The town square was usually quiet this time of day, the sun hadn't risen above the treetops yet and the birds were still bundled up in their nests fast asleep. The ground was still a little wet due to the rain that had swept over town last night, so the pitter patter of little feet going down the streets was much louder than she'd hoped for. Not that she was trying to be sneaky, it was just that as soon as she had an idea Momma Claypool liked to go at it head first, and she preferred no distractions. Especially from any nosey gobs who happened to be out this early.

Head facing forwards and focused on the task at hand, she quickly waved up at Gus, who was sat up high guarding the piles, not even attempting to look his way.

"Mornin' Nicks" he called down to her as she walked past.

He was use to this kind of interaction. She had a habit of coming and going at all hours of the day. He shrugged off when he got no reply and went back to sipping his tea and looking out into the distance, keeping a watchful eye over the town and waiting for his shift to be over.

Gus couldn't understand why the junkyard had needed protecting recently, all citizens of Clearwater had complete freedom to enter the junkyard as and when they pleased, all he knew was he wasn't guarding the boarders of town for the time being (and thus wasn't sat listening to Cecil talk about the joys of watching Rollerbugs protect and fertilise the surrounding grounds from dusk till dawn), plus when Mother Morning asked for you specifically to do a task, you jumped at the chance to help and didn't question her motives.

Nicks finally stopped walking once she'd reached the pile in the junkyard that most deserved her attention. The pile in question contained all of the metal the scrappers had collected over the years since this towns conception.

Amongst teaching the native population of this forest the joys of smoking and growing goblin weed, the original town elders had offered to tidy up any piece of scrap that had littered these lands and its surrounding borders, provided they kept said scrap and didn't attract any unwanted visitors of course.

There was known to be a strange assortment of litter that had a habit of polluting these woods, either from unwise adventurers and their caravans losing their lives and belongings in the wilderness or from the bits and bobs that floated downstream on the Jalf River that went past Clearwater and cut through the nation of Hareimar until it finally reached the southern ocean.

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

There was talk of a mystical giant that lived on the other side of the mountains that used his spells to bring forth scrap from all kinds of worlds and send it down river so the goblins had all they could to thrive and live peacefully.

Others just assumed that there was a large settlement futher up north that had a habit of throwing things away rather than reusing them.

Either way, ones scrap was Nicks' treasure this early morning and she needed plenty of it for what she was planning on building.

She scrabbled through twisted pieces of metal, pulling lose nuts and bolts from panels and putting them in her shoulder bag. She collected arrowheads and placed them in a pouch attached to her belt, the once she'd collected enough she started rummaging around until she finally set her eyes upon a great big rusty green carriage,

"Perfect."

She quickly scrambled inside, checking to see if any goodies had been left there. Usually there was gold coins or the odd weapon hidden away in carriages such as this but today no such luck was made. Nicks took off her thick leather gloves and pressed her callous hands upon the inside walls, dusty but slightly smooth, then she tapped a knuckle slightly against them to test the strength and quality.

"Yeah, that'll do just nicely"

Pulling out her trusty tools she started cutting into the carriage to remove some of the metal, probably a sheet or two should be plenty for her needs she thought. As she was carefully cutting she noticed odd little markings were etched into nearly every inch, markings she couldn't quite identify. Paying it no more mind she carried on with the task at hand until she had finally finished. She quickly gathered up her belongings and used a cart to take the metal back to her workshop across town. She had to get to work right away whilst the idea was so fresh in her mind. Pops could easily keep the twins occupied whilst she worked, at least that's what she hoped.