How Healers Hunt (Aidara)

[Sira]

Barefoot... It didn't make sense. Who in their right mind walked around in the woods with no shoes? True, Sira was bootless, but that was only because she had not wanted them to be destroyed if she had to shift. But why would anyone else be barefoot in the middle of the woods at night? While Addy searched her side of the camp Sira searched as well. There were no tracks around the fire, the ground was too firm there perhaps or maybe the intruder had just been more careful in the light of the blaze. She searched the perimeter on her side, finding no broken twigs or branches, though it was hard to see for certain in the dark. So when Addy called out that she had found a print, a human print, it was the only thing that mattered. Sira quickly joined the healer at her side and knelt to examine the track. Sira wasn't a skilled tracker, she was a hunter of the skies, but she could easily tell the print was human just as Aidara had stated. What were their options? They could leave. Saddle up and fly away into the night, leaving the troublesome intruder behind. It was the sensible thing to do, the logical thing. It was what they should do. But they could also follow the tracks. They could find out who would dare to interrupt two endal in their own campsite. They could capture then and bring them back to wind reach for much deserved punishment. It was stupid. It was reckless. A bad idea. It was Sira. "This print is leading away from the camp. If we follow it maybe we can find out who did this." Sira shot back up to her feet and immediately went back to the tent, clothing herself and pulling in her boots. Next she gathered her weapons, handing Aidara a bow as well. "We don't have to do this... but I don't like the thought of someone screwing with us and getting away with it." At her lover’s affirmation of the plan, Sira pulled an arrow from her quiver and walked back over to the print. "This is going to be slow going.. We can't bring a torch either or they'll see us coming." She still remembered her training, that short period of time as a yasi when she learned to hunt on foot. The segment on human tracking had been short, but it came now to her mind with ease. Sira knelt next to the track, laying the arrow over it at the edge and following searching for the next print in line. When she found it she lined the arrow up with it, creating a line between the first print and the next. Using her sword she cut a notch in the arrow and held it up for Addy to see. "This is their stride. Each print should be this far from the next, so we should still be able to follow them even in the dark." Sira stood and drew Addy close to her, wrapping her and holding her in warm embrace for a chime before kissing her and releasing. "Let's go find this asshole."

[Aidara]

Hurriedly side-stepping to avoid Sira's dash towards the footprint, Addy felt doubt creep in. Watching as Sira bent low over the print, mutely examining it for long enough that Addy started to wonder what in the gods names she could be looking at, she began to wring her hands nervously. "Maybe we should just fly back home and call this quits..." Unknowingly speaking Sira's very thoughts, she couldn't help but voice her nervous doubts. How very un-Inarta of her. Knowing right well that her sister as well as any of her other aquentinces would rush right out into the dark trees, the fact that she would be the one whining that it is a bad idea put a sour taste in the woman's mouth. It was never a pleasant experience to realize that you were the wet blanket.

"This print is leading away from the camp. If we follow it maybe we can find out who did this."

Though Sira had been firm and decisive in her decision when she spoke, Addy heard it as a softer, cajoling tone, as if Sira knew she was going to balk and was now trying to convince her it was their only option.

But really, it was their only option. Running her hands anxiously through her wild red hair, Addy glanced towards where the footprint lay and then back towards where Sira's rear end stuck out from the tent as she gathered their things. She really didn't have a choice.

Still fighting with her cowardly side, Addy decided that this time it would be beast for her to keep her mouth shut and pretend she had been won over by the cause lest Sira start to doubt her choice in the healer. Yes, that was always a small, creeping worry at the back of her mind. The spoiled, terrible Yasi who planted that seed of doubt so long ago probably had no idea that they were burdening the overly-pretty child they picked on with some baggage that would stick with her well into her adult years.

By the time Sira strode back to her side, Addy had mentally adjusted that baggage so that her shoulders seemed to straighten rather than bow under it's weight and was the very picture of confidence. Her smile was easy and her bright eyes would give her predator bondmate no reason to doubt her conviction to the task at hand.

