Season of Summer, Day 13, 507 The wood was warm in her hands as she spun it around her, her fingers learning to anticipate the movement of her staff. She shifted forward, light on her feet, allowing the staff to swing in front of her loosely. Shifting again, she locked her arms bringing the staff to a sudden halt to her side. “Nice strike.” Kanara whipped around, her staff in a defensive position towards the sounds of the voice. She hadn’t heard anyone approach. When she was holding her staff, she usually relied on her ears alone to hear things since all she could sense with her fingertips were the sounds of the wood singing as it swept through the air. She squinted, trying to see who was ahead of her even though she recognized her brother’s voice. Shade was whispering through the land, the sand was no longer reflecting sunlight. It was already becoming chilly, it would become cold soon. He approached her, knowing she wouldn’t move until she could see him. Finally, her shoulders relaxed and she straightened. “Cheveyo, what are you doing here?” He smiled, his eyes laughing at her as he ruffled her hair. “I came to wish you luck, sister. Or rather your guardian luck when you get one.” Kanara glared at him from under her hair as she bore his abuse and promptly clonked him over the head with her staff when he was done. Cheveyo let out a laugh sounding like cool water. Kanara closed her eyes, listening to his laugh and marveling at their personality difference. She envied his ability to laugh so easily. She had lost it sometime ago. She felt a small nudge and reluctantly opened her eyes. Moonless eyes stared back at her. “Eywaat and Makutsi will guide you. And remember,” her brother said solemnly. “He lives on in us. Here,” he pointed at his heart. “So, don’t do anything reckless! Alright?” He grinned and winked at her before strolling back to camp, disappearing into the tribe. Kanara’s eyes watered slightly at his words, she swallowed hard and nodded silently in his direction. She was glad he left before she could say anything, they both hated seeing the other emotional. She sighed, chewing her lip in thought of her searching the next day. She was nervous, her palms already clamming up. Knowing she would get no more training done, she gave a long whistle before grabbing her waterskin and taking a sip of water. As she waited she watched the last rays of sunlight disappear into the belly of the land, leaving only the echo of light. She knew her time was fast approaching. Before long she could feel the canter of hooves in her fingers. She flexed them to open all the pores, shifting through the vibrations of her tribe nearby until she identified the hoof beats approaching from the east. She stood and faced that direction, waiting for her. She saw her after a few moments, a while streak against the darkening sky. A rare smile lifted Kanara’s lips as she ran towards her. They met at the half way point, the pale horse whinnying its greeting. Kanara placed her hand on the black star marking on the horses’ head. “Kasu, you can’t come to me for a while, my searching is tomorrow.” The white horse neighed and bumped her head against Kanara’s hand. “You remembered.” At that comment, Kasu butted her head against Kanara’s head. Kanara winced, “I did tell you every waking moment for a week, didn’t I? Oops.” Kasu snorted and tossed her head in the air. She gently nudged Kanara’s cheek before turning away and riding back to her herd. Kanara watched her go until she couldn’t see or feel her anymore before she too turned her back and began to walk towards camp. Kanara tried to sleep through the night, but she kept tossing and turning, tormented with dreams about golden wolves. Their eyes drew her to them like moths to the flame. She wanted to run, to feel her feet stirring sand but she couldn’t move. She stared at them, shivering violently in the cold and at their hungry eyes. They moved towards her, the sand absorbing the sounds of their feet. What scared her the most was her inability to feel their vibrations. Their lack of energy disturbed her; even carcasses had some feeble energy of their past life left in them. She tried listening to the ground and air, but she could feel nothing. Finally, one jumped at her. She could see him coming, teeth bared. Cringing, she brought her arms up in front of her as some sort of defense. Then there’s was some sort of pressure on her chest and she was falling backwards. She woke up, covered in sweat. The rest of her family was still sleeping soundly. She exhaled, relieved when something burst through into the tent. A golden wolf. Her breath caught in her throat as she reached for her staff, but made the mistake of looking onto its eyes. She got lost in them even though her body screamed danger, she couldn’t move. Then just like before, it jumped at her. This time, she managed to squeeze her eyes shut and had the sense to roll away. When she open her eyes the tent was empty, her family had already left. Small tints of light were peeping into the tent. Kanara gasped, it was pre-dawn already. A dream within a dream. She shivered, wondering what it meant. Finally, she got up. Today was her searching, if the dream was important, it would come back to her again. |