Bramblepoint Rose petals

After having swum in the lake, Crowfeather had found his body revitalized. He had made his way back to the dense forest with a prickly damp pelt and several fat voles he carried by their tails. The food would not be much, but it would be something to get them through to the next morning. 

Trailing his way back to the thick of the territory, the shadow paused to search for scents of the silver man. 

@Germanicus had said that he would rest in the deep of the wood. If Crowfeather had checked his surroundings well enough, he believed he stood in the heart of the trees. The buzz of crickets had started to spring up around him.

germanicus had put himself into a low depression beneath a fallen tree. it would protect him from the thick heat of the day, though the well-laced branches were a first guardianship. 

this time the ranger did not dream. it was as if willing his own sleep to come had cut him off from the vivid chaos of that world. 

it was the crickets that woke him. their orchestra announced the presence of another. germanicus came awake, slipping from his proverbial bedroll to approach his companion.

success, once more. "diana blesses you." did the wild animals simply give themselves to crowfeather?

"there is very little pain in my wound. it heals." he indicated the healthful scabbing that crossed the length of his foreleg.

It isn't much, the dark boy commented uncertainly. He did not know who Diana was, but he understood a blessing well enough. The voles were common in woodland areas around the water he knew and he had searched for them for more than an hour after his swim. 

Placing the dangling rodents at his paws, Crowfeather drew his attention to the wound on Germanicus' foreleg with a thoughtful expression. 

It looks better, doesn't it? You heal well. 

Then an uncertain smile found its way to his lips and Crowfeather sought the gaze of the older man as he had a dozen times before.

"what sort of traveller would i be if it took me days to heal?" germanicus sent his words toward crowfeather in teasing retort. it was good to banter again with a companion. 

again, the meeting of yellow ochre to daffodil hue. this time the ranger did not shy from it. he let it go on until the wind sent a creaking through the enmeshed branches above their heads.

there was a surreptitious desire in the set of his jaw. germanicus turned to the brace of voles. "good and fatty meat. it is possible to travel many miles on only a few."

but he was not hungry.

The dark boy could not help but smile at the retort. 

Crowfeather did not think that it was a strength of character that determined how quickly a wound healed. He did like to think that Germanicus was this way simply because he had to be. It was a good soldier who could heal and move on. 

Did you not rest well today? Crowfeather inquired when he realized that the older man wasn't eating. He thought perhaps he was to share what he had done before they could feed themselves. 

I went to the lake and practiced my swimming again. I also scouted out the forest and know the perfect route to lead us back to the Redhawk Caldera, the shadow confessed to him. Crowfeather hoped that he might receive some measure of teaching based on that and waited for Germanicus' response.

germanicus was pulling a vole toward himself, but it was too late. crowfeather was already speaking with his usual concern, attention to the ranger's details. "it was very deep. i think i only wake more slowly this morning."

he took the young hunter's report with a relieved interest. the prey was skinned and segmented, half-devoured in quick swallows. "redhawk caldera. brecheliant. akashingo." a sound of amusement. "in just over a week's time, we will have made a map of this entire region and its inhabitants."

distracted by dreamlessness, and by the way that crowfeather's first word to him often sent the blood to hum, just beneath his surface.

Relief danced across Crowfeather's features. He was pleased to hear that Germanicus had rested deeply. The man who could remain alert even while in slumber likely needed the rest. 

And on the heels of a potential war, Crowfeather added to the man's mention of all they had already accomplished. 

Germanicus, if we are to stop the Saints from increasing their strength, does this mean we will side with the Ursus wolves if they battle? he could not help but wonder.

"only if it comes to war." germanicus felt that if they shifted themselves to the gathering of information, it might lend itself to a mediated world. and he felt that crowfeather might have such words somewhere within him. but the tactician kept these things close to his heart.

"i would rather aid. as you said. if these saints are large and their force means to kill, who else will they catch beneath their heel?" an inadvertent rhyme, as germanicus was readying himself to leave once more.

the young hunter would be their vanguard, once more. "lead on," he said, eyes touched again by the expression of an earlier moment.

