The Red Stone by my Side

A red and black stone at the side of one that was purple and black.

The purple and black began by itself, became surrounded by feathers, scales, fur and hair.  After a time, the purple stone was joined by the red, which was accompanied by a plant.

They coexisted with one another and with the other materials until the purple stone moved to ice, where other stones –lacking color- are.  A short time, purple calls to red, and red brings the plant as it follows.

The two stones are joined by other stones and bits of fur, but the red is always near the purple.

~*^#~*^#~*^#~*^#

There are some things one has to wait for.  It is a matter of finding the right time.  

Matla had hoped and waited for a Shaman to venture to her tribe's lands, so she could ask their aid.  But none ever came.  She didn't want to ask too many favors of Yaotl, but knew there would come a time when her pride would have to be silenced.   She'd done what she could to form her tribe, help it grow, and pretend she didn't know where the red stone was.

When Uramarenetri birthed still-born pups and Kisechawchuk, Matla knew it was nearly time. 'Nearly' was still relative however, as Aren showed no desire to be Shaman; much more content to be Solo.  Which meant Matla still had to wait.  She tried not to pressure Kis, but was fortunate that he wanted to be Tyler Tribe's Shaman.

~*^#~*^#~*^#~*^#

Kis was three when someone muttered the phrase, 'We are all born running out of time,' and she felt something snap into place.

The dream of the stones wasn't something already accomplished, but something that needed to be done.  At first, Matla studied Dedric, her Beta, to see if he showed signs of a Dream.  When she recalled that his parents had likely been off-planet for his conception, and he had been raised somewhere other than Yaolzerac, she mentally banged her head.  She was grateful for having been born where she was in comparison yet again, she supposed.

She knew she could not ask of her father to come to Yaolzerac to judge the doings for several reasons, among them being the spirits' approval.  So she resigned herself to asking Yaotl such a favor as to borrow their Shaman for it.

~*^#~*^#~*^#~*^#

Dedric was talking to his mother, in the tent that was kept the hottest, for her sake and that of young Sev and Terpsis.  She ducked into it and grinned at him in her usual manner, "I know you cannot have the Dream due to circumstances beyond your control, and that you are not Shaman, Dedric.  But I would tell you something and hear your opinion," she paused a moment, then continued.

"I have dreamt of a stone ever by my side, and other stones surround us, with little bits of fur and a plant besides; but I cannot see the color of any but the one always there.  The others move and leave, and return, but that stone of red and black never leaves. What does this tell you?"

At the arrival of his Alpha, Dedric's gaze had unerringly sought hers out in case she sought him out. His mother continued to yammer on about the importance of wearing earmuffs when Matla finally spoke. At that point, whatever else his mother was saying went in one ear and out the other as both perked up and twirled forward to listen to what his Alpha required from him. He didn't have to be a genius to figure out what 'the dream' she spoke about was. His mother had quieted at his side, her eyes narrowed in concentration as she too listened to Matla's words.

When Matla finally finished telling of her dream, Dedric's tail swished once and he had to refrain from lunging at his Alpha as his heart soared. He'd always thought they were meant to be together since the first time she'd managed to pin him as a child! As she patiently awaited his answer he couldn't help grinning up at her.

"It tells me that you've been either been hanging around too many rocks and me too long or," He stood, ignoring his confused mother, "that you've finally come around to what I've been telling you for years, 'you're mine'. Can I pounce on you now?"

A loud, 'oh!' alerted him to the fact that his mother had finally realized what dream they were talking about. "You most certainly will not pounce on anyone in this tent!" Riet quickly admonished before looking up at Matla concerned, "Are you sure it's that dream? Aubrey does seem to have a stone as a brain most times and I'd admit the stalker portion of that stone kinda screams Aub, but…are you sure?" She did not want the woman jumping into a rash relationship, with her goofy son, no less!

Dedric couldn't help scowling at his mother. Of course he was the one! He'd pretend to have misheard the brains bit as well as the stalker comment. His Alpha needed her Beta close. A Srack wouldn't understand that. Turning his attention back to his soon-to-be-pounced-on Alpha, he awaited her response.

Matla shook her head, inwardly not far from knocking her Beta over herself, but they couldn't exactly jump the gun, as her uncles back where she'd been raised had called it.  "We have to get a Shaman to confirm this, and to preside over the rest." And, looking at Riet, she added, "I have not seen another red-and-black of any species or of either gender that has been by my side so continually.  So we need to wait."  She chose not to remark on the 'in this tent' part of Riet's words as she stepped out of the tent, to prevent anything that shouldn't happen.  Yet.

<i.All of that,</i> Dedric thought listening to his soon-to-be mate explain to his mother, Plus you love me. She hadn't said it, but he didn't need her words.

"All right," Riet demurred easily, secretly happy that the two would finally be getting together. I wonder what my grandchildren will look like… "as long as you're sure and happy, I'll be thrilled to have you as a daughter; and know I'll be rooting for you during the pinning." She smiled at the two of them, ignoring her Aubrey's snort.

Dedric returned his attention to Matla with a grin, "I think what you meant to say was that they—," he indicated their family with a wave of his hand, "—need to wait. We need to head out and find the nearest Shaman." Standing, he began moving towards the door, "Come on then," he made sure to accidentally flick her with the tip of his tail as he headed out, "Your defeat is imminent, no use drawing out the inevitable. I'll make sure not to bend your tail the wrong way when I pin you."

