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Post by Anna on Jun 17, 2009 18:53:06 GMT -6
As the Wolfriders gathered around the travois, Nightsun took portions of meat for herself and her brothers, and drifted to the firepit. It only took a little bit of work to start a fire, and she fed it carefully, slowly, until it was just large enough for her purposes. She needed only to spit the meat cook it; the night was too warm to keep a fire going for long.
She kept glancing at the Wolfriders as they distributed the meat amongst themselves. They acted, in some ways, much like her own long-lost family. There was a closeness there, an instinctive awareness of each other, that made her feel very much the outsider.
That would change. Eventually, she would be included as one of them. She had to believe that, for it was all that had given her the will to insist on leading this course. Now that they had met, she wished to fade back again and let her brothers lead again. They were much better suited to it than she.
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Post by peachbug on Jun 17, 2009 20:51:38 GMT -6
Starpath crept up beside his sister, hot meat speared on a short stick in hand. It was like him to swallow it down blistering, too eager for his share like a child. Being a big brother of course, he always made sure Nightsun had her fill first, and that Ashglow didn't give them all his share in his worries. He tore off a bite, eyes locked on the Wolfriders in their huddle of strange kinship. The wolves they rode rolled and panted for their share, and the way these elves responded, with their soft laughter and words, it was almost as though the creatures were Wolfriders rather than mounts!
**Well...** He locksent midchew to Nightsun. **You brought them here somehow. Any more random plans Ashglow and I should be aware of?**
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Post by Anna on Jun 17, 2009 21:18:44 GMT -6
"I didn't bring them," Nightsun answered mildly, skewering another length of beef onto a sharpened stick and propped it up over the fire before each for another stick and another chunk of meat. "They have been traveling for many moons. I was only told days ago that they were coming."
Setting the second kebob to cook, she looked fully at Starpath. Her brow wrinkled slowly and she bit her lip as she realized that he didn't look happy. He looked...wary. "Are you mad at me?" she asked, reaching out to touch his arm. "I thought you would be happy, dear one. These are elves; they are our kind. You and Ashglow have been alone for so long. Are you not happy that now you will not be lonely?"
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Post by peachbug on Jun 17, 2009 21:30:33 GMT -6
Starpath paused for a long breath. "You and Ashglow were always all I needed, sister." He stated out loud. "It was hard, without the others, but you were both enough. If they make you happy..." He stood, stepping away from her reach, but not unkindly. "Then that's good. The raw meat however..." He wrinkled his nose, making a face much like he did as a child who hadn't gotten just what he'd wanted. "I might ask finding us some elves without that particular oddity. If you try again, that is."
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Post by Anna on Jun 17, 2009 21:40:12 GMT -6
Nightsun looked up at him, hurt that he'd stepped away from her touch, and a tad angry that he was lying. Whether it was to himself, or to her, she wasn't sure. Probably himself, she decided. "They do not force us to eat as they do," she pointed out. Then her eyes narrowed. "It has been many long seasons since our kin parted with this life, Starpath. But, surely, it has not been so long that you have forgotten the pleasures and comforts to be found with those who are not sister nor brother to you? I have not experienced this, and so have not missed it. But you and Starpath are my elders, and even as a kit without my secret name, I knew of the joy you took with the other maids in our band. Does it mean nothing that you may have that again?"
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Post by Kris on Jun 17, 2009 22:15:38 GMT -6
Wingfoot ate whatever was handed to him. Red meat? He chewed it slowly and never noticed the taste. Fish? It was raw; he swallowed it. Water? He drank until his thirst was slaked. And in all that time, he kept his eyes on Nightsun.
He'd never seen an elf like her. The humans near the old holt were almost as dark, but Nightsun's skin was smooth and luminous; her eyes were brilliant and warm. There was all that long, black hair that made him want to run his fingers through it--or just wrap himself in it--crowning a sweet face that charmed him out of all wariness.
Wingfoot knew his tribemates' concerns. They didn't quite believe Nightsun, and weren't sure what to make of her brothers. They were justly worried about strangers and strange intentions. But he'd touched her mind, and Wingfoot would part with both arms before he'd ever think Nightsun was capable of doing them harm.
He was also aware that he hadn't felt like this in ages. He'd had lovemates, even a lifemate, and with age and survival had come a lessening in expectations . . . a dampening of passions. Not the Way, perhaps, but the way of an elf who never expected to live as long as Wingfoot had, and wasn't sure what he'd done to achieve it in the first place.
It was strange how one elf could take one's peace of mind, throw it to the winds, and leave one feeling revived instead of robbed.
Wingfoot got to his feet and approached Nightsun. He considered what he'd say to her, when he caught the threads of her conversation with one of her brothers.
"I didn't bring them," Nightsun said in her soft voice, as she skewered meat to roast over the fire. Wingfoot turned his head slightly; the smell was unsettling to his instincts and appetite. "They have been traveling for many moons. I was only told days ago that they were coming." She faced her brother, and bit her lip in a gesture that made Wingfoot's heart melt. "Are you mad at me?"
Who could be? Wingfoot glared at her brother. If he so much as frowned at Nightsun, Wingfoot resolved to throw him into the fire.
"I thought you would be happy, dear one. These are elves; they are our kind. You and Ashglow have been alone for so long. Are you not happy that now you will not be lonely?"
