As she walked away from her cart Erek went to collect his son from his family, he was not putting his son through any of his father’s whims, not as long as he could help it. Kaya walked to the people that she knew, she tried to tell them about what Rollins told her, she tried to explain that Rognvald was drunk in more ways than one. But, the gossip of the Blue eye was faster than Kaya’s words were, the gossip was so fast that before Rollins and Erek had all of Kaya’s things packed up to travel, the news had reached every listening ear, it even touched the ears of the non-listeners. As soon as Kaya started to speak the people would either turn and walk away from her or they would respond by saying, “that Blue eye is a curse.” Some of her friends listened, some of the people had sense enough to know that Rognvald was a disgrace and a poor leader. With Oscar covering up for him he had been drunk every night, he even howled at the moons one night, Oscar did his best to cover that one up
The one dog just sat there smiling his best smile, his ears were perked straight up, his fur looked muddled and dirty. His tail wagged back and forth through the dirt, adding to his unkempt appearance, he looked like a pilgrim wanderer in need of a bath.“Ok, hold on,” the man walked to a bag that hung on his thing that the horses pulled, the one dog cocked his head, “I’ve got something for you, right here.” He pulled his hand out of the bag.The one dog heard the man speak then he walked away, he went to where something hung on the thing the horses pulled, he was curious but stayed sitting where he was. The man said more things the dog didn’t understand, his hand disappeared and reappeared with something that made his mouth water. The one dog drinks water when he finds it, he eats when he hunts or when food is offered, he has had lots of food offered to him lately. Sometimes he would help the people out with something, like helping to get the horses away from the thing they pulled or
It was a few weeks before they were inseparable, they found a place in the Land that was theirs, they maintained its borders and beginning with that years mating season, they started their first litter. The years passed, they raised litter after litter of cubs and were happy with their lives together. Then the two-legs came, they came in droves with horses and things the leopards didn’t understand, the two-legs never came this far out into the wild. The male leopard was a great hunter and provided for his family the best he could, the female was a passionate mother, she raised the cubs and taught them everything they would need to survive. Then the night came when her mate did not return, it wasn’t unusual for him to be gone for a day or two, but something on the wind told the female to go looking for him. She had learned from her mistakes, her first litter was hidden poorly and the lioness didn’t have to work hard to find that litter, she would not make that error with this litter.
Lillywould not be remembered as a friendly person, she was not unfriendly but this trip and her two children, along with every other discomfort she was enduring, were making this trip hell. She never wanted to leave Ondu but she knew that in order for her husband to realize his dream of being a leader, this was the last option other than taking Harden out herself. She wasn’t above manipulating the people around her, she also didn’t mind using her assets to her advantage, she was cunning and she never let anyone know how cunning. But murder, she wasn’t sure she could go through with that, taking another person’s life before their time, it was so far from the feathers edge that it scared her. When her husband killed the Flistedt’s Lilly was shocked, and a bit afraid of her husband, what would he do to me if he couldn’t get his way? She asked herself. It was a short conversation, she had no idea what Rognvald would do to get what he wanted, he had clearly demonstrated the lengths to whi
In a time so long ago, in a world that was much different than it was today, the Land was also different. In this age there were two continents on this world, two huge land masses that were close enough to each other that a strong swimmer could, possibly, make the journey. They were sisters, these large continents, and they sat in the middle of a planet covered in water, they were the only large stretches of land on this world. There were hundreds of small islands, as well as a dozen midsized islands, none of which were large enough to call continents. The water between them was happy, it flowed freely between the sisters, many marine animals, along with a few mammals, called this sea home. Mostly small and medium sized animals lived in this sea, during specific times each year, pods of killer whales swam through the waters that separated the sisters. These whales culled any weak animals from the ecosystem. The only predators that called this sea home were small sharks, this sea was t
By the time the mouse found the meat that was left laying by Kaya’s head the ants had been to work on it for over an hour, whoever left this for Kaya had done so too early in the night. When the mouse got to the opening left under the cart it stopped and cleaned its paws, whiskers twitched, eyes and nose alert for danger, and its ears pricked at every little sound. It sat there for a few moments judging the situation, the smell of the meat made its little mouth drool, it finally relented and went silently to the pile of meat. A few brave ants stayed and tried to free one last piece before they left while the rest of the ants vanished among the grass under the cart. The mouse enjoyed every bit of the meat, it was a bit spicy for its palate but that was no matter, bite by bite the mouse chewed.The fox was not far behind the mouse, he didn’t know the rodent was there but there was food, that he could smell. Even if the mouse was there it would run from the fox, if not the fox would eat
The boys went back to helping Erek with the setup, Erek was nearly done before the two came back from ogling the girls. Kaya sat on her cart with the baby, she will unhook the horses when Erek was done setting up the tent poles, they had each fallen into roles without any of them realizing that they had. Talia was the healer and that would not change, she also helped with the baby and foraged for food. Rollins was the expert and had the final say on the food they ate from the Land, as well as being the navigator and a successful hunter. Erek continued his subdued manner, he was a great help with lifting and carrying things, he was learning everyday but kept most of his thoughts to himself. The boys, Gorman, and Lorne were passable hunters but they lacked the self-discipline to be good hunters, they were young and acted like they were children sometimes.Erek walked over to Kaya after he was finished with the tent poles, the boys were stretching the buffalo hides over the poles as he p
Kaya’s group was not having an easy time traveling but they were in much better shape than the caravan was. Rollins was a supreme navigator, she had them on the best path possible to reach the river. When they reached the river they would still have to travel up its length to reach the place where the buffalo crossed. The mountain loomed ever closer each day, it cast its shadow on them until the sun rose above its peaks, then the rays warmed the group and gave them the inspiration they needed to continue. It was mid-day when they reached the Domea river. The sun was shining through a sky that was dappled with big fluffy white clouds, the clouds cast there shadows on the ground when the sun was behind them.They heard the river before they could see it, it was a loud, fast, and wide river. No one knew how much water flowed through it each day, what they did know was that it could bring you life or grant you death, the choice was yours. At the bank of the river, they stopped to absorb i