Chapter 20
Kara sat besides Christian/Matoskah in front of the roaring fire, the other members of the tribe had also gathered, many of their eyes flickered to Kara, the children virtually staring,
"We do not have many visitors to our tribe" Matoskah whispered "We do our best to keep the pale faces out"
"I meant to ask about that" Kara muttered back "Chief said that it wasn't real, what does that even mean?"
Matoskah chuckled a little, his brilliant white teeth, catching the firelight
"The mountains are a dangerous place on their own, nature has a way of being unpredictable in times and there are also a lot of creatures that pass through them" he shrugged "People die out here every so often, mainly the whites, we just take the credit, their bones picked clean by animals, we just move them, or move the dead to the river, they wash up near your town"
Kara stared at him, slack jaw
"We never do anything to them" he clarified "The pale faces think we are murderers, they see what they want to see"
"I have to admit I did hear stories growing up, it was one of the only reasons I didn't venture to far into the mountains"
Matoskah nodded "It has worked well for many winters"
Silence fell around them, Kara looked around seeing that the Chief had stood, eyes on the fire, when he spoke it was in the foreign tongue that Kara didn't know
"He speaks of the new moon that is coming" Matoskah translated for her quietly
Kara glanced up to the sky to see the slither of moon that shone down, surrounded by the stars
"The moon and stars are very important to us, they represent the legends of our past and give us warning to the future" he continued "He speaks of you as well"
The blonde dropped her gaze from the stars to see the Chief pointing to her and all eyes once again falling on her
"He tells of your strength, that the spirits sent you to us, that we must aid you"
"Kara, come to me"
It took Kara a moment to realise the Chief was speaking English, she stood unsteadily, Matoskah went to help but words spoken by the Chief had him retaking his seat
Kara looked to the Chief, she was maybe ten paces away from him, she hadn't walked by herself yet, her body still ached horribly from walking this morning and being moved, she took a step towards him, then another, her fists clenching tightly to stop herself from trembling with the pain
Her breathing became ragged with the effort
She took the outstretched hand of the Chief who smiled at her before speaking to his people once more, she glanced to Matoskah who smiled and nodded encouragingly, the Chief gestured for her to take a seat beside him, the blonde complied, she watched as the Chief took a small leather bag from his belt, opening it, he took a handful of something from it, in one swift move he had sprayed the dust into the flames
The fire exploded skywards, Kara flinched back, shielding her face from the sudden heat, she glanced around her, everyone's eyes were on the Chief as he spoke, his hands moving as they followed the smoke that flowed into the air around him
Kara's eyes widened at the unnatural movement the smoke seemed to take, it changed hues from a grey into purples and blues, it swirled around the Chief, taking shapes with four legs
It was a raccoon, it fluffy tail whisping off into smoke as it scurried through the air, it dove between the people watching, children giggled as they tried to catch it, but the smoke just passed through their fingers, it continued its loop of the fire before rearing up onto it's hind legs, sniffing at the air
Kara watched, stunned
The Chief continued as he threw more of the dust into the flames, this time a large form emerged, it's movements were slow as the bear took shape, it was pilling something with it's huge paw before turning it's back and sitting
The raccoon snuck up behind the bear, it stayed low and edged towards it, Kara watched as it's tiny paw reached out for the pile of food the bear had, it stole every last scrap and ran, leaving the bear without anything
The animals disappeared, the smoke floating off into the night air, the only sound after that was the crackling of the flames, Kara looked around at all of the faces, they all watched the Chief, it was clear to the blonde that he held each and every one of their respect, including the children who sat their quietly
They sat there for a while more, before the Chief seemed to allow them to go about their business, the children started to play as the adult sat and talked
The Chief retook his seat beside Kara, he remained quiet for a moment
"I feel soon you will be ready to leave us" the Chief stared up into the night sky "The spirits whisper to me"
Kara looked up as well, she tried to listen, hoping that maybe she would hear something too, but all she heard was the crackling fire and the tribes people chatting around her
"Do not listen with your ears Kara" he explained "To hear the spirits, if they so choose it, then you must listen with your soul, they are no longer of this world Kara"
Kara nodded though she didn't really understand what he meant by listening with her soul, she stifled a yawn, rubbing her tired eyes, the day had taken a lot out of her
"You still need rest young one" he gestured for Matoskah to come over "Goodnight Kara"
Matoskah extended his hand to the blonde, she stood, steadying herself a little as she swayed, she took a deep breath and slowly Matoskah helped her back to her tent,
"What was with the raccoon and bear?" she asked sleepily
"It is an old legend, a cautionary story" he supported her as she leant into him "There was once a greedy Raccoon, he was lazy, he would steal food from the other forest animals"
"Jerk" Kara mumbled
"He took what others had worked so hard for, he became fat as he ate everyone else food, he was fat and lazy and finally when a wolf came along, he was not fast enough to get away"
Kara glanced up to him through her bleary eyes "He was eaten?"
Matoskah nodded "We must work hard, fight our own battles, though we can always ask for aid from those around us, but we must never take"
"Nice" she murmured, though she was swaying now more than before, she was almost asleep on her feet as Matoskah all but dragged her inside of the tent, lowering her down, the blonde falling asleep almost instantly, not even being able to wish Matoskah a good night.
The next couple of days Kara continued to grow stronger, being able to walk by herself for longer, not becoming tired by just thinking about moving, the children of the tribe would swarm her, touching her hair and skin, it dawned on Kara that they had probably never seen a white person before, they played games with her and laughed
The blonde couldn't help but smile back, they had tugged her along to a seat that surrounded the fire, it's warmth radiating across her skin, they then proceeded to mess around with her golden hair, she was a little uneasy at first but soon they were giggling and smiling at her and she relaxed a little, she could feel her hair being pulled back and out of her face
After a minutes the children gathered in front of her, all of them with huge smiles on their faces, one of them spoke but Kara had no idea what she was saying, the blonde's fingers went up to her hair, running gently over the twists in her hair that were pulled back, she continued to feel her way down her platted air before her fingers came across something soft, it was a feather that had been woven into her hair
One of the kids had run off and returned with a container of water, he handed it over to Kara who looked down into her reflection, one side of her blonde hair had been braided along her scalp to the back of her head, the other half was just tucked behind her ear, as she turned her head she could now see the feather in the braid that fell down her back, she couldn't be sure but it appeared to be one from an eagle
She stared at her own reflection, she had not seen her face for what seemed like a lifetime, she barely even recognised herself, her skin held new scars, there was one that came down from her hairline and split across her temple, it was healing but it would never fade, she touched it
"Scars are just a memory of what we have survived"
Kara jumped a little at Matoskah's sudden deep voice coming from behind her, she looked around at him, he took in her appearance, a slight discomfort in his dark eyes, but it faded quickly as he smiled down at the kids, saying something, they laughed and replied, the large man chuckled himself
"They said they wanted to make you look like part of the tribe" he smiled down at Kara "I believe they are right" he mused
Kara frowned up at his tone
"You should be trained as one of us as well" his smile broadened "Come Kara"