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Post by Viola on Oct 12, 2008 4:52:21 GMT -6
OOC: Hey Stormfire, don't forget Longdusk :-) And he posed a question a bit above about when they would leave  "Will you be coming with us?" she asked, looking up from her examination of Shade's paw. "With Redthorn and Longdusk both coming, it would seem strange for you not to be there, as well." Lightgaze studied the young plantshaper for a moment. She knew the two of them weren't alike and that Lightgaze tended to think more about arguments than Sunsong, but to cast it aside like this? Maybe Lightgaze didn't know her niece as well as she thought she did. She also realized that she didn't know whether Fernflower really cared for her daughter. Sunsong showed littler magical abilities than she did. Still, if Sunsong wasn't bothered.. "Intention is everything," she muttered, and looked up when Sunsong asked her wether she'd come to. "No, I don't think so," she smiled apologetically. "It must seem that everything I live for departs with Stormfire, but... I'm not fit for travelling like that. I rather be at the holt than I'm going on a hunt... I prefer my weaving over providing food. And I've spent my life here, I have centuries of memories... I don't think I can leave those behind." |
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Post by oddsong on Oct 12, 2008 15:10:24 GMT -6
Thornberry allowed the touch briefly, before twitching away from Windsoft, nervous. Usually touch between tribemates was pleasant to him, calming, but the way the older huntress looked deeply at him was unnerving. He was not happy about being uncomfortable with Sureshot's decision, truly he wasn't. It was shaming, in a way, not right.
He gritted his teeth, looking over the group that was forming around the young chieftess. "I'm willing to trust and respect her," he grunted. "High Ones know, she's quick on her feet and quick with her tongue. She's Sureshot's own and no mistake. But I won't follow blindly. If she needs a nip at her heels, then I'll nip. And she will, sooner or later!" Even as he said that, he knew it to be too true to ignore. He had to come with them, never mind what he left behind or what might await them down the road.
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Post by Anna on Oct 12, 2008 15:23:23 GMT -6
Windsoft laughed and tapped Thornberry's nose lightly before backing off. "Chief's lead only when there are those who wish to follow, and no wise chief asks his tribe to follow blind," she said, and swept her eyes to Oakstaff and Mist.
Mist grinned at her. "Thornberry is right, as are you, huntress. Better, Stormfire knows it and expects it."
"Well, you two can be ready to nip and needle at her all you please, but I'm not counting kill before the hunt's begun," Oakstaff snorted, glowering at the other two males. "Wait for her to make a mistake before you start planning to gnaw on her over it."
Windsoft laughed again and held up her hands, standing between Oakstaff and Thornberry. "Enough! What need is there to bicker? Shouldn't we tell our chieftess instead that she has three more hunters in her tribe?"
"She already knows she has a healer," Mist said drily, "so I'll leave you three to it while I begin gathering my medicines."
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Post by Anna on Oct 12, 2008 15:32:20 GMT -6
"No, I don't think so," she smiled apologetically. "It must seem that everything I live for departs with Stormfire, but... I'm not fit for travelling like that. I rather be at the holt than I'm going on a hunt... I prefer my weaving over providing food. And I've spent my life here, I have centuries of memories... I don't think I can leave those behind." Sunsong didn't understand that response. Not fit for traveling like that? Was her mother's sister ill? She hadn't noticed any signs of illness. She drew a deep breath, drawing Lightgaze's scent deep into her lungs, cataloging and identifying every nuance and shading. No, no illness in her scent. "But, Lightgaze, your memories are your own, wherever you are," she said slowly, trying to understand. "But I guess I can understand being afraid to leave the familiar. I'm scared, too. I've never known anything but this holt." For a brief instant Sunsong's bright eyes darkened with fear of the unknown and unimagined. Then they brightened and her smile flashed into existence like the sun breaking free of a dark cloud. "But Stormfire says she needs me! Isn't that wonderful? She believes that I'll be useful to her and those who are following her! And I'll be able to try things I've never been able to do here before! We'll go places that are so soaked in magic that adding more is a risk - I'll really be able to see what I can do with my plantshaping, Lightgaze. I'll be able to shape a whole holt - even if it takes more seasons than I've already seen!" |
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Post by peachbug on Oct 12, 2008 18:35:27 GMT -6
"Yes, plantshaper." Redthorn smiled as she approached the two. "This new holt will truly test those gifts of yours. I trust you won't wear yourself out making ringlets of flowers for all who accompany Stormfire." She looked down at her own calloused hands. "Nothing but a spear or a good kill could ever sprout from these old things!" The wolf Whitecrest butted the back of her knee affectionately. "And a good scratch of course." She rubbed the old wolf's mane vigorously. She had explained the situation the best she could, and her wolf-friend was surprisingly excited about the whole journey.
