<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua'"><span class="fixed-color" style="color:#ffffff">"It is something else," she replied matter-of-factly as she stirred the embers slowly while gazing at them in a long pause. "Your ward," she continued as she looked up to meet his eyes with a steady gaze. "what has the Two-Spirit told you about him? If he's told you anything at all." Her tone was even and her expression was stoic with a sternness that surpassed her youth. Despite being the youngest Chieftain the tribe had ever known, everything about her demeanor and decisions spoke of logic tempered by wisdom beyond her years. She had come to her position by protecting the village through selfless acts of courage and heroism and it was clear that even though she offered the Two-Spirit the respect the villagers expected, she was inclined to consider the Two-Spirit with more pragmatic reservation.  <br/>
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The wild mountain lands were quiet save for the soft whispering of the breeze through the long needled evergreen trees. The occasional call of a bird flying across the blue sky overhead punctuated the murmuring of the wind and except for the whooping cry as Orri leaped from high atop the tree toward the ledge, all was serene. Orri felt free as a bird, graceful and weightless as he soared across the span over the path. It was only a few yards, but those yards felt like miles to him as his spirit drank in the freedom of flight. Someday. Someday he would fly; but tonight, tonight he would run.<br/>
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He hit the ground with a thud and a roll; graceless and heavy. "Ouchouchouch..." he repeated over and over and he jumped to stand. "Pay attention, pay attention, you don't fly. You don't fly yet." His immediately clapped his hands on the top of his head and let out a whimper of instant concern. His hat was gone and he darted to the edge of the cliff to look downward. "Nooooooo..." He saw hung up in a tree near the ground. He pointed to it decisively with no small amount of authority. "You stay right where you are, hat. I will be back for you. That is not where you belong."<br/>
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He bounced back up to his feet and looked east along the ground, then west, then east again before making a mental decision and nodding. He went to the east ten paces and after gathering up enough wood, he started a typical campfire. There he laid his pack aside and withdrew a smaller, more ornate and decorated bag. He then went west twenty paces and build another fire. That fire was very specific in its design and he took a fair amount of time setting it before he emptied the contents of the pouch out and scattered the items out to look at them. While for most it would just appear to be an odd pile of junk and trash, Orri knew the origin and meaning of every item in the bag. Each on had a purpose and power despite how mundane, macabre, or bizarre it was. He pushed each item around one by one with a finger until their positions suited him and then nodded finitely to them. "Very good. Yes, very, very good!" He chuckled and beamed a bright smile at them as he stood.<br/>
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A few more paces to the west a steady stream of water tumbled down over from the next ridge above. It was hardly worthy of being called a waterfall except that it was water falling. It was enough for Orri's purposes though, and he stripped off what little he had on and discarded it piece by piece as he made his way to it. He was still wearing the paint and ash from the night before and he would need to apply new marking for his run that night. It was so important. So much depended on the success of this mission that he could let himself think about it too long. Instead he thought of the hunter and what he had told to the Chieftain before leaving. All of that hinged on the mission at hand too, and he was soon running a thought circle around and around in his head as he stood, face turned upward, with the water washing freely over him.   </span></span>