Chapter 21
Kara had followed Matoskah into a small clearing just outside of the main camp, he turned to her and pulled the tomahawk from it's place on his belt, he flicked it so it spun in the air and he caught it perfectly by the handle, the blade of the axe head looked incredibly sharp, it was clear that it was roughly made, but Matoskah took good care of it
"Do you know anything about facing an enemy?" he asked
Kara shook her head "I've skinned a few rabbits in my time"
"A blade?" he nodded and from the small of his back he pulled a dagger with a sculpted wooden handle, the wood had been worn smooth from years of use, he handed it to Kara
The blonde took it in her hand, it was heavier than the knives she had used back home, but she had no doubt that it was sharper
"Is that how you hold it?" he asked amused "No wonder the pale faces are not good fighters"
"Hey" she protested "What's wrong with it?"
He chuckled and took a step closer towards Kara, placing a hand over hers, guiding her fingers so her index finger was flat along the blade, her thumb resting against the guard
"If you do not hold the knife you will be the one getting cut" he tapped her thumb "But you also need control" he tapped her index as it laid flat down the side of the blade
"It's not about brute force" Matoskah took a step back, he made a swift movement with his tomahawk "It's about your movement, countering your enemies attacks" he then made two quick movements and the small axe flew through the air and embedded itself in a nearby tree, just to Kara's left, she jumped a little, looking between Matoskah and the axe
"It helps to be swift too" he added with a smile
Kara grinned back,
And so the pair of them trained together, Matoskah would demonstrate how to defend herself against a larger enemy, how to use her small stature as an advantage, how most large fighters would just swing wildly, using their more powerful attacks, but it also made them sloppy, slower, opening up their body for attacks
"There are many points on the human body to strike" Matoskah pointed with the handle of his tomahawk to this thigh "Cut where the blood runs the most, but only if you wish to kill, I only tell you this as a way to defend"
Kara nodded, getting the severity of his words
"There are many more ways to defend against an attacker, if you wish to disarm then go for the arms and hands, the legs if you do not want to be pursued" he ran the handle of his tomahawk over the areas he mentioned, making slashing motions across his limbs "Come at me and I will show"
He beckoned Kara forwards, squaring up to her
"What?" she said surprised
"Attack me" he confirmed
"You crazy?" she asked
He chuckled to himself "No disrespect Kara but I do not believe that you could harm me" he gestured again "Come"
Kara looked down at the dagger in her hand then back up at Matoskah, she didn't want to hurt him but he seemed pretty adamant that she wouldn't, so she took a deep breath and went towards him, she attempted to swipe at his chest where he had the most protection, he simply leaned back out of the reach of the blade and caught Kara's wrist, twisting it so Kara dropped the knife, he then wrapped her own arm around her neck and placed the handle of the tomahawk against her exposed skin, making his point clear that it could have been the bladed end
"Wide swiping does never work" he released her and picked up the dagger for her "You need to be like the snake, strike fast and true to your target, the blade is not a tool, it is a part of you, we all have our own that are made for us, no two are identical"
Kara inspected the dagger again, the wooden handle had etchings marking it
"This was made just for you?" she asked, turning the blade over in her hands
"Yes" he answered "It was given to me after a came of age"
The blonde nodded "It's nice"
Matoskah smiled a little "It may be a little too big for your hands, but it is what I have" he took a step back "Again"
So Kara went at him again, this time she tried a stabbing motion, she seemed to get a little closer this time but yet again Matoskah easily disarmed her
Again and again they sparred, each time Matoskah talking her through what she needed to do, by the end of the day she was exhausted but in a strange way she felt more alive than she had in days, her fingers were covered in small nicks and scratches from handling the dagger incorrectly but she had improved, Matoskah had said that she was gifted by the spirits, he had never known such progress
Kara smiled a lot that day but when she was alone all she could think about was Lena and the 'what if?' questions, her mind was flooded with them and they were so loud in the night when she lay alone in the tent, they screamed at her, she dreamt of beautiful green eyes, but soon they appeared cold and lifeless, Kara would wake, tears staining her cheeks as she wrapped her arms around herself, trying to hold it together, the unknown killing her little by little
Two more days had passed and Kara awoke early, she stood and walked outside of her tent, she looked out over the cliff and in the direction that she was told home was in, she couldn't wait any longer, she was almost back to full heath, she even felt stronger in some aspects, Lena needed her, she couldn't just hide up here in the mountains any longer, not when she didn't know what horrors were being forced upon Lena if she was still alive, no she couldn't think like that, she had to believe Lena was still alive or there was no point to carrying on, she had to be alive
She ducked back into the tent and gathered the few things that had been given to her by the tribes people mainly clothing, she also grabbed the water skin, it would be a long walk back to the ranch, she thought a moment about trying to find some food in the camp but she recalled the tale of the raccoon stealing food, she didn't want to do that to the tribe after they had helped her so much
So she stepped out into the quiet camp and began to make her way to the edge of the woods
"Leaving?"
