[center][h2][color=F0E68C]Asteria[/color][/h2][/center][hr][hr]
Asteria took the parts she’d gathered from the scout, and left its body alone. She sniffed at herself cautiously, wary that she’d got too much of its scent on herself. It would be terrible if she’d once again managed to lead the ants to them once they moved out of carelessness. While Ed was still asleep, she experimented a bit with the part. The exoskeleton plates could be used as an armor if they weren’t too heavy, but first, she needed to drill some holes into it somehow. The best candidate for the tool were perhaps the mandible she’d managed to tear off. Not exactly precise and likely not to work, but this wasn’t something she could do with a hatchet, and there were no other tools available to try this with. So, she gripped one mandible with both paws, set it against a corner of one of the exoskeleton, held the plate still by crouching on the other part of it, and began drilling by hand. Really, she was just slowly turning the mandible in both hands, observing the effects on the plate. She gave it a few minutes to see the effect, taking care not to crack the plate on accident. 

Then, she noticed Ed had stirred. [color=F0E68C]“Oh, hey, great to see you up. Let’s gather all our things and head to the other side of the village. I don’t want risking more ants or more humans. Though I’m not sure we’ll be able to carry this all…”[/color] she glanced around. The bloodingfly stinger was still lodged in one of the ant’s neck, and she went over, pulling it out, and inspected its structural integrity. If it was too battered, she’d leave it be. Next, she stashed the Bloodingly’s stinger, as well as the proboscis and its needlelike end that were still lying around into the jar with next to the leather, four horned goat, and hex cat eye. It barely fit. [color=F0E68C][i]So, if Ed takes all his items that leaves me the jar, the hatchet, and the assorted leftover ant parts.[/i][/color] She could carry the jar and the hatched, as proven before, but the Myrmidor plates, mandibles, and legs…that would be a bit of a challenge. She tried wrapping the plates with the insect legs, a rather macabre endeavor. But what else could she use for rope? She’d seen the villagers had some rope items, but she wasn’t entirely sure how to make some herself. Hemp…fibre…Plants? She might muddle together something if she gave it a go, but making something usable might take too long. For now, she decided to harvest the nearby plant, and bundled the plates, legs, and mandibles with its stalk as best she could. This third bundle was something that Mother rat could carry, perhaps. 

[color=F0E68C]“Ed, will you take the last Healing herb and Nullven cone?”[/color] She directed absentmindedly as she waddled over to mother rat with the recently harvested Scout parts bundle. Putting a paw on the other rat in a soothing gesture, she made an enquiring squeak. She carefully put the bundle first on her back, wrapping the tail around it, looking at Mother rat as she demonstrated. Then, she moved the bundle to Mother’s back, and still looking at her, tapped the fellow rodent’s tail, chattering at her, and attempting to guide it to wrap around the items as she’d showed her. [color=F0E68C]“Come on, hold it like [i]this[/i],”[/color] she muttered. Once the items were somewhat in position, she released Mother still observing her. If the Mother rat held onto the items, she would send a warm affirmative feeling through telepathy. Next, she went to grab the items she’d designed as hers – the hatchet and the jar – and turned back to Mother expectantly, watching whether she still held onto the bundle Asteria had put on her or not. If she did, then they could finally leave. If not, she’d try to get mother to carry the items once again. As soon as Ed was ready, however, she’d urge them all to leave.

[hider=Actions summary]
Takes scout parts away from scout.
Checks herself for lingering ant scent (with Beast Senses II).
Tries drilling a hole in one corner of a exoskeleton plate, using a mandible as her tool.
Suggests moving away to Ed.
Stores the Bloodingfly stinger (if it’s not too damaged) and the needle-ended proboscis into the jar, somehow managing to cram it in with the previous items.
Makes a Scout parts bundle, wrapping the plates and mandibles first with the ant legs, then with a plant stalk.
Takes this latest Scout bundle to Mother rat and attempts to get the other rodent to carry it; shows how to do so by example and using positive reinforcement (via telepathy) to help.
Takes jar and hatchet for herself.
Examines Mother rat to see whether she’s still holding onto the items.
Once they’re all packed and ready to go, she’ll lead the way around the village, avoiding the humans as best as they can while heading to the other side of the settlement – not sticking too close, but not so far that the village would be out of sight.
[/hider]