Chapter 3 - Under the Hill.
To Nails death was a part of life. One entwined with the coming and going of the seasons, the silencing of the young when winter starved them as the hunters were in more need of food, the smiles that vanished when another hunter or gatherer walked or rode off into the woods never to return again.
The situation that they were in now was different. There weren't many dead from the aftermath of the battle but a significant number of Direwolves and a sizeable number of hunters were killed meaning that food would become a little more scarce.
They had enough food for now, but the future of their people looked bleak. Especially with a quarter of their number healing from injuries gained in the ambush. There was the very real possibility that they may find themselves silencing more young when winter came.
But that was nothing compared to the loss of the Elder and many of his apprentices. Not to mention to the loss of the Heart Tree. The warmth of their home was gone. A number of fires lit by wood, and increasing the layers of fur and cloth was the only thing stopping them all from freezing to death.
Nails looked over to her brother Root whose wounded face, arms and legs were covered in wraps and the paste that the apprentices had applied to him to help heal. Just like all the others who were injured in the fight.
Most sat around the fires looking into them listlessly. Others lay in beds, recovering the that day that had just gone by.
Death use to feel like survival, a necessary price to pay to live another day. Now it felt like hopelessness. Looked like the haunted, hopeless eyes of the clan. Sounded like the howling storm that raged outside.
She looked over to the human, sleeping with his head on the walls. In his lap a pale blue kitten with deep blue eyes lay watching them all.
At this point it was clear that whatever the creature was, it was not what it appeared to be given its nature as a shape changer. Not that she too worried, the human seemed to have firm control of it and the human had saved them all from death. Despite the fact that he was a Man, with the dreaded weapons men were known to carry on his person. They all owed him everything they had for saving their lives. She just hoped that he could keep control of the creature that travelled with him.
"You look lost in our home," an unsure voice came from her side. She turned and saw the familiar face of Root. In his arms was their babe looking up at her with his deep brown eyes, still unnamed since the Elder would not give them one if they could not walk on their own two feet. With the Elder's death, a name may never be given to him.
"It doesn't feel like our home any more." she replied, noticing that theirs were some of the first words after the battle that wasn't an instruction from one of the Elders apprentices to get some rest, eat some food and not move too much.
"It's still out home." he replied in what seemed to be a reassuring tone. Though she didn't really believe it.
"The Elder is dead, the Heart Tree is gone, burning above us and as good as the few apprentices are they can not fix any of this." She noticed several of her listless tribe members had taken an interest in their conversation.
"We have the seeds to start again, we will grow strong again."
"When" she replied, holding her tone back at the wide eyes of her son. He never liked it when they argued, "how many winters will it take?"
"As many as it will. We are strong together. We managed to stop the enemy."
"We stopped nothing," she whispered sharply. "He did," she said pointing at the Man who's pet's blue eyes looked back at them. "and when they come for us with their army of the dead? Who will stop them?"
"Then what do you say we do?" he replied calmly, diverting his eyes away from hers, his bravery fading.
"We leave."
There was silence in the cavern until a rush of angry words exploded from all around them cursing her idea as insane, causing the young to cry and the once sleeping injured to wake in surprise.
She hadn't realised so many were listening in.
She looked down at her son who was also crying and took him gently out of Root's hands as he looked back at her in shock of her words.
As the voices around her and the tears of her child calmed down Root replied, "We would never survive. The summer is nearly over and we have too many injured. We have no choice but to stay."
"Stay and die."
"No, we live... My love," he began before being silenced by her glare. She hadn't forgotten him for that yet. He returned his eyes to the ground, "we have to stay, the Elder had a plan for us and he was the greatest of us all."
"Was," she replied.
"Yes," he conceded. "But he was still our Elder and the father of our tribe. We would not survive without him. We stay here and grow again. Grow stronger."
"You don't understand do you?" she replied.
"No, you don't. We have little food, and know nothing about the world beyond the high hills. Where would we go? What would we eat when what little we have runs out and the winter snow comes in? The Direwolves are mostly gone, so who would protect us against the Giants and the Spiders and Men and the Others?"
Their home was silent apart from the crackling of the flames. The Man's creature looked back at them with it's wide blue eyes.
"Who will carry our injured? And our children? And keep them from the cold?" He continued and she remembered the reason she had stood with their brother all that time ago, that spark of bravery that was lost when the Elder told him to obey. "We stay here or we die. The Elder will take care of us, he has always taken care of us."
'He's dead' she thought, 'he can't protect anyone any more.'
Root continued "By the Gods that surround us, he kept us safe and gave us our son."
She closed her eyes and let her flash of anger subside. It wasn't the Elder that had to give birth, nor was it he that had to suffer the bit before that.
"You don't understand," she replied softly, "we don't leave on our own. We leave with the human." and once again their home was filled with cries of outrage. But this time she would not stand to let it continue and screamed "STOP!"
Nails looked around at her home, her family and told them, "You weren't there. If he wasn't with us we'd al be dead. All of us. The Giant had ripped the Heart Tree in two and all our traps and weapons couldn't slow the endless Spiders. Then he came down on a Dragon and killed the Giant and then the Dragon turned into the Firewolf that you saw come in and torched the rest of the Spiders and saved all our lives."
"He's a Man" was Root's response.
"He saved our lives, All of them."
"He'll kill us all!" Came a shout from around them. She turned to see Hidden Path sit up from where he was resting. His dark furs and scarred face marking him for what he was. The experienced, distant hunter whose entire pack of Direwolves had just been slaughtered. "Do you remember nothing of what we were told. They will come and kill us all, destroy our Heart Tree."