"Will you two be bringing the Shaman back here, or will the pinning happen somewhere else?" Riet asked as she shook her head at her son's taunting.

Matla wasn't so able to ignore it, having been flicked by his tail, and ~knowing~ it wasn't on accident.  But she was the Alpha, after all, and would prove the winner in the end, one way or another, as she answered Riet, "If we can get the permission of the Alpha of the Tribe I was born into, the Shaman of that tribe will likely be here.  If nothing else, it should prove morale-boosting  for the Tribe to get to ~watch~ me pin you.  And I will definitely remind you of it frequently afterwards."

She smirked at him as she passed through the portal of the tent, "Sadly for you, though, Dedric, ~I~ would be best suited to this task, having previous experience with the Alpha of Yaotl, and being fairly familiar with their Shaman.  ~You~ need to stay as I refuse to leave the Tribe without Alpha ~and~ Beta if I can help it." She brushed past him, patting him as high as she could reach on his shoulder.  The difference in height would not stop her from winning, it was a matter of experience, and strategy.  

The only real pity about it was she had to send someone out to the borders of Yaotl land to warn them she was coming, and then wait for them to return.  It would possibly be rude otherwise.

He followed her out smiling and silently agreeing with her reasoning. It would be foolish for them both to leave the tribe but...

He snorted before quickly stepping before her, effectively stopping her forward march, "If one of us has to stay, it should definitely be you." He placed a gentle hand atop her head before leaning his nine-foot tall frame down a bit so that he was face to face with her, "I'm the Beta. It's my job to do the communication thing with other tribes, or so I was told—by you, no less." Yes, he usually managed to put his foot in his mouth most times, but how hard could asking for a Shaman be? "Just sit tight and wait for me to drag back the Shaman. You can try to do my job once I'm done pinning you, I promise." He leaned forward and rubbed his nose against hers before drawing back with a grin and giving her head a quick ruffle. Turning away, he confidently strutted forward, all the while wondering where the heck the Yaotl tribe was located.

I'll pull aside the first tribe mate I find on the way and ask, no need for her to be aware of my lack of direction.

Hiding how the nose-rubbing made her want to smile and let him have his way without argument, Matla countered, "Why do I get the feeling the only ~dragging~ you'll be doing is that of your pride and ego with a bee in your ear from speaking to the Yaotl Shaman that way?" She waited a minute, and sighed, "Besides, you're headed in the wrong direction for Yaotl lands. Did you forget I suggested we should warn them of your arrival via scout, in hopes to limit just how much of your foot winds up in your mouth? I'd hate to have you whining about how the only reason I pinned you was because you'd chewed your own foot off while speaking with the Shaman? Or even the Alpha?"

She pointed off in the ~proper~ direction for Yaotl lands, and called to one of the Scouts to direct him where to go and who to speak with, and shook her head at the big, red-headed lug that was her Beta. She'd give him the next few days to convince him that the role of Beta as communicator was the better reason for going than knowing the people being spoken with better.

He'd stopped in his tracks once learning he was not going in the right direction.

Throwing his nose in the air with a snort, he turned about face and watched as she directed a Scout to do his job. "A warning, I think, is unnecessary but if you must have your way…" Fine. He pouted, "And just so you know, your Beta do not whine. Modestly pointing out your mistakes—like believing you will be victorious in our mate-fight—is not whining." He turned to watch the Scout before asking his Alpha, "How long should I wait before following? Few hours?"

Laughing a little at her pouting Beta, Matla started to explain "A few days-" then she stopped, and thought about it, "No actually, I think I ~will~ wait only until morning.  We need this over and done with." Another pause as she looked up at him out of the corner of her eyes, "You still have not convinced me that I should let you go.  And you are certainly not having any luck with the denial of your inevitable loss in the wrestling either."  Here she looked at him more squarely and grinned.

He frowned a bit before glancing at her with a smile. He could wait a few measly hours and talk his Alpha around, he was sure.

Walking over to his future mate, he arched a brow, "Hey, shouldn't you be wooing me? 'Over and done with' doesn't sound all that woo-y. I am not a task to overcome, you know. Shouldn't your mate be treated with love and kindness and all that other girly stuff? You sure don't seem to be fawning over me. I think you should start convincing me of your undying affection."

Matla snickered at Decric's words, "It seemed to me that you were pretty eager to 'get it over with' as well.  My apologies for being wrong," she then patted him at the base of his sternum, "I somehow you'd really appreciate 'fawning' either."  She shook her head, stepping back, "No, fawning does not strike me as something you would like, even if you ~think~ you would.  Not to mention, I think I should be allowed to expect a certain amount of 'wooing' in return, don't you think?  At the least so that I don't decide for certain that knowing the Shaman is all the reason I need to go myself.  Try convincing me of this, before you try convincing me I need to bat my eyes at you?"

~*^#~*^#~*^#~*^#

The next morning, even before the sun rose, Matla walked out of her tent and stretched.  She secured it before approaching Dedric's tent and smiled as she saw that it hadn't been disturbed since he went into it the night before, and thus she was awake earlier.  He had not managed to convince her that her prior experience with the Alpha and Shaman of Yaotl outweighed his role as Beta.  Not to mention, it was the job of the Dreamer to petition the Shaman anyway.  So she found Ri, in the hot tent, and cuddled the pups and small children in there before looking at Riet squarely and informing her that when Dedric awoke and attempted to leave the village, he was to be kept in place, and informed that Matla had already left.