Warriors, Actually As Humans

(Tribal Adventures World [Brand New] )

I'm Back… And Some Much Has Changed…

(Hollyleaf's Return From the Tunnels "Forgotten Warrior")

Holly's green gaze strayed around the camp looking for a few people, in particular, her brothers, and her best friend. She spotted Jay as he carefully led Bree out of the medicine cabin, the woven dark green curtains were pushed to the side as Leah emerged behind him, her amber eyes curious and slightly confused. Holly looked at her other brother, searching for the face of her blonde warrior of a brother.

Finally, he emerged from the thick oak log walls that barred the warriors and family cabins from sight and attackers. Leon wasn't wearing his face paint, and neither did he have his warrior dagger on him, he also wasn't wearing his warriors metal plating vest, knee and shoulder guards, and gauntlets over his custom orange tunic or his warrior's dog tags that stated his role in the community. Her brother was wearing dark blue trousers with a belt, his sandals, and a soft cotton forest green tunic Holly hadn't seen before. Leon paused and held open the sturdy door of the wall for someone who revealed herself to be Cynthia.

Holly's eyes widened. Cynthia didn't have her bow or moccasins on, neither did she have her hunter fighter armor on which consisted of metal gauntlets, a chainmail vest, shoulder and knee guards, and ankle gauntlets. Nor did she have her face paint on either, the dark blue stripes beneath her eyes and the small spots on her cheeks were nonexistent. Her friend was wearing a long sleeve dark blue cotton tunic with leather ties part way down the chest, leather bracelets around both wrists, leather sandals, and her custom light gray knee-length trousers. Cynthia mumbled something and she yawned and used her free arm to rub at her eyes in a sleepy manner.

Leon leaned over and pressed a kiss to her black hair before he looked toward the center of the clearing, his eyes widened and his jaw slackened. "Holly?" He breathed and he stared at her.

Cynthia followed his gaze and her eyes widened as well, "you're alive!"

"Holly's alive!" the news ran through the tribe like a wildfire, but all of the whisperings stopped the moment Firen stepped out of the leader's cabin high up on the outcrop that had his cabin built beneath it.

Firen's green eyes were calm as he strode over to them all, the gold tribe leader dog tag around his neck that accompanied his silver, nickel, and steel dog tags glinted brightly in the sunhigh sun. "Holly," he spoke calmly, "you survived the cave in?"

Holly nodded to her leader, "Yes, but one of my legs got caught beneath a boulder and it broke."

"Did someone help you?"

Holly nodded again, "A loner my age named Finli saved my life Firen, he was abandoned by the tribe just beyond the tribe territories around the lake and has been wandering around in the tunnels below our territories ever since, lost and completely by himself."

Firen nodded, and Holly saw her father emerge from the deputy's cabin out of the corner of her eye and silently watched as he approached Firen to stand beside him. "Brad, gather the hunters and planters," he said with a growing smile, "your daughter has come home. Let us feast on both your daughter's return and the good weather StarClan has blessed us all with this Greenleaf."

Brad smiled a tight-lipped smile, clearly restraining his joy, "Bracken, gather Dustin as your second and Lily as your runner, collect two other hunters and go out into the territory. Sarah, gather two other planters and collect fruit from the storages and the underground farms."

Bracken and Sarah nodded and they both started to collect their groups. "Bracken, make sure you have an armed warrior in your group as well."

Skylar tightly hugged her daughter, "You're alive!" She laughed weakly, hugging her daughter close.

Holly smiled and hugged her back, relaxing in her mother's hold, "I'm alive," she confirmed, "and I'm back."

Skylar pulled back, "I'm so glad," she smiled softly at her daughter, "I missed you so much."

"I did too mom," Holly smiled at her mother, "I missed you all so much."

Jay pushed through everyone next, leaving Bree sitting on the ground near the back of the crowd to catch her breath, "are you injured?" he grunted and prodded his sister in the arm.

"No," Holly replied with a smile and gave her brother a quick hug, "I'm perfectly healthy."

"Good," Jay grunted, "I don't need to be watching over my own sister."

Holly nodded and smiled, "I have to talk to you later, I mean, what happened to Bree?"

