Silver Creek for the man is not of the woman

addison is charmed by the creek already, though she does not let it show, nor does she get her hopes too high, in case the men decide to move on. it will not do to get attached. yet as she wanders along the edge of the water, collecting clumps of moss and watercress for the herb stores, she is, for once, at peace. she is not a natural traveler; she likes to remain in one spot, to become close to the earth on which she slumbers. and some ground calls to her more strongly; this is it.

she sets aside the greenery for now and looks down into the water, yearning to fish. there is, occasionally, the brief fit of progressivism that overtakes her, the feeling that she ought not to be tied down to the odolfs, to their ways. to limit herself seems a folly, for she is just as smart and capable as her brothers, and could just as easily lead a family to glory. their destinies had been shaped only by their genitalia, and for a moment, she feels anger and shame at the bald fact.

but then she scoffs, shaking her head. it does no good to ruminate on such things. to do so renders her useless, and to be useless means her life is worth nothing.

thus, addison continues along down the shore, moss clutched tight to her chest, clear, cool droplets from the stream cutting sidewinding paths through her chocolate coat. she gathers, and gathers, and daydreams of spring, when her belly will be full with pups, her teats ripe with milk. then she will have no time for these intrusive thoughts, and will be content with her role once more.

@Harrison

there was a fresh hare clasped between his jaws when he had caught wind of addison. while it would have been wiser for him to have deposited the catch in a cache, he thought that he could win over his sister by sharing the delicate catch. it would have done him some good to be in her good favors, only so that he could try to convince grayson that there was a whole world to explore and they had really only just scratched the surface.

while addison felt as though she belonged to a single place, her brother was of the mind that freedom tasted good. the odolf family had done well to wander away from their start. it had been difficult at first, but harrison had grown to the idea that moving was living and that they needn't settle down when they had the rest of the earth to conquer. of course, that was primarily against their objective. it would have been better for them to find a place to call their own and then to start creating families. it would mean that they would have a legacy all their own in the making.

wandering was nice, but he could not help but to think that it would have been nicer to have some pups of his own roaming about their intended land.

stepping swiftly toward the creek that cut through the middle of the terrain, harrison finally latched his sights on the muddy form of his sister. she seemed to be gathering things from the water. ah, that had never really been something he'd understood, but addison had a knack as a naturalist. it was good that she had found something that suited her limitations, he thought to himself.

closing the distance between them, harrison waited for her to catch sight of him and stop what she was doing.

between the gentle but insistent noise of the creek and her own concentration in her work, addison does not notice harrison for a moment or two. only the eery feeling of being watched, one that sends prickles down her spine, sends her head aloft, and her colorless gaze rests on his face for a brief beat in acknowledgement before fixing on the center of his chest, the rabbit he has caught.

brother, she greets softly, placing the moss down before stepping nimbly up and over the bank, feeling a little unseemingly as she drips before him. she bows her head, eyes lowered. well caught, she compliments his kill, knowing that as much of an ass harrison could be, he is a good provider for the odolf family, and for that, she should be thankful. she is thankful.

the darker girl greeted him with their relation, which was acceptable to him. he watched with a stern expression as she placed her moss down and then waded out of the water and onto the shore to approach him. yes, it was unseemly of her to drizzle water at his paws. he watched the droplets form and then run down the length of her dark legs. addison had always been so ballsy, but she did well to know her place among them and he had never truly had to criticize her for her actions. still, part of him waited for the day that he would get to release a flurry of words at the girl for behaving outside of her boundaries.

“i thought you could use some food. you've been looking a little thin lately,” he informed her with a curling smile. then, harrison placed the rabbit at her feet and nudged it forward. of course he could not offer the meal to her without first exercising his right to make a pointed jab. “what on earth are you wading about in the water for anyway? it's gotten colder, you know... you'll get sick,” he then asked of her, but his tone suggested that he required an answer.

as much as harrison teased his sister, he knew that she was vital to their growth and that her body would allow for youth to race about their lands – when that time arrived. if she were to get ill before then, it was unlikely that she would be of any use to them at all. healers were fine, but they needed women who could produce children.

the jab stings slightly--she has always been slightly self-conscious of her diminutive frame--but she lets it pass without an iota of recognition over her face, instead giving him a gracious smile. thank you, addison says. i am very grateful for everything you do for us. you keep us fed, even in the worst of times. blegh. complimenting harrison is like eating dirt.

i was collecting moss, brother, she says mildly, dipping her head to sniff at the meat. the succulent aroma floated up her nostrils and made drool pool within her mouth; she swallows it slowly before continuing. i do not want our stores to be short, in case of emergency. still ruing the muddy state of her coat, she begins to tear daintily at the rabbit, picking it apart with neat, small bites.

convention says that ladies do not talk and eat all at once, but this was okay--she didn't want to speak with harrison, anyway. it was already bad enough that she felt obligated to him for the meal.

