A trek into the Spine

[strideraragorn1]

Snowfire snorted as Caeltae turned to look at the elf. "We were attacked by some urgals. Do not worry about this wound, I've dealt with much worse." As if to argue, Snowfire nipped his ear, making him swat the stallion's nose away from his head. "Anyways, we found what's left of Katie's village. I saw her father before he died. No one survived the attack from what I could get from her father. " Caeltae sighed as he looked once more at the angry gash on his shoulder. It was deep but had not hit any major arteries so it was not life threatening. Snowfire snorted at him but didn't press on. Instead, he decided to graze on some of the grass around him.

Looking at the fire, Caeltae got to his feet and slowly walked over to the dragon and went to see the little girl. When he saw her body, tears threatened to spill down his face before he shut off his emotions. He knew there and then, that he was supposed to take care of the little girl and although he was not normally a family man, he knew she needed him. As he took in the girl's small frame, he saw the girl start to toss and turn in her sleep. He would have left her but, when she started crying out in her sleep, he walked over to her and slowly lay a hand in her hair. He then start to card his hand through her hair and whispered soothing words. Instantly, the little girl stopped struggling and sighed contently as she continued to nap. Caeltae smiled at the little girl, sadly. How would he ever be able to tell her, that her parents could no longer look after her.

Snowfire watched his master get to his feet and wearily walk over to see the little girl and sighed. He could see just how much the little girl would help his master open up to people. Slowly, the stallion got to his feet, shaking the dust from his coat and decided to investigate the surrounding forest for something to eat and some healing herbs. He knew his master was only being stubborn because, he didn't want to be weak infront of the elf. He knew a wound like that, would be painful healing. Clearing his thoughts, Snowfire entered the forest once more.

[Nayeli]

’introducing
{tasia anna georgios*}
featuring--! Sunglow--! ---! ---!
I don't know if you can see
The changes that have come over me
In these last few days I've been afraid
That I might drift away
I've been telling old stories, singing songs
That make me think about where I've come from
That's the reason why I seem
So far away today

”We were attacked by some urgals. Do not worry about this wound, I've dealt with much worse." I looked at the man, could not believe he had not called for help. ”Anyways, we found what's left of Katie's village. I saw her father before he died. No one survived the attack from what I could get from her father." I took in a deep breath before letting it out and speaking again. ”If she sees your arm when you wake, it might freak her out because of what she might of saw… Let me heal it, it will take only a few minutes.”

[/color] I said to him, knowing what trauma it could be to see someone like that after being in an attack. I looked over at Sunglow who was keeping a close eye on the girl. ”She will need a good education… I have a friend, Leilani Richards… She is putting together a group of children to teach them in Illrea… It would allow her to be around other children and Leilani is very good, as well as the other teachers… Illrea is also very safe… It is the city of the riders… She will need the lessons.”[/color] I said, knowing Leilani was searching for children and young adults to become the possible first generation of human riders of the counsel.

I watched as he got to his feet and Sunglow lifted her head, having seen him stand from my thoughts. She watched as he went into her wing tent and I turned slightly to watch before I turned back to the fire and worked it slightly. I pulled out some dried fruit and herbs myself, eating them to restore my energy and then pulled out my sword and placing my hand on the gem at the pommel. I let some of my energy flow into the golden gem that held so much energy and then I pulled my crown from my head and did the same thing, storing some of my energy. As I replaced the crown upon my head, I felt myself become stronger as Sunglow gave me some of her energy. ”You did not have to do that.”[/color] I said to her before she let out a very verbal chuckle that everyone could hear. ”You needed it, child…”[/color] She said in my head as I nodded and snacked on my fruit before looking for any more dried jerky, but the man had eaten them all, which I was fine with, but the girl would not have much.

I stood, looking at the horse as it moved off into the forest and I walked over to Sunglow. ”You stay here with her… She will sleep for another few hours like I said, but I am going to get a deer… It is against my culture, but she will need food and I doubt dried fruit will satisfy her… You are hurt and need to rest… Sunglow will watch for danger… Her tail is like a spear and her head and neck can turn in all direction and her fire can reach further than those trees if danger comes.”[/color] I said to him as I grabbed my bow which was crafted out of beautiful wood that had beautiful carvings and even a green gem that had energy within’ it as well. I closed my eyes, stood completely up and allowed my body to be opened to the whole forest as I took in everything. ”There is a herd not far from here, I can feel them Sunglow… Hopefully the trees are not lying to me or the birds flying over… I will be back my sister.”[/color] I said, touching her cheek and earn a grumble as the child calmed down in her sleep. I walked under the wing and touched her head. ”Rest easy child, you are safe now, you have nothing to fear… Sleep.”[/color] I said in a smooth voice, knowing my words would only cause her to sleep, but I hoped that it would sooth her slumber as well. ”I will not be long.”[/color] I said before getting up and walking out, removing my armor once again, leaving my body in only a skirt that looked more like vines at the bottom and then a piece of cloth over my chest with one sleeve. As I placed the golden armor down, I took off to the forest with a light step, jumping up and over a log and silently heading towards the herd that the trees had told me about.

