Post by Soleil on Jul 15, 2011 18:55:53 GMT -10
Light of Midnight Sun walked slowly through the forest, exploring his Tribe's ancient winter home. The tribe had successfully moved from their summer camp to this camp with no problems. There was no snow in the winter here -it was so close to the desert that the heat made snow impossible- and it almost never rained. Nevertheless there were snowmelt streams, streams that fed the life of the clan. They had to be careful not to scare away all the prey that drank there.
There was a light wind, rustling the pines around him with a soft, hushed whisper. There was no prey out in the heat of the day today; in fact, it was so warm that Sun felt uncomfortable with the heat in his thick fur. The wind picked up, making a sound like the rushing of a river through rocks. Light of Midnight Sun looked up to a rocky outcropping that came in to view above him. He often traversed the steeper mountainsides by himself, for it was a delicate business and required great balance. One misstep could result in a fall, all the way down the slope until the grade leveled out. But that grade was almost 500 tree-lengths down the hill. He quickly climbed to the rocks and nestled himself deeper in the rocks, where the dry, nose-stinging wind wouldn't reach him. It was actually damp down here, he thought, casting an eye around the little enclosure. There was a impenetrable darkness across from him, deep in the rocks. He padded slowly forwards, becoming less aware of the sound of the wind, and more acutely alert to the sound of slowly dripping water. Turning the corner of this little ravine, he saw a pool. This was not just an ordinary pool- The color of the water was deep and rippling, but the deciduous liquid ambar cast its leaves into the water, creating a diffusion of the red-gold color of the leaves in the water. Light of Midnight Sun was awestruck. He padded quickly up to this hidden pool, determining that an unknown spring welled through the rocks above his head, dropping the water into this pool.
Light of Midnight Sun sat by the pool, his mind racing with possibilities. It was pretty clear that this pool was meant to communicate with the Tribe of Dancing Snow -what else could it be after all this searching- so Sun had to try to figure out how exactly he could commune with them. The wind had died down, so Sun went outside to ponder his problem.
Recounting the Emeraldpool in the summer camp, he thought that maybe the pattern of the moon and the sun told him messages. But no, he thought, It view of the sky is obscured by that large tree. He mused over the actual pool- there were only so many ways of going about it. He went back through the cave to the pool, where the water was steadily dripping into the pool. 'The water!' He thought, 'I must touch the water!'
There was a small ledge running from the entrance of the pool alongside the outer edge, traveling towards the back recesses of the water. Sun traversed the little overhang, looking towards the end of the pool. It was much deeper than he had thought. He shuddered a little at the thought of slipping and falling into the pool, flailing his paws and suffocating in the water. He wrenched his head away from the pool, to where the path leveled out into a small vault overlooking the cave. The stalactite was much closer now, and Sun reached out his paw to touch it. There was water running down the sides. Sun took his paw back and licked it as if he had robbed a honeycomb. He settled back on his haunches and fell into a deep slumber.
There was a small kit sitting a nursery, his mother's tail wrapped about him. Two smaller kits, maybe a moon younger, were being escorted across the camp, sniffling and coughing. The healer's den was oddly foreign, constructed differently than any he had seen before. The Healer, as it appeared, quickly made accommodations for the kits, using an odd green matted substance instead of ferns and sphagnum. He spoke in an odd tongue, reminiscent of his own, but with words he didn't recognize.
The kits, even as he was watching, quickly deteriorated into fever and retching. He had seen this ferocity in disease only once before, and not even first-hand. His mentor and former Healer, Leaf that Faces Sun, had described it to him when he was a small but precocious to-be.
"Sun, you must hope you never see this happen to your own tribe," he had said, "It will quickly cause unrest and disease." Leaf was much more formal than Sun ever was. Sun had quipped back, "But what IS it? I only see fevered cats. No death, no coughing! Is it really that terrible?"
Leaf had a heavy look in his eyes. They were visiting the camp of the rival Tribe, that of Pelting Rain. He took a long breath and said, "This is the start. There is no herb that can treat it, no remedy. All these cats here in her den (Her being Dawn of Blushing Sky) are going to die. This will cause the end of the Tribe as these cats knew it."
