Summary: Dorothy and Cloud Dancing meet when they were teens. Well you can guess what is going to happen. They fall in love and then get separated and then have a happy ending.
Rating: M to be on the safe side.
Pairing: Dorothy and Cloud Dancing.
CHEYENNE CAMP:
CLOUD DANCING'S TENT
Dorothy came inside Cloud Dancing's tent and shook off the feeling of being followed back to the camp. She hadn't thought that she would ever see her father again. She never thought he would come looking for her. Not after everything he had done to her. It was the reason she had left. Dorothy was tired of being beaten like an animal. Then she had been found by Cloud Dancing and her life had never felt more perfect. Dorothy couldn't handle it if she was the reason the towns people came here with all guns a blanzin'. "I should leave." Dorothy whispered, but in the silence of his tent the sound of her voice sounded like a crack of thunder.
"You can not." Cloud Dancing stated forcefully. He saw Dorothy jump at the sound of his voice. She was shacking and he could bear to see that from his woman. Going to her he took her into his arms and held her. "I will not let them hurt you." Cloud Dancing whispered kissing the top of her head. He had just found her; he would fight to keep her.
"Just hold me tighter," Dorothy choked out. She wanted to cry. He father was going to ruin the peace and serenity she had finally found. There was only one way to ensure the survival of her new family. Dorothy would have to leave and go back to the hell of her life in Colorado Springs. Just at the thought her heart broke, shattered into a million pieces.
"Stay with me tonight?" Cloud dancing asked. He wanted nothing more that to hold her while he slept.
"Yes," Dorothy sobbed. She went with him down into the warmth of the Buffalo pallet in the center of his tent. Cloud Dancing situated his body the way he wanted it. Then he opened his arms to her. Dorothy went into them willingly, sighing with contentment, with peace. She had only been here a few months, but she felt so at home with him, so in love with him that she never wanted to leave. If Dorothy was going to save him, then she had to leave him. She tried not to cry harder at that, tried no to think of leaving here, her home. In the last few months of being here Dorothy had never felt more at home among these people. This was more of her home than Colorado Springs had been.
Dorothy was making herself tired, crying was wearing her out. She knew she could only sleep a few hours if she wanted to flee in the dead of night and not have to change her mind. She had to keep thinking of Cloud Dancing, thinking that she would live and he would still live if she left. 'But what if he follows you?' A voice posed the question in the back of her mind. She tried to ignore it but the voice persisted. If she left then Cloud Dancing might follow her to bring her back. Dorothy closed her eyes and buried all of her thoughts deep down. She wanted to sleep, to rest for the journey she would have to make back. Once she returned home Dorothy knew she would hurt worse than she had in all of her life.
DEAD OF NIGHT:
Dorothy had slipped out of Cloud Dancing's tent with him still sleeping heavily. It broke her heart that she had to sneak away like a thief in the night, but she had no other choice at the moment. Every second she stayed was another second that her father could find her and hurt these good people. She managed to get out of the camp, avoid the Dog Soldiers that stood guard, and get away from the camp with her horse and light supplies. Dorothy kept to the shadows as much as she was able all the while wiping away the tears that refused to stop falling. She was crying for Cloud Dancing, for missing him, and for leaving him with out explaining. Though, she knew if she had talked it over with him she would have let him change her mind. This was the only way, the only choice. Cloud Dancing would be safer if she wasn't around.
By Dawn she was on the out skirts of the city. Dorothy pulled her horse to a stop and looked out at the town before her. Just on the other side was a house she never wanted to see again. But she was here and it was too late to go back. Dorothy would not be the reason that the Cheyenne were attacked; she wouldn't bring death to her family or to the man she loved with all of her heart and soul.
Dorothy clicked her tongue and nudged her horse into a slow trot down the hill and into town. All the while Dorothy was taking deep calming breaths to keep her on course. She had a flurry of butterflies in her stomach urging her to run again, to go back to the Cheyenne camp, back to Cloud Dancing's warm arms. Instead she kept her horse heading down the road.
Everyone she passed, they all looked at her like they were seeing a ghost of someone long dead. It spooked her slightly. Still she did not run back to Cloud Dancing. He had protected her for a few months and now it was her turn to endure his survival. It was the least she could do for him now.
Getting into the center of town Dorothy didn't dare get down off of her horse. She just kept right on to her homestead and she was willing to lay odds that her father would know she was coming long before she got all the way to the house.
CHEYENNE CAMP:
Cloud Dancing woke at Dawn with the feeling of being cold, not just his body but his soul. Dorothy was gone, she had left. His heart broke just as his anger rose. He wasn't angry at her; he was angry at the men who had found them yesterday. Getting dressed he hurried to his horse and was going to go after her. Maybe if he was lucky, spirits willing, he could catch her and bring her home.
