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Tweak says, "valary is hot"

Windchaser (_windchaser_) wrote in devils_tower,
@ 2009-02-15 23:09:00

Entry tags:

ryder, windchaser

Thursday Morning- Week Thirteen

[OOC- sorry about this she’s just reeeeeealy awake tonight- I cannot deny my babies]

Who: Windchaser and Ryder
When: Thursday Morning
Where: Wolf stables
What: Ryder and Windchaser- The Rematch.

Windchaser had livened up since the few days before, and was taking her responsibility to Cabello as seriously as she always had before entering the Wolf Tribe, before she’d known someone else would stop him from starving, as seriously as he deserved her to take it. She’d organised her personal space, so that everything she’d made in her furious keeping busy session of the previous week, but after everything was labelled and stacked, Windchaser realised that she was out of almost everything that formed the basics of her trade.

She’d been down to see Cabello every day, but now she actually needed to take him out to look for materials so she needed to worry about his loose shoe, and she had no desire to ask Ryder to be the one to fix it, but she also didn’t want Cabello to be uncomfortable just because she couldn’t face rejection. She was stronger than that, she always had been, and that feeling at her core had never changed. She was stronger than people wanted her to be, always had been, always would be.

That was why she’d bitten the bullet and written the note asking him to meet her down here, determined that she didn’t actually care for any other reason than for him to fix Cabello’s busted shoe, which was, of course, why she’d been in the stables since the early morning, brushing, mucking out, checking over, and mostly talking stuff over with her horse, as she had done since she’d traded him for her services, years ago. To her mind she’d traded her services for a real friend.

Windchaser had eventually sunk onto a hay bale against the back of the stable, hugging the horses grey muzzle to her as he nosed at her, as if he was trying to figure out what was wrong with her and make it better, as he had often done in the past. She stroked his beautiful, velvety nose, feeling better just having him near. She shut her eyes and leaned back against the wall of the stable, humming an old motown tune that had been a favourite of her parents.

She’d battled for these last few awful days to shut out every aspect of her past, as talking about it had brought it all roaring back, sights and smells forcing there way up from the past, horrific nightmares waking her and driving her to the stables to seek comfort from Cabello’s huge horsey presence. She had fallen asleep down there more than once, and snuck back to her room after being woken by the dawn, picking bits of straw out of her dark, dishevelled hair. One night she was sure she’d been woken by the cry of a coyote.

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_ryder_
2009-03-05 01:53 pm UTC (link)

Since his confronation with Windchaser and then with Danni he’d thrown himself completely into the restoration of his cabin and his new stables/corrals. He’d hit the bottle the night he’d fought with Danni and had suffered greatly for it the next morning. He was still reeling from the shock of everything that had happened to him, namely the reappearance of Windchaser and the resurection of so many ghosts. His side was finally starting to feel better which made him fairly confident that his rib had either been cracked or bruised and not broken, which was a good thing.

He’d spent the better part of the previous week building a new corral and some simple shelter for the horses. He didn’t want to risk losing them again. After building that he cleared the debris of his old cabin away, salvaged what wood and things he could and got to work building his new home. He decided to build it just like the last one, minus the stall that had been up against the back wall. The cowboy who’d found his horses for him had even showed up and leant a hand. It had been nice to work and talk with someone who shared his passion for horses, and someone who wasn’t involved in the female or tribe dramas of his life.

On Wednesday afternoon he was surprised to get a message from a young farm Wolf. It was from Ellie, Windchaser. He knew he could not avoid her forever and if he was honest with himself, he didn’t want to avoid her. In fact the closer he got to completing the reconstruction of his cabin the crazier the thoughts were that went through his head. He imagined that she could come live with him, that maybe it would be like old times… but old times were a long time ago, and they were both different then. He’d thanked the Wolf kid and sat down under the horse shelter to read the note. He read it several times, studied the familiar handwriting. There wasn’t much to it, in fact it could have come from any Wolf as a request for horse help, there was no suggestion there that she even knew him. But he tucked it in his pocket and kept it there.

On Thursday he rode to the river and cleaned himself up in a chilly water since he’d been working almost sixteen hours a day, every day for the last week or so. Then he rode to the farm and was greeted first by Jan, a younger Wolf who told him that he’d seen Windchaser go to the barn awhile ago. Ryder thanked him and got off Rose to walk her to the paddock where he left her halfheatedly tied to the top rail of the fence.

