A/N:
Idea: Historical
Author: Rico/1andOnlyJanae
Editor/Beta Reader: Rico/1andOnlyJanae
"You're a thief," She whispered to herself, the tears silently streaming down her soft cheeks with a look of terror gleaming in her eyes.
Years and ages ago, a young girl had been calmly walking on her island along with her peaceful father, or Baba as she would call him at the time. Each had dark, olive toned skin and white marks on their faces, paint, along with their hand crafted jewelry made from seashells, animal teeth, clay stones, and gold. The small girl's father had a slender yet muscular figure, not standing too tall (but certainly not short) along with very straight black hair. The untroubled two were strolling along the coast, simply speaking to each other with their gentle voices and language.
They looked out upon the ocean and the clear crystal waters. Though, something about them seemed... Odd, the small child noticed and pointed out to her father. He too felt a strange sense from the waves of blue. As though they had suddenly become unfamiliar. And on closer inspection, in the distance was an object or few. They each resembled a canoe in a way, something her father's people had made before, but they were shaped differently and looked much larger. The other natives of the island must have noticed, as some made their way back to their huts of homes in small villages and clans, while only little few stayed, coming closer to the sand to watch.
The large canoes with large flags of some sort soon made their direction right on the sand of land. Down from them all came pale skinned men in great numbers, thousands it looked. The few natives, rather than eyeing the strangers, greeted these newcomers happily and with smiles as bright as the sun, or kachi. The young girl and her father did the same. "Taíno tau, taíno tau!" They all chanted in their melodious voices.
The white men all had looks of pure confusion of their faces. The natives continued on without second thought and showed these newcomers the amazing things about their home on the ocean, though the strangers didn't mind at all, exploring themselves upon this island. Borikén, as the people there named it, meaning the great land of the valiant and noble Lord. The little female was in front of one of the men, along with her father. "Taíno, taíno!" She greeted him, a grin crossing her tan features. He didn't seem as old as all the others. More like he was in mid to late teenage years, his face was younger and hair a more vibrant brown and wavy texture. And other than confusion, the young man lifted her up into the air and smiled right back.
"¡Hola!" He said excitedly, his garden green eyes showing so. "You give off a different aura from everyone else, so you must be this island! You represent it and its people. Ah, November 19th, 1493, more discovered for the Kingdom of Spain and its Spanish empire. Good to finally meet the cheerfully cute little bebé that I will get to care for."
In turn, it was the little one's time to give a look of uncertainty of what this man was saying, her father Borikén slightly copying her reaction. Was he to take her away from her father? No, that couldn't be. Just now, her father had been speaking to her of all the duties she was to learn, to properly care for their land and its Indians.
"Well, I cannot stay here too long, sadly. But I will be back very soon, and I'll even bring some more people along, so they can move on and into this beautiful place, I promise. They would love to see and live here, such a wonderful new discovery to add with the others!" The young man spoke happily, his wavy hair bouncing along his shoulder.
But what was deemed another normal day from the beginning of the sun's rise, had drastically changed.
Starting in 1508, over the course of only two decades, everything was flipped upside down, and sure enough, that Spanish man did not lie about returning. What was once a distinctive culture, society, and religion was now only a copy of what the Spanish and its settlers wanted to see. This creation, in their European eyes, was a utopia. They had forced the Taíno to learn the Catholic ways and do as this one God wanted, to forget whatever they had before with so many different gods, because that was silly to them when only one existed, as well as speak Spanish more than their own language. The Spanish even pushed for payments of gold, threatening punishments for those who did not make it by the deadline or sooner, though they themselves did search everywhere for gold, digging deep.
In Europe (its Medieval Ages), unfortunately hygiene was not its top. Many of the men carried diseases that did not terribly effect them, but the same could not be said for the Indians. Due to never being exposed to them before, the natives were barely immune to these sicknesses. They quickly died in great amounts. The small representation merely gained harsh colds and watery golden brown eyes while forced to follow the European country around.
And already, the natives were subject to slavery. Under the Kingdom of Spain, it was law that hard laborers be paid some amount. But being so far from watch, a whole ocean away, that never did happen. The hard laborers got nothing.
