"What's this?" Tinka asked in amazement.
"I found it on my journey. I thought the gem matched your beautiful eyes, so I knew it was a perfect fit." Minos smiled as he responded.
"Really, you're giving it to me?" Tinka said, still a little shocked.
"Who else would I give it to? You're the person who matters most to me."
"R-really!" Tinka said.
"Of course." Minos smiled.
"You matter the most to me too!" Tinka said as she hugged Minos tightly.
"Where I come from, a ring has a special meaning." Minos said.
"Special meaning, like what?" Tinka asked curiously as she let go of Minos.
"When a man gives the woman he likes most a ring, it means he wants to spend the rest of his life with her." Minos said.
Tinka didn't even respond, instead she began slightly sobbing as she reembraced Minos, the two hugging tightly for what seemed to be hours.
"I want to spend the rest of my life with you too!" Tinka said between sobs.
The two eventually separated, realizing they had already spent half a day walking around talking. They didn't want to worry the tribe, so they decided to head back.
…
The journey back was filled with laughs as they kept talking. This time however, Minos didn't mention anything about his own adventures or journeys, fully focused on Tinka and her interests.
The two quickly reached Tinka's home as their conversation came to a halt. Walking inside, they saw Ronkus and Meninka who hadn't started eating yet, clearly waiting for the two.
"Welcome back Minos, how was the journey." Ronkus said with a big smile as he patted Minos's shoulder heavily.
"It went well. While I didn't find what I was looking for, I still earned something from it." Minos responded.
"That's good." Ronkus said, not asking any more questions.
The four began eating as they talked about what had happened in the time Minos was gone. As per usual, nothing out of the ordinary happened in the tribe, but its day to day life was still filled with its own excitement.
"So Minos, what are your plans now?" Ronkus suddenly asked as their meal came to an end.
"I have to head back to Underwood City. I've still got business there, but I'll come back when I have time." Minos replied.
"Do you really have to go?" Tinka asked, not wanting to separate so soon after reuniting.
"Don't worry, I'll stay a few days before I go, and I'll visit often in the future."
Tinka was still clearly sad, but she knew that Minos had a lot of business, and she didn't want to hold him back, so she said nothing.
While sad, she would occasionally look down at the ring Minos gave her, filling her depressed heart with joy once more.
…
The next few days passed in what seemed like a flash. Minos and Tinka spent every waking moment together, exploring the beachside and jungles as they chatted about anything that came to mind.
Tinka also introduced Minos to her favorite hobby, wood carving, and even showed him a few of the carvings she had made in her spare time.
"What do you think?" Tinka said, as she showed off a sculpture she had made of a watergull she had seen in the past.
Minos took the sculpture from her hand in wonder, amazed at the level of precision and artistry that went into making such a craft.
"How many years have you been sculpting?" Minos couldn't help but ask.
"Pretty much since I could pick up a chisel." Tinka responded.
"It shows in your work. I'm not an expert on sculptures, but this is beautiful. If it wasn't obvious it was made of wood, I may have even believed this was an actual watergull!" Minos said in appreciation.
"You really think it's that good?" Tinka said with a slight blush.
"I don't think, I know. Can you teach me?" Minos said with a smile.
"Well I've never taught anyone, I don't know if I'll be any good…" Tinka said, worried about misguiding Minos.
"Don't worry, just follow your heart and your hands. Follow me, I want to show you something." Minos said as he suddenly grabbed her by her hand.
Tinka was caught off guard, but she didn't fight it, instead she followed Minos as the two headed towards the ocean.
It didn't take much time to reach the beach. Minos bent over as he reached into the sand before pulling out a smooth rock.
"Do you know why these rocks are so smooth compared to the ones you find in the forest?"
"Of course, it's because the water slowly grinds away at the rock, removing its sharp edges." Tinka replied, confused over why Minos asked such a simple question.
"Now what would happen if I took this rock and tossed it to the floor as hard as possible?" Minos asked.
"It depends on the rock and where you're throwing it. If the rock is weak and the floor is hard, it'll shatter, whereas if the opposite happens, it may instead be the floor that's damaged." Tinka said, still confused.
"Exactly, some rocks are hard, others are brittle. Some are small like pebbles, and some are as massive as mountains. Meanwhile some people try to destroy rocks with hammers, some use chisels, and others may just use the strength of their own fists."
"But do you know what the ocean uses?" Minos asked with a smile.
"No?" Tinka said as she pondered what the answer may be.
"The ocean uses time. It slowly washes over the rock, wave after wave, patiently, slowly chipping at the rock one bit at a time. Rather than saying the water shapes the rock, it's better to say it just removes its weakest parts."
"The best teacher is like a wave on the seas. Rather than using force, they patiently chip away at their students as they remove their weakness and keep their strength."
"But not all stones can be smoothened by the waves, some are more stubborn, and require hammers or chisels."
"Ultimately, you have to know what kind of stone you're dealing with, and then you can decide which tool you want to use, but in my experience, patience usually works best." Minos finished with a grin.
"Then what kind of rock are you?" Tinka asked.
"I'm the smoothest rock you've ever seen." Minos replied, causing Tinka to laugh.
"Since you're already smooth, you must not need any more teaching." Tinka said with a smile as she stopped laughing.
"Not necessarily, it just means I'm the easiest student you'll ever have. Just teach, and I'll learn." Minos replied with a smile.
"That's good since I doubt I'll be any good at this teaching thing." Tinka said, lacking confidence in herself.
Minos suddenly grabbed her by both hands as he looked her deep in the eyes. "Like I said before, just follow your heart and your hands, leave the rest to me." Tinka smiled, comforted by Minos's words.
The two quickly got to work as Tinka guided Minos the best she could. While she wasn't really sure how to go about things, she was surprised to find that Minos still learnt regardless.
She quickly realized what he said before wasn't at all lying. She knew full well that her teaching abilities at the moment were quite poor, but Minos was still learning at an incredible speed.
She began guiding Minos through the techniques she had mastered over the years. Hard strokes to create the initial shape of your sculpture, and gentle strokes to add details.
Sculpting was a lot like talisman making, having a massive reliance on precision and control, skills Minos had long since mastered, making it a lot easier for him.
"Before sculpting, you have to imagine the 'bones' of your sculpture. Just like how a human skeleton dictates largely how a human looks, a sculpture's skeleton decides how a sculpture looks." Tinka explained.
Minos listened closely to Tinka's lecture, however even then, he would occasionally make mistakes. One time he used too much force, destroying the sculpture entirely, other times he didn't use enough, failing to reveal the 'bones' of the sculpture.
"Beyond the bones are the muscles, then the flesh, which also have a massive impact on how the final sculpture looks. You can take the bones as the basic model, whereas the muscle and flesh are the details."
"Like how some people have big muscles and others have thick flesh. While they have the same skeleton underneath, these things massively affect how they look."
"The first thing you have to master are the bones. Then you can learn the muscle, and finally master the flesh. There are other things beyond that, but those three are already enough for most people to spend decades." Tinka finished.
"Where did you learn all this?" Minos couldn't help but ask in wonder. Tinka had a very clear outline to her work, as if she had learnt it from a book or teacher.
"These are just rules I've summarized over the years." She replied, seemingly not realizing herself how amazing what she had done was.