Private Tales The eve of starry lights

[Mabess]

Ubabe squinted her left eye before pointing at a stick that lay at a more desolate part of the lake if you excluded some of the faster races that swooshed past there occasionally. »See?.... Ready - set -...«

 

[Hath Charosh]

Go!

Hath's driving foot skidded. His acceleration was a flailing of limbs as she moved smoothly away.

Within a few metres he'd settled into a rhythm, realising he was moving far more quickly than he realised he could. What he couldn't see was a way to catch up with her.

Mabess

 

[Mabess]

Ubabe would never go too fast to ever discourage a newly baptised skater, but giving him an easy win, now that would be equally wrong.
Speeding up only occasionally to be steadily ahead of him, never too far, a goal to be reached, like a rabbit before the race dog, a string before the cat. The chase was a reward in itself and motivation on top of it, and yet for the chased there was nothing, only void ahead and a false sense of speed.

She would skate across shallow piles of snow, evading sticks and leaves, giving Hatch glances every few fractions of time passed.

 

[Hath Charosh]

Hath wasn't quite so adept at avoiding sticks. His right skate struck one and it felt as if an ogre had kicked his ankle. Legs went in different directions for a few metres before he found his balance again.

He barked out a laugh as he tried to catch up. Hath wasn't prone to smiling, but there was a pleasant ache through his legs and he was finally going somewhere quickly.

Almost quickly anyway. A child skated backwards past him, giving the much larger orc a curious glance. Ubabe passed the goal with a good few strides of open space between them. He felt a twist in his stomach as part of him consciously acknowledged how quickly he was moving and planned to slow him down. He overshot by a good stone's throw before gradually coming to a halt.

Despite the cold he'd built up a good sweat, his chest heaved to draw in icy air and muscles ached from a new kind of exertion.

 

[Mabess]

Ubabe after coming to a halt, slid closer towards Hath who strayed further ahead. »Good, good, a bit more and you can race with the big kids,« she let out a very subtle grin as she shifted back, relaxing her posture and making a few stretching swings.
From a bit further away, Arda and few silverstone companions passed by closely, eying the two curiously before moving off.

»Feel like a bite or want to stay here for a bit?« She asked a bit later after gazing into the sky. There was still time before lunch would be made, but it's easy enough to convince the cooks for an early bite if you knew the right words.

 

[Hath Charosh]

He deserved that one, even if he had to swallow his pride. Wasn't used to having a deficit of skill pointed out by comparison to children.

Hath didn't want to admit to how much his muscles ached from the very different postures and forces on his body. At least the chill had been chased from his bones for once.

"Food would be good," he agreed with a curt nod.

 

[Mabess]

Observing Hath for a good while, she finally spoke out while leaning back.
»Aight, lets go then.«
Ubabe nodded her head before waving towards herself as she slid towards the the edge of the lake. Every so often she needed to dodge some of the rowdy children. Upon entering the safe land, she untied the bone skates from her feet and slung them across her shoulder by the lacing. After the first time in the whole year skating again, walking became an awkward locomotion.

Slightly wobbly. How odd it felt to be on land again. A few more steps of a more lofty nature and her pace went onward as it did all the other instances when not on ice.

Glancing after Hath, she waited just enough before hurrying up the trampled snow slope back into the village.

Passing by the largest hut, the chief's lodging, she stopped only briefly...like a stutter in time before going further ahead. It wasn't quite quiet here...

»-they've been intruding deep within our territory, your hunting grounds have been moving further east as well.«
»This land belongs to them as much as us, Dormak.«
»And how far up a moutain can you go before there is no more land to spare?!-«
»I think I smell wild goose,« Ubabe loudly pointed out at Hath before hurrying off to the cook.

 

[Hath Charosh]

Were the gnolls spreading again? He wondered to himself. The conversation sounded heated. That wasn't surprising in itself. Even though the tribes seemed to have strong blood ties a group of chieftains rarely resolved their different opinions quietly.

Their discussions were not his concern. Even within his own tribe he was kept a long way from the inner circle of warriors and shamans even though his mother was the chieftain. His father had died when he was very young and her new mate and his sons had always worked to keep him distant from the leadership of the tribe. It had always suited him and love of exploration.

Trudging through the snow sapped his strength. Muscles not used to the motion of skating were still protesting. Food and some warmth were powerful drivers to keep moving however.