“Ellie?” He stepped into the barn, running a hand through his hair and hooking his free fingers into one of his belt loops.

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_windchaser_
2009-03-05 02:37 pm UTC (link)

Windchaser jerked awake from her doze on the hay bail, her eyes wary, before they settled on Ryder. "Hi." She smiled slightly at him. "I wasn't sure if you'd come." She said softly, her smile widening. She rose from the hay bale, walking slowly over to Cabello, closing the distance between Ryder and herself, but not completely.

"Please you didn't hear me singing?" Windchaser asked, mirth in her tone. She tried not to look at him too much, to pretend he was a stranger in a tiny space with her and her horse. But he was Alle, not a stranger. "Were you OK?" She locked her eyes with his then.

"I didn't want to upset you, and I wouldn't have sent the note..." Windchaser sighed, knowing she was gabbling. "...But, I did a lot of work. We need to go out foraging. Cabello and me, not we, we...Oh God, shutting up."

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_ryder_
2009-03-07 03:10 pm UTC (link)

He was quiet as she spoke, and grinned a little when she caught herself rambling. We. She didn’t have to apologize. He liked the sound of that word, more than he was yet willing to admit. He wet his lips and scratched at Cabello’s forehead. “Ellie,” He just couldn’t bring himself to call her Windchaser yet, “It’s ok. I’m all right. A lot has happened the last few months.” He looked over at her. “I’m sorry I left you like I did and I’m sorry I didn’t come find you sooner.” He was apologizing for the other day, but so much more than that as well.

As he looked at her he remembered the last time he’d seen her, next to the very last moment when she’d kissed him. She had kissed him right? It was so long ago, and he’d tried not to think about them for so long that he wasn’t sure what he was making up and what he wasn’t. He squatted down next to Cabello, running his hands down the horse’s leg as he did so. He inspected the hoof. “It’s not as bad as I thought, just needs straightened out and tightened.” He put the hoof down and went to retrieve a few things from Rose’s saddlebags.

He came back with a hoof pick and some other tools. He talked to Cabello the whole time in Spanish to keep him calm. He didn’t have quite the right tools, and ideally a new shoe would have been the best solution but they had to work with what they had. Cabello was a little startled when Ryder was straightening out the shoe but nothing too bad. When he was done he put his tools back and then went to the big basin sink in the tack room of the barn and washed his hands. “He should feel much better now.” He wondered what happened to Noodle… he wondered a lot of things. “Do you want to take a ride? I can show you where I live, and you can meet my horses.”

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_windchaser_
2009-03-07 03:30 pm UTC (link)

Windchaser smiled, relaxing as he smiled and said her name. “As long as he’s OK…You’re talking to my best friend there.” She referred to the horse, but something in her tone spoke of something else. “I’m glad you’re OK. I hated to think that I’d hurt you.”

She smiled again as he spoke Spanish to Cabello, watching as Alle worked on him. The Spanish cadences brought back so many memories, so many happy, fulfilling memories of the two of them. She had talked to Cabello so much about him, but never imagined she would see him again. She’d just held him in her mind, taking them to places they’d never been to in reality. Not that she would ever admit that to anyone else.

At the offer to go riding her smile widened. “I would love to see your home here, and the horses. I’m sure the old boy wouldn’t mind some horse shaped company either.”

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_ryder_
2009-03-08 11:14 am UTC (link)

“All right.” He patted Cabello on the back, “I’ll be right outside.” He smiled and walked outside to get on Rose and wait for Ellie to saddle up Cabello. He would have done it for her, like he used to but things were different now. He was pretty sure she was a much more capable horseman than ever before.

When they were ready to go he turned to the north to find the river and ride along it before he’d take them north again. “I hope you don’t have work to do today, it’s a decent ride.” He thought how coincidental it was that she had found Sundance, of all the places in North America that she could have gone. It was totally surreal to have her around. “Are you a member of the Wolves now?” He was sure that she was, with her skills and the Wolves’ open arms it wasn’t hard to imagine that it had been easy for her to get into the tribe.

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_windchaser_
2009-03-08 11:33 am UTC (link)

Windchaser watched him go, his shape picked out against the light, just like on that final day they’d spent together on the ranch. She talked softly to Cabello as she saddled him up, asking him if the shoe was OK now and if Ryder met up to expectations.