As I got close, I slowed and sung a few words to calm the animals around me, which worked with a charm before aiming my arrow at the largest buck. It would feed the child, Caeltae and Sunglow would have some as well. As it hit the chest, I heard the arrow enter and exit the deer and watched as the animal went down. I quickly rushed over and took the last bit of energy from the animals to store in the gem in my bow so that it did not go to waste and then pulled the deer onto my back and headed back to the camp. The deer was nearly as big as myself, but the strength of an elf, plus that of a rider, always made an impact on strength… It was still heavy though and I was happy when I made it back to camp about an hour after I went out and pulled out another dagger with a gem in it as well. It was a silver pommeled dagger with an in the pommel as well as what looked like threads of emerald lacing through the silver pommel that was in the shape of a dragon head.

As I got ready to begin carving the deer, Sunglow purred slightly in joy. ”The little girl gets some first, Sister… Then Caeltae and you can have the left overs.”[/color] She looked at me for a moment and then I began to carve the deer up, pulling out everything to be washed. I had learned to cook from a few humans who were from different cultures and I knew every part of the animal was able to be eaten, if prepared correctly. I awoke the fire again with more wood and began cooking some of the meat on some hot stones, as the little girl was going to wake soon.
[/blockquote][/blockquote]

Now I have moved and I've kept on moving
Proved the points that I needed proving
Lost the friends that I needed losing
Found others on the way
I have kissed the fellas and left them crying
Stolen dreams, yes, there's no denying
I have traveled hard, sometimes with conscience flying
Somewhere with the wind

’word count 1.065
’tagged Caeltae Whiterider, Katie Dover
’song Caledonia--! Celtic Woman
’post status done
’template creator nayeli

[/size]

[strideraragorn1]

Caeltae ignored Tasia's continual demand of seeking help for his shoulder and quickly rolled down the sleeve to hide the angry mark. He then looked for Snowfire, but the stallion had left. Taking a chair over to sit beside the little girl, he thought about what she had said about Katie. She was right about the girl needing a good education. A life in the Spine was not an ideal arrangement for a young girl. It was too dangerous, even with him and Snowfire to watch over her. Running his hand over his face, he decided to get on another shirt and wrap the wound. He quickly whistled for Snow who came trotting over to him carry herbs he had gather in his mouth. Rolling his eyes he removed the plants from his companion's mouth and lay them on a log. He then walked over to the saddle bags and removed a shirt, and wraps. Seeing the elf was back, he told Snowfire to stick around the little girl and headed off to get changed.

***

Slowly the fog began to clear her mind as Katie started to wake up from her long, healing nap. Right away, she knew she wasn't with her parents and tried to figure out where she was. She still hurt a bit in her head but, it wasn't as bad as before. Slowly, she opened her eyes and almost cried out when she felt hot breath behind her. Stiffly, she moved her head to see a black horse looking at her. That's when the memories came back to her and tears threatened to fall. She rubbed her eyes until a soft nose started tickling her hand. She looked to see the horse had moved closer to her and was nudging her as if it wanted her to cheer up. She smiled and eagerly grabbed onto the horse's nose who instead of pulling away, allowed the girl to pull its nose towards her.

"You're funny." giggled Katie as the horse started nibbling on her hair and shoulders.

"Good, you're awake little one." came a rough voice, making Katie jumo and wrap her arms tighter around the horse. Looking around, she saw the man who had helped her off the horse before she passed out. "Sorry, I scared you."

"It's alright, sir." she paused as she tried to formulate her question. "Did you take me from the monsters?"

The man looked very sad for a moment before smiling and answered, "Yes, child. My horse found you and brought you to me and my friends."

Katie smiled weakly and crawled over a little closer so she could see the man better.

"You must be hungry. Would you like something to eat?" asked the nice man. Katie looked nervously at her feet before nodding. She went to get out of the bed when the man came and put a hand on her to stop.

