"Ain't that true" Lei'la agreed, an expression of tenderness flashed across her face, to which U'tu returned with a pleased look. Then she returned to her needlework and asked "How is your grandfather En'tum?"

He snorted, "I swear the second he reached old age was the moment he abandoned all sense of civility. He has gone insane. I swear. That old geezer is on a mission to drive tribespeople away. Not one student came today. Not. one."

"He is in the twilight of his years, he is allowed to tell his truth. Also, elders aren't insane. They're divine, a blessing by the Great World. We ought to be glad to have him." she chastised, rapt in the attentive detail she was creating.

"Without filter." he said, getting pouty. "It's impossible to converse with him, let alone live with him."

"It must be the stress from anticipating a long-awaited thousand year prophecy." she said, looking up from her work, "River, I'm sorry you had to see him that way. He isn't always like that. With the added arrivals of new warriors, and not to mention the demands of new armors and weapons, it's just that this season is our busiest time of year. Plus, he is stuck with a half-wit apprentice who doesn't know the difference between iron and steel."

"Hey!" U'tu said, pulling on her loose blonde hair that fell down in tresses to the floor. "I asked that one time. Besides, I've got a lot of things on my plate."

Lei'la bit back a smile, and shrugged "If that were true, then you wouldn't be running around playing games with me." she said, running a hand through her corn-yellow hair and frowned at it "Make me a crown."

Rolling his eyes, he scoffed "As you wish." and began gathering her long hair to braid with his deft fingers.

"What did you guys talk about?" Lei'la beamed, going back to her quilting.

River replied, "He was telling me about the Red Spider story"

She nodded. "Yes, the story of creation. It is a common blanket design. One that takes a whole season for a weaver to complete."

"I didn't get to hear the end of it though."

He said, "Haven't you made hundreds of these Red Spider blankets already?"

"U'tu, I'm fifteen. I've only made about ten of them. However I do know the story by heart. I can tell it for you, if you like." she offered.

"I'd like that, if you please."

"Where did my old man leave his story before dozing off?" he murmured, his eyes never leaving Lei'la's hair.

River said, "The Red Spider, aka Natura Brumcia, just had her limb torn off when it transformed to the blackest sky of the heavens, she cut it off because she wanted to spin again."

Lei'la tilted her head to the side of the room where the red blanket she was working was rolled out over the whole floor. The side she indicated had the telling weave of a red spider detaching free from the darkest night sky.

She took a moment to gather her thoughts. "The first behagthi knew he was onto something when it happened. But, the violence of her self-harm made him doubt himself. He liked to think of himself as a man of honor, he would never have wanted to do anyone harm but curiosity got the better of him. Against his better judgement, he caught another limb, stretching her apart. Then, when the red spider got pulled back, her second limb had changed into something else entirely. It turned to a big hulk of a dry rock, anchoring her to one place and leaving her hard-pressed to spin once more. It's how the earth was created. But she needed to spin so she cut off her earthly limb and fell into her discordant spinning once more. The behagthi was even more curious than ever, he certainly didn't have a hard time catching her the third time around. He now knew that Our holy goddess, Natura Brumcia, was bound to an eternal order of rhythm that was invisible to the eye. An eternal order that no one else can see, save for him. He grabbed one more limb, pulled her back after she stretched out taut then her spider limb transformed to water. This is how the whole matter of ocean was created. From the very limb of Natura Brumcia herself. However she didn't know what to make of it at first. It was certainly the first time anyone has ever encountered anything like it. And by the time she realized what it was, she was already drowning."

"That's awful." River said "What did the first behagthi think he was doing? He wasn't helping her at all."