Devil's Tower

Who: Ryder
Where: His cabin
When: Early morning
Why: Off to find himself

Of course the day that he decided to leave it was raining and awfully windy. He'd been up most of the night, making sure that everything was ready to hand over to Bear. By the time the sun came up on Saturday he'd only slept a handful of hours. He'd gone back and forth in his mind about whether or not he should actually leave this morning like he'd planned. Eventually he bundled up as best as he could and decided that he had to leave today no matter what. He knew that if he put it off even one day that it was more than likely that he would stay.

While staying was the safer bet in many ways he knew that he would never be happy if he didn't return to the ranch. He had to see where he'd buried his father, and where Ellie had buried his mother. He packed his horse under the corral's shelter and was ready to leave only an hour after the sun had risen. He didn't look back towards his cabin, Sundance, or Ellie as he rode north of Montana. He did however, check that the knife Ellie gave him was at his side.

Who: Ryder and Bear
Where: Bear's place
When: Friday mid-morning
Why: Ryder is leaving town and needs to ask a favor

Of all the Twin Feathers that Ryder was close to, Bear was in the top three. He knew that he should probably be going to Hawk about leaving town, but he'd been distant from Hawk for awhile now and he figured the guy had enough to worry about with Nova and everything else. He thought about asking Dusty as well, but he didn't want to bother the guy. After all, he'd already found and returned the herd, and he was in another tribe now, it just didn't seem right to ask.

The main Feather camp was only a short distance so he didn't have to brave the wind and rain for very long. When he reached the camp it was pretty deserted, most people having stayed inside where it was warm and dry. He tethered Rose to the hitching post, which conveniently had a roof built over it so she wouldn't get too wet. He understood the benefits of the other Feathers living in the trees, but he'd never gotten used to the idea himself. He needed to feel grounded, literally.

He carefully climbed the wet ladder to Bear's rooms and steadied himself at the top. He knocked gently on the door, "Bear, it's Ryder, you home ese?"