That shut Sun up for the rest of the day.
Back into the dream, Sun watched with growing distress as more and more cats were brought to this Healer. Then, an authoritative figure with the build of a cave-guard walking in, his tail held high. Even this Healer stood in deference to the cat. His voice rang louder than it should have, striking fear in his company. A look of distress and dread came to the eyes of this Healer.
Sun heard a voice in his head, grating and harsh. 'This, this is the fate that you have chosen. For not feeding the soul of your beloved ancestor, you-'
The whisper cut off. There was a hiss, and Sun felt dizzy as a fight broke out in his mind.
After a while that seemed like eternity, a softer voice spoke. "You must run. Run from here, block the entrance, and forget this place. Look not for bones of dead ancestors, who should remain forgotten. And though the Tribe of Dancing Snow seems right, there are ancestors that aren't as kind."
Sun ran back to camp with haste.
The usual buzz around camp was unusually subdued. The cats went about their business, repairing dens and fixing logs, removing brambles and so on. In Sun's den, Stone of Talon, the Healer to-be, dropped off the remainder of the herbs from the trip. Two older cave-guards were ripping up some very old, huge bramble bushes near the far side of the camp, which looked out over the range of mountains that was their home. Most of the view was obscured by these bushes, and a cat had to be very patient and persistent to negotiate them and get to the other side without losing fur.
Sun had become quite adept at this of late. He was hardly ever seen around camp, whether from him hunting on his own (which Healers very rarely did) or sitting on the opposite side of the brambles, looking out over the valley. That was where he was today.
This forest wasn't dense and damp, but very open with pine trees, manzanita, juniper and sage brush. The little twisted manzanita bushes poked out from sheer drops, their broad, dark green leaves shading the ground below. The shade was cool, but the air was warm and very dry- it seemed to suck the moisture from the very eyes of the cats. Among the higher peaks in the distance, where cats very rarely went, he could hear the sound of rocks falling down a slope. It was perfectly quiet.
Sun couldn't help but to think about his dream... Was it a dream? 'Those pools were very alluring,' he thought, 'but for a moment I thought the Tribe of Pelting Snow was angry, and had called me to them.' No, that wasn't true. He HAD woken up, of course. He nervously fidgeted and looked out over his personal sylvan outlook over the low valleys and the snow-capped peaks in the distance. Over those peaks, where the thunder and rain went, he knew the Tribe of Pelting Rain lived. 'Maybe they are in trouble,' he thought, remembering the sickness he saw in the vision. 'Maybe I should send a party over to make peace and friends...'
This was a ritual used in ancient times to genuinely make friends and make peace, but the practice had long been disused. He decided to call a meeting tomorrow, after deciding who would embark on this trip. He watched as the clouds hung over the distant, snowy peaks. These clouds were large, larger than most he had seen even in the summer. 'This is unusual,' he thought, 'maybe we might get some rain!'
He was dozing in the warmth of the gentle wind, listening the the sound of the breeze through the soft pine needles and juniper trees. There was the distant roar of the snow-melt streams through the valley, winding harshly through the mountains toward the lake. Their plane gently curved as they reached the valley, becoming lazy, meandering brooks through the sunlit, pine-smelling paddocks. Down there were the meadows as well. His Tribe used them on their great journey to the lower elevation north, where they went in the summer. He debated on who to send. 'Should I include a to-be? should I send my senior members whom the Tribe of Pelting Rain all know?' He was deep in thought when Stone of Talon came through the bushes.
"Erhem, Sun... You haven't been around for a while." He said nervously. Sun nodded his head magnanimously.
"I've decided to send a party to the Tribe of Pelting Rain." Sun didn't turn his head to speak to his to-be.
"But... But I thought that was-"
Sun cut him off. "I know. But something is telling me (let it be the Tribe of Dancing Snow) that they want to see us. Don't argue with me, it's useless... Plus, you're going. You've never been before, and you should go anyways to help the party with healing injuries and such."