"No, we do have to do this. It was intentional and an affront to our persons. I'm just as Inartan as you, my dear, and we don't take to being vandalized very well." Addy had been kneeling by the fire, peering into it's depths as if the dirt-smothered-coals would just simply whisper her an answer, though she hoped it looked like she knew what she was doing. Standing, it was her instinct to brush the dirt off her palms onto her bryda, but when the heels of her hands touched the skin of her hips, Addy realized she was still naked.

Denying the bow that Sira held out to her with a wordless shake of her head, the small woman darted past the tent flap and practically dove into her clothes. They had to get moving before this newfound confidence deserted her.

Returning to Sira's side, Addy took the bow and slung the quiver over her shoulder. "You don't think it would be best to search by sky? I mean, what are the odds this idiot knows what you are? Couldn't we...well, flush him out?" Taking her hand, Addy mimed the action of something diving out of the sky, into her the ground which was her other palm. "Surprise attack? Plus, I can't hardly see."

When Sira shook her head, Addy easily abandoned her idea and listened as Sira outlined the plan, wrinkling her nose when she mentioned that the would have to bushwhack in the pitch darkness. "Well, you're going first then and I'll follow your lead. I don't think I could make out any sort of print even if it was yelling out my name."

Taking the arrow Sira offered her, with the stride notched for reference, Addy had shouldered her bow and was turning towards the line of trees when the other woman's strong hand swung her back around, catching her against her chest and silencing her surprised exclamation with a passionate kiss. For whatever reason, Sira was able to make Addy forget where she was whenever she pulled a stunt like this. The bow slipped from her fingers to thud against the ground as the healer slithered her arms around Sira's neck, pulling herself up and crushing herself close against the other woman's body.

All too soon Sira was pulling away, her sentence lost on the Addy as she hadn't quite pulled herself back from the edge of passion into reality once more.

"I hate it when you do that too me. You're gonna get me killed one of these days. You could do that and push me from a cliff, and I wouldn't even notice I was falling until I hit the ground." Muttering, Addy stooped and retrieved her bow. With a sigh and a distasteful twist of her lips she took two fingers and tried to brush the dirt from the weapon while trying to touch as little of the debris as possible.

Waiting for Sira to lead, Addy took a close second as she dogged the Kevlic's heels, practically breathing down her neck for fear of losing the woman in the darkness. Her steps were careful and well placed, one foot going down in the spot Sira's own had just vacated while she squinted into the trees she knew were there but could not see.

I really am going to be quite useless, Sira. Even the stars can't shine through these leaves. And I don't like the closeness. What if they attack? I don't know if I could back up enough away from you to fully draw. Even though her warm tone echoed now in Sira's mind Addy whispered, the still and sleepy silence of her surroundings eating into her blanket of confidence. Only belatedly did it hit her.

Wait. Don't you think it's a bit too quiet? If Sira was too concentrated on finding the tracks, she wouldn't respond right away, and Addy would reach out towards where she thought the woman's shoulder would be to stop her. Instead, her fingers brushed against the squishy roughness of moss covered bark.

Sira! Stop! Where are you? Something is wrong! Some how, in a matter of minutes, they had gotten separated.


OOCYou're not online right now so if I don't talk to you about it when I see you, ask me what I was thinking. Kay? Kay.

[Sira]

