February 23, 2003
Dapple finds a new friend, but can she keep this a secret from her tribe mates?
The water was clear as crystal, fed by streams flowing off the mighty escarpment that walled and protected the savage land. Dapple sat against the greenish moss that had covered the north sides of the trees and the surrounding roots, and she enjoyed the sounds of the rolling little waves until they smashed at the river's bend. She had been away from the holt for one night now; which wasn't something very special as she tended to do that often.
But this time, she had wandered further than she had before, for the fourth day in a row, finally settling next to the mighty Rushwater River. And while she kept an eye on the fish - some of them let the waves carry them, others tried to fight the immense stream - she shook her head, slowly. She was slightly confused about what she was about to do.
Four days ago. It seemed an eternity, but yet it was so little time. She sighed softly. Not knowing what to do, she plucked a flower and studied it for a while. The fresh, reddish petals disappeared into the heart of the flower, safely put away in a deep corner. The fresh green leaves welcomed her touch as she caressed them, after which she stood up. She needed to go. Her new friend was waiting for her, and she needed to help him. She owed him that.
She'd asked him for his name, but he had refused to tell her, and that's why she had called him Nightwalker. She had stumbled upon him; he breathed heavily and was wounded, but he had refused to go back to the holt. Why, she didn't know.
Nightwalker. He wasn't very weak, although she'd hit him quite hard with the stick a couple of times, and she had promised not to tell anyone of his existence. Nightwalker, an unknown elf from an unknown tribe, far away from here, if she was to believe him. She wondered if he came from the same tribe as Surefire and Clearheart, but she didn't dare to ask them. Nightwalker, however, gave no response to that question and she hadn't asked again.
He had actually found her, being chased by a crocodilian which she had mistaken for a treebranch, and saved her by wounding the animal badly with his arrows. She remembered clearly how she had hit him with a stick after that, not realizing that he was the one who had actually saved her from the beast. She was terrified, scared to death until she finally realized that the beast was gone and the unknown elf lay on the ground before her, protecting himself with his hands by trying to grab the stick she carried.
"Dapple?"
The soft tenor made her look up, and she stared into his light brown eyes for a second. She turned away her head, slightly embarrassed that he'd caught her while she was in these deep thoughts. She already felt that he should think of her as an ignorant half grown cub, not knowing the difference between a crocodilian and a branch, not knowing the difference between a saviour and an attacker. And now, if he hadn't whispered her name, he could have nailed her down if he were a carnivore who was more than willing to take her as his dinner.
"Don't do that to me!" she snapped, unable to control her temper. "You shouldn't sneak around like that! I hate it!"
He didn't seem impressed, and that only made her crankier. His calm eyes didn't leave her face when he answered. "A temper you have, little girl. What if I'd been a longtooth? He wouldn't have announced that he was going to eat you."
She blushed slightly, feeling the redness crawling over her cheeks until it had reached her ears, when she realized it had been the same thoughts she'd had just a second ago.
"I'm not a little girl anymore." She scampered, turning her back on him, but he refused to let that happen and grabbed her shoulder. She saw a spark of impatience in his eyes when he softly shook her shoulders.
"You know far too little of this world outside of your holt, cub," he warned her, "If I hadn't been here a few days ago then I don't think you would have survived the crocodilian. Maybe you think you are wise, but you still have to learn an awful lot from the outside world, young one." With these words, he pushed her away softly and turned around, walking away with a slow pace.
Dapple bit on her lip, knowing that he was right. In fact, she still was a little girl and she acted like it, although she didn't like the fact that he only seldom used her name. She didn't want to let him go when he was mad at her, and therefore she quickly sent: **Don't you want to teach me?**
He turned around, glancing cautiously. "Teach you what, cub?"
"Can't you just use my name? That's why it was given to me, so that others could use it." The impatience came back fully. "Teach me which things I have to keep in the back of my mind when I want to swim. Sounds I need to be aware of when I walk the vast ground. Anything!" She made a wide gesture before looking in his eyes again.
He chuckled before he answered. "I am willing to teach you what I know, but I am not sure how many time we will have, and-"
""I'm a fast learner!"
"And you cannot be away too long from your holt. But most important-"
"I'm away all the time!"
"Most important, you are impulsive and impatient. Are you sure you can be that silent so that birds are willing to share a branch with you?" He had ignored all the interruptions and that slightly irritated, but also interested her.
"At least I can try, right?"
Her sudden enthusiasm seemed to intrigue him and he hesitated only a few seconds before he said: "All right, then. Let's start with the crocodilians first."