He made it half way out of camp before the Dog Soldiers stopped him. The told him to head back to camp, told him that he had to speak to Black Kettle. Cloud Dancing didn't want to talk, he wanted to go after his woman. She was his heart and his soul. Nudging his horse he headed back to camp, back to his leader to talk. It made him sick to think that he was running back to the safety of his people while his woman was facing trouble. He would definitely have to do something and soon if he was to have her back.
DOROTHY'S HOME:
Dorothy pulled on the reigns to keep her horse from continuing on. She had a sudden burst to turn and run again. Cloud Dancing would ne doubt be awake, be searching for her. She should go back to him, go back to the warmth and security, the sense of home, he gave her. No, she was doing this for him, to save his people. Cloud Dancing would be safe is she was away from him. That's all there was to it. Dorothy needed to come back. Still, deep down, she thought, 'Would he come for me?' She knew the answer. He would if he was able.
Swinging her leg over Dorothy got off her horse and tethered her to the post. Walking up the rest of the way she was barely on the porch when her father came out his face red and his hand raised. Dorothy knew what was coming, knew she should get out of the way, but she wasn't fast enough. The back of hand collided with her cheek and she was propelled backwards off the porch and to the ground. She inhaled dirt and air and tried not to scream out in pain. It was what he wanted; her to scream. Dorothy wouldn't give him the satisfaction. Getting to her knees Dorothy barely had time to take a deep breath before her father kicked her had in the ribs. She rolled, but still did not scream.
"Think you can come crawling back! You stupid Injun Whore!"
Dorothy didn't respond. She gritted her teeth and prepared for the worst. It was then that she felt his big grubby fingers bury in her hair, yanking her up off the ground, and dragging her towards the barn. She knew what was to come. It was always the same. He would tie her up with leather cords and whip her until the alcohol took hold making him pass out. Against her will power a single tear slipped free. He hauled her through the doors of the barn where her back slammed into one of the beams. Dorothy kept her wits even as her arms were pulled up and secured to a low ring with leather cords. The crack and sting of the whip was something she knew was coming. Dorothy was prepared for it, this time she didn't scream as she did all the other times her drunken father had beaten her. The whip bit into her back; it only made Dorothy more resolved not to scream. She had thoughts of Cloud Dancing, of their love, to make her strong.
THAT NIGHT:
Cloud Dancing slipped through the dead of night through the sleeping town of the white man. He wanted to free his woman. Dorothy had left to protect him, his people. There was no way he was going to leave her to suffer the hard hand she had told him her father had. If those whip scars on her back were any indication then his love was in trouble. She needed him and he was going to go to her. Cloud Dancing moved through the town and up the path to the homestead that she had told him about. He stuck to the shadows moving into the property looking for Dorothy.
Keeping his eyes on the main house Cloud Dancing moved around and headed towards the barn. Inside he could hear rustling and low, repressed whimpers of pain. Slipping into the barn he saw his woman tied up and bleeding. It brought back memories of their first meeting. "Shadow," he called to her and he saw her respond to her Cheyenne name.
"Cloud Dancing," She tried to turn but her struggling had tightened the leather cords biting into her wrists. He came around her. Dorothy couldn't help but smile through the pain. "Cut me down." Tears trailed down her cheeks at the sight of him.
Rage welled up inside of him, pure white hot anger at seeing her like this. "I will kill him." Taking out his knife Cloud Dancing cut the bonds holding her in place.
"No, don't. I want to go home." Dorothy sobbed let the pain seep through and bring all of her unshed tears out and down her cheeks. "Just take me home." Dorothy lifted her arms and put them around Cloud Dancing. With his strength she was able to stand. Together they made it out of the barn and back to the horses.
CHEYENNE CAMP:
The whole way back from the town Cloud Dancing once again marveled at the strength and courage his woman showed. She was strong, she kept her pain inside. As they came closer and closer to their home he saw Dorothy straighten in her saddle. He could tell she was happy to be here. She asked to come home; this was her home with him.
Dorothy felt her heart swell with happiness at seeing the camp grounds; her Cheyenne home. As much as she wanted to stay awake, her wounds were taking their toll on her body. Pulling their horses to a stop Dorothy tried not to fall off her horse. Then Cloud Dancing was there helping her down. She could barely find her feet falling against Cloud Dancing as Dog Soldiers flowed out of the night.
"We told you not to go after her," One of the dog Soldiers
Cloud Dancing kept his hold on Dorothy, "She is my woman and I was not going to leave her at the hands of the white man."
"She is of the white man." The dog soldier shouted back.
Dorothy pulled away from Cloud Dancing and turned her back shouting to the night, "This is what the White Man has done to me. I'm not one of them." Cloud Dancing spoke to them in the language she wanted to adopt as her own. She wanted to be one of them, forget her old life, and just be one with Cloud Dancing.