Day 26: Shelter (Yahoo!Group pre-forum)

*******

ChildWolf checked on his brother then went over to Longsong. "What can I do?" he asked. He wanted to help any way he could.

Longsong looked up from the hole in his shirt he was mending. "Hmm, you could perhaps give me a hand with finding holes. I'm trying to make our bags and furs last a bit longer."
He turned to One-Edge. "Is there something you need help with, lifemate?" He didn't really have anything more to task ChildWolf with - they hardly had anything to work with at the moment, so they couldn't try making new tools, just repair what they already had. When the others got back there would be a lot of work, but as it was they couldn't do much more than rest.
"How's your head ChildWolf?"

ChildWolf picked up something and went to looking for holes in it. He was working on this until he heard Longsong's question. He really didn't want to asnwer it. But he knew that if he didn't Longsong might think that something else was wrong. His mind was going through many things that he was thinking of and started to get a headache from it. He put a hand to his forehead. "Still hurts at times." he finally answered.

LizardStalker kept near QuickSand.

"Cubs, would you like to hear a story?" Longsong ask LizardStalker and QuickSand. If he let them sit around doing nothing they might be tempted to amuse themselves by sneaking off outside.

LizardStalker looked up to Longsong quickly. He loved hearing stories. **Can we?** he asked with enthusiasm. He took a seat to where he was facing the older male with eyes focused on him. **QuickSand?** he asked, wondering if she was coming.

QuickSand went over to LizardStalker and sat down next to him. **Yeah, story.** she sent with as much enthusiasm as LizardStalker had.

One-Edge smiled at her lifemate. She sat with her good leg tucked in under the other one, a piece of leather forming a bowl in her lap to catch wayward chips or splinters as she sharpened the edges of some particulary blunted weapons. The huntress in her was too deeply ingrained for her to leave tracks behind even at the shelter, particulary sharp ones that might get stepped on.
"Yes, go on," the elfess murmured. She'd always enjoyed her younger mate's storytelling, and something within reminded her that the Lore-Keeper was important if the Tribe was to remain a Tribe and not just a gathering of elves. "I've always liked the one of Stronghands and Treemender."

Longsong smiled, elated that he'd been able to light a spark of interest in the cubs and his lifemate. They needed a distraction from...everything so they could relax and rest. "Which tale would that be then?" he asked One-Edge, still smiling. Her suggestion had been perfect, a former chief close enough in time to feel familiar, without being the one they'd just lost. One night, when there was a new chief, there would be Howls told about Clearmind. Now was still too soon.
"Stronghands did many things that spawned tales," he elaborated. "Shall I tell you the time Treemender played a prank on him? Or the time they challenged each other to a fishing contest?" He kept the suggested tales light. The Howl of Stronghands and Treemender's Recognition, while cheerful, would only serve to remind them of the loss of Clearmind. And anything involving fighting, well...

"The fishing," she replied almost immediately. Her dark brown eyes gleamed when they met his light ones. A tiny dimple showed near the corner of her mouth. "Mother used to say she didn't eat a redfin for years after."
Turning her head, she glanced at Childwolf and stood up. The spills she'd gathered in her lap were swiftly buried, and she arranged the sharpened weapons in a neat pile. Then she motioned the red-haired wolfrider over and bent to pick up some long, slender sticks. "While we listen... We don't have much to make spearpoints of, that I know. But I thought we'd do it the old way, harden them in the fire and scrape them sharp. Help me?"

ChildWolf went over to where she was. He nodded to her. He took one and watched her carefully, not wanting to make a mistake. His mind started wandering and he just stayed there with a blank look on his face. He then turned to her, looking at her.

One-Edge frowned at him. She leaned forward and blew at the embers of the fire-place, light dancing and throwing odd shadows over her oval face, and placed one of the spears-to-be with it's tip among the embers. Slowly rotating it to harden and burn it equally, the wolfrider female grumbled:
"Well? Don't just stare, hop to it cub!"
His blankness rubbed her the wrong way, annoying like a small pebble under ones bedfurs. One-Edge had little sympathy for inactivity. Though they had been through a lot, of course... Her countenance softened somewhat, dark eyes flicking from Childwolf to Lizardstalker. In a slightly more kind voice she added:
"Or sit with your brother. I'll work while I listen."

LizardStalker was just sitting waiting to hear the story. He was getting excited.

ChildWolf looked down and quickly went to work. He didn't understand why she had said that to him. It was confusing. He wanted to ask her why she did what she did, but was too scared to.

LizardStalker heard One-Edge and turned to his brother. He looked confused and worried. He then looked to One-Edge for an answer. Sprinter went over to her bond and layed her head in his lap. LizardStalker scratched Sprinter behind her ears like he has done before.

The brusque wolfrider sighed and rolled her eyes as she began scraping the spear into a point. How long had Childwolf been with the Tribe now? Two eights-of-hands and then some, she decided after some thinking, and still he looked as if she'd bit him rather than told him to wake up and do something. One-Edge shook her head and glanced at Lizardstalker, making herself smile kindly at the cub. He at least had an excuse, being barely more than two hands old.
"Sit and rest, cub... I think you should look at Sprinter's paws too, now that you're resting. See that he doesn't have any sores or cracks."

LizardStalker nodded and had Sprinter lay on her side. He then started to look at her paws. He scratched her belly while he was at it. Both of her back paws were alright, but her front left paw had a slight crack. **What do I do about this?** he asked One-Edge. He was worried about his bond's paw.

ChildWolf kept working on the one spear he had in his hand.

Longsong frowned a little at the exchange. Though he hadn't been One- Edge's lifemate for very long he knew her. Her dislike for inactiviety was well known in the tribe, but he had hoped she'd be able not to snap at any of the young ones. At least she'd caught herself in her small outbrust, before she said anything offensive.
"We're all a bit uneasy still," he spoke, addressing everyone. "ChildWolf, One-Edge meant nothing ill. Come sit here with us if you feel tired, I'm just about to begin the story."
He made a pause, making sure he had everyone's attention, then began: "Turns and turns ago, before any of us, Stronghands was the tribe's chief. Before he Recognized he had many furmates, but no thought of love- or lifemating ever crossed his mind, even when he began to near the age of an Elder. One of his furmates, Treemender, decided to change that, but she had no idea of how to get his attention. Therefore she decided to ask the tribe's Lore Keeper for advice. Can you guess what he suggested?"
Longsong would have preferred to make it a Howl, with singing and dancing, but this was not the best of places for it and he had not the energy needed. Better keep the story simple and allow the others to talk as well.

