The day was warm and Brightmoss didn't feel like sleeping or hunting today.
She'd been up last night and with only a nap was up when the daystar rose.
Not wanting to wake her daughter up, she climbed away from the den to find
a sunny place to relax on the ground. She stretched out and indulged
herself for a time.
Her brown curly hair seemed to soak in the daystar's rays, making everything warm inside her. Shutting her blue-green eyes with a smile she let herself into the NOW of wolf thought with ease. For a moment the warmth along her left side felt as if someone was laying beside her until she shifted and opened her eyes to face the disappointment of seeing no one. Briefly, a stab of hurt hit her heart as she thought about Sheercliff but it had been many, many turns since he'd died and it didn't last too long as it had once had.
A shadow blocked the warmth from the daystar's rays and she looked up to see her daughter standing above her with a curious expression on her face. Somehow the fact that her daughter was up wasn't too odd considering she'd done stranger things before.
"Are you falling asleep on the ground during the day, Mother?" Littlejoy asked as she crouched down by Brightmoss' head with her hands loosely relaxed on her legs. The daystar's light hit Brightmoss' eyes and she squinted them shut and moved one arm to block it out.
"I wasn't falling asleep. I was relaxing." Brightmoss corrected her daughter as she sat up. Not looking really convinced but ready to let it drop, the black-haired daughter rocked upon her heels a bit as she bent over with hands on her knees. Littlejoy wasn't exactly fidgeting but it was close enough for young adult to fidgeting that she caught Brighmoss' attention.
What's got her tail now? One hand brushed her bangs back while Brightmoss studied her growing cub's expression. "Alright, Littlejoy. What are you restless for today?" Maybe the black-haired youth sighed in relief, or maybe it just seemed that way.
"Um, well you and Woodsmoke were going to teach me how to read tracks and make snares but Woodsmoke is with Wildstar for something and doesn't know when he'll be done." The last was said with only a slightly unhappy tone and Brightmoss had to smile. Her brother's calm and careful nature annoyed Littlejoy to no end at times much to the siblings' amusement.
"So it'll be just you, me and us today then, cub." Brightmoss said as she stretched and stood up. Littlejoy almost bounced up and followed her mother a distance away from the Holt to learn more about tracking then the simple ones learned as a cub. Their wolves stayed behind at their elf-bonds' sending and fell back asleep.
"See how different these branch horn tracks are? This one on the edge that you found are more blurred from prancing then the one right there. So there's at least two. Don't let the over lapping confuse you too much or you might find yourself distracted by one and blind-sided by the others. That's very dangerous with bristle boar or the round-ears so pay attention to details. Now tell me what you know about the tracks you found."
Standing up and a few steps back Brightmoss watched Littlejoy study the tracks closely. Littlejoy's hand hovering along the tracks edges as she peered at the hoof prints intently. A wisp of black hair fell in front of her eyes but it didn't distract her any.
"Its..its not fully grown yet because the hoof prints aren't as big as the other one, right? And that other one is heavier because the tracks are deeper." It was as much a question as a statement.
Littlejoy glanced up at her mother hoping she was right but couldn't read Brightmoss' guarded expression. Quickly, she re-examined the tracks, fearing she'd missed something, looking at them from different angles and positions. After a minute she noticed what she'd missed the first time. A very small pair of tracks that were identical in all but size to the other two. The prancer's tracks were almost totally erased until a short distance ahead where the branch horns had been frightened off and all the tracks showed much more clearly in their retreat.
Blushing slightly in embarrassment, Littlejoy looked at Brightmoss again, feeling she SHOULD have seen it and thinking her mother must be getting annoyed with her. In the last three hours she'd made so many mistakes. Brightmoss, on the other hand, saw that Littlejoy had noticed something she'd barely seen and began beaming with pride. The embarrassed youth didn't notice because she kept her gaze away and down.
"You're doing fine and its about time to take a break anyway. I'm getting hungry, which probably means you're starving." she said with a laugh as she caught her daughter's look. Thought I wouldn't notice, huh? With those eyes that match my own you can't hide much.
"I guess I'm hungry." Littlejoy said casually. As if in answer a faint rumble came from Littlejoy's stomach, which made her look down and glare at her traitorous body before looking back at her mother. Brightmoss bit her bottom lip to keep from laughing. She looks almost exactly like Sheercliff with that black hair and me with those flashing eyes. No doubt she would have had him wrapped around her little finger long ago, she thought to herself as they went to find a place to eat the odd number of squirrels and berries they'd collected earlier.
