There’s not much worse than waiting; suspended in a half-state, with every cell compelled into the anxiety of not knowing. She cannot undo what’s been done, what she has allowed an appetite for closeness to do. She had wanted all the world, had surrendered control, and now she wouldn’t have it back. Now she could only wait.
And waiting made her edgy.
She could feel a rift threatening to fly to pieces and wagered a little distance would do a lot of good. So she rappels down to the riverbed, resolved to do some fishing. The day is tranquil, at least, with golden sunlight pouring through the branches while her thoughts went up in smoke.
She lunges half-heartedly at a passing trout before her head resurfaces with empty jaws. She has forgotten how tricky this is, or rather, how crap she is at hunting.
Note to self: set before SCC. I’m SO sorry for the wait!
Eshe spent her day collecting whatever river-based supplies she could get her paws on. She had collected some algae and now was looking for some reeds. There was plenty, so she could be picky when choosing which strands she'd take. She waded elbow-deep in the water, looking at her selection with a scrutinizing eye.
There was a flat rock near the shore where she placed the strands she needed to look through, and the pile was ever-growing. Eshe went between her station and where the reeds were, and when she was satisfied with her supply, she'd begin to weed out anything damaged.
Something—or someone, she quickly realized— splashed downstream, and Eshe swung her head in Tauris's direction. "Hey," she called, squinting against the golden light. "You okay over there?"
No worries at all!! we can set it present day if you like <3
A girl’s voice calls and her dribbling nose jerks up. She’s wading in the river, nearly missed among the sunken cedar branches and silt-grown slate. Something odd is laid out on the embankment beside her to dry and Tauis steals a step forward with a biting curiosity, and perhaps a hope too that if it’s fish the woman might be willing to share.
“All good. The trout are just... extra slippery today,” She excuses lamely with a brush of shoulders together and a flounce of tail, loathing to seem incompetent before the stranger. She sneaks another glance at the woman whose set to work with some precision, eyeing the pile of sea-sticks she’s accumulating. Her silken silver coat drifts gently with the stream, as if almost belonging to it.
“What are you doing?” She asks in earnest, grateful for the distraction.
Eshe nodded knowingly; trouts were the worst fish to hunt. "I don't think I've ever caught one if we're being totally honest," she admitted. It was impressive—in her opinion—that Tauris was even attempting to fish.
"I'm collecting medical supplies to have on hand—these reeds are pretty versatile," she explained. Eshe resisted the urge to elaborate, knowing she tended to be long-winded when discussing medicine.
“They certainly look it,” she comments, a little mischief in her tone. She truthfully couldn’t imagine what use a river reed might have. She’d made a plan to go to Riverclan to learn about herbs and their remedies this season… but she supposes she may not be able to make that trip now.
“You smell new around here. I’m Tauris,” she introduces and pads a little closer to investigate. She watches the expertise of the woman's craft and tilts her head, “Where did you learn medicine?”
"“They certainly look it," Tauris commented.
Eshe nodded in reply and glanced down at her collection. "I mainly use them as bandages, but they can also be used as a workstation to make pastes and other medical concoctions." She would elaborate if the conversation allowed her to—she could and would talk anybody's ear off about healing, herbs, and remedies.
"I am ... kinda," she confirmed. "I was born here, but my family relocated when I was young." She had never been to this particular area of the Salvajes. "I'm Eshe. It's nice to meet you!"
When asked about her mentor, she smiled softly. "Her name is Raven. She's a leader in my family's pack and one heck of a medic. I've learned so much from her."
“And you,” she chimes.
Eshe is decidedly lovely. There’s a calmness in the way she assembles her stock, an admiration with the level of competence she speaks on her work. Tauris dabbles in trades, but she’s a master of none. She was rapt in the woman’s craft, pulling up alongside the bank to watch her as Eshe didn’t seem too dissuaded by her nosiness, or otherwise was too polite to make it known.
“Your birth valley is beautiful. Is that why you’ve returned?” She’ll venture, trading glances between the silver woman and the occasional passing trout that teased her with his lush shimmer.
She wonders how it must feel to return to a childhood place, like trying to get back to a time when everything felt safe and inconsequential, or chasing memories of the lost and absent. There were too many ghosts for that.
"It is," Eshe agreed. "I didn't appreciate it while I lived here." But how could she—she'd been so young. Even when she and Tiarnach tried to find somewhere, she hadn’t seen what Tauris saw.
To the following remark, she shook her head. Although this wasn’t her first time trying to live alone here, she was far more confident this go around. "It's certainly a plus, but it's not the sole reason.” There were several reasons why she'd return. "This area is a little familiar, and I wanted to live on my own. Many of my siblings left before me, and it felt like time to go."
