*She lay in bed, covered in her own sweat. Her breath came swift and heavy, but she couldn't keep from smiling. She was truly happy. Her grin widened as Windrunner came over to stand beside her, a tiny bundle of Liyra's softest leathers in his arms. He moved the bundle down until Ebony could see it, and with a smile turned back one of the flaps. As Ebony stared at her new daughter, a laugh borne of pure happiness bubbled up inside her. She let it out, and Windrunner looked over at her with a grin. "We'll call her Laughter," he said softly, and Ebony nodded, taking the cub in her own arms.*

*"So that's how you do it!" Itesa grinned over at Ebony, who nodded softly. "But that's too simple. It should be harder to weave stories." As Ebony lay on her back, Itesa mumbled. The storyweaver and rockshaper had little enough in common, so they were always looking for new things to attempt. Last time, it had been an attempt to learn how to love rocks. That hadn't worked so well. But this time, Ebony was teaching Itesa how to weave stories, which was, in her opinion, infinitely easier. And she grinned over at the rockshaper, who grinned right back. "Now it's my turn!" Itesa said, and began her own story.*

*"Ebony, Ebony!" Ebony's head turned as she regarded Winterleaf running toward her. Curious about all the yelling, Ebony still waited patiently for Winterleaf to reach her side. "LOOK!" Winterleaf said triumphantly, holding out her spear. On the tip of it was a fish, very obviously fresh. It wriggled once, then lay still, and Winterleaf danced around happily. "I did it! I did it all by myself!" And Ebony smiled, reaching out to ruffle Winterleaf's hair.*

*Ebony glanced at her companion, grinning softly. Her hand reached out to catch his, and he squeezed her hand gently. With a silent motion, he gestured toward the woods, and she nodded, leading him deeper in still. For someone as tall as he, she found he was surprisingly graceful. She envied that grace, and fell back a bit to watch how fluid he was as he wove his way through the trees and brush. Suddenly, he turned, staring at her for a long moment, then held out a hand. ::Coming, Aiyla?:: he asked in her mind, and she blushed softly. ::The sooner we get this over with, the sooner we can get back to our den.::*

*Ebony's eyes flashed fire, and she stared at the elf Challenging her. They were evenly matched, this ShadowWalker and she. But she had the strength of her tribe behind her, and though the other elves were not overtly helping her, their mere presence brought her the strength she needed. He could feel that. She knew that as surely as she knew her own Name. And she saw him run at her. In a moment, her arms were up. She allowed him to continue running, and just as he reached out to grab her, she took his hand in a strong grip, and used his own momentum to throw him over her onto the ground. In a flash, she was crouched on top of him, her hands gripping the front of his tunic. ::Give over,:: she demanded, and the elf looked away.*

*"See there?" Starsong's soft voice made Ebony smile, and the dark huntress turned her attention to the sky that Starsong pointed at. "That star starts the picture. Now follow it here, then to here, and . . . " As Starsong continued to trace the picture, Ebony stopped paying attention to the stars. She never saw pictures up there. Instead, she looked back over at her soul-sister, and grinned softly. It was a good evening, with such friends beside her.*

*Ebony and Starsong were walking along, chatting comfortably. Their gaze not on the road in front of them, they didn't see the small, white-haired elf barrelling towards them. When the youth hit Ebony, the dark huntress grabbed the girl by the scruff of the neck, hauling her just far enough away to get a good look. And something clicked within Ebony. The girl panted slightly, then gestured frantically to the pathway behind her. "B-boar!" she got out, and the dark huntress grinned. She handed the light-haired cub over to her soul-sister, then moved back down the path. Boar would be good for dinner.*

*Itesa dove into the river with the abandon that Winterleaf usually used, surprising Ebony. The dark huntress looked up, and Itesa grinned. Ebony scowled for a long time, then shook her head, swimming smoothly over to the desert-born rockshaper. Together, the two splashed and played, enjoying each other's company. And when it was over, they found large rocks near each other and talked as they sunned themselves. By the time they were done, the sun was low in the sky, and they rose to go back, still enjoying the last vestiges of the day they had spent in each other's company.*

*"She's getting bigger," Ebony said, watching her daughter play. "And Skeya's wonderful with her." At her words, Windrunner raised his head, smiling. He glanced over at Laughter, and a light came into his eyes that Ebony loved to see. "It seems like it wasn't that long ago that she was born." Windrunner set aside his carving, going over to the cub and sitter. And as Ebony watched, the two elves greet him, welcoming him into their game. This was her family, and she was proud of it.*

