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Moira opened the door to the pottery store. There was a special kids-only class going on today and Moira thought it'd be a good experience for Bleez to see how to make a clay pot. Bleez, on the other hand just thought it'd be super boring.

"Okay, I'll be back after the class is over." Moira patted Bleez on the head. "Just 'ave fun. You'll enjoy it."

Bleez huffed and walked into the store without a word to her mother. So far there were only a few other kids sitting at tables, all looking equally "thrilled." Bleez chose a vacant table at the back and plopped herself down. This was SO lame. Who wants to make pots?

Bleez spun in her seat when she heard the squeal. Her face lit up when she saw her friend and she sat next to her. "Yeah! I.did grow! You.did too!" she chimed, her grin wide. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all!

A loud clap echoed from the front of class. The entire room immediately silenced and focused their attention to the front of the class. An elderly man stood there, clothes covered in what looked like mud. He had long, scraggly white hair that was pulled back in a loose ponytail. He cleared his throat and began speaking in a deep, ruff voice, "Today we're going to be making coil pots. Does anyone know what that is?" No one raised their hand, no one even murmured. "A coil pot is where you make a flat slab for the base and use coils of clay to make the walls of the pot."

He moved over to a table at the front of the room, uncovering a block of clay that was sitting on it from the plastic wrap it'd been encased in. He tore off a hand full and started mushing it around in his hands. "What're you kids waiting for? Your clay's right in front of you, on your tables." He motioned with a now of his wrinkled head.

Bleez tore open the plastic and scooped out some clay. It was cold and wet and she couldn't help but make a funny face as she dung her claws into the thick substance. Several of the children were "ewing" or giggling at the feel of the clay. "How're.we supposed.ta.do.this?" Bleez whispered to Ily. She'd never used anything like clay before and this teacher wasn't really teaching anything.

Bleez laughed a little at Ily's creation. It indeed looked like a stylized "poop" like she'd seen in a Japanese cartoon once.

"No, no, no! You are all doing it so wrong!" The old mad stamped his foot on the ground.

"Well, ya.didn' teach.us!" Bleez snapped back she was irritated with the guy already. "Ya.jus' said.do.dis! Well, what's.'dis'!" she fumed, slamming her mound of clay on the table and standing on the bench she had been sitting on prior to her outburst. Several of the other kids were giving mutters of agreement at the spawns actions.

The man looked like he had been slapped in the face at this remark. He bumbled, not sure what to say to this strangle looking child. So, he threw his hands in the air and yelled, "FINE!" After which, he stormed out of the room.

Bleez sat back down, still a little miffed at the guy. The full consequences of what she'd just done hadn't come to her realization yet.

Bleez's anger faltered as Ily threw the clay and it stuck to the wall. She stifled a laugh and dug her claws into the clay in front of her. Scooping up an equal amount of clay to Ily's she hucked it against the same wall. It landed on top of Ily's blob and the two fell to the floor, leaving a brown stain on the wall. Bleez doubled over, laughing, as many of the kids now were throwing clay around.

An older woman rushed into the room at the sound of things hitting the wall. "What's going on here?!" She stammered, here white hair pulled tightly in a bun, causing some of her wrinkles to be pulled back with it (or so it looked). The rowdy class immediately sat down and put their hands in their laps, staying quiet. The woman looked around the room and noticed the clay all over the walls and floor. She crossed her hands over her clay-smeared apron and walked to the front of the room. "Alright, which one of you got my husband in such a tizzy that he stormed out?" Her voice was soft, but stern.

A child pointed towards Bleez, then several of the others followed. Bleez just huffed, "It.was.me!" She stood confidently, inside nervous she'd get in trouble now.

The old woman, however, smiled and began chuckling to herself, releasing her crossed arms and letting them drop to her side. Bleez was more than stunned by this reaction and her tough facade faded. "It's about time someone told him off!" the woman laughed. "How 'bout we make something now?"

Bleez sat back down with a loud thud, what was up with this lady?

Bleez looked at Ily, her expression that of confusion. "I.not.ang'y. Dis.lady is.jus' weal.weird!" she managed to whisper to her friend.

She tilted her head at the old teachers comment. "'uh? Dese're.the only.teachers.I've 'ad.that're.old. Me.mum's not.dat.old, she's.taught me.lots." She looked up to the ceiling, thinking if any other teachers she'd met who were old. "Guess.me grandmum.is.old," she finally added.

The older woman chuckled again, more at the what Bleez had said than at Ily's question. "We're going to be making slab vessels, it's a bit easier than coil pots and you can make more creative structures." She walked slowly to the table that was unoccupied at the front of the room. Taking a bit of clay, she flattened it out on the table. "Now everyone, I want you to take a handful of clay and flatten it out into an interesting shape on your tables. Make sure you leave it about this thick." She motioned to the rectangle she had made from the clay that was roughly a quarter of an inch thick. "This is the first step, so I'm going to walk around and see if you need any help. Then, we'll go to the next step." Her voice was warm and kind, but shaky with age.