Jay shrugged, "ask me later when we aren't surrounded by people." he grunted.

Holly nodded and she was about to reply before she was pulled into a bear hug by Leon.

"I can't believe that you're alive!" Leon exclaimed before he let her go, allowing her to breathe properly, "we missed you so much!"

Cynthia came up behind him, her blue eyes twinkling happily, "your brothers were miserable."

Holly smiled at them both, "Jay may have been, but I'm sure Leon was fine."

"I missed you," Leon told Holly, his amber eyes sincere, "I really thought you died in the cave in!"

Holly shook her head, "no, I only got pinned by a boulder landing on my leg-"

"Cynthia," Paige interrupted as she came over to her sister, a baby boy around thirteen months was held in her arms, sniffling and looking like he had been crying.

Cynthia's sapphire blue eyes turned to concern as she took the boy from Paige who immediately cuddled against her chest, snuggling up to her and gripping loose handfuls of Cynthia's shirt. Cynthia snuggled the boy, cuddling him closer to her and pressing a motherly kiss to his small forehead. "Are you okay?" She asked the boy softly, resting her head on top of his.

The baby hiccuped and yawned, his multi-colored eyes drooping closed.

Holly blinked, "who's that?"
Leon and Cynthia glanced at each other before Leon pulled Cynthia to him by the waist and Cynthia pulled her warriors necklace from beneath her tunic to reveal the three sapphires encased in clear amber -one for passing her apprentice's assessment, one for proving herself in a battle, and one for gaining her role which was hunter-fighter- and a new gem encased in amber that Holly hadn't seen on the necklace, a light pink diamond. The symbol of motherhood in the tribe.

Holly's jaw slackened, the baby was her brother's? "You two are mates?" She asked, rather surprised.

Leon nodded before Bracken called his name. "Coming!" He yelled before he looked back at his sister, "I have to go, but Cyndy will tell you what happened," he then pressed his lips to the corner of Cynthia's mouth before he jogged off to gather his gear.

:) :) :)

"I didn't think you wanted to be a mother," Holly said as she watched Cynthia push some hand-carved blocks in front of the baby before she got up and went into the 'kitchen' where she had some kind of dough on one of the wooden tables that edged the area of the cabin where the cooking fireplace was.

"I've always wanted kids," Cynthia shrugged as she covered her hands with flour and started kneading the dough, her black hair tucked up in a braided bun with an ivy vine headband. "I wanted a family since I can remember."

"I know, but you always told me you wouldn't because then you'd have to give up your hunter/fighter duties," Holly replied from where she was sitting on the smooth wooden floor near the baby. The floor had obviously been sanded for a very long time to get it to be smooth enough for no splinters to get in any child's feet.

"I know," Cynthia replied, "but I wanted to start a family before I couldn't have one, and I'm only off of my duties until Flynx learns to walk completely and speak the essential words." She paused and added a tiny bowl of berries into the dough before she continued, apparently not minding the flour on her tunic and arms. "He's already walking and he can say a few words." Pride was hinted in her tone there.

Holly looked at the baby that was watching his mother with one of the blocks in his mouth, his round multi-colored eyes fixed on his mother and her current task. "I forgot that your bloodline's cursed," she admitted, "I totally forgot that you can't have a first born after twenty-five." A long time ago Cynthia's bloodline was cursed because of something one of her ancestors did, so all of the females in the later generations couldn't have their first born after about twenty-five or they risked deadly consequences, which was how she lost her sister Haliah, three years ago.

Cynthia shrugged, "I'm twenty-five now, so I couldn't waste any more time to have my first born if I wanted a family. I had to have the baby before I turned twenty-five, so I did." She finished as she shaped the dough on a metal sheet and tucked the sheet in the fireplace high up so the flames wouldn't burn it.

"So how did you and Leon become mates then?" Holly asked curiously.

