A piercing whistle alerted the Hwenti to the presence of company one cool late-spring morning, and a moment later a handful of sarril and their riders appeared over the nearest hill.
Moon squealed and bounced up and down on her heels. "I told you! Didn't I tell you?!"
"Yeah, yeah, we know," Flint grumbled, but even he sounded interested.
Storm squinted and picked out the Penni sunburst-spot dye pattern around one of the riders' eyes, in contrast to the Kinn-lai horizontal streaks in the same area. "What was her name, again?"
"Rain," Moon supplied. The same word was being repeated over and over by the surrounding elves; this visitor had been much-anticipated.
The tribe gathered in a loose half-circle with Dawn in the center (and quite a few elves, including Raven, scrambling into any nearby trees large enough to hold their weight), and the Kinn-lai swept right into where the middle of the circle would be, their horses snorting and hopping as they came to a reluctant stop. Storm decided to try for a spot beside Dawn and was pleasantly surprised when the others let him through without too much elbowing.
"I guess she's yours now," Dove, one of the Kinn-lai healers and Smoke's wife, admitted to Dawn. "Remember, you're always welcome with us," she warmly reminded the she-elf who'd already slid down from a silver-gray sarril, before narrowing her eyes at Dawn. Then she gave a triple-click to her tribemates and spun her horse away, leaving as abruptly as she'd come.
Rain didn't look like the sort of elf to stir up the kind of competition among tribes the Hwenti had been getting wind of for several years now; she was a fairly small thing, with mousy brown hair and eyes and not much in the way of muscle. And yet, apparently the Penni wanted her back and the Windan, Kindi, and Kinn-lai all wanted to keep her (she'd declined to visit the Cuind, which was common). Dawn, he knew, was determined to figure out why and then do whatever it took to gain her allegiance.
She stretched out her hand to pat her sarril's neck—the horse shuddered but stayed still—and then whispered goodbye to it, sending it off after its companions. Even the horse seemed to hesitate before leaving her behind. She gave the tribe a shy smile. "Hello."
"Welcome to the Hwenti," Dawn returned, suddenly becoming the kind, motherly version of herself she showed to elflings and others who needed a gentle touch. "I'm Dawn, of course, and this is my son, Flint—" She looked around. "—Storm, who's been with us for a few centuries—" She gestured vaguely behind her. "You've met my father Raven, I assume... and of course you know Star." Rain's mother, Catnip, was one of the Penni healers, and the healers were a tightly-knit group. "And Fox and Moon here are very nice elves. You're all going to help Rain get settled in, you hear?"
"Of course," Storm agreed, and smiled at Rain. "It's nice to have someone else be the newcomer for a change."
She winked.
"What are you all waiting for?" Dawn began shooing elves away. "Get packed, we have ground to cover! Rain, just stick with this bunch, they'll take care of you."
"Of course we will," Star agreed, putting her arm around the newcomer. "Don't worry, little one, you'll fit right in here."
Rain giggled nervously. "I hope so."
. . . . . .
It didn't take Storm long to figure out why everyone wanted Rain. Not only was she the sweetest creature ever, she had the full training of a healer, even though she didn't technically count as one because she didn't have the physical capability to tackle people. In addition, she was what Dawn referred to as a peacemaker—she had an innate talent for calming elves and soothing conflicts. Of course, she was also a hard worker, even as the months passed and the others got used to her presence.
. . . . . .
"Good morning, everyone! Look what I made!" Rain kept her voice lowered as she furtively slipped Storm and his friends some sort of steaming roll that had doughy bread on the outside but smelled of meat. "This is all I have, though, so don't tell."
Storm bit into his and discovered that underneath the greens were a layer of herbs and a core of spiced meat; he wasn't expecting it to burn his mouth like hot peppers. "How did you make this?"
"The Kindi taught me, but I had to improvise some because the plants are different. Are they good?"
Fox fanned his face. "I think my mouth's on fire."
Moon elbowed him. "They're wonderful! They remind me of something, but I can't remember..."
Rain giggled. "I'm glad. Well, enjoy." She left, probably to socialize with Star or Dawn.
The final member of the group hadn't finished his bread-meat-leaf roll, and indeed, had apparently been so affected by the spices that his eyes were watering. "Do you want some water?" Storm asked, reaching for his pack.
"My Ada knew how to make these," Flint whispered.
Storm wasn't sure what to say, but luckily Moon filled in the gap. "That's what they remind me of! Go on, finish it, I'll make sure we learn how to make them. ...Go ahead, take another bite."
Flint did, and smiled a little. "It is good," he agreed softly.
. . . . . .
"RAVEN!" Star chased after him, but too slowly to recover her pack; Pine, knowing better, didn't even make an attempt. "Oh, you're going to regret that!"
"Let me try," Rain suggested brightly, and she broke away from the traveling column to follow Raven at a much slower pace. "Oh, Raven?"
He doubled back, but stayed far out of reach, racing back and forth in front of her. "Yeah?"
She wagged a finger at him. "Naughty, naughty Raven. May Star have her bag back?"
He considered the pack. "Why, what's in it for me?"
"You've had your fun already," she scolded, but she slid off her own pack and dug through it. "You can have these dried berries."
"Deal." He allowed her to approach and traded the pack for the food. "So, I steal stuff, you bribe me to get it back? ...Wait a second, I recognize this bag." Frowning, he knelt and searched through his own pack, then sat back in shock. "Thief."
"Just like Clover," Rain whispered as she returned the pack to Star, referring to one of the Penni healers.
