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Post by Anna on Oct 18, 2008 21:04:32 GMT -6
"It makes me feel strange," Sunsong said quietly to Oakstaff, clasping her arms around her torso and shivering as she eyed the mountainous bulk that the moonlight had turned black and ominous.
Oakstaff glanced at her, then at the looming mountain. "I know what you mean. It's steeped in magic."
Mist eyed the mountain uneasily, then smiled as Sunsong's bright laughter lifted the moment of gloom. Strange or not, the maiden's spirits were seldom dimmed for more than a passing moment. Even with the strain showing on her face, her loss of weight, and the weariness dimming her eyes, her spirits remained high.
It was his concern for the plantshaper that prompted him to urge Whitecold forward to ride beside Stormfire. She had been leading them in easy stages, stopping for a two-day rest every eight of days. It was time for another such stop, and there were plenty of trees here that they could sleep in the branches without Sunsong needing to do more than a little shaping. Or, better still, they may find caves.
"Chieftess," he said quietly once Whitecold settled beside Snowtreader. "The woods are thick here. Perhaps another rest when we reach the mountain's base? There may be caves to shelter us."
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Post by Kris on Oct 18, 2008 21:21:03 GMT -6
Stormfire couldn't take her eyes off the mountain.
It had the strangest shape. She'd seen peaks, smoking mountains with flattened tops, odd furrowed mountains that were little better than hills . . . but nothing like this truncated silhouette. There was no peak. The top was a jagged stump. If it had been a tree, Stormfire would have said it was blasted by sky-fire. Nothing explained this.
But she could feel the weird emanations from it. Like moonlight that you could feel pour over your hands, the magic that radiated from the mountain both thrilled and chilled her. She wanted to see it. She also didn't want to go anywhere near it.
"Chieftess," and Mist came up beside her on Whitecold. Stormfire, startled, drew a deep breath to calm herself. It was so still that she couldn't even hear the night-birds sing.
The healer continued, softly. "The woods are thick here. Perhaps another rest when we reach the mountain's base? There may be caves to shelter us."
Oh, no. Stormfire almost said, No, we're staying in the woods. But she thought of Sunsong. Poor thing it was to wear her friend out, shaping den after den for them. She glanced at the trees. Although smaller than what she was used, the trees were thick-branched and barely let in any light. They could stop here, and nestle among the boughs. Or . . .
She looked at the crumbled shadow on the horizon, and blinked. Did I just see something?
That odd tug came at her again. Come on, it urged. Come closer. You want to see what it looks like. And you can feel it deep within--elves were once there.
Stormfire sighed. "We'll do it," she told Mist. "Let's stop for a little food, and I'll tell the tribe."
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Post by Kris on Oct 18, 2008 21:28:25 GMT -6
"This place gives me the creeps," Whirlwind muttered.
Tallspear snorted. "You and I both." He slid off Longlope's back and began walking ahead of the wolf. Longlope whined a little. "It's all right," Tallspear assured the wolf. "I just need to be on my feet for a while."
"Look at that," Whirlwind continued. "I never saw a mountain like--"
*Stop talking, cub!* Wingfoot ordered, riding past them. *Humans could be anywhere in these woods!*
*If they were, we'd smell them first,* Whirlwind retorted. Tallspear noticed she stopped sending, and hid a grin. The huntress growled under her breath as the elder rode off. *Fire-stinking, troll-poking, sour-faced old . . .*
*Hey.* Tallspear motioned with his head to the head of the long line of Wolfriders. *Stormfire just stopped.*
*Huh.* Whirlwind stopped as well. *Wonder why?*
*Don't know. Let's go have a look, shall we?*
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Post by Viola on Oct 19, 2008 7:26:19 GMT -6
The trek had been heavier than Longdusk had expected, but he had also had left part of him behind. It felt as if he moved lighter, thought lighter and sometimes he even lifted the corners of his mouth. Mostly around his mother and his aunt, though. Sunsong hadn't managed to get a smile from him. He remembered her promise to him when he heard her light laughter.
His mother -- he'd never envisioned her to come along. She had worked on his travelling leathers quietly, and at the day of their departure she'd rushed out her den with new leathers for herself as well, calling her bond and telling Sureshot Stormfire might need another elder. He had been stunned, but she hushed him when he wanted to ask why she changed her mind. He could've guessed, but the fact that she did come along was enough to make him shut his mouth about it. He'd guarded when they took rest, hunted if they needed meat -- in fact, just doing the things he'd promised Stormfire to do.
