Solo Searching for Supplies

[Seirei Dawnwhisper]

Timestamp: 15th Day of Winter, 515 AV



Seirei glanced at Kairi warily. She wanted to go foraging for supplies. She was running low on wood to make beads with, so she wanted to make a trip out to the Sonomos River in order to harvest some willow tree branches. Seirei also hoped to find some cattails there as well, since their fluff would be welcome to stuff in shoes to help keep the family warm during the winter. But with her broken toe, walking that far really wasn't possible. Making the return trip laden with supplies was even more of a problem. So if she was going to make the trip, she was going to need Kairi's help.

The problem was Kairi herself. She only cooperated when she felt like it. The strider mare was very protective of her for the sake of her foal. But it was painfully obvious to Seirei that the mare didn't respect her. Kairi refused to acknowledge that Seirei was in charge...or she was supposed to be, anyway. And in turn, Seirei was deeply intimidated by the mare.

Seirei approached Kairi with her yvas cautiously. The strider mare watched her closely, snorting sharply when she drew nearer. But she didn't protest when Seirei placed the yvas on her back gingerly. Nor did Kairi protest when she bent down and tightened the strap. She did try to pull her trick of taking a deep breath while Seirei fastened the strap, but Seirei was watching for this. She responded by tapping the mare's belly firmly, but gently. Kairi made a huffing sound as if she were sighing in resignation, but she exhaled, and allowed Seirei to fasten the strap properly.

When she was done, Seirei straightened up, and looked at the mare directly. She asked Kairi for her cooperation, and told her what she wanted to do. Kairi considered Seirei's request, then tossed her head. To Seirei, it looked as though the mare was nodding in acceptance. Hopefully, she was.

Seirei checked to make certain that she had all of the tools she would need. Then she moved to Kairi's side cautiously, and mounted the mare. The strider held still for her, rather than stepping to one side. And she didn't snort in warning, or do anything else to make her think that she was going to challenge her authority. When Kairi began walking, Seirei gripped the rings of the yvas nervously. The motions Kairi made as she walked were still unfamiliar to Seirei. She couldn't anticipate them, or move with them as she had once been told a rider was supposed to be able to do. Each movement threatened to disturb her precarious balance on Kairi's back, and send her tumbling to the ground. All she could do was hold on tightly as she sat, back stiff with tension.

As they moved through the city, she heard a cry of pain and fear. When she searched for the source, she saw a man dragging a young girl who seemed to be trying to escape and cowering away from the man at the same time. She was visibly pregnant, and was painfully thin. The grip the man had on her arm, and the back of her neck looked painful. Judging by the way the man was treating her, Seirei realized that the girl was probably a captive. Before Seirei could even think of what to do, they were gone. She felt guilty for not doing anything to help the girl. How many times had she wished that someone would make Lian stop raping her? But it had never happened. Just as she had done nothing now. It had all happened so quickly. Seirei promised herself that if she were to ever see the girl again, she would try to help her the way Naiya and Shahar had helped her.

Seirei was so lost in thought that they were at the Wind Knotted Gates before she realized it. Teisaia stood near by, talking to one of her friends. When Seirei greeted her, she looked up in surprise.

"You weren't planning to go out by yourself, were you?" she said in surprise.

Seirei blushed.

"I can't always rely on someone else to take me every time I need to go foraging for food, or supplies." she said softly.

"Maybe so. But that doesn't mean that you should go out on your own and try to figure things out by yourself. Do you even know where you're going?"

Seirei nodded.

"To the Sonomos River. I heard it was to the west of us."

"But you've never been there yourself, right? Do you even know where west is?"

Seirei nodded again. Then she pointed to the west.

"I remembered where I saw the sun rising this morning." she said simply.

"Well...that's a start. But there's a lot more that you need to know. You're going to get more branches for carving, right?"

Seirei smiled, and nodded.

"I'm starting to run out, and I want to make some more beads." she said, thinking of Naiya.

Perhaps Naiya would want some more beads for something she was making. She also wanted to try her hand at making some necklaces.

"I'll go with you. Two people can bring more branches back than just one...especially one that has an injured foot."

Seirei smiled, and thanked her friend for the offer.

"I'd like that. If you want, I'll give you some of the bark." she offered.

"And maybe we can look for some slippery elm trees, too? I've learned that their bark can be very useful for a lot of things."

"You're right. It can be very useful. And we might well find some along the river."

