take me to happier places

first to wake (chapter 1)

dark voids filled his iris' as he was marked into a trance the further he looked amongst the flames. about seven people sat around that fire, and those logs that were accompanied by the statures of each person who carried their own animal.
there were two at a log.
besides Ryon.
with being nineteen now, he was motherless as well as fatherless. there were legends how just after the father took his own life, that the mother was soon right after him. the love she felt for his own soul, could never sustain such a cruel world, so she brought herself along with him. that her body lay at the deepest of forests, and at the coldest of peaks.
at mount Dalton.
it was the highest of the mountains that surrounded the forest at which the few people sat in.
there weren't very many faces that wanted to join such a 'family', or whatever they called it nowadays.
but they all worked together. they all helped eachother, and they all protected eachother. especially the men with their women and the children. but most of the children here were all grown up, mostly being around the age of twelve. there hadn't been a birth of their people in years, due to multiple reasons. one of them being because of the shortage of men. Ryon's father was the 'alpha' of the pack, carrying many duties.

you had to be strong, and willing, and determined. all of which Ryon could never attempt. little did he know, was that his father wasn't very strong himself.

there were two young girls that sat at one of the thick logs, peering into the broken embers that flaired up into the night sky. they talked all of the time, and Ryon always tended to listen to their words. one wore the ears of a horse, and while the other wore the ears of a cat. she even had the stripes upon her triceps. until the boy realized they were self inflicted cuts that only grew back to represent the wounds of a warrior. wounds that could only be placed upon the strongest of kids. thats when Ryon decided that miss Kitta should become the head of the group. he waited for her gaze. for her eyes to strike upon his, and once they did, he flashed a hearty smile. one that reassured her that she were a fighter, and a fighter that should never give up.
he knew his thoughts were silly and that his mother always told him to never say never, for it would only ruin their fates. but he was confident in other people, and he wanted them to succeed. if only that successfulness laid at his core, then maybe he wouldn't hate his entire being so very much.

her embers turned back to the crackling flames, until she turned to her friend and admitted;

" miss Mary its time for me to rest "

she spoke to her mare friend with the horse ears that seemed as her most faithful companion.

on the log that was across from the boy were an older man with the bonnet of an eagle. he was elder, with a long beard and bushy eyebrows. he's heard of rumors that he used to have glasses but lost them in an enchanted lake that was filled with powers that gave him the sight of a god.
the man is wise.
people around say he could tell the future, while others remain
un-opinionated; doubting such powers.
Ryon, who had beliefs in such things of course, was with him.
next to that man sat his grandson. he was about the same year as Ryon, but perhaps a few years ahead. nobody knew much about him.
so they learned to call him Bobcat, due to the bobcat-like cap he had aquired. and for the solitude he held, as well as his mysterious ways. long tales were told that he ran along the trees and captured birds in the middle of flight. that he also captured feathers and made collections at his old town. the rest is unknown, unable the fact that the boy had always wanted to fly.

to the right of Ryon were a mother and her twelve year old little girl. the mother were a cow. a thick collar at her neck and a large bell at the end of it. the group could always tell when she and her small child were coming, which only grew to become a comedy for them all. which was great because they hardly ever laughed anymore.

the little one were a coyote. she were positive of her wrongs, and always found humor to them. she were one of the happier ones in the family.

and then there's Ryon. he wore antlers at which were cracked and torn, but still held calmly in place. his father hunted them for his son. it were a tradition.
the head of the family hunts for the new baby, and whatever prey they capture, they aquire. and that will be the child's mentor.

once everyone is asleep, the campfire is thrown out with the clearest of water. giving good fortune to the dreams of which would be at work through each of their minds.

and whoever were first to wake. were the first to capture the families kill.

which always so happened to be Ryon.