Grey Fox was right behind him, an arms length away!
“How did you get up here so fast?”
“I know the Way. You don't.” Before Standing Deer could say anything, Grey Fox continued; “I want you to sit here and be perfectly still. I will come back later for you.”
Grey Fox then went back down from where he came, leaving Standing Deer alone. Standing Deer sat upon the cool, hard boulder and watched for his teacher. He saw him go over a rise and disappear into a patch of golden sunlight, into the lowering Sun.
Standing Deer thought; “He's walking West...” He drew his bare arms around his knees and looked up into the pale blue sky above him; the shadows of the canyon had grown and it appeared to have brought a chilly grayness to the sky. He shivered.
Standing Deer closed his eyes for a moment...then he felt something shift around him! His eyes bolted open; “Who's there?”
Again, he felt it—a vibration from the boulder!
“Who's there!”
“Who comes here, demanding to know things that they are not yet ready to know?” The voice was Ancient and filled with the tone of gravel and grit and wisdom.
“Who are you?”
Another voice came, this one not so bold, but instead dense and thick and weighty; “We are the Rock People.”