Closed Adding to Misfortune (Hess)

[Faye Shakath]

She couldn’t help but blush at her overzealous effort. Alas, she did manage a sheepish smile as she watched him walk up and offer his hand. Happy for the help up, Faye commented with a small spot of woe in her voice, “Any climb will be better than being stuck in a storm!”

After accepting the hand that was offered to her, Faye glanced at the sky. The usually white fluffy sheep that grazed on the blue grass of the sky had now pulled off their disguises. They were actually ferocious wolves that now prowled the sky like she had seen earlier. He was right. The calm before the storm would not last long. Those wolves would descend upon them with their howling and tear them apart with their claws and teeth. No one survived a storm in these mountains without shelter. No one. While continuing to hold onto the hand for balance, she gladly let the arm that wrapped around her shoulder for support. It was going to be a long climb and she didn’t want to imagine what it would be like if she were to go at this one alone.

Being gentle on her leg, she gingerly pulled herself away from the tree. She was eager to be away from the predatory eyes that hovered above her. They threatened to gobble her up. At the thought, she redirected her gaze back to the pine needle carpeted floor. She would have to watch for rocks that littered her path and for any tricky footing that might claim her other ankle. She did not relish the idea of have Hess carry her all the way up the hill.

Adjusting her hold across his waist, the girl focused on the cold wind biting at her nose rather than her close proximity to another human being. It was bad enough that she was breaking out in a blush that wasn’t cause by the effort of climbing on one leg. Though she managed to avoid looking at him and rather kept to conversation than eye contact.

“Just thought I might say thank you for not leaving me behind. . .” carefully ventured Faye as they started to approach an outcropping of boulders, “It was very honorable for you to stay and I just wanted you to know that I appreciate it.”

The thank you was hard pressed to come out, but the sentence had eventually slipped through her lips. As much as she hated to admit things like that, being truthful and honest was more important than her pride.

Once they reached the crest of the rocks, she saw the place that Hess started to walking towards. Glancing at the small crack in the rocks, she wondered how she was going to wiggle through it without hurting her ankle much more. She would have to go in at an angle and let her weight push her through. Deciding on that plan of action, she detached herself from Hess with a determined look on her face. She was going to be stuck out her for a while so she wouldn’t have to worry about making this trip a bunch of times. She would only have to do this twice. Hopefully, the second time she would leave with a healed ankle.

Turning side ways to push herself through the crack with her weight, she gasped, “You really picked a good spot! We won’t get ambushed by animals in here! Less heat to keep the place warm too.”

Finally squeezing through, she looked around the small triangle cave that she could sit in comfortably, but would have no hope of standing in it. The only thing she wondered about was sleeping. This place was small and they would have to sleep close. Though she knew that was good for heat, she still felt squeamish about it. Sleeping around with all the Dek was one thing. There were many people all piled together. But here? It was just him and her in the middle of nowhere. At least no one paid attention to her in the big group. It was at this point she really hoped she didn’t snore or do anything else embarrassing in her sleep. It would be torture for him to be stuck with some girl who not only kept him here, but also kept him up at night. Sighing, she turned to look at him through the crack.

“I guess I start making the fire and the pit?” she asked while running a hand through her long hair.

((Sorry for the long wait))

[Hess]