Bleez shrugged, at least they were learning something now. She took a handful of the clay and pounded it with her fist into the table. It just looked like a milk splatter shape. Bleez turned her head from side to side, seeing if she could make it into a cool shape. "AH!" she snapped her fingers after a second. Standing on the bench she took a clawed finger and began drawing in the clay. "Dere!" she sat back down, moving the excess clay away and looking very proud of herself.

The flat shaped looked like a stylized T-Rex silhouette. Bleez crossed her arms across her chest and smiled, not caring that she was getting clay all over her shamrock-print shirt. "Like.it, Ily?"

"Ah, dat's.cool too, Ily!" she was being truly honest. "Me.mum 'as.a.pair of.dose on.a.necklace! Dey're.silver" She smiled at her friend as the old woman walked around their table.

"Oh, looks like you two are quite the artists!" She beamed at them sweetly and moved back to the front of classroom. "Alright now, most of you have made simple shapes, you'll have an easier time with this next step." She grabbed another bit of clay and worked it around in her hands. "You'll need to do roughly the same thing to make the walls, but just make them rectangles. These will be the walls. However, to attach the walls, you'll need to do something called scoring." She flattened the clay into a shorter rectangle, then picked up of the table with one hand. In her other hand she grabbed a pointed stick out of a tin can that was set on the table. She marked one of the edges of the rectangle she held with a crisscross pattern. Then she did the same to the top of bigger rectangle that still sat on the table. "This is scoring." The old woman held it up for everyone to see, then placed the pointy stick back in the can. "Then you'll need to get both sides a bit wet with the paintbrush that's in your cups on your tables." She motioned to each table, picking up a brush of her own. She dipped it in the cup of water that also sat on the table and gave it a flick, getting rid of any excess water. She brushed the scored areas lightly and then placed them together, pushing the areas firmly until they stuck. She placed the brush on the table and began the smooth the area of the joined clay pieces with her thumb. "After you push the areas together, you'll need to smooth them out like this so that they'll stay together." She stopped and looked up at all the children. "Remember, you'll need to score and wet each side that needs to be attached. Go ahead and try it out. I'll walk around again if anyone needs help."

Bleez had copied the teacher as she was demonstrating how to make and attach the walls. For her first try, she wasn't doing too bad... but it was obvious that she wasn't happy that her walls weren't even. She huffed as she try to even them out, but just ended up making them more uneven.

The woman had passed by the table when she'd heard Ily's suggestion. "If you add anything to the sides, you'll need to score it again." She smiled, "Why don't you just build and attach all the walls first, then come back and try to even them out? It might be a bit easier if you use the little ruler that's in your can too."

Bleez nodded at both suggestions. She liked Ily's idea, but the lady made it sound like it was a lot of work. "I.guess I'll.make all.da.walls, den.measure wif.da.ruler," she decided. She continued working as the old lady moved closer to Ily's side of the table.

"That's a very pretty wing! You have quite the talent, little one. You both do." She smiled and moved on.

Bleez had continued carefully, trying to make all her walls close to the same size before she attached them. Her base was so complex, that it took her a lot longer to get them all together. But when she finally did get them attached, she sat back for a moment and looked at the lumpy walls. It was obvious that she'd made them separately.

The little Wrath/Liberality spawn took the ruler and her pointed stick and went around, marking a set height all the way around with little dots. She then connected all the dots, creating a line.

At this point, the teacher had returned to their table. "Good, now, lemme show you an easy way to cut the excess clay off your walls." She took a long, thin wire tied between two small sticks out of the jar. She held one stick in each hand and pulled the wire tight. "Make sure it's tight, then draw it through the clay. If you follow your line the tops of your walls should be even. Also, if you pull it towards you, rather than away, you'll have more control." She demonstrated on Bleez's piece a little before handing her the tool. "Go ahead."

Bleez picked up the tool and pulled it tight, like the old lady had shown her. Then she started to pull it through the clay walls. She tilted her head from side to side, making sure she was following her line. Once the wire made it all the way through she picked up the excess clay from the wall, holding it up and looking through it at Ily. "It's.like.a necklace.now," she grinned, then set it and the tool on the table.

The teacher had since walked back to the front of the class. "Everyone done?" She scanned the room, most kids nodded. "Well, when you're done, you can bring your piece up here. We'll write your names on the bottom and then we'll fire them. This will make the clay hard, so you can use your pieces as boxes."

A line started to form after the teacher announced this. Bleez gingerly picked up her piece and waited for Ily to follow her in line.