Sira knew Addy had doubts about following the prints, Sira had them too. And who was to say whether it took more strength to admit and voice those doubts or push them down and ignore them as Sira did? In the end Aidara managed to shove her doubts to the back of her mind as well, or at least to a place where she could better control them and function somewhat normally. The kelvic led the way, though Addy gave Sira's eyes more credit than she should have. Sira was an eagle, not an owl, and seeing in the dark was still quite difficult for her. And so the going was very slow. Sira would kneel, examine the next print, determine it's direction, place the arrow, find the next print, and move on. She had notched a second arrow so that both of them could have one, which as it turned out was apparently a bad idea. Somehow Addy had managed to follow a different pair of tracks, either a false trail or the real one, there was no way of knowing for sure. Sira did notice how quiet it was, but she attributed it to their own presence in the forest as much as their quarry. Sira was on her knees, face barely an inch from the ground. I know there is a print around here somewhere. It was really quite tedious, finding each print. It it had been daylight she might not have stopped for each and every one, skipping over a few and pausing only on occasion to check that she was still on the trail, but in the dark it was so easy to lose ones place that she had no choice but to stop and search for each and every one. The particular track she was looking for, however, was proving more difficult to find than normal. Using the arrow she was able to determine approximately where the print would be, but there was nothing to be found. Sira searched and searched, checking and double checking her work, but she could find nothing. It was irritating, but it was something she had anticipated. There were any number of reasons for strode length to change. Maybe the person had jumped, or broken into a run? All it meant was Sira had to widen her search. No longer using the arrow as a marker, Sira widened her search and used her best judgment to try to figure out where the next print had fallen. Fearing the trail had gone cold, Sira was prepared to give up and get Addy out of the woods if she had truly lost the trail. There was no reason to keep the nervous healer out there if they had no hope of locating their target. But Sira did find a print, and her heart rate nearly doubled at the sight of it. It took her a moment to realize what it was, and had she been anyone other than Sira it would have meant little to nothing. But to Sira the print was significant. To Sira it brought back a memory, and the memory sent a cold tingle down her spine. It can't be... it's gotta be just a coincidence. Sira! Stop! Where are you? Something is wrong! Sira jumped to her feet, spinning around to where Addy should have been. Except that she wasn't there. Even in the dark Sira was certain that Addy wasn't there. How long had they been separated? How far had she gone? Sira's mind returned to the print and her worry increased. It belonged to a wolf. First human prints, and barefoot, and then a wolf. Sira's mind drifted back to when the wizard nearly captured her, and in her escape his wolf kelvic nearly killed her. It would make sense. A kelvic would be barefoot, he would have had to shift to put out the fire, and he eventually would have shifted back. But how had Addy gone off trail? Unless the wizard was there too! What if the wizard was now playing a trick on Addy's mind. Sira started to run back the way she had come but instead of panicking, the gears in her mind started turning. Addy wouldn't be that way, she was following a trail of her own, so she would be somewhere else now. Addy! Stay where you are. Sira struggled to come up with an idea, some way to find Addy without their tormentors knowing what was going on. It was already obvious that Sira knew something was up, so she had to look for Addy even if she didn't want to just for appearance sake. But Addy needed to play dumb, otherwise they might strike. Addy, act like you found a track. I think we are being watched, so we need to act like we don't know what's going on. Just stay there and pretend to be examining it and uh.. whistle or sing or something so I can follow your voice. Sira waited, straining her ears to pick up even the slightest sound that indicated Aidara's direction. If only she had the ears or nose of a wolf, as well as the eyes of an eagle, then nothing like this would ever happen to them again. Word Count870 Words

[Aidara]

Almost immediately, Sira’s voice echoed within her skull. The nervous pitch in which the kelvic woman thought only made Addy shiver, the fear that she had pushed into the back corners of her mind rejoicing as her control over it slipped, allowing it to flood back into her consciousness. Had Sira not sounded so startled, Addy wouldn’t have reacted so violently to their separation. However, few things had proven able to throw the other woman off her stride, and those things were usually not to be taken lightly.

Shaking like a leaf, Addy tried to concentrate only on Sira’s voice and to pretend that she was right there. They were only talking without words because it would scare away their prey.

You…you can’t find me like, with your bird magic? Shouldn’t that tell you exactly where I am? I can find Sai that way… Trying to keep her voice from reaching that shrill pitch it did when she was scared, Addy completely ignored Sira’s instructions without realizing it. She stood stock still in the middle of where ever it is she was, green eyes wide as she tried to peer around her, into the suddenly suffocating darkness that surrounded her. She and Sira had failed to have that sit down chat she assumed all Endals had where they discussed the benefits and limitations of their new bond, like parents who tried to educate their children about sex. Sira and Addy seemed to have chosen to do so the hard way, letting those pro’s and con’s come to the surface when the situation arose, such as now.

Addy, calm down and do as I say before I answer you.

Oh, right. Spinning suddenly enough that it would look completely unnatural to anyone watching her, Addy fell to her hands and her knees. Though she couldn’t see anything at all, she bent down until her nose touched the dirt.