Hess took her hand in his and then wrapped his arm about her shoulders and back, the other hand going slightly under her far arm for better support and balance. Faye’s free arm wrapped about his waist and like some three legged, two headed critter, they began the ascent. She hopped and he did his best to support her slight weight, but he knew the movement must still have been painful for her. Saving his breath for the climb, Hess said little other than a word here and there of encouragement. If the slope hadn’t have been so damn steep, it would have been far easier, of course. As it was, in some spots they had to practically put their noses in the pine needles and unclasp hands to search for handholds amongst the pine roots, or stones. In the end though, sweating slightly, which was problematic in itself, the three sided cluster of boulders came into view. Within another minute, they were standing outside the narrow opening, huffing and puffing a good bit. He hadn’t let go of her yet, and in reply to her words of thanks, he smiled, looking down into her strained face. “No problem. If a bear shows up, I’d thought you’d make a handy diversion while I hightailed it out of here.” He grinned, then added, “I’m only teasing.” Her look had been a bit ambivalent and he thought maybe Faye was one of those people who might not appreciate or get his often warped sense of humor. But Faye was then wriggling in to the make shift shelter, through the narrow gap between two of the rocks. Hess, though, stayed outside, for the moment, squatting down and just poking his face to the gap. “You know how to make a fire hole?” he asked. “You can use the knife to dig. I hope the ground isn’t too hard.” He leaned further in and pointed to a fissure towards the back of their little ‘cave.’ “Dig the pit there, and the air tunnel can go right through to the outside. I’ll dig the last bit myself so you won’t have to mess with crawling back out. The draw should be perfect,” he said, pulling back a bit and feeling the wind on his cheeks. He crouched down again, and looked at her, trying to portray an aura of calm and confidence. “I’m going to go set some snares.” With a load of snow on its way, it didn’t seem too likely that any animal would be out and about, but he had to at least try. “We’re too high up for moose or elk. They’ve already begun moving back down into the valleys. But I’ll keep my eyes open, just in case there’s an old one hanging about. And I’ll try to find some dry wood. The smoke’s going to be something awful in there.” He stuck his head in further and twisted it, craning his neck to look up at the gap some twenty feet above them. “At least it has a sort of natural chimney,” he observed, before looking at her once more, and reaching to pat her foot, which was the closest bit of her. “And smoke will let Shakath know where we are.” If he was uninjured and still able to fly himself, Hess thought grimly. But he smiled encouragingly at the girl. “We’ll have a fire, shelter, and all the water we need. We’ll be fine. I hate to keep repeating myself but . . . “ He pulled out of the crevice. “I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

[Faye Shakath]

“Please be safe,” was all she could really get out.

As she watched him make his way back down the hill they had just traversed, she suddenly felt like she should jump up and join him. But she couldn’t. For the first time in a long time, she felt helpless. Then again, this entire time she felt helpless. Between the storm that pushed them around like snow and her injury, she just wanted to drop herself off a ledge. Maybe if she had died in the fall Hess wouldn’t be stuck here and she would be able to die with some honor. She let herself linger on the idea of her death for a little longer before she decided to stop wallowing in pity. Death never solved anything.

The gravel grumbled under her weight as she managed to turn herself around on the ground to face the back of the cave. At least the grey stone that held her was a comfort. She could almost pretend it was the same crevice she sometimes slept in when the stench of all the people was unbearable. Even after four years of being an Endal, the silence that was her home in the Aviaries was strange. Sometimes at night, she swore that she could hear the people talking amongst themselves.

Even now the murmuring was somewhere off in the distance. But she figured that it was just the trees whispering their secrets to the wind. Pulling out her dagger, she began to stab at the ground. The crunching was something to at least fill the space in her thoughts that plagued her. Hopefully when she got back, she would be able to train twice as hard as usual to make up for the lost time. At least she would not be docile here for long.

Each time she slammed the blade into the earth’s belly Faye thought of something else to try and keep herself busy. But, nothing seemed appealing. Soon or later, when she did know, the girl began to sing softly to herself. It was a small melody that she remembered one of the other Dek’s singing to herself while she scrubbed dishes. It was something about dancing the day away once the work of life was done and love was found.

It wasn’t long before she was singing the lively tune as loud as she dared. She even managed to warm herself enough in her small dancing to take off her Katinu. Piling up the jacket in to the corner, she had ample room to swing her arms around with abandon to anonymity of the cave. It felt good to just dance in her spot while dinging and singing. It was something she hadn’t done in a while and it felt good.

Hopefully she would hear Hess coming before her heard her. . .

