraid something might break.

Duane has a hard time folding his long body into a comfortable position, but eventually he sits with his ankles crossed, slender hands on bony knees. For a moment he toys with the gold chain still clinging to his neck, but otherwise he is still and silent.

Leonard is just another whisper in the dark. "Just wait. You will see." He moves, hisses once in pain, then you hear a plunk and another, longer hiss, as the lodge suddenly gets warmer. This continues several times, until the lodge is filled with steam and its quite warm. And now you know why it is called a sweat lodge.

From outside the hut, Joseph's voice leads in a chant, at least. His soft Heya heya' carries even in amongs the hiss of heat and steam.

Yi is quiet again, after the hissing of steam rising reaches her ears. She ought to be used to this closed, dark space thing. First it was a closet, then a slightly bigger closet. After that, it was a fish crate. And after that, the rancid sewers. Is she used to complete darkness? Not by any means. But, in all efforts of fighting off this fear, knowing that she's just in a lodge, just with her packmates... She takes a deep breath, and tries to still her rapid heart rate.

Leonard joins his voice to Joseph's, quietly and slowly, letting the others hear the rhythm in the song before speeding it up slowly to its proper pace.

Duane joins in as well, matching Leonard's voice well. He seems accustomed to this ceremony, surprisingly, despite only having taken part a few times before.

Yi doesn't join in, not knowing this song, but closes her eyes after a few lines of the chanting go by. Her mind takes her back to thinking about the waters around the lake, and the lapping of the oceans from her home.

Leonard lets the chanting die down after about fifteen minutes, taking a deep breath. He says, "You okay?" Pretty obviously directed at the least-experienced person in the lodge.

Leonard pages: Sometimes when you do this you start feeling sick from the heat and the closeness.

Joseph waits outside, tending both stone and flame. He waits for when Leo asks for more hot stones, if they're needed.

Yi after awhile slipped into meditation mode. It's all one could do, when faced with nothingness. But meditation brings heightened senses sometimes, and Leo's question gets a soft answer, "I'm ok..."

Leonard nods and leans towards the door, sticking his hand out.

Joseph rakes another stone from the fire and brings it to the hut, placing it pyramid style among those already inside. He continues, bringing three more stones.

Yi gives a slow, quiet sigh. And given the total darkness, allows a couple of tears to flow unchecked from her closed eyes.

Duane's fallen to quiet humming, and even that dissipates like steam until he sits in silence and darkness.