A/N-As per usual, anything you recognize as ML's is, and if you don't
recognize it as hers, its probably mine! Please R&R, constructive criticism
is nice!
Chapter 1:
Two riders rode down the shadowed path, patterns from the canopy above flickering across their faces. High above the trees, the sun rose higher and higher, a burning yellow ball standing out among the pale white clouds and the sapphire sky. It filtered through the leaves, bringing much of its dry summer heat with it and warming the flowers and mosses below. A bird trilled nearby, filling the still and otherwise silent air with a warbling song. A slight breeze was the only other noise, rustling the leaves above and bringing cool relief to the hot summer air. With each step the riders horses took, dry dust was lifted into the air, small clouds choking the beasts and riders.
One of the riders was a large man, sitting in his horses saddle almost as though he was afraid the stallion would buck him. He was garbed simply, in practical traveling clothes of varying shades of browns, creams, and blacks. Graying brown hair was grown long enough that he tied it back in a small tail, and while he didn't appear to have a beard, he did have several days growth in the form of stubble. Sharp brown eyes flickered from side to side, watching for any sign of human life; his hand rested on his sword hilt and he was constantly fingering the weapon.
The man's companion was female, dressed similarly to him. Long blonde hair was twisted into a thick braid that reached nearly to her waist, and she had the whole affair thrown over her shoulder and resting in her lap. She sat casually in her seat, controlling the gelding's dancing with considerable ease. Blue eyes the same shade as the sky above danced, and seemed to laugh merrily at her companion. She also carried a sword, but she didn't reach for it like her companion did when a passing animal snapped a branch. Along with her sword, she had a quiver full of arrows hanging on her back and she had a strong longbow resting in her hands.
Nightsun k'Saren watched them warily, following their progress from the trees above. They were following the path which would either lead them straight to the Vale or completely around it, but until they reached the fork she wouldn't have any idea which way they were going. Neither spoke, so she couldn't gather information from their conversation, but both of them seemed to wear a casual arrogance like a cloak. A heavy cloak. She imagined that when they walked, they swaggered instead. She was surprised they had made it even this far. The summer heat was enough to make travelers turn around and go home normally, but with drought as an added factor the k'Saren borders had been positively silent as of late.
Nightsun took a few more silent leaps and steps across the branches until she was ahead of the riders. Before they rounded the last bend in the road before the fork, Nightsun leapt down, darted across the road and used her tree-stick to scramble back up into its limbs. This was a tree she had used many times; she had found flipping down from the branches and seemingly appearing from no where frightened travelers the most. The fact that they were faced with a fabled Hawkbrother caused them to turn and flee before she had even finished warning them off. Short moments later, the two riders came to the fork and paused at the branching. Then they spoke.
"Which way, did she say?" The man swung down from his saddle and stood awkwardly in the middle of the road. The woman shrugged and joined him, peering down both roads before speaking.
"Right." A moments consideration. "I think." She had taken her bow with her and she was leaning on it and glancing between the two roads. They mirrored each other, going in their respective directions for a short bit and then turning away from each other. The right fork led to the Vale; the left back to wherever these travelers had come from. The two travelers stood there for a moment, and then glanced at each other, the woman speaking again. "I'm tired of riding; lets walk, and hope we run into an inn soon." The man nodded in agreement, and they both turned their horses towards the Vale path.
Nightsun, with the ease of any child raised in the trees, darted back a few trees, and swung down casually, flexing her knees upon landing but otherwise standing up tall. Not that it would do much-for one only about five feet, five inches, height something she had given up trying to attain. Even so, she probably looked more frightening to a foreigner than she would have though, dressed as she was in the mottled scouts clothes, shoulder length black hair dyed in a mimicking of the forest around her, birds darting between the trunks. She left her long knife sheathed, but held her bow loosely in one hand with the other ready to dart up and snatch an arrow from the quiver hanging on her own back. Altogether, the ensemble would have added several years to her appearance if she wasn't being watched by someone who knew her; to any of her friends or the other scouts, she did look like the 19 year old girl that she was.
The travelers stopped in their tracks, staring at her in shock. Nightsun took a moment to stand there, her silence making her all the more formidable, before speaking. She spoke slowly, so as not to mix up the words that she would be using. These people spoke a language she knew the basics of, but she would loose her edge if she messed up while she was speaking.
"Please leave." She started, breaking the travelers from their shocked paralysis. Using Mindspeech, she called her bondbird, Nita, closer. While the Merlin couldn't do as much damage as a gyrfalcon, she could still sufficiently frighten these unsuspecting travelers. "You are drawing to near to that which I guard; you may continue down the left fork, but not the right." They stared at her for a moment longer, as if trying to wrap their minds around the sight before them.
"A...a Hawkbrother?" The man murmured, rubbing his eyes with one hand. He kept his other hand on his sword, Nightsun noticed. He frowned though, looking angry. "What makes you think we aren't looking for what you are guarding?" Nightsun shook her head.
"I know you aren't; leave now. There are more of us here, and it would be a real shame to have to...dispose of you." Pure bluff, but it had worked for her more times than one in the past. She would have believed it had she not known any better; she knew to them it probably looked like she had simply appeared from the trees, and they couldn't have had any idea how long she had been watching them.
"Maybe we should." The woman said doubtfully, turning her horse around. The man eyed her once more, and she reached over her shoulder, pretending to get an arrow. Quickly, he turned around and they continued down the left fork. Nightsun clambered back up the tree, and looked at the sun. It was almost time for her to head back. As if right on cue, the next to be patrolling the area waved at her from several trees over and then headed back towards the beginning of the circuit. With a small smile, Nightsun headed home. It had been a good day.
A/N-This is really only an introductory chapter and I realise that! No plot points, which is how it is inteded; its more to get a handle on Nightsun than anything...plot will start happening in the next chapter. Should I continue?