Cynthia was silent for a few moments as she rinsed the flour from her arms in a small basin. Eventually, as she was using a cotton cloth to dry her arms she spoke. "We were mates for a few months before the cave in," she admitted, "we just kept it quiet and to ourselves. It was new and we wanted to enjoy it as much as possible before we got overwhelmed with my parents and family pushing me into starting a family." She shrugged, "it wasn't an example that everyone should follow, but it made sure that it would work out in the long run. Then the cave in happened and it nearly killed Leon. Not literally," she added as she sat down behind her baby boy, "but he was miserable, depressed even. When the cave in happened I was with Leah in the medicine cabin, asking her a few questions, but I felt a wave of grief from Leon so bad that I stumbled and threw up before I passed out." Flynx made a giggling noise and offered his mother a block which she took and smiled at him, "thank you Flynx." she then continued the story. "I came to around when Leon came back to tell everyone what happened and that you had died in the cave in." Cynthia shook his head, "He was broken, losing a sibling hurts, it really does. So I comforted him and didn't tell him anything about what Leah had told me in the medicine cabin."

"Which was?"

Cynthia smiled dryly, "that I was pregnant with our first child. But I didn't tell him for a while, understanding he needed time to grieve over his loss of his sister and not worry about me or the baby."

Holly nodded slowly, "that makes sense."

"So anyway, I took over for Leon's warrior role while doing my hunter-fighter role and fought for him in a decent amount of battles against Rushing Breeze for about a month till I got shaken up and couldn't fight anymore."

"What happened?" Holly asked with round eyes.

"My armor caught and deflected a stab at my stomach," Cynthia responded and placed the block on the floor in front of Flynx. "If I hadn't been wearing the chain mail fighter vest beneath the ridged warriors vest I wouldn't have survived with the baby. The blade used against me cut through Leon's armor but got stuck in mine."

Holly stared at her, "no wonder you stopped fighting."

Cynthia nodded, "and I was close to hitting three months so it got uncomfortable wearing the armor. So I explained to Firen that I couldn't take over for Leon anymore and the reason why, and he simply smiled and said that he knew and that I should get some rest. So I did, I returned to the warrior's cabin with the intent to sleep for a while, but I found Leon in my bunk room, sitting on the bed with an incredulous look on his face. He asked me if I missed you because I didn't really show it very much, being so busy with the two roles I was being. I told him that I did, I missed you lot, it's just that I was busy with all of my responsibilities and I had to make sure that he was okay as well. He told me he was worried about me, and how I seemed to be more tired despite that I ate twice as much as I usually did, and he delicately told me he noticed I was gaining weight."

Holly snorted, "oops."

Cynthia laughed, "nah, I was tired that I thought his worrying was cute and simply told him to ask me once I had gotten some sleep and I promptly passed out on my bed, armor, face paint, and all. I woke up a few hours later to Leon using a wet cloth to rub the face paint from my face and I didn't have my armor and sandals on."

"He took it all off for you?" Holly asked curiously and Cynthia nodded, "I have to admit, that's pretty nice."

Cynthia nodded, "he had taken off my armor, and sandals, and was trying to take off my face paint without waking me up. Anyway, so he accidentally woke me up and apologized before repeating his earlier words. I told him that I was pregnant which it why I was gaining weight and seeming so tired and he stared at me for a few minutes, making me nervous and frightened, but he shook it off and hugged me hard enough that we both heard my back pop."

Holly snorted, "wow, that's an interesting story."

Cynthia nodded and got up to take the now bakes item she had been working on earlier, "that's what happened while you were gone besides the building of this cabin done by Brad, Leon, Jay, Bree, and I." She took the now steaming baked thing from the metal sheet and quickly set it on a table to cool while she tucked the metal sheet up much higher so that it would cool down enough for her to use it later.

Abruptly a small voice spoke, surprising Holly. "Mama!" Flynx was wobbly walking toward them, reaching up like he wanted to be held.

Cynthia's blue eyes glowed with excitement, "come here Flynx!" She said with excitement in her voice as she crouched down and reached out for her son, mentally counting his steps, "you can do it!"

Flynx wobbled a little and almost fell, but he caught himself and continued to make his way over to his mother, smiling at her, "mama!" He giggled

Holly watched with bated breath, her green eyes sparkling as she watched the mother and son.

Flynx finally made it to Cynthia and flopped over in her lap, giggling happily, "mama!"

Cynthia scooped him up and blew a raspberry against his cheek, "that was amazing Flynx!"