“of course... we don't want you incapable of carrying pups when that time comes.”

there was a hint of a sneer on his smug face. harrison eyed her figure with no shame, making it seem as though he questioned her capability. mind games were – by far – the funnest for him to play. he knew that it was a far more serious thing than the light that he made of it. if addison was unable to reproduce, for any reason, it would have shown poorly on her and the rest of their family. it was her duty to ensure that she was in peak condition so that she could carry out the one thing that only she was capable of.

when she remarked on the stores of moss, harrison glanced toward where she had been gathering her herbs. it was a curious thing for him to imagine; moss assisting with emergencies. almost out of habit, the pale snake canted his head to the side and frowned thoughtfully. “what is moss used for?” he asked of her without missing a beat. her mouth might have been full, but he glanced back toward her and waited patiently so that she might finish.

addison nods slowly, eating quickly as she can while still remaining a figure of delicacy and grace. his question takes her unawares, and she swallows, licking all grime and blood from her chops before raising her head slightly to address him. moss is for bleeding, brother, she says softly. it quickly soaks up blood from a wound.

she has heard tales of women bleeding to death in labor. she is not ignorant of the possibility that she will have to aid one or more of her sisters should this complication arise--and that she may not be successful, in all cases. it sends a shock of fear through her, though she dismisses it quickly. she must be strong. she must be strong, in the only way she can be.

addison dips her head to the rabbit once more, continuing to strip the flesh from the delicate bones.

bleeding? he thought for a moment that having moss on hand would be a very useful thing, but the more he allowed himself to linger on those thoughts, the more he found it a titch odd that they would have so much of it for such a simple thing. surely, the men would fight, but he didn't know that they would return with many wounds that would need that much tending to. wearing scars was a sign of a good warrior, he imagined. through all of the thoughts he placed into her explanation, he never once imagined that it would have been useful for the women during childbirth.

“you think there will be many wounds to tend to? have you come across some aggressive passersby in this neck of the wood?” harrison inquired to her with a furrowed brow. the snake peered at his sister down the length of his pale muzzle, wondering what she might have had to say next. for what it was worth, addison had proven herself to be something of a capable speaker, and though harrison wasn't certain if that made her dangerous or beneficial, he often liked to toy with her skills.

it is good to be prepared, she responds, her tone mild. she hates the mind games he plays with her. he treats her like an imbecile. harrison is the imbecile. and yet, by virtue of her father's rules, their roles are reversed. he knows all, and she knows nothing.

i have met no one of violence, yet, addison continues, polishing off the rabbit for good and nosing it slightly to the side. thank you once more for the meal, brother. even if it had come with snarky words.

'good to be prepared,' yadda yadda... he knew the spiel because it seemed that all of them had the same one. as good as it was to be prepared, harrison never really understood why it seemed pertinent to have a cave full of weeds instead of full caches. surely, some of the women could be taught to hunt for the pack? the burly ones that no one would really care about would have made fine hunters. while it caused him pride to know that he was one of the only ones who was truly capable of keeping them all alive, he often wondered if there was a chance that the girls could pick the whole forest down in an attempt to be prepared.

on that note, addison's internal monologue was probably pretty accurate. harrison was something of a dolt, but he had a means of social intelligence, and that was where he excelled. where his sister had found a way to keep herself reserved without losing her sharp mind, he had made himself an extroverted sensation. in a way, harrison could have sold ice to the eskimos, but addison was capable of reasoning. they were opposites in many ways and they often got on each other's nerves, but he had a quiet admiration for her skills.

“you're welcome. just trying to look out for my sister,” he returned to her, allowing his tone to take on a slightly condescending tone. like he enjoyed the idea of mocking her for being incapable of feeding herself, which might not have been true but he liked to believe it was. “i'll leave you to 'preparing',” harrison then added with a curt nod of his muzzle and a fleeting smirk. with that, he turned around and set out to find more food to fill the caches with.