They certainly were a cultural bunch, the AniWayans. He had always known this, of course — the brute called Dawali one of very few close friends — but living among them for an extended period of time only emphasized the concept further. As he had told Hemming and Ember so many moons past, the brute still hardly understood a sliver of their "guardian spirit" babble, and despite having seen what was said to be spirit animals firsthand, he still did not quite believe it. Jefferson stuck to his earthiness, his agnosticism and independence; even if a spirit happened upon him with the intent to protect and guide, they would be ignored. The cyclops knew what he was doing, of course. He'd led Phoenix Valley two years now, and they were a happy and safe bunch of idiots back home under his protection. That was enough proof he didn't need guiding from some talking rabbit or bird or whatever the hell they wanted them to be.
In his spare time he strolled the AniWayan territory, admiring the sights when his worrying thoughts allowed for it. Their landscape was striking, surely beautiful in spring and autumn; he was a lover of nature, though he would never admit to it. The tribe was no larger than Phoenix Valley, really, but unlike the Valley — which pressed up against the ocean, eliminating a border to check in his rounds — walking the tribe's full length took longer. If nothing else, he always ended where he started, but all the more exhausted by the end of it.
His walk finished at dusk, the scarred man silent like shadows, moving at an unhastened pace. Hand in his pocket, the light of the distant Great Fire attracted him — how did they keep that thing going all the time? — and, hoping for a little warmth in the cold spring night, the brute moved closer. In his approach he spied another, a white female, but his attention was pulled away from her as quickly as it came, watching in mild surprise as the fire swirled and crackled with multicolor, bird-like shapes. A convenience, surely, or perhaps a trick?
He stepped closer, tone quiet. "Did you do that?"
.jeffers-d04 .ooc {font-style:italic; }
.jeffers-d04 p {padding:2px 20px; margin:0px; text-indent:35px;}
.jeffers-d04 b {color:#77321A; letter-spacing:-.2px; }
.jeffers-d04 {background-color:#FBF4B4; background-image:url(http://sleepyglow.net/souls/gifts/2010dec/jeffers.png); background-position:bottom center; background-repeat:no-repeat; border:2px solid #000000; font-family: georgia, serif; font-size:12px; color:#6F6B49; letter-spacing:.4px; word-spacing:.3px; line-height:16px; width:450px; text-align:justify; padding:10px 0px 105px 0px; }
.jeffers-d04-border {width:454px; border:1px solid #FFFFFF; margin:0 auto;}
</style>[/html]