Resting in the shade by the river, mother and daughter ate and talked about anything they could think of in a comfortable and direction-less fashion. It eventually turned to things that went on today.
"Mother, why did you say 'you, me and us' instead of just 'you and me'?" Littlejoy asked. The phrase had stuck in her mind like an itch all day.
Brightmoss finished nibbling the squirrel bone, thought about it and got a far away smile when she remembered its origin.
"My parents always said things were best in three. Mother, father and cub. You, a love or lifemate and soul-sibling. Always three. So if there were only two, you still found a way for it to be three. I didn't realize I still said that..." she trailed off.
"What if there's more then three?" Littlejoy asked.
"Then it was even better then three. But when it was less then three it was hard and incomplete somehow." A thoughtful silence came as Littlejoy stirred that in her mind. It was late afternoon and both of them felt it had been a full and relaxing day as they sat back to watch the clouds drift slowly. Faintly, the breeze brushed their skin and the sun was high over the sky.
Brightmoss and Littlejoy reluctantly headed back to the Holt to catch some sleep. Brightmoss didn't know about her daughter but she'd been up all last night and now most of the day. She yawned and felt the right part of her jaw pop. This should only be done by the younger. I just don't have the stamina anymore, was her rueful thought as she glanced at Littlejoy who didn't look very tired yet.
In fact it seemed her daughter couldn't sleep if her life depended on it. She was already talking about bringing her wolfcub-bond along next time. "...and he'll be a big help when he gets bigger. Not as big as Flowersneeze was or your Greysnow is but...I can't wait till he's fully grown! Even though he still makes too much noise right now but that won't be for long either." Brightmoss barely heard Littlejoy's plans beyond her excited tone as they entered the Holt and parted ways. One heading for her den and sleeping furs, the other quickly going to the wolves' caves to play with the wolf cub named Stalker.
It was now eight turns of the seasons later and things had changed drastically if anyone had thought about it. There was only one sleeping fur in the den now and no more arrow glue smell hung in its walls. Where Brightmoss had slept was a troll-made sword, a Taal stick and a well-worn basket that was closed tightly from the hands and eyes of others; especially from the preservers who loved collecting trinkets. Brightmoss' necklace that Sheercliff had given her was in the basket as well as other valuable trinkets.
Her brown curly hair seemed to soak in the daystar's rays, making everything warm inside her. Shutting her blue-green eyes with a smile she let herself into the NOW of wolf thought with ease. For a moment the warmth along her left side felt as if someone was laying beside her until she shifted and opened her eyes to face the disappointment of seeing no one. Briefly, a stab of hurt hit her heart as she thought about Sheercliff but it had been many, many turns since he'd died and it didn't last too long as it had once had.
A shadow blocked the warmth from the daystar's rays and she looked up to see her daughter standing above her with a curious expression on her face. Somehow the fact that her daughter was up wasn't too odd considering she'd done stranger things before.
"Are you falling asleep on the ground during the day, Mother?" Littlejoy asked as she crouched down by Brightmoss' head with her hands loosely relaxed on her legs. The daystar's light hit Brightmoss' eyes and she squinted them shut and moved one arm to block it out.
"I wasn't falling asleep. I was relaxing." Brightmoss corrected her daughter as she sat up. Not looking really convinced but ready to let it drop, the black-haired daughter rocked upon her heels a bit as she bent over with hands on her knees. Littlejoy wasn't exactly fidgeting but it was close enough for young adult to fidgeting that she caught Brighmoss' attention.
What's got her tail now? One hand brushed her bangs back while Brightmoss studied her growing cub's expression. "Alright, Littlejoy. What are you restless for today?" Maybe the black-haired youth sighed in relief, or maybe it just seemed that way.
"Um, well you and Woodsmoke were going to teach me how to read tracks and make snares but Woodsmoke is with Wildstar for something and doesn't know when he'll be done." The last was said with only a slightly unhappy tone and Brightmoss had to smile. Her brother's calm and careful nature annoyed Littlejoy to no end at times much to the siblings' amusement.
"So it'll be just you, me and us today then, cub." Brightmoss said as she stretched and stood up. Littlejoy almost bounced up and followed her mother a distance away from the Holt to learn more about tracking then the simple ones learned as a cub. Their wolves stayed behind at their elf-bonds' sending and fell back asleep.