Time passed as Nightwalker taught the young girl how to recognize the large predators and which things she needed to look at carefully near the shores of the river, including any signs of an ambush by any carnivore whatsoever. She listened with attention, sometimes asking a question out of interest or out of curiosity, but mostly she let him speak until she realized that the sun had already started to drive away the two moons.
"Thanks for the lesson," she spoke happily and she ruffled his almost black hair. "But the sun's up, see? I think it's best for us to sleep now, don't you think?"
Dapple's eyes fluttered when something touched her hair. She didn't immediately realize where she was, but it only took a few seconds when she looked into a pair of light brown eyes, which sparkled with amusement when he pushed a string of her hair behind her ear.
"Morning," he snickered, while pushing himself from the ground. "Ready for your next lesson?"
Sleepy, Dapple didn't have an answer instantly and she just nodded, leaning on her elbow so that she could see how he opened the cave in which they slept in. He had placed some dead branches before the entrance so that they would not be disturbed by predators.
**Come,** he sent, and she blinked with her eyes. Until now, he had preferred speaking above sending, and she didn't know exactly why he sent right now.
He had obviously seen her reaction, because he smiled softly, pulling away a thick branch. **A lesson in silence,** he added, which only made her more confused. What did he mean by that?
Slowly she followed him outside, keeping still for a moment to let her eyes adapt to the surroundings. The mother moon held the baby moon in her arms, she saw with a smile. The night was perfect, she realized, turning to Nightwalker with a broad smile, but her joy lessened when he saw the frown at his forehead. **What's wrong?**
He quickly shook his head. **Nothing's wrong. Let's go.**
He led the way towards the river, again, and made a faint gesture that she should sit down and watch. This was a heavy task for the always-busy girl, but after a few tries in which she couldn't keep still since there was too much to see, she made it. **When you are silent, there are a lot of animals that show up near the river. Silence is the keyword for everything, young one. There - see? A young splithoof dares to come near because we aren't dangerous towards it.**
Dapple only weakly heard his send, she was occupied watching the young mammal and a form of excitement started to itch her belly. The dark eyes of the splithoof investigated the surrounding before it lowered his head to drink some of the crystal clear water that was running fast, but its ears were still moving around, aware of every sound around the little beast. It had probably wandered off from its herd for a bit, being too thirsty to wait for the rest of the group.
A little movement made her turn her head, and the splithoof raised its own when it saw the elf shifting. **Look,** Dapple sent, **That's a crocodilian, right?**
A beast, looking like a branch, slowly moved up in the river, leaning in the stream and making only slow progress. Here and there it disappeared for a while, under water, but it didn't take it long to come upwards again.
Nightwalker nodded mentally in a reply, and he knew what was going to happen next. That was nature, he knew.
And in the process of swimming to its prey, Dapple also suddenly realized what the predator was up to. **No, it cannot do that!** she mentally cried, shocked. **The splithoof's still so young!**
Nightwalker shifted his hand slowly to her leg. **Stay still, young one. The splithoof's wandered too far from its herd. This is nature, and they are accepting the risk; why aren't you?**
The crocodilian had now almost reached the splithoof, who was still drinking with caution, and both Dapple and Nightwalker felt the tension building up in the maiden's body as the carnivore slowly approached.
"NO!" Dapple screamed, jumping at her feet. "Run, splithoof, run!" She waved madly with her arms, to scare the beast off so that it would leave the cursed spot at the river. Frightened, the young mammal jumped away a few steps, just at the time the carnivore struck - and missed.
**Dapple, what are you doing?!** Nightwalker's send was full of irritation and weariness and he saw the carnivore enter the water again, angry that it missed its pray and now focusing on the elf who was waving her arms insanely.
The crocodilian approached fast, not having any troubles with the fast-running water; it was used to the strength and had adapted to it. Nightwalker pulled her with him, to the nearest thick tree, while she was a bit confused about what he was going to do. **Up, up!** He hadn't seen a crocodilian moving this fast on land, and he surely hadn't intended to get eaten by such a beast.
Dapple moved upwards quickly, and he had only reached the first branch when the jaws of the predator snapped just below him. He climbed upwards until he was perfectly sure that this was the right height where the crocodilian couldn't reach either of them.
**What were you thinking, Dapple?** He sent, trying to keep his anger out of his send. **You did not have the right to interfere in nature's law!**
Dapple, however, didn't try at all to keep her impatience and irritation out of her own mind voice. **I couldn't just sit there and watch until the beast was satisfied! I had to do something!**
**Yes, and now look what you brought upon us. A predator with mighty jaws, waiting for us to come down and be his meal instead of the splithoof!**
Indeed, the crocodilian didn't move a pace, well-knowing that its new prey had to come out of the tree sooner or later, so it circled around the trunk, waiting for its opportunity and every once in a while, he snapped at the elves above.
