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Post by Kris on Jun 19, 2009 0:36:39 GMT -6
"So am I," Wingfoot answered, noting her words. He gave her a wry grin. "It's good to know it rains sometime in this place--you called it a prairie?" He looked up at the clear, star-filled sky. "I wouldn't mind a little rain right now, except that it would put out your fire."
She continued to look at him. Nightsun, Wingfoot decided, had a certain keenness to her glance, a directness more accepting than piercing. While soft, her features held no weakness. And despite her quietness, her eagerness to please, Wingfoot wondered if that was due to living for years with no company but her two brothers. Not that they struck him as being all that companionable.
"Anyway," he said, "I'm wondering if you'd like to meet the rest of us. Stormfire's already made herself known to you. Why not the others?" He stood up and held out his hand. "I'd be happy to have you make my tribemates' acquaintances."
Nightsun blushed, which looked lovely on her dark skin, and took his hand. "I would be most honored to do so," she said, smiling slightly, "when your tribemates are ready to be made known to me."
Wingfoot couldn't keep a grin off his face. "Well," he said, moving Nightsun's small hand to the crook of his arm--where he covered it with his own hand--"as my father, whom you know already, used to say, there's no time like the present."
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Post by meimei on Jun 19, 2009 9:18:08 GMT -6
Ashglow had wandered away from the others to the edge of the campsite, trying to think things through. Nightsun's ability to hear spirits didn't bother him so much. His father had once said that the spirits of the passed watched over the living. It had been shortly after the death of his mother Duneshade, and the words had comforted him. Remembering that the loss of the tribe had not affected Nightsun the same way as Starpath and himself, he wondered how long she'd known of this gift.
As, until this recent turn of events, it hadn't truly been something that would affect their travels, it didn't bother him that she hadn't outwardly spoken of it. But the fact that she'd decided on her own what was right for the three of them did. He'd thought they'd been doing well enough. Had Nightsun been discontent? Had Starpath?
Hearing Nightsun's sending he let the thoughts go for now, wandering back to the fire for the food. He paused when he saw the wolfrider with his sister, scowling disapprovingly. Where'd Starpath gone off to? They had yet to decide if the strangers were trustworthy, and he leaves their sister with them?
"Obviously not." He commented on the wolfrider's words dryly - eyeing where Wingfoot had placed Nightsun's hand on his arm. He went to grab some of their food, but frowned at how much there still was "Have you or Starpath eaten anything?" He asked.
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Post by Anna on Jun 19, 2009 11:11:51 GMT -6
"Oh!" Nightsun turned towards Ashglow and blushed, dropping her gaze from his and clasping her hands together behind her back in a habit that he was well familiar with. It was the same response, verbal and physical, she always gave when he or Starpath caught her out in forgetting little things like eating. And sleeping. And coming in out of the rain. Or putting on a fur when it started to snow.
"I forgot," she admitted. "Starpath has eaten, but he is unhappy with me." She peeked at Ashglow from beneath thick, long lashes and bit her lip before sighing. "And you, as well, are displeased."
She glanced at Wingfoot, then back and Ashglow, and was torn. She wanted to be in the Wolfrider's company. His touch made her breath catch and her heart flutter. But she couldn't bear her brothers being angry with her, and now, they both were. She was confused at the source of their emotion - how could they not want to be with their own kind again? Surely, with others, their lives would be much better! Like it was when she was just a kitling, before she'd left on her soulquest... She remembered, dimly, the laughter and the warmth of a mother's touch. The strength and security of a father's voice. Of watching the adults in their endless dances of companionship, joy - the moments of discord that made the love all the sweeter.
If she had told them where the spirits were leading her, and what would come to them there, would they have been angry still? But then, they may have refused, and Nightsun knew beyond any doubt, that this path was the best for them. This way lay life; their wanderings before had simply been existence.
"Perhaps," she said hesitantly, glancing at Wingfoot, "another time would be best for meeting your tribe? Tomorrow, when the sun shines friendly and gentle on us all, and darkness doesn't encourage caution?" She glanced at the fire she'd so nearly walked away from, leaving it unwatched and dangerous. "As well, the fire cannot be left untended until even the faintest embers are cold." She couldn't believe she'd almost forgotten that, too!
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Post by Kris on Jun 20, 2009 23:30:22 GMT -6
"Well, we sleep during the day, when it's hot . . ." Wingfoot kept his voice neutral and his eyes away from Nightsun's brother--one of them--knowing he shouldn't interfere with her family. He couldn't help feeling disappointed, but shrugged it off. "Maybe sometime in the afternoon," he suggested. "And I'll stay here with you to look after the fire."