"Were you born stupid when your mother lay you out like a painful shit." Nails sneered remembering all the times she had done so before, though back then it was in defence of her brother. "There is no Heart Tree. It's gone!"
"Spoken like a true whore forsaken by the Gods." came his dismissive reply. "You would do well to think of your shit spawn before trusting Men. We can always regrow, we will always recover. We can not recover from the men coming here."
"Then you will face his fire beasts!" Nectar, one of her fellow Slingers intervened. "Nails is right, you're running away from the truth, we need him and his beast!"
"Then we'll warg the creature!" he shouted.
"NO!" Nails roared, "you do that and I will rip the cocks of-"
"Shut up!" screamed someone.
This wasn't the first of her triads on those she disliked, nor was it the first time she was cut off before she could truly begin. She chose to continue quietly, "He saved our lives. We are nothing if we let him in our home and betray that trust."
"Then" Root intervened calmly, "we can convince him to stay."
"No." A unfamiliar voice said. "I plan on moving south." All eyes present turned to see the human, wide awake. "I will try and help you all and if you can tell me what you know of the area I will be grateful. But I can't stay forever."
It took a second for everyone to break out of their shock but then one of the injured hunters broke the silence, "Please don't kill us!"
The human blinked in what seemed to be confusion, "I don't plan to." Nails noticed that the old hunter that spoke, Fang spoke with a fear in him that she had not see before, one that was shared by a few of the older members of the tribe. "If anything I have something that may help… why do you think that I want to kill you. I helped you all?"
"Because," a new voice came in and Nails saw Willow with her dark red hair come from one of the side chambers, a bowl of sap held in her hands as she moved towards the injured, not once ceasing in her duties as the Elder's apprentice to help those injured. The old stories speak to us. Men have always come into our homes with their metal. Men have always burnt down the Heart Trees."
"Well" the Man replied "I am not those men."
"And how do we know that? The Elder may not be here to guide us but his wisdom is with us still. He speaks to us of the evils committed by man. Of the reason why he had to leave his own tribe to make ours."
"I know" she continued, looking at Nails, "that some of the younger ones may may disagree with some of his words. But he has given us a good life, a peaceful life. Food, warmth." Willow paused and looked down at the infant in Nails' arms, "children to call our own. We have no need of men. Men of iron and blood and fire."
"You are wrong." Nails was surprised when Root spoke up. "He saved our lives. All our lives. Even yours Willow. Nails is right, and here you stand talking about how the Man is evil. You haven't even stepped outside. Even now the corpses are being fed on by the beasts. My Direwolves are dead and without the human I would be dead as well."
"I have my duties to take care of the sick" she replied, not once looking at Nails as she inspected the injured. "But when your sister speaks of leaving our home and you speak of letting the human stay I can not stay silent my child."
"I am not your child." Root replied. "And without the human we are all dead. The Elders dream dead with us. Unless he had the time to teach you any of his magic that would help us when the next attack comes."
"And who says that another attack will come?"
"It will come," Root insisted.
"It will come," Nails agreed. "The blue eyes of the walking dead I saw, they do not lie. They come. For everyone."
And with that silence returned once more to their home, bar the crackling of the flames and the movement of Willow as she went about her duties.
"So" the human spoke up once more, reminding them all of his presence. "I'm not going to tell you what you can and can't do. But I may be able to help your injured if I can have someone to practice on." No one moved for a while until Root sighed and began to move to the Man. Nails stood confused for a moment, where had this change of heart come form? He was unsure about the Man for a long while.
"I'm going to try something. Tell me if you feel any pain." The creature in his lap flew out and began to glow white until it transformed into a pink, egg shaped creature with a small white egg in a pouch on its belly. The creatures egg began to glow gold and flew out into Root's chest. Suddenly Root ripped off the wrappings on his arm and all present bore witness to the wounds vanishing.
The creature glowed and became a blue eyed, blue furred cat once more.
"I'll need some time before I can do this again, it's not the easiest thing to do. Until then, would you be able to offer some bread and salt, or anything else you have with you. I've been eating burnt rabbit and polar bear for the last week or so."
"It will be done, "Willow interrupted. She glanced at Hidden Path then back at the human, "none shall harm you here, those who do will find themselves abandoned by the Gods." Nails noticed the human's arm relax, a arm that she hadn't noticed till now was gripped firmly on his sword.
"Root," Willow commanded, "come with me, I shall check you for any injuries and lingering poison."
He nodded and they walked with her to the Elder's old place to do whatever rituals she wished.
All of a sudden the cavern felt a little warmer. If most of the tribe had chosen to stay then she would have as well. If guest right had not been offered then Hidden Path would have done something stupid, it was in his nature. She looked at her son staring at her with wide eyes and recalled that even Elders can break the laws of the Gods. If Hidden Path did do something stupid she would just have to do everything to stop him.
Maybe then the Gods would forgive her son.
Though she would tell Willow in time not to order her or any one ever. She was not the Elder. There would never be another Elder, especially not Willow.
A stray thought then hit her. How did the human learn to speak their tongue? Was he touched by the Gods?
A/N: Some people, never grateful, eh?
Also Softboiled is the best way to deal with all the diseases in a Medieval setting, would recommend you taking it everywhere. Though given that [INSERT NAME] is a newbie it is extremely limited in use.
