KICK.
"Ow! Hey! Go away!"
"But Stripes, it's the middle of the night."
"Wha… why…" But Storm was both blessed and cursed to come fully awake within moments of waking up, and he was already sliding on his boots. "Fine. What d'you want, nonsensical person?"
"Shh," muttered Flint from the ground next to Storm's bedroll, face squished into his blanket-pillow.
The silver-haired Sky-Silana hybrid troublemaker grinned at him, bouncing on her heels. "I just love running around at night, don't you?"
"Alright, but do you have to wake me up to do it?"
"Yes. I like it when you come along."
"My friend Felrion used to tell me to get more sleep."
"You should absolutely get more sleep," Swift agreed, dragging him along on her way out of the camp. "But not right now."
"Could you at least warn me when you're planning to wake me up halfway from midnight to dawn?"
"Sure, that's fair."
"Really?"
"If you like being old and boring."
"Aaaand, there it is." Storm sighed loudly.
Swift stopped and turned on him.
"What?"
"Go back to sleep."
"No," he replied immediately, offended.
"Right now. I mean it."
"What, where did this come from?"
"You're right. You're clearly tired from all your leader stuff and you need to get some rest. I shouldn't keep you up at night. Star would be ashamed of me."
"Hey, wait a second—"
"You already have enough of a burden on your shoulders, you poor thing. That headache you had three days ago was probably from stress. You must need fewer responsibilities."
"I—"
"Poor, poor Stripes. Poor Stormy. I hope you'll be okay if I send you back to bed right away. Maybe I should warm up a heating bundle for you? I'd feel so dreadful if you got a tummy-ache from all this trauma I'm causing you."
"Now listen, you conniving, manipulative, disrespectful little fuzzball, don't make me—"
"You'll have to catch me first!"
"COME BACK HERE—"
An acorn hit Storm on the back of the head as he charged after Swift, a gift from an awoken tribemate, but he didn't pause to look back. A silver-haired head bobbed in front of him, and he was determined to catch that pesky girl before she managed to vanish into the dark.
Rrgh. Swift. For the first time, he really understood what it'd been like to be Thranduil during Sky's lifetime. She didn't just like to torment people, she liked to torment him, specifically. It was considerably worse since she'd finished growing and taken on adult responsibilities. It was like she'd decided her life's mission was to make his life more interesting. And she followed him. Everywhere.
How Fox and Moon had produced this monster…
And she was worse than Sky, because she was so sure of everything. She'd taken like a rabbit to the plains to everything she'd tried—healing, wrestling, archery, crafting, even swordsmanship when she made Storm teach her. And because of that, she eagerly ordered everyone around as if she were leader. And they usually listened.
Sky, plus Silana, plus Dawn. Yes, that was it.
And worst of all, she was so… so… awesome. If only he'd disliked her, she might have left him alone. But instead, she made him like being tormented. It was the worst.
. . . . . .
"So, did you ever catch her?"
Storm kicked Raven in the shin.
Swift sidled up to Storm. "Aww, is someone mad that I beat him up?"
"I hate you."
"We both know that's not true."
"Hmmmm," said Raven.
Storm eyed him. "I don't like your tone."
"Just noticing how defensive you are, Stripes."
"Uh, no. Only Swift gets to call me that."
"Oooooooooooo."
"Excuse me?"
Swift looked so self-satisfied it should have been impossible. "I'll leave you two alone."
Storm pressed his lips together until she was out of range, then rounded on Raven. "Can you stop?! She's not even two hundred! How creepy are you trying to be?!"
"Someone's touchy."
"RAVEN! She's practically an elfling!"
He shrugged. "Eh, I was pretty much 'born' married. And she's, like, twice as mature as some elves ever get."
"That's not—ew! And look here, if I wanted to get married, I would've been already."
"Don't tell me you still miss what's-her-name."
"That thing with Silana was the closest it's ever going to get, okay? Leave it alone. It's not happening."
"Callous. You're really going to break her heart?"
"I think she'll live."
"She's loved you since the moment she was old enough."
"Raven! Creepy!"
"Well, now she's all grown up, so now what's your excuse? Still gonna hurt her feelings?"
"She's not grown up—"
"Ah-ah-ah, no Silvan prejudices. She acts like an adult, she is an adult, remember?"
Storm spluttered. "No! Y'know what, I don't have to listen to this." He stalked off.
"I don't think you've ever been this worked up about something," Raven noted behind him. "Didn't know denial was so inflammatory."
"Shut up."
How the tables have turned, eh, Storm?
(I regret nothing.)