The New Tribe

[Keylaleigh]

Ayoris looked over at the Wolfrider and grinned.*Don't mind if I do!* She sprinted off in front of Dusk, weaving in and out of the trees. She already knew that the Wolfrider would take the treetop route already, so there was less of a chance of her getting too much in the way.

There was about two thirds of a mile until reaching the New Tribe's home, and she had a feeling that she was in the lead.

[Tsemara]

Dusk was amazed at the Go-Back's speed through the forest below. She kept up for as long as she could. However, being the smaller of the two, the Wolfrider eventually fell behind. She growled to herself, more out of exasperation than any actual anger. She wasn't going to win like this. The young elf spotted Bloodmoon, running below, as she leapt to another tree.

*Bloodmoon! Go get her!* Dusk commanded playfully. The wolf sprinted ahead to intercept the Go-Back. If this worked, the Wolfrider might still win the race.

[Keylaleigh]

Ayoris barely had time to register the sound of feet behind her when a wolf bounded towards her, leaping and knocking the go-back over. "Cheat!" She shouted, temporarily forgetting to send. Eventually, she got the wolf off of her and was on her feet again.

She continued running until she saw the enormous tree that served as the home of the Wolfriders. She kept going, eventually bursting through the vines that hid the New Tribe's camp. She stopped, looking around to see if Dusk was there yet.

[Tsemara]

At the Wolfrider's command, the wolf made sure not to hurt the other elf. But Bloodmoons' elf friend hadn't said anything against him giving the Go-Back an affectionate, playful, and very slobbery kiss. His tail wagged as Ayoris seemingly played along. He barked in reply to his captives' outburst.

*Quiet, boulderbrain,* Dusk Sent to her wolf friend. Unphased with the rebuke, the wolf ran off toward the camp. The Wolfrider, in the meantime continued through the trees. She made up the lost ground as well as pushed ahead of her companion. However, she still arrived half a second behind Ayoris. She decided that she probably shouldn't have stopped to watch the wolf play. Maybe next time will be better. *That was fun! Maybe next time I'll beat you!* she Sent to Ayoris.

The young elf continued vaulting through the trees until she came to the home tree. She scurried around until she arrived at he own little hallow. It rested closer to the ground, in the crook of a large branch. She removed her bow and quivver, setting them in their places. Her dagger remained in her boot. Then, she leaned out of her minature tree cave to see what the others were up to.

[Keylaleigh]

Ayoris smirked. "Maybe." Most likely, actually. That was a close race.

The Go-Back then turned her attention to another young elf with brown skin and short black hair. He dressed in bright colors and wore gold jewelry. The Sunfolk had a hard time changing their culture. Then again, so did the Go-Backs. At least the Go-Backs were more used to times of war. The Sunfolk were a sheltered group, never knowing even the concept of war and violence until a few decades ago.

"Zhey!" She shouted over to him. "Get some forest-colored clothing on. You've got watch!" He nodded and ran off.

[Tsemara]

Dusk watched the Go-Back order the Sunfolk about. She wondered, absently, why the soft desert elves ever left what she had been told was a hard to find haven in the sun baked ridges. But their reasons for leaving were their own, just like the Wolfriders reasons for leaving their old forest home.

Her thoughts were broken by the familiar bark of Bloodmoon. The young elf hung down from the branch that supported her for a moment. Then, she gracefully dropped to the ground below. The two wrestled for a bit, before the elf shoved the wolf away. "Go play with the other wolves," she ordered him playfully. The wolf bounded off to play or do whatever it was that the rest of the pack was up to. Dusk had a faint suspicion that the wolves were going to go harrass the cows that had wandered too far from the relative safety of the human lands. Stupid cows.

The young wolfrider stood up and straightened her rumpled leathers. She might as well see if the elders had anything for her to do. If not, she could probably go explore the forest.

[Maeve]

Zent was caring for his cows, or more likely, he was sitting on a rock and watching them, just in case some wolves were stupid enough to come out during the day. He knew it would not happen, it had never happened, unless maybe during some really harsh cold months. But the young man strongly doubt any of them would come out now.

With a sigh, he took a look around, watching the edge of the forest. Noticing everything was fine, he laid down and crossed his arms under his head, watching the clouds move slowly in the sky. This should have been the job of a youngster, while he took care of more important things, but his young cousin, who usually took his place, was sick. Zent hoped the young boy would get better soon.

((Sorry, forgot to post ))

[Tsemara]

The cows went about their grazing, as they usually did. The moved about periodically to find a new patch of grass, or to find shade. With Zent being as laid back as he was, some of the beasts moved beyond what was considered to be the boy's land. They wandered about aimlessly, alternating between grazing and resting. A couple cows moved toward what promised to be cool shade in the forest. They were unaware that there were watchers in the shadows.

