At the River

[Anna]

((OOC: this starts shortly after Windsoft leads her scouts away, so there's about 8 hours before the Wolfriders would get there. So this is late afternoon, but with 3 or 4 hours to go before sunset. So, until the Wolfriders reach the rive in the main thread, only Nightsun, Ashglow, and Starpath will be posting here. ))


Nightsun paused as she crested a slight hill, almost indiscernible in the vast expanse of the grasslands. She shifted her pack into a more comfortable position, barely noticing it's familiar weight or contours. She'd been wearing a similar pack since she'd taken her first steps. That pack held all of her goods and possessions, just as her brothers' packs held theirs.

She closed her eyes and listened to the whispers that drifted around her. They weren't always there, but for the last several days, three had been particularly persistent and stayed with her for almost the entire walk. She didn't understand most of what they said, but they promised a home that had no more wandering, a cool place to stay with others of their kind.

Nightsun was very tired of wandering. She yearned to stay in one place, to see the same things day after day. The whispers said that by coming this direction, finding this river, that she could have that.

She peeked a look at her brothers from beneath lowered lids. They could have that, too. They would be happier with others of their kind, and not just her.

"We will wait here," she said quietly, starting the shallow descent of the hill. "It will not be long. I will collect soaproot. They will want it."

[peachbug]

Starpath shared an awkward glance with his brother. He enjoyed this change of direction, and his sister's new confidence in leading them wherever they might be heading, but all this talk of 'they' was making his head itch with questions. He scratched the top of his head, but that didn't really relieve the wondering.

**Ashglow?** He locksent, though their sister probably couldn't catch their words in her current state. **I'm fine with following Nightsun, but why do I have the feeling we're on the tail of something else entirely?**

[meimei]

Ashglow glanced at the river their sister had led them to, then glanced back at the grasslands they had already crossed. It was a welcome sight. But so far Nightsun hadn't led them wrong since she had unexpectedly decided to take over the course of their wanderings.

Where she was leading them too, and how she knew how to get there were just the beginning of the unanswered questions. He tried not to think too much on it. One way was good as they other. He was used to it. But he shared an awkward glance with Starpath at her statement. He didn't like this 'they' bit that had started up either. Who were 'they'? For that matter what were they?

**I feel it too, Starpath. I don't like it one bit, though. Let's just be cautious, alright? We don't know what's out here.**

[Anna]

Nightsun hummed softly as she led the the way down the shallow hill. The tall grass rustled as she passed, brushing her legs and waist with stiff, golden stalks. Everything smelled greener the closer she got to the river. She thought they might have been here before, but she couldn't remember. It seemed familiar - but one riverbank on the edge of a grassplain was much like another. She couldn't count how many times they had walked the grass plains, wandered through forests, even skirted the burning waste. They'd never crossed that, however. It was too desolate, too unknown. She would miss the times they'd walked along the sandy shores and looked over the endless waters, but she was willing to make that sacrifice.

A glance at the sky assured her that rain was unlikely, so Nightsun didn't bother breaking out the tent. Sleeping under the stars would be pleasant, and Starpath always enjoyed gazing at them. They would need a fire, though - later. When it cooled off. She set her pack down and pulled out the bone knife one of her brothers had made for her and started cutting a wide circle in the turf. She set the sections of turf aside, to replace later when they left this camp. She always preferred to start the camp with the fire-circle.

"Will you hunt?" she asked her brothers, glancing up from her task. "We will need a lot. I'll fish, after I finish the fire circle."

[meimei]

Ashglow glanced over at Starpath again. He'd stopped to take a sip of the water, grateful for the chance to moisten his parched throat with water that hadn't been his waterskin under the hot sun. Nightsun's words bothered him more than he cared to admit.

"We'll hunt." He knew Starpath wouldn't mind him volunteering them both. He wanted to ask more, but hesitated. Why more than usual? Bringing down more than they could eat or dry to take with them was impractical. The obvious answer was she planned to feed more than just them. But why? Who was she expecting?