*Her head came up, and her eyes met 'Walker's. She grinned and blushed, looking away, and heard his laughter. He clapped a hand on her shoulder, then returned to working on the arrows for his bow. Ebony settled down beside the chief hunter, pulling out her knife and beginning to sharpen it. The easy companionship between them had not come without a cost, but it was more than worth it. Ebony found herself unable to imagine a tribe without ShadowWalker in it. In the past few seasons, he had become as important to her as anyone else in the tribe. And as the two of them worked side by side, they would glance up and smile, content in each other's company.*

*Ebony gazed around, taking in each of the other tribemembers as the first strains of Starsong's newest tune rang out. She noted all of the content expressions, and she smiled. It would seem that everyone agreed with Ebony. Starsong's music was as important to the well-being of the tribe as the hunters and fighters were. Her songs did what no one else in the tribe could. They reminded everyone of the companionship of being part of the Shadow Tribe. Everyone was caught up in the song, to the point that Ebony could have danced right in front of them and they wouldn't notice. That thought made Ebony smile. And as she looked around once more, Starsong caught Ebony's gaze and winked. This was happiness.*

*"Itesa?" Ebony's voice caught in her throat, and she thought of the items in her pocket. She fingered them carefully, then smiled. As the rockshaper looked up from her view of the waterfall, Ebony grinned. "I'd . . . I'd like to give you this." She held out a small rose-shaped stone. It was called a "Sunholt Rose," Ebony knew, thanks to Winterleaf. It was tiny, not large enough to do anything with, but it was lovely, and something told Ebony that Itesa would like it. In her pocket was one more gift, a necklace of leather with bright yellow sunflowers embossed on it, waited patiently for its own turn. But for now, Ebony wanted Itesa to see the "rose" first.*

*Ebony grinned at the look of shock on Mirage's face. He held up boots soaked through, and glared. ::That cub you teach is going to get a lesson in respecting her elders, Storyweaver!:: Mirage's anger was apparent, yet Ebony couldn't help but smile. She knew that Winterleaf was the instigator of many small pranks, and she couldn't blame the cub for letting off steam. If only she had been able to when she was a cub. As if in response to Ebony's thoughts, an eye located just below a thatch of soft, white hair grinned. And Ebony grinned back, going to placate Mirage.*

*Ebony's sides ached, her back hurt, and her feet were killing her. That was always the case these days. Her body was betraying her, and she couldn't always keep up the way she used to be able to. She wasn't young anymore, and she wasn't as strong. She sat on a fallen tree, staring out at the forest. She could hear someone come up behind her, but something told her it wasn't a human. For one thing, the footsteps were too soft. So she waited, not turning. She could only trust that whoever it was would leave her alone. But instead, two soft hands smoothed her shoulders, and then began to massage her neck. Ebony's eyes slid closed, then opened as she turned to see who was doing this for her. And she was greeted by the sight of a beautiful auburn-haired woman with violet eyes. The woman gestured impatiently, and Ebony turned back around, allowing the girl to continue her work.*

*ShadowWalker perched on the branch across from Ebony's. As she thought about lunch, her stomach rumbled softly, and 'Walker, with his keen ears, looked up in amusement. Red colored Ebony's face, but she just grinned back. ::We'll catch something good, Chieftess.:: The title still made Ebony uncomfortable, but she grinned back gamely. She knew that they would catch what they needed. They always did. She and 'Walker were the best hunting team in the holt.*

*Ebony's hands slipped around Laughter's shoulders, and she sighted with the bow. She watched from a bird's eye view as the young cub drew back the string and let the arrow fly. It landed two trees over from the one Laughter was supposed to hit, but Laughter only looked up at her mother and smiled. "I'm getting better, aren't I?" As she saw Ebony nod, Laughter motioned over at ShadowWalker. "It's 'cause of 'Walker, Mother. He's a good teacher." And Ebony only smiled at her daughter. She knew how good ShadowWalker was, just as she knew that Laughter was a good student. Her daughter. Ebony's throat closed off for a moment as she wondered how she and Windrunner could have produced such perfection.*

*"How DARE you?!" Ebony's voice was not soft, and her anger was not subtle. "Just because you show up out of the middle of nowhere doesn't mean that you can take over!" As she glared at Windrunner, he just stared back in dispassionate observation. "You know NOTHING about my life. You know NOTHING about what I want, or how I'm going to take care of things. And you don't care to find out, do you? You're not planning on staying here any more than you're planning on leaving our cub behind when you go, are you?" In answer, Windrunner took Ebony's chin in his hands, lifting her head until she stared straight into his eyes. And as she did so, he looked back at her. But rather than speaking, his answer was merely a kiss that left her shaken down to her boots.*