The Last Day Begins (3)

[Westering Holt]

The sun was still high overhead when the Wolfriders began waking from their day’s rest. Some slept longer than others, and some woke much earlier than the majority. But for the few early risers and the few late sleepers, the majority of the tribe was stirring and moving about with the sun still high overhead.

For all their constant traveling, there were still tasks that needed doing, and couldn’t be done on wolfback. Cleaning and mending clothing, repairing weapons and tools, minimal tanning to keep hides from rotting, gathering herbs and plants for food and medicine… All the small tasks once spread out among Sureshot’s tribe had descended on the much smaller band of wanderers.

It had become habit, in the daylight hours of waking, before the traveling began, to attend to those tasks.

[Anna]

Sunsong

The plantshaper had woken early, when the sun had been directly overhead. She felt tired and drained, but her mind would not rest and pulled her urgently from sleep. She'd left the warm comfort of her sleeping furs and gently stepped around the elves who'd joined her in her nesting platform.

She grimaced at the feel of the last night's dust on her skin and made her first task a quiet bath in the river. She shook her leathers out thoroughly before pulling them back on.

And then, she settled at the base of a tree, and considered the three seeds in her hand. One was from the Father Tree they'd left behind. The other was from one she'd seen in the last day. there were several of those, and they were giants. Tall, straight trunks that didn't branch until far, far above. The third was from a common willow, with those gracefully draping vine-like branches.

Pale green glowed from around her hands as she considered those three seeds, absently sending her senses deep into them.



Icemark

Icemark had woken shortly after Sunsong, but had left the plantshaper alone. She seemed distracted, and the signs of weariness still marked her face. Although they frequently went gathering together while the tribe slept, Icemark decided that this time he wouldn't see if she wanted to come. He knew her, and knew what her answer would be. If she wouldn't tend to herself as she should, then it feel to the tribe to tend to her instead.

With a soft smile, he caressed Redthorn's cheek, then ran a light hand over Silvercub's hair. He left their platform as silently as only a Wolfrider could and gathered his harvesting pouch from among the packs. This forest was rich with a variety of plants that could be used as food. Nuts, berries, and mushrooms were abundant, as well. The long, hungry days on the grassplains were forgotten in this land of plenty.



Windsoft

The scout woke from her day's sleep all at once, as was her habit. There was no drowsy, dozing transition between dreams and reality for her; once her mind and body had their rest, wakefulness was immediate.

She sat up in her furs and looked around. Longdusk had taken up her invitation, she saw, and still slept quietly beside her. 'He was probably relieved that Journey found somewhere else to sleep,' she thought, amused.

There was movement around her, as well as stillness. Journey, as she'd expected after seeing his companions last night, was not with her. She smiled, and the expression was both proud and sad. She wouldn't be surprised if her cub asked for his own den when they reached wherever they were going. She would miss having him close to her.

With a sigh, she brought her fur-covered knees up and wrapped her arms around them. She watched as her tribe awoke and began to stir.



Oakstaff

Oakstaff curled around Whirlwind's body, quite content to lay there in the furs, with her in his arms. He liked this part of the day. He liked every part of the day, but each for a different reason. That time just after waking and before getting up was nice because it was quiet and peaceful. He could think about the past night, look forward to the coming one, and consider whatever worries he had and get them resolved. He didn't like dwelling on problems. He liked finding answers and then setting the problems aside.

Fortunately, he had not problems to ponder now. His day ahead was simple. He would get up. He would practice with his quarterstaff. He'd follow Ashglow or Redthorn on the hunt. They'd come back, eat, clean up, and then begin their night's travels.

He didn't hold a high position in the tribe, but that didn't bother him. He was a hunter and he did his part. He was content, very content, and basked in that contentment.



Mist

Mist woke slowly to the reassuring song that had led him down into sleep. He smiled, rubbing his cheek against Stormfire's skin, as her slow heartbeat thumped her song to him. While he would enjoy staying right where he was for the rest of the day and long into the night, neither of them had that luxury. There was a time and place for everything, and sheer laziness would have to wait for the confining time of the season of whitecold. Then, when the snow winds blew hard and freezing, in the snugness of a den, wrapped in furs, could he listen to Stormfire's beating heart.

He rose quietly, tucking the fur around his chieftess, and climbed down the tree to find his clothes. Leaving them to air out during the day had been a good idea; they were fresh and warm as he pulled them on, and smelled of leaves, sun, and wind.

He looked around. Sunsong sat in a sort of bemused daze, her expression serene but distant. Only one hand moved - and of that, one finger, slowly stirring something cupped in her palm. Shadows darkened the skin under her eyes, and the skin of her face seemed tight. Exhaustion; Mist recognized the signs. She'd drained herself at dawn and now was up before most others. He shook his head. They would have to stop for several days rest, soon, or the plantshaper would collapse.



