It was the first time that Crowfeather had dreamed since leaving his home. It was the first time that he had fallen asleep and entered slumber so deep that his mind was able to wander, to seek the visions that he had been born to share. As the dark wolf had slept beside the firm figure of Germanicus, his mind raced.
A silver eagle warred with a rattling snake. The snake's fangs were bared and its body was coiled dangerously. The eagle did not appear frightened but battled as though it had a thousand times.
Crowfeather dreamed too of bitter snow. The mountains were covered in frosted caps that flowed down into each valley and blanketed the tops of the trees. In the snow, he could see a wolf howling mournfully.
When he woke, it was with a start. Crowfeather looked to the figure of
@Germanicus with fear blossoming in his belly. He did not want to find out that he had been left alone in his sleep. Relief covered his worry swiftly when he saw the russet marks behind the older wolf's ears. How long had he slept?
germanicus shifted as crowfeather came awake. "you dreamt," he observed, having watched over the slumbering boy these past long hours.
it occured to him that he might ask after these visions. the young wanderer would tell him. but germanicus only considered this notion in silence and let it go.
"there is food by your paw," a collection of fieldmice killed in sight of the trees. he had not wanted to leave the coppice for larger prey, as it would have demanded that the boy be left alone.
"wake and eat. when you are ready, come to the lake. there is more to do this day." germanicus turned now, taking in the sight of the long sprawled body, and gave a quick, elusive smile before he stepped out into the day still wet with the last hours' rain.
Germanicus' voice was warm in those early waking hours. That rugged baritone filled their space and the limbs of the dark sleeping wolf. He stretched, lengthy and stiff before his paws were drawn to his face to rub at his eyes. The weariness had only just faded, but his legs and shoulders were aching worse than they had the day before.
The mention of the dream was his first realization. Crowfeather looked to Germanicus quickly, worried that he might ask what it had been off, ask him to interpret what it could mean for the future. The silver wolf did not ask. Instead, he had offered it as a way to show he had noticed. That was all, that was all...
Crowfeather opened his mouth to tell him about the eagle fighting the snake, but he couldn't get the words out. He didn't even know what it meant. What good would it do to share that with the man who was seeking to teach him how to conceal his emotions beneath his skin.
I am ready, Germanicus,
Crowfeather said, wincing only slightly as he clambered to his paws.
The mice beside him brought rapid heat to his face. The dark wolf's heart thrummed wildly as a large lump gathered in the back of his throat. He didn't relish in the confusing feelings but bent and ate the mice as quickly as he could. When he looked back to Germanicus, it was with a determined expression.
Something else swam in the pale yellow of his eyes. Perhaps something more than he had ever felt before.
beside the lake, the wind still held the threat of rain. it would come again today, through the evening. germanicus put himself through a series of stretches, grunting low here and again in his throat. when he had finished, he turned toward crowfeather, into the sheen of something beneath the younger's gilt gaze.
the eagle turned away at once, bunching hackles and releasing them. a small breeze played from the surface. "today you will take us a day from sight of the lake. and then you will return us to its shore."
his attention, his figure, returned to crowfeather, and he met the boy's eyes with an inarticulate sort of knowing, before he turned to ranger once more. "i will not aid you. if you lead us in circles, it will be on your head." but amusement now.
germanicus rose to his height and waited for the aspiring cohort to lead on.
Those glances were so difficult for Crowfeather to read. He swam in them at every opportunity, hungry to learn what existed beneath the soldier across from him. So far, he had learned nothing more than that Germanicus was an infinitely curious man. It marveled the younger wolf to think that he had spent this time with the silver soldier and had not gathered more than Germanicus had given him.
Crowfeather did treasure what was given.
The instructions that were given left the dark wolf feeling nervous and weaker in the legs than he had been in days. It was entirely his job to pull them from the warmth of the trees and into the unknown. A day's journey from the lake, he thought with dread. Crowfeather nodded his head to Germanicus to show that he understood.
Staring into the distance whirred his mind. Germanicus had said he was aiming to travel where it was cold and distant. This meant that Crowfeather needed to be able to endure those trying tasks. The mountain that stretched beyond the lake looked to be a suitable landmark. The point of the rocky face they could climb over and the lake would be nothing but a memory.
With one last look to the soldier in silver, Crowfeather began to move.
once more, crowfeather did not falter. germanicus kept apace as he was led onward by the shadow.
the eagle did not look back upon the lake. if his companion approached the return trek as he had taken this one, there was small room for error. "look at where the sun is in the sky," he showed, sidling to the wolf-lope directly beside the young scout.
"if you can judge morning, noon, twilight, and dawn for yourself, you will always know how long you have travelled." remaining aware of the days in a journey might correct one's path, if he were to go off-course.
he did not let himself glance sideways again, and attempted to find the silent line in the distance crowfeather meant them to travel.
The sun, he looked upward and squinted at the sharpness of the sun. The warmth of it against his face was pleasant. In the distance looked like swirling clouds carrying another rainstorm. That warmth would fade quickly, then.
Germanicus knew a lot about the world and how to navigate it. Crowfeather wondered if this was a good fortune. The Starsea had always sought good fortunes from his visions, hoping that his dreams would fulfill a sense of safety and hope. The firm soldier felt like a stroke of serendipity.
Does the moon do the same?
Crowfeather looked quickly toward Germanicus' features to see if the question had been a foolish one. The Starsea wolves had believed the moon to be of great importance. His intentions for asking had stemmed from the nights he would use to travel in darkness. Could he have used the moon to know where he was going?
