[attr="class","burnt"]The mender with the white coat had been by earlier, waffling a rushed greeting between carrying several baskets of herbs which were surely meant for delivery to the yet-uncured members of the clan. To say the most recent meeting had left an impression on the lot of them would be an understatement-- some remained bedridden, and not due to heartbreak over the loss of their deputy; that certainly didn't help matters, however. It wasn't unusual to see Sunshore, the shiny-haired mender in question, running around at odd hours, only to spend half a day later sleeping in; what may have struck any given clan member as odd was seeing Võ at all. The time between the onset of 'morning' and sunrise was her domain, where she operated efficiently and quietly. To the uninformed, Võ could be mistaken as lazy or inactive; her hunting, and even her past operations as a warrior, had always commenced and completed before the first birdsongs of the day. Her presence here at Pikiatë, as opposed to the forests or waterways where her quarries dwell, is borne of clan responsibility instead of mere duty. With the... now-vacated deputy position looming over everyone like some kind of airborne omen, Võ had been tapped to fill the position on an interim basis; it'd come as a half-surprise to her, hearing it first in whispers and rumors before eventually receiving the summons that saw her arrive here.
She felt no qualms about herself as a capable and ready candidate; a decorated history as a warrior, decorated enough to allow her to semi-retire to being a regular hunter, was but the first of her qualifications. Expertise with flames and assorted incendiary devices made for a strong second, if one didn't think of how well Võ knew the lay of the land before that. Some swore they knew Võ to be one with the wilderness, that that must have been how she could traverse the terrain as if it were a stroll from one tree home to another; others argued it was distant inhuman ancestry that precipitated her superb sense of direction and position. The, more or less, human Võ kept a simpler answer close to vest; spending time to study existing maps and trek out to create new ones did wonders for her interest in exploration when she was younger-- everything else, the hunting and the warring, seemed to happily feed off of her growing natural knowledge base-- and who was she to say no when asked to do the things that she and precious few others could? Such a line of reasoning had landed her here, waiting to meet with the clan's leader.
Yomi was only a couple years her junior, but Võ knew, as anyone knowledgeable about Solarisclan did, that Leader Sorir was cunning beyond her years-- the recent years of peace for the clan had relied upon that fact. In thinking on it, Võ realized she hadn't actually spoken with Yomi in quite some time, not since leaving the warrior class to become a hunter several years ago. The clan's concealed defenses and perimeter protections were still delegated to Võ but otherwise, she was allowed to spend her time catching game to provide meals for others rather than go on patrols or train others; it was common among older clansfolk to murmur about how she was wasting her talents hunting instead of trying to educate the next generation of warriors. In being picked for interim deputy, she wondered what position, if any, Yomi had on the matter-- not that Võ would ask such... Probably.
Sensing a presence approach through the low brush and uneven soil, Võ stood up with a soft grunt and stowed her kiseru pipe. "Morning, Yomi. Long time, no... talk."
[attr="class","icf"]What happens out there-- the mistakes, even the victories-- you can't bring it home.
Harsh was the evening prior, as Yomi stared up at the roof of her hut-shaped tree home. Gentle was the sway of her hammock, yet cruel was the unrelenting weight of uncertainty. All was what she agreed upon, being leader, and that was what she'd been reminded of by the silence replacing drunken laughter.
Restless thoughts plagued her deep into the night as time lost meaning. Drawn outside, she paced the wooden walkways, each step magically soundless underfoot. Under the guise of night, sunken eyes searched for signs of the auspicious and unfavorable until she caught sight of a particular huntress scurrying about.
She recalled what details she knew of Võ, and how Maware had once lamented the loss of the great warrior. The loss as in transfer of duties, of course. Without action between clans, many warriors around her time felt that their training was too harsh, and as such, they requested to switch roles. Surprising to many, Yomi did not deny them. Surely they would understand that they would begin as apprentices first-most. Although, according to her beloved former Deputy, Võ wouldn't have left for such 'petty reasoning'.
Although the clan leader was weary of mental exhaustion, her toleration and endurance kept her mind stable enough to proceed into the morning hours, just before daybreak, in order to confront the huntress. She had followed further than the tree homes, quiet as to test the perception of her candidate.
"Morning starts with the sun..."
Her tone was indifferent, unwilling to return the simple greeting she had been given. Sort of.
Clan Leader approached further, inspecting the pipe which she collected.
"Or so my Deputy would say. You're diligent to be starting early."
A remark that border-lined a compliment-- something she was unused to giving, and few were able to receive. She knew of Võ's early routine: consistent. She also knew that Võ considered her position as a hunter something alike a retirement fund for her service as a warrior, although she wasn't as old as an elder. In their time, battles around the territory were so common, fights were commonplace. Warriors without sleep. Hunters spread thin, covering both collection of food, as well as backing up the warriors in battle. The peace known to the little ones were taken for granted, only truly occurring less than a decade ago.
[attr="class","burnt"]Võ quietly flashed a compact smile. "My mornings have reliably avoided the sun for some time now. But you're right, they're best when they start with the sun." From what she knew about Yomi, it was easy for the hunter to ascertain just how heavy the recent happenings had weighed on the clan's leader; any kind of thought or angle an average clan member could have on the matter had likely already been disassembled and analyzed by Yomi, such was how skilled she was at processing things-- an essential, non-negotiable kind of ability that leaders had to have, it seemed-- the kind of ability that couldn't be switched off, at least not in good conscience, regardless of how things were going.
"I usually say it's to catch alert game off their guard, when someone asks why I'm up so early. But, you know, it's really more to check the perimeter and the defenses. The same time, every day. There's no game worth catching that wakes up as early as this. Cause if they're awake, they're more likely just threats at that point than prey." Võ sighed peacefully and crossed her arms. Hovering her foot over an unremarkable patch of dirt, the hunter dipped the very edge of her heel in a jabbing trajectory towards the soil. The quiet clunk came from the outer casing of a yet-active, well-maintained incendiary mine of her own design-- still planted where she'd placed it originally. Just two days ago, Võ had taken great care in receiving Lunarisclan refugees into the territory after guiding them safely through the more obvious defenses such as barriers and palisades. Their path, of course, had been cleared of mines days before to prevent any potentially dastardly individuals from thinking they'd found a special vulnerability or 'backdoor' in the approach to the Solarisclan lands. All of this was to say that Võ had felt, given the rising tensions and strange occurences recently, her time as, mostly, a hunter would quickly be postponed in service to her clan-- a matter of when and not if, she'd known since formally leaving the warrior class the first time.
Maware's absence hit Võ as soon as she'd heard about it and, while she kept on attending to her responsibilities without fail, a twinge of dread had dogged her as of late. Yomi's message to her had come at a good time, inadvertently reminding Võ that the fate of the clan was not to be left up in the air with the loss of one individual, never mind how reliable and friendly he was as their deputy until now. Speaking about Maware hadn't occurred to Võ, as she determined that keeping silent on the matter until a proper send-off could be made for him served the interest of the clan better. Most here knew of her, and what little they knew about her largely seemed to lend itself to perceptions of strength and silence; what good was there for another person to be externalizing the same sadness everyone was already feeling? This too made Võ's unique, sun-avoidant mornings even easier to rise for, these days.
"It may as well be a habit now though. What needs doing, Yomi? I'm at your service, once more," said Võ.
[attr="class","icf"]What happens out there-- the mistakes, even the victories-- you can't bring it home.
What happens out there-- the mistakes, even the victories-- you can't bring it home.
What happens out there-- the mistakes, even the victories-- you can't bring it home.