Closed Backwards Trust

[Alekxandra Winterflame]

Day 25, Winter, 516 A.V.

The moving tent city was actually something of a marvel to Alek. The way the people moved here, the way they worked together. It wasn’t as if they didn’t do the same in Avanthal… they often did actually, especially for big events. But this was a little different. These people understood the plains around them in a way she couldn’t comprehend it seemed. The bond she could see between people and their horses… there was something deep in this place that she could appreciate.

She had done a lot of observing for the past few days. At first it was just because she had little choice. Alek had been so weak after her arrival that she had laid near the entrance of the tent just to have something to do. The strange language was of course still foreign to her, but she had watched long enough to realize that the strange hand movements she had seen the man who took her in use, was in fact part of the language.

At least she was pretty sure it was.

Days later however found her with more strength than she had felt in weeks. Alek knew she was still malnourished and underweight, but it felt good to get her legs under her again rather than lying weak on the ground. She still wasn’t sure if she trusted the man who had been watching over her, but in the very least she could ascertain that he wasn’t out to muzzle her. He had been nothing but kind and rather doting really. Making sure she at least had something to eat and drink. Something she was starting to gather was actually harder than it seemed at first.

Despite the rain, the plains had remained hot. The ground lifeless, the wind sharp. She had no way of knowing that it wasn’t like this all the time, but if she had to guess by the tension around the tents she would have to think not. It did not seem like things could grow in the ground in these circumstances.

Twitching her nose, Alek brought her attention back to the task at hand… or paw rather. One of the small puddles left over from the rain nights ago was serving a purpose… trying to free most of her fur from the muck that had dried on days ago. It wasn’t much, and certainly not perfect, but she could see the bright red of her fur hiding beneath all the mud. By now it was mostly dust and dirt coming free from her, but there were still quite a few mats of mud stuck to her fur. The important parts like her muzzle, paws and ears were at least free however.

The grayish twist of fur on her left paw caught her attention as she pulled herself away from the puddle. It was so small one her paw, and slightly distorted from the water, but it was obvious it was there. Normally the image would have given her comfort. But the lack of Morwen’s appearance to the plains made her nervous for her goddess. The notion to worry had become more prominent the past few days with nothing to do but watch and think.

Alek shook her head furiously to free any leftover trapped water from her ears. There was no point in worrying about it right this moment. She was tired of stewing over the same problems over and over again. Snorting gently, Alek trotted slowly from the puddle, weaving through the tents hunkered down close to the ground. It wasn’t so much that she was nervous to be seen, but she really didn’t want to be chased out either. Especially since it was easy to get lost in the maze of tents. Luckily now that the ran had passed she was more able to use her nose to keep herself on track until she found the tent of the man she had been… well staying with she supposed.

Peeking her head around the entrance she glanced around the inside of the tent. It seemed the man had left for the moment, but she guessed he hadn’t gone far. The horse that shared the tent with him was still here. Standing to her full height she entered the tent, taking the chance to familiarize herself with the tent beyond scent. Being able to stand gave her a little different perspective. She kept one ear trained on the horse–though the creature at least seemed to tolerate her for the moment–Alek let herself nudge around pillows and blankets. Memorizing the scent of the man, the horse, of the dirt beneath her paws.

[Baltair]

Winter 25th, 516 AV
Listen to the wind




The day was as dry and warm as it had ever been. The storm from a few days had all but become a memory, what little grass there was had dried and the few puddles scattered around the camp were slowly losing their bodies. Baltair had woken up early in the day to try and prepare for the hunt that he was going to go on. His food supply was starting to run low and the lack of animals had put the city into a hard point. He had grabbed a few of his short spears and had taken them to make sure they were sharpened to a fine point. He figured that they were not going to be the best to take down any of the birds that might boarder the rivers near them, but he had hoped to get lucky.

As he made his way back to the camp with the spears in his hands, he pushed through the tent's entrance. He smiled towards Emyla and put his forehead against hers as a greeting. His eyes landed on the fox-like creature that had been staying in his tent for the last couple of day. His smile warm and soft before he had begun to situate the spears onto his yvas. He signed the words better and strong to the fox creature before trying to speak in common. "Better? Stronger now?" he said, he had noticed that the fox creature seemed to pay more attention when he spoke in the tongue of the outsiders.

