Herbalists' Cache Pheonix

Vague timeline!

She would not move far from Star Eater. Not most days, no. But the chieftain spoke of war. She would not be so still for it.

The stars would be out in time. There were plains not far, but far enough that absence would be noticed in the time it took to return, and yet the skies above her now were not clear enough to make out the constellations. Were there consistencies in them?

A memory pulled her deep into the dark cache.

I was hoping for a chance to write these two together!

Ridgeback stalked through the cache, his path often an oval orbit that would inevitably lead him to pass by Star Eater’s densite twice per round. He couldn’t hover too close, so as to keep from arousing suspicion. The women, he knew, could keep her company without being watched too heavily, but he felt himself falling under scrutiny already, having chosen not to stand and fight with Sun Eater. 

He hunted small prey, wishing that they had remained near Qeya River where he could bring down Rocky Mountain sheep on his own- but here, rabbits were his main quarry. 

He’d caught a lean buck, and was carrying it back toward the den when he spotted the youngster with the verdant eyes- one of the wolves that had been taken as a captive. 

Would she be an ally, in upcoming events? She likely had every reason to want to avoid bloodshed. He approached, the rabbit hanging from his jaws, a congenial swing to his tail. He whined softly and tilted his head, to see first if she might be receptive to his company.

Eee!

A noise cut through her ears, and she fell into submission. Turning quickly towards a whine, she took to a sit and took only a second to look at their face. A man with bird-made colors and features that were not able to be examined well enough. No, her head fell too quickly for that.

She hid her eyes away and awaited teeth to drag her back. "Yes, sir?" He was acknowledged.

It was not as though the slave had a home to run to. No one who was looking for her, only an eyeless man who she somehow knew would find her.

He dropped the hare in surprise when she bowed her head so swiftly; so deft a movement, it seemed she feared repercussion. 

How had he turned a blind eye to this? How had he simply been idle while captives were being taken, and forced to live with their chin in the dirt? And one so young as this…She had a life that she could have lived, and probably lived every day grieving the possibilities. 

Hey, no, He said as he drew closer, his own posture softening. You don’t have to call me sir, believe me, He said, though he realized a moment later that she would have no reason to do so. I’m not- but he was, wasn’t he? He followed Sun Eater’s law, and that meant having captives. He gritted his teeth, but relaxed his jaw when he finally came to a realization.

I was taken, too. He said, softly.

Yet how could she trust him? When he could have been a soldier with nothing more than a motive to induce her own ridicule, humiliation. Nutuyikruk had seen the eyes of the lot of them turn head, felt their dismissal, heard their leaving footsteps.

In Saatsine, it was the way of things. There were those of worthiness, and those who stood between the cracks of their pads. Smeared into the ground. She could still feel the weight of the chieftain on her face.

It made this stranger no different.

Until– her ear moved to a flick, head slightly lifting, and the child in her scratched at the surface. "..Did the chieftain catch you too?"

He nodded quietly, though he realized that with her gaze averted, she might not notice. He came to my pack, when our leaders were gone. Took it for himself and…Killed the one who stood against him. He gritted his teeth together. 

Why had he allowed this? He knew he wasn’t a fighter, but was that enough of a reason? 

He wounded my packmate, and I submitted to spare her any more pain. We became his packmates so we could live, but I… His voice trailed off. I didn’t know that it would mean…this. Taking slaves. Keeping captives. Stealing children. 

If you want a better life…I know a way to get one. No bloodshed, no pain. You’ll be free.

Could it be that she was not alone in the face of new tragedies?

Her neck lifted, looking over his face and legs, listening, and more than that, feeling the imagery of an invaded land. "That is a terrible fate." Guilty that in many ways, she knew the reasons for taking a pack at its weakest point. Tactical– and was this the aftermath? "I'm sorry."

"I know what its like." 

On the other side, but her heart ached for him, for them.

"And I know what it is like to be under someone for no reason other than to live. It was me once, when I had a choice. ..Long ago. But how?" She questioned. "How? How could I be free?" It was not possible.