ChildWolf nodded to him, not wanting to speak. He felt better, but still didn't like what had happened. He listned to the story while he kept working.

LizardStalker heard the story and didn't know. **No, what?** he asked Longsong. He was getting excited about the story.

One-Edge chuckled quietly. She smiled at her mate, a sending of feelings like a butterfly's touch against his mind. The young ones... They made it all worth it. The way they explored the world for the first time, heard every story for the first time, made their mistakes or won their battles, each and every emotion clear in their youthful faces... A pang of sorrow stabbed at her as she remembered a cub who'd never get to go on his first hunt, but the huntress gritted her teeth and shook the memory off like a wolf shaking water from his pelt. That was then, and this was Now. This was what mattered.
She glanced at the paw LizardStalker worried over, and nodded. From a small pouch she produced a tiny wooden box. The elfess opened it and looked inside, frowned, but threw it in an underhanded toss to the cubling. It had a small amount of salve inside, smelling of honey and fat and some herb.
"Put some on," she advised. "Get rid of any dirt first. It's this terrain, it's not as good as the forest."

LizardStalker caught what One-Edge threw. He put it down next to him and went to cleaning the dirt off of Sprinter's paw. She tried to sit up and go to her paw. She didn't like him messing with it. Once he got all the dirt, he took the stuff that One-Edge threw to him and put some on her paw. **Is that all?** he asked her.

ChildWolf stopped his work and put a hand to his head. His minor headache was back and making itself known to him.

QuickSand was listening intently to Longsong when she saw ChildWolf out of the corner of her eye. She turned to him and went over to him carefully. "What's wrong?" she asked him softly.

TreeBreeze looked over to ChildWolf and QuickSand. He looked to One- Edge since she was closer to them than he was. **(Will he be alright?) ** he locksent to One-Edge. **ChildWolf?** he asked him. He was worried about his age-mate.

**(I am no Healer, I don't know,)** the huntress replied. She sighed and stood, giving her lifemate an apologetic look. It seemed as if his story would have to be postponed. Removing her work from the fire, she took a couple of quick, limping steps to Childwolf's side. The brown-haired elfess winced at the pained look on his face.
"Childwolf?" she asked quietly. "You seem pained. Is it your head again?" Slender fingers reached out, touched his hair. One-Edge gently searched for a wound or bump. She tried, but couldn't scent anything except for woodsmoke and Childwolf's usual scent. That probably meant no white-pus with it's sickly sweet smell, which at least was a comfort. On the other hand, if it wasn't a wound that bled, One-Edge wasn't certain what to do about it. She remembered vaguely Flint, her father. They'd all thought the real danger was the wound he'd taken in his arm, gouged by the horns of a deer. No one understood why he complained of stomach pain and why his normally flat abdomen swelled up, until in a desperate attempt to save him someone punctured the swelling and found that the trampling had made him bleed inside. He'd gone soon after... One-Edge remembered howling for him with her mother, together with Mistwing and Oakshade. But it was all very distant now, like a story rather than a memory. She shook her head and concentrated. If Childwolf bled inside his head, maybe there would be a swelling? Or maybe he'd just bumped his brains about a little, that usually led to elves feeling sick and dizzy for quite some time, with headaches and flashes of light as well.
She glanced over at QuickSand and TreeBreeze. The elfess shrugged. "Do anyone of you know about healing? Otherwise I think we'll simply have to wait until Bloodmane returns."

TreeBreeze looked to her, "I only know poisons and their antidotes." he said. He was very worried.

ChildWolf just gave a soft whine. He didn't feel like talking or sending. He just wanted the pain to stop. He curled up and laid his head on his knees.

LizardStalker felt sad that his brother was hurting. Sprinter went over to him and put her head on his shoulder. She wanted to help her elf-bond not be sad anymore.

One-Edge shrugged helplessly. She didn't feel a wound, and she didn't find much of a bump. That was more or less all she was able to do. He'd simply have to get through it on his own until Sunsleaf returned...
The wolfrider sat down next to Childwolf and cradled his head in her lap. She stroke his head gently, combing his hair out with experienced fingers and softly massaging his temples. After a little while she looked up again and shrugged at Longsong.
"We'll just have to wait and see. Please, love, go on."

ChildWolf liked the feeling, his whining got softer. He kept his eyes closed, knowing that if he opened them he would be sick and the pain would hurt worse.

LizardStalker looked from One-Edge back to Longsong. He knew that his brother would be hurting for a while. He looked to the storyteller for the answer that he had asked earlier.

TreeBreeze just watched over ChildWolf as he stayed that way. He looked to One-Edge and back to Longsong. He too waited for the rest of the story. Hoping that it would do some good for the cublings... and for ChildWolf.

Longsong felt One-Edge light mind touch and smiled in agreement. The remaining cubs were the foremost reason he'd been able to come out of the grief he felt after the loss of his own. He still mourned Sweetbreeze fiercly, but the knowledge that the tribe lived on was a relief.
He paused in his story telling as ChildWolf's pain was brought to his attention. The poor youth seemed to have quite the head wound. He sat in silence as One-Edge arranged ChildWolf in her lap, waiting for her to give him a sign to continue. When she did he smiled, trying to distract the others from worrying. He was no healer either - herbal or magical - but he knew a thing or two about wounds through pure first hand experience. Head injures could make you feel sick and loud noises usually made things eight times worse, so less talking would most likely do him good.
"Well," Longsong spoke in a hushed tone of voice, "he told her the chief could be terribly fickle in his attention, as she already knew, and that the best chance to capture his interest and keep it was to challenge him."
He pause for dramatic effect. He doubted anyone had mistaken the word to mean a true challenge for chieftainship, but some suspence was never wrong.
"Of course he meant for Treemender to challenge Stronghands in a game. To make sure she'd have a chance against him - for though they were of an age, Stronghands was still her elder - Treemender decided to observe the chief and see if there was any task where her skills exceeded his. So she began to follow him around the Holt, taking great care not to appear to be doing anything out of the ordinary. Then, one night, as she was walking along the river. Do you know what she saw there?"

ChildWolf just stayed where he was, calming down some.

LizardStalker was taking in the story so much that he was watching it in his mind. When Longsong asked the question, he was too far into watching the scene in his mind to hear it. He came out of his 'watching' and turned to the elder elf. He had a curious look on his face.