"Always seem to be hungry in this cold," he chuckled as they approached one of the buildings used by the tribe to eat away from the elements.

 

[Mabess]

»Well your body needs a lot of fuel for the - inner fire-,,, so they say... You know wild goose is hard to catch, they use big nets up in the mountains as they stop to rest before flying down to aberrasai...So we might not not exactly get that.«

Ubabe looekd back at Hath as she meandered closer to the kitchens. There were plenty of cooks about preparing various fine foods. The smell was absoluteh heaven.

 

[Hath Charosh]

"Hah!" went Hath, slapping a table with his hand. It was a rare outburst for the orc. "They catch geese by thrown nets over them?"

They were quite aggressive creatures when riled up, but he still found the notion of a netful of honking geese amusing.

Anything would have smelled appealing to Hath, but they were taking time to cook here. He was used to the handful of spices he could carry on the road.

"Hmm what have they got then?"

 

[Mabess]

Ubabe waved her hand before spreading it wide apart.
»Yeah. When you have this many.«
»They get very bitey as well.«

»I used to catch them with my father years ago. They're the fattest before their trip. Amazing liver as well.«

Ubabe supposedly didn't need to tell what was for the meal later in as the open kitchen came to view.
Slowly roasting meat and sauces of various beasts and origin. Parts still lay butchered and ready to sear in fire. Another of the cooks was currently stuffing a salt-water retrieved intestine with ground meat.

The orcess looked once more at Hath before walking up to a Snow-wolf cook that was currently picking apart stew venison from the bone. The perfect target
»Hey Dunak, do you think you have any scraps for early birds?«

The stew meat was often considered rather tasty, however once parted from the meat plenty of it was stuck to the bones. Not exactly too presentable like the clean sliced cuts, even though that meat by the bones was rather tasty.

»Yeah, you can save me some time by cleaning the bones up.« Pointed Dunak at a pile of unseperated meat from the bones. Dunak was a big burly orc, clean shaven, strong cheekbones and jawline, but not too rugged looking. Who would have thought that such a muscle wardrobe would become a cook.

 

[Hath Charosh]

Given the size of the man, Hath assumed that he was one of the tribe's warriors. Who also happened to cook. Hath wasn't a heavily built orc. Some of the warriors who stayed close to the centre of his tribe grew almost as broad across the shoulders as they were wall. By contrast Hath was tall and rangy, having spent his life hunting across the savanna on foot.

Being in such a cold climate made him hungrier, even though he hadn't been walking long distances each day. An orc adapted quickly to their conditions. Hath would probably add more muscle and fat to his frame.

Taking a bowl of bones Hath had started gnawing on one before they even made it to a table. He was disappointed to find upon cracking it open with his teeth that there was no marrow inside to drain.

"What do you do within the tribe Ubabe?" he asked.

 

[Mabess]

Ubabe sat down besides, picking the soft flesh off the bone and onto the plate. Occasionally eating from it. It had a very taste between mild and rich, slightly fatty, very moist and very warm. the picking was good to get blood pumping up one's fingers again.

»I am a huntress within the tribe. I and Sheeha are Mabess' companions. «

»You're a hunter too?« She guessed from his athletic build.

 

[Hath Charosh]

He gave a sharp nod, continuing to gnaw at bones rather than pick off the meat. Stewed meat was good, but he did prefer slightly more raw. The only exception was dwarf. Dwarf needed a good cooking to soften up the meat.

"In the wet season we roam the savanna. A lot of travel over open ground. Have to avoid the hippos, griffins and lions. In the dry season we go south towards the forests where there is more food. Do you use bow or spear?"

 

[Mabess]

»Mounted, spears, throwing spears,« Ubabe replied, almost finishing picking the bone and now only eating the neatly pieced meat chunks.


»Hmmmm...What is a 'hipo'? « She had a drawn out murmurr before she asked. First team hearing that creature.
Griffins and 'lions' were common apex predators here. But what was a hippo..

 

[Hath Charosh]

"Enormous things. Big fat things that wallow in the water. Big fat things that submerge until you can't see them with jaws that can bite an orc in half. They only eat plants but oh do they have a temper. Watched once chase a whole pack of lions off once. A griffin'll kill one if it catches it out in the open though. Gets its claws right through the big skull from above."

