Teresa, Warrior In Training

1.

Teresa crept forward on silent feet, keeping her eyes trained on her prey grazing peacefully in the clearing ahead. Her leather boots absorbed any sound she might have made. A fur lined hood held back her curly brown hair, and the ash covering her hands and face disguised her scent and made her brown skin even darker.

Blind in the third eye on the side of its head, the deer would be an easy kill as she approached on its blind side from downwind, stepping lightly with an arrow fitted to her bow. Its soft brown coat was ruffled by the breeze as it chewed contentedly on the dew covered grass, blissfully unaware of her presence and its approaching death. She had been lucky to spot the deer's tracks in the dried mud by the stream and had been tracking it for miles. Bringing it down would be good for the village – there had been fewer than was usual this season. Once she killed it she may need help to bring it in, but her brother's home away from the village was near enough. He would help her – and not take credit for the kill himself as other hunters older than her might do.

Confident in her position the young hunter took aim, drawing back her bowstring. She could make it a clean shot; put her arrow through its eye. If that did not kill it then she would finish it with her knife and end its pain quickly. As she was about to let her arrow fly, a roar like thunder filled the air, a sound so loud that it felt like a real physical presence pressing down on her from above. Her arrow flew off course past the deer which took off at a gallop from the unexpected disturbance. She watched it disappear and then looked up to see that the top branches of the trees shook, and beyond that, something falling from the sky. Something…she didn't know what.

Teresa pulled back her hood and raised her mask while staring up at the sky, wondering if her eyes were playing tricks on her. She had seen shooting stars before, but this was something else. Forgetting her annoyance at losing her kill, she quickly slung her bow over her shoulder and climbed up the nearest tree for a better view. Perched with well-practiced balance on one of the slender branches near the tree top, but still under the cover of the canopy, she stared up in shock as the thing came down. Whatever it was it was big, covered in red and orange flames and was coming down fast! More flames erupted from the bottom of it as it drew nearer and slowed just a few moments before hitting the ground less than half a mile from her, sending a tremor through the forest that she was sure would be felt for miles.

The young warrior kept a firm grip on her perch as the tree shook and swayed from the impact. It felt like an earthquake, but this…this was something far more interesting. Every village in the mountains would have seen this monstrosity falling from the sky. She knew that she should keep her distance, head back to her village to find out what their leader's orders were. After all she was not a scout, at least not yet, but whatever that thing was she wanted to see it for herself. Using the trees, moving swiftly from branch to branch, she made her way to where the thing had crashed. She moved more cautiously as she drew near, and the smell of burned wood and something else she couldn't name permeated the air, burning her nose and leaving a bad taste in the back of her throat.

The object had landed in a clearing. The ground around it was scorched, the grass and shrubs burned away, and broken trees lay scattered where they had fallen, smoke curling off of them. The thing that had caused the damage stood not as tall as the highest trees but still imposing in a place where it clearly did not belong. It was large, bulky and made of metal from the look of it, the glint of the sunlight reflected off the surface giving off a harsh glare. It was some kind of machine.

The forest seemed to hold its breath, not yet settled from this intrusion that had come crashing down. There was no sound or movement from the machine. She decided to wait near the edge of the clearing where she could watch and still be out of sight.

And she was aware that she was not the only one watching. Glancing to her left she caught a glimpse of a figure moving through the branches of the trees – her brother, Lincoln. She had only seen a glimpse but she knew that it was him, she knew how he moved. That was confirmed when he came closer and silently signaled for her to stay low and keep quiet. Teresa was glad that he didn't try to send her away, and she wasn't surprised that he had come to investigate himself. Her brother was a scout for their Clan. He'd taught her how to move through the trees without stirring a leaf. She put her mask back into place and pulled her hood up. Taking care to make sure that even her breathing was quiet, she waited and watched to see what would happen.

She did not have to wait too long as the metal beast gave a loud groan, and with a hiss part of it unfolded and thudded to the ground, making an opening. Putting a hand to her knife, she took a calming breath to prepare for whatever was coming. She was prepared to fight if she had to; or to run, to warn the Clan if the appearance of this thing was some kind of new threat. But what she saw inside the machine – she didn't know yet if it was a threat...but it was certainly unexpected. She'd heard stories before about Praimfaya, the Great Fire that ended the world a hundred years ago, and the people who had escaped by going to the stars, but she'd never given stories about Sky-People much thought…until now.

Because now the young warrior could see that there were people inside the machine, this ship that had fallen from the sky. People who appeared as shocked at what they were seeing as she was. Those that stood in the doorway were staring around with open mouths and expressions that could only be described as wonder, amazement, awe...

One of them, a girl with smooth pale skin and straight brown hair, broke from the pack and stepped forward. Standing in front of the others, the sky-girl paused to draw in a deep breath, and a smile broke out across her face.

Teresa took her eyes off the girl for a moment to look to her brother. He had his book out and was drawing something in it, his eyes barely going to the page as he watched the strangers.

Looking back at the strange ship, she saw that the sky-girl was walking forward cautiously as her people behind her stood watching. She paused again before taking the last step off of the part of the ship that had opened, onto the ground. Her grin stretched wider as she looked up to the sky. Reaching her arms up the sky-girl screamed out, "We're Back Bitches!"

Her shout cut through the silence. Teresa was surprised to understand the sky-girl's words but didn't have time to think on it as the rest of her people came pouring out of their ship, shouting and running in every direction. They were celebrating, excited, triumphant…loud and arrogant. She smirked as she watched them. What did they think they had won?

One of the strangers ran right beneath her hiding place, going off into the woods while another girl called after her.

"Emily, wait!"

The girl kept running, ignoring her friend; her smooth black hair trailed behind her as she ran. The other girl stopped, close enough for the warrior to hear her speaking with a dark skinned boy who came up. If she hadn't been sure, she was now – the strangers were speaking Gonasleng, the enemy's language. Teresa knew English well enough, though she'd rarely had reason to speak it herself. The boy told his friend to stay there while he went to bring back the girl who had run off.

Teresa tried to get a count on how many Sky-People had come out of the ship but they were scattered now, spreading out, still jumping around, shouting and chattering excitedly. They were in territory that was not theirs and yet they were behaving like untried children! These people clearly knew nothing. They made no effort to watch for possible dangers. Their noise would scare off any prey in the area, and they would be lucky not to attract predators, or worse.

Where did these strangers come from? Why had they come here? If they expected to take Woods Clan territory, then they had made a grave mistake. The leader of their Clan certainly wouldn't allow it. Word would most likely be sent to the Commander as soon as scouts returned to the village with a report. The Sky-People wore strange clothes, and none of them stood out as warriors; they acted like children now, but if they were a danger to her people then they would be dealt with like any other, Teresa was sure of it.

Seeing movement out of the corner of her eye, Teresa looked to her brother again and saw that Lincoln was signaling for them to leave. She knew he was right. They did not want to make their presence known to these invaders and they should retreat further while the strangers were too distracted by their excitement to notice any movement in the trees, not that they were looking. But still, she wanted to stay and watch, to see what she could learn. She was not a scout yet, but she would be soon. Perhaps this would be her chance. She hoped so – people who fell from the sky… This was unlike anything they'd seen before. However, she pulled herself away, climbing higher to be less visible in the shadow of the canopy and moving away from the strange ship and the invaders it carried.

xxxxx

Translations:

Praimfaya – The Great Fire; The nuclear apocalypse that ended the world

Gonasleng – English; The enemy's language