One-Edge laughed softly. She'd started braiding Childwolf's hair as he rested, keeping her fingers busy. The wolfrider grinned at her mate, reached out and tousled Lizardstalker's hair too. The curious look on his face made her smile again, as the cubling was completely absorbed by the story.
"I might remember, my love, but this one will surely start wrestling you for the answer if you do not give it to him quickly."

LizardStalker laughed softly when he felt One-Edge tousle his hair. He looked to her and smiled. He then turned back to Longsong. He loved the story so far and thought that he might want to learn them all. He would have to ask Longsong that sometime later.

"Well," Longsong continued, smiling at his lifemate's and the cubs' antics. "Treemender caught Stronghands attempting to fish with a spear. He wasn't succeeding at all. And he was so startled when Treemender stepped into his line of sight that he lost his ballance and fell into the water."
He made a pause to let the others picture the situation. "Needless to say Stronghands was more than eager to accept when Treemender challenged him to a fishing contest. They both prepared for many eights of nights, until the agreed upon time arrived." He open-sent an image of the shore by the cliffs, a night's travel on wolf-back from the Holt.
"To make things more interesting they decided to have the competition by the Vastdeep. That way they would not only have to fish, but also scale the steep walls of stone to get down to the water. "The night of the contest came. All of the tribe gathered on the cliffs to watch. Treemender and Stronghands nearly jumped down to the beach, limber as treewees on the steep rocks. Treemender was swifter with the spear, but Stronghands was a better climber. They'd decided that when their spears were full of fish they'd have to climb all the way back up to the others and leave their catch there. That way the competition got much more even."
Another dramatic pause.
"Who caught the most fish do you think?"

LizardStalker thought about it and then got a small idea, **Was it Treemender?** he asekd him. From what he thought that was the person that he thought had the most fish. He decided to ask Longsong about what he previously thought. At least before he forgot. **(Can I learn all the stories?)** he locksent to the adult.

QuickSand thought about it. **I think it was Stronghands.** she sent her answer. At least one of them would be right, but it was just a story. And she liked stories. She waited anxiously to see who it was.

For a moment LizardStalker's second question shocked Longsong into silence. An apprentice? Could he really take one on? He was hardly more than an apprentice himself! He knew nearly all of the important Howls, yes, but a few had been lost when...
A few heartbeats later the surprise was over. He was the Lore Keeper now, wasn't he? Longtale was gone and the other stories lost with him. All they had was him. And hadn't he been about LizardStalker's age when he'd begun to learn the stories of their tribe?
**(Of course)** he replied, before saying aloud: "You're both right and wrong at the same time actually. You see..."
Just as he was about to finish the story a soft "ping" cut through the night, coming from outside of the shelter. It was almost as if two stones had hit together. Two hurried footsteps followed. Then silence. Longsong felt a shiver go down his spine. Surely the hunting party or Bloodmane and Sunsleaf would have sent if they were heading back? Yet those hadn't been the footsteps of a troll...
**Is anyone out there?** he open-sent, giving One-Edge a worried glance. No one answered.
**(Lifemate?)** he lock-sent then, not wanting the cubs to hear the almost-panic in his mind voice.

One-Edge perked up at the sound. Eyes widening, she looked in the direction of the footsteps. The hunters? Hardly...
Gently she let Childwolf's head down from her lap, and stood in one swift motion. She gave her lifemate a reassuring nod and looked around, fetching one of the newly shaped spears. Hefting the wooden shaft and gauging it's balance, she sent to him
**(Sprinter haven't picked up a scent, and neither have I. Could hardly be trolls, it moved too lightly. I'll check.)**
Loud, she grumbled: "Lousy whitetails. I bet one got too curious 'bout the fire..."
The elfess moved away from the low-burning fire, rather stealthily despite her bad leg. She stopped outside the circle of light and let her eyes adjust. One-Edge took a deep breath and tasted the night air. Too bad the wind came from the wrong direction; she could smell woodsmoke and wolf, Longsong and Childwolf, but nothing strange or new. Carefully the huntress moved forward, blue shadows hiding many details of the landscape while others were visible in the clear moonlight.
**Nothing here,** she sent back to the others. **Probably a ravvit or something. I'll...**
One-Edge stopped herself. Something glinted and gleamed, reflecting the moonlight. She sank down on one knee and examined the object carefully without touching it. A crystal? It was beautiful, even in this pale light; blue and clear and obviously shaped by elfin hands. And here she picked up a scent as well; elf, but unknown. Staring out at the darkness in the direction of the tracks, One-Edge reached out with her mind again.
**There was something here, but it has left now. Longsong, love, please come look at this.**

Longsong got up and began walking towards the shelter's entrance, giving the others a reassuring smile. One-Edge's sending had held no alarm, thankfully. There seemed to be no imminent danger to worry about.
Outside he found One-Edge crouched down, holding something. **What is it?** he sent, not yet feeling safe enough to speak aloud. He reached out to touch the blue crystal and was surprised to feel...something. It was almost like the feeling settled around a thing that one of the tribe's Shapers had been working on. The only difference was that it felt older and a little fainter.
**(An elf did this.)** Longsong lock-sent to his lifemate. She'd most likely come to the same conclusion already, but he couldn't help saying it. There was an elf out there, a Rock-Shaper. But who? And where?
**(No tracks?)** Crystals didn't just fall out of the sky and there was a fading scent of unknown elf around the spot they were standing in. There had to be something.

"There are some," she replied, nodding in the direction of the faint tracks. One-Edge half-turned toward Longsong and shrugged. She wasn't frightened, but there was a definite tinge of wariness in her mindvoice.
**(Whoever it was didn't announce it's presence, and didn't answer your sending. I wonder if this was left on purpose or dropped by accident. I could probably track our guest down, but...)**
She trailed off, looking out into the night again. The huntress tested the balance of her spear again, almost absentmindedly.
"I'll follow these just to see what direction they lead in. I won't go further than I can still see the shelter. I doubt our visitor stays so close."
One-Edge turned back to her mate, giving him a little smile and a short embrace, before she carefully started to follow the faint tracks.

LizardStalker walked after Longsong, curious as to what was going on. He then went back inside to his brother and QuickSand. He would wait for the older male to come inside before he would ask him all sorts of questions.

ChildWolf felt One-edge leaving him and curled up in a ball.