He turned back to his yvas and the bags that laid beside it. He looked through them checking his fishing gear that he rarely used. His fingers pulled the leather straps tight as he checked them again to make sure they were secure to the yvas. He picked it up and walked over to Emyla, securing the yvas to her. "Let's have a good hunt" he said signing the word for hunt. His gaze landed upon the fox creature again. "You can stay. I will bring back enough" he said in his broken common.

He lead the horse outside of the tent, double checking the yvas, he pulled himself on top of her at gently patted the side of her head. He made a clicking sound with his mouth and leaned towards the south end of the camp. He had heard that there was a branch of the river that flowed away from the main body of it. He figured that it would be a good place to start, his eyes looking up to the sky he mumbled a small prayer under his breath to any of the gods that would listen.

[Alekxandra Winterflame]

In the middle of her ‘investigation’, Alek’s ears twitched from horse towards the entrance of the tent. The sound of feet around her was something she was already becoming accustom to, however there was a particular pace that was closer than the others. Moments later the man entered the tent and Alek lifted her nose from the blankets to observe him. For several ticks her stomach clenched, the sight of the spears sending a chill up her spine. No matter how nice the man seemed she couldn’t get over the irrational fear that his personality would shift eventually.

But it seemed for the moment that wasn’t the case. He certainly wasn’t in any sort of hunting stance, much less aggressive towards her. If nothing else the smile that was often plastered to his face--especially when dealing with his horse--was there as always. It actually took a good amount of restraint to keep herself from rolling her eyes as he pressed his forehead to that of his horse. He was certainly sentimental…

And once upon a time Alek would have found it endearing rather than ridiculously soft.

The smile was then turned on her. Whuffing slightly through her mouth, she shifted and planted her bottom onto the ground. He signed something in that odd language of his that was still completely lost upon her before speaking common. Over the course of the last few days she had unintentionally let on that she might understand the man better than his own tongue. She supposed however it was far more obvious that she wasn’t a simple wild animal though either as she had remained in his tent of any amount of time past a recovery point. Perhaps something of a trained animal… she’d have to be more careful for the future however.

However as the man began to pack his bags together, Alek could feel a curiousness she hadn’t felt since she had left Avanthal. Standing she slowly approached the him, though she made sure to keep enough distance between them so that he couldn’t touch her directly. Sniffing gently she couldn’t pick up anything out of the ordinary, but he was obviously up to something. Tilting her head, Alek watched as the man secured the odd looking harness to the horse.

However in the world did he intend to ride the horse without a saddle?

Scrunching her nose slightly, Alek snorted through her nose and sat back down. Her ears twitched back and forth as she simply stared at the man. Alek herself wasn’t sure if she was waiting for an order or a dismissal, but she felt glued to the horse and man. Or rather perhaps… tethered? She was in a strange land and for the last few days the only companions she had were these two. Despite how unusual they seemed to her, Alek didn’t want to be left alone in the tent in a place so unfamiliar.

It wasn’t a feeling she was so key on feeling either.

"You can stay."

The words did little to shake the feeling of being alone. She remained rooted to her spot as the man lead the horse out of the tent, but as she watched him mount the horse using the odd harness, the fear of being left alone spurred into an anxious tick that spread across the back of her neck. Her fur ruffled as her shoulders quaked and shivered. Her breathing turned shallow and before the man and horse could disappear completely from view Alek shot up without thinking. Moving faster than she had in days, Alek charged forward in a dead run until she caught up to the horse’s legs. Giving as wide a berth to the creature as she could to avoid the heavy hooves, Alek let out a loud bark and let her ears drop low against her skull.

[Baltair]

As the pair rode on, the rays of Syna kissing his skin, a smile played across his face. Much like the rest of his people Baltair felt more at home on the back of Emyla then he did anywhere else. It was almost like second nature to his people, they were rides of the open lands and the protectors of the Sea of Grass. Guided by the god of storms they were hardy and strong. Even with Winter not arriving and the Sea of Grass being as rough as it was. He shook his head when he heard a loud bark, the pair came to a stop as Baltair looked down.

The smile still spread on his face as he looked down at the fox creature that was sharing his home. "Right. You can come then." he said in common tongue. She seemed to understand him more when he spoke in that tongue. Though he could not be sure if she really did or if she was just acting like she did. "Would you like to ride" he asked, Emyla snorted in retort. He turned back towards the Strider and patted her on the neck.

