Savage Dawn ((private thread))

[Jenny]

Amber lowered her eyes. “I am honored that the spirits have helped our tribe during this journey,” she nodded a little. “I can only hope I stay in their favor.” She looked at Asher. “I would be nowhere without you, Asher. I will not be so prideful to say that I do not need your continued guidance. After all, I am not a shaman. Only a novice.”

[Joe]

He shook his head, "An individual marked by the spirits can become more than even an elder could hope to become. But I suppose the student becoming the master is the natural order." Asher felt almost out of place among this tribe and especially in leading it, even partially. He had never told anyone, but he wasn't from this tribe. Some knew from the way he looked, the jet black hair and his light skin color was not in their genes. He came from a long line of shaman, from a tribe that was wiped out centuries ago. He didn't know anything about it, only that is was small but extremely powerful in its time. His parents he had never known, he was raised by the elder shaman that taught him, but he never told Asher about his parents or his background. Asher only found out when he asked about a necklace that he seemed to have always had, it was a sacred talisman that the elder council of his old tribe had imbued their power in. It didn't seem to have any special effect though, he got no sense of power or emotion from it. He kept it despite its uselessness though, it was his only remnant of his past. It was a simple chain of silver holding a bright emerald matching Asher's eye color. He held it now, rubbing it idly with his thumb.

[Jenny]

Amber felt a little sad at what he said. "But if student surpasses the master, where does it leave you, Asher?"

During their next period of rest she borrowed a grinding awl from one of the women and set about drilling a hole in the large saber fang so that she may loop it with a leather thong around her neck. She may have nothing so fine as Asher but she did have her mother's jewelry, of turquoise beads and pretty shells and bits of unrefined gold from the river.

[Joe]

"It leaves me old and forgotten as I watch the world and my students pass by, that is the way of the elder." He began to see the peaks of the mountains they had to cross cresting over the edge of the glacier, covering his eyes to look at them as the sun started to hide behind.

[Jenny]

Amber squinted her eyes at him, tilting her head to the side as she looked at him. "You are not yet old, only two years my senior. Your hair is still fine and black like mine. You have a strong fine body, you talk as you were an elder man." She raised a hand and ran a lock of his hair through her fingers. "No gray hair," she chuckled.

The mountain paths were thin and the tribe were forced to walk single file. The cold bit at their skin and the women pulled their children under their furs. They reached a flat rise and Amber thought it safe to build a fire, gathering deadwood from the trees that clung to the rise. She used her flint deftly to ignite some finely shredded tinder and the fire liced hungrily at it.

Everyone huddled around the warmth, pressing their bodies together to keep the heat inside their bodies. A small comfort. Perhaps soon they would make a kill and stave off the hunger in their bellies.

[Joe]

He looked away shyly as she touched his hair, "No, not yet.. but that is my fate." He looked back to her, "You do me much honor, I am not sure I deserve it from a being as beautiful and powerful as you." He wasn't trying to sweet-talk her, simply speaking the truth of nature as he observed it. He walked away as he said it, helping to secure their camp.


As they settled into their camp he approached Amber, "It is time I do something worthwhile for our group, I will bring food. Do not follow me.. I will do it alone." He walked off onto a trail leading higher in the mountains.

[Jenny]

Amber blinked a little at him and blushed a little. She wouldn't ever refer to him as an old man for they would grow old and grey together. She chuckled a little at that, imagining herself with grandchildren around her skirt.

"Be safe," she watched him leave with some anxiety. Alone? That was dangerous... but then again, she insisted on proving herself on her own. Was he any different?

[Joe]

When he was sure he was out of sight of the camp, he crouched down in some bushes and reached to his necklace. He gripped a panther claw and shook as he did, this transformation always changed his personality, he had trouble controlling himself in that form. Something about its primal freedom and urges took control of him and he found himself not wanting to leave it, and it was also terrible how he had come about this totem. It was necessary though, he was no hunter, but he could kill as swiftly as the best hunter when he took on that form.

He jabbed the claw into his hand and grunted with pain as the form overtook him.

Sometime later he came back into the village in that form, dragging a dead caribou by its neck. As the crowd of people noticed him he spotted Amber, looking cautiously to her, afraid of how seeing her might affect him in that form. His panther form was lean but muscles also bulged underneath the flawless black coat that glimmered in the setting sun. His same eyes gazed at Amber as he backed away, he would have to turn back quickly, the urges were starting to arise.

[Jenny]

Amber knew the panther was Asher, those jade eyes gave the black beast away. He must have dragged the large caribou from some distance, and she felt a small pang of fear at his power in that form. His form was lean, powerful, the muscles rippling with strength beneath the shining black coat. The villagers shrunk back in fear at the look in those jade eyes and a bristling feeling of danger surged through Amber's blood. The panther form reminded her of the large saber tooth cat that she herself had faced and lifted a hand to the fang against her dress.

"Asher?" She spoke out with a trembling voice. Against her instincts she took several paces forward, putting herself between Asher and the trube, her thumb running lighty against the tip of the tooth totem the spirit had so graciously awarded her.

[Joe]

Black smoke surrounded the panther and Asher stood up in his normal form, falling to a knee in pain. "There's.. there's more, it should be enough." He motioned back down the path, then he clutched his head and walked away toward a nearby cliff, needing to be alone, glancing back at Amber.

[Jenny]

She smiled at him then, letting out a soft sigh. She had no experience in animal form, she thought it must be difficult if in one's beast form for an extended period of time. From what she saw in his eyes she knew that some primal urge inside the body of the beast did not want to release him.

The women hurried forward to harvest the caribou with their knives as it was traditionally womens work. The fire was stocked so that the meat may begin to cook. Tonight they would fill their bellies to bursting as there was no time to smoke and dry the meat to allow it to keep from spoiling.

Amber quietly asked the women to save the best meats of the beast for Asher when he returned as it had been his kill. Naturally it was the thing to do for any male who provided meat for the tribe. It was his prize, his right.

[Joe]

He came back from the cliff, looking solemn. When the others tried to give him the fine cuts he declined, "Thank you deeply for the honor.. but give it to the sick, they need it more than I." He looked nervously at Amber as he declined the food, it was odd how long he had been without eating. He turned and walked to Amber, "Night is falling.. I will watch the camp while you and the others sleep, if you do not object."

[Jenny]

She looked at him strangely for a moment when he declined food but her eyes cleared upon the realization that while in the form of the panther Asher may have made a personal kill. That or he chose to fast.

The ill gave him their thanks, it was rare to feast on what was meant for the one that made the kill.

"No, I do not object, " she smiled softly. "You are very kind."

[Joe]

He nodded to Amber, looking not the least bit tired. He made his way slowly to an outcropping overlooking the camp and sat on the soft moss, looking over the camp and the starry night above. The peaks of the mountains surrounded them, clouds moving slowly between them. The glacier they had come from glinted in the moonlight, and far in the distance he could see grand bonfires, probably the center of some unknown village. He smiled, he enjoyed being in the wild. He frowned as he thought of Amber, he was starting to grow attached again, and he knew better.

[Jenny]

Amber curled in close with the others on blankets that had been rolled up and carried on their backs. They stayed that way until sunrise and the fire was stirred.