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Post by Kris on May 17, 2009 22:44:33 GMT -6
Mist brought up the subject of water, and the quiet one's thoughts were brought back to what he had been looking for in the first place. Food could wait. He hurried to Stormfire, grabbing her shoulder. *Let me come/ [pleading]-[faint pink hope]/[purpose],* he requested, for once daring to meet someone's eyes. Stormfire met Silent's eyes, struck again by the strangeness of his sending. Most Wolfriders' sendings were rich with emotion and sensation; Silent's sends were like rivulets of water flowing into a pool--they plunged, settled, and rippled through her mind. On the other hand, if anyone could sense water, it just might be Silent . . . She laid a hand on his shoulder and held his gaze. *Come then,* she assured him. She glanced back at Mist, whose face, as still and quiet as stone, made her want to giggle. **You know, Healer, maybe you'd like to come too. We can always have Wingfoot look out for the tribe, you know.** |
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Post by Kris on May 17, 2009 22:56:31 GMT -6
"Should I stay and keep searching for these grass squirrel things, Chieftess?" Evenstar called to Stormfire, oblivious to the tension between the healer and chief in all the excitement and blood scent. "Or should I help with the search for water? This good luck won't be our last I think!" Stormfire looked about at her tribemates. They were eagerly hunting burrows, pulling up handfuls of the strange little grass-squirrels. "I'd say our hunters here can handle it," she noted, grinning as the piles of dead grass-squirrels began to rise. "Food's one thing. We need water, fast, and your help would definitely be welcome, Evenstar." |
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Post by peachbug on May 17, 2009 23:03:27 GMT -6
Evenstar smiled and nodded, calling her Farpace back to her.
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Post by Anna on May 18, 2009 0:01:55 GMT -6
Windsoft watched with wide eyes while Stormfire gave permission first for Silent, then for Evenstar to come on the hunt for water. The chieftess didn't seem to think about it - just blithely said yes! She liked Silent and Evenstar, but what benefit could they be on a fast scouting foray? Silent had an odd way about him, but Windsoft couldnt' see how that would help them. He would slow them down. Evenstar - she'd found food, but what benefit would her tanning or animal sensing gifts do them in a search for water?
"Chieftess." Windsoft cleaned her bloody fingers and stood up, stepping closer to Stormfire and focusing her eyes on the ground. She wasn't challenging, oh, no. Not a bit. "Perhaps only the experienced scouts should go? We'll be moving swiftly, and invisibly. Our magic users are too are not trained as scouts; dare we risk them when it's not strictly necessary?"
She glanced around at the tribe, seeing that most were watching. "Evenstar's talent is useful here, catching more of these ground squirrels to take with us, in case our next camp is even more barren. Silent..." Windsoft trailed off, trying to think of a kind way to explain her objection. He was a good cub, although long past the age of being a cub. But he'd never shown an interest in being a scout. She just couldn't see how his inclusion would be more than a hindrance. "Silent unique sense may be more help when he can concentrate on it, and not be distracted by the need for speed and stealth."
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Post by Multi-Facets on May 18, 2009 0:29:35 GMT -6
She said yes! Stormheart actually said yes, and took him seriously! Silent couldn't believe it. He smiled and projected his gratitude to his chieftess, showing throat respectfully.
And then Windsoft approached and spoke up. Her words cut deep because they were partly true. He was generally quite useless, but out of all the magic-users, he was also the most expendable; if something happened to him, it wouldn't be a loss.
But he wasn't simply "Silent" because he didn't talk.
The silver-eyed elf gently removed Stormfire's hand from his shoulder and deliberately started walking backwards. Grass whispered about his mantle as he passed through, the thick soles of his boots making barely any noise as they made contact with the dry, powdery soil. Years of being alone, of being quiet simply because he thought there was nothing else to be, made Silent as soundless as most other Wolfriders.
Silent stopped when he was two elf-lengths away from Stormfire and Windsoft, then came back, still virtually soundless. *I can be useful/[let me have a use]-[let me prove myself],* he sent, pleading with Windsoft to understand.
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Post by Anna on May 18, 2009 1:05:28 GMT -6
Windsoft almost winced at the pleading in Silent's sending, but his eyes she would - and did - meet as she answered him. Her request to Stormfire had been verbal, and all the tribe heard it. They deserved to hear this, too.
