The Song of Wind

[Paladienne]

Ann agreed with her. They would need all the rest they could get from here on out. There was no telling what they would encounter between here and their destination, no telling what they might face, whether they would need to fight against man or nature. Rest would be fleeting at best, he was sure, at least during certain parts of their journey. It would be good to get as much as they could now, when they still knew the land surrounding them. And if the windy season set in while they were still here, then there was no telling what it would be like in the deserts. Ann had never been there, never seen it for himself, but the travelers his tribe dealt with often told tales of its dangers as much as its beauty.

He finished eating and banked the fire, moving to set rocks over the heated embers so that the meat that they hadn't cooked for their meal would cook overnight and they would have the beginnings of jerky when they woke in the morning. He ensured that nothing would burn to ash while they slept, though he was certain that if something did go wrong, Ma'akéné and Ortec would wake them.

Then, that taken care of, Ann settled to sleep for the night, his back to Riala to give her a semblance of privacy. "We ought to try and get an early start tomorrow," Ann said quietly. "We can cover more ground in the cooler hours, and take our time during the warmer ones."

[DragonSong]

"Alright." Riala nodded in agreement and laid down to curl onto her side, then quickly sat up again to damp the fire down to embers. No need to be broadcasting their location--and they'd do fine without the extra warmth, as long as they had the horses near.

As if sensing her thoughts, Ortec picked his way carefully toward her before lowering himself down with the broad side of his back pressed against hers.

Sighing softly, the huntress once more allowed herself to curl up on the ground, curved just slightly toward the faintly glowing embers of the fire.

[Paladienne]

Ann slept lightly, more out of habit than because of a real desire to. He was in an unfamiliar area, wide open and vulnerable to a surprise attack. He didn't know the territory as well as he would have liked, and as much as he trusted Riala, he couldn't keep his instincts from going into overdrive. He knew Ma'akéné, who slept against his back much like Ortec was sleeping against Riala's, would wake him at the slightest unfamiliar sound. If someone approached them during the night, she would know.

But thankfully, their sleep went undisturbed, and Ann woke early in the predawn light. For a moment, he remained where he was, lying down, until he familiarized himself with the world again. Then he pushed himself up and stretched, patting his mare's side. Ma'akéné snorted and lurched to her feet, shaking herself. Ann smiled and turned to the coals to coax the fire back to life. A hot breakfast would to them good this morning, and he checked the meat he'd had cooking overnight to make sure it was done and ready to be stored away.

They would start traveling soon, he decided. But as he looked toward Riala, he decided he'd let her sleep a little longer. She needed it to heal, after all.

[DragonSong]

The shifting and stirrings across the fire roused Ortec first, then Riala; the huntress had slept deeper than she had intended to--it seemed her body was determined to find a proper rest to help heal itself, even if she would have preferred to sleep lightly in such an unfamiliar place.

The stallion snorted and flicked his ears back as he came awake, already listening intently. Then he huffed out a breath, seeming to relax, and got slowly to his hooves. Riala groaned and rolled away from the movement, gradually blinking herself back to consciousness.

She squinted at the fire as she sat up and stretched--carefully, still mindful of where she hurt--then looked around.

"...How long did we sleep?"

They should probably be moving soon, regardless of how many hours they'd slept... Ortec nuzzled her shoulder, whuffling air passed her cheek. She smiled softly and reached up to pat his cheek, leaning into him gently as she did.

[Paladienne]

"Long enough," Ann answered her. He shifted to scoop her some breakfast into a small bowl, handing it to her. "Eat while it's hot. This may be our only time to enjoy our food while not on the go, at least until we stop for camp tonight."

Taking his own advice, Ann wolfed his breakfast down, and then began to clean up their campsite and prepare to leave. He moved far more slowly than he would have had he been alone or with his tribe, mostly to give Riala time to eat and prepare for the day's long ride. But soon he was packed up, with signs of their presence all but erased, and he was moving to mount Ma'akéné.

[DragonSong]

Riala ate her own breakfast quickly, trying to help tidy up their little camp as she did. She had to lean awkwardly against Ortec and catch her breath a few times, but ultimately she was ready to leave by the time he'd mounted Ma'akéné.

"We should be wary moving forward," she grunted as she swung herself onto Ortec's back. Her movements were still awkward and stilted, but there were less pained winces by now. "Sometimes there are prides from the Moraki that wander north into these grasses."

That was how she and Ortec had gotten their matching scars, after all.