With that, Teisaia mounted her strider, and the two friends made their way out of the city.

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[Seirei Dawnwhisper]

They hadn't been riding for long before Teisaia stopped, and motioned for Seirei to dismount as well. She obeyed, wincing as pain shot through her foot when she put weight on her broken toe. While she was doing that, Teisaia was untying what looked to be nothing more than a stick from her yvas. It looked to be about three feet in length, and Seirei couldn't help but wonder what possible reason Teisaia had for carrying it around. As she watched, her friend drove one end of the stick into the ground.

"Do you see where the shadow falls?"

Seirei nodded. Teisaia used her finger to draw a short line in the mud at the point of the shadow.

"Now we wait for about fifteen chimes. Perhaps a bit less."

"Why?"

"This is a method my grandfather taught me before he died. It will help you find north any time you need to. But it only works during the day time."

"While we're waiting, will you teach me the pavi words for the directions?"

Teisaia grinned.

"Sure."

Teisaia started with north, then gave Seirei the words for the other three cardinal directions. With each one, she showed Seirei what the proper hand sign was. Then she waited patiently while Seirei practiced both the word, and the sign for each direction. When they were confident that Seirei had a good grasp on them, Teisaia moved on to the other directions; northeast, northwest, southeast, and southwest. Once again, Seirei practiced the words and hand signs diligently. Her friend grinned at her efforts.

"You're doing well. I think it's been enough time. So look. Do you see how the sun has moved? The position of the shadow has changed."

Seirei looked, and sure enough, Teisaia was right. When her friend asked it of her, she marked the ground where the new shadow point was.

"Okay, now watch this. If you stand with the first mark on your left, and the second one on your right, you will be facing north. South, will of course, be behind you. When using this method, the first shadow mark you make is always to the west. And the second one is to the east. It can be inconvenient at times, because you have to lug a three foot stick around with you all the time. But if you know this method, you don't need to worry about trying to remember which direction the sun rose in. All you need to know is what direction you need to travel in order to get where you want to go."

"West, in this case." Seirei said softly.

"That's right. And it will be east when we return home."

Teisaia helped Seirei mount Kairi, then mounted her own strider. They talked as they rode, but Seirei wasn't paying full attention to the conversation. She was trying to focus on the movements Kairi made as she walked. If she could learn how to anticipate them, she could learn how to move with them. And that would be a step in the right direction when it came to improving her riding skills.

When they arrived at the river, the two girls got to work. Teisaia helped Seirei to cut several branches, following her friend's instructions on how best to do so closely. Normally, Seirei would look for fallen branches first, but with the weather they had been having, any branches that had been on the ground for long would be waterlogged. And while the branches that were still attached to the tree would be wet too, they would be fine when they dried out. But the branches on the ground might have already started to rot. So they were useless for Seirei's purposes.

As they worked, Seirei noticed that none of the cattails growing along the river had any fluff left. But as she thought about it, she realized that the fluff would have been ruined by the rain and snow anyway. Even so, she cut several stalks at their base when she had finished gathering up enough branches. When they were done, the two girls used the rope they had brought to tie the branches and cattails to their yvases, for the journey back.

But instead of returning home immediately, they rode along the river for a while, in search of slippery elm trees. Since they were traveling in roughly the same direction that they had gone in to get to the river, Seirei realized that they were still traveling west. When she asked her friend if her guess was right, Teisaia told her to dismount, and check. So Seirei untied the stick from her friend's yvas, and stuck it into the ground just as Teisaia had earlier. She marked the shadow point in the mud, then waited for fifteen chimes. She used the movement of the sun to know just how many chimes had passed. When the time was up. she made her second mark. To her surprise, she was only partly right about what direction they were traveling in. They were still going mostly west, but they were moving towards the south slightly as well.

"It's the bend in the river." Teisaia explained.

"The river flows west to the sea, but this bend takes it a bit south as well."

Seirei tied the stick back to her friend's yvas once more, and mounted Kairi. Then they continued on their way.

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[Seirei Dawnwhisper]

As they rode, Seirei decided that she would have to carve herself one of the sticks that Teisaia used to find north. It would be easy enough to do, though she wanted to shape one end of hers into a point. That would make it easier to stab it into the ground. She thought that she might want to carve a few designs onto hers as well. The stick Teisaia had was straight, so it was probably important for it to be straight.