**High Ones, Nightwalker! The beast will soon disappear when he's tired of keeping an eye on us. You shouldn't worry so much. You're always making problems out of nothing!** Dapple snapped.
Nightwalker closed his mouth to stop a growl towards the naive girl next to him, knowing that crocodilians could be very stubborn.
**Is it gone yet?** Dapple sighed, yawning. A few birds were singing already, announcing the new day and she felt awful. All her muscles ached; they had sat in the tree for the whole night. And every time she'd thought it was safe, Nightwalker had pointed out the place where the beast was hiding.
She looked up when he shook his head, and she sighed impatiently. It would be easy for him to say: 'I told you so.' but he didn't, to her surprise and somewhere deep within her, she appreciated that.
**I want to go home,** she suddenly sent, and it was true. **I'm sorry, Nightwalker. I just did what seemed to be right at the moment, and I realize I was wrong.** She touched his shoulder briefly, but he didn't answer. It'd cost her a lot before she had been able to make that confession and it itched her that he didn't answer in any way. **Hey!**
**Ssh,** he replied, pointing slowly to the river. The crocodilian had seen a boar drinking the water, and apparently it had decided that the animal would be a better meal than the elves, since it slowly approached the riverbed. **When I say run, you climb out of the tree and run to your holt.**
Dapple nodded, a bit confused. **But what about you?**
**I'll be right behind you, you know where you can find me any other day, all right?**
He smiled, and touched her cheek with his hand for just a few seconds. She nodded, not totally happy with the situation. She realized that she wanted him to come with her, to the holt. Still, she didn't understand his reasons for not coming with her and she guessed she never would, but it was his choice and she respected that. He shifted a bit, trying to suppress a sound of pain. He, also, felt his muscles ache.
**At least now you've learned how to sit still for a while,** he sent with something that looked like a smile. Dapple blushed, knowing it was true and that she'd done this to them.
The crocodilian attacked the boar, and that was the moment at which Nightwalker sent fiercely: **RUN!**
Without thinking, she jumped downwards from branch to branch, and before the predator knew, both the elves had disappeared between the bushes.
Dapple felt happy, free, and she was glad that she could move again. She darted over the grass, laughing, dancing, jumping and then she turned around, beaming of joy. Nothing. Her laughter faded away. Nightwalker was gone. She frowned. He always disappeared like that, and she didn't like it.
Thoughtfully, she made her way back to the holt, a tingling feeling in her belly. She liked Nightwalker but there was so much that she didn't know of him. So many things he wouldn't tell her. Why was that? What was it he wanted to hide from her, and from her whole tribe?
The journey was long; although Dapple was immensely tired, she kept walking the whole day. At the holt, there would be time to rest, she figured. She was tired, not only physically, but also mentally and didn't even know she was that near the hurst until she heard an enthusiastic greeting.
**Ahoya, Dapple!** The happy send of her younger friend filled her head and she turned around.
**Silverwolf,** she returned the greeting, **I'm back!**
The youngster nodded happily. **I wish you would take me with you when you leave,** she sighed, and Dapple snickered.
**If I were going to take you with me, I would first have to fight Snowspear. She's so protective! I often have the idea that she doesn't like me for what I do.**
Silverwolf snorted, but before she could reply, a few elves entered the place where they were standing.
**Well, well, the lost cub returns,** Ravencloud snickered, **Just wait and see what your mother has for you, Dapple. You know she doesn't like you being away for so long.**
Dapple mumbled something that didn't sound all too nice and the adventurous male snickered in reply, winking to his fellow companions. **We're going to hunt.**
Willow Walker appeared next to his friend. "A young girl like you shouldn't be out there for too long. It's dangerous."
Silverwolf saw the furious look on her friend's face and defended her with her life. **Why aren't you staying at home, then? Someday your pride will kill you, Willow Walker!**
**Move on,** Bladeshore pushed his friends forward, winking at the maidens, but his last lock send was for Dapple. **Seriously, Dapple. No one can stop you from going out, but watch your back, will you?**
She nodded, feeling the anger slip away with these words and saw a fourth person join the hunt: Shadowpool.
Dapple shook her head, yawning. "I'm going to sleep," she muttered, meanwhile nodding to the maiden next to her. "I'm drained. I've walked the whole day to get back."
Silverwolf's eyes enlarged. "Did you walk that far? Ooh, Dapple. Promise me you'll take me with you someday!"
Dapple's only reply was a firm nod, before she walked to her parents' den, ignoring her mother's words. She would deal with the consequences later.
**Wildstar! Wildstar!**
The open, panicked send woke her up. What time was it? Time to get up? Who'd awoken her? Sleepily, Dapple moaned and rolled over to close her eyes again.