They rode on until the river that he had heard about came into view. They stopped a short distance from the river as he dismounted. He worked at the knots holding his short-spears in place, he twisted on his hand pointing the point away from him. "Stay" he said to Emyla as he did his best to slowly walk forward. His eyes scanned the edge of the river, slowly moving one foot in front of the other, he crouched low and stopped a few feet from river.

He turned his head back towards Emyla then towards the river again, resting on one knee, he lifted the spear turning it over in his hand so the head was facing the river. He pulled his arm back and then flung it forward, releasing the spear and sending it flying through the air.

The weapon flew through the air, turning awkwardly as it flew before striking the bed of the river with a wet thud. A flock of birds flew off in a fright causing Baltair to mumble under his breath. He began to walking forward towards the spear, motioning for Emyla to come forward. He pulled the spear out of the mud and shook it clean, using the water to help clean it. He sighed and turned to Emyla, and shook his head. He started to rummage through his packs after tying the spear back into place.

[Alekxandra Winterflame]

”Right you can come then.”

The idea that she had to have his permission to come along irked her in an irrational way. It was she that wanted to tag along with him. Her and the ridiculous fear that still ran hot in her veins. Maybe it was the way he always seemed to manage a smile even when she was purposely trying to get in the way. There seemed to be very little actually capable of removing his smile from his face.

It was another irrational thing that irked her.

Pushing the thoughts to the back of her mind, Alek purposely ignored man and horse now that she had the invite she had been looking for. She held back a little, still careful of the horses hooves as they made their way from the city of tents. In her previously starved state Alek hadn’t taken in much about the land around her. Just the heat and the lack of water… the ever gnawing need to eat.

It didn’t help of course that she had no idea how to survive in a land that wasn’t covered in snow. Everything smelled different. The grass slid between her toes, catching on her fur. The mud was just stubborn and resolutely refused to come from her fur entirely. The wildlife acted differently… at one time she probably would have enjoyed this experience. However there was one thing that was very much the same.

Hunting.

It wasn’t snow, but mud acted just as well… perhaps even better. Given the rain that seemed to come a go as it pleased, the mud it created--for however short a time--made it easy to see where the animals passed through. The man seemed to have other ideas however as he and the horse seemed set in a specific direction. Alek allowed herself only to lag behind just long enough to ensure he never left her visually. She wished to focus her acute hearing on something that might actually turn into a meal… or something that might wish to turn them into one.

Alek’s nose felt glued to the ground though. The dirt and grass seemed to hold the scent of creatures passing through much better than snow did. She noted duly that the grass left different marks than snow and mud. The blades of grass that wavered with the wind were not so solid as she first thought. As she matched small prints of what she thought might be hare through the mud, there was further evidence hiding in the grass. Places where the stalks had been nibbled or even broken from what she assumed was an animal passing through.

Alek wasn’t even sure how much time had passed before her ears picked up the sounds of a river nearby. This apparently was their destination as he stopped his horse and dismounted. Crouching low Alek followed the man to the river, though she gave a wide berth between them. The sound of birds filled her ears, driving an instinct from her deeper than her fear. The urge to hunt this prey herself filled her and she felt her muscles pull taunt in her crouch. Anticipation of a kill… to taste blood and fresh meat was overwhelming.

Without a second thought to the man Alek tug her paws down into dirt beneath her and took off in a streak of red. Moments later it seemed, not far from her, the spear that the man had been carrying landed soundly in the ground and the shift of birds scattered to the wind. Frustration built within her as she realized she'd never reach the birds before they were out of reach. Regardless with a final attempt to actually land something, Alek bunched her hind legs and jumped off the ground, her jaws snapping at air as a bird skirted by her teeth.

Landing roughly, but on all fours, Alek let out a snarl. It was impossible to tell in the aftermath if it was her approach or the spear that had sent the birds to flight, but she knew there would need to be more teamwork between the two of them if they were to actually succeed in this hunt. Especially since the prey seemed so very thin and rather meek to begin with.

As he went about replacing his spear to the odd harness on his horse, Alek nimbly leapt onto a small rock near the river’s edge. Even with the slow gushing water, her ears twisted back and forth in an attempt to find any sound that might lead them to prey. Or perhaps even something left in the mud on banks that might give some kind of direction.

Common | Vani | Pavi