[Hess]

So – he had a lot to do, and an extremely short time to do it in, or so it would appear, given the look of the sky above. The air had turned that misty grey which took visibility down to no more than Hess could pitch a rock. Taking a precaution against the blizzard descending so rapidly that it cut him off from the shelter, and Faye, he began to cut slices of bark off the north side of trees every twenty feet or so. This high up in the mountains, storms could literally overtake you in just a few minutes, and he wasn’t about to lose his Endal. It took but a moment to decide that the need for firewood, and the prospects of finding it, were greater than the need for food and the hopes of getting anything in one of his snares before the weather closed in on them. His first order of business then was to begin scouring about for limbs and branches, and a sapling or three, that had been down a while and already dried out. He rigged an impromptu litter of pine boughs and placed the wood he gathered on it. From his pack he pulled a little hatchet and with this he was able to hack off more branches, for the green wood that might yet burn slowly. Once he had as much as he could tug along behind him, without all of it rolling back off, he made his way back to the shelter. Upon approaching the three boulders, he paused, listening to the song that came from within. He smirked a bit, and when he reached the fissure, he dropped to his knees and poked his head inside. There was Faye, hopping about like some crazed bird and he grinned broadly. “Starting the party without me?” he teased, beginning to shove the wood in all its various forms into the interior of the shelter. “Wait a bit and I’ll join you. I’m a great singer – and an even better dancer.” He chuckled. At least they were well able to dance and sing and laugh – for now anyway. “Here, take these boughs,” he said, shoving in the ones he had constructed the litter with. “Spread them on the ground. We’ll need something for insulation.” Sleeping on the ground itself would let the dead cold seep right through to their bones. “I’ll bring some more in a bit. A couple inches should do.” The boughs were complete with their stubby greenery and would hopefully trap some air between them and the rocky dirt. “The rest you can begin breaking up as you see fit – not too small.” He was tossing in some good sized boughs by this point, but he wasn’t fooled. The dry wood would burn quickly. That’s why the greenwood was needed too, to make the fire burn longer. “I’m going around to the other side of the crack, to dig the air vent for the fire hole,” he told her, already moving off. Circling the boulders, he found the far side and took his own knife and began to dig, carefully, so as not to collapse the tunnel he was making. The ground was none too soft and it was hard going, but he didn’t have far. At an angle, he scraped away the earth until finally he dug through to the bottom of the hole Faye had dug inside. Patting the sides, trying to get rid of any loose debris that might fall in and block the air flow, he finally sat back on his heels and constructed a little roof over the top, with a few rocks. Hopefully that would prevent the hole from filling with snow. He’d probably still have to climb back out here every so often and clear it. With a shrug, knowing there wasn’t much else he could do about it, he left it. Once again he stuck his head in through their “front door” and said, “OK, now I’m really going to set those snares, and see if I can bring down anything with my bow. And I’ll bring back more wood. See if you can get a fire going.” Without waiting for much of a reply, knowing how pressed for time he was, he took off at a trot. They were lucky. The weather held off long enough for him to set his snares and grab another load of wood and more boughs for their floor. He’d even managed to bag one squirrel – not much for two people, but it would have to do. They both had some food in their packs of course, but again, not a whole lot. By the time he was turning back to the boulders, Hess was famished, and he gauged the time to be at least mid-day, or later. It was hard to be precise with the sun hidden as she was. By the time he reached the fissure in the huge stones, the snow was falling, coming down in small hard flicks of white. Good – a dry snow would blow away much more quickly. After shoveling in his second load of wood, Hess finally crawled inside, flopping down on the boughs that Faye had strewn about. Pulling his knees to his chest, he leaned his head back against the cold hard rock. “I really like what you’ve done with the place,” he teased. “It looks just like home.” He gave her a look and asked in a more serous tone, “How are you doing? How’s the ankle?” But he couldn’t help grinning and adding with a wink, “Seemed like it was OK when you were shaking those tail feathers.”

[Faye Shakath]

A squeak was what escaped her first when she heard Hess’s voice coming from behind her. Turning around with a grand blush starting to work its way across her high cheek, she saw all the wood that start to congregate in the entrance of their dwelling. There were a variety of sticks, small logs, and broken branches. Trying to let her waves of hair hide her face, she began to grab the closest sticks while she tried to jest back, “I couldn’t wait much longer before the song caught me.”

