"Pack your bags," Rosethorn said, shoving Crane awake from where he sat, fast asleep in front of a telescope.
"Huh?" he said, blinking sleepily, not even half awake yet.
"We're leaving," she replied sharply, "pack."
"Wha?" Crane answered, still not awake. He looked up and Rosethorn and yawned then stared at her in confusion.
She sighed and then explained, "we're journeying to this place, Moonstream asked me to go and to bring you, since we're both plant mages and there's that whole Photosynthesis thing."
Crane, now more awake, could tell he was not the only one still slightly asleep. Rosethorn usually never explained things in that manner. He smiled to himself and climbed out of the chair, shoving Rosethorn out the door so he could have some privacy.
***
Two hours later…"Now, where are we going?" asked Crane as he swung onto Tiger Lily's back once more.
"I'm not entirely sure. It is this area up North. I believe it's supposed to be closer to the sun," Rosethorn replied, mounting up on her own horse, a gray mare.
"How far?" Crane asked, kicked Tiger into a walk.
"A week, maybe more away. That's all Moonstream told me. We're supposed to meet some friends of hers up there," Rosethorn told him, watching the plants that lined the road.
Crane himself just stared at the ears of Tiger, watching them twitch back and forth at the new sounds. He knew they were going somewhere new and so instead of his usual plod he was walking fast and energetically. Rosethorn's mare was going a little slower just behind, so Crane couldn't see them unless he looked back.
As they went around a bend in the road, Crane saw a large log across. Tiger's ears went forward and his nostrils quivered. This was something new, something to be inspected. He took a tentative step forward.
"You like to jump, Tiger?" asked Crane.
He looked back at Rosethorn. She was patting the mare's neck and whispering in her ear. When she found Crane's gaze on her she looked up, then glanced at the log. Crane nodded and then told Tiger to canter. Tiger cantered up to the log, and mind you he had a rather barreling canter, and threw himself over it. He didn't jump; he sort of lurched over. Crane found himself falling, right onto the log. His head hit it and then there was blackness.
Rosethorn froze as she saw Crane fall. Damn stupid horse of his! Tiger Lily had cantered a few more strides before realizing Crane had fallen and so he stopped abruptly and turned around to stare at Crane, lying motionless in the dirt. Rosethorn trotted Stormy up the log, halted her and jumped off.
Crane never had been a very good rider, unlike her. He always sat stiff, like a stick and didn't relax into the movements of the horse. What was he doing with a horse like Tiger?
She climbed over the log and leaned over Crane. He looked okay; there wasn't any blood. Probably just knocked his head on the log and got knocked unconscious. Just like Crane to make a simple situation complicated. Still, what if was seriously hurt? She frowned; perhaps they should have a doctor look at his head? There was a First Aid Kit in the saddlebags.
Rosethorn looked up and found Tiger Lily standing a few feet away. She stood and walked over to him, scolding him for letting such an inexperienced rider go over the jump and fall off. In his saddlebags were some medical things. She pulled them out and walked back over to Crane, who was still out cold.
She kneeled down next to him and peered at his head. His normally tidy black hair was scattered all over the place. Should she try and wake him up? He didn't look to be really hurt at all, except for that awful swelling at the back of his head.
Crane opened his eyes and found that he was staring straight into Rosethorn's. She was very close, inspecting his head. Close enough to kiss, he thought, to his own embarrassment. She looked genuinely concerned and there was tenderness in her eyes he had never seen before.
"How many fingers am I holding up?" she asked, holding up two.
"Four," he said and blinked.
"That's not good. How does your head feel?" she asked, leaning back and giving him more room.
Crane sat up and ran his hand through his hair. His head felt pretty sore, but he wasn't going to tell Rosethorn that.
"Fine," he replied and stood up, swaying a bit.
"Sure," Rosethorn said and stood up as well. Crane was surprised to find he was quite a bit taller then her, as always. Her personality added another two feet to her height.
"Lets get going, the sooner we get there the better," Crane said, avoiding Rosethorn's suspicious gaze.
"You're positive you're up to riding?" Rosethorn inquired, "you look a bit unsteady on your feet."
"I'm not unsteady!" Crane said and took a confident step towards Tiger.
The whole world swayed and he nearly fell down again.
"You know, those cuts on your head look pretty nasty," Rosethorn commented. When he had stood up she found that he had a few cuts on the back of his head she hadn't seen at first. They were driving her crazy with worry, (What if they got infected?!), but she wasn't going to let Crane know she was worried. Usually she wasn't this much of a worrier, but the whole Sun Problem was making her behave differently.
"Cuts?" he asked, touching the back of his head. His fingers came back bloody.
Rosethorn grimaced, "you had better let me clean those up for you."
Crane nodded in submission and sat back down on the log. Rosethorn took the First Aid Kit bag and opened it, pulling out some wash clothes and disinfectant. She poured some of the disinfectant onto the washcloth and sat down behind Crane.
Crane sat, his heart pounding harder then usual. He felt the coolness of the washcloth against the back of his head, stinging a bit as it touched the cuts. Once they were clean Rosethorn took some bandages and taped them over the cuts.
"Alright, you're good," Rosethorn said, packing up the First Aid.
Crane nodded and touched the bandages before standing up. Rosethorn had done a good job, he was sure the bandages wouldn't fall off. Looking for Tiger Lily he found the gelding grazing off the side of the road. He walked over to him and mounted up. The gelding was obviously unhappy he had to stop grazing but obediently started walking. Looking back he found Rosethorn leading Stormy around the log before mounting back up on her.
"Lets go," said Crane and kicked Tiger into a trot.
Once again, Rosethorn rode behind, and Crane battled the urge to look back at her, because once he did he had a feeling he might not be able to stop watching her, and then she would suspect something.
A while later it was starting to get dark, as it got dark very early now and they stopped to make camp. Crane tethered up Tiger and took off his tack while Rosethorn built a fire to light the black night. The moon was but a dim shadow in the sky.
They ate a quick, simple dinner then lay out their bedrolls and went to sleep. Or at least Crane did, his head cuts were making him tired. Rosethorn lay there, watching the fire burn down, and staring at the sky, her body tired, but her mind wide awake. She glanced over at Crane, sleeping on the other side of the fire. All she could see of him was the back of his head and the bandages covering part of his hair, which was still untidy. He really should brush it more often, she thought.
It really was very dark. Rosethorn glanced at the sky, almost as dark as space itself. He also kept it short, unlike a lot of men, who liked it long and put it in ponytails. Suddenly Rosethorn realized she was thinking about Crane's hair. Now thinking about hair in general, she could understand that, but Crane's hair?! Was she going nuts? She was probably very sleepy, since it was late and it had been a long day.
Then had it been tiredness that had caused her to see something in his eyes, this morning, right after he fell off Tiger Lily. Silly of him, really. She had been watching him, and then he opened his eyes. At first his expression had been surprise to see her so close, then something else. But what? He had looked away to quickly for her to tell. Crane had been acting rather unusual lately, and it wasn't due to head wounds. There was a reason, and she knew it, it was right there, but she didn't know. Rosethorn fell asleep, frustrated and confused about Crane, and her own feelings.