AN: Thank you Dragongirl85 for being my very first reviewer and to all my other reviewers. I am glad you all like this theme I'm creating. I am a fan of native American novels where my inspiration comes from. I will welcome any creative ideas from fellow writers. If you have any good ideas I'll take them to mind.

Chapter 2

Even when he was a child, Heero had always kept to himself, preferring to be alone than run amongst the other children. Yet, he found himself enjoying Trowa's company. The man was quiet and withdrawn like him and they had a silent way of communicating. The last seven days of the sun rising and setting, the Towa had spent a lot of time resting in the comfort of Trowa's dwelling. Being constantly on the move the last five moons and denying his body proper rest, Heero had not realized how tired he was. Today however, he decided to tan and cure the hide of the cougar he had slain a week ago.

As he was scrapping leftover meat and fat from the inside of the hide with the new flint scrapper he had obtained from Trowa, a young woman quietly walked over to him. She was beautiful yes, Heero had to admit with two long braids of ebony falling against her shoulders, the tips painted red. She wore a red robe made of cotton that was tied in a knot over one shoulder leaving the other bare. She wore no jewelry except for a woven necklace where a scallop shell hung nestled in between full breasts.

She gave a smile. "I am Grey Bird, or Elen. That is women's work. May this woman have the honor?

She knelt beside him. Heero nodded. He didn't want to do it but it left him now with nothing to do. Elen smiled at him as she worked. He sat, unsure of what to do until Trowa came by and rescued him.

"A runner has come back from a village near the plains. The buffalo are slowly beginning to travel. We leave soon. We must get ready."

Heero stood up and glanced down at the cougar hide.

"I will finish it. A handsome robe will greet you when you return. Or perhaps a nice blanket?" she asked gazing up at him through her eyelashes.

"Do with it what you will." Heero simply stated and walked off with Trowa leaving the Pueblo woman alone.

"She wants to be your mate." Trowa told Heero as they walked back to his adobe. "She has just become a woman and she is very pleasing to the eyes."

Heero snorted. "She is Pueblo I am Towa and besides, I will leave soon. It would not work. She is a woman."

The last comment had put Trowa to silence and Heero was startled of the own words that had left his mouth. He had not meant for it to come out that way, but then he wondered, he wondered if it was true. He bit his lip and kept silent.

They and every hunter that was to travel to hunt the buffalo packed quickly. Trowa had leant Heero two of his best spears, for he himself did not use spears often except for to fish. The spears were nothing like his own but they were flawless and Heero enjoyed the way they felt in his hand. He gathered his spears, tied them together in a bundle and picked up a leather pack he had bartered for. It contained dried meat and corn cakes for quick meals while traveling, a small pouch of crushed medicine to apply to wounds; rabbit skin wraps, knives and flint to start fire. Heero had slipped his hunting moccasins on his feet. They were embroidered with blue and red beads, which Trowa admired appreciatively. It gave Heero a sense of pride. These were a Towa creation. Two water bags with twine handles were slung over one shoulder. As he and Trowa walked to the hunting party at the edge of the village he listened as the water sloshed inside of them.

The Village Chief looked at them all with proud eyes. The Warrior Leader, a tall man with thick black hair tied back in a ponytail gave them nods and sprinkled corn meal over their heads, a sacred sign. "May the Sun God watch over you all. Bring back Buffalo to our village. You all are honored."

Hunters gave warrior cries that rang through the village. Women and children spectators cheered them on. Heero and Trowa did not shout and yell and trill but enthusiasm showed on both their faces. The band of hunters began walking away from the village and through the forest. On the other side would be the vast wide plains, waiting for them. Heero could still hear the shouts of the villagers behind them ringing in his head.

They had walked for several hours without rest along a worn hunting trail that many feet had walked on in the past. Heero and Trowa had spent most of the time in companionable silence, though they did talk once in awhile, Heero asking questions of the Pueblo inhabited area and what lay beyond the mountains.

"Not many know." Trowa had said, answering the messy haired man's question." I hear though it may be just old native tales that the further south you travel, even far south beyond the mountains, the warmer it is. There are different animals, different trees, different people."

Heero stared at the distant looming mountains. He was sure they were a good three moons travel to even touch the rocky base. And how would anyone climb those treacherous rocks? The rocky cliff and forest terrain were dangerous enough.

It wasn't until the sun was almost completely hidden behind the mountains, showering the earth of what was left of its dwindling light, that the hunters found a place to rest. As Hunting Leader, Trowa decided when and where they would stop. His spot was perfect. It was a small clearing in the forest, where the ground was level to set up their tents and secure enough that they were able to keep eyes amongst the trees for awaiting predators or nomadic roaming Indians.

Several hunters started making a fire. Heero assisted, taking out two pieces of flint and scraping them together so that sparks flew out and into the pile of grass, brush, and gathered wood. A spark caught flame and he fed the fire. Soon a blazing campfire was started, the pit outlined with stones so that the fire could not escape.

Trowa set camp first, spreading out a large hide with holes in each corner. He placed stone pegs in each hole and pounded them into the earth until he knew it was secure. Then with the large pole he carried, he slid it to the middle of the hide to suspend it in the air, creating a warm tent. He rolled out his sleeping mat on one side of the confined area. The other side would be for Heero. Trowa had already placed his pack and Heero's in the tent. He crouched out from the entrance of the tent and watched as the rest of the hunters set up their resting places.

After all the work was done, the hunters gathered around the fire and ate deer meat and corn cakes made for them for their journey to the plains. Many joked, told stories and others conversed quietly among themselves, including Heero and Trowa.

