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The day had started as any other, in truth. Tasha had met with her sisters as the sun rose, to break the nightly fast. The night Watchers of the herd had seen nothing amiss during their patrols, and those of the herd who divined the coming days had not been given any dire warnings. She was unprepared for that first hint of darkness to begin creeping over the ground, about halfway into her patrol.

At first, she had assumed it to merely be a passing cloud- the darkness was not unfamiliar. And yet, it remained. No, worse, the shadows over the ground began to increase. Pulling herself from the latest count of eighty-three blades of grass, three less than her last patrol, she turned her gaze skyward. And stood frozen.

"What is this?" She had never heard of such a thing- a great dark something moving to block the blessed sun. And yet it was happening right before her eyes. Tasha was torn- a large part of her desired to turn, to run back to the center of the herdlands and warn her sisters. To seek counsel from the Seers, to gain some answer for this frightful sight. The other part of her, however, was angered at herself for that burst of fear. If she abandoned her duty, what might enter the herdlands unwatched? She might leave her sisters open to invasion, or attack, from some unknown threat while she panicked over the sky.

No. She would remain on her patrol- if this was some omen, then her sisters would learn of it. And, surely, someone would be sent out to aide her, and her fellow Watchers; bring them news. Hopefully.

She attempted to return to her task, pacing ahead a few more steps. However, the looming darkness was not so easily forgotten. Quite the opposite, as it continued to grow, and her gaze to the sky showed the blackness spreading, she only became more preoccupied.

Oh, how she wished that a Protector had joined her rounds, this day. A sister who was more prepared to combat- one who was strong, and fearless -would have been much appreciated. Surely, they would not be as frightened as she. Or, if they were, they would likely be better able to handle the fear.

Another glance towards the sky, and Tasha found herself unable to continue walking now. She could not keep her eyes directed at the sun, or what was left of it, as it felt as if the darkness itself was threatening to steal not only the light, but her sight as well. Blinking tears away, she turned her gaze to look around her instead. There was such a small sliver left of the light now, it was as if the deepest part of the night was breaking out across the world. Stealing away what it coveted.

It was only now that she realized how quiet it had grown. The hammering of her own heart, and her steps across the hard-packed earth had been the only sound for several minutes now, and it was only now that she realized. Even the wind seemed to have halted as the nightmare grew. Perhaps that was what this was, then? A nightmare that had convinced her so thoroughly she was awake? She should have woken by now, if that was true, though.

"How can this be? What terrible thing could steal the sun's light in such a way?" She had no answers, but felt that the questions should at least be asked. Even if the reason for asking was just so that she could hear something other than her own breath, now that she stood frozen once more.

Casting her gaze around, once again, she could see no sign of life other than herself, and the grasses that stood still as if they, too, were frozen. There was not even the buzzing of a single insect, or a distant call from a bird. It was as if the entire world was holding its breath as that darkness crept across the sun. And then, the last sliver of light was consumed. Instead of the blackness of night, however, there was a dull red glow- the sun's rays trying to reach out from around the dark disc that had blocked it out.

A nightmare was exactly how she would describe this, if the world continued to move past this point. The silence was oppressive, the fear in her blood silencing her attempt to speak another word- a prayer for protection stolen from her before she could even whisper it.

It seemed to stretch on for hours. Tasha was beginning to fear that the world truly had ended- that they had been left in this terrifying state of darkness. Without the sun, after all, how would food be grown? Would they starve, would they be left to freeze in an endless night? Would the danger of shifters grow- desperation driving the mad killers to hunt in their own form of desperation?

Her mind continued to spiral over these, and more- her own habit of counting leading her to form a list of the various ways they might see an end. It was a trail of thought she really would rather not be pulled down, but found herself unable to stop.

But then; the sun. The darkness around began to brighten, ever so slowly. Tasha looked up to the sky again in shock, unable to believe her eyes. The sun was fighting back. That great dark disk- whatever it was, was being pushed away by the sun's light. Tearing her eyes away reluctantly, to blink more tears from her sight, Tasha felt herself let out a great breath of air.

"Thank the ancestors." She remained where she was, still, until the darkness was truly pushed aside- in case it somehow regained strength and pushed itself back over the sun once more. With the return of light, sound bloomed again. A bird cry, off to the left, rustling grass as a small creature dared to venture out from hiding again, near her right.

Cautiously beginning to walk again, she turned back towards the center of their herdlands. Surely, she would be forgiven for ending her patrol early. And even then, she was not going to retire for the day. She just wanted to select a sunstone to carry with her. It felt important, and she would like to carry one with her, perhaps keeping it out in the light would somehow send the stone's innate power up towards the sun. Yes, that sounded like a very sound plan. Her herd believed that stones held power- but they were kept enclosed, stored away. They had a large cache of sunstones- were they somehow partly to blame for the sun's moments of weakness? The thought was a terrifying one, and one that made her feel terribly guilty. If her herd was somehow to be blamed, they would have to atone for it. Even if it had been unknowing.

And, if they were not, surely the sun would still be given strength from having their supply of sunstone back out in the open, reflecting its light back up towards it again? She had counted their stones, not too long ago. Of the cache, there had been no less than fifty sunstones of varying size and shine. It was quite a large amount of stone, for the herd, but compared to the sun? It was possible that they would have made no difference at all, but that slim chance that they could, well. That was all that really mattered. She did not doubt that the others of the herd were of a similar mind- they all knew the power of stones. She also doubted that there would be much arguing against carrying a sunstone from the safety of their collection. She, and her sisters- all of them, respected the stones. There was little risk, if any at all, that a stone would be lost.

Now she had a plan. The sun's light restored, the heavy blanket of fear lifted from her chest, Tasha would return to the center of their territory. She would check on each of her sisters that she passed, comfort herself and her kin after that terrifying vision, and bring her request to the Seers. If they had no argument, she would select a sunstone or two to carefully tuck into her wrappings, and resume patrol. She would feel safer with a piece of sun held close, and she would be able to keep an eye out for anything amiss after that darkness. She could only imagine the terror that had gone through every other creature around their territory. The herd came first, yes, but now that her fear had been quelled, she could put her focus onto others. So long as there was no trouble back in the herd, she could turn her attention onto helping any of the critters that shared their lands. Tasha was not the most personable sort to those outside of the herd, but she was not without compassion. So long as nothing attempted to remove the sunstone from her, she would offer whatever sort of comfort she could. Until her patrol ended. Then, she was going to find her sisters to curl up beside them and take her own comfort from their company.