Ebony's Weavings:
Chapter Sixteen
Back to Normal
"Skywise, what's going on?" Ebony's voice was filled with amused laughter as she followed the silver-haired elf. She had closed her eyes as he'd requested, and had no idea what his surprise was all about.
It was two years since Madcoil had appeared, and things were finally back to normal. Her tribemates treated her well, now appreciating the fact that she'd taken the name she did. And her brothers kept her busy and happy. It was a good friendship.
She heard Cutter's chuckle and turned toward him, but Skywise turned her back. "Skywise, please!" Finally, she felt hands over her eyes, and felt safe to open them. All she could see was a palm, and she grinned. "Are you going to let me see ever again, or am I going to have to go the rest of my life blind?" Skywise laughed, then removed his hand.
Her breath caught in her throat. Before her were a new set of leathers, obviously crafted by Moonshade. The detailing was unmistakable, and very beautiful. The tunic was the deepest black, in regards to her name, but it was edged in deep red, no doubt a tribute to the cub she had once been. Tears rose in her eyes, and she turned to the two elves beside her.
"Why?" It was barely a whisper, but they still heard it. And Cutter smiled gently at her.
"Your leathers are worn, in some places, almost through. And, Ebony, we love you."
Skywise grinned slightly, then turned to Cutter. "Let's go to the hill and look at the stars, my chief. Ebony can follow when she has a mind to." And the two of them raced off.
Ebony approached the leathers hesitantly, reaching out a single hand to trace part of the red. She regretted, sometimes, giving up her cubname, but it had been past time for her to. After a moment, she peeled off her old leathers, and walked the five feet left to get to the stream she was at.
The cool water brushed over her, cleansing her body, and she thought as she bathed. She could not imagine a life without these two in it. It would be incomplete, bereft of a great deal of light. And she thanked the High Ones that she had found them.
Her bathing done, she moved back up the shore, allowing the wind to dry her before she slipped into new leathers. And gathering up her old ones, she went back to the Holt to thank Moonshade.
Author's Notes:
Next part is when we get to the actual Fire and Flight story. I
hope that you will enjoy it!!! I look forward to hearing what you have
to say about the way I change the story.
Chapter Seventeen
Gotara's Appearance
:Cutter, those humans are sick!: Ebony's frustrated Sending cut through the background cries to kill the demon, filling Cutter's head with disgust and pain. :How can they hurt us and think it's right?:
Cutter shook his head, sighing as he listened to the human priest speak. "Untold moons ago, the evil ones invaded our land, twisting the shape of things with their foul magic. Hear, Gotara, the cries of this child of demons. Let his death agony appease your wrath." The impassioned speech only served to strengthen Ebony's disgust. Redlance hung tied to a stone pillar, his back facing the humans. There were bloody whip marks on him, and skulls right over where he hung.
"Cutter, those skulls . . . ." Skywise's worried whisper carried to Ebony, who glanced at him sharply.
"Don't worry, Skywise. Redlance's won't hang among them. I swear it!" Cutter glared back at Ebony, then signalled the rescue to begin. It didn't last long. Even as the priest yelled, Cutter killed Redlance's would-be executioner and cut down their tribesman.
"I have Redlance! Enough blood for now!" Cutter's voice rang out over the din of the human yells and elven growls. As he rode past the priest, Ebony could see him stop and say something, but the cries of the humans were too loud for her to hear just what he said.
The elves pulled out, riding back to the Holt, Cutter carrying Redlance. As the chief bid Skywise to hurry back and tell Nightfall the news, Ebony rode up to Cutter's side. She regarded the elf in his arms solemnly, then sighed.
After they had arrived and gotten Redlance situated, Ebony and Cutter stayed in the room. Nightfall sat beside her lifemate, trying to comfort him. And Cutter glared down at him. Ebony was the only one who seemed unmoved by the sight of Redlance's wounds.