"You were very hurt so you need to rest a little longer, okay?" he asked the young girl.

"Yes, sir." replied Katie as she moved back onto the bed.

"Good girl. You stay with my horse, Snowfire and I'll see if your food is ready." he replied and turned to leave. He was just out of range when the little girl grabbed his shirt and stopped him from going. She couldn't explain why other than the nice man made her feel safe.

"Can you please stay, sir?" she pleaded. She didn't really want to be alone at the moment. The man looked at her before taking a seat in a chair beside her bed.

"How about a story?" he asked but Katie didn't want a story. She wanted to know about what happened to her family.

"Sir, where are my parents?" inquired the little girl, sadly.

The man sighed as he moved closer to Katie and looked at his horse before saying in a calm and soothing voice, "Sweetheart, your parents can't be with you anymore. I'm very sorry."

Tears finally cascaded down the young girl's face as she looked at the man. The man was lying. Her parents weren't dead. This was all a bad dream. She'd wake up any moment and her mother would be there getting her dressed. One more look at the man and she knew he was telling the truth. Katie couldn't take it and started sobbing as she thought of her dead parents. Instantly, she felt the man pull her into his lap as he hugged her, rubbing her back.

[Nayeli]

’introducing
{sunglow*}
featuring--! tasia anna georgios--! ---! ---!
I don't know if you can see
The changes that have come over me
In these last few days I've been afraid
That I might drift away
I've been telling old stories, singing songs
That make me think about where I've come from
That's the reason why I seem
So far away today

The human was being very… Annoying… My sister only wanted to help him, wanting to get him healed so he would not be in pain and he was ignoring her and getting angry? He was stupid and was causing me, a very large dragon to become angry. ”Drop it, Sunglow… Let him think how he wants to… If he wants infection to set in, let him.”

[/color] I turned my head slightly to look at her and watched as she carved out the meat from the deer she had killed. She prepared every bit of the animal, cooked up some large pieces and threw me some as she cut it up. It was good to get some more stuff in my stomach since I could not go hunting right now. I could feel the girl moving slightly and I turned my head to watch the man as he went to change clothes and then came back shortly later. His horse seemed to watch over the girl even though she was very well protected by myself and Tasia. I opened my wing some to allow for more room as the horse, who surprisingly went into my wing tent.

I turned my head to watch as the child woke up, turning to see the animal behind her she looked instantly saddened but began to rub her eyes. As the horse nuzzled her hand, I allowed my chin to touch the ground and I took in a deep breath before watching some more. I relaxed as I watched the girl play around with the horse. I noticed that Caeltae was coming back and he could hear her giggling. Tasia was finishing the first round of cooked food for the young girl and she added some of her dried fruit to the large leave that they could eat on. ”You're funny." I turned my attention back to the giggling girl who was playing with the horse, or rather, having the horse play with her.

"Good, you're awake little one." Watching the girl jumped made Sunglow lift her head slightly from its place. ”Sorry, I scared you." I looked over at Tasia who was finishing cooking another piece of meat for the man and was adding it to a flat stone piece she had managed to shape with singing lyrics. Tasia took her time, she was in no hurry to bother the two as they were speaking and I turned back to look at them. "It's alright, sir… Did you take me from the monsters?" I softened my eyes and wondered if maybe we should just kill the beast that hid in the spine. ”No… They are a group and a culture… They deserve every right to be a part of this world like us.”[/color] I looked over at Tasia and blew out smoke from my nostrils before I set my head back on the ground.

”Yes, child. My horse found you and brought you to me and my friends." I glanced over at him, happy to hear the words my friends leave his mouth. I did not think I would hear such words come from him, but it was good that I did. I closed my eyes slightly, resting my body as I listened to everything happening under my wing. I needed to flex it, but I chose not to, knowing it would probably scare the little girl and I didn’t want to do that. ”You must be hungry. Would you like something to eat?" I opened my eyes and looked at Tasia who was finishing up the last of the meat before she looked over at me and my wing tent.

"You were very hurt so you need to rest a little longer, okay?" I turned my head slightly to see that she had wanted to get up, but she didn’t. ”Yes, sir." It was good that she was listening and not trying to move, which could result in her getting hurt more. I did not want to see the poor thing get hurt any more, as I knew that pain did not feel pleasant at all. "Good girl. You stay with my horse, Snowfire and I'll see if your food is ready."