"See how different these branch horn tracks are? This one on the edge that you found are more blurred from prancing then the one right there. So there's at least two. Don't let the over lapping confuse you too much or you might find yourself distracted by one and blind-sided by the others. That's very dangerous with bristle boar or the round-ears so pay attention to details. Now tell me what you know about the tracks you found."
Standing up and a few steps back Brightmoss watched Littlejoy study the tracks closely. Littlejoy's hand hovering along the tracks edges as she peered at the hoof prints intently. A wisp of black hair fell in front of her eyes but it didn't distract her any.
"Its..its not fully grown yet because the hoof prints aren't as big as the other one, right? And that other one is heavier because the tracks are deeper." It was as much a question as a statement.
Littlejoy glanced up at her mother hoping she was right but couldn't read Brightmoss' guarded expression. Quickly, she re-examined the tracks, fearing she'd missed something, looking at them from different angles and positions. After a minute she noticed what she'd missed the first time. A very small pair of tracks that were identical in all but size to the other two. The prancer's tracks were almost totally erased until a short distance ahead where the branch horns had been frightened off and all the tracks showed much more clearly in their retreat.
Blushing slightly in embarrassment, Littlejoy looked at Brightmoss again, feeling she SHOULD have seen it and thinking her mother must be getting annoyed with her. In the last three hours she'd made so many mistakes. Brightmoss, on the other hand, saw that Littlejoy had noticed something she'd barely seen and began beaming with pride. The embarrassed youth didn't notice because she kept her gaze away and down.
"You're doing fine and its about time to take a break anyway. I'm getting hungry, which probably means you're starving." she said with a laugh as she caught her daughter's look. Thought I wouldn't notice, huh? With those eyes that match my own you can't hide much.
"I guess I'm hungry." Littlejoy said casually. As if in answer a faint rumble came from Littlejoy's stomach, which made her look down and glare at her traitorous body before looking back at her mother. Brightmoss bit her bottom lip to keep from laughing. She looks almost exactly like Sheercliff with that black hair and me with those flashing eyes. No doubt she would have had him wrapped around her little finger long ago, she thought to herself as they went to find a place to eat the odd number of squirrels and berries they'd collected earlier.
Resting in the shade by the river, mother and daughter ate and talked about anything they could think of in a comfortable and direction-less fashion. It eventually turned to things that went on today.
"Mother, why did you say 'you, me and us' instead of just 'you and me'?" Littlejoy asked. The phrase had stuck in her mind like an itch all day.
Brightmoss finished nibbling the squirrel bone, thought about it and got a far away smile when she remembered its origin.
"My parents always said things were best in three. Mother, father and cub. You, a love or lifemate and soul-sibling. Always three. So if there were only two, you still found a way for it to be three. I didn't realize I still said that..." she trailed off.
"What if there's more then three?" Littlejoy asked.
"Then it was even better then three. But when it was less then three it was hard and incomplete somehow." A thoughtful silence came as Littlejoy stirred that in her mind. It was late afternoon and both of them felt it had been a full and relaxing day as they sat back to watch the clouds drift slowly. Faintly, the breeze brushed their skin and the sun was high over the sky.
Brightmoss and Littlejoy reluctantly headed back to the Holt to catch some sleep. Brightmoss didn't know about her daughter but she'd been up all last night and now most of the day. She yawned and felt the right part of her jaw pop. This should only be done by the younger. I just don't have the stamina anymore, was her rueful thought as she glanced at Littlejoy who didn't look very tired yet.
In fact it seemed her daughter couldn't sleep if her life depended on it. She was already talking about bringing her wolfcub-bond along next time. "...and he'll be a big help when he gets bigger. Not as big as Flowersneeze was or your Greysnow is but...I can't wait till he's fully grown! Even though he still makes too much noise right now but that won't be for long either." Brightmoss barely heard Littlejoy's plans beyond her excited tone as they entered the Holt and parted ways. One heading for her den and sleeping furs, the other quickly going to the wolves' caves to play with the wolf cub named Stalker.
It was now eight turns of the seasons later and things had changed drastically if anyone had thought about it. There was only one sleeping fur in the den now and no more arrow glue smell hung in its walls. Where Brightmoss had slept was a troll-made sword, a Taal stick and a well-worn basket that was closed tightly from the hands and eyes of others; especially from the preservers who loved collecting trinkets. Brightmoss' necklace that Sheercliff had given her was in the basket as well as other valuable trinkets.