Fire Side Dancer

[Angeltears]

Tora was aware of Rahn’s shocked look as she had spoken her part. She guessed that he wouldn’t be happy about it and he wasn’t the only one. Looking at each of her brothers, she told herself she wouldn’t back down from this. When Rahn spoke she turned to him and a small smile came and went from her lips. Nodding her head Tora turned to her brothers, “It’s decided then.” “I don’t like this,” Tan said, “But if we want to be honest if any of us was going to make it back to the village quickly it would be the two of you.” Tan stepped over to Rahn and looked him in the eyes. “You keep her safe and bring her back to us in one piece, you hear me. Or I will skin you.” Tora sighed and moved to unpack any unnecessary things from Dancers back. Sol and Ash came up beside her and they helped. “Are you sure about this Tora?” Sol asked taking held of his sister’s hand as she reached for something and then tugged her until she faced him. Looking into her eyes as if looking for anything to say she couldn’t go. “I am sure Sol,” she smiled at him. “One of us should go not you,” Ash said as he worked. They knew there sister was stubborn but they had to try. “I ride faster than you can. Any way I don’t want to stay behind to worry about any one of you. It will be okay,” she said and kissed Sol’s cheek and then Ash’s.

 

[Josu_T]

Rahn nodded his promise to keep Tora safe. He didn't need their threats. If he couldn't keep her safe he would be angrier at himself than anyone else could possibly be. He let her deal with Dancer and did work on getting Rain ready. He took almost everything off of the horse and helped distribute it among the other horses, using platforms to take some weight off. When he was ready he went over to Tora. He let her say her goodbyes to her brothers. It would not be a final goodbye though. Rahn would make sure of that.

He moved in close to Tora and pulled her close, kissing her softly. Then he pulled back and went to Rain. He had the tent and a few supplies attached to Rain's saddle and had the rest on Dancer. He mounted the horse and looked to Tora to see if she was ready. He didn't want to cut across the grass again, so they would loop around through the trees.

 

[Angeltears]

When Dance was ready she turned to her brothers and smiled at them, each one of them hugging her and telling her to be safe. Tan was last of all, “I can stop you from doing this you know,” he said looking at her. “I know but you won’t because you know I can do this,” she told him and then hugged him. “I know, but you had better come back safe to us or you are never going riding on your own ever again,” he told her as he hugged her tight. Tora laughed softly, “I promise.” Then Tan let go and she quickly said good bye to the others.

Then she saw Rahn and smiled as he pulled her in close, kissing her. When he pulled back and headed to Rain she turned to Dancer and pulled herself up. When she saw Rahn looking at her she nodded her head and nudged Dancer to move. Grass would be two dangerous so it would be safer to head through the trees. Tora turned back once and saw that the others were mounting themselves ready to ride the rest of the way to the market. Ash was watching and waved and she returned the wave before vanishing into the trees.

 

[Josu_T]

Rahn moved with Tora and rode along side her through the trees. After the others were out of sight he looked over at Tora and looked into her eyes. He then kicked Rain into a full run. It wasn't a sprint, but the speed was increased. He didn't want the horses to get exhausted since they had just been running as fast as they could, but they needed to get to the village as soon as they could.

 

[Angeltears]

Tora met Rahn eyes and a small smile crept over her lips. Then watched as he kicked Rain into a ran and she did the same with Dancer. Following behind him and when able to beside Rahn. They rode till they reached the edge of the tree line far away from the tall grass. Pulling Dancer to a hold she looked out at the open land then to Rahn, “Do you think it is possible that they are this far around?” she asked.

 

[Josu_T]

Rahn stopped and looked out. At Tora's comment he shrugged. "I don't know where they might be. We still need to be carefull though. We should follow the tree line, but ride in the open so the horses can go faster. The horses can run and we can watch for movement anywhere near us. We will just have to hope that they are not near us and that they are not already on their way toward our village. That would not be good at all." He got Rain going again, just next to the tree line. The speed gradually increased as Rahn watched the plains, looking for movement.

 

[Angeltears]

Tora nodded as she looked out over the grass. She couldn’t see any tell tale signs of men moving through the grass as they had before. At the mention of the strangers already being on there way to the village she felt a shiver run down her spine. Tora only waited a few seconds after Rahn got Rain moving before she followed behind him sticking as close to the tree line as was possible and still give Dancer the freedom to run. Her eyes scanning the grass the whole time, alert and hoping that they don’t see anything. There were times when she thought that she saw movement but it was either a trick of her eyes or the play of the slight wind. Yet Tora couldn’t help back reach back to make sure she still had arrows.

