Whispers of the Herds (flashback)

[Natane Skytears]

25th Spring 509 A.V (Flashback)

Natane woke at sunrise, most of her pavilion was still asleep. She sat up and brushed her tangled hair from her face, on either side of her were her sisters. Isatas and Hateya, who both slept soundly, curled up under the warm blankets. Inteus and Knoton were not allowed to sleep with the girls, so they stayed on the other side of the pavilion with their male cousins.
The Skytears pavilion housed two families, Dasan's family and his younger brother Honovi's family. Natane loved them all dearly, her aunty, uncle and cousins, her father's second wife which he had taken after her mother's passing, and her siblings. She would spend most of her day fussing over the younger Drykas, braiding their hair, and constantly mending their clothes. And her aunty and Chenoa spent the same amount of time fussing over her, it was always a battle to get Natane to brush her hair and keep her clothes clean, from the moment she could walk Natane had been escaping her parental figures and causing much distress when she would crawl towards the hunting dogs and try to pat them.

When Natane turned five, she discovered the striders that grazed the grasslands on the outskirts of her clan. After this discovery all hope of turning her into a respectable responsible girl vanished. Sometimes she would disappear at dawn and return at dusk, it was Honovi who eventually found her asleep amidst the strider foals being carefully watched over by the mares. Dasan thought it strange that his daughter would have such a way with the animals yet not have bonded with one, all in good time he would remind himself.

Dasan's wife claimed that Natane's unfeminine behaviour was due to the fact that the young girl had grown up without a true mother figure and had only had the men to copy off. Understandable. But no one could explain Natane's irrational fear of strangers; she communicated freely with the members of her pavilion, but said little to those in her clan and ran from those that were unfamiliar to her. They discovered her fear when Dasan's family had travelled to the tent city of Endrykas, she had utterly refused to enter the city and when one of her father's old friends greeted her, the terrified child had run and hid behind Chenoa's dress.
Those in her clan had grown used to Natane's strange ways and no longer questioned it, they mainly ignored her which was fine by her. The less she had to deal with the strangers the better.

Although Chumani and Chenoa loved Natane, they had their own children to worry about, they tried to distribute their attention evenly between all eight children in the Skytears pavilion but it was hard. Natane was the oldest of the children, closely followed by Wapi, her cousin. As she grew older, she began to receive less and less of the women's attention. But she didn't mind, she knew that their own blood would always come first and foremost and that was to be expected.
And not long after the birth of Knoton, Natane was ten at the time, she began to notice that the amount of time she spent with Wapi was rapidly decreasing. He had started accompanying the men on their hunts or rounds, when she tried to follow they would send her home. By the time she had seen her thirteenth year, no one seemed to have any time for her. Although her aunty and Chenoa were still trying to turn her into a respectable young woman, even though their efforts were pretty much wasted. The majority of the time the women were busy with their own children and the men were hunting or training. So Natane would sit with the striders, accompanying them as they grazed the grasslands away from the clan.

And that was where she headed, before Chumani woke up and attacked her hair with a comb. Natane quietly wove her way through the tents, past the Harmony Homes and other pavilions, a few people were already awake and tending to the cooking fires. They called good morning to her and she nodded a reply.

The striders were dozing peacefully a few hundred feet away from the clan; the mares stood with their heads drooped while their foals lay in the grass, the only strider that was fully awake and alert was Hinun. He was the stallion who protected the clan's herds, he was big and strong and absolutely terrifying. But he was surprisingly docile and friendly, except when something threatened one of his herd. The darkness of his fur hid most of the scars he had obtained over the years, they had lost very few horses during Hinun's reign and they planned to keep it that way.

But, one harsh lesson every person who walks the earth must learn is that nothing goes according to plan. And those that fight fate will suffer the God's wrath.

[Natane Skytears]

The girl walked through the herd, most of the Cyphrus Striders were used to her presence by now and took no notice of her. Natane rubbed the nose of her father's strider as she passed by the stallion. The foals were all awake now and were dancing about her playfully, the colts bucking and play fighting each other while the fillies nuzzled each other's scruffy manes; occasionally their mother's would whinny, a warning that the babies were wandering too far away. A roan coloured foal, a few weeks younger than the other's, stuck close to its mother. A black mare, who seemed way too young to be a mother, she might still have been considered a filly. Natane didn't dare approach them, the mare would likely charge if she did.

It was early morning now, the sun had risen well above the horizon and the horses were beginning to move out, the noise from the awakening pavilions driving them into the more secluded grasslands. She found a soft patch of grass and sat herself down, watching the animals as they slowly wandered away from the camp. Though one strider stayed behind, a palomino mare. She stood about a yard away from Natane, her ears pricked forward in anticipation and her eyes following something.
The young girl held her breath, she knew what was coming.