~*~*~*~
Now, she was riding her wolf next to him, when they stopped. They rode quite in front of the line of wolves, and Lightgaze was swiftly to dismount. *It seems something pulls as closer we get to that mountain. I'm not sure if I like it.*
Her reasons to go on this journey were her own. She still wasn't sure if she had made the right decision and she had slept badly for days, making her feel tired. But she had realized her life would move away from her - her cub, her soulsister and her family, her once-apprentice Evenstar... She had remembered Sunsong's words and had felt what she had meant when it had been almost too late. She could take her memories with her. Tracker's spirit would always be with her, she knew that. All she left behind now was her sister -- a sister she had never had a tight bond with.
Still, the journey had been hard for her. She had never been more than half a day's ride from the holt, at least none she could remember. Everything was strange, weird and frightening. She kept remembering herself that she was a wolfrider and that she would live through it, but those humans were even scarier than they were in the tales.
When Longdusk rode forward to see if they were staying here, she slumped back to Redthorn, Silvercub and Icemark to get some moral support.
~*~*~*~
"I wonder what lived here," Firecat whispered to Evenstar, continueing in sending. *This place is soaked with magic. And it makes me feel.. uneasy. It's too quiet, that's not normal.* Not even a small stream nearby to make any sound. She shivered slightly. *Are we going to camp here?*
The fisher had made the right decision in the end. She had wanted to go not to bolt awat from Hazel, but to rediscover herself. She had remembered how she had been like before Evenstar, and that was the person she wanted to find again during this trip or in a new holt. She just hoped that holt wasn't going to be somewhere around this pile of magically soaked rubble.
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Post by oddsong on Oct 19, 2008 13:37:11 GMT -6
Thornberry felt his lips pull instinctively back to show his fangs as he leaned low, hugging Smirk's ruff and looking ahead from between the wolf's ears. Feeling the warmth and closeness of his bond's body was good. This place was wrong - wrong in some wretched way, reeking of magic that, even if it was elf magic, was strange and alien - not for them. Were it up to him, they would've changed their course at once and never gone anywhere near it.
It was not up to him. During their long journey, sometimes Stormfire took his advice, and sometimes she didn't. He respected her now more than he did when they set out, was more willing to follow her - all of them were still alive and unhurt, and that was proof enough of her having talent from which skill might grow, and wisdom. But the going had been easy. And easy never lasted...
Feeling the hair on the back of his neck standing, as though he was sensing the gaze of a predator in the woods, he urged Smirk forward and joined Mist next to the chieftess. "Are we headed towards that mountain? Must we?"
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Post by Multi-Facets on Oct 19, 2008 15:37:57 GMT -6
Wanderlust whined, uneasy because her friend was uneasy, and because his hands were twisting in her ruff to the point of pain. Silent was shuddering uncontrollably, eyes wide in panic. It was the most horrific thing he had ever "felt". The "notes" of the place were jagged, hissing, writhing things that drove him half mad with trying to ignore them. He'd felt it coming, in a way: Yesterday night, around the time of moons-high, a new thread of "sound" had caught his attention, and he'd spent a lot of time trying to make sense of it. It had made him uncomfortable, but he hadn't said anything, not wanting to look foolish; he had not been sure how to explain what he was feeling, or if he have been heeded. But now the tribe was close, very close, to the twisted, distracting source of tangled "notes" that were just plain wrong. And some of the tribe was actually talking about exploring it for caves! * I'm not going there!* Silent cried openly, and Wanderlust yelped, dumping her friend to the ground when his hands tightened too far. The wolf shook herself and rolled in the dirt to rub her shoulders. (OOC: I'm sorry if this seems like too much. I couldn't think of how to soften it.  ) |
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Post by Anna on Oct 19, 2008 16:14:26 GMT -6
(Just play Silent in character and don't worry about it.  It that's how he'd really react, then it is what it is.  ) |
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Post by Kris on Oct 20, 2008 22:13:57 GMT -6
Stormfire turned towards Thornberry. "We," she began, and Silent's sending crackled through her head.
"Oh, puckernuts," Stormfire muttered through gritted teeth, watching as others picked Silent up from where his wolf-friend had dumped him. I don't need this. She looked at Sunsong, and felt her heart sink. She doesn't either. The urge to protect friend rose up along with the instinct to protect tribe.