"You and Ashglow were always all I needed, sister," the other male said after a long pause. "It was hard, without the others, but you were both enough. If they make you happy..." He stood, moving just out of Nightsun's reach; Wingfoot suppressed a growl. "Then that's good. The raw meat however..." He wrinkled his nose. As if your fire-stinking burnt meat smells any better, Wingfoot thought. "I might ask finding us some elves without that particular oddity. If you try again, that is."
"They do not force us to eat as they do," Nightsun returned, and Wingfoot grinned. She was soft-spoken, but she made her point. "It has been many long seasons since our kin parted with this life, Starpath. But, surely, it has not been so long that you have forgotten the pleasures and comforts to be found with those who are not sister nor brother to you? I have not experienced this, and so have not missed it . . ."
Wingfoot had to put a hand to his jaw to make sure it wasn't hanging open. A part of him was not surprised; siblings did not mate, not even among the wolfpack. On the other hand--and it made him chuckle--it definitely explained why the young males were so hot-tempered!
But Nightsun . . . Nightsun had never . . . Wingfoot tried to imagine it and failed. His first joining had been sometime after he'd found his soulname. Joining was as easy as breathing; how would it be, he wondered, to live your whole life and never know that kind of sharing with another?
He waited for the brother to leave, making sure to keep out of sight. With a tribemate, he'd simply step in and take Nightsun away for a little while. He didn't even know if she'd welcome him, anyway. But he waited.
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Post by peachbug on Jun 17, 2009 22:25:42 GMT -6
Starpath's shoulders sagged slightly, and he sighed deeply again. Nightsun insisted on seeing through him, being the nagging little sister she was. "Of course I miss them. I miss all the precious things I shared with everyone who was lost to the sickness. I found happiness with the sweet maidens of our tribe, and it was only through you and our brother that I could break away from the sorrows of their passings. Even now my heart feels too full of feelings...and I..." He glanced with mournful gold eyes at the Wolfriders, who moved so closely together, so similar yet starkly different to the tribe they'd lost. **I am not sure I have heart enough to replace my loved ones, even dead.** He sent to speak the truth. "Perhaps someday." Starpath offered bleakly, fiddling with the cooled meat on the stick he held.
"I know you meant well, sister. But for this..." He waved a hand about wildly. "Spirit talking! It seems you told these 'Wolfriders' before even your brothers?" Nibbling his lower lip, he asked softly. "You didn't trust us with your gift?"
Suddenly, Starpath spotted one of the Wolfriders, the dark brown haired one who had fallen and vouched for his sister's words, eyeing her from afar. **It seems you have an admirer already.** Starpath's sending was bittersweet in emotions. **I do want you to find happiness from these elves.** With that, he moved away to speak with Ashglow before she could protest.
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Post by Anna on Jun 17, 2009 22:44:34 GMT -6
Nightsun flinched at Starpath's accusation that she hadn't trusted him, or Ashglow. It had not occurred to her to mention it; she had not even thought of it. She had mentioned the spirits to them, surely? When she said they need to come this way, and along the trail. She must have. They had never questioned her. She had thought they'd known!
"Starpath..." she began, only to be interrupted by his send and swift departure. She blinked, clasping her hands tightly together as she looked after him, worried and hurt. Oh, there was so much she didn't know!
Her lip trembled, but she took a deep breath and turned the meat still grilling before she turned to scan the darkness. Her eyes, however, were accustomed to the bright firelight, and she was not usually a nightdweller. Her searching gaze passed over Wingfoot several times as her pupils expanded to accommodate the lack of light. Still she couldn't pick him out until the spirit that had been his father told her which direction to look. She frowned in concentration, then blinked in surprise as Wingfoot's form slowly became clear to her.
Her searching expression cleared and she smiled in welcome. "Welcome, Wingfoot," she said, lifting a hand in his direction. "Will you come to the fire? It is warm, but the cooking is nearly done and then I shall bank the flames. We do not wish to set the prairie ablaze. Do you wish water?"
She felt oddly breathless as she waited for the Wolfrider's response. Starpath's suggestion that he admired her made her heart flutter, but she had seen the females of his band and doubted that he would find much in her that he did not already have among those he was close to.
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Post by Kris on Jun 18, 2009 22:05:00 GMT -6
Wingfoot eyed the fire and said, "I'll stay back a little, if that's all right." No Wolfrider truly liked fire, unless it was the season of White-Cold, and then so cold that furs couldn't keep off the chill. But he sat close to Nightsun, the better to speak with her, and made himself sit still in spite of the sparks and smoke from the flames.
"I wanted to thank you," he said, "for the meat, and the water. Both were very welcome. We've traveled for some time, and we never expected to meet more of our kin." The longer he stared at her face, the more Wingfoot felt sure that he was in the right place, where he most needed to be.
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Post by Anna on Jun 18, 2009 22:22:04 GMT -6
Nightsun blushed and lowered her gaze back to her fire. "No thanks need be given," she murmured. "The prairie can be harsh to those not accustomed. There is much life here, but difficult to find for those who do not know it."
Her eyes flickered up to his face briefly, then dropped again. She reached out and removed the meat-adorned sticks from near the fire, then used a fire-hardened stick push a roughly shaped lidded bowl from where it had been buried in the ashes on the edge of the fire. *Ashglow, dear one, the meal is done if you wish to eat,* she sent to her eldest brother.
She glanced at Wingfoot again, realizing she'd been silent for perhaps too long. She wasn't sure what to say, but felt she needed to say something. "My brothers and I, we have traveled the prairie often. This is the dry season, but at most times, there is much rain." A smile flickered across her lips. "I am glad our own wanderings had us close."
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