The wolves patrolled the edge of the trees, while they waited for the elves to send another watcher. They eyed the approaching cows. They knew full well that their elf friends would not like it if they killed the stupid beasts. But even the elves too sport in harassing the large animals. The slunk into slightly deeper parts of the forest, to see if the cows would dare enter the woods.

They waited until the cows had entered the shade completely. They wandered about through the trees, looking for a cool spot of grass or moss to rest on. Just as the large beasts were settling down, the wolves rushed. The alpha howled and was closely echoed by the other members of the small pack.

Startled, the cows fled, herded through the trees by the shaggy hunters. They nipped at the fleeing hooves, careful to avoid being kicked. The wolves chased the bovines until they were out of the trees. They returned to the shadows, leaving the humans to deal with the paniking animals.

[Keylaleigh]

Ayoris decided to stay in the shadows and observe as the wolves put the stupid beasts in a panicked state. Unable to help it, she laughed out loud at the scattering cattle. The human that was supposed to be watching them would be just as panicked as the cows soon enough. Now THAT was a spectacle she couldn't wait to see.

She chose to stay back, though, because the wolves were much faster than the elf. If she joined in the fun, she would most likely be unable to outrun a human with a much longer stride. Observing was fun enough, though.

[Maeve]

Zent jumped on his feet as he heard the screams of panicked cows, and what he thought were wolves' howls. He climbed back on his rock and looked around, trying to understand where the noises were coming from. Soon, he noticed a few animals running away from the forest's edge. "Stupid beasts," he pestered as he headed to go retrieve his cattle. I'll need to put a bigger fence around the field, he added for himself.

Soon enough, the young man faced the first panicked cow, the rest of the group following behind. There wasn't much he can do, armed only with a staff and sling. With a sigh, he tried to make noises, hitting the ground with his staff and shouting at the beasts, hoping he would be able to make them turn and head for their field with the other cows. It kinda worked at first, but soon a rather large cow headed straight for him. Doing what he could to avoid it, Zent jumped to the side, but the beast still hit him slightly. He fell harshly on his left shoulder and passed out from the shock.

[Tsemara]

The cows, eventually ceased their running. With nothing left in their surroundings that would harm them, and the majority of the bovines calm, there was no longer any reason to panic. They settled in with the rest of the herd and returned to their grazing. The large beasts were oblivious to their keeper's plight.

The wolves, however, watched. They had seen the human fall. And they had noticed that it didn't get back up. Was it dead? Could they eat the cows now? A couple of the younger wolves began to slink forward to investigate. They had left the shadows of the forest before the alphas ran ahead to stop them.

Hackles raised, fangs were bared as the alphas scolded the younger members. The latter rolled onto their backs submissively before returning to the forest with the rest of the pack. Bloodmoon went back to his elf friend to relate his experience.

*Chased cows. Run fast. Human hurt,* he Sent Dusk proudly.

Dusk grinned, wishing that she had been there when the beasts were on the run. The fact that a human had gotten injured was just an extra bit of luck.

*Show me where,* she Sent back. With any luck there would be more cows to chase. If they had gotten out once, they could very well do it again. The wolf and elf jogged through the woods, back to where she had met up with Ayoris earlier. The cows were too far in the human lands for the pack to persue. She didn't see where the human had fallen, and didn't particulary care. Dusk sat with the resting wolves, watching, waiting to see if the humans were going to do anything.

[Keylaleigh]

Ayoris sighed. A human was hurt. So what? The less there were of them, the better, she thought. Maybe she could take back her mountain if all the humans fell in freak accidents. "Freak accidents... now that's something to consider." She chuckled to herself as she considered the possibilities.

But what if the chief found out about her actions? There would be harsh consequences. She would have to plan this out a little more for the future. Find a few others that might go along with her idea. Most likely not Dusk. She was a kind girl, but she would never go along with it. In fact, Dusk would probably try to stop her. No. She'd find others who agreed with her.

[Maeve]

After a while, Zent's eyes opened. The young man pondered for a few seconds, trying to understand why he was laying on the ground. He sighed and tried to get back up. As soon as his left hand touched the ground, a jolt of pain ran to his brain. He let go a loud yell, bringing his hurt arm against his chest and holding it with the other. "The heck happened?" he said, sitting down as best as he could and touching his arm and shoulder to see what was going wrong. As he noticed the cows not too far away, he remembered what had happened. Well, a part of it anyway.

"Stupid wolves," the boy muttered as he got up, making sure not to move his left arm this time. He stood still for a minute, watching the forest, then his field. How was he supposed to take care of the land with a broken arm or whatever? That, and the villagers wouldn't like to know that the wolves had come this close to their lands... Maybe they would really go down and hunt the beasts this time? And of course, he wouldn't be able to help them!

