[The Pride] Dog Day Afternoon (Caoin)

[Quixotic]

Timestamp: 13th of Fall, Early Morning It was quite frankly, barely controlled chaos amongst the deep green pavillions that made up The Pride. The grassland fires that had broken out two days ago were gone it was true, but their after effects still lingered with the scent of charred fabric that hovered over the scorched and damaged pavillions. That was a minor problem though in comparison to the far more pressing one for those who worked within The Pride, the scattering of their livestock. It was obvious even to an outsider that they were very shorthanded. Most of the animal breeders were out on the Sea of Grass with the hunters searching for their lost stock, and while some had come back to the safety of the tents of their own accord many hadn't. Figures darted this way and that, some returning on horseback, carefully herding the animals back with the aid of their dogs to where they could be logged and recorded, others riding out again to return to the search. While still others moved amongst the animals themselves, taking care of their day to day needs and examining them to make sure they'd not been harmed or injured while away from the protection of the tents. Tempers were fraying and raised voices could be heard everywhere over the general noise of the still nervous animals, arguments breaking out as the stress and lack of sleep started to take their toll. In the centre of it all, almost like the eye of the storm, was a group of tables with several of the Emerald clan ranged around them. It seemed they were responsible for keeping track of the stock as they checked through their lists, tally charts marking the progress made towards regaining all that had been lost as they took the reports of each returning rider. Here at least they seemed calm, though they too showed the signs of weariness, dark shadows gathering under their eyes and there was an undeniable tension about them. It certainly hadn’t been the best couple of days for the clan, and it was more than likely that the next couple wouldn’t be much better.

[Caoin]

Caoin urged Liath to a stop as they drew up to the Emerald pavilion, halting just to the side of the entrance flap so that they wouldn't be in the way of anyone coming in or out. The Drykas woman dismounted and gave the Strider a firm pat on the shoulder as he whinnied softly and moved his head to snort into her hair affectionately. One hand still resting on Liath's neck, Caoin looked at the deep green tents of The Pride and smiled. She was familiar with the sight of them, as her father had brought her along often on his ventures to trade with the Drykas of this particular Pavilion. It was one of the few places she enjoyed visiting, because there were always dogs about. Dogs and Striders, yes, those were the companions in which she found the most solace.

After seeing that Liath was taken care of and wouldn't be running off without her, Caoin gave her white blouse a slight adjustment for comfort and strode over to the tables that seemed to be the calm eye of the storm of business that was taking place. The young woman stood with a certain confidence in her posture and an eagerness in her eye as she glanced down the length of the tables at the clansmen who were busy recording the progress of the hunters who were collecting lost and injured animals. "Pardon me," the girl began, "My name's Caoin Silverstrider, my father sent me to try and help out if I can." She was ready to do it all, from helping the hunters retrieve their lost animals and tending to animals in the field, to tending to those that had been found already. She would go where she was needed and do what she could.

[Quixotic]

One of the woman looked up as Caoin spoke, stress and exhaustion warring across her face as she looked her up and down. She ran hand through her hair to sweep it from her face, before wiping the sweat from it on her sleeve. She raised herself from the table and stretched with a wince, reaching round to her lower back to massage lightly before she finally replied. "Well met Caoin, I'm Brenel, and Caiyha knows you've come at the right time. You said you’re a Silverstrider? Good, means we won't have to baby you. Grab a bucket and a skin from other there, get some milk from the goats and go see Merril over there," she gestured towards where she meant each time, the buckets and skins seemed to be stored inside one of the Pavilions and the Merril that she’d mentioned was off to the right of the tables where it seemed the younger animals were being cared for. "Lot of hungry pups to look after, smoke got to a few of the dams." Was all the explanation she offered before she snapped to a halt, her lips compressing into a thin line of barely controlled anger at the thought of what had happened over the last couple of days. "Once you're done with Merril see if there's anything else she needs, if not, come back here and we'll see what else there is to do." That seemed to be all Brenel was willing to say and her last words had the ring of a dismissal about them. It had to be said that although her tone was brusque it was clear she wasn’t being impolite, it was just that the men and women of The Pride were stretched almost to their limits in coping with what had happened. Brenel herself turned expectantly to an Emerald clanswoman who’d apparently just returned, simply gesturing at her to give her report before leaning forwards again to start writing and recording the stock that had been recovered. From the looks of it the clanswoman had returned mostly empty handed, save for a pair of hunting foxes, though she’d signs of others that she was fairly sure looked promising. That though wasn’t particularly Caoin’s concern, she had puppies to look after.

[Caoin]

The young woman nodded a greeting to Brenel as she introduced herself and then settled into jotting down mental notes about the task she was to busy herself with. It wasn't one that she was unfamiliar with. In the past, her family's dogs had sometimes had litters to large for the mothers to care for themselves, not to mention the occasional misfortune like the one The Pride was recovering from. During those times, Caoin had helped to feed her family's pups. The directions were simple enough and there was no need to waste time asking questions, so once Brenel returned to her own task, Caoin started hers. After all, stumbling about and standing around doing nothing certainly wasn't going to help the clan or the animals.

Caoin marched off to where Brenel had indicated the buckets and skins were and quickly located the necessary tools. The next step was to locate the goats. Brenel hadn't pointed them out as she had done the other two, but it wasn't hard to follow the sound of bleating to where they were. The amethyst clanswoman looked over a few before spotting a female that looked like it might have some milk to give. She walked over to the doe, squatting next to her and stroking her under her chin a bit to relax her. "Hey there, nanny. You got some milk that you can share with some starving pups," she queried before pulling the skin out of the bucket and setting it in her lap. The bucket went under the goat and she reached one hand to take hold of an udder, while using the other to hold the goat steady and keep her from wandering off. With a firm, but not harmful grip, Caoin pulled on the udder to see if the nanny did, indeed have any milk.