It felt overwhelming to know that they had found themselves upon something that had the potential to be large. For a young wolf who had only ever known the pressures and turmoil of his home pack, Crowfeather worried that he was showing himself as an omen. Bringer of awful things-

The Saints had been there before he had arrived. The dark wolf held onto that firmly. He had only happened upon what had already been thriving. Misfortunate, but safe from the mark of being a curse. 

Yes, Germanicus.

Crowfeather brushed through the nearest cluster of brambles, wincing as a few of them found his flesh. Once he had passed through and onto a clearer path, he set their course south for the lake. 

What kind of service do you think Brecheliant will ask from us?

"that depends on what sort of people we will find in brecheliant." he followed through the thornwood, pausing to search for any injury on the boy. 

"redhawk caldera is established. for a pack to become this rooted, they must produce children every year. their ally will surely be the same."

germanicus looked at the position of sun within heavens.

"the carrying and delivery and raising of young temporarily removes women from aiding in the hunt or protection of their land."

he moved on. "it can be inferred that brecheliant has cubs of its own. i expect we will be asked to hunt, to replenish stores going dry. and even if they do not mention this, it would be suitable for us to bring meals to their doorstep all the same."

the instructor, speaking again to hide the odd chirruping of his spirit when he looked at crowfeather.

Talk of children sent a ripple through the dark boy’s stomach. He was not certain why. Perhaps the idea that Germanicus struck Crowfeather as a suitable father. He could imagine small silver babies racing about his legs as he taught them how to be good soldiers.

In their midst, he imagined even a little black one with golden eyes.

Immediately forcing the thought from his mind, Crowfeather nodded his head to Germanicus’ words. He was rather excited to see Brecheliant and the kind of allies they were.

Do you like pups, Germanicus? the seer inquired with a high voice, shaky and uncertain. The dark wolf knew that it did not have much to do with the answer the older man had given him, but he was curious to know if his daydreams had any grounds.

germanicus was surprised. it showed in the curious tilt of one aud toward crowfeather. but the eagle had heard correctly. he faced rigidly ahead, gait continuing on smoothly. the raise in the shadow's voice had evoked a quickness to his own heartbeat. the attempt not to focus upon the sensation was quietly monumental.

inwardly, he shied away. children were well enough, and had inspired adoring in germanicus before. but they had been the offspring of nobility, of his sisters, of his cousins. or the young ones of the workmen who toiled long hours by the river. 

not his own. there it soured. 

germanicus realized too long he had been silent. the man cleared his throat. "i like them. the opportunity to have my — own; it has not presented itself." and yet this was a lie, the first he had told crowfeather.

a golden weasel ran across their path.

Crowfeather felt every second of the silence that followed his question. The dark figure began to shrink in his steps, lowering himself so that he might be able to vanish from sight if he felt the embarrassment grow too hot.

When Germanicus finally answered, there was a flash of heat and immediate relief. The older man had not had the chance for children of his own, not yet anyway. Crowfeather treasured this thought, even while unsure why he was doing it.

Maybe it will, he said softly, pushing their journey on. The weasel was ignored in light of the information Crowfeather had obtained.

again, the vagueness from one who knew how to wield their language.

germanicus felt a hot flush start between his shoulders, inching between shoulderblades and cowling him from nosetip to chest. he felt surely that the bright burning of it must be visible, though it was not.

"why do you ask?"

he did not stop to evaluate their discourse for two paths; he took the first one and did not look back.

there was a true curiosity sparkling in him, and for now, the details of the forest around them were unconsciously gathered. his mind was upon the shadow, and how he might respond.

The soldier had every right to know why Crowfeather had asked. The seer understood that it was unfair of him to ask so many things of the older man and then never give him real reasons for his curiosity.

When considered, Crowfeather might not have understood his reasons for asking. There were simply feelings that fluttered about inside of him, beating their wings against his belly, his chest, his lungs, in their desperate attempt to break free. Wings that seemed to spring to life whenever the silver guard drew near.

I think- well, I think you would make a fine father. Your children would surely love you.

The word love hung on his tongue for only a second.