"Yes, cub, you can be useful. You will be. But each of us is useful in different ways. Guards make poor gatherers, so we don't expect or ask it of them. You're neither guard nor gatherer, but something else, something akin to the gifts of the High Ones. Everyone knows that using that magic takes focus and concentration. That's not something you can do riding a running wolf while you're trying not to be seen." She glanced towards Evenstar. "Just as our tanner's animal-bonding will be more useful with the rest of you. Water doesn't have a mind to be sensed, so her magic won't show us where it is."
She stepped away from Stormfire, who seemed to be listening and watching how Windsoft dealt with the young male. The scout put her hand on Silent's face, caressing his cheek soothingly. "You have a gift none of us have, and none of us can tell you how it best serves the tribe. Only you can figure that out. So while we scouts do what we do best - ride fast, far, and unseen - we must trust you to do what you do best."
Mist stepped forward and put his hand on Silent's shoulder. "This way you have of sensing things... it tells you much," he said gently. "Can it tell you where water is? The chieftess and Windsoft can't cover every direction."
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Post by Multi-Facets on May 18, 2009 14:34:56 GMT -6
*Yes! I'll show you now!* Silent affirmed, and swayed slightly as his eyes went blank and his mind opened to the Song again. The "sounds" became louder as the elf drove his consciousness deep into it. Urgency
They don't trust me
Not surprising
Distance heat death dry air dry ground dry waving grass everything too dry
Farther and farther
Wait- Stop
Where....?
Crystal notes sense of cleanliness faint phantom taste bright in the dust and heat
What is it?
No, I remember! I-
Pain shot through Silent's temples and he gasped, barely covering his nose in time to stop the blood. *There!* he sent triumphantly, and pointed the way as he wobbled and sank to his knees. He had never sent his mind so far before.
Behind the group, Shellslip yipped in excitement as she finally caught one of the prairie dogs, and immediately killed it to skin it.
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Post by peachbug on May 18, 2009 18:37:19 GMT -6
Evenstar stepped out at Stormfire's thoughtful silence, accepting Windsoft's suggestion as wiser than her own eagerness to assist. A sadness drifted briefly through her as she walked delicately over the grasses, 'listening' for flittering minds. It really did feel good to be useful again, after so long unable to tan or produce anything. A huntress she was not. Maybe at the new holt, she could be more than a tanner.
A few moments later, the scent of elf blood caught her nose, and Silent's sending broke through like blinding rays of the sun. Worry passed quickly, as she realized the emotions behind the sending. Had he found water? Evenstar clasped her hands together and turned away smiling. Of course they could rely on Silent to find the invisible!
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Softling had started toward Windsoft and Stormfire, hoping to find some use in the renewed search, but felt a rush of embarassing jealousy along with her natural relief at Silent's sending. The sending overwhelmed her, cowed her like only wolves like Whitecrest and Snowtreader could. Water. How could he possibly see that? Mist and Sunsong had the strongest magics, and they hadn't found anything over the whole journey across the dry grass. Thank the High Ones if he found it, she admitted gladly, but I wish I'd been the one. Softling scuffed the grass with a frown, but sighed and continued walking to the small group. Maybe she could still do something, even small.
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Post by Viola on May 19, 2009 7:37:58 GMT -6
"Well, can't you point the grass upside down, then?" Firecat laughed, happy that Sunsong had been able to catch the prey that had tried to make a run for it, "I mean, if it hurts us, then it'll thefintely hurt them, right?" Her mood had instantly been lifted when the food had been discovered, and without even thinking, she broke the squirming creatures neck, before she took her knife and skinned it. Evenstar might have some use for it, and she wasn't that desperate that she would eat it with fur and all. With the plantshaper's next question, she studied the half-skinned creature she hold in her hand. "Aye, they do look like those. Though I prefer their tree-dwelling kind better," Firecat told her after testing the meat.
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Post by Multi-Facets on May 19, 2009 19:02:44 GMT -6
"Picky, picky," Shellslip sassed Firecat through a full mouth, and swallowed happily. Funny how food could improve one's mood. "I got rather sick of squirrels myself while we were near that pile of rocks." She grinned unrepentantly, knowing that made her sound picky as well. "These taste different. I could get used to different while we're on this High Ones-cursed plain."
Sniffer pounced on another of the rodents, and warned off another wolf with a snarl before eating in peace.
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