Longsong stood outside the shelter for a long moment, eyes fixed on his lifemate's back as she disappeared out onto the plains. He waited until the darkness almost had engulfed her, then went back inside to the others. He smiled as widely as he could muster, trying to reassure while he himself still felt a bit uneasy.
"It appears there was nothing to be found out there. Just a shiny stone. Shall I tell you the end of the story?"

LizardStalker nodded as he looked to Longsong. "You didn't tell us who won." he told him. He knew that was where they left off and that distraction from things would be a good thing. Him being a cub still, his mind was stuck on that one part. Who won the contest....

"Very well then," Longsong replied, absentmindedly turning the crystal over in his hand. "You see..." He launched into a detailed, dramatic description of the competition between Treemender and Stronghands - partly to make it more exciting for the cubs and partly to distract himself from worrying about One-Edge.
"...and when they finally reached the top, spears heavy with fish the entire tribe held their breath. For Stronghands had been the first one to reach the top of the cliffs, but Treemender had two fishes more than Stronghands!" He made a pause.
"What followed was a competition of the voice - in other words, both tried to out-shout the other, explaining exactly how this turned the game in _their_ favor. The rest of the tribe slowly returned to the Holt, while Treemender and Stronghands were arguing. They didn't arrive in the Holt until the following nightfall. Needless to say there was no mentioning of fish for a good many moons."

********

**Is this close enough?** Dawngazer open-sent, but addressed BrightStar. Any closer and the longrunners would probably be able to smell them. Hopefully the wind would turn.

A heartbeat after her question panic broke out among the longrunners. Frightened sounds filled the air as the whole herd sat off at a dead run - right towards the hunting party.

Branchwalker's hands clenched in Bluefang's fur. **What's happening? ** The scent of panic and the charging animals had him frozen in shock. **What's chasing them?**

There were other sounds as well. If one were to listen carefully, noises not unlike arrows whistling through the air could be heard; and perhaps something akin to voices crying out in ellation.

**Scatter!** Dawngazer suddenly ordered, as she realized they would all be trampled if they stayed where they were. **Try to take one of two down when they pass, but don't get in their way! They'll crush you like over-ripe dreamberries if you do.**

BrightStar didn't like what was happening at all. **Take down what you can safely.** he sent just after what Dawngazer sent. He didn't want another to become injured on this trip. He made a point to remember what he heard but couldn't think on it as it was his and other's lives at stake. He turned to take down one of them when his left arm got hit by a hoof. He heard the crack as he was certain that the others heard it too. He could careless about it and went to working on taking down a longrunner. **Riv, you have one coming towards you.** he sent to the younger one. He hoped that he would be able to take down that adult without hurting himself. He cared for all of them and wanted them all safe. He heard something behind him and quickly turned and ducked out of the way.

'Don't get in their way' was an awfully hard order to obey in Riv's current situation. He didn't have a wolf to outrun the stampeding herd and quite a few of them were heading directly for him. He managed to dodge and roll out of the way of one, but the moment he got up, BrightStar's warning reached him. But it was too late to dodge. "Drukk!" Riv swore, falling to his knees and bracing his spear against the ground. And praying that the longrunner would either run around him or jump.
The animal jumped. Time seemed to slow down as Riv watched his spear pierce the soft belly, then the huge mass descending on him and ultimately crushing him against the hard ground. A flailing hoof grazed the side of his head, but it was the impact of falling that made stars twinkle in his eyes. Absurdly enough his last thought before passing out was that he was being soaked in warm liquid. It couldn't be his own blood, right?

SilverEyes heard the crack of BrightStar's arm and the word that Riv said. She was close enough to Riv but still had the longrunners between them. She quickly released her last arrow to pierce a longrunner's heart....hopefully. She then got out her daggers and jumped up on a longrunner and stabbed it deeply. She was very fierce during a hunt... something that no one would ever have thought of when they saw her. The longrunner fell down with her on top of it. It was now clear to go over to Riv. She made sure that the longrunner was dead before doing anything to help the male. She tried to lift up the beast, but found that it was a little heavier than she thought. ** (Riv, talk to me.)** she locksent to the younger hunter. She then saw all the blood. She sniffed it and could easily tell that it wasn't Riv's from her wolf-blood. She had a huge relief from knowing that.

SilverEyes could sense Riv's mind, that he was still alive, but there was no reply. Instead there was a firm wall that kept everybody out. Not like a soul name, protecting some private core, but a wall enclosing everything, keeping others from getting too close.

SilverEyes managed to move the beast off to the side to clear a way for Riv. **(Riv, for High Ones sakes, answer me!)** she half-demanded of him. She was getting really worried about him by now. She kept her eyes out for any other dangers that might come to them. She would protect him, but worried about what he would say when he came to about that.

**(Get. Out. Of my head,)** Riv snapped, only half-conscious, but painfully aware of someone else's consciousness yelling in his mind.

BrightStar watched out of the corner of his eye on what SilverEyes and Riv were doing. Before he knew it the last thing he saw was a longrunner rearing up in front of him. He was knocked unconscious by a hoof and just laid on the ground. This was something unexpected and something that he would never forget.

Dawngazer finally arrived at BrightStar's side. Having heard something very much like a bone breaking from his direction she been heading his way, but having to dodge crazed longrunners had slowed her significantly. Now he was unconscious and had to be dragged to safety, High Ones help her! Not having time to be careful Dawngazer dismounted, heaved BrightStar up on Stronglegs and jumped back up. Hopefully she hadn't made any of his injuries worse.
**SilverEyes, how is Riv?** she sent while urging Stronglegs out of the longrunners' way. **Branchwalker, where are you?**

Branchwalker had been separated from the other elves by the oncoming torrent of longrunners. He'd managed to hold onto Bluefang and together with about half of the pack gotten out of the panicked herd's way. Right at that moment he had knocked an arrow onto his bow and was aiming for a longrunner heading almost right towards where Riv lay pinned, guarded by SilverEyes.
**I'm here!** he answered Dawngazer and let the arrow fly. **BrightStar?** He thought he had a good view of everyone from where he was standing, everyone but…
**Eveninglight? Where is Eveninglight?!**

BrightStar felt being hoisted onto a wolf. He groaned at this. Syke felt his bond being hurt and stopped his hunting and buried his kills. He then raced over to try to get to his bond. He was really worried.