A fine mate, too. Crowfeather’s cheeks burned hot beneath his dark coat.

germanicus felt he could no longer play pretense of not comprehending the sentiment held by crowfeather. but he held himself back from supposition, choosing a more circuitous route for his discovery. the way that his companion had said these words, their manner: the sound had sheared through him.

germanicus was silent again, though not so long as before. "very few wanderers are suited for fatherhood. children could not learn to love a man gone so often, and for so long."

but the eagle felt the heat upon his withers intensify, and found himself just then longing for the cool of a deep water.

Cursing internally, Crowfeather searched his memories. He could never tell when Germanicus would become stiff, dutiful.

The two had ventured through several subjects that the seer would have considered to be too intimate, too close to the heart, and Germanicus had answered his questions with heart and even consideration. What was it that prevented such a response this time? Why did he feel he needed to raise his walls?

Germanicus, the dark figure began, not looking at the older man, do wanderers wander forever? Until they can’t anymore?

When are you going to leave me?

germanicus was never prepared for how the sound of his name in that voice undid his bindings.

"some wander until the end of their days."

his breathing glided through several words that wished to be sentences but became nothing.

"some settle. take a wife. rear a family."

before them was rising the wide bowl of the caldera as the trees slowly thinned.

"but not one of them knows which path they will take until they have been alone a long while."

The dark shape listened intently.

Before Germanicus had even finished his response, Crowfeather could feel his eyes watering with the pressure of his next query.

Do- do some wanderers- do some take a man for a wife?

There was a choking sensation in his throat, pressure so tight that he had thought the life to be sucked out of him. In the Starsea, no man sought to take another man as his mate. It was a waste of their blood and their need to keep the stars alight in the skies. It was also their primary reason for arranging pairs.

the eagle felt himself finally overcome, and turned to look at crowfeather. "i am sure it has happened, if they mean to travel together for many years." 

germanicus was silent. the touch of his eyes drifted along the other's cheekbone, and then away again. the ranger was attendant on their path once more.

"if i asked you to introduce us and our purpose to the wolves of brecheliant, how would you say it?" he deployed in defense, keeping himself even with crowfeather's stride while he veered their topic completely from its original course.

or perhaps back to it, back from the sidelong trail that had opened into something unknown.

Surprise replaced the worried sickness on Crowfeather’s face.

If wanderers were meant to travel together for many years, there was a chance that a man could be with another man. The dark figure did not want to register his shift in demeanor so boldly and so he pulled his eyes from the older man and tucked them into the horizon.

Did you ever have a mate? He was stopped from asking when Germanicus presented him with a verbal test.

I would tell them that we are Germanicus and Crowfeather, travelers headed to the east. I would tell them that we are sent by Ruenna of the Redhawk Caldera to aid Brecheliant with whatever they see fit. That this is our agreement for being able to rest so near to their claim. Had he forgotten anything? The seer looked to Germanicus again for answers.

the shadow seemed to brighten.

germanicus nodded at the confident words. "very good." he let a pause pass, and then spoke once more. "when you speak to the leadership, be sure that you include the direct location of where we will be. it says we will not be seeking to range through all their hunting grounds, and that we are easily located."

such transparency was the finest key to being awarded their request.

and inside himself, he hoped fervently that crowfeather would not draw them back to their earlier point.

Very good.

The sway of his hips was carried by his swinging tail. That direct praise was like music from a songbird.

Germanicus continued to say that when Crowfeather met the leaders of Brecheliant, he should be mindful about providing a few further details. The dark wolf nodded his head in understanding before he realized what was implied in the older man’s words.

Wait…

Germanicus, are you not going to speak to them too? worry creased his narrow features.

had he misspoken? germanicus thought back along the trail of their words together, but the joyous cant of crowfeather's hips drew his attention sharply inward. "i had considered allowing you the honor this time."

he became very aware of the texture beneath his paws. the touch of the wind upon his face grew unbearable.

"but only if you want to do this. it is not an order."

Germanicus' faith in the dark wolf felt surprising. To Crowfeather's understanding, they needed to continue in a respectful manner. The older male had such a way with words the dark wolf did not believe he could match. 

I do not want to make a mistake and ruin everything you have done for us, Crowfeather admitted in hushed tones. But I will do it if you believe I can.