Silent Walkers of Old Man's Caravan

It had been 20 days of traveling with the Old Man's Scavenger Caravan, smuggled away from Ushuhmou all the way to the remote city of Piccoe.

The Caravan had stopped for the night, each wagon parked in a circle for the travelers' camp.

The owner, known only as "Old Man", had a few particular rituals that the rest of the Caravan came to simply abide by.

First, the circle of wagons had to also be surrounded by a circle of crates, each filled with trinkets and junk, locked and sealed. These crates were held in a special wagon.

None of the contents held any sentimental value or were at all special, Old Man said so.

Still, nobody was to remove even a single object from any of these sealed crates.

The second was that there was to always be light and always a few people up.

The night crew did very little. They would cook, brew alcohol for the Caravan, appraise antiques scavenged from abandoned villages (to be auctioned when reaching a city)...

...but their primary job was to talk. All night, talk. And be loud.

Everyone in the Caravan had simply gotten used to the idea, taking the nighttime as a chance to be boisterous and merry.

As the circle of wagons sat on the edge of a backwoods road, tonight was no different.

Salinae, Oushiqae, and Nexakii helped the others set up the crates.

The three woman sat about near a wagon, a few others from the Caravan with them. The radio was on and the scent of cooked and seasoned food filled the air as three others grilled in the center of the circle.

"Those Sopetdove boys had best sharpen their game tonight." The voice on the radio announced. "The score is looking grim but if they can keep Greens from hitting the pylon they may score a sneak attack."

Salinae sipped her bottle, a rabbit woman making marks in a notepad.

"What's he doing??" The rabbit huffed, a collie looking over her shoulder. "He was the star player last year! Is he slacking? I can't lose pay over THIS."

"He's *old*, thats why." Oushiqae puffed her pipe. "One year can do a lot, you always gotta put fresh blood in your lineup."

"There's the first throw..." the radio called. Everyone leaned in. "First pylon down, second down, will Greens make it? He's running! Running!"

"Get one! One! For me!"

"Oohh, no good, ladies and gents, Green's out once more!"

The group erupted in frustrated groans, then laughed.

"How're you even supposed to tell who to put on your roster?" Salinae asked, Nexakii replying with a shrug.

"I don't even know how the game works, they didn't have it in Rocea."

"It's calculated risk." Oushiqae said plainly, yaja smoke rolling off her words. Her eyes were glazed over, the pipe taking effect.

The conversation continued, the atmosphere bright. The group laughed watching the grillers burn the food, trying to control the flame.

Salinae was well past tipsy, listening to a sparrow woman caravan member, one Salinae was fast friends with. She was telling a story of an eccentric family and their hidden away bread shop until long into the dead of night.

Oushiqae was passed out, Nexakii and Salinae snickering at a sex joke about the bread shop with the rabbit and collie. They all felt full, the grillers having sat down to join them after finishing dinner.

"Ya'll night crew folk are pretty quiet tonight." Salinae noted.

"Yeah, throat's sore from the game last night." The sparrow replied. "When Juvinae lost 30 roppi on one SINGLE dice I just about lost my mind."

Salinae laughed, trying to sip her bottle but finding it empty, casting it aside.

The radio was on, quietly playing a local jewelry advertisement, the drunken Caravan crew quietly listening for a bit. It was such a peaceful night.

The quiet atmosphere continued for a half hour before it was broken by the rabbit woman. Her head perked up seemingly at nothing.

"What...?"

Salinae, half asleep from exhaustion and alcohol blinked her eyes.

"Hm...?"

"Listen..."

Nexakii yawned, Salinae making a half hearted attempt to listen.

"There, again."

"I don't hear anything...?"

Salinae stretched, looking closely at the rabbit's face. The jovial aura about her had completely faded all at once, waking Salinae up quickly.

She was serious.

Salinae stood up, cocking her head. It was silent, save for leaves above rustling in the wind.

Then there it was. It was something. Indistinct but audibly detectable.

"Is that what you heard."

"Yeah, like someone far away is...singing?"

"Are you unsure?"

"There's no melody, it's all at random. More like just...whistling noises. It only crops up every so..."

Salinae heard it again, like a whistler playing random discordant notes.

It was closer.

The women silently listened, the atmosphere strained and tense, but before they heard the whistling again they heard a shout.

"WHAT are you all doing?" The voice of Old Man thundered. Salinae never heard the kindly old man so angry.

"Old Man, listen, we heard-"

"Don't tell ME what you're hearing." He interrupted. "Talk! Now!"

"T-talk?" Salinae stammered. The rabbit woman lifted an ear, they both heard the whistling.

"Did I stutter?" The old man roared, running over to the group.

He roughly grabbed Salinae and the rabbit by the hands, leading them to the center of the circle, prompting the others to follow while Oushiqae continued to sleep.

"Hello! How are you?" Old Man said, loudly, more speaking at his companions.

Salinae stammered.

"What. Did. You. Do today?" Old Man spoke to the drunk woman.

"N-nothing, I was just-"

"I got a LOT done today!" The Old Man spoke, a manic look in his eye. There was a quiet discordant whistling near the edge of camp. "I managed to fix that old antique table."

"O-oh yeah! I remember!" Salinae blurted out, panicked but slowly understanding. "It was, uh...s-seventh turn."

"Yes! With the frilly patterns on the frame!" The sparrow woman put in, stumbling after the group.

"Didn't it come with a whole set?" The rabbit woman said aloud, looking back behind her.

"Oh yes! Chairs and all!"

"And a big lamp!"

"The biggest!"

"I don't think it works!!"

"Who cares!!! We can fix it!"

"Yes we can! Say who played ball tonight???"

"It was..."

Salinae paused, listening.

No whistling.

"...Greens. Greens played."

"Ah, Greens." Old Man sighed, letting go of Salinae and the rabbit. "Good player, but getting up there in age."

Everyone agreed, forcing a polite laugh among one another as Old Man turned to leave.