“Oooh what’s this!” It was nothing, of course. There were no false tracks that Addy had followed. It was more likely that the healer had been diverted by whomever they were following. Either way, she pretended that there was a print right in front of her face. It wasn’t until she reached for her notched arrow that Addy realized it was gone, though she didn’t remember ever dropping it. Too nervous think anything of it, she started humming per Sira’s request. It was overly loud and more than slightly off key, but it would suffice.

It was not one of Aidara’s best performances. Normally, she could play off any mistake as if it were intentional, feign interest in something that bored her to death or even pretend to like someone she could barely stand. But with the adrenaline racing through her veins, all of that skill just disappeared. Her hands shook, her face was red and she was jumping at every little sound. Bushes that she hadn’t even known were there rustled and Addy squeaked in fright. When an owl swooped overhead, the soft rustle of wings sounded like something large speeding directly towards her; Addy ducked with a cry and covered her head with her arms.

Sira! Hurry! It wasn’t going to be much longer until her composure completely unraveled.

When Sira finally did arrive, Addy picked herself up off the ground and threw herself into the woman’s arms. “What the petch happened? One minute you were there and then…” Waving her hands around to mimic Sira’s disappearance, Addy didn’t realize until too late that she had been practically shouting.

Oh petch. We’re in trouble, aren’t we?

OOCI didn't want to go too much further than this because Addy was getting overly freaked out, and she hadn't even heard the bad news from Sira yet.

[Sira]

Sira didn't know how it had happened, but she and Addy had been separated and it made her frantic. How could it have happened? She knew it was silly to think that the wolf and his master had found them, on this random night, in this random location.. but she had the horrible sinking feeling that her fears were grounded in truth. Sira could hear the panic in Aidara's mind voice as well and knew she needed to do something, lest the healer lose it completely. And then Addy suggested something she hadn't even considered, using her bond to locate her. Petch, why didn't I think of that? Sira was not used to using her telepathic abilities in such ways. For so long she had used it only to speak, but since meeting Aidara she had been tested time and again mentally. She could enter the healer's mind, pull out minds trapped within. She could send images, both useful and distracting, share emotions and even made a failed attempt at impersonating a god. Why wouldn't she be able to use it to locate her bondmate? Keep it up, Addy, I am going to try to find you! She had meant to say, 'I will find you' but it was too late to correct herself. Once again Sira had allowed her nerves to slip through and she cursed herself for it. She needed to be strong so that Addy would be, but her mind kept flashing back to that day in the forest. She was paralyzed, poisoned by the wizard and his bread which he had magically convinced her to eat. Sira managed to escape the wizard only to have his pet, a wolf that Sira was certain was kelvicc, go after her. Sira crash landed as the poison overtook her and the wolf had appeared. She could still feel it's hot breath as it stood over her, toying with her as it tried to decide how to kill her. Stop it, Sira! Pull yourself together. Sira shook her head and closed her eyes, willing away the snarling image of the wolf, and thought only of Addy. Now... how does this work? Sira touched the connection and thought again of the healer and Addy's face filled her mind, then in an instant Addy's own mind received a flash of her own face, complete with all the detail that Sira's keener eyes would see when looking at her. Oops.. sorry. Okay... maybe this. Sira tried something else and suddenly she was seeing what Addy saw, which was almost nothing. "What the fuck," Sira exclaimed out loud before realizing what had happened and severed that par of the connection. Come on, come on.. where are you? Ahaha! There you are!! Suddenly Sira felt it, like a radar that went out and bounced back when it hit the healer. Sira knew what direction Addy was in and immediately headed that way. The lost endal had traveled a considerable distance, Sira was surprised to find, but eventually Sira's ears picked up the sound of Aidara's humming and she knew she was close even without the constant mental tracking system in her head. Sira ran the rest of the way to Addy, or at least moved as fast as she could in the dark, and wrapped her arms around the healer when she finally came into view. "What the heck happened? One minute you were there and then??" "I don't know," Sira replied in a whisper as she drew her love near, But we need to get back to camp and get out of here. I was following those tracks and I found something. It makes perfect sense. I couldn't figure out why the fact that the prints were barefoot bothered me so much, but then I found another. It's a kelvic Addy. One minute they were human prints and then... "Aarrrrrooooooooooooooooo." The howl of a wolf in the distance finished her sentence for her and Sira's body froze up for just a moment before she sprung into action. "Come on," she shouted out loud, "The camp is this way." As she ran she started throwing off her clothes, preparing to shift as soon as they were out of the trees. "Saddle me quick, grab only what we can't leave behind, and maybe we can escape before he attacks!" It wasn't the kelvic she was really worried about. She wasn't paralyzed this time, she could take a wolf. It was the wizard she wanted to escape. Word Count750

