stars, hide your fires; Let not light see my black and deep desires
He felt like he was late in his preparations, and it was not a feeling he enjoyed. It had taken him so long to get started on sound-proofing the house and just.. checking everything. Long Night was approaching rapidly and it felt so unreal, somehow, as if the arrival of the Outlanders should've disrupted the natural order of things: as if the lackadaisical attitude of some of them could stall the monsters.
But that wasn't how things went. Rory licked his lips and hitched Talys to a sled, Ludo's lantern hanging from the front of it, shedding its pale and steady light. He didn't trust the lantern one bit, but so far, it was proving an exemplary light source and allowed him to save his candles until he might actually need them.
The darkness was regrettable but this deep into the season it was difficult to get everything done during the short days. Today's light had been spent repairing fencing, so it was with Ludo's lantern as his only light that he took the black pony into the forest.
He walked along a path for a while, knowing there was a section of forest that was decent for time-efficient fire fuel scavenging. He had a logger's axe on the sled's floor to speed up things a little more, but as it was, he was looking at a significant work-out.
The pale light from his lantern caught on something; a shadow that did not match the forest. Frowning, wary, Rory looked closer, seeing that it was.. a sled? Loaded with firewood? Guiding Talys to a stop he got off the sled and grabbed the lantern, inspecting it closer. Footsteps, small, likely a woman's, were visible in the snow. But.. He hooded the lantern's light. There was no other light visible in the forest.
Who was out here without a light?
Monsters and Ascended.One and the same.
Or someone who had had an accident. Against his better judgment, Rory tied Talys to a tree, and stepped a couple of yards off the path, deeper into the forest. He was loathe to leave his pony unattended but with his sister off gods-know-where, growing her own life separate from his, he was alone in his duties. "Hello? Is anyone there?" he called into the dark, senses straining to catch any sounds that were not those of the forest.
But that wasn't how things went. Rory licked his lips and hitched Talys to a sled, Ludo's lantern hanging from the front of it, shedding its pale and steady light. He didn't trust the lantern one bit, but so far, it was proving an exemplary light source and allowed him to save his candles until he might actually need them.
The darkness was regrettable but this deep into the season it was difficult to get everything done during the short days. Today's light had been spent repairing fencing, so it was with Ludo's lantern as his only light that he took the black pony into the forest.
He walked along a path for a while, knowing there was a section of forest that was decent for time-efficient fire fuel scavenging. He had a logger's axe on the sled's floor to speed up things a little more, but as it was, he was looking at a significant work-out.
The pale light from his lantern caught on something; a shadow that did not match the forest. Frowning, wary, Rory looked closer, seeing that it was.. a sled? Loaded with firewood? Guiding Talys to a stop he got off the sled and grabbed the lantern, inspecting it closer. Footsteps, small, likely a woman's, were visible in the snow. But.. He hooded the lantern's light. There was no other light visible in the forest.
Who was out here without a light?
Monsters and Ascended.
Or someone who had had an accident. Against his better judgment, Rory tied Talys to a tree, and stepped a couple of yards off the path, deeper into the forest. He was loathe to leave his pony unattended but with his sister off gods-know-where, growing her own life separate from his, he was alone in his duties. "Hello? Is anyone there?" he called into the dark, senses straining to catch any sounds that were not those of the forest.
