A Splintered Courtship
An Ebony's Weavings: Splinters Story
by: manga and Yuuki Miyaka
Chapter One

"Away, jackals! Or I'll slash your ugly eyes out!" Rayek shouted, whipping his spear in a threatening circle. His heart pounded and his stomach was tight with the terror he wouldn't let himself feel. Stupid, mangy beasts! It was -his- boar! Growling, the dark, furry shapes with glowing eyes advanced a step, and Rayek found himself backed into the wall of a small cliff. His eyes flicked, once, toward the village. Why wasn't there someone to help him? He was only a child! Why did they always leave him alone? Stupid, scared, weakling Villagers!

Ebony stared ahead of her, feeling exhausted. Her skin *hurt*, with a pain as though it were on fire, and it was all she could do to keep going. Suddenly, for the first time in . . . days, she heard a voice. An angry voice, at that. She ran towards it, trying to ignore how her vision swam slightly. And suddenly she stopped. There were wolves here . . . .

And they were attacking someone!

"Stay back!" Rayek warned them with only a slight tremor in his voice. "Or you'll regret it!" I hope -I- don't regret it..., he thought. He didn't even know if he -could- stun something so big, and there were so many of them!

All but grinning maliciously, the lead jackal stepped forward once more. It was almost as if he were deliberatly challenging Rayek. Briefly, the dark child wished that his father were with him. But what could his father do? Ingen would be worse than useless. He could only depend on himself. "I-I warned you..." he said with a bravado he didn't quite feel. Fists clenched tightly with effort, Rayek sought to catch the beady eyes of the jackal leader.

Ebony fought to clear her vision. As she looked at the wolves, she noticed that they were misshapen. Or perhaps not wolves at all. With that in mind, she looked past them, trying to figure out who they were attacking. If it was a human, she'd just let it be.

But the eyes were large, the ear tips pointed. And she gasped. Not only was it an elf, it was a cub.

Sensing that something was not... right, the jackal raised his hackles and tried to back away, but it was too late. The beast froze, caught in Rayek's spell. Desperation lent Rayek the strength he had not thought he had, and the jackal was frozen fast. But there were still the others...

"GET AWAY FROM HIM!" She couldn't let the cub be hurt. She just couldn't. She grabbed her sword out of its sheathe, wishing there weren't quite so many of them. And that she had a bow. And that she was further away. And that she might live. Terrified out of their furry little minds by what had happened to their leader, the jackals were just standing around, whimpering. She leapt on the back of one, her slight weight surprising it. And she used that surprise to slit its throat.

As the blood poured out of the wound over her hand, she raised her eyes to another. "I'LL KILL ALL OF YOU!" The appearance of -another- two-legger, and this one even bigger than the one that had done... -something- to their leader was too much for them. The remaining jackals fled.

Watching them go, Ebony felt ready to faint. But she held herself by a thin thread of perseverance, and looked over to the cub. "You okay?" she croaked.

"Who are -you-?" Rayek asked with wide eyes. "Are you an elf?"

He couldn't be much younger than she, but he didn't know that, either. Maybe she should let him think that she was older. "What's it look like, cub?"

"But your skin!" his head was tilted quizzically. She certainly -looked- like an elf, but she was so pale! Where she wasn't red, anyway. He frowned.

"Actually, cub, I was thinking much the same thing about yours.

"Mine??!" he protested. "There's nothing wrong with -my- skin!"

"Just as there's little wrong with mine. Other than this red." Rayek obviously thought that was debatable, but she did appear to be an elf in all other respects. "This your kill?"

He nodded. "Where did you come from? I've never seen an elf like you!"

"The forest, cub." Ebony's eyes were caught by the kill. It had been some time since she had seen food, and her stomach growled fiercely. She held herself still. It was his kill, not hers. She was a stranger to him, not a tribemate, and he had no reason to offer the food.

"Forest? The Green Growing place? But no one can cross the desert and live!"

"That remains to be seen, cub."

Noticing how her eyes kept drifting to the boar, Rayek kicked himself mentally for not thinking that she might be hungry. Everyone was hungry, thanks to the drought, that was why he was out hunting in the first place! "Are you hungry?" he asked her.

She glanced back up at him at his words. "Yes, cub. I am." But she made no move for the meat. And he could see a steel determination in her eyes.

"Do you want some? It's late, but I've been cooking the meat myself for awhile anyway," he offered.

