@Crowfeather's breathing had slowed into the rhythm of sleep finally. the eagle was alone with his own thoughts, and chose to think none of them. instead, he counted the stars until they gleamed more faintly.
the stink of cat again in the air.
germanicus searched the veiled glen with his hardened gaze. the moon had gone quiet behind clouds. he took the air, then rose, moving toward their shelter. "get up," the ranger whispered quietly, trailing in a determined limp for the opposite treeline.
Dreams arrived uninvited while Crowfeather slept. The silver eagle he had seen before was followed by a shadow with fangs. Snow covered it's wings.
The eagle looked sharply and Crowfeather thought the yellow of it's stare was frighteningly familiar.
A gruff voice pulled him from the dream. The dark shape rolled to his side. Sleep clung to his eyes in a heavy way, itchy and dry. Crowfeather looked slowly at Germanicus.
Something was wrong.
"if you want to be a soldier, learn to wake quickly." germanicus returned to crowfeather with long, hurried strides. there he meant to stand by until the young celes roused himself. or shoulder him roughly should he not come at once to his feet.
he stepped back, gesturing for the boy to follow, and at once.
his mind ticked with the seconds lost.
I don’t want to be a soldier, Germanicus, the dark boy thought tiredly. The words did not leave his tongue.
Crowfeather stumbled to his paws quickly with the silver guardian standing over him, imposing, frightening. The seer thought of the nights when his father woke him in a similar way. Those were times when he had caused great disappointment.
Yes, Germanicus.
The shadow followed the older man’s gaze and sniffed hesitantly. A smell that was familiar.
Is that the feline with claws?
he asked tentatively.
"yes."
crowfeather did not know who he was. but germanicus saw two notes of a whole: talent and a kind heart. an equite in the truest sense of things. he saw many paths for the boy. but he said none of them, for as the shadow had picked their quarry and brought them here, crowfeather must choose again.
for himself, not on the word or influence of the eagle.
"why it has followed two wolves, i do not know."
the muffled sound of his feet in the underbrush, marred only by the limp of his cut leg. he would not stop again. "it is a greater danger, that a cat has no fear. it might mean disease, and for us as well."
words sweeping them beneath the cloak of night.
at last germanicus called a halt and looked back along one silversheen shoulder.
Worry carried hundreds of thoughts through the shadow’s mind.
Crowfeather did not halt but prowled alongside the limping Germanicus with a single eye trained on the tactician. The injury still worried the younger wolf. He did not wish to see the man suffer, not for anything.
They had made a vow to tend to the ally of Redhawk Caldera. Crowfeather had not forgotten the words Germanicus had shared with them, the respect he had shown.
It would be a danger to lead it to Brecheliant, wouldn’t it?
the seer inquired to his companion.
If they carried a monster with disease to the borders of the Redhawk Caldera's ally, they would likely never be asked to return. Crowfeather did not believe that Germanicus wanted enemies so quickly.
germanicus nodded, sliding sidelong sunyellow eye. "yes. we must lead it past the glen, into open land. cats do not leave their mountains for long."
"we will cross a river to ensure it does not follow."
they would be off-course more than he meant, but germanicus did not recall that he had measured that side of the stone-range.
he paused, sought crowfeather's eye with a softness he had not evinced since their talk of the stars. it was a vague expression, wishing to be apologetic.
germanicus pressed on, dogged and resolute. "it is our responsibility to ensure that brecheliant knows how far the cat has roamed. we go as messengers of danger first, and taskmen second."
Beyond the glen, into the open, through a river, Crowfeather’s mind whirred at the sound of their plan. Germanicus had constructed it so quickly. The shadow had not even had a moment to inquire before the older man had provided a solution.
The dark wolf nodded his narrow snout once.
Are they faster than us? The felines?
Crowfeather asked tentatively. In his mind he saw the shadow with jagged fangs bearing down upon the eagle. The dark seer was filled with dread at the prospect.
With your- with the cut on your leg-
You are not ready for a fight, he scolded himself.
germanicus nodded. "they can be."
there was a reticence in crowfeather he did not like. "i will be all right." suddenly the guardian was still, traveling no further as he looked at the shadow.
he turned sidelong then, his stare fixed on the trees from where they came. "one retreats. two may hold ground."
germanicus returned his attention to crowfeather. "you understand how to seek your way. do you know how to defend land?"
the tactician knew the intellect of a well-made retreat. and when it was less suitable.
Crowfeather did not like the words Germanicus shared with him. His eyes searched the face of the older male with concern etched deeply on his narrow features.
The shadow had never had to defend anything, not in all his life. He did not even know how he might spare himself from immediate doom if placed in such a situation.
No. I've never learned to-
he stopped.
I've never learned to hold my ground in the face of fear, he wished to confess. Crowfeather had only mastered the art of running away.
We do not have to fight do we, Germanicus?
A cowards wonder.
"only if why we fight is worth the conflict."
germanicus tipped his head back toward the glen. "you enjoyed that place. we might stay."
he did not know why he tested crowfeather so, only that suddenly he could not look away.
had he known the truth of the boy's pagan origins? and ignored it?
a chasm opened within the eagle.
The seer was drawn to these words. His mind was opened by them, understanding flooded his narrow figure. The realization that had found Crowfeather was accompanied by a powerful new admiration, even desire, for Germanicus.
Drunken on the yellow of the older man’s stare, the shadow held it. He desired to maintain the sunshine glow of that man’s eyes for as long as he could. The gripping beat of his heart had become commonplace when standing beside the guardian. The budding feeling of infatuation had started to shift to something else.
I will like anywhere we stay, so long as we are there together,
Crowfeather told him with earnest. A thick rock lodged in his throat and he was forced to look away.
The dark wolf did not share the understanding he had found with Germanicus. Gangly and foolish, Crowfeather would never be a true warrior. He did not feel as frightened by the concepts of danger or the threat of death. If he had something that was worth the battle-
A stolen glance to Germanicus.
crowfeather held onto his gaze.
germanicus did not remove it. there had been the conception of a new plane between them.
as long as we are together.
the eagle cooled to poured silver inside himself. this sort of thing had always before been a reason to part ways.
he could not sense the cat here. the soldier drew forward with a sudden want inside him, just before the jerk of an internal rein set germanicus on a tighter path. he did not reach to crowfeather, as he had wanted.
"return us to the lake."
the ranger's voice held tight, tormented.
The tightness had not passed without notice.
It was the first time that Crowfeather had felt like a simpleton in the company of Germanicus. It was not a feeling directed at the stalwart guard. The seer could not help but to think he had made a mistake in being so open. He was pushing the other’s patience.
Fear pricked at him, drawing his ears to lay flat upon his skull.
Yes, Germanicus.
Crowfeather looked ahead to a space between two forests and a river that they would pass through.
The shadow did not look to Germanicus again for some time.
germanicus kept their pace, burning inside himself with shame and with sorrow. now he saw why he had been left to his own devices: he was full of unsoothed thorns.
he thought of the elk-woman, and wanted at once to return alone to those trees.
germanicus wished to look at crowfeather, but kept himself rigid. trained. lightless, for the next hours.