"you may, but it is a slower task," germanicus answered after a moment. "if you journey at night, when the moon is at its highest point, it shows you that you are moving south."
he was not accustomed to speaking so greatly, at length, and yet each question from crowfeather he found answers with an ease unexperienced in a long while.
upon their left, a herd of pronghorn lifted their heads one by one, fleeing in unison to the more open places where wolves might not follow. germanicus shifted his expression toward crowfeather, face austere but gaze lit from within. he was interested to see what his companion might do.
and moreover, it would maybe take the boy's gaze from him, to be placed on another event.
At his words, Crowfeather realized that the sun did appear to move about much more than the moon ever did. He couldn't have said that he paid close enough attention to either to provide a useful thought on the subject. So, the dark wolf nodded his head to accept Germanicus' answer.
The pronghorns started him, paws leapt upward before scattering rocks as they landed. The prey animals raced on hooven paws toward safety. The seer watched them travel for a moment before he picked his pace back up.
The feeling of Germanicus' eyes on him had made him feel flustered, but he did not wish for the silver male to think that Crowfeather wasn't following his orders. The young wolf's eyes had wandered a few too many times to Germanicus. The dark wolf knew that he would need to pay attention to the mountain and the point of it where he would lead his companion.
I used to travel by night only. I don't think I ever knew where I was going...
He shared quietly to Germanicus, not meeting his gaze this time.
"why did you only choose the night for travel?"
what sort of family had raised crowfeather, sent him out into the world? germanicus considered the explorare's formal name. the title of his birth. it was regal in a way that his own people held the heavy weight of their father's name. even he wore that burden.
but to wander beneath night, unknowing and with no sense of direction? there had been a purpose for that, even if he did not understand it. even if crowfeather was not given this wisdom.
the eagle watched the boy until the other's gaze lifted again. "suppose we do not break at dusk. take us into the night, and learn."
The why was an awfully large answer, Crowfeather felt.
Where I am from, the stars are important. My mother said they would guide me,
he answered in a solemn tone. When spoken out loud, he believed it was something of a silly answer. It seemed like childish faith to think the glittering lights overhead would lead him to anything more than his snout and paws could.
It had felt safe, which Crowfeather didn't want to share with Germanicus just yet.
I guess they lead me here.
Something good had come from his blind wandering, at least. The dark seer wanted to believe that in fleeing from his fate, he had started the structures for a new one.
Germanicus offered a suggestion, to lead them through the dusk and into the dark of night. It was proposed as a means of learning. Crowfeather looked to the silver male once, lingering on his face for a second too long before he bobbed his head and offered a warm, yes, Germanicus.
germanicus loped in silence, pondering. "our mothers are not so different. mine even had a favoured astrologer."
yes, germanicus. it was an obedience that the eagle did not want for himself. suppose the next morning he should rise and give in to the low choking feeling of no longer being a lone self in the world. and suppose in his acting he left crowfeather behind?
it was also a trust bestowed, and he was not worthy to hold this.
"they lead your people. mine use them to choose our emperors and heirs. for instance," and here germanicus paused to compose the sudden welling of hubris, "i was born under a less auspicious cycle of stars than my brother. and so tiberius was made heir."
"only one of us is now alive." the eagle faced into the wind rushing toward he and crowfeather. "perhaps they are only meant to guide, not to also be an oracle."
This similarity brought rushing warmth with it. Crowfeather had not anticipated he would hear his mother share anything with anyone who might have been in Germanicus' life. How had he turned into the man he was with a parental figure who believed in stars and magicks?
Tiberius...
He spoke the brother's name aloud, finding the sound of it to be similar to Germanicus' but still of its own merit. Crowfeather could not help but wonder what the soldier's brother had been like. Thinking of his own siblings, the dark wolf realized that it was possible they were nothing alike at all. Their names sounded frightening together, indomitable in their weight.
At the word oracle, Crowfeather's eyelids fluttered heavily over his eyes. His heart sank into the pit of his gut, increasing in weight and strength.
It is not the job of the stars to interpret the future,
he said plainly, staring at the ground in front of his hurried paws.
— died a horrendous death, he wanted to finish after crowfeather's echo had died away. tiberius. he scarce wanted to remember that face, let alone in his last recollections.
some sort of tension surrounded them. crowfeather was not without expression, still, and germanicus found this notable. perhaps it meant that there was a sort of core in the boy that could not be molded. speaking of a mother, in whose ways he had followed. already she was the firmament of his life.
germanicus did not want the younger to be as he was.
it was with authority that crowfeather spoke now. the eagle met the new pace. "is it she who speaks, or you?" he sensed the turning of a page, and fell into silence after, waiting.
I can write us another starter set before dark?
The question hung in the air for a long while.
There are more wolves who speak. Not just my mother and me,
the younger wolf commented after mulling the query over in his mind. While his mother's impact on his life had been a lasting one, she had never been the root of his anger. She had always tried to make him feel special, wanted, needed even. The rest of the Starsea was not like her and they did not have the patience she had. They too had told him the destiny that rested upon him.
Crowfeather felt sour and then guilty. He did not wish to be a poor companion to Germanicus. The forlorn youth rarely produced friends.
The nervous beat of his heart spurred adrenaline through his limbs. Their conversation had been difficult for him, but he was seeing Germanicus share more about himself. It was not right to conceal his own past from the silver male. If they were to travel together, he must offer more of himself.
Can we run?
yes! <3
a crack in the veneer of the boy. germanicus sensed there was more to come. and now he had begun to fashion himself after the soldier's advice. would that not disconnect him from the things that lurked below his surface?
the land stretched in all hues before them. germanicus drank the sight of green forests resplendent with summer-light. sprawling meadows of many-colored flowers, the dark verdancy of fields.
"let us run, crowfeather."
and he would match whatever gait the rangy young legs set, allow this time that his companion run him raggedly to the end of his own breath.