Dawn of a New Day
It was still dark, the absolute quiet and silence before the dawn. He silently got up from his bed, grabbed his clothes and went to the window. In the dark, it was difficult to make out some details below, but he still stared out, his mind wandering. He dressed, took his shoes in hand, and silently left the room.
There were several ways to leave the house, some more creative than others. He chose the conventional route. Putting on his shoes, he stood, and faced the east. He took a deep breath and started to run. The east is where the dawn came from. The east was where the sun would greet the world and bring it to life. As he ran to the east he would greet the dawn and the Old Ones in the ways of The People. He ran, not noticing anything of where he ran, except toward the dawn. As he ran, he became aware of a sliver of light, growing and growing brighter with colors that changed slowly into the light of day. He was unaware of how far he ran, only that he ran to greet the new day.
He then thought of how his life had changed in the last many months. In some ways it was the same; each day its own fight for survival. These days the fight for survival was different. There were others that actually had his back; one especially. It was a strange feeling, and not always a comfortable one. Trust had been broken too many times in his life for him to easily allow that feeling easily. There was someone though that gave him a chance, had faith in him, and had been straight with him, even if it meant not always hearing what he wanted to hear.
He thought of the Old Ways and how he mocked them to an old friend who followed them. Here he was now, following an old tradition and leaning back on his heritage. He thought of the medicine bag that an old friend had sent to him when he died, and the trust in him that he would honor and keep faith with the Old Ways enough to keep faith with him. That medicine bag started him thinking about his heritage, and the strength it gave him even when he refused to acknowledge it and even mocked it.
He stopped finally and looked toward the dawn, closing his eyes and letting its light and warmth slowly enfold and engulf him. He lost all reckoning of time and just let the warmth, light and sounds of the new day fill his senses. Finally the sound of noises of the street and people rushing around in their day intruded on his thoughts. He turned and ran back to the great estate he called home for now. He used to run with another and still did, but in the last few weeks, in addition to running with that one, he had gotten into the habit of running to Greet the Dawn which was something one did alone. Would that one understand? Yes he was not one of his kind, yet the man constantly surprised him with understanding things that only his people would understand.
He got back and stood at the foot of the stairway and stared at the upper windows. He saw the silhouette of the man who was his commander, and in spite of his best efforts, now considered a friend. He was perhaps the one man of any race that he would trust. "Ya-teh-hay, Nantan", he whispered softly. "Ya-the-Hay". He then went up the stairway to start the day, not knowing what was coming his way.
From the window, the tall, blonde man looked out at the day and the young man. He knew that this young man would only speak of his feelings if and when he wanted to, and respected that. He trusted this enigma of a man and respected him. He knew that he was touching back to old ways that were forsaken, but now coming back. All men had different ways of drawing on strength and for this young man, hearkening back to old ways was his. He raised his coffee cup and saluted the young man as he made his way into the house. "Good Morning, Chief," was all he said and smiled. Then he too, started his day.