"You should have seen him, Cutter . . . . The finest, fattest buck in all the woods. I almost got him . . . ." Ebony hid a smile at that. Only almost?
"I don't care *how* sweet the game is near the humans' camp!" Cutter's voice was a low growl, a testimony to his sheer anger at Redlance. "You know that hunting alone is forbidden! Why did you disobey me?!"
It was a new rule, one that had only been in force since Madcoil, and Ebony shook her head.
"Forgive me, my chief. In the heat of the chase, I--I forgot . . . ." Redlance's quiet voice was contrite, and Cutter softened. "Well, don't forget again! Your carelessness almost cost me my best tracker--you!" With that, Cutter walked out of the room, leaving the rest in there, and Nightfall turned to Ebony.
"Why must the humans hate us so? We offer them no harm." The question had no real answer, and both elves knew it. But Ebony had to try to help.
"Humans have always hated our kind, Nightfall. That's just the way it is."
"I wish we could live in a place where there are no humans." Ebony walked over to the fellow huntress, touching her shoulder, then Redlance's. As she turned to leave, she spoke one last time.
"I know. But this is home. Beyond the woods, what is there?"
Author's Notes:
Chapter Eighteen
Raging Fires
Ebony, Cutter, and Skywise sat on their hill, looking out at the stars. Skywise was trying to show them the pictures again, but neither of the others could see them. Cutter was worried, and Ebony could guess why. He'd been distracted ever since the human ceremony, and he was beginning to make both of them worry.
"Cutter, what's wrong?" Skywise's gentle question was full of worry, and Ebony sighed.
"I . . . never killed a human before. Didn't think it could be done. Something bad will happen soon. I feel it."
Skywise and Ebony traded looks, smiling. The huntress spoke. "You're full of dreamberries!"
"What can the humans do to us?" Skywise asked. "They're afraid to come near our holt." But even as the words were spoken, the wolf-pack began to howl a warning. All three jumped up, worried. Cutter and Skywise waited for their wolves as Ebony hurried back to the holt.
When she arrived, she heard the summons from Cutter, and heard that he did not call Redlance. She ran into the small room Nightfall and Redlance shared, looking just long enough to make sure that he was still healing and was not jeopardizing his health. Then she headed out to Cutter, arriving in time to hear her chief yelling at a human.
" . . . Your tribe as well as mine!!!" She was afraid to know what he was talking about. And then, before her eyes, she saw the human touch his torch to dry brush. The plant ignited, and wind roared in her ears. She couldn't hear anything or anyone but the fire. And her only thought was to get back to the tribe. They had to get out of the forest before they all died.
The preparations for leaving were panicked, everyone terrified. Many of the elves were trying desperately to gather what they could. She, fortunately, had the most important things on her. And even as she took stock of the evacuation, she saw something she couldn't bear to think about.
Strongbow and Moonshade's second child, Dart's little sister, had wandered a ways off into the forest, and as it happened, that was one of the areas it was impossible to get to. There was no way to save the child. As Ebony took stock of the situation, Moonshade saw what had happened.
Ebony yelped, grabbing the tanner and dragging her away. They would lose one tribemember this night. There was no point in losing more. Cutter heard Ebony's yelp, and saw what was happening himself. With a cry of his own, he grabbed Strongbow as the archer tried to get past.
Cutter and Ebony didn't see what happened to the girl once known as Warbler. She disappeared into the flames as they dragged Strongbow and Moonshade away. But they would howl for her, when they could, if they survived.
It became Skywise's job to watch after Strongbow as the tribe made their way to the caverns of the trolls. But that was not hard. The fight had gone out of both parents, and the son could not understand what had happened. And once in the caverns, the only things still hot were the tears on the cheeks of the tribe. They had lost one of their own. And someday, the humans would pay.
Author's Note:
Chapter Nineteen
A Difficult Loss
Ebony hung back at the back of the tribe, along with Strongbow and Moonshade. Dart had very quickly wormed his way to the front, and was enjoying the sights. But Ebony and the parents could not feel anything other than pain.
