In two months, those four moons were going to line up behind one another, and on that night, Tarrin would know that his task was over, and it was safe for him to finally go home. He couldn't wait.
"Do the Selani have any special names or customs when the moons eclipse one another?" Tarrin asked Allia curiously.
She smiled. "Not really," she replied. "But when all four moons are full, the Selani stay up all night and feast, and sing songs to the Holy Mother. We call it the Night of Passage. Our legends say that it was Fara'Nae's voice that led us to the desert, but she guided us home by causing the four moons to be full and form a line in the sky, lighting the way home, as the wind blew at our backs to push us in the right direction."
"Maybe it was a conjunction," Sarraya mused.
"The moons line up all the time," Tarrin shrugged. "At least in a straight line. I think if it was a conjunction, the legends would be pretty specific about how it looked. I think seeing all four moons lined up behind each other would be rather memorable."
"That must be why a Selani always walks with his back to the wind," Sarraya said.
"That, and it keeps the face from getting scoured by flying sand," Allia smiled. "We always turn our backs to the wind when we first feel it to honor the Holy Mother, a custom done in memory of how the Holy Mother guided us to her. After that, we can turn and face it as we please, but that's usually not very pleasant. Even with a veil and visor, the sand finds ways to scour off the skin, and it gathers under the veil and hood."
"Did I ever mention how glad I am that I don't live here?" Sarraya asked.
"Frequently," Tarrin drawled.
"Remind me to do it a few thousand more times," she grinned. "Fervently."
"You're about to annoy me, Sarraya," Allia told her. "I don't complain about your home."
"That's because my home is perfect," she said airily. "You can't complain about it, because everything is perfect."
"Everything here is perfect to me," she retorted.
"Well, I can't help it if you're all mixed up," Sarraya said flippantly.
"I can't help it if a small body houses a small brain," Allia said in an off-handed manner, only glancing at the Faerie. "It must be hard to go through life with such a limited ability to appreciate things."
"I am not dumb!" she snapped hotly. "And stop making fun of my height!"
"It's a pity, brother," Allia said to him casually. "She doesn't even have the awareness to know she sits in paradise. I guess it's true what they say about the size of a person's head. The larger the head, the smarter the mind."
" Well!" Sarraya huffed, flitting up into the air. "I'm going to bed. Good night!" she added in a vociferious manner, then buzzed angrily into one of the three tents arrayed around the large fire.
They watched her fly off, and Sarraya got an earful of their laughter to follow her into her tent.
"That was well played, sister," Tarrin said with an appreicative smile. "Var and Denai used to drive her crazy like that too."
"I really want to meet your Var and Denai," she told him, looking out into the plain after a very faint noise ghosted to them, too faint to be made out.
"They were quite a pair," Tarrin chuckled warmly. "Var was serious and sober, but Denai was very young and very impulsive, and not a little reckless. They turned everything into a competition, and when they weren't competing, they were usually fighting. I miss them sometimes. They never made a campsite dull, that's for sure."
"They're lovers now, aren't they?"
"They're married, actually," he corrected. "And Denai's pregnant with their first child. I'm not sure which tribe they're with now. Denai is training to be obe, and that probably means Var ended up in her tribe."
" Obe don't change tribes without exchanging with another obe from that tribe," Allia affirmed with a nod.
"Well, she's only an apprentice, so she might have gone to Var's tribe. You know, just apprenticed under the obe in Var's tribe. Either way, the territory of their clan is way southwest of here, so I doubt we'll run into them," he sighed.
"Which clan are they?"
"Clan Dellinar," he answered.
"An honorable clan," Allia nodded. "Our clan has never had blood issue with them. They're a very respected clan."
Tarrin chuckled. "Denai couldn't identify my clan brand when we first met," he told her. "There are only thirteen clans. How could she not know?"
"You said she was young, brother. She must have just forgotten. That does happen, you know," she smiled lightly. "Sometimes that memory of yours makes me sick, deshida. You never seem to forget anything!" She laughed. "I struggle and work and tear out my hair to remember something you pick up in a matter of seconds, and never forget! It's one of the rare times I ever feel anything negative towards you!"
"Well, I'm sorry," he told her. "I can't help it. I've always had a good memory, and I just seem to have a knack for learning spells and languages. Believe me, sister, I have a hard enough time remembering just about anything else."
"Don't bury yourself in the sand, brother," she said with a quirky half-smile, using a Selani term that meant don't sell yourself short. "That mind of yours seems to soak up everything. You can always remember the little details that the rest of us forget. That must be why you're so good at learning spells and languages. You have amazing attention to detail, and both things are nothing but a stack of details piled one on top of the other."
"I'll take your word for it, sister," he shrugged, his ears picking up when that faint sound reached them again. He stared off into the eerily lit plain, his tail slashing a few times in irritation. "What is that sound?" he asked shortly.
"I think it's a Sandman," she answered. "It'll need to get closer for me to be sure."
"I don't want it to get any closer," he grunted. "That moaning always makes my teeth grind."
"I don't want it approaching either, but if we can hear it, at least we can keep track of it. It won't sneak up on us."