Redthorn looked back to Lightgaze and Sunsong. "Your mother giving you a hard time, cubling?" She nodded to the younger elf. "Fernflower has got her own plans, her own problems. Live your own life, she's got plenty of turns left to work herself out." She sighed and glanced at Lightgaze. "Still not going, sister?"
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Post by Viola on Oct 13, 2008 1:21:21 GMT -6
Lightgaze smiled as Redthorn joined them, but her brow lowered when she asked her if she hadn't changed her mind. "You will do well, Sunsong," she turned back to the young girl, "I'm sure your magic will enhance when you are in a different surrounding and without the pressure of your mother. Stormfire has faith in you, and so have I."
"But there is no place for me," she quietly added. "I'm sure that if I wanted to go and if Stormfire wanted me to go, I would. But I can't. I'm an elder, I've lived my life here, at the holt... and mainly at the holt. I'm no hunter," she told Redthorn, "And I'm not as young as you to see it as an adventure. I've always been more a weaver and a tanner than a hunter. I stuck close. By leaving now.. it would be beyond scared. It would be terrifying."
Lightgaze turned her eyes to the ground. "I lived my life here, raised two cubs here. This place is soaked in memories... which is why some want to leave and start over. But it doesn't feel that way to me. My memories are connected with everything around me."
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Post by Anna on Oct 13, 2008 10:40:41 GMT -6
Sunsong embraced Lightgaze and rubbed her cheek against her aunts briefly. "Then here is where you should stay," she agreed easily.
She glanced between the two older females and decided that perhaps she should make herself scarce. Unfortunately she hadn't finished looking Shade over, and they had followed her. With a whimsical smile, she knelt down beside her wolf-friend and left it to Lightgaze and Redthorn to decide if they wanted privacy or if they wished to stay. Shade was content where she was and Sunsong wasn't going to ask the old wolf to move.
Running her fingers through the wolf's dark grey, almost black, fur, she kept her ears pricked for anything in the conversation that might include her. Her hands she kept busy running over Shade's legs and back, checking for soundness.
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Post by oddsong on Oct 13, 2008 15:13:08 GMT -6
Scoffing, Thornberry already had the rebuttal to Oakstaff's words at the edge of his pointed tongue, and a good thing that Windsoft stepped between them. Her words had sealed it somehow - he was going. He glanced over his shoulder trying to find Shimmereye among the tribe, or Cleartrail, but both were not there, nor their families. He realized then that his former lovemates had understood before he did that he would find himself going. They did not want to be there to make things harder when the decision finally became solid in his mind.
He missed them then sharply, with a physical ache in the center of his chest. Had Smirk not trotted up next to him as he rose to his feet, the wolf's cold nose pressing against the small of his back as was the large male's habit, impatient and curious and ready to stop with the elf-talk and start on the hunt-path, he might've sat back down again with a sinking, helpless feeling.
Thornberry's instincts were keen, but he was no wolf. Smirk knew better than him that to sit idly was never good for anyone and anything. He threw an arm about the wolf's wide shoulders, confident, suddenly, in the company. His bond would be there for him despite everything he left behind. Perhaps, away from the greater pack, Smirk could win the place he always craved as alpha wolf...
"We should, let's," he told the others flatly. *Stormfire - chieftess?*
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Post by Kris on Oct 13, 2008 16:36:17 GMT -6
Stormfire moved away when she heard Thornberry send.
*Stormfire . . . chieftess?*
Well, that send was just full of confidence. Stormfire bit her lip and fought the urge to roll her eyes before turning to find Thornberry. He was with Oakroot, Wingfoot, and Windsoft, and the elders greeted her cheerfully.
"Hello, Thornberry," Stormfire said, walking up to the older hunter. She couldn't tell what he was about to say, but she had a feeling it was going to be good news. "Oakstaff, Wingfoot, Windsoft. I never thought to see all of you together. What's up?"
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Post by peachbug on Oct 13, 2008 18:50:45 GMT -6
**Meith, you are my soul as much as Icemark.** Redthorn locksent sadly. **I will be sad to leave without you. Silvercub...I wanted you to be a part of her growth longer. I understand why you choose to stay, but...** She shook her head and touched Lightgaze's shoulder. "If you ever wish to join us in our new holt, I will know it. I will come back if it is what you need."
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