Chapter 1:
Two riders rode down the shadowed path, patterns from the canopy above flickering across their faces. High above the trees, the sun rose higher and higher, a burning yellow ball standing out among the pale white clouds and the sapphire sky. It filtered through the leaves, bringing much of its dry summer heat with it and warming the flowers and mosses below. A bird trilled nearby, filling the still and otherwise silent air with a warbling song. A slight breeze was the only other noise, rustling the leaves above and bringing cool relief to the hot summer air. With each step the riders horses took, dry dust was lifted into the air, small clouds choking the beasts and riders.
One of the riders was a large man, sitting in his horses saddle almost as though he was afraid the stallion would buck him. He was garbed simply, in practical traveling clothes of varying shades of browns, creams, and blacks. Graying brown hair was grown long enough that he tied it back in a small tail, and while he didn't appear to have a beard, he did have several days growth in the form of stubble. Sharp brown eyes flickered from side to side, watching for any sign of human life; his hand rested on his sword hilt and he was constantly fingering the weapon.
The man's companion was female, dressed similarly to him. Long blonde hair was twisted into a thick braid that reached nearly to her waist, and she had the whole affair thrown over her shoulder and resting in her lap. She sat casually in her seat, controlling the gelding's dancing with considerable ease. Blue eyes the same shade as the sky above danced, and seemed to laugh merrily at her companion. She also carried a sword, but she didn't reach for it like her companion did when a passing animal snapped a branch. Along with her sword, she had a quiver full of arrows hanging on her back and she had a strong longbow resting in her hands.
Nightsun k'Saren watched them warily, following their progress from the trees above. They were following the path which would either lead them straight to the Vale or completely around it, but until they reached the fork she wouldn't have any idea which way they were going. Neither spoke, so she couldn't gather information from their conversation, but both of them seemed to wear a casual arrogance like a cloak. A heavy cloak. She imagined that when they walked, they swaggered instead. She was surprised they had made it even this far. The summer heat was enough to make travelers turn around and go home normally, but with drought as an added factor the k'Saren borders had been positively silent as of late.
Nightsun took a few more silent leaps and steps across the branches until she was ahead of the riders. Before they rounded the last bend in the road before the fork, Nightsun leapt down, darted across the road and used her tree-stick to scramble back up into its limbs. This was a tree she had used many times; she had found flipping down from the branches and seemingly appearing from no where frightened travelers the most. The fact that they were faced with a fabled Hawkbrother caused them to turn and flee before she had even finished warning them off. Short moments later, the two riders came to the fork and paused at the branching. Then they spoke.
"Which way, did she say?" The man swung down from his saddle and stood awkwardly in the middle of the road. The woman shrugged and joined him, peering down both roads before speaking.
"Right." A moments consideration. "I think." She had taken her bow with her and she was leaning on it and glancing between the two roads. They mirrored each other, going in their respective directions for a short bit and then turning away from each other. The right fork led to the Vale; the left back to wherever these travelers had come from. The two travelers stood there for a moment, and then glanced at each other, the woman speaking again. "I'm tired of riding; lets walk, and hope we run into an inn soon." The man nodded in agreement, and they both turned their horses towards the Vale path.
Nightsun, with the ease of any child raised in the trees, darted back a few trees, and swung down casually, flexing her knees upon landing but otherwise standing up tall. Not that it would do much-for one only about five feet, five inches, height something she had given up trying to attain. Even so, she probably looked more frightening to a foreigner than she would have though, dressed as she was in the mottled scouts clothes, shoulder length black hair dyed in a mimicking of the forest around her, birds darting between the trunks. She left her long knife sheathed, but held her bow loosely in one hand with the other ready to dart up and snatch an arrow from the quiver hanging on her own back. Altogether, the ensemble would have added several years to her appearance if she wasn't being watched by someone who knew her; to any of her friends or the other scouts, she did look like the 19 year old girl that she was.
The travelers stopped in their tracks, staring at her in shock. Nightsun took a moment to stand there, her silence making her all the more formidable, before speaking. She spoke slowly, so as not to mix up the words that she would be using. These people spoke a language she knew the basics of, but she would loose her edge if she messed up while she was speaking.
"Please leave." She started, breaking the travelers from their shocked paralysis. Using Mindspeech, she called her bondbird, Nita, closer. While the Merlin couldn't do as much damage as a gyrfalcon, she could still sufficiently frighten these unsuspecting travelers. "You are drawing to near to that which I guard; you may continue down the left fork, but not the right." They stared at her for a moment longer, as if trying to wrap their minds around the sight before them.
"A...a Hawkbrother?" The man murmured, rubbing his eyes with one hand. He kept his other hand on his sword, Nightsun noticed. He frowned though, looking angry. "What makes you think we aren't looking for what you are guarding?" Nightsun shook her head.
"I know you aren't; leave now. There are more of us here, and it would be a real shame to have to...dispose of you." Pure bluff, but it had worked for her more times than one in the past. She would have believed it had she not known any better; she knew to them it probably looked like she had simply appeared from the trees, and they couldn't have had any idea how long she had been watching them.
"Maybe we should." The woman said doubtfully, turning her horse around. The man eyed her once more, and she reached over her shoulder, pretending to get an arrow. Quickly, he turned around and they continued down the left fork. Nightsun clambered back up the tree, and looked at the sun. It was almost time for her to head back. As if right on cue, the next to be patrolling the area waved at her from several trees over and then headed back towards the beginning of the circuit. With a small smile, Nightsun headed home. It had been a good day.
A/N-This is really only an introductory chapter and I realise that! No plot points, which is how it is inteded; its more to get a handle on Nightsun than anything...plot will start happening in the next chapter. Should I continue?