"What's amazing?" Leon asked as he walked in with a fish and a rabbit which he deposited on one of the tables.

Cynthia grinned at him, "Flynx was walking!"

Leon's eyes lit up and he jogged over, the clinking of metal could be heard from his armor, but he didn't mind as he pulled the metal off, dropped it, and took his son from Cynthia, "were you walking bud?" he excitedly asked his son who giggled and grasped his father's face.

"Daddy!"

"How many?" Leon asked, looking at Cynthia with gleaming amber eyes.

"A lot," Cynthia responded with a smile, "he was walking from the blocks you made to where I was near the fireplace."

"Now that's my boy!" Leon smiled and ruffled his baby son's hair, "you're walking now!"

"Happy!" Flynx giggled, holding onto his father's clean-shaven face, "daddy happy!"

Cynthia smiled as did Leon who gave Flynx back to Cynthia.

Cynthia looked at Leon, "are you staying in camp now or going out again?"

Leon smiled and tugged her to him by the waist and nuzzled her nose with his, "I'm not going anywhere. I did my part for the feast so I'm not going anywhere."

Cynthia smiled and kissed him, which Flynx giggled at before she jogged up the stairs to the loft that was the two bedrooms, hers and Leon's, and Flynx's. "I'll be right back!"

Leon smiled fondly at Cynthia as she disappeared up the stairs before he looked at his sister and smiled, "you're back."

Holly smiled, "I'm back."

:) :) :) :)

"So what happened to Bree?" Holly asked Jay as she sat down on the medicine cabin floor where her brother was mixing together medicines for later use at a wooden table near a corner that was full of shelves that had medicines that were already made.

"Leah isn't sure," Jay shrugged gruffly, "remember when we were younger and she got stabbed in the spine in a battle?"

Holly nodded and hastily spoke so as not to offend her half-blind brother, "yeah, I remember."

"I think that her spine was damaged just enough to make it hard to feel her legs, balance, and move properly." Jay grunted, "so I've been keeping her here so I can give her something to ease the pain she's in and do exercises to make sure she doesn't have any muscle weakness."

Holly looked around puzzled, where did the brunette stay?

As if reading her mind, Jay spoke gruffly, "she stays with me and Leah upstairs in the loft." He grunted, "so that we don't waste any space down here."

"And Jay likes having her up there," Leah added as she entered the cabin with a basket full of herbs and medicinal plants. "She likes to organize everything when she's here and not in the armory."

Jay huffed, "I don't like her up there because she organizes stuff." He grunted irritably.

"Right, sorry," Leah's amber eyes turned mischevious, "he likes to have a snuggle buddy."

Holly snorted and coughed to cover her laughter.

"You two are terrible." Jay grunted, "I like having her up there because if she starts coughing then I don't have to fight with the stairs to keep her from choking or passing out."

Leah laughed, "I believe you," she hummed before she disappeared down into the basement where the ground was always cold enough from the mount water that pooled down there that it kept the fresh herbs preserved until they needed to use it during Leafbare.

Jay rolled his eyes, "I can't believe that she was my mentor." He grunted. "These days she's too happy."

Holly laughed, "it's a good thing, Leah deserves happiness Jay, I mean wasn't she taken out of medicine when the whole thing was revealed?"

Jay nodded, "until Firen and I reinstated her because she belongs here with medicine, not blood and fighting. I'm the battle medic, not her." He grunted.

"I'm one too," Bree said as she limped down the stairs, leaning on the handrail for stability, "although not so much anymore," she sighed as she made her way over to them before she brightened, "hello Holly! I heard you were back!" She promptly hugged the other girl tightly, happy to see her again.

Holly smiled and hugged her back, she remembered their apprentice years, the three of them along with Leon and Cynthia had been inseparable, all of them had been trained so differently for their different roles, but the five of them had always been incredibly close. "Yeah, I'm back Bree, how's it going?"

Bree let her go and leaned against the table Jay was using, "well I'm having some really bad balance issues, but I'm good! And I'm even happier than you're back!" she hugged Holly again.

"I'm glad to be back too," Holly said and returned her hug, "I'm really glad that I'm back."