 

[Josu_T]

Rahn kept Rain going hard and fast without pushing the pace too much. He didn't want to kill the horse. He watched for any movement in the grass. When he didn't see any he relaxed a little more. He didn't even see any far out in the fields. At least nothing obvious. When they eventually reached a small stream, he pulled Rain to a stop and let him drink. He got off and climbed up a tree to search for movement. He could see a long way and saw no movement. That was a good thing. He got down and smiled at Tora. "I see no movement anywhere near here or anywhere as far as I could see clearly. I don't know where they are, but there is no movement anywhere near the trail toward the village. I think they may have made a camp in the grass somewhere, or may be trying to deal with dead and wounded."

 

[Angeltears]

When Rahn pulled Rain to a stop Tora did the same to Dancer slipping from the horses back she led Dancer to the water and then watched as Rahn climb the tree. Turning she stood by the horses and looked out of her grass, she couldn’t see any movement and she wondered if he could see any from his height. Turning when she heard him climb back down she took his smile as a good sign. Listening as he spoke she thought on what he was saying, “We have two choices, we use this to our advantage to hopefully get a head start or we take a chance to rest the horses for a little bit. What do you think Rahn?” she asked him. Looking up at the sky wondering how much time that had until the sun started to set.

 

[Josu_T]

Rahn smiled at Tora. "We will go now. The horses have had a few minutes of rest and some water to drink. They will be fine until we can get some distance between us and whoever it is that is somewhere in the fields. Let's get going." He hopped up onto Rain, pulled him next to Dancer, leaned over and kissed Tora. The he smiled at her once more before getting Rain going again. The horse seemed a lot fresher ever with just the short break. It was a good thing. They had a long way to go in a short amount of time.

 

[Angeltears]

Tora nodded, “Your right.” Moving back to Dancer she climbed back onto his back and smiled at Rahn as he can up beside her. She returned his kiss and his smile afterward and then she urged Dancer after him. Dancer seemed eager to run after resting for a couple of minutes. Dancer had always been good at doing long rides on short stops. Even though Rahn hadn’t seen anything moving within the field and she trusted him she still couldn’t help but keep her eye out for movement around them as they rode.

 

[Josu_T]

Rahn focused on the path ahead. There were some tricky spots where the horses needed to watch out of things in front of them. Even so, they made good time. It wasn't long before they were getting near the path to the village. They went up a small hill and he looked out over the fields. He saw some movement near the center. They seemed to be focused on themselves for the moment, rather than going anywhere. They had time, but it was time they could use to make distance on them in case they did try to go toward their village.

 

[Angeltears]

Tora was happy when she sees that they were getting nearer to the path that would lead them to the village. The two of them had come further than the group of them would have if they were heading back. Maybe it was the fear for what might happen to the village if they don’t get the warning to them about the attackers in the field that made them travel so fast or maybe because it was just the two of them. “Do you think they are planning on leaving the fields?” she asked Rahn as she looked over the grass lands as well.

 

[Josu_T]

Rahn looekd at Tora and shrugged. "I don't know. It looks like they have been here for a long time if they attacked when the grass was short and it has grown this long. I also think we gave them something to deal with before they do anything else. However, now they know there is another village and they knew what direction it is in. So we don't know if they will do anything or not. It is better to be safe they. They also might have sent scouts to find the village and then report back. So we still need to be fast. Let's get as far as we can today before setting up camp and getting some sleep. Then we can get to the village in the morning and start on our way to the market again. We will have to take a longer route to avoid any of those guys if they do come along this path."

 

[Angeltears]

Tora turned away as Rahn talked and looked back over the grass, she hoped he was right and they would be busy dealing with there own people rather than heading toward the village. Turning back to him she sighed and moved Dancer closer to him. Leaning over she kissed his cheek, “Then let’s get going, the sooner we ride the closer we get to the village and then we can both relax,” Tora said to him as she turned Dancer and headed back down the hill and set in the direction of the village once more. She was growing tired of riding and Dancer was also starting to show signs of tiring too but both of them would be able to make it further, they had too.

 

[Josu_T]

Rahn nodded and turned Rain to follow her down the hill. They were able to use it to pick up some good speed without exhausting the horses. He knwe they could not go on for too much longer, especially since night was getting closer. Yet they needed to make it as far as they could. He pushed Rain to go just a little faster.

They went as far as they could before Rahn could tell the horses were getting tired. They had a lot more riding to do over the next few days, so they could not drain all their energy. Rahn looked at Tora and signalled to stop. They were near a stream where the horses could drink. Rahn pulled Rain to a stop and hopped down. He led the horse to the stream and tied him off to a tree loosely. He then got the saddle and supplies off his back. They had a little while to set up the tent and make dinner for themselves before night hit. Rahn looked at Tora. "I'll get the tent up if you can make dinner for us."