”Does he like forgetting that I am here too? Maybe my body has become just another part of the mountain or something.”[/color] Tasai looked over at me and smiled before she stood to head over to my head with a piece of raw meat in her hands. I opened my mouth and allowed her to place it on my tongue before closing it and swallowing the small morsel. I did not pay much attention to what happened next as Tasia was feeding me the rest of the meat, but we both heard the sobbing and Tasia looked sadly down. She knew what it was like to lose a parent and also knew what it was like to grow up without a mother. She walked towards my wing and I watched as she smiled down at the child.

”I got you some breakfast little one, and you as well Caeltae…”[/color] She lowered herself to a squat position and held the items out towards them. Katie’s meat was cut into beautiful pieces and Caeltae had a normal, uncut piece that looked very good. I wanted to eat it, but I would go hunting later on.
[/blockquote][/blockquote]

Now I have moved and I've kept on moving
Proved the points that I needed proving
Lost the friends that I needed losing
Found others on the way
I have kissed the fellas and left them crying
Stolen dreams, yes, there's no denying
I have traveled hard, sometimes with conscience flying
Somewhere with the wind

’word count 0.891
’tagged Caeltae Whiterider & Katie Dover
’song Caledonia--! Celtic Woman
’post status done
’template creator nayeli

[/size]

[strideraragorn1]

Katie pulled away from the elf who had seemed to appear of no where and ended up bumping into the man's chest hard. The man made a weird noise before running his hand down the little girl's back in an attempt to comfort her. Katie looked slowly at the man who didn't seem angry that she had hurt him but just really sad. She looked back at the elf and mumbled a quick sorry before ducking her head down again.

*********

Caeltae looked at the little girl as she quietly said sorry to both him and Tasia. He didn't understand what had caused the girl to react so badly to the elf but, decided not to acknowledge it.

"This is my friend, Tasia." started Caeltae. He really wasn't sure what his relationship with the elf was but, if he was to help the little girl, he needed to try and be civil to the elf at least. "She just wants to give you something to eat." he continued when the girl didn't respond. Frowning, he looked to Snowfire who seemed uninterested and merely walked out of the area, much to the little girl's displeasure. Caeltae sighed and placed the little girl back on the bed before taking his portion of the meat and started to eat it, slowly.

He watched as the little girl looked at him eating before taking the food quickly from Tasia and slowly put a piece in her mouth. She seemed to chew it really slowly, before attempting to pop a few more pieces into her mouth. Seeing the eagerness in which she ate the meat, Caeltae sighed and lay a hand on the girl's shoulder who quickly stopped and looked at him.

"You look like you haven't eaten a decent meal in awhile. You need to eat that meat slowly otherwise you're stomach will just reject it. We will not take it from you." he said in a soothing tone.

The little girl looked at him confused before hesitantly nodding and slowly chewed what remained in her mouth. Caeltae smiled at her, knowing that he too had experienced times in which he barely had any food and rich meat came back up when he had tried to inhale it quickly. He knew the signs of starvation all too well from his childhood and figured the little girl must have come from a poor family. When he had finished, Caeltae looked over to the stallion who was grazing on a nearby patch of grass. He could see the stallion was still not ready to trust the elf or dragon, which would make the girl all the more nervous. He could see that she trusted Snowfire and if he gave her any indication to not trust part of the group, she would learn not to trust anyone. Holding in his frustration he looked at the little girl.

"Katie, I need to go speak with Snowfire and scout the area. Will you be a g-" but as soon as the words left his mouth, he regretted it.

*****

Panic set in as Katie heard the tall man tell her he was leaving her. Tears started to fall as she latched onto his hand. She didn't care if she was hurting the elf's feelings. She didn't know her and the horse was her friend.

"PLEASE DON'T GO SIR!" cried Katie as tears streamed down her face. She knew she was behaving badly but he was all she had left. "Don't go!"

[Nayeli]

’introducing
{tasia anna georgios*}
featuring--! Sunglow--! ---! ---!
I don't know if you can see
The changes that have come over me
In these last few days I've been afraid
That I might drift away
I've been telling old stories, singing songs
That make me think about where I've come from
That's the reason why I seem
So far away today

I was not surprised when the girl pulled away from me, even though I had not touched her and had only just come into the wing tent. Sunglow moved her head slightly, looking into the tent with her large golden eye and I looked back at her. ”She is so scared, which is no surprise at all… She had a rough day yesterday, especially with those urgals.”