He eyed the fire-ring, not really certain he'd done the smart thing. "So . . . should we extinguish it, or wait for it to burn out?"
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Post by Anna on Jun 20, 2009 23:56:23 GMT -6
The smile Nightsun gave Wingfoot was brighter and warmer than the fire that burned within its circle. She settled once more on her knees beside it, and the strips of raw meat still waiting to be cooked. "I would have forgotten these," she murmurred. "The fire shall burn until this meat is cooked, and then I shall smother it with dirt until it burns no more," she said as her fingers once more started threading bloody strips onto sticks and setting them near the fire. She fed two more twists of grass to the flame and watched it rise higher. "I shall cook enough to provide meals for several days, and thereby have no need to light another fire too soon."
She glanced at Ashglow, then guiltily picked up one of the kebobs she'd already grilled and took a bite.
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Post by meimei on Jun 21, 2009 0:34:38 GMT -6
Ashglow frowned at his sister's guilty response. Obviously she had not eaten. If Starpath had touched so little, and from Nightsun's words, the younger brother was also unhappy about the sudden turn of events. His frown deepened as the Wolfrider volunteered to stay, though Nightsun brightened at the words. Atleast she took some food.
Grabbing up two of the kebobs, Ashglow made a point of sitting down as well. If Nightsun asked him to leave, he would. And he supposed he couldn't stop her if she chose to leave the fire with the stranger. He didn't have to like any of it, though. And he didn't intend to hide his displeasure either.
"You have to be careful on the plains. Fire can spread swiftly. But we've had plenty of practice." He took some fish out of the bowl, nibbling at it along with his kebobs. "Since your tribe doesn't cook meat, I take it you're not accustomed to fire?" He'd noticed that the wolfrider kept some distance between himself and the small blaze.
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Post by Anna on Jun 21, 2009 0:40:02 GMT -6
Nightsun's head bowed at Ashglow's comment, interpretting that as a reprimand to her. One she well deserved for her thoughtlessness, too! She knew how dangerous untended fires could be, and yet she would have walked away from this one without a thought, simply because Wingfoot had asked her to meet his kin.
She didn't know what to do. She'd seldom had both her brothers mad at her at the same time. It hurt most sharply. She would have to make amends with them, and soon!
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Post by peachbug on Jun 21, 2009 13:26:04 GMT -6
**Ashglow...** Starpath's sending was oddly weary, though it carried no ill feelings. He stepped closer to the fire, barely visible to Nightsun and Ashglow. **Our sister has made a bold choice. Perhaps we should let her experience it. Not to harm's end,** He glanced at the Wolfrider beside her. **But she made a choice without us. What sense in putting our wills on her now?** He crossed his arms, his face stoic. **I say we watch. Nightsun obviously needed this. More elves...you and I can bear the empty plains, but she could not.**
He did not plan to reveal this resignation to Nightsun. He was not ready to concede his feelings yet.
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Post by Kris on Jun 21, 2009 21:47:18 GMT -6
Wingfoot wasn't sure he cared for the way Nightsun faded around her brothers. Nor did he care for this one's, Ashglow's, tone. "Fires," he said, keeping his tone light and even, "are a danger. They create a blaze of light, by which one can be seen by enemies. They give off smoke, which can be smelled even by the stupidest of five-fingers. So, no--" And he met Ashglow's gaze with a level one of his own. "We Wolfriders are not in the habit of using fire. It has kept us alive."
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Post by Anna on Jun 21, 2009 22:03:31 GMT -6
"Enemies?" Nightsun repeated the word and looked at Wingfoot with a quizzical expression. She knew the meaning of the word, but she couldn't connect with it emotionally. She had never known an enemy. "A strange thought," she murmurred, turning the roasting meat. "We have always used fire, but have never feared enemies." She frowned and looked at Ashglow for confirmation. "Have we, dear one? Starpath usually marks our course, and I have questioned neither the direction, the time, nor the season. Have we enemies that our fires could bring to us?"
She worried now. A simple thing was fire. A useful thing. She had always assumed it's danger lay in escaping the confinement set for it, and spreading to burn unchecked and savage. Her hand hesitated as she reached for long blades of grass she'd gathered earlier. Plaited together, they would make handy baskets for carrying the cooked meat, and once the meat was finished, they could be unplaited and left behind, to decompose and feed the growing grass.
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