Nightsun

Nightsun had not slept well. Her body cried out, muscles unused to the hard work to which they put them protesting loudest of all. She could easily walk all day, and spent most of her life doing just that. But the Wolfriders moved at a pace she was not accustomed to, and she was forced to run to keep up. It had not seemed so big a thing when first they began travelling with them, but she had soon discovered that a day of walking at an easy pace had no comparison with a day of running. To the Wolfriders, they were not rushing. A wolf's accustomed lope was easy for them.

Nightsun was a creature of the day, and while sheer exhaustion might drag her into sleep as the sun rose, it could not keep her there. After a few scant hours in Wingfoot's arms, she'd awoken and could not sleep again. She'd left his side and drifted down to the forest floor. There were myriad tasks awaiting her that needed to be done.

While the Wolfriders slept, she had attended to them. Ashglow's new moccasin's were done: rough and simple, but serviceable. Starpath's current vest was ragged and thin. She cut the familiar patterns for the vest from the leather in their supplies, cut the holes for the lacings, and threaded them through.

The clothes she'd made for her brothers were crude in comparison with the leathers worn by the Wolfriders. She had not talent, and little real interest, in tanning or the making of clothes. The tasks were necessary, however, and so they were done. While pretty leathers and clothing would be nice, they were by no means a necessity.

With those tasks done, Nightsun found the remains of the morning's hunt and cut away portions for herself and her brothers. The Wolfriders hated the smell of smoke, so she'd take the time while they slept to go some distance from their camp and cook the meat for herself and her brothers. Upwind, where the smoke and cooking meat wouldn't drift to their sensitive noses and upset them.

[Kris]

Stormfire to Mist

She woke suddenly, hand reaching through the furs. Mist was gone; she could still smell his scent, warm and recent. She sat up and reached for her clothes, grimacing as the band she wore across her forehead fell out and tumbled to the ground.

Stormfire climbed down quickly, annoyed by the time she reached the headband. Waterdance had made it for her, and she'd worn it even when the chief's lock had been tied into her hair. She snatched it up, and started to rake her hair out of her face . . .

Why am I doing that? Nothing's hanging in my face.

The chieftess ran a hand over her brow. Waterdance made her the headband to keep stray locks from falling in her eyes, and it had worked--until she started wearing the chief's lock. Now those locks fell before her ears, or were pulled back into the topknot. Stormfire looked at the headband and sighed with something close to relief. She'd worn the band with gratitude and thanks for her mother's generosity--but Waterdance's sense of style was heavier, stonier, than Stormfire liked.

Maybe I can have it added to something I wear--a top, perhaps, or my boots--someplace where this won't look like a troll's boot-sole plastered across my forehead. Feeling guilty, Stormfire opened her belt-pouch and stuffed the headband in next to the stone egg.

That she drew out and held up to examine in the golden glow of afternoon. Its surface gleamed like pearl, a sheen of dreamy colors shifting along curves and shapes . . . symbols. Stormfire found a wolf's head and smiled. A wolf--who'd have guessed!

She blinked as she discovered something else and shook her head. I didn't just see that.

Shoving the egg back in her pouch, Stormfire hurried to bathe, and collided with someone. Gasping, she glared up at Tallspear, who chuckled. "Forget something, chieftess?"

Stormfire tucked her belongings under one arm and headed for the river. "Just to watch out for your big feet," she threw over her shoulder. She saw Mist and smiled, dropping her belongings on the ground. "The water can't be that cold, can it?" she teased, and got in. It was chilly, but she'd bathed in worse, and washed the day's sweat away with a cheerful vigor. *You can stop waiting for it to warm up, lovemate,* she continued to Mist, dropping beneath the surface to soak her hair. As she came up to the surface, she caught sight of Sunsong and frowned.

*Sunsong?*

Mist smiled and sat down on the bank as Stormfire waded into the river. "I bathed this morning, Stormfire, and didn't get dirty just by sleeping," he chuckled. "I'll keep you company, if you like." He followed her line of sight and, of course, heard her open send to her friend. He didn't, however, hear any more of a response from the plantshaper than a vague, cheerful, absent feeling of recognition and affection. A sending version of an absent wave from someone who wasn't really paying attention. He arched his eyebrows at Stormfire, wondering what she'd do next.

