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+--- Thread: Herbalists' Cache What the morning brings (/showthread.php?tid=65084)
What the morning brings - Ksura - March 06, 2025
Ridgeback moved in the early morning light, slipping down a narrow deer path toward a stream where he’d broken through ice days ago to find drinking water. He felt the seasons begin to change; the buds on the shrubs and alders in the area had already begun to swell.
He’d hoped that Spring might bring him joy; foolishly, perhaps, he still thought it might be possible, but he’d always been a sucker for hope.
He’d heard voices raise, calling for Star Eater and Sun Eater, for Gjalla and for others; many new wolves had joined the pack, but Ridgeback had existed for some time tending only to his wife, and had begun leaving food offerings for the Chieftan’s wife. He hunted, it was his job- and yet as the pack grew, he felt himself becoming uncomfortable amongst them.
They spoke different languages- and he was quite slow to learn. While he felt it didn’t impact his role as a hunter, he felt like a minority within the pack; one of very few who had belonged to the pack’s original conception, outnumbered by those who had lived the pack’s lifestyle for many years more than him.
The gap in the stream remained open; warmer temperatures were coming. He drank, but wondered to himself- what else was on the way?
RE: What the morning brings - Kekoa - March 06, 2025
Saatsine was growing quickly, and yet with so many more wolves Kekoa somehow only felt lonelier. Unfulfilled, dissatisfied.
Paws carrying him along the cache's various streams he soon caught sight of Ridgeback. It had been sometime since they spoke, not since hunting that fat raccoon. Kekoa remembered that day fondly.
A moment of hesitation passed before he called out to the hunter.
Winter is starting to melt.He spoke, making a careful approach.
Anything exciting waiting for you in the spring?He noted the close relationship that Ridgeback seemed to have with Ice Diver when he first entered Saatsine, and could not help but wonder if they had become something more since.
RE: What the morning brings - Ksura - March 06, 2025
Water dribbled from his lips when he lifted his head, to spot the Ghost Talker as he approached. Ridgeback's tail swayed, welcoming the young man into his company, relieved that he might speak in his own mother tongue, and not be judged for it.
Kekoa's question caused his smile to falter slightly, and he looked down to the banks of the stream, where bits of ice lingered still. He pushed his paw down, and felt the ice give away with a satisfying crunch.
Uh, not sure yet,He answered, somewhat feebly. While he hoped Kekoa might not be fishing for details on whether Ice Diver had conceived, he knew that might be a possibility- and it was a topic he hoped to sidestep until he could be certain that he should be excited.
I, uh-He began. He jutted his jaw off into the distance.
Did you hear, uhm- whoever it was, one of the new-ish ones- calling out a bit ago?He asked.
For Sun Eater and Star Eater....You think somethin's up?he asked.
RE: What the morning brings - Kekoa - March 06, 2025
He listened to Ridgeback's question, going silent momentarily. He was glad that at the very least he was not the only one feeling a bit.. lost.
No.He answered simply, leaning down to give the water a lap.
Nobody tells me anything anymore. I haven't known what's been going on for months now, since Sun Eater's wife joined us.He spoke with a furrowed brow, the facade of neutrality he had put together slipping momentarily. It felt safe to let his personality show in front of the hunter.
Over the months he had, admittedly, grown increasingly frustrated. He was consulted rarely, pulled along helplessly. There was nowhere else for him to go but Saatsine, so he could not complain.
He missed the lake in the old territory. He did not understand why they left it after spending so much time away, after Sun Eater worked to claim it in the first place.
RE: What the morning brings - Ksura - March 06, 2025
Kekoa seemed to suspect nothing, which was reassuring to Ridgeback, who felt still as if stability could be shaken and upended at any moment, among people who took what they desired by force.
More important, now, were Kekoa's feelings of isolation. Ridgeback frowned, gritted his teeth together, and nodded. He glanced toward the herd of caribou, grazing in the distance. Even they seemed to ignore the pair of wolves who conversed calmly within earshot. When he spoke again, his voice was low.
H'yeahhhhh,He sighed.
I get the feeling that you'n me are kind of like outsiders still,He said.
I mean, if that's how you feel too- I find it kind of hard to keep up with learning the language and stuff...And now that there're more of them that speak two languages, I sometimes feel like the village idiot.He confessed with a thin laugh and a wan grin.
RE: What the morning brings - Kekoa - March 06, 2025
If you're the village idiot, then I must be the village kook.He grunted. For being being placed in a position of such reverence, he certainly did not feel the respect outside of Sun Eater.
We can't learn a language they won't teach us, though.
Pawing at the ground, he considered his dream from a week or two prior.
I don't like it. Something bad is going to happen, and I'm not sure any of them will listen to me.He still was not completely sure what to make of what he saw. Initially he viewed it as something concerning him alone; a woman meant to belong to Kaisaan now left astray, but as of recent days he often recalled the image of eyes torn out and laid on the ground which had come afterwards. It left him confused, worried.
He wanted to go back to the months before when he first joined, before all these wolves. He missed collecting herbs with Ice Diver, hunting raccoons with Rideback. It had been the first sense of community he had felt in a long, long time.
RE: What the morning brings - Ksura - March 11, 2025
The comment provoked a snort from Ridgeback, who was glad to see some semblance of good humour.
Somebody's gotta fulfill those roles,He replied with an idle shrug, though there was some reluctance in his voice.
Like Kekoa, Ridgeback suspected impending change, and dreaded it.
It doesn't feel good. But hey, maybe we're just supposed to be on the sidelines...Let whatever happens, happen?He asked. After all, he wasn't a fighter, he was a hunter. He shook his head.
I don't suppose seeing into the future falls into 'village kook' duties, does it?he attempted weakly.
RE: What the morning brings - Kekoa - March 20, 2025
Seeing into the future.. maybe he did, but he could never be too sure of it anymore.
I wish it was that straight forward.He sighed.
Sitting himself down, he stared forward.
I don't understand why we left the river.He spoke bluntly without looking to Ridgeback.
Sun Eater fought for it, took it from your pack, right? It seems like such a waste of blood.
Maybe it was politics that he had left home too early for him to have ever understood, a lot of things were like that. He looked up to Sun Eater for his ability to conquer, but now he just couldn't see the point in it.
Maybe Kekoa was finally becoming a man.