None of the characters are mine, except for Two-Moons. All the rest belong to their creators, Wendy and Richard Pini.
Words contained within # # are mental speech since doesn't like showing the stars I prefer to use.
Takes place 15 years before Fire and Flight. Skywise and Cutter get tangled up with a bear and Two-Moons must come to their rescue.
Two-Moons was a beautiful elf maiden with fire-red and sun-streaked hair that reached down past her waist. Her eyes were a vivid shade of green that sparkled like stars when the moonlight hit them just right. Due to a childhood illness, she couldn't talk. But considering that she came from a race of beings that could communicate telepathically, that she lacked vocal speech didn't really mean anything to her tribe. What mattered was the contributions she made. She was a hunter and gatherer - two jobs which meant providing food for the other elves that she lived with.
Tonight she was out gathering, though was not having much success. She was searching for berries of any king but it was getting late in the season for them and the area of the woods she had chosen to search appeared to have already been picked clean.
She rode with another elf - a maiden named Foxfur - but for all the communication that passed between them, she may as well have been alone. Her mind was preoccupied with other matters. After being lovemates with Redmark for an eight and five turns of the seasons, he had brought up the subject of them becming lifemates. It hadn't been a serious, "Will you be my lifemate? question, more like, "What do you think about us becoming lifemates?"
Two-Moons hadn't had a chance to make any sort of reply because Foxfur had come for her to go out on their wolves to gather berries that now appeared to be non-existant. #We'll talk later,# Two-Moons had lock-sent to Redmark.
Sitting up straighter on her wolf, Two-Moons turned to face Foxfur. #There's not much here. We should split up and cover more ground.#
Foxfur nodded her agreement and began to move off in another direction. #But try to stay within sending distance. It'll be easier to let each other know if one of us finds anything.#
Two-Moons nodded and sent her wolf, Spark, off in a direction near-opposite that of Foxfur's. She'd been travelling for roughly half of an hour when she heard two familiar voices inside her head.
#Puckernuts! Can't you make Starjumper run any faster?# The voice belonged to Cutter, future chief of the Wolfriders.
#You think he isn't trying? It's not like he wants to get eaten by a bear!# That was Skywise, her brother!
There was no choice to make, only instinct to follow. She listened for sounds of the chase, got the direction, then took off with Spark.
A short distance away...
#Did we lose him yet?# Skywise asked Cutter. Skywise rode his wolf facing forward, while Cutter, seated behind him, rode facing the opposite way.
#I think so...# Cutter began to reply. Then the bear crashed through the bushes in its persuit of them. #Ulp! Then again, maybe not!#
#Starjumper's getting winded, he can't keep carrying both of us...# Skywise sent worriedly.
Whatever Cutter might have said next was forgotten as he saw the flash of a brightmetal dagger sail through the air and sink itself into the bear's shoulder.
#You two keep moving!# Two-Moons sent. #Don't look back and don't stop for anything!#
The bear halted its chase and roared in pain. It swung its great head around and spotted Two-Moons and her wolf. With an angry roar, it started to charge at them.
Two-Moons did the only thing she could - turn Spark around and urge him to run for their lives.
"Sister..." Skywise whispered, fighting back tears as he saw his sister and her wolf being chased out of sight by the bear. Two-Moons didn't know how to fight a bear, only chief Bearclaw and the silent archer, Strongbow, knew the ways of the bear and how best to fight it. Had Two-Moons just gone to her death? No! Not if he could help it!
"Skywise?"
Skywise felt Cutter's arms tighten around his waist. He knew he couldn't put one sibling in danger to try to save another.
"Off, Cutter."
"But-" Cutter began, only to have Skywise cut him off.
"I said off!" Skywise yelled. he looked back over his shoulder. "I need you to go get help if Two-Moons has any chance to live."
Wordlessly, Cutter nodded and did as he had been told. The moment he was off Starjumper's back, Skywise set his wolf to running along the path the bear had taken in persuit of his sister and her wolf.
Up ahead, the bear had caught up with the wolf and rider. It swung a massive pay at the wolf and sent the pair tumbling. Spark howled in pain and fear, blood pouring freely from the deep scratches caused by the bear's long, black claws. He tried to stand, to get away, but the bear was on him before he could even rise to his full height. It bit deep into his back and wouldn't let go.