He sighed and pestered once more, then he headed back where his staff and sling were laying. He carefully tied the sling against his left arm to hold it up, using some branches he found around to keep it stable. He then picked up his staff with his usable hand and went back to his job. He would go see someone for his arm later, when the cows would have gotten enough grazing for the day. As he approached the beasts, he noticed they all seemed fine. Well then, what did the wolves want? he wondered, sitting down on a stump near the herd.

[Seijre]

Chewing moodily on a twig, Emrys contemplated a small ant hill in front of her. She couldn't seem to figure out this whole 'shielding' thing. Shielding herself was second nature when she was in danger, she did it without thinking, as easily as breathing. So why couldn't she harness that power and use it to protect others? Concentrating again, she tried to form an image of the shield in her mind. It was clearly visible in her mind's eye, but nothing seemed to happen. She furrowed her brow, concentrating harder.

At that moment, her concentration was broken as a small ball of fur rolled into her side. "Oh you stonehead, you've ruined everything" she said, jumping to her feet and glaring down at the jackwolf cub. He looked at her with bright eyes, tail wagging slightly and she instantly felt her anger melt away. "What do you want anyway you lazy lump?" she asked, kneeling down to ruffle his fur. She vaguely remembered hearing the wolves howl, but it hadn't been a howl she needed to pay attention to. Sandstone probably wanted to be out having fun like the wolf pack, but the wolves and jackwolves didn't exactly get along. Ever since the Sun Folk had come to this place, they had needed to keep the two packs separate to avoid brawling. There was a wary alliance between the packs at the insistence of their riders, but they still didn't tolerate one another very well.

Tugging on the stick she still held, Sandstone growled playfully. Emrys smiled, glad to see that at least someone was in a good mood. There had been so much sorrow recently that it was sometimes hard to remember to take pleasure in the little things. At least now that the tribes were in one place like this they might be able to work together and come up with a solution. There had already been at least two recognitions too, and with everyone gathered together they had a better chance of meeting that one person who would help to rebuild their dwindling numbers. Someday Emrys hoped to recognize someone herself, but she was still several eights too young for that.

The wolves called again, and Emrys realized they must have been having sport with the human's cattle again. She wondered if it was just the wolves or if the wolfriders were wreaking havoc. Curiosity piqued, she headed toward the edge of the woods, keeping to the shadows. She wasn't as good at traveling silently as her forest-born kin, but at least she didn't crash around through the brush like a human or even some of the go-backs. Sandstone followed her, making her progress that much less quiet, but she still traveled quietly enough that Zhey didn't even notice her coming until she was almost upon him.

"Hey. What's going on with the wolves?" she asked. He shrugged, and she remembered that he was even less used to interpreting their howls than she was. She supposed she would just have to keep going and investigate for herself. "Have fun keeping watch" she said, leaving before Zhey could even open his mouth in protest. She felt a little guilty for sneaking up on him and then leaving without really stopping to chat, but her curiosity was getting the better of her. She could see some of the wolves ahead of her, and Sandstone stopped, knowing better than to venture into the territory the larger wolves had claimed. She could also see Dusk, crouched among the wolves.

*Dusk? What were the wolves howling for?* she sent. the wolves picked up her scent and perked up, looking over at her as she picked her way through the thinning trees closer to where they rested. Sending was another thing that came more naturally to her than some of her kin, but it still gave her a buzzing headache sometimes. *What are you watching?* she asked, realizing Dusk's gaze had been fixed on something out in the field before she had interrupted the wolfrider.

((Well that came out a wee bit longer than I originally thought XD
I probably won't post that much every time though, just so you know XD))

[Tsemara]

Dusk huffed slightly, out of annoyance, when the human suddenly rose from the grass. It had appeared that the five fingered one had been injured, as Bloodmoon has said. Unfortunately, the injury hadn't been life threatening. Too bad. It could have meant one less human, and more cows for eating.

The young wolfrider hadn't been expecting anyone to Send to her. She looked up to find Emrys and her jackwolf pup hanging out where Zhey was. Apparently, the elder Sun Folk hadn't been aware that either one of the cubs were nearby. Some watch he was.

The slightly older cub got up to greet the jackwolf rider. She didn't bother to dust off the wolf hairs that clung to her garments. *Hi Emrys,* she grinned. *The wolves said that they went after some cows that had wandered into the woods. I didn't get to see, but apparently the human that was supposed to be watching them got hurt when the brutes returned to their field.* She pointed out toward the injured human that was sitting on a stump. *The human just got up, so I guess he wasn't hurt that badly. Maybe just stunned.* She huffed again, looking displeased with this news.
(That's alright.)