[Aidara]

The longer Sira took to find her, the harder it was for Addy to keep up the ruse. She had absolutely no idea who she was trying to fool, but with the act she was putting on… even a rabbit would know something was up.

Keep it up, Addy! I am going to try and find you! The little nuisance of “try” slipped by the healer. She had started pulling unidentified flowers out by their stem from where they sat grouped, tickling her knee. Popping off the flower head she blindly tried to braid the thing stalks together, knowing that it wouldn’t look very pretty but needing something, anything to keep her hands occupied. Concentrating on the mindless task of twirling the flower stems together made the worry and impending fear easy to push off into the far corners of her mind. Had Addy really thought deeply about her situation, she could have both covered herself in the blanket-like-calm that she needed to use her gnosis. Problem solved.

Finding that her squatting position quickly resulted in cramping calve muscles, Addy seated herself on the dirt while she waited. It was a good thing she did too, because soon afterwards Sira started experimenting with their connection. For a split second, Addy could see. The difference was almost night and day; one moment, it was complete and utter darkness and then the next… her face. But it was backwards; different than anything she had seen in a mirror or on the surface of water.

Whoa, is that what I really look like? It was funny how seeing the mirror image of your own face could so drastically change what one looked like when they actually saw what others did. My eyes! They’re lopsided!! But it was really the best thing Sira could have done, even if unintentionally, to distract Addy from the situation. As much as she’d liked to think it wasn’t true, the little woman cared a lot about her looks. The thought that she wasn’t aesthetically perfect was more than just a little upsetting.

Before she knew it Sira was there, flying into her arms and holding her tight. It wasn’t until her lover let her go that Addy realized how tense she had been. A weight seemed to lift from her shoulders and her chest ached just enough to hint that she had been restricting her own breath. Sira immediately launched into the explination of her findings, pausing just before telling Addy what she found.

Confused, she tilted her head and looked towards where she thought Sira’s face would be, opening her mouth to ask what she had found when she heard the wolf howl. Sira’s superior hearing had picked up the sound before she, the tensing of her love’s body causing an intense shiver down Addy’s spine when it was coupled with the eerie sound.

“Before he attacks? Who is 'he'? Why would they attack?!” But they were already flying along the forest path, branches made invisible by the darkness whipping at their faces and exposed arms and legs. More than once Addy tripped over a hidden root or stump, Sira’s grasp on her arm the only thing that kept her upright.

Arrrrrooooooo horrrrroooooooo

It was closer. The women redoubled their pace, feet slamming against the dirt as they sped through the darkness. Sira’s bryda, thrown over her shoulder as she disrobed, hit Addy smack in the face and startling her into a dead stop. Frantically pawing at her face, the healer grasped the fabric and flung them away with a sigh of relief. “You scared me!” She shouted after Sira, who hadn’t noticed she had stopped and was now more than just a few meters ahead.

By the time they raced free of the tree cover, Sira was naked, her pale skin illuminated by the glow of the moon, it’s light bright in comparison to the deep darkness of the forest. Squinting, Addy followed Sira’s command to saddle her quickly, throwing all the necessities in a pile near where the kelvic prepared to shift. It was probably the one and only time that Sira stood still when Addy threw the saddle over her back, yanking the girth a little harder than was probably necessary.

“Sorry, I’m panicked.” Loosening the cinch so that Sira would be able to breath, Addy made sure that all of her feathers were smoothed and comfortable before she flung herself into the saddle. “Lets go! Lets go!” Grabbing tightly onto the saddle horn, the little woman hunkered down into her seat, tucking her face against Sira’s feathered neck so that as she launched herself into the sky, Addy wouldn’t be knocked backwards with a face full of air.