Two-Moons struggled to regain her wits. She reached for her spear, got to her feet and moved to the bear's side, for the moment unnoticed. She stabbed with all her might, plunging her spear into the bear's gut, just below its ribcage where its vulnerable organs lay. She could not reach the heart with her spear, but maybe she could cause enough damage this way to kill the beast. She was able to pull out the spear and stab a second time before the bear abandoned her wolf friend and turned its attention to her instead. She felt a searing pain across her back and left shoulder as the bear's claws tore open clothing and flesh. Before she could recover from that first pain, sharp long teeth sank deeply into her arm. Her mind cried out sharply, reaching out for help.
Skywise arrived to see the bear with Two-Moon's arm clamped firmly between its jaws, shaking her about as if she were no more than a limp child's toy made from old leathers. Fear froze him for a moment before he could react. Removing the brightmetal dagger from the sheath at his waist - currently his only weapon - he rode on Starjumper up behind the bear. He jumped from Starjumper's back to the bear's, then sent a message to Starjumper to leave even as he climbed up the bear's back and started to stab it repeatedly about its neck and shoulders.
The bear dropped Two-Moons and turned its head, searching frantically for the source of this new pain. It realized Skywise was on its back, but it couldn't reach him, though it continued to try to bite at his legs.
Without warning, the bear suddenly rolled over onto its back. Skywise felt the breath get knocked out of him and he lost his grip on both bear and dagger. Then the weight was just as suddenly gone from his chest and he knew only terror in that moment.
#Slug brain!# Two-Moons cursed at Skywise.
The scent of honey filled the air. The stinger hive that Skywise had been carrying bundled on his back had been crushed in the fall.
Where was the bear? Skywise looked around frantically, desperate to find it. It was circling around in a wide arc, no doubt preparing for another attack.
#Skywise, get behind me!# Two-Moons ordered. She struggled to her feet, her left arm hanging bloodied, broken, and utterly useless at her side. In her right hand she gripped the spear.
#But-#
#Don't argue with me, just DO IT!#
Wincing at the ferocity of her send, Skywise rolled to his knees and then stumbled to his feet. He ran unsteadily to his sister, who swung her right arm and wacked his hip with the wooden part of the spear. #Keep moving, don't stop. If I can't stop it this time-# She stopped mid-send. The bear had begun its charge. Two-Moons braced the butt of the spear against the ground, praying to the High Ones that Skywise had listened to her.
He had and now stood watching tearfully from behind a tree, scared he was about to lose his sister. And all because of some honey. At the last moment, just before the bear reached Two-Moons, he turned his head away and closed his eyes tightly. He couldn't close his ears, though, and he heard the bear as it roared. The sound echoed all around him then everything fell silent.
#Two-Moons?# Skywise sent hesitantly.
There was no answer.
Skywise looked and choked at what he saw. The bear was laying still - dead? - upon the ground and Two-Moons was nowhere to be seen.
#Two-Moons!# When there was no answer a second time, Skywise moved from the bushes and quickly approached the fallen beast. He thre a punch at it, landing it high on the bear's ribs. He jumped back, just in case, but the bear didn't move. Definitely dead, then. He circled the bear and found himself staring hard at the ground. He became nearly sick at what he saw - Two-Moons's right hand was the only visible part of her, sticking out from beneath the bear's body.
"Oh, High Ones!" Skywise cried out. Frantically, he began shoving at the massive bear carcass, desperate to move its body off of his sister. He yelled, he screamed, he cursed, but nothing he did could budge the bear more than an inch or two. Suddenly, another pair of hands placed themselves next to Skywise's and began to help him push.
Foxfur had heard the screams and had immediately come running, though unsure of what she would find. But two elves were no match for the weight of a fully-grown bear. Still, they continued to do what they could while Skywise continued to send to Two-Moons without receiving a reply.
Other Wolfriders finally arrived. Cutter wasn't among them, though. Bearclaw had forced him to stay behind, back at the father tree. Together, they worked together to heave the bear of off Two-Moons.
Rain knelt by her left side and placed his ear directly over her heart. As he raised his head, his expression clearly told the tale. No hear beat. Two-Moons was gone.
"No!" Skywise shouted desperately. His sister couldn't be dead, not because of him. he fell to his knees by her right side and shoved his grandfather, Rain, away from her. "You can't be dead!" he screamed in her face. "Not because of me!" He raised his arm high, his hand forming a fist, and then swung downward with much force. He struck the area over Two-Moons's heart. "Wake up!" He struck again. "Wake up!" Again. Hands grabbed at him and pulled him away. He fought back, escaped their hold and fell back on the ground next to his sister. "WAKE UP!" He swung his fist again, this time with all his might.