[peachbug]

Starpath nodded, of course they would hunt for their sister, but for her...'they'? He would ask his sister, but upsetting her was the worst thing he could imagine, and what harm did it really do in letting her lead for a while? She'd followed them every which way, across endless hills and flat earth. Hopefully Nightsun wasn't keeping anything from them, but Starpath seriously doubted it. Something about this spot had struck her fancy, and who was he to complain? He shrugged at his brother's look. Ashglow was apparently more concerned than he.

She was Nightsun, who knew what flew round between her ears?

[meimei]

At Starpath's shrug, Ashglow relaxed a little. Maybe he was just letting the heat make him jumpy. This wasn't a brand new path, afterall. They'd travelled all their lives, up and down the forest and the grassplains. Even though it was just the three of them now, little had changed. They'd never stayed anywhere long. He'd wondered a few times if they should. Just pick a spot with water and good hunting and stay there. But he'd never voiced the idea to his siblings.

"We'll try to stay within sending range. We won't be long."

Though a part of him knew Nightsun could take care of herself, he still felt the need to protect her. The times when her head seemed full of clouds worried him. What happened if danger came along at the wrong moment?

[Anna]

Nightsun watched her brothers go off to hunt. There were fresh hoof marks on the river's edge so she didn't think they'd be gone long. Large game was close by.

Singing now, she absently continued to cut squares of sod and set them aside. When she finished that, she listened to the whispers of the three who had guided her across the grass plains as she gathered grasses and twisted them into blocky bundles that she could use instead of wood for a fire. She wouldn't start that until she was ready to cook; grass burned much more quickly than wood did.

Her three friends grew more excited as time passed and Nightsun had to smile as their eagerness sent them flying off and back again. "No, I won't," she said firmly, returning to the river and getting a long, rolled string of gut from her pack. "Not yet, anyway," she qualified.

The sun had set by the time she had started fishing, but she didn't worry. The others wouldn't be there until the night was half gone.

[Anna]

Her brothers had returned as the moons neared the highest point of their nightly path, pulling a rope and leather travois behind them. They'd clearly found one of the herds of bison that traveled through the grasslands. They had just as clearly been successful in their hunt, bring down one of the huge beasts and butchering it on the spot for easier transport back to the river.

Nightsun set aside her fish as her brothers arrived, and greeted each with an embrace and a brush of her lips against their cheeks. "This will be plenty," she said happily as she looked at the grass-wrapped bundles on the stretched hide.

She stiffened abruptly, however, when the three whisperers around her grew excited, then abruptly vanished. They hadn't left her for days, not since they'd urged her on this path, and the sudden sense of aloneness that followed their departure saddened her.

But then it occurred to her what reason they may have had to leave, and she suddenly laughed with delight. "Your return is timely," she said merrily to Ashglow and Starpath. "I believe our friends have arrived!"

She turned around, scanning the horizon until she spotted the ones she'd been preparing for. "Welcome," she called stepping forward and away from her brothers. She smiled and spread her hands, showing she had no weapons on her. "You have had a long ride. We have food, and there is water. Will you join us? We've been waiting for you."

[Anna]

Beside Stormfire, Sunsong gasped as the stranger elf by the river called out to them and urged them to join her and the other two. She glanced at Stormfire, not sure what her friend would decide. They'd never met other elves before! She wanted to race down to the river and ask them questions - who are they? Where did they come from? Are there more of them? But she waited for Stormfire's word.

Mist stepped up beside his chieftess and pondered the unexpected trio on the river's edge. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Elves, sun, grass, sharp copper scent of blood from fresh kills, water. The unique, body-scents of the three below, though he'd have to get closer to know which scent belonged to which.

They had been expected. How? They weren't from the holt, and Mist doubted that Sureshot would have told strangers of his daughter and the group that followed her. But they were elves, so how strange could they be? 'Not our tribe,' the thought whispered to him, but Mist shoved it away. That was a wolf's territorial tendencies speaking, and in this the elfin blood spoke more strongly. Elves were elves, and they were all one.

And the three below were greatly outnumbered. "There's no harm in going to the river, Stormfire," he murmurred quietly. "They are only three, they are elves, and they seem friendly."