1. Tuläp

When the first rays of dawn slipped through the narrow slits in her walls, Tuläp's eyes opened wide with a stiffled cry.

It was alright.

She would be alright, even though the troubles of her dreams had followed her some distance into reality. The beating of black wings rang in echoes from the tiniest nooks and cranies of her home, but they might as well be the sound of her own heartbeat. It was fine – that notion truly settled in after a few seconds and she laid staring at the ceiling.

There was a large circular hole there, to evacuate the smoke from the fire that would usually be burning at the centre of her hut. The ashes were cold and the air too, and thanks to that she had woken up even earlier. Far from making her retreat into her sheets, the pale pinkish glow she saw instinctively made her jump out of bed. A reassuring light yet also one that made her hair stand on their ends: she knew what day it was, no way she could close her eyes now.

Her windows were vertical lines dug into walls made of mud stacked around thick roots. She had made them this way to keep the luminosity low and the temperature cool during midday. Storing food and sleeping were all she used this place for anyway.

"Fast and diligent, Tano's not going to wait for me..."

As a matter of fact, there was ample time.

Most of the preparations had been made ahead of this day, she had even checked three times over before falling asleep yesterday. Yet the only way to quell the ball forming in her guts was to be active. Hence, she was moving around the dimly lit hut with empty thoughts making circles in her head, until she got herself focused. It was the same as any morning, after all.

She laced her sandals made from reed and hardened moss, grabbed the charcoal-black staff leaning against the wall and she passed her cape around her shoulder. There were many pockets and satchels sewn into it, granting the cape a certain weight. She found it pleasant and familiar: it grounded not only her feet but her heart as well.

All the while she gathered her equipments in the obscurity, her eyes were only half-open. She moved her hands mechanically. There wasn't much here and most of it were essentials she carried with her from day to day, their spots inside her house were immutable. Admitably, she did have a few possessions that didn't fit her position. She kept them all tucked away in the place lest she would get distracted.

"Fast and diligent..."

It was practically a dance, how she whirled from one object to the next. And on the last step, she stood in front of her door. Her arms was already parting the curtain of roots, early morning flowed between her fingers and flooded her home.

The huts of the village were dotting the hills, a myriad of green bumps over a vast expanse of the same green. The round hut behind her was the same colour thanks to the thick layer of Dor grass laying on it. If looked at from the sky, it would blend in perfectly with the hill underneath.

Tuläp frowned, only a few seconds so she could get used to the bright reflection of the sun over the grass. Her hut stood a bit apart from the rest, but downhill where the habitations were closer to each other there were busy silhouettes going around. Not nearly as many as one could expect on such a day though.

"No, Tano is not gonna have to wait." She muttered while pulling up the cowl of her cloak over her head. "It'd be an auspicious day if he's even awake."

What had she been so concerned about? The habit of getting up when the moon went to bed was ingrained so deeply in her, she wouldn't have missed the mark either way. Actually, she was surprised to have gotten any sleep at all. Throughout the past weeks, she had found herself staring at the stars from eve to dawn more than once. Maybe that was why she had been spared an endless wait for the sun this time.

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Honestly, she would have prefered that to the dreams she had been visited by.

"Psh!"

A blurry image from her slumber flashed, and that was enough to make her shudder.

"Why today of all days..."

Everyone could have nightmares but not everyone had a duty looming over their head. They wouldn't see her shaking in front of her house, not today. Tuläp straightened up and let the orange light over the horizon burn the figments of her dreams. She tucked out her chest and walked proudly down the hill for anyone who might be watching.

But halfway, she stopped and looked back.

Her hut was sticking out slightly. She didn't feel bad for leaving it behind, not any more than all the other huts she had made over the past ten years. For that matter, she had only lived in that one for seven months. She had made it small knowing this day would come. Still, now that she was looking at it, she couldn't bring herself to turn away from that bump. Maybe she would pass by later, before the fateful hour.

"..."

Maybe not.

What would happen to everything she left behind? It would be a waste to let them be forgotten. She wasn't too worried on that side: she knew the children of the village, they would come snooping around when their parents weren't looking, and like curious moles they wouldn't fail to find the dolls and the bone figurines. The thought made the corner of her mouth curl up. She wasn't too worried... if no one found them, then the Dor grass would consume all of it.

And maybe it was just as well.

Tuläp turned away and resumed her solemn walk toward the heart of the village. Only a few steps later, she heard a heavy stomping following her from higher on the slope.

"Guard up! Watch out!"

She tensed up but didn't bother moving. The massive figure rushing at her braked and came to a complete still before there could be an accident. Even then, she could feel all of its weight and the force it held back in order to stop.

"Aww, you didn't fall for it."

"You're the only one who would be out riding here, Mazcar. And it's always to fool around."

Tuläp sighed and tapped her staff against the saddle from which a man looked down at her. Not that she could see his eyes: his face was behind a domed mask where two holes had been bored. It was merged with the helmet that completely concealed his head and curved upward at the back. All of his attire was in the green of the hills, unlike the light brown of her cloak.

Tuläp knew this getup of his better than his true face, but she was more interested in Mazcar's steed: it was bigger than her, standing quietly on its four legs, waiting for orders. She glanced at the joints of its legs, at the rust covering them in places and she made a moue.

"You're wasting fuel."

"It's better than wasting time! Duty demands that I be fast and alert, or are you going to make me scour the plains on foot?"

"You're not even a Watcher anymore, go lie in your bed."

"And you're barely a Protector! Not even a woman yet, but she would tell me what I can and can't do? Heh!"

"I'm more of a Protector than anyone else, aren't I?" She frowned.

"Indeed..."

His buzzing voice died down, with an emotion his mask kept from her. Since his machine was inert as a stone, he passed his stump leg over the saddle to be in a more comfortable position. The way he sat on top of his strider, he still looked like he was making fun of her. If she pulled him to the ground, he would actually be shorter than her and he knew it.

"I'm glad to hear it, for sure." He shrugged off her scowl. "You know, the elders have been talking, and I've been hearing, and so here I came hoping to spot a little hooded silhouette."

His wooden face remained unchanged, yet staring into the two hole Tuläp thought she could see his eyes for a moment; or maybe the holes themselves had become eyes, unblinking, unfathomable. Their density delivered the message: Mazcar wasn't the only one watching through them. Tuläp clicked her tongue.

"And I'm here. I'm walking toward the village, see?"

"That's why I'm glad – the Fal clan cannot be missing from the festivities, after all!"

And with that, the engine kicked back into life and Mazcar rode down the hill, waving at her. She couldn't tell whether his shoulders were shaking from the movement of his machine or if he was still laughing at her. But he was right. Today was special for every single person in the village. By shouldering their expectations she was holding up not only her duty but her clan's name.

That was to say, clan Fal was her.

Only her.