[Paladienne]

Ann nodded. He'd heard the stories about wanderers from the desert, but he'd never seen them himself. His tribe rarely came this far out of their territory, preferring to stay where the herds were plentiful and there were travelers that could easily be extorted for safe passage through the plains. He checked his bow and arrows, made sure that his hunting knife was in easy reach, and then shifted his seat on Ma'akéné's back. She tossed her head and pranced around in a circle before she trotted away from the camp into the plains.

He looked back toward Riala and Ortec to make sure they were following, then returned his attention to the horizon before them. The sun was rising, bathing the world in its light. Ann took a deep breath and reached forward to stroke the mare's neck, earning a snort and a headshake. She high-stepped for a couple of moments, her tail raised, as if to tell him everything was going to be just fine. Ann laughed and leaned back, looking toward the cloudless morning sky.

"I think," he said, knowing Riala would be able to hear him, "so long as we stay together, there isn't anything we can't do."

[DragonSong]

Ortec was eager to move; she could feel the energy in his body, taunt and ready to snap at a moment's notice. Riala lat her hand rest against his withers for a moment, murmuring a soft, "Shh, shh. Not just yet, brother."

Much as the idea of a good run might appeal to her, she knew both that she was not quite healed enough to manage it, and that they needed to be cautious as they moved forward. Once they were at the border of the desert, they may have a chance to open out a bit, but not yet.

Then Ann spoke and her head snapped up, eyes training on the back of his head as he leaned back in the saddle. She blinked at him, at a loss for words for a few moments.

"Really?" she managed to ask once she'd recovered her voice. "I--I wish I had your confidence."

Her tone was wry, but she laughed as she said it. Actually laughed. It hurt her ribs a bit, but still...it felt good.

[Paladienne]

"Confidence?" Ann chuckled. "More like endless optimism. If you're constantly thinking about what you can't do, and what's never going to happen, then why try?" His shoulders lifted and fell. "So long as you're alive you can keep moving forward, and you can always find ways to succeed, even in the bleakest of moments."

After that, Ann was silent as they rode on through the morning, his eyes moving in every direction as they plodded along at a steady pace. He kept their movements to little more than a trot, the horses' hooves steadily eating up the miles. Even though he knew his four-footed sister wanted to run, he didn't allow her to, mostly for Riala's sake. He knew the day would come where they could all gallop like the wind together, but today wasn't it.

[DragonSong]

Once again, getting on the move only highlighted how much she still couldn't do, and Riala quickly spiraled back down into quiet irritation. She was at least self-aware enough of it to keep herself from snapping in annoyance when Ortec suddenly stopped and shook his head, refusing to take a step further.

"What? What's wrong?" she asked, leaning slightly to the side. Ortec arched his neck and curved his head around slightly to eye her, then gave a full body twitch that shudder up from his sides and through his rider. "What?" Riala repeated, frowning at him.

This wasn't a warning, or an indication that something was wrong with the stallion himself. This was almost...scolding.

"Oh--you hush." Riala glared at him and Ortec tossed his head with a snort. "I am not being melodramatic," she hissed at him. Alright, so she couldn't understand exactly what her horse was saying, she'd never had a true beastspeaking gift; but she knew him well enough to get the gist from his behavior.

[Paladienne]

Ann glanced at Ma'akéné as her ears swiveled backwards and she suddenly dug in her heels and stopped. Since he was expecting it, Ann leaned backwards a little to avoid being tossed over her head and studied his four-footed sister curiously. Then he twisted round to look toward Riala and Ortec, realizing that the pair was no longer following them. Rather, they'd stopped some distance back and seemed to be having an argument. Ann's lips twitched, but he knew better than to smile, especially because he knew what the two were likely arguing about. Riala wanted to run, and Ortec wanted to spare her from pain. It was an argument that he'd had often with Ma'akéné when they'd both been younger.

So he settled on his four-footed sister's back and waited for Riala and Ortec to finish their conversation and come to a mutual agreement, if not understanding. For him, the journey wasn't about when they got to their destination, only that they did. If it took some time, then Ann was fine with that. They had all the time in the world, after all.

[DragonSong]

Ortec quickly set off again once he seemed to realize that Ma'akéné and Ann had paused, waiting for them.

"You're an ass," Riala muttered as her mount brought them up alongside the other hunter and his horse. Ortec flicked his tail around so the ends of the coarse hairs snapped sharply against her leg and she glowered down at the back of his neck.

In an effort to distract herself from her horse's moodiness--well, her own, but she didn't want to admit that even to herself--she cleared her throat and asked abruptly, "Have you ever made the desert crossing before?"