Kara whirled around to see the Chief standing behind her, his hands clasped behind his back as he watched her with his aged eyes
"I'm sorry Chief" a sudden wave of guilt flooded her "But I need to go, I need to find her"
The Chief continued to watch her, then looked to his left as though someone called his name, he stared out across the horizon
"It seems that perhaps the spirits agree with you" he returned his gaze to Kara "But I have to ask you to wait, give the spirits till sundown"
"Chief I appreciate everything you and the tribe have done for me but every moment I spend here is another moment of the one I love in danger" Kara could feel a lump growing in her throat "She thinks that she is alone, that's not if she's already…. I need to go"
The chief thought for a moment before nodding "I understand your urgency, I would not want to be stopped if my soul mate was in danger" he stepped forwards and placed a hand on both of her shoulders "You will always have safety with us, as will your raven haired woman"
He smiled at the young blonde, his eyes glinting slightly like he had been told a secret from an invisible presence
"Tala" he muttered "Yes, I must agree"
Kara frowned, was he talking to her? She hadn't said anything
The chief seemed to sense this "The spirits have given you a name young one, Tala, in English it would mean… Stalking white wolf"
Kara remained quiet, not really knowing what to say
"It is a name of strength and power and it means that the spirits have given you the honour of being part of the tribe"
There was a whinnying from behind Kara, she spun, her eyes searching the treeline
"And have given you your way home" he added
Kara could see Matoskah making his way through the trees, he was leading a horse
"DAKOTA!" Kara called out and sprinted towards the horse, wrapping her arms around his large neck, the horse grumbled in his throat, knocking his head against Kara in a greeting
"I'm so glad to see you" she patted his shoulder and ran a hand along his face and down to his muzzle, Dakota placing the weight of his head in it "I've missed you too buddy"
"You have a strong bond with this horse" Matoskah smiled down at her as he too used the back of his fingers to stroke the side of Dakota's head "He came all this way to find you"
Kara's smile broadened "He is my closest friend" The realisation hit Kara like a ton of bricks, she turned to see the Chief still standing there watching her and Dakota "The spirits"
The old man nodded "You pale faces might not believe in them but that does not mean that they are not all around us, helping and guiding those that will listen Tala"
"Tala?" Matoskah repeated "The spirits named you?" there was an excitement in his voice
"It is time Matoskah"
The younger man's smile faded as he looked to his Chief, he nodded
"I understand, I shall ride with you" he continued
"Matoskah" the chief's tone was warning
"Until the edge of our land" Matoskah added quickly "Make sure you take the quickest path, then I shall return"
The Chief still didn't look entirely convinced by this, but nevertheless he nodded, allowing the younger man to go
"Tala" the Chief took Kara's hand in his own aged and calloused ones "Be the brave wolf the spirits know you to be, but heed caution and remember Matoskah's training, I wish to see you well again one day"
Kara nodded, smiling at him "Thank you for everything Chief, I hope to see you too"
Kara turned to Matoskah, taking the reins of Dakota
"You wanna go home?" she whispered to him, stroking his neck
He snickered in agreement, head butting her gently
Kara mounted as Matoskah came riding over on a beautiful paint, it had handprints on it's coat and feathers strapped into it's bridal, Matoskah rode saddleless like the way Kara had imagined the native Americans to do when she was younger and heard stories of them
"Follow my lead"
Together they rode in almost silence, following unseen winding paths through the trees and along a river, the blonde's mind flashing back to the torturous memory of when Lena was ripped away from her and she and she had been beaten and dumped to the icy waters by Lex's men
"The past will ease with time" Matoskah's words were soft
Kara nodded though she kept her eyes on the route ahead of them, the forest this far out was still unfamiliar to her, though she doubted that the tribe wanted to be on a path easily found
It was not until midday that Kara recognised the dirt track ahead of them, it led out to an overlook, the view span was far, far enough to see the ranch, Kara's breath caught in her throat when she saw it, it was small and on the horizon, seeing it for the first time you wouldn't be able to tell what it was but Kara knew, she felt it in her heart, the home she had grown up in
"This is the furthest I have been east" Matoskah muttered as he looked out "Your home is out there?" he asked, glancing at Kara
Kara smiled "That dot on the horizon there, that's where I grew up"
"And your raven haired woman is there?"
The mention of Lena had Kara's heart speeding ever so fast, she could see home from here, the Luthor estate was just a little further
"She's just out of sight, at her family's plantation, unless they have sent her elsewhere" the blonde said a little prayer that it wasn't so, she had a feeling that Lillian Luthor would want to deal with Lena herself, she was sadistic like that
"This is where our paths divert" Matoskah mumbled, his hands going the satchel over his shoulder "I have something for you, for the journey the spirits have set for you"
Kara looked at him curiously
He pulled a small item from the satchel and handed it to Kara, the blonde turned it over in her hands, it was a dagger, smaller than the one that Kara had been training with, the handle was made from a pale wood, it was sleek and lightweight, but it felt durable, the fit almost perfect for Kara's hands, she then noticed the etching in the wood, the shape of a wolf ran along the handle
"A wolf?" she asked, recalling the name chosen for her by the spirits
Matoskah smiled "It came to me in a dream, it appears that the spirits had been planning your name for quite some time, Tala"
Kara returned her gaze to the blade "I don't know what to say" she smiled "Thank you Matoskah"
"I hope that this is not the last time we see each other Tala"
"I don't know if I will ever get used to that name" Kara looked to Matoskah who had been her friend and trainer through the time she had been at the tribe's camp, he and the thought of Lena had been the only things that had gotten her through
"I hope someday I can come see you again, you have been a good friend"
"I would like to meet your raven haired woman, the one who has captured your heart so" he extended a hand to Kara
Kara grasped his wrist as his large hand wrapped around hers in the greeting of the tribe
"I hope that too Matoskah"
"The spirits will watch over you, whenever you are in doubt, listen and they will speak to you" Matoskah took his hand and pulled on the reins of his horse, he turned and started to make his way back up the path
Kara watched him go, she flipped the knife over in her hands and tucked it into her belt, looking out across the horizon, towards her home
"Let's get going" she muttered to Dakota