Just Another Day

Their journey went smoothly as they travelled through the Nyre and across the plains. They often stayed aloft after they left the forest. Shanku kept a sharp eye out for any signs of the urych or the Heyen, and before long she spotted them. She beckoned to her little group and steered them toward familiar old faces.

"Hallo there!" Shanku called out as she pulled her wings around her to break her speed and land safely.

Dai sat up quickly and turned to see who was calling. He looked at the landing kurach curiously as Jakko ran over to them, barking the whole way. He stopped as he neared Shanku and began to sniff her furiously, trying to place her smell and ignoring the trilling dragon on Hilael's shoulder.

"C'mon, Jakko, it's me!" Shanku laughed and rubbed his ears. Jakko licked her cheek, seemingly satisfied, and began to examine the others who were with her.

"Shanku?" Dai exclaimed in surprise. "My, how you've grown!"

"I was younger than Hinto the last time I saw you," Shanku grinned as she nodded to a boy who came walking up to them, curious about these strange looking kurach. "Did you get my last letters?"

"Yes, yes, we did," Dai replied. "Quite a tale you sent us."

"Ah! Where are my manners? Dai, this is my brother, Hilael, with his fairy dragon, Innugati, and our friends, Katari and Ina. And this is Dai, Hinto, Jakko, and here comes Zihna with Bena!" Greetings were exchanged as Zihna joined them with a young cub in tow.

Jakko flopped down with a groan and soon fell asleep.

"I fear this may be Jakko's last year out here," Dai remarked. "He's getting older. It's harder to keep up with the urych and I don't want to think what would happen if he tangled with a rivercat."

Shanku looked down and said nothing. She'd had to lay a little goblin friend to rest shortly before her last visit on the plains to see Zihna's brother, Eru, and well before then she'd lost too many during the time she spent on the sea.

Ina was positively taken with the Birchfields. "I never saw humans before. You look so much like us! Are you a blended family or are these both your cubs? I've heard so much about the plains kurach before but I never imagined how beautiful those hawk wings would look at this size!"

"You're a curious one, aren't you?" Zihna asked and took her aside to answer her plethora of questions.

"What brings you out here today?" Dai asked as he lead them back to camp.

"Kurach coming of age tradition," Shanku explained. "They boot us out for five years to see if we learned anything about how to take care of ourselves while growing up."

"You're still alive, so that should count for something," Dai remarked.

"It's a wonder though, eh?" Shanku asked with a sad smile.

"What do your people do to mark the transition to adulthood?" Ina asked.

"Nothing that special with my people," Dai replied. "After a certain age you're expected to be as responsible as an adult is all."

"We honor the dams who pass their first egg, and the sires must go out and take bison minocentaur," Zihna explained.

"Like our Cave of Stones!" Ina beamed and Shanku cringed.

"Thankfully we don't have to challenge minocentaur," Katari shuddered. "We just have to hunt a boar. On that note, you are out here early, Hilael. Have you been on a boar hunt yet?"

"Nope, and don't want to," Hilael said flatly. Katari just shook his head and didn't respond.

"How far out are we from the Heyen clan?" Shanku asked.

"A few days," Dai replied. "You're welcome to stay and rest for the night."

"Sounds delightful," Ina said quickly. Hilael asked Zihna if she needed help gathering anything for the evening meal and she invited him to go picking with her.

"I suppose you are the primary gatherer?" Zihna asked when they were some ways from the others. Hilael nodded. "Have you spent any time on the prairie before?" Hilael shook his head. "I'll show you a few extra plants to watch for later in the year that will help you keep them fed."

Zihna found Hilael to be a very attentive student and a quick learner. When he began identifying some of the plants with medicinal properties, she took the time to point out a few that would help with common ailments.

"You have the potential to be a great healer someday," Zihna nodded as they returned from their trip. Hilael flushed and glanced away. He helped her prepare a stew with some cured urych meat, and at supper many tales were swapped over the campfire, including how Dai and Zihna originally met.

"You had to have two marriages to please both the Heyens and Arnthians?" Ina asked. "If you two aren't official by now, something is wrong."

"How has Mrs. Birchfield not suspected anything by now?" Shanku asked curiously. "There aren't any nomadic humans out here."

"They think there are, but only because we're very careful around travellers," Zihna explained. "But, more and more travellers pass by, and it's only a matter of time before we're discovered."

"What will you do then?" Hilael asked.

"Do not borrow trouble from tomorrow when you have plenty today," Dai answered.

"Sounds fair," Katari nodded.

"Do you plan to go to Wynfall or any other cities?" Dai asked.

"Later on, yes," Shanku nodded. "We'll probably have to go visit Onami before we leave."

"Definitely. I'll put out the way in the morning," Dai said.

The night passed with relative peacefulness, until the sun began to rise.

"Good golly, Jakko, I swear, you are incapable of sleeping unless you're on top of me!" Shanku growled at the half-slumbering pooch lazily thumping his tail as she attempted to crawl out from under him.

"That certainly brings back memories," Dai said groggily as he rose and stretched. After a quick breakfast, Dai directed them to where the Heyen had set up camp. With a fond farewell, Shanku lead the Sylvans to the Heyen clan.