[Paladienne]

Ann shook his head in answer to her question. "If I ever did, I don't remember it. My tribe never comes this way. We try not to invade others' territory, and there's not much out here that we can't find elsewhere. My uncles tell of a great hunt that took them this far, and they described the fires in the sky that led them to the great bull elk that they took down. They said that they saw the sands, but they never crossed them." He shrugged. "But if the stars are the same, we can easily find our way through."

He looked toward her with an easy smile. "What, don't trust me to get us there? And back? If that's the case, you don't have to come. We can turn around right now and head back the way we've come, and deal with whatever's behind us."

Ann honestly didn't know why she was so moody, or why Riala was suddenly feeling like this was the worst day in her life. He didn't know how to cheer her up either. The best he could do was simply engage her in conversation and see if she would respond, and if she responded, perhaps through talking, he could see if she would smile again.

[DragonSong]

"...I never said I doubted your capabilities," Riala responded quietly after a few moments filled only with the sound of their horses' hooves against the earth. "I just...wanted to know if you had any experience with the terrain, that's all."

She was quiet for several moments longer, lips slightly pursed. A little abruptly, she added, "I haven't been into the desert either. I mean, no closer than the edge, and that was a long time ago. I was barely more than a child, really."

Ortec tossed his head, remembering the occasion. His skin twitched slightly, almost as though he was attempting to rid himself of a fly, and the scar along his flank rippled. Riala reached down to stroke his withers lightly, a soft shudder running down her own spine as she remembered the tear of a lioness's claws.

[Paladienne]

Ann shook his head. "Experience? No. But I'm going to find out, aren't I? The people of my tribe are quick to adapt. We read the wind and listen to its song, and from those words we can figure out the correct path. Our leaders have never taken our tribe astray because of that knowledge, and our elders know even more."

He looked down at Ma'akéné's mane, a small smile appearing on his face. He wondered what his tribe was doing now, what they were thinking now that they had certainly discovered him missing. He had said a lot to Riala in supposition, and he believed his own words, but he actually wasn't sure. He didn't know if what he said was actually the truth as it was, or the truth as he believed it to be. Shaking himself, he looked toward the sky and his smile grew a little brighter. It really didn't matter - he was following his heart, and he was repaying his debt, and that was all that mattered.

"The one thing the young of my tribe are taught to do is to listen to the world around us," Ann said after a moment, his eyes dropping from the sky to the horizon. "While we're little, we're expected to observe the world and learn from our mothers and fathers what to do to survive, but we don't understand what the world is trying to tell us. We only do as we're told by the adults. As we get older, we're given more responsibility, so that our eyes see what is there to be seen, and see what exists beyond our vision." He laughed, and Ma'akéné snorted as she tossed her head, as if sharing a private joke. Ann reached to pat her neck and said, "It's only once we've become adults that we learn what the world actually has to teach us."

He looked at Riala and shrugged. "So, I'm going to listen to the desert when we arrive and see what it has to tell me. Hopefully, I'll learn from it, and we'll be stronger for the lessons it teaches us."

[DragonSong]

Riala gave him a rather dry look. "Or we'll be dead." She shook her head, lips quirked sardonically to one side. "You have...an interesting view of the world. It's rather beautiful, actually--I envy it."

Ortec snorted, raising his hooves a little higher off the ground as he trotted passed Ma'akéné a few paces. Riala shook her head again, her expression falling a bit as she let her eyes flick down to settle on the flex of her horse's muscles. "What if all the world tells you is that it's a cruel place? What if there is no higher meaning, no great message to be learned and to grow from? What if...what if it's just cold and dark and cruel?"

Her voice lowered until she was nearly whispering; she wasn't even sure if she was talking to him or herself anymore. Her fingers wrapped tight in Ortec's mane and the stallion whickered softly, concerned.

Riala sighed and allowed herself to lean forward and press her face into his mane. "If the Horse Lords ever existed, they've left us," she whispered. "Nothing happens for a reason anymore. No one is listening..."

[Paladienne]

"Or we'll be dead," Ann agreed.

He smiled as he listened to her talk, though his smile didn't quite reach his eyes. The way she spoke, it was clear that her upbringing had been severely different than his own. Her tribe had prided itself on strength and strength alone, while his embraced all the differences in strength, nurturing the abilities that might not be valued by others. His tribe thought all life was valuable, and so respected every member of the tribe - once they had proven themselves in the trials to move from childhood to adulthood. Perhaps, in that way, his tribe did value strength. For only those who survived the trials were considered adults and given the full rights and privileges enjoyed by the senior members of the tribe.