[/color] I said to my sister mentally as she closed her eye, a way she used to respond when agreeing. She opened her eye back slowly and I turned back to the girl as she apologized. ”There is no reason to apologize… I understand why you are scared, we are new people to you.”[/color] I said softly to her as I sat down at the entrance of the wing tent, my body leaning against the side of Sunglow who took in a deep breath, causing her side to bulge slightly before it went back to normal.

”This is my friend, Tasia." I nodded to the young girl and spoke again. ”I made sure you did not hurt anymore last time.”[/color] I said, referring to all the wounds she had had last night. I knew that if she knew that I helped her, it might help her warm up to me, but I also knew it would take time. ”She just wants to give you something to eat." I nodded to him in agreement as I leaned my head against the dragon and closed my eyes slightly. As I opened my eyes, the girl moved quickly and took the food very quickly and I smiled at her. I watched as Caeltae placed his hand on her shoulder and got her attention. ”You look like you haven't eaten a decent meal in a while. You need to eat that meat slowly otherwise your stomach will just reject it. We will not take it from you." I nodded in agreement with the man and the girl seemed to understand and began to eat slowly.

I stood and looked at Caeltae. I was not sure if the girl noticed she was sleeping beside a dragon, but she would need to know soon. ”Do you want me to cook more meat? If not, I need to give the rest to Sunglow, she did not get to hunt last night.”[/color] I told to him as I stood, my hand on Sunglow’s side as I waited for him to say something. After getting the answer, I headed back out only before hearing him speak to the girl again. ”Katie, I need to go speak with Snowfire and scout the area. Will you be a g-"

“PLEASE DON'T GO SIR!" I turned quickly to see her sobbing already. She barely knew the man, I knew this and he knew this, but she was acting like she knew him completely. They had all met at the same time and I did not understand the connection the two had, but whatever it was, it was not my business to try and come between it. Caeltae would have to calm her. ”Don't go!" I turned back to the fire and the meat and grabbed a large portion of it, taking it in front of Sunglow, who lifted her head and as I placed it before her, she gentle and very mannerly, at the meat. She was carefully not to get messy and then laid her head back on the ground after it was done.
[/blockquote][/blockquote]

Now I have moved and I've kept on moving
Proved the points that I needed proving
Lost the friends that I needed losing
Found others on the way
I have kissed the fellas and left them crying
Stolen dreams, yes, there's no denying
I have traveled hard, sometimes with conscience flying
Somewhere with the wind

’word count 0.578
’tagged Caeltae Whiterider, Katie Dover
’song Caledonia--! Celtic Woman
’post status done
’template creator nayeli

[/size]

[strideraragorn1]

Caeltae looked back at the little girl and saw the fear in her eyes as she pleaded for him to stay with her. He was surprised she had wanted him to stay with her but assumed she didn't know either. Still, he had to scout the area and speak to Snowfire before the stallion did something that would make Katie think Tasia or Sunglow were not to be trusted. Getting up from his seat, he turned to look at the girl.

"I will stay with you but I need to talk to Tasia for a minute, okay? I will come right back." he said in soothing voice.

"Promise?" asked the little girl who still grasped his hand as if he would vanish as soon as she let go.

"I promise." replied Caeltae. After a few minutes of dead silence, Katie hesitantly removed her small thin hand from his and looked on as he left the wing tent. Someone needed to scout the area so he went in search of Tasia and saw she was beside Sunglow's head. Coughing to alert the pair to his exit out of the dragon's wing tent, he looked to Tasia.

"Could I speak to you for a minute?" asked Caeltae as he walked back over to where he stuff lay on the ground. He could see Snowfire had moved farther away from the pair, always looking where they were. He knew Snowfire would kill him after this but, he had no choice but to stay with the little girl until she was willing to trust Tasia. When he was by his stuff, he grabbed the bridle and whistled for Snowfire. Snowfire looked up and trotted over to him until the tall mustang was standing infront of him, eyeing the bit and the elf. Caeltae steeled himself for what he had to do and placed the bridle over Snowfire's head and adjusted the straps. He then walked over to the saddle that he had left on the horse and quickly tightened the girth so it would not slide. Satisfied that Snowfire was fit for a ride, he told the black horse to stay and walked a few paces over to Tasia.

"Someone needs to scout the area incase some the urgals picked up my scent. I was going to do it but, Katie seems to depend heavily on me." he paused as he tried to keep his head. "I needed to have a word with Snow but, I think it would be better if you took him for a ride for both you and for Katie. The girl loves Snowfire and he seems to really not trust either of you which causes me some concern about what Katie will think. He probably won't like it or you but, we all need to work together and try to get along."