Strong wings pumped them up, up and away from the camp, their tent still erected and the rest of their gear laying strewn about the clearing. Once Sira’s wings stopped buffeting Addy with every stroke, held open wide as they leveled into a gliding soar, the healer finally lifted her face to glance at the ground below. It was very dark, and only the light canvas of their tent was visible to hear weak eyes.

“I can’t see anything. What’s down there, Sira? Why are we running?” Though Addy had heard of the episode with the wizard, she had never really asked for the details, not to mention it was also the very last conclusion Addy would ever jump to. In fact, she thought they had chosen their site near a mother wolfs den.

[Sira]

Sira didn’t care about their clothes or their gear, all of that was replaceable. All she cared about was getting them out of there as quickly as possible. So it was true that when Addy saddled her up it was by far the easiest and quickest time they had ever had. Sira didn’t even complain when Aidara cinched the girth to tight. She remained still, didn’t complain about anything, and once Aidara was mounted and ready to go Sira spread her wings and pumped them with all her might. Up they went, the wind ripping over both of them, and into the night. Sira really preferred not to go flying at night very often, especially in unfamiliar territory, but they didn’t have much of a choice. Once they were up in the air Sira started to circle, straining even with her vision to pierce the darkness and see what was going on in the camp below. Sira spotted movement, though she couldn’t tell exactly what it was. Something that looked human, though it was but a shadow, and another form which was probably the wolf. The sight confirmed it in her mind, even if she couldn’t fully see the pair, and Sira was glad that they had gotten out of there when they did. Even if it wasn’t the wizard and his wolf, it was still better for them to run than not. Addy wasn’t a fighter, and Sira didn’t want her to come to harm, so fighting against not one but two assailants of unknown skill still wasn’t a good idea. Sira flashed the hazy image to Aidara’s mind, pointing out what she saw. There’s two things moving around down there. One looks kind of like a man, another like a wolf. Based off the tracks, I’m pretty sure the wolf is a kelvic.. and my experience with wolf kelvics hasn’t exactly been good. Sira circled again, noting that the shadows seem to have stopped moving. Were they watching them, cursing that they had just missed the pair of endal? Were they plotting for a way to catch up? A moment later the shadows moved and vanished into the trees. Sira knew there was no hope of following them in the dark, so she didn’t even try. Addy.. I think that those two are the same wolf kelvic and wizard that attacked me last spring. I had to get us out of there.. I could take the wolf, I think. But I don’t know anything about magic. And he has poisons. Sira circled a few more times, knowing she wouldn’t see anything else but still hoping, before exiting the circle in the direction of Wind Reach. It was a long flight home, and in the dark it would be dangerous. But they didn’t have much choice, all of their camping gear had been left behind, so Sira would have to fly the whole way in the dark. Sira flew through the darkness, her wings beating more often than normal since there weren’t as many warm thermals to ride in the night as in the day. Even with the added difficulty it was strangely peaceful, or maybe they were both just sleepy. When Sira spotted the dark outline of the mountains coming into view she flashed the image to Addy, know she wouldn’t be able to see them yet. We’re almost there. Almost was a very relative term, however, since Sira could see things from a very long distance. Perhaps twenty or thirty chimes later the pair actually reached the mountains, and by then the sun was just coming into view. This was a good thing, because it allowed Sira to better navigate the crags and peaks and not crash into anything. It wasn’t much longer before the familiar form of Mount Skyinarta loomed before them, and Sira quickly flapped her way to the proper altitude for landing in their aerie. Coming in fast, Sira came to a rough halt just barely avoiding smacking into the still sleeping Catabasis, who gave them both an irritated look. I thought you two were supposed to be camping? Sira shook her head, a rather un-eagle like thing to do. Ran into some trouble, we had to run away. The eagle shot them both a curious look, but that was all the information Sira was willing to share at the moment. Once Addy had the saddle off her Sira shifted back to human form, waving goodnight to the eagle as they headed inside. “I’m hungry. Want to go get some early breakfast?” Word Count757

[Aidara]

Expecting them to immediately leave the area and head back towards Wind Reach, Addy hunched over the saddle and rested her forehead against Sira's feathered neck. Why does hunting have to be so stressful?