Stormfire heard and felt Sunsong's cheerfully airy send, all wisp and no substance, and frowned at her friend. "This has got to stop," she announced, wading through the water to stare into Sunsong's face. No, the treeshaper was engrossed in her handful of seeds. "Mist, look at her! She looks like she hasn't slept in days!" Stormfire tilted her head to get a better look at Sunsong. "I've seen bow-staves with more meat on them than her ribs! Am I going to have to hold her down and make her eat and sleep?"

"You could probably force her to eat, Stormfire. She'd do it to please you, if nothing else. But sleeping? You can't force that." He gathered up Stormfire's clothes and gave them a good shake, then carried them back to her. "I'm watching her. I was planning to ask you to stop for several nights rest if we didn't find the holt that was calling you at the end of this night's travel. Then she'd catch up on her eating and sleeping. You know how she is; if you let her immerse herself in the plantshaping, she doesn't even feel hunger. She still hasn't learned that the energy she's using has to come from somewhere."

He smiled slyly. "I, however, can enforce sleeping."

Stormfire felt a great rush of relief enfold her. "Then that's what I'll do--if we haven't reached the place we need to be by this night's end, we'll stop and rest. Thank you, Mist." She pulled herself up on the bank and took the clothes he handed to her. "Can you make her sleep?" she asked him. "Will it harm her? We need her to be strong and whole before we start our holt, and we need her to stay that way after it's done."

[Anna]

Mist to Stormfire

Mist nodded and led Stormfire away from the oblivious little songbird. At least she wasn't twittering when she was concentrating to much. While the plantshaper's singing could be sweet and pleasant to hear on occasion, it did occasionally become too much of a good thing. "I can, and it won't hurt her a bit. Sleep is one of the best healers." He smiled faintly. "The rest of us may have to make do with whatever we can manage for ourselves when it's time to sleep."

[Viola]

Longdusk -> Windsoft

While Longdusk was used to sleeping with someone, because he usually shared the den with his mother, something felt off in the surroundings, and when the person next to him got up in a sitting position, he opened his eyes -- and closed them up right away. Windsoft was sitting next to him and it suddenly made him remember that he had left his mother the morning before, because she had been in the safe hands of Redthorn, Icemark and Silvercub. The second thing he noticed was that Journey wasn't there, and his groggy mind registered that he was rather pleased with that.

Carefully opening one eye again, he realized that the sun was still high in the sky. Normally, he was one of the first ones to rise, but he found this remarkably pleasant. Still, he was awake, and with a sigh, he rolled over on his back, blinking at the sky without saying a word.


Firecat -> Journey, Shellslip

The morning before, Firecat had already taken back her words that the platforms didn't seem comfy, because they were -- even with three people. She stretched out like a drowsly cat and felt her leg tingling, and she nearly purred of pleasure. With both Shellslip and Journey next to her, she felt extremely satisfied.

Still, there was someone she missed, and still sleepy, she reached out for the plant shaper. **Sunsong, sweetling? You're awake already?** Firecat slowly got up and leaned on one elbow, watching her furmates for the night.

Lightgaze -> (Icemark, Redthorn, Silvercub)

Lightgaze was still soundly asleep, even though she had had some restless periods during daytime. In her dreams, she had watched Hazel confess to his sister that he wished he had gone with Stormfire, and she had found more disturbing notions of life that had went on without the band that had left. She had wondered if her mind had just adapted the situation they lived in and projected it on the ones that they left behind, but as soon as she realized that, she knew it wasn't true. Because usually, when you were dreaming and when you realized you were doing so, you woke up. Instead, she seemed to settle down in the old holt, and watched around.

It wasn't a dream, and she realized it was real. It was daytime at the holt now, too, so everyone was soundly asleep, except for a few early birds getting up already. As the dream, or whatever it was, progressed (it had never been this long, and she had never realized she wasn't actually dreaming before), she had eased up, and felt free, away from her body. But the communication had been one-sided only. She could watch and talk, but they couldn't hear her. However, she had realized that at least, apparently she had found a way to keep the rest of the tribe informed about their family's whereabouts.

[Multi-Facets]

Silent:

Evening again. Too bad there were no crickets. It would've been a nice vocal sound to wake up to. Wanderlust wasn't there to greet him, either.

Silent sat up and rubbed his eyes, stretched slowly, and got up to roll up and tie his bedfur. His water bag was set with his spear, knife and sling, and the little stone jar of his mother's scent-killing ointment was checked to see how full it was. When it was deemed satisfactory, he put it in the empty bag that had held dried meat.

With that taken care of, Silent went to have a quick bath. The cool water helped wake him up a bit more, and his clothing was given a quick rinse as well. After fighting with his hair in an attempt to de-tangle it -with only moderate success-, he tied it back as usual (though most of it still fell in his face) and returned to his belongings. He would wait there until it was time to leave.



