Dawnings

By Donna and Abby

The sun was just starting to peek over the horizon as the Old One sat down on a rock overlooking the sea to watch yet another Edan sunrise. No sooner did he make a lap, than there was a mild tussle over several animals that had followed him to that spot, all of them wanting to curl up on it! 

He chuckled softly and pulled the smallest of them - a house cat - into his arms. Another cat, much larger, growled her annoyance at this. 

A chubby little raccoon made a chittering sound at the irritated one, as if chiding her for her temper. The coon jumped up on the rock and laid down beside the Old One's left hip, and after a moment, the other cat took up position on his right. As dawn began to streak the sky, even more fae spirits began to awaken, and to gather near their *Father* to await his instructions. 

Fortunately, at this stage, they still had a very strong mental bond with him.  So he did not have to say anything aloud.  The large cat growled again, but this time she sounded pleased, and with a flick of her tail she was racing off toward Esperanza. 

Two of the spirits, one in the form of a wave retreating back out to sea, and another as a golden ray of light from the sun, both turned to head out to another place along the coastline, to rendezvous with a ship that would be coming that way. The coon complained lazily about having to travel all the way to Edan, while the cat gently reminded her it was a lot further to Camelot, and she wasn't complaining! 

The Old One chuckled, showing them both bottles in which he was holding the essences of two more of their sisters.  "Be glad you have feet with which you can travel!"  Then he gently put down the cat and clucked his tongue at a small pink pig who had been nosing around for truffles. 

The coon scampered over to the pig, to see if she had unearthed anything edible, telling her that she would travel with her if she liked, since they were both going to the same area. The tawny colored cat sat at the Old One's feet for a moment, washing her face, ignoring the others. Rising up, she rubbed against her Father’s legs, and then she took off herself, heading to her new home. 

The Old One chuckled.  Looking at the coon and the pig, he said, "I wish I could go with you; my errand is beyond Edan.  But these will not do in their current states, and need to be nurtured before I hand them over.  You understand."  There were a few others that also needed to mature before they could be set free, they knew. 

The two animals both came up and nuzzled his hands to say goodbye, at least for now, and together the two of them started to wander in the direction of the town of Edan. 

*** 

It was one of those lazy afternoons when no one really wanted to do anything too terribly energetic. Nakoma and Archie Grey Owl were wandering with little Kahani in the woods, looking for animal signs, and Wolf had taken the opportunity to disappear into his lodge with Little Deer. Ula thought it would be nice to have someone to snuggle up with as well, but with her two *regulars* gone from the camp and Coltec busy working in his lodge, the only possible man left in camp that she could possibly get to cuddle with was Joseph, and he was off *fishing*. 

She liked the water, of course, so saw nothing wrong with a little "fishing" of her own! 

She found Joseph leaning against a tree, snoozing in a sunbeam that filtered through the leafless trees around him, a token fishing pole in his hand. As she quietly walked up to him, he opened one eye, and then pretended to fuss with his fishing line.  

She pretended not to see him.  The weather was getting warmer, especially this late in the day, and Ula slipped off her dress to go wading in the water.  With a happy sigh she relaxed, not really splashing too much.  Just sort of laying back, her body only half submerged. 

Joseph fidgeted for a moment, then sighed. "Woman," he called out, "you are really something else, you know that?"  

Ula picked up her head and looked toward him in some surprise.  The tips of her fingers lightly covered her nipples as she said, "Oh!  I didn't see you there!" 

"Like hell she didn't..." Joseph mumbled to himself. "Come on out of the water, you are going to scare off the fish!"  

She pouted.  "Am I so scary?" she asked, reaching for her dress but not putting it on.  Instead she sort of held it in front of her. 

"Maybe not to the others," he said as she sat down beside him. "But frankly woman, you scare me to death!"  

"I do?  Why?" she asked as she curled up next to him. He wrapped his arm around her to hold her, but it was more like a father holding a daughter than a man holding a lover. 

"You are...," he fumbled for the words. "Pretty… too pretty..” He sighed softly, then studied her for a moment. “What is the word that Maverick used about you? Sexy. Yeah that's it! Very sexy! Way too sexy for an old man like me!" He grinned at her, ignoring her comment that she didn’t think he was old. 

They sat in silence for a while. Even though it was obvious he didn’t want to do anything beyond what he was doing, Ula still found it nice to have someone to cuddle next to. Joseph had a far away look in his eyes, and Ula knew he was thinking of someone else.  Eventually he told her who it was. 

"I had a wife you know. She was not very tall, but very round. Lots of meat on her bones. I like that in a woman." He fell silent for a few moments before sighing deeply. "I still miss her, Ula," he finally admitted. "She was a good woman. And a good wife. I lost her a long time ago. You would think I would have gotten over her by now."  

"I'm sorry," said Ula.  "I can't help what I look like.  We were made to give men pleasure."  She paused and then kissed him lightly on the forehead as she stood and put on her dress.  "My father has heard you, though.  Not all men want this." She indicated her figure and then, smiling sadly, walked away.