When she felt the gravity of their flight slide to one side, green eyes flew open and the healer was peering out into the darkness, unable to see the ground below but still aware that Sira had shifted their flight path. What's happening? But Sira declined to respond, though Addy didn't take it personally. She could almost feel the Kelvic woman's concentration, the effort she was putting into her search of the ground below palpable. With no other option left to her, Addy simply had to trust that Sira wasn't putting them in any sort of danger just to satisfy her curiosity.

The chimes ticked by as the silence stretched. Addy was shaken by the nights events, that was a given, but why Sira seemed to be just as nervous as she didn't make sense; Sira was the strong one, the fearless Wind Eagle who had chosen the weak little healer for reasons unknown. Thinking that she was, once again, over reacting, the little redhead stopped trying to pick out the movements below, invisible to her, that Sira was so focused on. There was also no point in distracting her love until she was ready to talk. That left the stars.

It was easy to get lost in them, their spectacular brilliance and the way they seemed to hang within arms reach, yet at the same time giving the stargazer a small glimpse at the immensity of the sky. And then there were the patterns. Generations had come and gone, leaving their impressions upon Skyinarta in their own ways. How everyone looked at the stars, however, never changed. There was the Great Wind Eagle that hovered around the mountain top during the winter seasons, a massive collection of stars dedicated to the first Wind Eagle. There was the Feather, that floated near the Great Wind Eagle. There was the Wolf, stalking along the horizon after the Wind Eagle, forever hunting an unattainable prey...

Addy.. I think that those two are the same wolf kelvic and wizard that attacked me last spring. I had to get us out of there.. I could take the wolf, I think. But I don’t know anything about magic. And he has poisons.

Sira's words immediately broke the woman away from her starry gaze. What! Why are we still here! If he could follow us all the way out here, what is there to say he won't follow us home? She could have said more, but she clamped her teeth down on her lower lip and decided to keep her mouth shut. Sira knew the dangers better than she and this was no time for an argument. Tightening her grip around the pommel of her saddle, Addy silently held on while she waited for Sira to bring her home. Whether it was because of Addy's clear discomfort being so near such evil or of her own design, Sira abandoned her circling search of the forest and winged them back towards the mountain.

Catabasis's snarky remark was completely ignored as she slipped from the saddle, deftly undoing the cinch and sliding the saddle from Sira's back. Allowing the other woman to shift and cloth herself, Addy took care of the gear; the saddle was rested upon an arm of stone that jutted from the aerie wall, the cinch laid on top. Normally their saddle bags would be tucked neatly underneath and out of the way but as all of their gear was currently somewhere in the middle of the forest...

"We should go back and get our stuff. Not now, but soon." It seemed like such a waste to just leave it there. Not to mention the fact that her brand new no-kill traps had ben left as well. Sira only smiled and clasped the healer by the waist as she guided them into the dark warmth of their home. They would have to discuss this, and they both knew it. It was too dangerous to just ignore. But both women were tired, hungry and more than a little shaken. Any plans of retaliation were better done on a full stomach.

"I say a bath first, and then some food." Priorities. Addy was filthy and dirt caked too long upon her skin would slowly sour the woman's mood. With an impish smirk, Addy slipped free of Sira's arm and moved towards the washroom, leaving a trail of clothes behind her.

End.

[Indigo]

Character: Sira Skills: +1 Trapping, +1 Leadership, +3 Wilderness Survival, +2 Flirting, +1 Tracking, +1 Strategy, Lore: Best wake up call, Always bratting your way through saddling, A great idea, Can't resist the pout, Blueberry dessert, Heading into danger instead of away, Memories come back for you, Winged hero, Character: Aidara Skills: +1 Trapping, +1 Foraging, +1 Riding(Wind Eagle,) +1 Fire Building, +3 Wilderness Survival, +2 Flirting, Lore: Getting the best wake up call, Bantering with your bratty kelvic when saddling, Pouting can be cute, Blueberry dessert, Your worst fears confirmed, Lost in the forest, Saved by Sira, Notes: Adventure, sex, fun and mystery make a great combo for this story-well done. Definitely not the average camping thread! If you have any questions or comments about your grade, please don't hesitate to PM me.