"You're thinking of making a stick for yourself, aren't you?"

Seirei grinned, and nodded.

"I thought as much. You kept trying to look at it just now. If you do make one, just make sure that it is as straight as you can make it. If the stick is curved, the shadow it gives off will be affected."

Seirei nodded again. She had suspected that it was important for the stick to be straight. It was good to understand the reason why it had to be straight, though. They rode in silence for several chimes, as each girl kept a sharp eye on their surroundings. The birds were chirping all around them, so Seirei didn't think that they were in danger, but she didn't want to miss seeing a slippery elm if they came across one while she was distracted by conversation.

"Here's another good trick for you to know if you're going to come out here by yourself. It's very easy to lose track of which way you're going out here. Foreigners often end up starving to death as they travel in circles...never even realizing that they aren't moving in a straight line."

Seirei eyed the tall grass thoughtfully. She could see how that could happen. To someone who didn't know better, the scenery would all look the same. Seirei was one of those people who didn't know better.

"How do you prevent that from happening?" she asked curiously.

"Pick out something you can aim for. In the spring and summer it's a lot easier, because you can find all kinds of flowers. But even now, it's possible. Look around for a piece of grass that is bent. Or a cluster of grass that is especially thick or thin. Then walk to whatever you pick out as a landmark. Once you get there, look for another thing you can single out in the direction you are moving in. If there are trees near by, or a river you can follow, then it's even easier. Those are easy landmarks to focus on."

Seirei practiced doing just that for a while as they rode. And after a while, it started to become natural. It was a useful trick that she planned to use any time she left the city. Seirei looked around for another "landmark," but was quickly distracted when the birds fell silent, and she heard a plaintive mewing cry. Startled, she glanced at Teisaia.

"That doesn't sound like anything dangerous, but..." Teisaia said cautiously.

Both girls looked around anxiously. After a few chimes, a small cat moved out of the grass towards the river. It's fur was dark, and matted. For a long moment, all Seirei could do was stare. What was a cat doing out here? Had it been abandoned by a trade caravan? Or had it fled when its caravan had been attacked? It was thin, and bedraggled. Seirei's heart went out to the little creature, and she dismounted.

Seirei approached the cat slowly. When the cat saw her, it froze, but did not flee. Seirei realized that it must be used to people. The obvious fact that a cat that size couldn't survive the dangers of the Sea of Grass for long on its own, no wild animal would tolerate a human getting that close to it willingly. Seirei ignored the pain in her foot so she could squat down and held her hand out to the cat. Then she waited patiently.

After a few chimes, the cat approached her slowly. It sniffed her had cautiously, then butted it with its head. Seirei smiled. She inched towards the cat slowly, not wanting to startle it into fleeing. But the cat appeared to be very happy to see her, which made her think that the cat associated humans as being friendly; another sign that it was used to people.

It allowed her to pick it up, and Seirei held its shivering body close to her own as she returned to Kairi and her friend.

"Are you going to keep it?" Teisaia asked.

"Yes, of course. I can't leave the poor thing out here."

There was something in the cat's eyes as it looked up at her, and tried to burrow into her chest. Seirei felt her heart go out to the little creature once more.

"Let's go home. I want to get her cleaned up."

"All right. You'd better let me carry her, though. I don't think you're good enough at riding yet to ride while carrying something. And I don't think that you new friend would appreciate being put in a yvas bag for the trip back."

Seirei nodded, and handed the cat to Teisaia. It protested briefly, but then settled quickly after Teisaia wrapped it up in her cloak. When Seirei was certain that the cat was settled, she mounted Kairi once more. Then they headed back the way they had come.


NoteThe 4 SM for the cat has been deducted from my ledger

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[Azmere]

 

Player 1

Experience

• Observation: +3
• Planning: +2
• Animal Husbandry: +2
• Socialization: +3
• Riding – Horse: +2
• Wilderness Survival: +1
• Foraging: +1
• Land Navigation: +2

Lore

• Planning: Seasonal preparations
• Kairi: Tricky strider
• Riding: Match the horse’s movements
• Wilderness Survival: How to find North
• Pavi: The Directions
• Land Navigation: Check directions periodically
• Land Navigation: Set landmarks as you go

Notes

• You're a very graceful writer, Seirei. This was a really relaxing read and you did such a good job with the entire thing that it was easy to grade as well. Why have we not collaborated before? Let me know if you have any questions.