Talon was at a loss for words. Sun got up slowly and shook the needles from his flank, then started through the bushes back to camp.
(OOC: this thread is ancient- Should I keep developing it...?)
There was a light wind, rustling the pines around him with a soft, hushed whisper. There was no prey out in the heat of the day today; in fact, it was so warm that Sun felt uncomfortable with the heat in his thick fur. The wind picked up, making a sound like the rushing of a river through rocks. Light of Midnight Sun looked up to a rocky outcropping that came in to view above him. He often traversed the steeper mountainsides by himself, for it was a delicate business and required great balance. One misstep could result in a fall, all the way down the slope until the grade leveled out. But that grade was almost 500 tree-lengths down the hill. He quickly climbed to the rocks and nestled himself deeper in the rocks, where the dry, nose-stinging wind wouldn't reach him. It was actually damp down here, he thought, casting an eye around the little enclosure. There was a impenetrable darkness across from him, deep in the rocks. He padded slowly forwards, becoming less aware of the sound of the wind, and more acutely alert to the sound of slowly dripping water. Turning the corner of this little ravine, he saw a pool. This was not just an ordinary pool- The color of the water was deep and rippling, but the deciduous liquid ambar cast its leaves into the water, creating a diffusion of the red-gold color of the leaves in the water. Light of Midnight Sun was awestruck. He padded quickly up to this hidden pool, determining that an unknown spring welled through the rocks above his head, dropping the water into this pool.
Light of Midnight Sun sat by the pool, his mind racing with possibilities. It was pretty clear that this pool was meant to communicate with the Tribe of Dancing Snow -what else could it be after all this searching- so Sun had to try to figure out how exactly he could commune with them. The wind had died down, so Sun went outside to ponder his problem.
Recounting the Emeraldpool in the summer camp, he thought that maybe the pattern of the moon and the sun told him messages. But no, he thought, It view of the sky is obscured by that large tree. He mused over the actual pool- there were only so many ways of going about it. He went back through the cave to the pool, where the water was steadily dripping into the pool. 'The water!' He thought, 'I must touch the water!'
There was a small ledge running from the entrance of the pool alongside the outer edge, traveling towards the back recesses of the water. Sun traversed the little overhang, looking towards the end of the pool. It was much deeper than he had thought. He shuddered a little at the thought of slipping and falling into the pool, flailing his paws and suffocating in the water. He wrenched his head away from the pool, to where the path leveled out into a small vault overlooking the cave. The stalactite was much closer now, and Sun reached out his paw to touch it. There was water running down the sides. Sun took his paw back and licked it as if he had robbed a honeycomb. He settled back on his haunches and fell into a deep slumber.
There was a small kit sitting a nursery, his mother's tail wrapped about him. Two smaller kits, maybe a moon younger, were being escorted across the camp, sniffling and coughing. The healer's den was oddly foreign, constructed differently than any he had seen before. The Healer, as it appeared, quickly made accommodations for the kits, using an odd green matted substance instead of ferns and sphagnum. He spoke in an odd tongue, reminiscent of his own, but with words he didn't recognize.
The kits, even as he was watching, quickly deteriorated into fever and retching. He had seen this ferocity in disease only once before, and not even first-hand. His mentor and former Healer, Leaf that Faces Sun, had described it to him when he was a small but precocious to-be.
"Sun, you must hope you never see this happen to your own tribe," he had said, "It will quickly cause unrest and disease." Leaf was much more formal than Sun ever was. Sun had quipped back, "But what IS it? I only see fevered cats. No death, no coughing! Is it really that terrible?"
Leaf had a heavy look in his eyes. They were visiting the camp of the rival Tribe, that of Pelting Rain. He took a long breath and said, "This is the start. There is no herb that can treat it, no remedy. All these cats here in her den (Her being Dawn of Blushing Sky) are going to die. This will cause the end of the Tribe as these cats knew it."
That shut Sun up for the rest of the day.