**Sorry,** Dawngazer sent to BrightStar when she heard him groan, **I don't have time to be careful.** With that her sending ended, her consentration fully on helping Stronglegs avoid being knocked down by the oncoming torrent of animals.
Finally the herd had passed. Three longrunners lay dead, the rest kept on fleeing. Dawngazer sighed in pure relief, bringing Stronglegs to a halt next to one of the fallen longrunners. **Is everyone well?** she open-sent, hoping to get a response from the entire party.

**I am still unharmed,** Branchwalker replied. **I can see SilverEyes and Riv from here, but Eveninglight...** Him not seeing her didn't mean she was hurt. He knew that, but the knowledge didn't make him worry any less.

BrightStar heard everything and wanted to talk to them. Syke went next to his bond. He knew that the elf would be hurting for a long while. The young fox looked to Dawngazer worriedly then to Stronglegs with the same worried look on his face. His bond wouldn't answer him but would send him an emotion of pain with the slight hint of 'I'm okay.' in it.

********

Finally all the longrunners had passed, leaving the wolf pack, the hunting party and three of their fallen kin behind.

**Thank the High Ones that's over!** Dawngazer open-sent, taking her gaze off BrightStar for a moment. Now that she no longer was surrounded my fleeing longrunners she could actually see beyond the tips of her nose. And what she saw surprised her beyond words.

**That was our prey! Who are you?** came a sudden sending from a female standing in the center of a group of elves – perhaps two eights of them – not . She didn't look pleased to see them, at all.

~**D-does any of you know them?**~ Branchwalker lock-sent, the stampede and this sudden, none too friendly meeting making more than a little jumpy.

BrightStar sat up slowly while cradling his arm. **I am an Elder of Frozen Lands. Who you?** he sent with pain to her. He figured on giving something that was easy enough to check if needed and something that was very vague. He really didn't like telling anything to a complete stranger, at least not one like this one. The ones he was with right now were different. He liked them right off. He heard Branchwalker's locksend, ~**I'm not sure.**~ was all he could respond back before falling back to the ground in a wave of dizzyness and nausea.

The female in the strange group's mids gave BrightStar a suspicious look. She paused, as if considering if he was worthy of an answer, then sent: **I am Claw, Hunt Leader and soon to be Chieftess of the Branch of Sundown.** The pride in her mind voice was subdued, but obvious. **We are the Children of the Oaks and this kill was ours.** Her eyes flashed with hostility, not unlike a wolf with it's hackles raised.**Calm yourself sister,** one of the other strangers suddenly interrupted. He took a step forwards, hands raised in a friendly, nonthreatening gesture. **I am Dusk. We apologize-**

**We do no such thing!**

Dusk gave Claw an almost angry glare. **..._apologize_ for putting your hunters in danger by startling the herd. We did not know you were hunting her as well.** He gave his sister another silencing glare. They seemned to lock in a silent battle of wills, broken only by BrightStar's fall.

"BrightStar!" Branchwalker cried out, for the moment forgetting about the strange elves. Followed by those of the wolves that hadn't been assisting their bond-friends he hurried over to the fallen elf, who Dawngazer just had been able to catch.
**BrightStar, how badly are you hurt?** Branchwalker sent, putting a shaking hand on the other's forehead. "We have to get him back to the shelter. Sunsleaf might be able to do something." He already thought of her as the tribe's Herbal Healer.

BrightStar moaned softly. His arm was hurting him along with his chest and ribs. He didn't think he was that badly hurt, but then again...

Dawngazer nodded and stood up. Giving the strangers another suspicious look she surveyed the surroundings once more, knowing Branchwalker would take good care of BrightStar. Eveninglight was still nowhere to be seen.
**Eveninglight?! Eveninglight where are you?!** she sent, as loud as she could. If she wasn't too badly hurt (or worse) she should reply soon.

Meanwhile Claw gave Dusk another dirty glare, but seemed to have given up the idea of solitary claim to the prey. **I have a suggestion,** she sent, still clearly annoyed - the fact that none of the strangers had given their names yet only feeding that fire. **We'll help you with your wounded and with carrying the meat, if we get two of the longrunners.**

**That's no fair trade,** an elf with blond hair, that stood on the opposite side of Claw as Dusk, sent.

**You too Skyflare?** This time Claw sounded more shocked than truly angry.

Skyflare only grinned in reply. "Here, let me help you," he then said and walked over to kneel by Branchwalker. He gave the wolves - who kept a respectful distance from all the new elves, confused by the sudden appearance of so many unknown not-bonds - a curious, but also wary look. **BrightStar is it?** he sent, he too attempting to rose the fallen elf.

BrightStar just barely opened his eyes to look at them. Syke went over to his bond and gave a fox version of a whine. He had seen that the elf didn't harm his bond, so he trusted him... for now.

Branchwalker sighed in relief when BrightStar moved. He was hurt, yes, but still alive. Hopefully he would stay that way.
Longsong's sending came as a bit of a surprise. The chaos of the hunt had distracted him completely from how long they must have been gone. ~**We have food and...more**~ he lock-sent, including the entire tribe in it. He added an image of the strange elves and the injured ones. ~**We can't find Eveninglight.**~ No point in trying to keep that hidden - the worry in his mind voice would have been enough.

Skyflare didn't notice Branchwalker start - he was too busy trying to decide if he should try and shove the oddly large, white fox away from BrightStar. The one helping him (no name given yet) didn't seem the least bothered and no one from the strange hunting party said anything, so he let it be. Still it was unnerving to see the large predator standing so close to an injured elf.
"Will you join us in our camp? It's not far from here, just behind those hills." He pointed out the direction. The hills hiding it weren't really hills by Tall Tree Holt standards, but still high enough to keep whatever was behind them hidden.

Claw gave Skyflare a dark glare, but said nothing. In fact, she'd already begun to organize the carrying of one of the dead longrunners - grumpily and with short, harsh orders, but still.

Riv was slowly regaining consciousness, the sendings all around him just making his already throbbing head feel like it was being pounded by several troll hammers. "Shut up already..." he muttered, although not loud enough that anyone else than SilverEyes (who was next to him) would have heard. One by one he started picking up various messages other than pain from his senses. Weight keeping his body pinned to the ground from chest down. Being soaked in something sticky. Blood. Even his nose could tell from the overwhelming smell. A warm hand on his shoulder.
Finally he opened his eyes, and fixed his gaze on SilverEyes after briefly noticing that it was one of the longrunners that had pinned him down. Apparently his desperate last-moment move had been a success - the animal was dead. "Get this thing off me," he snapped. It sounded more like an order than a request. But then again, Riv never asked nicely for anything if he could avoid it.