"Do I intrude when I ask why you killed your brother?" Trowa asked as he handed a gourd to Heero and gestured for him to drink. Heero bent his head back and tasted. It was like a sweet wine, made of some sort of berries. He found it delicious. He handed the gourd back to Trowa before he spoke.

"He tried to kill me. My brother hated me, but never did I think he would want me dead."

"So you defended yourself."

"It is still a sin to kill your kin."

Trowa did not reply. He did not have to for it was the truth. Whether intentional, defense, or even an accident, a crime against the family was most horrific. The hunters went to sleep early. Two hunters kept watch and would switch on and off throughout the night. Not one moment would pass without cautious eyes watching the forest's ever move.

Trowa crawled into the tent and lay on his sleeping furs. Heero came in not too long afterward. The unibanged man watched as Heero unrolled his sleeping blankets. Such a handsome one his friend was. It shocked all, even himself to know he had no mate. He of course did not have one as well, but Trowa had known, since he was thirteen summers that he was not attracted to women. His manhood did not rise constantly at the sight of them unlike the rest of the adolescent boys he grew up with. It was not uncommon in his culture for men to bed other men, but it was not favored. What good was a man when he had no children and no wife to tend his fire while he hunted? Besides two men, both hunters, both fighting for dominance could only live with each other for so long.

Trowa had slept with a few men, but it was just sex. Sometimes he would be dominant, and sometimes he would not. The first night when Heero had laid on the other side of his home, Trowa had felt a stirring in his loins. The strong silent Towa was extremely attractive, and when Heero's words implied he did not women at all like himself, he wondered, but he knew that he and his new friend their would be no balance. The urge of dominance would be too great.

The Hunting Leader dreamed of one day perhaps having a mate. A male mate. If he wanted children he could borrow any woman's womb for nine months to create new life. It was not uncommon among men, those whose mates had left or died to want to raise an heir on their own. But children could wait. He had to find a mate first.

Heero sighed as he settled onto the warm, soft furs. He turned his head to mumble a polite goodnight but the words he had intended to say were caught and he said something else.

"Trowa, I heard of something when I was younger, fourteen summers I think. It was the year the Bear clan took a trip to northern tribes to trade. Around the fire of some Clan I do not remember I heard stories of different men."

Trowa's green eyes held a glint of confusion. "What do you mean?"

"There is slave trade up there and someone said there are men who…" Heero turned his gaze up to the ceiling of their shelter. "Men who are women. When some slaves come through to be sold, there are sometimes men. But they are not like us. They were raised as women. Their spirits are both."

"That makes no sense. There is no such thing."

"I speak the truth. I hear they dress as women, act like women, but they are men. They are both." The darkness concealed the faint blush that had risen onto Heero's cheeks. "It is just what I had heard though. Nothing more."

Trowa turned away and resisted the urge to scoff at Heero's words. Men who were women. Bah. Probably jealous wives tales. Often men would use young slaves for their pleasure and the women were angry at that. There was no such thing. The rest of the night was still and silent save for the wind whistling through the trees and far a distant away, a coyote howled a mournful song.

The buffalo hunters broke camp early. If they were to reach the plains by nightfall they had to be swift. They stopped only once by a creek to refill their water bags and to have a quick meal. As they traveled far and far more west, the thick forest trees began to thin out, leaving then surrounded by opening clearings where dry grass was starting to grow.

As the sun set and they were immersed in darkness, Trowa in the front of the hunting party gave a small smile. "We are here."

Heero gazed at his surroundings with concealed awe. It was nothing like he had seen before. He was so used to the thick forests, the rocky cliffs, that gazing upon the plains made him feel slightly vunerable. There were a few scant looking trees scattered about, but the soft earth was covered in tall thick brown grass, the tallest being to near Heero's hips. The night sky was visible from every perspective. There were no caves, no rocks. The land was flat. Here, there was no place one could hide.

"And there are some tribes who dwell here?" Heero asked incredulously. "It is so open."

"Many consider it an advantage. Enemies miles away can be spotted." Trowa said and whipped around sharply to two hunters who were carrying torches and making sport by swinging them playfully at each other.

"Be careful with that fire!" he snapped. "One careless spark can send us trapped in fire."

The hunters settled down, ashamed at being scolded by their powerful Hunting Leader. Trowa gave them one last glare before tapping his chest with a closed fist in a symbol of luck.

"Tonight we rest. Tomorrow. We hunt!"

There were hearty cheers and many hunters repeated the Pueblo symbol of luck. Heero could not help but join and lightly tapped his chest. Trowa saw this and smiled.

They set up camp on the grassy plains. A fire was carefully maintained surrounded by thick rocks they had found scattered about. A few hunters hunted in the night for small game, coming back with several rabbits and prarie dogs. The vermin were spitted and roasted and Heero enjoyed the taste of fresh meat after the last two days of dried jerky. Wine was passed around and after the seventh round, Heero felt lightheaded and strangely happy. The midnight sky, twinkling with stars spun over his head and he turned to Trowa with a full smile.

"This night is great. I feel like I am home." He said and walked, rather clumsily to their tent. Trowa still sat by the fire in shock. The man of the Buffalo tribe had a beautiful smile. Trowa had seen small smiles from the other man, but they were quick and he merely caught glimpses of them. The smile he had just seen, was like that of a child who had seen or felt something amazing. Heero's smile had been like the radiant sun, bringing warmth into the usually cold and hard Prussian eyes, the hard chiseled lines of his face seem softened.

Trowa wondered how many smiles Heero had like that in his lifetime. It seemed like a rare occurrence, and Trowa appreciated the fact that he was able to experience it. The cold distant warrior, much like himself, had a warm side too.