Back into the dream, Sun watched with growing distress as more and more cats were brought to this Healer. Then, an authoritative figure with the build of a cave-guard walking in, his tail held high. Even this Healer stood in deference to the cat. His voice rang louder than it should have, striking fear in his company. A look of distress and dread came to the eyes of this Healer.
Sun heard a voice in his head, grating and harsh. 'This, this is the fate that you have chosen. For not feeding the soul of your beloved ancestor, you-'
The whisper cut off. There was a hiss, and Sun felt dizzy as a fight broke out in his mind.
After a while that seemed like eternity, a softer voice spoke. "You must run. Run from here, block the entrance, and forget this place. Look not for bones of dead ancestors, who should remain forgotten. And though the Tribe of Dancing Snow seems right, there are ancestors that aren't as kind."
Sun ran back to camp with haste.
The usual buzz around camp was unusually subdued. The cats went about their business, repairing dens and fixing logs, removing brambles and so on. In Sun's den, Stone of Talon, the Healer to-be, dropped off the remainder of the herbs from the trip. Two older cave-guards were ripping up some very old, huge bramble bushes near the far side of the camp, which looked out over the range of mountains that was their home. Most of the view was obscured by these bushes, and a cat had to be very patient and persistent to negotiate them and get to the other side without losing fur.
Sun had become quite adept at this of late. He was hardly ever seen around camp, whether from him hunting on his own (which Healers very rarely did) or sitting on the opposite side of the brambles, looking out over the valley. That was where he was today.
This forest wasn't dense and damp, but very open with pine trees, manzanita, juniper and sage brush. The little twisted manzanita bushes poked out from sheer drops, their broad, dark green leaves shading the ground below. The shade was cool, but the air was warm and very dry- it seemed to suck the moisture from the very eyes of the cats. Among the higher peaks in the distance, where cats very rarely went, he could hear the sound of rocks falling down a slope. It was perfectly quiet.
Sun couldn't help but to think about his dream... Was it a dream? 'Those pools were very alluring,' he thought, 'but for a moment I thought the Tribe of Pelting Snow was angry, and had called me to them.' No, that wasn't true. He HAD woken up, of course. He nervously fidgeted and looked out over his personal sylvan outlook over the low valleys and the snow-capped peaks in the distance. Over those peaks, where the thunder and rain went, he knew the Tribe of Pelting Rain lived. 'Maybe they are in trouble,' he thought, remembering the sickness he saw in the vision. 'Maybe I should send a party over to make peace and friends...'
This was a ritual used in ancient times to genuinely make friends and make peace, but the practice had long been disused. He decided to call a meeting tomorrow, after deciding who would embark on this trip. He watched as the clouds hung over the distant, snowy peaks. These clouds were large, larger than most he had seen even in the summer. 'This is unusual,' he thought, 'maybe we might get some rain!'
He was dozing in the warmth of the gentle wind, listening the the sound of the breeze through the soft pine needles and juniper trees. There was the distant roar of the snow-melt streams through the valley, winding harshly through the mountains toward the lake. Their plane gently curved as they reached the valley, becoming lazy, meandering brooks through the sunlit, pine-smelling paddocks. Down there were the meadows as well. His Tribe used them on their great journey to the lower elevation north, where they went in the summer. He debated on who to send. 'Should I include a to-be? should I send my senior members whom the Tribe of Pelting Rain all know?' He was deep in thought when Stone of Talon came through the bushes.
"Erhem, Sun... You haven't been around for a while." He said nervously. Sun nodded his head magnanimously.
"I've decided to send a party to the Tribe of Pelting Rain." Sun didn't turn his head to speak to his to-be.
"But... But I thought that was-"
Sun cut him off. "I know. But something is telling me (let it be the Tribe of Dancing Snow) that they want to see us. Don't argue with me, it's useless... Plus, you're going. You've never been before, and you should go anyways to help the party with healing injuries and such."
Talon was at a loss for words. Sun got up slowly and shook the needles from his flank, then started through the bushes back to camp.
(OOC: this thread is ancient- Should I keep developing it...?)