"Oh, be quiet you," Dawngazer replied to Riv, knowing fully well that the demand hadn't been directed at her. She did however walk over to help him get free from the dead longrunner.

Riv had just been about so snap something back, but when she came over to help him, he swallowed it.

A few of the unknown hunters came forth to help. None of them dared look their Hunter Leader in the eye, except Skyflare and Dusk.

With several elves pushing and pulling on the longrunner, Riv managed to crawl away from under it and even pull free his spear (that had embedded itself quite deep in the animal's flesh). "Thanks," he said shortly, dusting off his clothes - not that it helped much, as he still was covered in longrunner blood. To him, meeting these strangers was nothing special after meeting the Tall Tree Holt tribe. It was, after all, his second encounter with new elves in unknown territory...no, make that third, counting BrightStar and ClearIce.

"No worries," one of the strangers replied, giving Riv's spear a brief, wary glance.

"What are those?" one of them finally asked, as Riv was free from the longrunner. She indicated the wolves and Syke. "They're obviously not prey, but they haven't tried to steal the meat yet. Why aren't they doing something?"

SilverEyes saw everything going on and just stood there like an idiot. She went over towards the others slightly. "Those are our bonded and non-bonded. They won't do anything to the kills." she explains.

The strangers only gave SilverEyes blank looks. Obviously 'bonded' meant nothing to them.

Dawngazer sighed. What kind of elves were these to never have heard of a bond? Purebloods obviously and not well traveled ones. Not that her tribe was much better when it came to moving about, but wanderers had to come by now and again, surely?
"We will explain later. Could you please help find our lost tribemate? Her name is Eveninglight. She was with us when the hunt began."

The strangers who weren't busy following Claw's orders of lifting one of the longrunners onto a big, flat piece of wood, fanned out and began looking. It didn't take them long to find something.

"Over here!" one of them cried out, over by the dead longrunner no one had had time to take care of yet.
"Under." The longrunner was swiftly moved aside to reveil a deep hole right under it. Luck had been on the elves side - the longrunner had fallen in such a way that it had covered the hole without falling into it. Had it done so, the hole's current occupant would have been crushed.

*Oh High Ones,* was Dawngazer's first thought as she peeked over the edge of the pit. Eveninglight was lying at the bottom, unmoving. She smelled blood in the air. "We have to get her back to the shelter."

"Once more we have to apologize," Dusk said, voice still very calm. "It was meant as a trap for the longrunners, not a fellow elf. There are steps to climb on, I'll show-"

Dawngazer interrupted him by jumping right into the hole, too impatient to try and find the steps in the dark. She halted her fall by bouncing from wall to wall until she'd reached the ground, just as Branchwalker had taught her. The difference between doing so into a hole and down from two trees wasn't that big.

The Children of the Oaks that had gathered around the pit watched the mad leap with wide eyes.

**I'll need help getting her out of here,** Dawngazer sent up to the others. She knelt by Eveninglight's side, feeling for a pulse. There was one, thankfully beating strong. There wasn't much blood either. Possibly a broken bone or two, a light head injury, nothing more. A lucky fall.
~**Eveninglight? Eveninglight, please answer me.**~

A vauge, pained thought replied.

*No permanent damage,* Dawngazer thought, not sure if she was trying to convince herself or just stating a fact. A rope, followed by two of the Children of the Oaks, distracted her from sending to Eveninglight.

It didn't take long to get out of the trap. Well above ground Dawngazer attemtped to arrange Evenightlight as comfortable as she could on Stronglegs' back.

Eveninglight was vaugely aware of being lifted and she breathed in sharply, the motion of her chest rising causing pain to fill her senses. She opened her eyes and felt like everything was rocking back and forth; her head hurt. What had happened? She remembered pursuing a longrunner but then a moment's hesitation had led to another of the creatures running directly into her. She remembered the collision, but that was it. She looked straight up at the sky, not wanting to move her aching head.

Branchwalker was more than relieved when Dawngazer sent about Eveninglight. She didn't sound too worried, good. ~**Wait,**~ he hurried to send to the shelter, ~**We've found Eveninglight. She's hurt, but alive. So is BrightStar. I think they both have broken bones and perhaps have been hit in the head, but nothing more serious.**~ This last information was of course directed at Sunsleaf. ~**There are new elves here as well. They seem friendly and will hopefully help us carry the longrunners back. We'll hurry.**~ To Skyflare he said: "That is not for me to decide. Our wounded need tending. You...don't have any healers with you, do you?"

Skyflare seemed surprised by this question. He didn't say anything though, just gave a helpless shrug.

Claw, who'd been listening in on the conversation, on the other hand, flushed red and gritted her teeth audiably."What do you take us for No-Name?!" she hissed, narrowing her eyes to firey slits. "Bringing healers on a hunt? We have more honor than that!"

Branchwalker's eyes widened in obvious confusion and a little bit fear. How had he insulted them?

Dawngazer stepped between Claw and her poor soul brother, returning the Hunt Leader's dark look with one of her own. "Lower your voice!" she barked. "You're worse than a wolf with a burr in its tail! Either spit out what's gnawing you or act like a leader should." A Hunt Leader that only snarled and growled wasn't much of a Hunt Leader at all.

Claw seemed a bit taken a-back by this sudden outburst from someone else than herself. She took a step back, almost looking embarrassed.

"We need to get our wounded back to our shelter. Will you help us?" Dawngazer asked, then realized she hadn't introduced herself. "I am Dawngazer," she hurried to add. "And 'No-Name' over there is my soul brother Branchwalker."

Claw relaxed a little after the names had been uttered. At least now there was some common ground.
"We will help you," she said, descretely signaling for the hunters carrying one of the longrunners to turn around so they were facing away from their camp. "We shall go with you to your shelter at once."

"But," Dusk suddenly interrupted, "should we not go back and bring the others with us?"

Claw gave her brother a sideways glance. Her left eye twitched. "He's not that important."

Dusk's eyes narrowed.

Claw grumbled for a long moment. Finally she gave an irritated huff and gestured with one of her hands towards half of the hunting party. "Fine. We'll go back to the camp. You others, follow the strangers to their shelter. Help them carry the longrunners."