[Natane Skytears]

Something slammed into her side; Natane and the creature toppled to the ground and rolled in the dirt. The young girl tried to push the large and heavy form away from her, but her pitiful attempts made her attacker laugh. It pushed her onto her back and pinned her arms down.

“Good morning” the overly happy boy smiled down at her.

“Get off!” Natane growled whilst struggling against her cousins surprisingly strong hold. The boy was the same age as her but he was already much stronger and faster; Wapi had been training with his father and uncle for a long time now, and seemed to be under the impression that Natane was only there for him to practice on.

Ignoring her command and her struggles Wapi said, “Mother's looking for you”

“Off” the girl snarled

He pursed his lips but didn't move, “When are you going to learn to defend yourself? You're pretty weak and pathetic...”

“Charming. You'll make some woman very happy one day...”

Wapi rolled his eyes. The boy let his cousin go and stood offering his hand but Natane refused and picked herself up off the ground, brushing the dirt from her dress and pulling leaves from her hair. The palomino mare had slowly made her way over to the two and was nuzzling Wapi's shoulder affectionately. The two had bonded last Spring and already shared a strong connection. Her cousin put an arm around the animal's neck and said to the girl, “I'm going to go train with father”

Natane heard someone call her name. She gave a nod muttering, “I'm going to go hide”

“Good idea...”

[Natane Skytears]

Natane trudged through the dry grass, heading down the hill towards the small creek that flowed through the grasslands. It was around mid-day now and the sun was glaring down, she had to get out of the heat. It was a long way from her pavilion but this was the only place she knew that had shade and water.

Stepping into the cold creek, feeling the smooth stones shift beneath her feet. The girl leant down and splashed the water on her face and neck. She shivered as it ran down her back, making her cotton dress cling to her body. She stood up and stretched out her sore muscles. Her stomach growled and Natane realised that she had not yet had breakfast, perhaps it was time to head home?

She heard hooves against the stones and looked around, finding the young roan foal carefully creeping down to the water's edge. It's mother was not around, nor were any of the other Striders. Which Natane thought was strange.

“What are you doing here?” the girl asked getting the foal's attention.

The young Strider stared at her, it's ears flicked forward and fluffy tail swished.

“Where's your mother? And the others?”

There was a rustle in the grass a few feet away and Natane turned back, expecting the herd or the black mare at least. But what she found was something very different. The girl's heart stopped at the sight before her.

[Natane Skytears]

The Glassbeak was young, made obvious by it's scruffy teenage feathers, skinny body and it would only have reached seven feet. It was most likely a male, kicked out of it's flock and trying to make it on it's own. The young bird was on the other side of the creek, it's beady eyes locked on the terrified Drykas child.

Natane was trembling, sweat ran down the side of her face. Her stomach knotted up and she wanted to be sick. The only Glassbeaks she had seen were dead ones that the men in her clan brought back, she had been frightened of them when they had been plucked and gutted. Now that one was staring at her, she thought she would pass out any minute now.

She swallowed hard. The Glassbeak didn't move, just continued to stare. Natane wondered where it's hunting partner was, behind her probably. But she could not bring herself to look away. Was that why the creature was continuing to stare? Keep her attention so the other could attack? The girl just hoped her first impression was correct, that this was an outcast and it was alone. Without panicking too much about that, she tried to focus. Think of a way out of this.

Nothing. She was dead.

[Natane Skytears]

It continued to stare. The terrifying, transparent beaked bird took a small step forward. She in return took a step back. Natane did not want to look away, incase the Glassbeak attacked. But was aware of her desperate need for a weapon. Anything would do. A stick, rock, anything. The Strider foal made a frightened nickering noise and she was suddenly reminded of her herds lost baby. How could she protect herself and the foal from this monster?

The sound got the Glassbeaks attention. Natane took this moment to search for a weapon. A large stick which was in her reach. While the freakish bird was focused on the baby Strider, she very quietly snuck over and scooped up the branch.

The foal whinnied timidly having seen the Grassbeak slowly approaching. It's ears flicked back and tail twitched. The only thing that Natane was thinking was, do not run, if that happened the monster would surely attack. But you cannot tell Striders anything, especially telepathically. The baby turned on it's heals and began off, like any logical creature would have done when it found itself face to face with a bird like the Glassbeak. But Natane seemed rather illogical. Rather than taking on this natural response, Natane rushed forward and slammed the stick into the bird's head before it could start after the foal.

She knew it was not the best thing to do, but what choice did she have? Striders were family, she could not leave the baby to be torn apart by the Glassbeak.

The monster turned to her and screeched. Natane cursed under her breath as she stared into it's flashing eyes.