@Dawn - the title is the first part of the Wiccan Rede, basically a moral code for Wiccans: "An' it harm none, do what ye will. If it harms none, do what you will.
Daylily was daydreaming as she roamed along the stream’s edge, humming to herself as she went. She was young yet, not old enough to breed, yet she had boys on the mind all the same. It couldn’t be helped, she supposed, for it was breeding season. She was still too young to have her first heat, and for that she couldn’t help but be glad. Yes, she was thinking of boys, but she was certainly not ready to be a parent. Were Whitebark Stream to be blessed with children, she would be happy enough to play an aunt figure in their lives. Still… it was nice to imagine what it might be like to have a mate. One day… One day…
from her position on a small ridge, the huntress watches daylily enter her field of vision, the girl roaming the banks of the river. her path is wandering, aimless, and she seems to dawn to be lost in her own thoughts. she watches the girl's path a moment longer before rising, descending the ridge at an easy lope. she calls out, a low sound halfway between a chuff and a bark, as she closes the distance between them; luckily, they are both on the same side of the river. it's too wide to cross here, and shouted conversations across the river are hardly pleasant.
sorry this is short, i’ll do longer posts prob after dawn tells her what’s up with curses and stuff
Daylily turned at the sound of a greeting and smiled warmly when she saw that it was Dawn who had greeted her thus.
“Dawn!” she said.
“Hello!” She sat down where she was to invite conversation, looking at her leader with curious orange eyes.
“How are you? Was there something you wished to discuss?” She knew Dawn had been busy recently, recruiting members left and right and wondered if she was leaving enough time in between to sleep.
"I'm well," comes her response as she falls into step beside the woman, nudging her shoulder in easy greeting. "only how you're settling in here," she says, hardly about the begin the conversation with the lingering topic she does not even know if she wants to bring up. "how are you finding the creek?" queries the huntress, gaze meeting the woman's for a moment before sweeping over the creek, ever alert should some potential meal make itself known.
Daylily giggled when Dawn nudged her and playfully attempted to nudge her back. She felt like a pup in Oakstead again, playing with her brother Pinecone and all the other pups she had grown up with. She was sad for a few moments, thinking about her perfect home, the perfect life she had led before leaving. But she was firm in her belief that leaving had been the right choice. She looked around at all before her, sighing contentedly, breathing in the cold air.
“It is beautiful here,” she told Dawn in answer to her question about how she was settling in. “You chose a wonderful spot to start a pack—a new family. I can’t wait to see what this place looks like in the spring, once everything is green again.” The idea of this whole area bursting into bloom, with the sound of the creek burbling in the background, seemed to so beautiful to Daylily that she felt she was about to burst into tears. She was often sensitive like this; it didn’t exactly bother her, but she turned her face away from Dawn so as not to embarrass herself all the same.
contentness bubbles in her chest as the woman speaks. "it is," she agrees easily, peering out over the gentle hills; the maplewood to the west and the outlines of mountains to the north. it is the perfect place, she's decided, the right place. for a moment, as daylily speaks only to turn away toward the creek, it seems nothing can go wrong; bliss settle lightly over her.
and yet—
she hums, a soft tone, before speaking. "last time we spoke, you were telling me about your beliefs. I'm curious; what do you think of blessings, and curses?" it is only gentle curiosity that shapes her words, nothing to indicate the very real weight that lays heavy across her shoulders. perhaps it is only circumstance; she'd spoken to khoe, and her reasons had been clear. but amber, khoe, catori beside; it was too many. and her own family—
Daylily would have been content to sit and stare out at the world with Dawn all day, but it seemed the leader had other plans. Day turned her head towards Dawn to listen as she spoke, and her ears perked at the question about blessings… and curses. At that last word, her ears pulled back along her skull. “Well,” she began hesitantly, drawing out the word. “The people of Oakstead often ask for blessings in regards to the abundance of prey, a good harvest of crops for our edible plants, things like that. It is, of course, up to the Lord and Lady whether or not they gave out the blessings we ask for.” She shifted, trying to think of more to say. “We can also bless areas, like the borders of our territories, in order to keep negative energy away. We call upon the Lord and the Lady, as well as the four elements, to protect the area.”
Now, about curses. “I’m not really sure what you want to know about curses,” Daylily said hesitantly. She shifted again, clearly uncomfortable speaking of such things. “The people of Oakstead do not believe that curses are ethical. We have ways of protecting ourselves from spiritual attacks like curses, but no one in Oakstead would ever curse anyone. We believe in the Threefold Law: anything you put out into the universe comes back to you three times over. If you put out good things, good things will come back to you; if you… curse somebody, that negative energy will return to you three times over.” She glanced at Dawn, then, wondering where her leader was going with the conversation and hoping she wasn’t about to go off and curse some poor soul.
she listens with interest, though when Daylily comes to the topic of curses, Dawn decides her definition doesn't fit. and despite her liking of the girl, the topic feels too personal, too delicate, to warrant revealing or pressing her any further. she ruminates on it a moment, offering a contemplative, "interesting."
eager, then, to skirt the topic, she focuses on something the girl had said earlier. "what do you mean, by harvest of edible plants? like—berries?" it was a practice she'd never heard of, but with more famines like the one they seemed to only be leaving now inevitable, it would be wise to consider other options for food.
Dawn’s sudden change of topic was not lost on Daylily, though the yearling wasn’t quite sure what to make of it. Perhaps her worry had been misplaced and it was only curiosity which had driven Dawn’s question. The leader seemed interested, then, in edible plants.
“Berries are one example,” she said. “Some roots are also edible, certain flowers and leaves. It takes a long time to study which plants are poisonous, and which can be eaten. Acorns, for example, which are stored away by squirrels, are poisonous to us.” She looked up into the bare branches of a tree, as if imagining a squirrel running along its length. “In my homeland, we have garden patches where we grow our own supply of edible plants; it’s much easier than going out and harvesting them.”