 

[Mabess]

Bat? Aquatic, chases lions? Bites orcs in half?
Ubabe was probably imagining something completely different.

»Gee Hath, that sounds right out of a fairytale!«

 

[Hath Charosh]

Hath chuckled quietly. It was a deep, rolling sound. He licked some of the meat juices from his fingers before replying.

"I don't think any fairytale included a story of a great big grumpy brown underwater barrel with jaws a foot long. Our shamans' stories of fairies and spirits tend to be a little more colourful."

 

[Mabess]

»Suppose all tales are based on reality no matter how brief.« Ubabe guided some meat into her mouth. Defenitely not enough to fill oneself up, enough to quench some hunger and work as an appetiser.


»You know you could tell a story bout a hippo to our young'uns and they'll never know its actually real.«

 

[Hath Charosh]

Hath tilted his head to one side. There was a pause as he thought about that.

"When the shamans have been at the herbs I'm not certain that their stories always are based on reality." If there was any humour in his words they did not make it as far as their tone.

"I need to finish some arrows for the ones coming of age actually," Hath said. He held up a bone and looked closely for any more meat or marrow. Disappointment briefly flashed across his features and he set it down.

 

[Mabess]

»You've got,-« Ubabe gazed at Dunak, whom waved two fingers at her. »-two hours before dinner, and...untill sundown before the eve of starry nights.«

»I'll clean up after you if you have to leave now.« Then Ubabe offered.

 

[Hath Charosh]

"Thank you," he said plainly. In their culture there was no need to make a big fuss over such a small, practical gesture. Wasting words was for humans.

"I really had better get on with them then," he replied. He was intending to get them fetched or nocked, but could adjust the arrows by trimming the length for those who received them.

It was better than the young ones received in his tribe. As they came of age they got told to get on with a job that needed doing. They got to participate in thenext Great Rites, which was almost a coming of age ceremony. He still felt a small knit of fear at the ceremony described by Scabhair, where orcs would be held beneath the water until they passed out to demonstrate their resolve and strength. Drowning seemed a horrendous way to meet one's end.

 

[Mabess]

Ubabe nodded her head before resuming her meal.

Quiet. Peace.

She would wave as Hath would leave, pondering now over the following feast. And when he might show up again.
In two hours? In the eve?

Well, whatever happens happens.

 

[Hath Charosh]

He worked quickly, but his hands knew these movements on their own. Hath still had a lot to learn when it came to making bows, but making arrows was something he had mastered. Whilst he had to discard a few he ended up with two sets of fifteen arrows each.

He missed dinner, but headed back outside whilst the sun was still dipping down towards the horizon. He wondered if night time came much earlier for the other side of the spine with hours spent in the shadows of the mountains. He supposed they were in those shadows in the morning here. As he meandered towards the gathering place his stomach forced some regret for missing meals on him, but he had well-crafted gifts in his hands.

Hath reflected that he had absolutely no idea on how the event would proceed. He knew they would sit and cheer and gifts would be given, but how and when? And to who? He resolved to find someone to ask.

 

[Mabess]

It wasn't all that late, but it was growing so much darker so much faster this time of the year. Oh, how quick it was; too long for the everlasting days of Summer's high, so much faster would the sun begin to set than anywhere else, or any other season still around. Luckily they lay on the sunny end of the eastern Spine, where the mountains did not blott the last light of starry-eve.

And the sun was slowly falling behind the pointy treetops.

It was so busy, some orcs were still at the tables, chatty,.. so chatty. Mostly the women, some holding their infants that sat there. Likely sisters cousins or simply friends, so much to explain and tell before they'd part again. Others were meandering around or still eating scraps, while the children of age were absolutely anxious, while those older were fighting each other with sticks and mulling around in the snow.
Did anybody notice the abundance of snoworcs perhaps?

One of the still standing orcs, an elderly snow-wolf noticed the lost Hath: »Hmm? Shouldn't you be with your family?«
---

Mabess was well in view this time, she seemed a bit beaten up, mentally at least, holding herself a bit at the backside while the rest of the chiefs were sound and conversing with the other clan members...they seemed a bit more lively at least, except for Dormak, his old joy seemingly sapped out of his being.
The two would have glanced at each other rather frequently. Any exchange was very brief and short.