The Forest

-9-

While Lyn had her ear pressed to the doors of the meeting room, Brianna and Viridis were making their way home from Bruon.

Barely muffled laughter followed wherever they went. The gloomy weather was of no bother to either of them; With a lantern to ward off the shadows and furs to insulate warmth, home seemed only a stone's throw away. They had been walking for about an hour and would probably have to walk an hour more, but there was a feeling that hardly any time had passed. They could walk for hours if need be, just talking. The path was snowy, the air was keen, but their entwined hands were warm.

"They like you, Viridis." She assured for the hundredth time.
"You sure?" He asked for the hundredth and one time. "Your mum was sort of... scary."
"Scary?" Her other hand was laced with his, swinging back and forth as they walked, and she gave it a squeeze. "Big brave scout, scared of my mum. What would your Captain say?"
She laughed, he went red around the ears.

The sun had all but vanished from the world. The sky was mostly grey with a touch of late-day yellow somewhere amidst the fog, but no star, sun or moon was in sight. Another snowy night, probably.
Far overhead, unseen birds scattered at the sound of their laughter and unsettled the branches. Snow thudded softly around the two people, interrupting their conversation.

Brianna regarded the snow-hills with contempt, "Almost crushed by falling snow. Love that. Add nature to the list of things that want to kill us."
Viridis looked to the sky. The yellow had turned to orange, and that orange was quickly fading to a deeper purple. Twilight.
"What you looking at?" She craned her head up, piles of knotted hair falling from her scarf as she did.
"We left too late." Viridis muttered. Without the distraction of laughter, the forest suddenly seemed deafeningly quiet. "Look at the clouds. The days have shortened, it'll be dark before we get home." It was half-light already.
She didn't seemed fazed. "Maybe. But what does that matter? We have a lantern."
Tell that to whatever was out there. A lantern wouldn't lull the nocturnal creatures back to sleep once night fell, if anything it would be a beacon leading everything straight to them. He glanced over his shoulder, like something was already creeping up behind them. The path wove its way through trees and snow for what must have been miles until it darkened into a shadowy void and he could see no further. The darkness seemed to yawn when he looked at it.
"Scared of beasties?" Brianna whispered in his ear.
He abruptly picked up the pace.
Brianna laughed and rolled her eyes, but matched his brisk walk without further jokes. Viridis had always had a wobbly nerve, but it was part of why she loved him.

"You know, I haven't been outside the tribe at night in forever." She was saying as she caught up to him.
"Good! There are plenty of nocturnal creepy crawlies without us mucking in."
She scoffed, "You are such a baby. Maya and some of my other girls go with me, it's perfectly safe."
"Perfectly stupid."
But she knew he would think differently if he just swallowed his fear and ventured out with her. "It's surreal. Everything all quiet, asleep..." she smiled just at the memory, "I would bring you along sometime, but Captain Bossy would have my head."
"You're assuming I want to come." He muttered under his breath. For once he was thankful that Aspen and Brianna hated each other.

The rivalry, or whatever you would call it, had been going on long enough that it wasn't clear whether the rift between the scouts and the hunters was genuine, or just shared banter. Viridis thought nobody knew. The nature of the conflict changed as regularly as the weather. Some weeks it was pilfering each other's provisions and hiding cloaks, other times it was yells so loud you could hear it through all the closed doors of the tribe centre, usually followed by a strict no-talking policy issued by either Captain. He and Bree always had to meet in secret when things got hostile like that. It didn't happen often, but it happened enough.