Shadowpool! Immediately she sat up straight. The den was empty and it should be, since the night had fallen a while ago already. She swiftly searched for her leathers and slipped out of the den to join the gathered group. She saw how Wildstar tried to calm down the maiden.
**We were searching for prey and wandered off a little, not knowing that we'd reached the Land Lopers' area. We hadn't intended to go there, but suddenly we realized we'd entered their territory, hearing the fierce sound of the drums. Ravencloud, he wanted to watch and Willow Walker also wanted to go, so we went there and saw something awful! They'd captured an elf, unknown to us but definitely an elf, ready to be murdered!**
Dapple stood stunned as Shadowpool continued the story. **Ravencloud and Willow Walker wanted to go there to save the elf and Bladshore and I tried to stop them, but it was no use. They were determined to save the unknown elf and left; Bladeshore too but he said that I should return to the holt and get some help! I don't know what they were thinking, but I fear they'll never make it!**
The words, blurry because of the panic in her sending, almost didn't come through Dapple's mind. She only vaguely noticed that Wildstar organized a party to save the elves, not listening to the commands. Nightwalker. Nightwalker? Was it possible? She figured not, hence the fact that they didn't go into the Land Lopers' territory. But it now clearly came to her mind that even she had known that they were at least near that area.
**Wildstar, I have to go,** she suddenly blurted out. She needed to see them. High Ones, she felt that this was all her fault. If she hadn't rescued the young splithoof, they wouldn't have spent the rest of the night high up in a tree and Nightwalker would have been more careful.
The Chieftess turned around, inspecting the heated face of the young maiden and made her decision quite fast. "It's dangerous, you stay here, cub," she answered, before she turned back to Snowspear.
"I have to come, Chieftess," Dapple spoke, putting a step forward, but Wildstar did not change her decision.
"No, you stay here."
"But-"
"Dapple, you are not leaving the holt, do you understand? Consider that an order," Wildstar snapped. The tension between the two elves could nearly be touched for a second, but Dapple knew her place and bowed her head almost instantly. Wildstar was her Chieftess.
The fear remained, still, and when she watched the party that left shortly after that, Silverwolf joined her side and placed a hand at her shoulder. She had seen what had happened and she felt the need to comfort her friend. But Dapple shook off the hand and walked away to her den, ignoring the surprised sends of her friend. She wanted to be alone.
Dapple couldn't sleep and stayed alert for the rest of the night and day, eagerly waiting for the rescue party to come back with the four missing elves. She, however, felt her heart aching and in fact she was just waiting at the words she now so desperately feared. And instantly when a few wolves in the holt howled as a greeting to the returning elves and wolves, she stood up and scooted to the edge of their safe holt.
Tendril joined her shortly after, tensed for what the party would have to announce but also because she worried about her soul sister. **I don't know what you've been doing the last couple of days and if you don't want to tell me, that's fine, but everyone can see that it's something to do with the party that went out to get the elves out of humans' hands.**
Dapple didn't reply but turned her head so that her golden-brown eyes met Tendril's leafy green eyes. And once more she realized that Tendril was older than she was, not in age but in wisdom.
"I will tell you la-" She swallowed the last words when a faint silhouette became visible and she took a few steps back. "Come," she whispered, being afraid of the words she already knew, deep in her heart. Tendril did as she said, without asking any questions, but with a worried spark in her eyes.
When the first elves appeared and when Dapple saw the looks on their faces, her heart shattered into a thousand pieces. She had known it all along. Nightwalker was dead, and when her eyes met Shadowpool's, she knew the other three were gone too. Suddenly, her knees bent through and Dapple fell, desperately seeking for words while the party spread out, while the ones who had stayed behind asked questions in a soft tone. While she heard soft sobs around her.
She felt empty, vulnerable and she was angry. Nightwalker. She now realized that he had meant so much more to her than she had always thought. She had seen him as a close friend, her cherished secret and now it became very clear that it wasn't the only feeling. She'd fallen in love with him, frankly the first time she had ever seen him.
Her eyes met Wildstar's for a faint moment but the youngster turned her head away, trying to place her feet upon the ground, which worked with some help of Tendril. It was all her fault, she decided. How could she live with herself? She felt a knot of emotions inside her body, but it was so large that it didn't came out.
The emptiness she felt was overwhelming, she couldn't even cry. 'Watch your back, will you?' The last sentence that Bladeshore had said to her, and instantly they reminded her of Silverwolf's words, before these. 'Someday your pride will kill you, Willow Walker.' Dapple didn't speak nor send, left alone in her own thoughts and feelings. The way she wanted it.