"How did you...?" Storm wanted to know.
"As he was sneaking up on Star," Winter supplied. "She bumped into him."
Rain shrugged as if it was nothing.
. . . . . .
"Hold out your hands," Rain told Fox, her voice hushed with excitement.
He did. "What is it?"
She placed the object in his cupped hands, and he gasped as it moved. "It's a bird," he stated, stroking its feathers.
"A robin," she confirmed. "Her wing's broken, poor thing, but I can fix her up."
"I can feel where you tied the wing down." The blind elf eased the little songbird into one hand and petted its head with one finger. "She's so calm."
"I gave her some medicine to make her sleepy, but she's already half tame." Rain sat next to Fox and began arranging something that rustled. "I'm making her a little nest that I can carry when we move on, and then I'll bring her back here to let her go."
"I feel her heart beating," he marveled as the bird nestled deeper into his hands.
"Isn't it amazing?"
. . . . . .
But the most interesting thing about Rain came about one afternoon at the beginning of deep winter, about eight months after her arrival, when she shyly approached Storm as the tribe set up camp in their new location. "Storm, do you think you could help me?"
"Sure, what do you need?" Everyone was eager to do things for Rain; she was so kind to them, of course they would return the favor. Plus, Dawn periodically reminded them that they were in a competition here, and they'd better show what they were made of (niceness, apparently) if they wanted to keep her around.
"Well." She folded her hands behind her back and prodded the snow with the toe of her boot. "It's true I wanted to meet the tribes before I picked one. I didn't make that up." She smiled, a little guiltily.
Storm waited, eyebrow gradually creeping upward.
"But there's something else, too." She blushed. "And I thought you could maybe give me some hints since you kinda have a reputation."
Hold on. "You're looking for a husband." It wasn't a hard guess once he remembered what he'd had a reputation for back in Greenwood, aside from orc-hunting, archery, and being Sky's brother; he'd already "predicted" two marriages at all-tribe meetings, after all, which the elves involved hadn't suspected yet.
She grinned unashamedly. "Any ideas?"
"Aren't you way too young for this?" If he remembered right, she'd been born not long after his arrival (the healers had been preoccupied with the recently-produced elfling for the entire all-tribe meeting), which would make her, what, three hundred? But he turned in a circle to scan the elves around them (who were chattering loudly enough to drown out their quiet conversation), taking an inventory of the unmarried males. That one? No, he was too dull for sweet but curious Rain. This one here was going to marry one of the older she-elves someday, Storm had already determined that, though he hadn't started to tease them yet. That clever elf with the fourth stripe at the bottom of his dye-mark might be a possibility, but wasn't he too loud and abrasive to be a good match?
Wait a minute.
Rain must've seen something change in his expression, because she was chewing her lip apprehensively, yet with excitement in her eyes. He motioned her closer until he could lean down and whisper in her ear. "Have you considered Flint?"
The idea provoked a small gasp and a search for the half-human in question, whom she soon spotted fending off Raven while piling wood for one of the campfires. "Do you think...?"
"Have I ever been wrong?" Storm asked rhetorically. Sure, the possibility had only just hit him, but he could completely see it. "It's about time he got married."
"A half-human," Rain mused. "I could do that."
. . . . . .
That night, Storm and Raven amused themselves by tossing pinecones into their fire, while their companion grumbled as he shivered despite wearing his warmest winter coat and leaning in toward the fire. "Whose idea was weather, anyway?"
Storm really did try not to make fun of Flint for his human sensitivities, knowing that although his friend wasn't in danger from even the coldest winters in their range, being cold was a nasty experience; he himself had experienced it on two occasions when a particular orcish poison had really thrown his system out of whack. Raven, on the other hand, had no such inhibitions. "Try jumping in the fire," the older elf suggested helpfully.
"I might have to," Flint snapped.
Storm was agreeing with Raven's eye-roll—it wasn't even that chilly for midwinter—when a visitor approached, carrying a bundle in her arms. "Hey there," Rain said, chipper as ever; Storm hadn't seen her since their conversation earlier, and he was intrigued to see what she was doing.
"Good luck," Raven mouthed, pointing at the thick blanket in Rain's arms. Despite Flint's complaining, he consistently refused anything that resembled coddling, and the most he allowed his mother to do was make fur coats for him.
But Rain was unphased. "Here," she offered, draping the blanket over Flint's shoulders; it was particularly fluffy for an Avari blanket, one of the ones Star (or technically Pine) carried for injured elves or ill half-humans.
He tried to shrug it off. "I don't need that."
"That's true," she agreed without any sign of sarcasm, "but you'd like it, wouldn't you? Do you feel better with it on or off?"
He made a face.
"Then keep it on, you goof." She poked him and trotted off, pausing only to whisper to Storm, "I've been wanting to do that anyway."
Flint kept the blanket, although he kept wrinkling his nose in annoyance every so often.
. . . . . .
Before going to bed, Storm snuck over to Dawn's campfire. "Good news, Flint's going to get married."
This was news to Dawn, apparently, but it only took her a moment to settle her eyes on the newest she-elf. "Rain?"
"Yep."
She didn't even ask how he knew. "That'll be good for him. And now she'll have to stay; two birds with one stone. Well done, Storm."
"I didn't do much. She's the one who got him to wear a blanket."
"Really?" She craned her neck to see, and sure enough, her son was still blanketed and had stopped shivering. "I knew I liked her."
"Let's keep her around, yeah?"
"That's the plan."
What can I say? I like matchmaking for my characters. Storm and I both.