Shellslip:

The gatherer had gently withdrawn from the blissful knot of Firecat and Journey, having a light breakfast and making sure the shells she kept for Sunsong still smelled good. When the treeshaper was awake, Shellslip would crack them open and make sure the sunny one ate.

Sniffer came to greet her, smelling of mouse and rabbit, and Shellslip gladly exchanged gentle ear-nips and nuzzles with him. **Looks like you had a nice breakfast, my friend. Anything in your paws, or burrs in your coat?** she asked.

**None,** Sniffer assured her. **Paws good. Fur good. Legs good. Back good.**

**Oh, wonderful. Thank you for telling me, puppy,** his elf-friend returned, smiling, and patted the wolf on the head. **Well, all I have to do is bundle up my things, and we'll be off soon enough.**

[Anna]

Windsoft to Longdusk

The change in Longdusk’s breathing alerted Windsoft that he was awake. When he shifted positions, she looked at him and smiled. She didn’t feel any need to speak, however. The afternoon was peaceful, and she felt quite comfortable just as things were. Some elves felt the need to fill every silence with sound. Sunsong, in particular. While the plantshaper didn’t chatter endlessly, her birdcall singing was a common theme of every day.

Windsoft was happy just listening to the sounds of the world around her. She was pleased that Longdusk apparently had the same opinion. They hadn’t really known each other prior to setting off with Stormfire – she had taken her instructions from Goldbranch, one of the scout leaders. Longdusk had answered to another of the scout leaders. It was only after they’d left that she’d come to know Longdusk, and respect his skill as a scout. She felt odd sometimes, knowing how much more experience he had, and yet also knowing that Stormfire seemed to turn to her most often when there was scouting to be done.

‘Turn to me?’ she thought, her smile fading as the question drifted through her mind. ‘Or did I simply assume? Have I usurped Longdusk’s rightful positing without realizing it? If so, how do I fix it?’ She sighed and looked away, her fingers restlessly plucking at the silky, plush fur. She hoped she hadn’t offended him, and his acceptance of sharing the platform with her seemed to indicate that she had not. Still, now that the thought had come to her, she worried.



Sunsong to Firecat

Sunsong heard the send, just as she’d heard Stormfire’s. Her concentration didn’t waver and she responded to Firecat just as she had to their chieftess. The vague response of affection, warmth, and wakefulness was all she could manage, and she sent that to Firecat without thinking or realizing what she was doing.

The seeds. The answer lay in the seeds. She stirred them in her palm, her magic reading the secrets buried within them, showing her what they would be once sprouted and grown to maturity. Could she blend those traits? Take three and form it into one…?

[kita]

Silverfang woke with the rest of the camp, when the sun was still high in the sky. Rubbing the sleep from his eyes, he walked over and found a rock. Using it as a whetstone, Silverfang began to sharpen his glaive.

[meimei]

Ashglow's restlessness had kept him awake for several hours. He'd observed Nightsun's rising, and had watched long enough to see what she was doing. Once he was certain she was alright, he'd finally sought his own rest. Tired from the extra waking hours, and the extra speed of their travel, he'd found the least crowded of Sunsong's platforms's to curl up on. Even as his tribemate's stirred around him, he still slept deeply under the sun's rays.

[peachbug]

Softling greeted her wolf-friend with short sendings and a firm back rub when she made her way down, quietly observing her tribemates as she crouched beside him. Snapbone had greeted her enthusiastically with a small squirrel, barely a mouthful, but enough for a breakfast.

The others had certainly made themselves useful, sharpening this, collecting that, even Evenstar was badgering the others for any worn leathers that needed replacing or mending. It was interesting to see all the movement of the old holt, but simplified, clarified among so few elves. Normally, Softling would help hunt, or hunt on her own, or just be on her own. She didn't want to do that now though, not the usual.

As she slowly considered this conundrum, Softling surprised herself by spotting Silent, seated not so far away beside his belongings, looking well-prepared for their next journey. She took him in curiously. She'd never really considered Silent, not really, other than her brief flash of jealousy when he'd supposedly found them water (silly as it felt now), and her inevitable admiration when they'd really found it. He wasn't doing anything now, and he looked so skinny, like a skinned rabbit, all muscle and bone. Well, if she was going to start being more of the elf that was a Wolfrider, why not start with the elfiest? Softling thought this over glumly. What would she say?

Softling pushed herself from her spot willfully and walked slowly, quietly to Silent's side, squirrel in hand. Half undecided on whether to speak or send, or what to say for that matter, she stuck out the limp creature and blurted "Wantit? I mean, you can have it. I..."

Wonderful start.