To the surprise of everyone, Two-Moons did just that. Her eyes flared open and her back arched high off the ground as she drew in the loudest, most desperate-sounding breath anyone could ever remember hearing. At that moment, it was the most beautiful sound any of them could recall ever having heard. Skywise was so shocked to see Two-Moons breathing again that he allowed himself to be pulled away from her side this time so that Rain could begin healing her.
It would be hours before they could move Two-Moons safely. While Rain continued to pour his healing powers into her, others took care of skinning and butchering the bear. Spark, Two-Moons's wolf, had died from his wounds. It had been for the best. The bite the bear had dealt to his back had severed his spine. Had he lived, he never would have used his back legs again. Rain could have done nothing for him. Redmark and Skywise hauled his body off into the bushes so that Two-Moons couldn't see him if she happened to wake up. His body would nourish the earth and the beasts that roamed their territory, the same beasts they fed off of to survive.
Two-Moons would be unconscious for several days while she began what would be a long, slow process of healing. Skywise had cracked her ribs from pounding on them so hard in his grief. And, before that, there was the other damage -caused by the bear - that had to be considered as well. Parallel slashes ran across her back, deep punctures from sharp teeth marked her arm, going right to the bone, a dislocated shoulder and more broken bones from having been shaken so fiercely by the bear were her list of wounds. Loss of blood had also been a concern. Rain's healing powers and knowledge of medicinal plants could only be stretched so far before the had been up to Two-Moons and how strong her will to live was.
On the day that Two-Moons finally woke, she opened her eyes slowly and smiled sleepily at Redmark, who had been keeping watch over her for a great portion of the time that she'd been unconscious for.
#How do you feel?# Redmark asked tenderly, moving a hand to brush a stray lock of hair out of her face.
#Alive.# Two-Moons took a deep breath and smiled.
#Please don't jest about that.#
Two-Moons looked more deeply into Redmark's eyes at his serious tone. #I'm sorry, lovemate. I didn't mean to upset you.#
Redmark took a deep breath. #No, it is I who should be sorry. But... I don't know if you realize this, but when we reached you, pulled the bear off you... you were de-# He paused, taking in another deep breath to try to help calm his nerves and steady his thoughts. #Your heart wasn't beating.#
Two-Moons searched her memories. The last things she could remember were ordering Skywise behind her, the bear up close just before it hit, then a brief image of Skywise rising from her right and Rain leaning over her left side. After that, she couldn't recall anything up to this point.
#Is Skywise alright?#
Redmark's expression darkened at Skywise's name. #Yes, he's fine.# His mental voice was gruff, causing Two-Moons to look at him strangely.
#Get him for me, please? Him and Cutter.# She trusted Redmark's word, but she had a need to see both boys for herself, reassure with her own eyes that both boys were okay.
Redmark nodded tersely and got up to do as she had asked of him. Sending would have been quicker, and something that could have been done without leaving the den, but he felt like stretching his legs for a moment. He'd been sitting with Two-Moons for hours without a break. He found both boys with Moonshade and Joyleaf, carefully cleaning the bear hide from Two-Moons's kill. It was part of their punishment for the stunt with the bear and and the stinger hive.
Cutter and Skywise both looked up as Redmark stopped near them. "She's awake and she wants to see both of you." Both heads turned simultaneously toward Moonshade and Joyleaf, who'd stood and moved closer together at Redmark's approach. For a brief moment before he'd spoken, they'd wondered if Two-Moons's health had suddenly taken a bad turn.
Joyleaf nodded, giving both boys her unspoken permission to go see Two-Moons. They were up and running, eager to see with their own eyes how she fared. Their steps slowed only as they reached Rain's den, where Two-Moons had been kept since her return to the holt after the bear attack.
Two-Moons looked up and smiled warmly as Cutter and Skywise entered. It felt good to see them with her eyes. #Cutter, Skywise. My eyes see with joy.#
"As do ours. How are you?" Cutter asked.
Two-Moons nearly repeated her earlier answer but decided against it before she replied. #Truthfully, quite sore. But that will fade quickly, I'm sure.#
Both boys flashed twin looks of guilt.
#Come closer, you two. I won't break.#
They did, each choosing a side to sit by Two-Moons. She looked at each boy in turn, both of whom seemed unable to meet her eyes. #What is wrong? I am alive, both of you are unharmed.#
"It's our fault you nearly died," Cutter admitted.