Once all was ready Windchaser led Cabello from the stable, and turned to answer Ryder. “Nothing to do, but I am out of supplies. I made up a load of stuff since the last time I saw you. Had to keep busy, so they have cold and flu remedies and potions to put on grazes to last forever, but I’m out of bases.”

In answer to the question of her tribe, her forehead wrinkled in thought. “I suppose I am a Wolf. It’s almost odd to say I’m a member of any tribe. I never have been before.” She decided to change the subject. “How hard of a ride?”

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_ryder_
2009-03-18 07:00 pm UTC (link)

Ryder nodded as she spoke of having to keep busy since she’d left. He’d kept himself busy as well; drinking, smoking, and of course managing the Twin Feathers’ horses. He’d had more than is fair share of girl troubles thrown into the mix as well. Hopefully he wouldn’t have to deal with that for a long time, he didn’t want to suffer another black eye or risk broken bones. No, he was done with girls for awhile (or at least that’s what he told himself). “You could talk to Ruby in my tribe or Shadow, she’s a city wolf. They’re both kind of doctors so I’m sure they’d be able to help you find some of what you need.”

He gave Rose more of the reign, she knew where they were going and so Ryder had little do with her other than stay on. “If you need some specific herbs I might be able to help you. You know my nana was into herbal rememdies, but she showed me things so long ago…” there were some things that Ryder remembered from her teachings, but they were mostly things that had to do with horses and he wasn’t sure of their effects on humans. “Tribes aren’t so bad.” Ryder actually thought that they were the most comfortable way to live these days, but unlike Ellie he had no other experience.

He took her cue to change the subject and answered her question about the ride. “It’s easy, we just follow the river for about another quarter of a mile and then go north for a bit and we’re there. I live in a cabin- or I did…” He paused and moved to rest a hand on the saddle horn. “It burnt down a few months back, so I’m in the process of re-building everything. I just finished the new corral and the horse shelters which is where I’ve been staying.” He laughed at the fact that he was sleeping in a stall.

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_windchaser_
2009-03-19 09:01 am UTC (link)

“Give me time, I’ll figure out where things are…It’s a drifter thing I think…” Windchaser sighed. “You get out of the habit of asking for help, because you don’t stay anywhere you never know who to trust.” She didn’t look at him as she spoke, didn’t want to talk about trust with him just then. It was something that could wait until they had re established whatever relationship they might have left. “I’m not really used to being in a tribe yet.

“Burned down?” Windchaser asked, her face crinkling in concern. “All your horses get out okay?” She could see that he had and the horses were the next thing on the list. As he told her about sleeping with the horses she blushed slightly. “Also not overly used to sleeping in a bed yet, so I have escaped and slept in the stable with Cabello on occasion. I sneak back early and hope no one realises.”

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_ryder_
2009-05-15 05:21 pm UTC (link)

Ryder's gaze drifted between the river and the path ahead of them, but never to Ellie. He remembered the first time that he met Danni. It had been somewhere along the very same path they were riding on now. He'd been fishing and he'd ended up giving her a ride back to Mountain Lion territory. It was hard to believe everything that had happened in the last six months. Most of it he had brought upon himself though, so he really had no right to complain. Except about Ace, he felt there was always a good reason to complain about or dislike him.

Ryder nodded. He had never been a drifter, unless his short and awful time with Sparrow after his ranch had burned could count as being one. "I can imagine it's pretty weird for you, but it really is the best way to live if you can find a good tribe. As long as you put in your share of the work you can usually count on a regular meal. That's something comforting to know." Of course he wasn't a Wolf, but he knew from all of his interactions with them that they were a good bunch of people. "And if you do need help, you can always ask me. You'll know where to find me after today." He finally looked over at her with a small smile.

"Yeah, it was crazy. I had a stall for Rose built up against the back of the cabin. She kicked the wall and this kerosene lamp that I had fell, and you can picture the rest. I got out all right, just busted up my hand trying to break the window." He sighed, that had all really been a drag. He decided not to tell her about stumbling through the snow and almost freezing to death. Thank God he'd made it to Griffin's. He was still upset about having lost everything he'd built for himself, but at least he was back on the road to having a home again. Besides, having a corral for the horses was a better idea anyway.

"The only horse that was there at the time was Rose, and she got out just fine but I couldn't find her for a month." That had been scary. Losing the whole herd was bad enough but losing his favorite horse had been awful. "Do you know Dusty? I think he's a Wolf now. He found most of my horses, including Rose."