But when he mentioned that he was a better dancer, Faye’s blush started to burn against her cheeks even more. The heat was threatening to make her break out in a sweat and get rid of all the embarrassment through her skin. What was she supposed to do now? She couldn’t think quickly enough to come up with a witty response before he started to hand her boughs of branches for the cave. In all of her distress, she had completely forgotten about something like that. It was then, as she snatched the branches from Hess’s hands, that she became very grateful of her fellow hunter. The young Endal had heard of how other societies would let their neighbor get robbed and beaten while they walked by. While they had the Dek, they were still looked after to a degree. They were not left completely on their own, especially in a rough place like the mountains.

As Hess instructed her to break up the rest of the greenery as she saw fit Faye flashed him a giant smile. It was defiantly great to have him around. Where all people like this or just him? If she talked to others, would they be just as charismatic? She hoped so. The girl wouldn’t know what to do if she had to interact with someone as hopeless as her. Nodding her comprehension, she watched him disappear from the entrance.

Now it was time for her to ‘furnish’ the place. This would be fun with her ankle between trying to not to hit it and maneuver around the boughs. Setting a determined look on her face, she began to push all the dry would in the back of the cave towards the pit she had dug. Once or twice she let a small grunt of frustration out, but for the most part it was easy work.

As she worked to put a layer of greens on the ground, she let her mind wander to what Shakath was doing. She had been avoiding the thought for a while in fear of what it would do to her insides. As expected, they start to churn and crumple up upon themselves. Her friend could be anywhere from dead to fine but worried sick. Despite herself, she hoped that she would feel through their connection, somehow, if he were dead. The girl couldn’t comprehend the amount of sorrow that would engulf her if she were to find out he had been smashed against the mountain side. How could she go on with herself if her only companion in the world was dead? No. She could think about this! She had to keep hope that he was still breathing and flying.

In her distress, she had worked at a frenzied pace. Now the place was covered with the boughs and they wood was all in its place. Sitting for a moment, she gazed around at the place that would be her quarters for the week. Well, it was certainly cozy for being so rushed. There was a certain peaceful feeling since she had constructed this herself with Hess’s help. She had to let a small smile slip onto her lips as she admired the place. The cave somehow felt better than her gigantic place back in the Aviaries.

Suddenly the cold biting at her skin reminded her that she was starting to get cold again. Pulling her jacket up around her shoulders, she heard Hess making his way back. She turned her expecting blue eyes to the cave entrance to see wood being forced into the hole. After she had gotten the rest into the wood pile, Hess settled down onto the floor of the place and commented on her job.

Home? Now that was a strange concept for her. Despite living in her quarters for four years now, she still hadn’t called the place ‘home’. So that feeling of peace was home? Well she would have to figure out how to bring that wonderful feeling back to her place after this ordeal.

While she leaned against the adjacent wall to Hess, she tried to push back another roaring blush to answer his question.

Clearing her throat, she occupied her hands with smoothing down the fur trimming on her jacket, “It’s doing great actually. Thanks to you I’ve been able to rest it so the swelling has gone done despite my dancing.”

Switching her gaze from the fur, she looked at him from the corner of her eye with a small smirk, “And if I remember correctly, you said you were a better dancer. Why don’t you show me some moves while I get the fire ready?”

Pulling the flint and steel out of her pack, she gave him an expecting look.

[Hess]

Hess gave a chuckle. “Sorry. You’d have to get me drunk if you want to see me dance. When we get back to Wind Reach, we can hit the Inclement Weather and I’ll show you all my moves.” Suddenly he stopped and his face kind of froze, with the realization that they would not be back in the city – not this night, and perhaps not for a few nights. So he wouldn’t be able to meet Euthisa, as he had arranged, and she’d be thinking that he had stood her up! He let out a little groan and very briefly rested his face in his entwined palms. Well, he couldn’t worry about that now. He and Faye would have to put all their brain power into just surviving up here. Tucking his hands inside his coat, Hess forced a smile back onto his face. “Sorry, I was just thinking about the last time I went dancing. You’d be better off taking me out for a cup of tea.” He rose to his knees and nodded at the flint. “Want me to do that? Have you laid the fire already?” Yes, they needed to keep their minds on the business at hand, and let the rest take care of itself.