 

[Angeltears]

Tora saw Rahn signal a stop and she nodded feeling relief that they were stopping. Slipping down the side of Dancer Tora headed to the stream and bent down and scoops some water and splashed it on her face and then stood back up and watched as Rahn saw to the horses. When Rahn mentioned her making dinner while he got the tent up, she nodded her head and she started to sort through there things that he had taken off the back of the horses. Soon she had everything she needed to start dinner for the two of them except for wood. Gathering the things she moved closer to the trees and started to collect small sticks she would only need a small fire to do what she needed to and a small fire wouldn’t bring to much attention.

The moving around was also a good way to stretch her legs and muscles. By the time she was done she had enough wood for her fire and she settled herself and started lighting the small fire. It didn’t take her long her brothers had taught her well, and soon she was cooking a small amount of meat for there dinner adding bits of herbs that had been collected before they had left the village.

 

[Josu_T]

Rahn smiled as Tora went about getting things ready for their dinner. He got the tent out and started putting it together in the fading light. He wondered how the others were doing. He was sure that they were probably safer at the moment than Rahn and Tora were, yet Rahn still felt safe. From what he had seen the strangers had not started moving yet and they would probably not move at night. They may have sent scouts, but that would be it, and the scouts would probably be farther ahead of them, or behind them still. Either way, now that it was dark, Rahn felt fairly safe. He got their tent set in the trees near the stream, a little way away from the path and the fire. It was an added safety measure in case anyone did come along the path at night or had seen the fire. It might buy them a little added time. When he was done he went over to Tora to see if the food was ready yet. He leaned in and kissed her cheek softly.

 

[Angeltears]

Tora was focused on dinner when Rahn come over and kissed her cheek. Smiling she told him dinner would be ready soon. Turning away from the fire and food she smiled at him and then returned his kiss to his cheek. The food was soon cooked and Tora dished it out for the two of them and then settled before the fire ready to eat as she handed Rahn his plate. “This is different, we are having dinner by ourselves for once,” she said with a smile. Then she frown, she hoped that her brothers and the others were okay. There was a group of them so they should be okay and her brothers could look after themselves as they kept telling her. Worrying wouldn’t help anything so she smiled at Rahn and shoved her concerns into the back of her mind. Any way it was just Rahn and herself together for once other than the short periods of time they had together. “Is your food okay?” she asked Rahn.

 

[Josu_T]

Rahn smiled and waited for the food to be ready. When it was ready he got settled in next to Tora and took his plate. He took a few bites and then kissed Tora softly. "Yes, it is very nice. It is also a little different, but I like it. I like being with you on our own." He had seen her frown and wanted to help her feel better. "You have nothing to worry about with the others. They are stong and capable. There are also more of them than us. So please don't worry. I don't like seeing a frown on that pretty face."

 

[Angeltears]

Tora looked up from her food at Rahn, he had known that she was worried about her brothers and the others. Slowly she nodded her head and gave him a weak smile, tilting her head to the side she leaned her head on his shoulder. “I can’t help it there the only family I have, I don’t know what I would do if I lost them. I know it’s silly and they can take care of themselves.” She sighed and returned to eating. Then she giggled slightly, “Just think what Ash would say if he knew I was worried about them.”

 

[Josu_T]

Rahn smiled softly at Tora. When she leaned her head against his shoulder he lifted a hand up and started to caress her softly and run his fingers through her hair. He continued doing that even as she ate. He ate with his free hand. He paused only to respond to her, chuckling at her final comment. "Ah, he'd definitely say or do something in a teasing way. However, remember, they are not the only family you have. I believe you are forgetting about the one with you right now." He smiled again and kissed her cheek.

 

[Angeltears]

It felt good having Rahn running his fingers through her hair. She smiled as he agreed with her about Ash’s teasing. After he kissed her cheek she turned her head to the side and smiled at him and then setting her plate on the ground beside her she reached up and cupped his cheek. “I haven’t forgotten about you, I could never forget about you. It’s just new to me having someone else other than my brothers as family.” Tora leaned up and kissed him on the lips, “I love you Rahn,” she told him and gently stroked her thumb over his cheek, “And I am grateful that I have you in my life.”

 

[Josu_T]

Rahn placed his now empty plate aside and smiled at Tora. Her hand was warm and soft on his cheek. At her kiss he was completely content. When she told him she loved him and was grateful to have him, it was just extra. He was very happy. He kissed her deeply, holding it for a few seconds before finally pulling back just enough to speak, his lips still brushing against hers. "Should we get this stuff cleaned up quickly and get to bed? We have a long day ahead of us."

 

[Angeltears]

Tora opened her eyes partly after Rahn kissed her deeply and smiled as his lips brushed against hers. “I think so,” she replied and kissed him before pulling back and collecting the plates. Gathering everything that needed washing she took them to the small stream and washed them. Then she packed away what she could and gave the horses one more check before she headed towards the tent that Rahn had set up. As soon as she saw the tent she could help but yawn, it had been a long day and tomorrow would be the same.