********

The walk to the Children of the Oak's camp wasn't too long and was mostly spent in tense silence.

Dawngazer stopped dead in her tracks when they finally passed the last hill. There, on one of the furs in the circle shaped camp, leisurely nibbling on some kind of a fruit, sat...
"You!" Perhaps not the most friendly greeting, but it was all she could accomplish at the moment.

Riv had been walking at the back of the group, perhaps falling a bit behind, too. The bruises didn't bother him much, actually much less than the way he was starting to smell as sweat mixed with the longrunner blood on him. The only thing slowing him down was the joint between his right leg and hip. It was probably slightly dislocated, not enough to be real trouble, but enough to be a bother. But he absolutely refused to admit he'd be hurt enough that he'd need to go back to the shelter.
Besides, he was somewhat curious of these 'Children of the Oak', had even briefly considered joining them - but on the other hand, the wolfriders owed him, which did make his standing a bit more secure in a land where you couldn't survive alone. And Riv had never been very good in taking orders, an essential trait when trying to become a part of a new tribe.
He was still just behind the hill when Dawngazer stopped and called out. 'You'? "What's happening?" he asked, hurrying to her side - the latter action causing him to wince slightly. He definately wouldn't be running tonight.

Dawngazer, still somewhat in shock, didn't acknowledge Riv's question for a good long moment. **I won't believe this,** she sent finally, leaving it up to Riv to find out just what 'this' was.

The Children of the Oaks that had arrived in the camp ahead of them were giving Dawngazer curious looks. They'd gathered in a semi-circle around the elf currently holding her attention, all pretending that they only were packing up the camp, while eagerly listening for an explanation.

Rising his body elegantly from a soft fur, an elf with long blond hair half-sat observing the first arrivals to the camp. “Dusk my valiant friend!” he called out, completely ignoring said elf’s sister Claw standing even closer, “Strike me with skyfire! I suppose you must be the oh-so-mighty – yet mysteriously silent! – hunter who has managed to catch so many of these fine killings?”

Dusk didn't answer, only smile somewhat smugly, arms crossed over his chest in a relaxed manner.

Claw on the other hand gritted her teeth and gave Eclipse a dark glare. Still she somehow managed to get a hold of herself and turned her back to the annoying elf. Instead she concentrated on overseeing the gathering of their belongings.

Finished with his praising the blond elf even clapped his hands together in Dusk’s general direction, bowing his head slightly. Taking time to push his hair back and to pop some fruit into his mouth, he came to an abrupt stop in his doings as a familiar voice called out; “You!”
He looked shocked for a moment – then he turned around, smile exchanged for a scowl. “Well, paint me purple and call me a dreamberry… If it isn’t my old tribemate the loud-howling she-wolf and…” he strained his neck to look beyond her, “And the foolish cub following behind her. Oh well, there goes what could have been a pleasant night…”
Eclipse was not happy.

At first Riv could only stare. Then he pressed his fingernails to his palms just to be sure. It felt real enough, so this probably wasn't another stupid dream. But if it wasn't, it made even less sense. It had been days, Eclipse had gotten separated from them when trolls attacked, he had been wounded _and_ didn't strike Riv as someone who could survive alone in the wilderness. Taking a few quick steps closer (completely ignoring the fact that it hurt), he couldn't help but ask, "How are you still alive?!" He was surprised enough not to even react to being called a cub again.

Unwillingly shrinking, Eclipse could not deny that he was taken aback by Riv’s reaction to seeing him. He wasn’t prepared for that sort of behaviour and had honestly expected the both of them to instantly lash out at him for insulting them. Catching himself wavering, Eclipse found words to answer Riv’s question;
“Hah! Barely! I wouldn’t be alive if it weren’t for them,” he made a sweeping gesture towards the other tribe, before sulkily crossing his arms over his drawn up legs, “Not that I unquestionably couldn’t have survived on my own.” Even he didn’t believe that, and the exclamation hung in the air, but after the honesty of Riv’s question had sunk in he’d felt that he should be slightly insulted by how awed Riv had sounded at seeing him alive.
"Not surprisingly I see you've managed to get yourself all dirty and injured. I hope for the sake of your sanity that you've realized one shouldn't go around waving bruised limbs like that," Eclipse added, eying the younger elf's appearance with equal bits distaste and apprehension, "You might get some icky blood on me for an instance."

At first, Riv wasn't sure if he should be relieved...or hit Eclipse. But when the wolfrider - well, at least he thought Eclipse was a wolfrider - started talking to him like he were an idiot, any traces of thought that he might have been happy to see him alive simply disappeared. "I don't need to hear that from you!" Riv twirled around and started rushing away so quickly that he collided with one of the elves staying near them to see what would happen...and fell - only to bump into Eclipse next.

Dawngazer was dumbstruck by Eclipse's harsh lashing out at them. What in the name of the Half-Wolf had gotten into him? And how had he ended up out here, with these strangers?

Dusk gave a startled sound as Riv bumped into him. He'd been standing as if entranced by Riv's and Eclipse's argument, but shook off his fascinated facial expression quickly. He didn't say anything to Riv, only raised an eyebrow and tilted his head a little to the left.

Claw, who looked surprisingly calm for a change (though no more cheerful), took a few steps to the right so she was standing next to Dawngazer. "So he's one of yours. I should have known." The commented was made in a perfectly ordinary tone of voice, but there was something in it that left the listener feeling accused of something.

Dawngazer only gave her a glare, too distracted by Eclipse to reply (yet). "What's that supposed to mean you ungrateful pup!" she bellowed, fangs bared. "And I who was almost relieved to see you alive and well – no doubt you've had these poor unfortunates spoil you rotten, lazy bones! How did you end up here of all places?"

Eclipse squeaked as the Riv's body bumped into his - it being covered in un-describably icky -- well, he'd call it 'stuff', not wanting to think about what that actually was. That uncouth elf had no sense of how one should behave! Grudgingly Eclipse had to admit that he also was hurt, so when Dawngazer lashed out at him, he contented himself with handling the Riv 'situation' by pushing said elf down to sit on the ground, using as little of his fingers as he had to and trying not to touch any part of the shoulders covered in - well, 'stuff'. Pursing his lips in slight disgust Eclipse demonstratively wiped his hands with some leaves, hoping the hopeless elf would take the hint, before turning to Dawngazer, posture proud. He decided to ignore her last comment of him being spoiled.