So many people hated how this life had become. Many chose to escape by traveling in canoes in large numbers to other islands or moving their lives to the deep lush mountains. Those who didn't escape were immediate slaves. And some natives even chose death over slavery, killing their families by wish and then themselves right after, a group suicide. The very few Indians left, joining alongside with their violent age-old enemies the Caribes, tried to revolt in 1511 after learning through the drowning of a Spaniard and watching for three days that these white men were in fact mortal. This, only for them to be little to no match compared to the Spanish and their weapons, though causing some damage (most caused by the cannibalism that was the Caribes). And because of the number of natives left by the year of 1516 were so small in the Caribbean, a crown order was won to free the Indians. In 1527, a small pox epidemic reduced the number of the Taíno population to a third of what it once was. And 1542 following for a Bishop sent to the land to inform the natives of their "new" complete freedom.
For so many decades, the small child grew older while her father grew weak. She never would have thought that such a strong man could be taken down so quickly. She tried everything she could to help him, but alas, her days were spent following Spain around, who had decided she'd be known as Puerto Rico only few decades ago, and learning everything he wanted, as her nights were filled with silent cries and delicate tears. Puerto Rico knew. So many lives destroyed, not only of her people, but on neighboring islands and other countries so close by. This harsh process was being repeated all around the entire world for all she knew.
One day, when she finally was given time and escaped from the European old teenager's sight, she went to see her father, Borikén. The once strong, brave, peaceful figure, now coughed and coughed, scars all across his bare back and chest and wrists and hands and who knew where else. "Guarico, come here," He said, soft spoken. He bent down to his daughter and gave a tight warm hug with his shaky, cold frame. Borikén gave her a butterfly kiss atop her forehead, his straight, shoulder length hair brushing her flushed, sick cheeks. Giving one last look in her eyes, his voice strong; "Never forget who you are, and never mind what others say of you, nanichi." With that, he turned, walked, and left for the mountains, a faint glance back. Gone. And not ever to be seen again.
A savior. He was supposed to be some kind of a saint. This Lord that Spain always spoke about, the knowledge coded in his blood, turning the young one into the good little Catholic girl. When you needed him most, he was supposed to be there for you. Do good all your life and He will do good equally back. He watches over you and as long as you carry a cross, you acknowledge him and He acknowledged you.
Puerto Rico's eyes started to get watery again as she feel to the ground beneath her knees. She sat there, hands balled into fists against her lap. Teardrops, sly and unnoticed by her own, fell to the dirt slow and steady, forming into a small rainfall. This.
She had done nothing all her life, but simply enjoyed it and the people that enhanced it. She had done nothing that would had been considered horrible or bad. She lived life simply and loved it, wanting nothing more from it. But this. This is what she received. This was to be what she deserved. This was the Lord's fate for her. The small water droplets from tears was soon joined by the clouds overhead that released their own water, letting it drop down upon her dark skin and dark hair. It was a light rainfall, but she wanted to be soaked. For this to be all over and only a dream. But it wasn't. She couldn't and would never wake up. The Lord knew that for sure.
Puerto Rico fell to her side, and laid on the ground not daring to move. She looked up at the sky between the tree leaves, waiting to be drowned or buried. Either would work. As her lighter than dark eyes fluttered closed, she whispered, voice hoarse and soft, without a stutter...
"You're a thief."
This is a quick timeline summing up the island's history, I recommend you take a look at it to really understand what I am trying to write in this story. Or just for the history.
[ welcome . topuertorico history . shtml]
Okay, so this is historical in the somewhat Hetalia sense. This was also very difficult to write, considering there is barely much information left linking to the culture of Taino Indians. And yes, I do research.
Like, you look at one source and it says that their body type was kinda short with muscular build.
[ www . yale . edu / ynhti/curriculum/units / 1991/2/ 91.02.06 . x. html]
But then you see another and it says Columbus described them in his journal as having beautiful, tall, slender bodies with a tongue as "gentle, the sweetest in the world, always with a laugh".
[ www . elboricua history . html]
And here, we have vocabulary.
[ www . borikenwarrior _._com Language . html] *Take out dashes*
Yep.