But that was enough about her.
"What about you?" she prompted. "What brought you here?"
“I’m from the North, dreamed of somewhere warm. I came to the valley over winter. It gave me a couple reasons to stick around,” she explains while pawing at a leaf along the creek’s surface.
Kvarsheim had taken her in when she was skin and bones, had seen value in her when she had a lot to take and little to give. They’d grown important to her- she felt loyalty to this valley, was enthralled with its beauty and the green Summer she’d never before seen in her northern homeland.
“Not a bad place to lay down roots,” she has decided. “The packs in the area are welcoming. I could introduce you to Kvarsheim sometime, if you like,” she glances again to Eshe.
She isn't sure if she was a lone wolf, she certainly looks healthy and well provided for by herself. Perhaps she isn’t even interested in joining with a pack. But Tauris remembers how hard that vagrant period of her life was- how lonely she was and how much Reverie's companionship, even in limited quantities, had meant to her.
Ah—Eshe had met others in a similar situation to Tauris's. "I've never gone and explored that part of the world," she admitted. "But I've heard about how challenging it can be to live there." A certain toughness was required to survive those conditions.
Her eyes showed a knowing gleam as Kvarsheim was mentioned, and she smiled brightly. "I know Gunnar!" she revealed. "He was very kind—I can only assume the rest of the pack is just as nice." She had considered joining them; it seemed like a safe and logical decision.
"Could you tell me more about your pack?" she asked.
“Faðir, yes,” her lips curl, “He is alpha alongside Taktuq. We live at the Stone Circle,” she says pointedly, searching for recognition in Eshe’s face. The Seer Stones were a marvel, it was worth a visit to look upon them. But to sweeten the offer she’ll embellish just a bit.
“There’s also a fifty-foot waterfall, a glowing cave and a wading pool. Place is wild,” she grins, “You’ll have to see it for yourself.”
Of course she says nothing of the bastard boy. Not all of Kvarsheim is amiable.
Faðir—thankfully, his title wasn't as complicated to pronounce as Kvarsheim.
Eshe could hardly believe what Tauris told her. "I can see why you decided to join the pack," she said; it felt too good to be true. Still, she smiled and kept her thoughts to herself.
"Can you tell me more about the glowing cave?" she asked, intrigued as she tried to imagine it. "Does it glow like a firefly?" Or was it something else?
“Yes- exactly! How’d you know?” She laughs and bounds out of the water, stretching herself along the damp banks to better watch the silver girl work.
“Ok, maybe we don’t have all that,” she admits. “But, the standing stones are real. No one knows how they got there- or why.” Tauris had driven herself crazy wanting to know the answers to those two questions.
Eshe is amassing quite a collection now. “Need help carrying all your supplies?”
Tauris had lied about the cave—why???
"Oh," Eshe muttered, realizing she'd been too gullible. "And you're sure you have standing rocks?" she asked, half kidding and half serious. Lying wasn't something that she was particularly fond of, but it was something she could look past for now.
"If so—I'd love to see them sometime."
When help was offered, she glanced at the stack, realized she'd gone into autopilot, and prepared more than she could handle. "Yeah," she said, thankful for the offer, "I'd really appreciate it."
“Guess you’ll have to see for yourself,” she'll tease, stretching into a rise.
A meal’s not forgotten, neither are anxious thoughts, but she would take Eshe’s company over another failed hunt and spiraling down every “what if” imaginable.
She steps over the reeds, figuring best how to lift them without damaging all her hard work. Gingerly she gathers several strands with her teeth, careful to elevate her head so they would not fall. Once satisfied with the grip she steers toward the medic with a low sway of tail.
“Wead da way!” she barks.
I had fun putting my hand in my mouth and taking to myself for this. Want to wrap in the next few posts?
"I'll hold you to it," she replied, fully intending to do so.
When Tauris picked up a bundle, Eshe took her portion of the load and motioned over her shoulder with her snout and said, "'Dis wey."
They weren't too far from where she was staying, but it was a bit of a hike around Duck Lake and through Witch's Marsh and Otatso Wetlands. She paused on the opposite shore and glanced over her shoulder to make sure she was being followed.
"Itz abvot a 'our uhway," Eshe warned. "Iz vhat okey?"
loool I definitely did the same! Thank you <33 last from me!
She falls in step behind Eshe, thankfully only getting caught once between two tree tunks and angling her head to the side to sneak through them.
“Gvhat nothin bedder two dwo!” Her mouth can’t smile- but her eyes do.
Thank you!! We’ll have to thread again soon! <3
"Awzume!" Eshe exclaimed, her expression mirroring Tauris's."Folull meh!"
They trekked north and, by the end of the afternoon, safely delivered the supplies.