"It's our fault Spark died," was Skywise's confession.
Two-Moons's heart felt sore at the news. She had suspected that Sparks no longer lived, she remembered the bear biting into his back. #I am sorry for his loss. But I am grateful that he was able to live a long, full life.# She closed her eyes briefly and thought about her loyal friend. When she opened them, she sent to the boys again. #What happened?#
They told her everything - the stinger hive, the bear, the fight, Two-Moons herself getting caught under the bear, the discovery that her heart had stopped. Then, at last, Skywise getting Two-Moons's heart beating again.
#Boys... I don't blame you for what happened. It was an accident.#
"But-" Skywise started to say.
Two-Moons held her good right hand up, cutting him off with the gesture. #I meant what I just said. You didn't do this purposely to hurt me or take the life of an old wolf. It could have just as easily ended up a different way - the bear might not have caught your scent and followed you, or might have killed one of you... or both... The possibilities are endless and not worth thinking about. It's all in the past now, except for my healing. I just was to get past it. I want both of you to get past it as well.#
"We'll try," Cutter promised.
"It'll be easier when we aren't being punished anymore." Skywise's tone was rueful.
#Punished?# Two-Moons asked.
That set off another round of explanations that started with both boys having to eat the entire smashed stinger hive themselves while under the stern watch of many tribemates, several other unpleasant chores, and ending with their current task of preparing the bear hide.
"But we don't mind, not really," Skywise said.
"Except for the honey. I never thought I'd hate the taste," Cutter admitted. He shuddered at the memory.
Two-Moons's laughter washed gently through their minds. #Well, give me a hug and then you should be getting back to your chores.#
"It won't hurt, will it?" Skywise asked worriedly.
#A hug? Of course not.# Two-Moons shook her head slowly. #Cutter, you first since you're on my good side. Then Skywise, you take his place once he's done.#
Cutter leaned over carefully and hugged Two-Moons, making sure to keep from touching any of her injuries. She returned the hug with her one good arm and kissed Cutter's cheek. When he released her and started to raise up, he suddenly dipped lower and placed a kiss on her forehead. He then backed away so that Skywise could hug and kiss his sister.
Two-Moons watched both boys leave the den to return to cleaning the bear hide.
Redmark returned within a few minutes of Cutter and Skywise's departure.
#Lay down next to me?# Two-Moons asked, beckoning to her lovemate with her good arm.
Redmark nodded and joined Two-Moons on the sleeping furs, snuggling against her right side. She slowly fell asleep, comforted by Redmark's presence.
Later that night, a celebration was held in Two-Moons's honour. Despite her still-healing injuries, she was brought outside to join in the festivities. But only under the strict condition from Rain that she sit upon a pile of heaped sleeping furs and try not to move too much.
Once the preparations were complete and Two-Moons was carried outside by Redmark, it was Bearclaw who got things started by rising from his seat to speak.
"Now everyone knows that I'm not one for being long-winded." Bearclaw paused as a few elves laughed and mock-glared at them. "So I'll make this short.We're here to honour Two-Moons tonight for saving the lives of my own cub, Cutter, and that of her brother, Skywise. What she did means a lot to me, as I'm sure it does to the rest of the tribe." Many of the assembled nodded. "I decided that she should receive a gift, something that would ensure that her deed would always be remembered. Something this momentous is often marked by the giving of a new name." Two-Moons's ears twitched at the news and she watced Bearclaw more intently.
"I've been thinking over the matter of a fitting room to give her for these past few days and I believe - no, I know , that I've found the right one. I've heard it say by several elves that Two-Moons bears more in common with Huntress Skyfire than Two-Spear, so from now on she shall be known as Skyfire."
Everyone cheered while the newly named Skyfire inclinded her head in Bearclaw's direction.
#Thank you, Bearclaw. I shall bear my new name with pride,# Skyfire sent, making it open so that everyone could hear her. #And I ask that none hold bad feelings against either Cutter or Skywise for what happened with the bear. That was an accident and I am certain they would change the circumstances of that day if they were given the power to do so. Also, without their help, I would likely be dead now. In a way, we saved each other.#
Wise words. And though it would take a few days, Skyfire's words would be accepted by every one and both elf lads forgiven completely.
But before that occured, there was a celebration to enjoy. A celebration of life and the giving of a new name.