There was nothing to be said, really. No amount of speech could ever bring back Warbler, as much as they wanted it to. And for Ebony, that was just one more face emblazoned on her name. The humans were worse than Madcoil, and they would find some way to make the humans pay for the loss of one so small.
The silence should have allowed Ebony to hear everything that went on at the head of the line, but she did not care enough to listen. It didn't matter what plans Cutter made with the trolls. She and the two she was with would follow their chief without question. It was the Way. And then Ebony heard the thing she'd been dreading.
"Why didn't you let me go to her?" Moonshade's soft voice was accusing. "I could have saved her. I know I could've. I could run through the flames and back out again and she would be here now."
Ebony closed her eyes, imagining the wall of flames, and knew that Moonshade needed to believe what she did right now. She needed to believe that she could have saved Warbler, even if it meant that the tanner would never speak to Ebony again.
"Perhaps, Moonshade, but I wasn't going to take that chance." Ebony looked away, and found herself staring at Strongbow. His eyes were clear, his gaze lucid, and she knew that he understood. He had truly seen the danger.
"I hope that you die slowly, Ebony, and that your body lies in waste. That is all you deserve." Moonshade's curse, so evenly said, cut Ebony to the quick. She fell behind them, wanting to be alone. She would have to grieve again, she thought, and sighed. Warbler, her student, was gone.
In a single lifetime, teacher and student both gone. Perhaps she truly was cursed. Perhaps it was her fault.
Author's Notes:
Yep, Ebony really thinks that way! I hope you all realize that
I'm crying as I write this. Warbler was Ebony's first real student, and
at this rate, could have been Ebony's last. Don't worry. You'll see the
Moonshade you know and love again soon. Remember, these elves live in
the Now of WolfThought!!! :)
Chapter Twenty
To A New Life
Cutter had returned to the tribe, telling those who hadn't heard of the Tunnel of Golden Light. "The trolls say that it opens onto a peaceful green forest. He says that it's a beautiful place, free of humans. I think we should take a chance. The rest of you?"
Ebony nodded, suddenly terribly weary. With all that had happened this day, she would sleep for days when given the chance. She looked over at Skywise, who nodded, and she agreed with Cutter as well. It was easier than trying to fight to stay at the Holt, and made much more sense. But she still couldn't see trusting the trolls further than she could throw them.
When the entire tribe had commented, they decided to travel the Tunnel of Golden Light. The journey was long, and their water supply was low to begin with. By the time Cutter finally spoke to Picknose of it, Ebony was concerned, and giving up half of her water share to Moonshade, whose tears took more water out of her body than she put in it. And then, on the brink of despair, Skywise saw light. Picknose turned back, Treestump guarding him, and the rest rode for the light. But when they arrived, they found, not the beautiful forest they had expected, but a wasteland, bright and golden, with no trees or bushes, nothing alive at all.
Ebony turned away from the light, tears stinging her eyes, and suddenly, she saw something else. The tunnel was collapsing. Dewshine ran to Treestump, crying "Father!"
"What happened?" Ebony demanded of the older elf. And Cutter picked up her cry.
"Where's Picknose?!"
"Don't know . . ." Treestump replied. "He just touched the wall and the stones came down like rain."
"Those lying trolls had it planned from the start." Cutter's fury was palpable, making Ebony shiver. "Picknose knew he could trigger a cave-in at any time he chose."
And Dewshine asked the one question they all wondered. "But why, Cutter? There was no need for them to do this."
"No need but revenge for Greymung's injured pride. Only, I didn't think it would go so far . . . ." He turned away from the tribe, but Ebony came up on him.
Her LockSending pierced his thoughts. :What now, Tam? What shall we do but continue on?:
Author's Notes:
Poor Treestump, getting beaned like that. :( Ebony's just
getting the bad end of pretty much any deal you hear about, isn't she? I
think she really is cursed!!!