Seril part two

The group carried on eastward for a week. It took them across a grassy plateau, with various grazers picking at the grass. Alexandra hunted these with her bow, and this provided the group with food. At night they lay in a canvas tent, and set watchers at the door.

On the seventh day the group headed roughly north, if their progress so far had been straight. (the sun in levon rotates about the earth and changes its orbit regularly) Soon, hills started to grow around them, and to their right, a stream in its turbulent upper course swung into view. The group travelled between a gap in the large hills, following the valley created by the waters path.

On the thirteenth day the mist came in. It hung about in the air in white rolls and waves. It chilled the skin and the heart. The silence was ominous. The soft thud of the horses was no comfort. Every now and again, a member of the company would stop and look around, hearing the sound of voices on the wind.

The group woke on the morn of day twenty, and found the mist had lifted. Bright sun shone in through gaps in the clouds. The valley seamed to have become less steep, and they saw that the ground around them was nearly flat. They found that in the mist they had lost the stream, but it could be seen, about five hundred meters to the left, with two large banks either side of it in place of a large valley. They came back towards it, and saw ahead of them a weeping willow tree. They made for this and came to a stop beside it. Dotted around the valley were many other trees of different kinds, fir, sycamore, cypress, birch and beach were thriving in the windless area. Here the valley rose again, to about twice the height of the great bank. The trees had branches relatively close to the ground, and they were strong and old.

"Well," Said Alexandria. "all In favour of trying to live here,"

there was no debate.

Each person chose their own tree. Alexandria picked the willow she was under. Despite the usual form of a weeping willow, it had many branches that were easy to climb into. She leaped into the lower boughs and settled herself among them. A little higher, two more levels of branch had become woven into platforms, forming a roof and sitting place. Alexandria climbed into these, and immediately named this her bed.

She climbed down and cut a small mark of a wavy line, with a triangle above it. These were her initials of a kind. Naturalist and artist tribes have little or no forms of writing. However, no-man tribes do. The wavy line showed her family name, River (or quick-stream in some parts of her family) and the triangle was copied roughly from the no-man A which is similar to our own.

Despite the trees perfect form, there was still work to be done. She headed towards a patch of reeds. Producing a pocket knife she cut down a bunch, and came back to her tree. She climbed into her roof, and began to thatch it. As each layer was completed she collected a little resin from the cypresses and coated the layer in the sticky substance. When her roof was completely water proof, she jumped down, and watched the progress of her friends, helping where she was needed.

About an hour later Alexandria and Criso set off upstream with Coal, to explore. After about half an hour easy going, the stream valley became to step, high and narrow for the horse to continue. They left Coal beside a hawthorn tree near the river, and continued on foot. A short while later, they came to a place where limestone cliffs towered high above them. The stream continued up in steps. Pools of water collected in these, and poured out of eroded gaps, to trickle into the pool bellow with a delightful bubbling noise.

They began to mount the steps, when a female voice from above cried

"Halt!"

The pair stopped. A girl with blond hair, cut similar to Alexandria's hopped down a step. Alexandria placed her bow on the ground, hoping the peaceful gesture would be recognised. The strange girl moved a step closer.

"Who are you?" she asked, brandishing a wooden spear "Don't move!"

"I am Alexandria River. This is Criso Rohrider. Who are You?" Alexandria retorted sharply.

"I'm Seril. Are you Natural?" The girl said, asking a traditional question.

"We're Natural. Do you live here? Are there any more of you?" Alexandria asked.

"Are there any more of you?" Seril replied cautiously, mirroring Alexandria's alert questioning.

"There's no more of us here now, but there's a camp down stream, with nine people in it. We hope to stay," Alexandria replied.

Seril lowered her spear, and picked up Alexandria's bow, keeping her eye's raised watchfully. She handed the bow to Alexandria.

"I'd like to see your camp. I've come from up stream alone. I haven't been any further down, but I think some Arteists were on my trail."

Alexandria smiled. Any company was welcome, and this strange girl could possibly tell them many things about the surrounding area, so she offered her hospitality.

Her invitation was accepted gratefully, and Seril walked with them down stream. She made good company, and was plainly glad of company.

They arrived back at the valley just before the sun disappeared behind the hills.

A bridge had been built across the stream. It was made of wood that Prita had found in a denser section of the small wood. At the foot of a large tree a shelter of a kind had been made from thin branches and thatching. A fire had been lit, and it was around this that they gathered. Seril told what she knew of her story.

"I have been travelling for longer than I can remember. I left before my inwé so there is little I can remember of it. My village had been destroyed by arteists. I travelled alone for a long time, before I stumbled upon an arteists village. I lived there for two years before I uncovered my natural origins. I left in the night and I have been travelling since then."

Silence was held to acknowledge here story, -The tree people's sign of respect. Her tale was one of destruction, and thus was to be mourned.

"You may stay here as long as you wish," said Alexandria, and so she gained her first new companion.

***********

inwé: an event in a persons life when they cross the boarder from child to adult. It usually happens around the age of five, as children mature more quickly in Levon. It is also the time when the long term memory becomes more focused. Only important events can be remembered from before it.