Either way, that way of life wasn't here. Wasn't now. This was the present, and he needed to look forward. That was the only way now.

Ann looked down past Ma'akéné's shoulder and studied the passing ground below. Was his outlook on life interesting? Beautiful? He didn't know. It was the way he'd always looked at the world, always seeing the positive, even when things were bleak.

"I..." he started, then paused, gathering his thoughts. "I look at the world with a sense of wonder, with a sense of grandeur, because if I don't, I think I'll go mad. I see enough of the worst side of people and the world in my daily life, when my tribe raids the traveling merchants or others. I know it's for survival, but sometimes, I wonder if it's necessary."

His gaze went to the sky then, and he smiled again, easily, as the sun shone down on his face, warming his skin. "As far as the gods... who knows? Perhaps they are listening, but their silence is a message to us. "Rise up by your own two hands. Only then can we help you." I don't know."

Ann looked toward Riala then, reaching to squeeze her shoulder in a comforting manner. He said nothing more, only returned his gaze to the road before them and urged Ma'akéné into a faster walk.

[DragonSong]

Riala stiffened briefly when he touched her shoulder, but then relaxed as she raised her head to look up at him. She watched his back as the mare picked up her pace slightly and pulled ahead of Ortec, then gave herself a brisk mental shake and tapped her heels against the stallion's sides so he took wider strides and once more fell into pace beside Ma'akéné.

"Hey." She hesitated, then reached out to touch his arm gently, cautiously. "...Thanks."

Drawing her hand back, she glanced down at Ortec's neck, then suddenly smiled. She probably shouldn't, but...

Clicking her tongue, she sank back in her seat and squeezed her legs against her horse's sides, urging him into a slow, smooth canter. It was probably faster than she really should be riding in her current state, but she knew a trot would have been far too jarring.

Ortec tossed his head, seeming to consider protesting the sudden increase in pace for a moment--then he gave a slight kick with his back heels and let his neck bob forward, ears perked happily as he moved swiftly through the tall grasses.

[Paladienne]

Ann just smiled as he watched Riala move, knowing that there was no more need for words. He looked at Ma'akéné when she turned her head to focus on him, and he nodded. The mare flicked her tail and high stepped for a moment before she picked up her pace, turning her fast walk into a smooth canter, quickly catching up to Ortec.

The day passed in silence for both of them, for Ann didn't have much more to say or to add to what had already been said. Instead, he scanned the horizon for a good place to stop for a few hours so the horses could rest, and they could stretch their legs. When he found a suitable place, he pointed it out to Ma'akéné first, allowing her to make the decision. He wouldn't push her to rest if she didn't want to, but offering the option was always the kindest way of suggesting that she should. And she, like others, listened to suggestions more than orders. Besides which, as Ma'akéné well knew, if Ann got hungry, he could eat in the saddle. She would stop when she was good and ready. And she knew Ortec would do the same.

Ann raised his gaze from the horizon to look at the sky, measuring the time they had left before night truly fell. They had plenty of time to cover as much distance as possible, even at the pace they were keeping. And he didn't mind the pace. He wasn't actually all that eager to cross the desert, and he wanted as much time as possible to prepare himself for that feat. It would be an undertaking like no other he had ever done. He looked at Riala, and smiled again. She seemed so happy, so free, riding as she was. He knew then that he would do his best to keep that smile on her face, even when they faced situations that would erase it.

[DragonSong]

On some unspoken cue that Riala was a bit too distracted--and sore, if she was being honest--to notice, Ortec slowed his canter as they came up on the potential campsite, then dropped back down to a long-striding walk.

"Whoa, whoa." Riala pitched forward slightly, but she righted her seat easily enough with only a brief wince as her cracked ribs protested. Ortec whuffed a small apology and she shook her head, patting his neck. She glanced around and nodded slowly.

"Need a rest, boy?" Ortec snorted again and bobbed his head. Choosing to pretend that she didn't know that the stallion was really only stopping because she needed the rest, she brought him down to a slower walk, then a complete halt. "What do you say to a few minutes' break?" she asked, turning her upper body to look at Ann.

Something in the way he was looking at her snapped her mouth shut the moment the question was out of her mouth. She blinked, a little startled; his expression was soft and open in a way she'd never seen it before. Her stomach gave a funny little lurch and she glanced away again, clearing her throat.

As quickly as she could without hurting herself, she dismounted and gave Ortec a pat on the shoulder. "Go on, graze for a bit," she urged softly.