"Cooking?" He saw hope enter her eyes at his words, before a veil of confusion dropped down.

"Yes," he said. "You know, holding the meat over a fire?" He looked at her oddly. How could she not know that?

"Oh." She looked at him in confusion. "Why do that?"

"Because if you don't it's raw," he said impatiently. Was she an idiot?

Looking down at the boar, she cut off a neat, smallish piece. There had to be a reason for one so young to hunt such beasts. And she ate carefully and slowly, remembering what their healer Fursoft had told her about not eating for days. "What's wrong with that?"

He was watching her with reluctant fascination. "Animals eat raw meat," he said, the answer his father had given him being the only answer he had to give her.

"Then I must be an animal, cub. That's how I eat mine. That or dried." The meat helped somewhat, but it was hard to get down. Her throat felt as though someone had lined it with the dust and sand of the desert, then filled it with fur. It was gritty and dry.

"I like dried," he offered. She -had- saved him, it was ungrateful of him to criticize her.

She just threw a lopsided grin at him and went back to concentrating on swallowing. She hated eating such small pieces. "Who are you, anyways, cub?" she finally asked.

"I'm Rayek," he said proudly. "I hunt for the Sun Village!" Then he frowned slightly. Wait a moment, this was -his- home, -he- should be asking the questions! "Who are you?"

"Sun Village, huh? I'm Ebony."

Ebony sighed. Her eyes wandered to the Sun Village Hunter, and she smiled softly. She and the boy had become friends ever since that day the Jackals had attacked him. And now, here they were, out on a hunt together. Sometimes she regretted her old life. But at least it had enabled her to find a place here.

She nudged Rayek gently, pointing to the tracks they had been following. They split up ahead, and she wondered what he had a taste for.

Rayek stalked along impatiently, paying fierce attention to the tracks. He glared at Ebony a bit when she nudged him; did she think he was a child or a fool? He motioned that he would follow the boar tracks. Boar were good, one boar could feed many elves. Besides, he liked boar. They were challenging and their meat tasted best.

She grinned at him, nodding. She would go gather up some of the smaller lizards then, to garnish the boar. They were not as difficult, but with their speed, catching them was still tricky. She touched his arm softly, the gesture a silent goodbye, and went her own way.

Rayek nodded understanding to Ebony and with a quick check of his grip on his spear, resumed following the boar tracks. Tracking was as easy as breathing to him by now, he didn't need all of his concentration to follow this fat old boar. He liked to occupy himself with puzzles while he tracked, and right now he was puzzling over Ebony.

She was such a strange maiden, stranger even than her pale skin and odd speech. She HUNTED. She was good at it too. None of the other Villagers could stomach hunting, let alone the maidens. Yet -she- joined him regularly, helped with out complaining and never asked him stupid questions.

A smile spread over his face. He liked her.

Ebony grinned softly, hefting the bag again to get a better grip. The lizards were heavy. But she wasn't going back to the village until she caught up with Rayek. That way, she was there in case they were attacked again. Rayek was the best friend she had in the Village. She hadn't had much time to enjoy his company though. Fitting in was hard here, harder than it had been with the WoodDwellers. She didn't understand anything about their customs other than the fact that they were utterly different from the ones she had grown up with. She sighed as she thought about it. Setting the bag down on the ground, she slid down to sit beside it.

"Ebony!" Hearing Rayek call her, she turned to see the child walking toward her, gamely struggling with the heavy boar he was carrying on his shoulders.

Rolling her head around her shoulders, she stood, going to him. "Can I help?" She felt . . . comfortable around him.

"I have it," he said, shrugging the boar into a new position.

"Suit yourself." She hefted the bag of lizards again, grinning softly. "Did you have any problems with the jackals?"

"Those cowards won't attack during the day." Despite the bravado in his voice, he glanced at the deepening twilight uneasily.

"Well, if that's the case, then let's get back to the village," Ebony said, looking around. "I don't like the idea of meeting them again." Unknowingly, she was giving him an opportunity.

"Just let them try again! I'll teach them a lesson they won't forget. I'll protect you Ebony!" he declared. "Come, I will see you home."

She smiled at his words. "Now that I agree with!" She hefted the bag once more, happy. Before they started off, she leaned over, rubbing her cheek against his.

"Thank you, Rayek."

"I'll do anything for you, Ebony! I owe you my life. And I like you best!" he beamed up at her.

"And I like you best, kit. So don't forget it."