Riv's eartips turned red when Eclipse pushed him aside. He wasn't usually this clumsy. It was probably just because he was feeling...well, frustrated. Or angry, maybe.

"Well - after you" Eclipse emphasised the 'you', his face being the perfect mask of suffering, "After you cruelly left me behind at the attack of the trolls I had to try to make it on my own. I fled and hid. I run for a long time actually and I have to tell you, my hair looked terrible! Having lived on roots and berries I found myself at the edge of exhaustion- and then!" he paused dramatically, "Well - then these heroic souls found me in such a sad state, or don't you agree Dusk?"
Smiling innocently he walked up to Dusk and pushed the elf's hair back , letting his arm rest on his shoulder. "They practically had to bring me back from the banks of death itself." By saying 'they' it was to all observers clear to the point of general embarrassment that he was indicating Dusk especially, while his back was turned to Claw.

Dusk looked even smugger at Eclipse' comment about his - according to Eclipse - brave resucing of said elf.

Claw looked stuck inbetween the urge to hit Eclipse with something heavy, glaring holes in her brother's head and saying something mocking to Dawngazer regaring her being tribemate to such a walking insult. In the end she just stood quiet, gritting her teeth.

Dawngazer gritted her teeth as well, though louder. With another growl of frustration she fixed Eclipse with an angry stare. "Listen to me and listen well *cub*! We were are just as injured, exhausted and hungry when the trolls attacked that second time. How is it in any way our fault that you ran off in the wrong direction?
You're not the only one we lost track of either! As much chaos as that was we're lucky not all of us were left wandering the woods alone! And don't think we did not search for you as soon as we were safe."

Eclipse pursed his lips and looked away, but did not look bashful in the least for his harsh words earlier.

They had in fact searched for others - but both the forest and the risk of being attacked a third time were of equale size. Dawngazer didn't feel up to explaining this to the walking ego.
"Now we should head back to the others. Unless you have more cubbish whining to do? Or do you miss trees so much that you have to climb on that poor elf?" She nodded in Dusk's general direction.

Eclipse snuggled closer to his new friend, sticking out his tongue at Dawngazer in response. Not feeling up to hearing about any other losses Eclipse did not ask Dawngazer about what had happened since he had last seen them. And even though he realized that his accusations earlier might not be true he couldn't help but wondering if they had given his disappearance much thought. So many had been lost who meant so much more to most of those who were still alive. That thought left him feeling vaguely and familiarly expendable.

At this point Riv decided it was best not to say anything at all. Instead he started surveying the camp and the strange elves there, noting in passing (and with some pleasure) that he had gotten some mud and dried blood on Eclipse when they collided. Served him just right.

Claw's expression of mixed emotions suddenly transformed into something you almost could call a smile. She gave Dawngazer a look that nearly could be called friendly.

Dusk was all too swift to pick up on this. He gave his sister a knowing smirk and a wink.

Claw pretended not to see it. Instead she said. "Of course you should get back to your people. I and Dusk will be more than happy to accompany you there. The others will bring the rest of our things when they are ready."

Dawngazer looked a little taken aback by this change in Claw's behavior, but simply nodded and returned her attention to Eclipse.

Releasing Dusk, Eclipse crossed his arms and surveyed the two elfesses. How alike they acted - really! "I suppose we should go back - I have some things left with you, I believe," he nodded towards Dawngazer, "But I haven't decided yet where I want to live and with which tribe. I suppose I'll have to see where I feel the most at home."
And with those words and a self-satisfied smirk, Eclipse ambled away towards the place he had been resting on to get his comb.
"Well - I'm ready to leave - are you coming or what?"

For some strange reason - he really, really had no idea why - Riv's heart felt like it had skipped a beat when Eclipse said that he hadn't decided which tribe he wanted to live with yet. Why would he care? He had given the wolfrider up for dead already...no, why did he care in the first place?
"Stupid dreams," he muttered to himself, not even noticing he said that out loud. That had to be the only reason he hadn't simply forgotten Eclipse like all those others who had gotten separated from them in the troll attack and whose names he couldn't even remember anymore.

"We're leaving!" Claw shouted. "You three," she pointed at three of the hunters standing over by the one tent that hadn't been taken down yet, "finish here, then follow us."

The three hunters nodded, then went back to their tasks.

Almost as an after thought Claw lock-sent to Dawngazer: ~**You can have the loud-mouth with my thanks. That good-for-nothing has done nothing but eaten our food, stolen our best sleeping furs, not to meantion-**~ The sending ended as abruptly as it had begun and if anyone looked closely enough they might have noticed Claw's blushing ever so faintly. She gave Eclipse one last angry glare, before she began walking in the direction the new elves had indicated their shelter to be in.

Dawngazer gave Claw an odd look, but didn't reply. She wasn't the leasted surprised Eclipse had managed to make a mess of things with this tribe - the majoriety of his old one tended to be annoyed with him at best, on a good night.
"You heard her," she said out loud instead, adressing Riv and Eclipse; the only people present she felt she had any right to order around.

Dusk gently slid out from under Eclipse's arm (or rather, body, as the elf was more or less draped over him), giving him a polite smile. Only elves who knew him very well would note the light of mischief in his eyes.
Without a word he walked over to Riv and held out a hand, offering the other help to get to his feet. He let an eyebrow rise in amused confusion as Riv muttered something about dreams.

Riv didn't pay much attention to Dawngazer. On principle he didn't really obey anyone, and she was the one he would have been least likely to obey anyway, given their past history and how much Riv disliked her. And he was ready to leave anytime in any case, as the only things he had with him were his spear and the clothes he wore.
As Dusk offered him a hand, he looked at it suspiciously at first, then took it. He could have gotten up on his own, but might as well not reject the offer in case he decided to try to join this tribe. But when Dusk gave him an odd look, he couldn't help reverting back to his usual behavior. "What?" he asked annoyedly.

Dusk just gave Eclipse an amused look, then turned around to follow his sister - though he did glance back at Riv at least once.

Seeing Claw stalk away Eclipse ran up to walk beside her and gave her a sly look; "Now... I understand Skyflare is at the other shelter." Pray tell - did you miss him?" Eclipse smile could not be smugger, adding; "I certainly did."

Claw's only reaction to this was to curse under her breath and then sped up her pace, acting as if Eclipse was thin air.

Dawngazer sighed to herself. *High Ones, let us be back with the others soon...*