Something wasn't right with that mountain . . . and as Stormfire looked again at it, she thought she could almost put her finger on it . . . but it was like standing in a strong storm, with the wind blowing a multitude of scents past your nose at a speed likely to tear it off.
The tribe gathered around her. Stormfire could feel the elders watching her, especially Mist. Their watchfulness was like a rough hide thrown over a raw skin-scrape. She tried to weigh the alternatives. Stay in the woods, and have Sunsong make them another makeshift den, when she was already so tired? Or drag the tribe into something that could be more dangerous?
"All right," Stormfire declared, her voice sounding unnaturally low and soft in the thickness of the surrounding trees. She switched to an open send. *We've done a good deal of traveling. Sunsong's shaped our dens for us all the way. But we've got a choice now--we can go on, towards that mountain, and find caves to shelter in. We'll take a good, long rest there. We'll be close to water, we can hunt, and we'll be able to keep a sharp watch for humans.
*I know the mountain feels strange. I can feel it too. But I'll tell you this: I can also feel our kindred. There were elves there . . . and if they were there, then we must be feeling the magic they left behind.* Stormfire drew a deep breath to settle her nervous stomach. Snowtreader grunted once, but made no other sound. *We've heard the tales before, of how our ancestors tried to use their powers here . . . and how, sometimes, the magic went bad.
*That may be what we're feeling now.* She looked at Silent. *But if it is--if that's what it is, bad magic, then we need to find out. You see, I remember those tales. I remember what they said happened sometimes, when living things encountered those pools of magic. We can't leave it for something or someone to find. If we can find it and deal with it, it won't harm anyone. And, most importantly, it won't be able to follow after us.*
She waited, certain this was the moment where her tribemates would turn and head back to Sureshot. She wasn't certain she wouldn't be right behind them.
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Post by Anna on Oct 20, 2008 22:24:49 GMT -6
Sunsong wasn't quite sure why Stormfire was sending, but it didn't really matter. She followed her friend's lead. *It'll be fine, Silent; there's nothing to really worry about!* she reassured the slightly older elf. She nudged Shade and her wolf-friend eased up beside his own Wanderlust. Sunsong reached out and took his hand. *With all the fine hunters we have, I'm sure there's nothing that can hurt us.* Sunsong grinned at Thornberry and Longdusk, Tallspear, Oakstaff, Windsoft, and all the others with them known for their skill as hunters and warriors.
"Trusting sort, isn't she?" Oakstaff drawled to the rest of them. "Now I'll really feel bad if she stubs a toe."
Windsoft swallowed a chuckle, but rode up beside Silent herself, touching his cheek lightly. "It'll be fine, cub," she murmurred reassuringly.
Mist didn't say anything. He burrowed his hands in his wolf's fur and looked between Silent and Stormfire. He lowered his head, hiding his faint smile from her view. He'd noted that she'd been - not quite uneasy, but close - around him since they'd left Sureshot's holt. He could understand that. He was her father's friend, and not much given to long sojourn's away from the familiarity of the holt. She had to wonder why he'd come.
She could keep wondering. It made her think twice.
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Post by Multi-Facets on Oct 21, 2008 0:45:31 GMT -6
Surprised by, but intensely grateful for the contact, Silent squeezed Sunsong's hand tightly and leaned his head against Windsoft's fingers, pressing his palm against them. Stormfire's explanation made sense; it had to be bad magic that was distorting the Song. That gave him some clarity, but he was still shaken.
Stormfire was also right about sparing Sunsong, though. The whole tribe could have napped in the branches without any shaping, but it seemed they were more inclined to follow Stormfire and explore. What the chieftess had said about dealing with whatever was there also made sense.
If only she could feel was she was feeling, but he was afraid to try sharing it.
No choice, then.
*I-I-I-I'll c-come to th-the b-base,* Silent sent weakly, releasing Sunsong and Windsoft. *I c-can stay there with Wanderlu-lust. I wouldn't be a-any use lo-looking for the s-source, anywa-way.* Some fear slipped out before he clumsily reined it in and replaced it with a shaky determination. To add weight to his thoughts, Silent remounted Wanderlust, who had been sticking close to Shade.
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It that's how he'd really react, then it is what it is. 
)