Rose slowly turned from the river to go north with out so much as a word from Ryder. She always seemed to know when they were going home. Thankfully they didn't have much more of a ride.

Ryder laughed at the idea of her sneaking back into the stables. "That reminds me of when I was little, back in Mexico. I would sneak into the barn and sleep up against my mother's horse. My father would get so mad..." He laughed at the memory but his laughter faded when he realized he'd spoken of his past to her as if she had never known him at all. When in fact, she'd heard the story and many more a hundred times from his own father's mouth, and the ranch hands back in Montana.

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_windchaser_
2009-05-15 05:55 pm UTC (link)

Windchaser decided it might even have been better that he didn’t look at her. She studied him as the rode, almost as if checking he was real, knowing his thoughts were elsewhere from the look on his face. She’d always been able to read him well, but the sound of the voice that rose from him disturbed her. She wanted to ask him what had happened to so change him, to take his pride in who he was away, but she didn’t dare.

“I’ll know where to find you if you want to be found. You always were slippery Reyes.” Ellie sighed. “As for staying, I don’t know if I will, if I can, even. It’s weird having to be around people all the time. You get so out of the habit of talking to anyone but your horse and whichever bunch of people you run across this week, but I suppose I’ll readapt.”

“I haven’t met Dusty yet, but I think I spoke to Wren about him.” Windchaser chuckled softly. “Oooh but that moonshine, great for relaxing, not great for afterwards, but hell, I invent the hangover cures myself.”

Windchaser listened in silence as he spoke about the fire, resisting the urge to ask him where the injuries she could still see shadows of had come from, if not there. She chuckled as his horse began to make her own way home.

Next, came the story, and his way of telling it hurt her to the core, shocked her. “I know, your father told me.” She said softly. “I…Did you forget me Ryder?” She could just about ask the question of Ryder, this, not quite Alle, who spoke to her as if she were a stranger.

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_ryder_
2009-05-15 07:13 pm UTC (link)

He grinned slightly at the use of his last name, but he wasn't sure she was using it jokingly. Ryder knew quite a few people in the area but he wasn't sure how many of them he would call his friends. Most of them were people he did horse work for, traded things with, or partied with. He was certainly closer to his horses than he was to anyone else in town, even though he did live in a tribe. So in a way he could sympathize with Ellie.
When she spoke of the possibility of not staying in Sundance he couldn't ignore the instant fear that had gripped his stomach. There was no way that he could let her leave now that they'd found each other again. She'd been his best friend... but he couldn't speak of those things now.

His thoughts were thankfully distracted by her mention of moonshine. He smirked, "Yeah, it's strong stuff." Moonshine of course made him think of Moe. The moonshine that Ellie had at the Wolves most certainly would have come from Moe. He shook his head, and wondered why everything had to be so damned complicated all the time.

He had felt bad the instant he'd finished his story. He knew that he'd made it sound like he'd never known her. I know, your father told me. Of course he had, Ryder knew that. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to..." They had just ridden out of a stand of trees that opened suddenly into the field where his half-built cabin and the horse corral was. She then asked him if he'd forgotten her. He certainly hadn't forgotten her, things were just different. It had been a long time and in the years that they had been apart he'd tried to separate himself from so many things. He rode Rose right up to the corral fence before he answered her question.

"No, Ellie. I never...forgot you. I.. I'm sorry, it's just been a long time."

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_windchaser_
2009-05-16 01:07 pm UTC (link)

“I know that too.” Ellie said softly. “I can tell you to the day how long.” The words were still soft, but there was strength in them. “I had to survive too.” She sighed. “Me and him.” She touched Cabello’s neck softly, drawing strength from him. “But you don’t need to know, right? It’s been a long time.” The words weren’t meant to hurt him; they were just the truth of what she felt.

She looked out at the corral, her dark eyes flicking over it, its partially finished state making her smile. This almost felt more normal, a step into partial chaos, into somewhere with no one around and no one visible, she even found herself relaxing a little as the silence wrapped around her. She know she had to speak before she forgot there was anyone other than her and Cabello there, that she was on someone else’s ground. “It’s a nice place.”

“Just you and the horses up here?” Windchaser asked, already accessing the space for what might be found there, or maybe, if she dared ask him and he let her, a safe place to plant up a herb garden.

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