I do not own The Last of the Mohicans.

I do still love them so. And this fandom.

Into the Wild

In Dawning Day


Uncas has taken point outside the cabin.

Facing the birthing hut he and his brother and his father have built.

The flap is closed, he cannot see in.

But he knows that beyond his vision are the woman he loves.

And her sister.

They have been within a long time.

He wonders if all is well and if is it not, what might be done.

The screams that make his blood chill tell him that one way or another, are nearing an end.

And he clenches his jaw, steels himself.

And continues standing sentinel.

For, as but a man, there is naught else he can do.


The baby has fallen out, the inches it thumped to the ground begun its own screaming.

Alice, being quick, as her sister sagged with exhausted relief, maneuvered her to the side and gathered up the child from the ground.

It is a boy, if the thing between its legs is of any judge to its sex.

A boy of ten fingers and ten toes.

And healthy, fully functional sets of lungs from which he wails his disgust and outrage with the world he has been thrust into.

Out of dust and one day into dust again, the child is already coated in a layer sticking to the fluids from which he has swayed for months.

And Alice reaches for the cloth set aside for this moment.

Wipes down his body quick, remembering that a firm hand is good for warming and cleaning and healthy awakening.

She wraps him in fur, beaver she thinks, by the texture and size.

And turns then to her sister.

Cora is shaking, shivering so much Alice heart panicks in alarm . . .

"Cora? Cora?"

. . . dismay.

"I . . . am . . . cold."


The screams have ceased.

Though the man standing sentinel fancies he hears a fainter cry in the night now.

His heart leaps into renewed pounding and he alerts ever more toward the birthing hut.

Hands gripping the stock of the long gun before him so tightly his knuckles whiten unnoticed in the blackness.

He waits, eons, it seems, for the woman he loves to show herself.

He waits and he waits and he waits.

And, barely perceptible in the vaguest wisps of the coming dawn, the covering to the hut twitches aside.

And he sees her.

Recognizable not by the distinctive features of her face that he loves so.

Not by the silken corn flax of her pale hair he pleases to touch, not the svelteness of her form that fits so pleasantly to his hands.

But by the fact that she is standing.

Moving.

And able to do so.

No wounds in battle, no exhaustion so pervasive he imagines as the woman who has just completed a birthing.

Uncas is certain he would be able to nothing for nigh on a week afterward what the woman his brother loves has endured.

A month.

A year.

And so he knows it is her, knows it is Alice.

Standing there in the dim light of the advancing morning.

She is the signal, her presence there.

And he is filled with joy.

She is there.

All is well.

And he nods, just the slightest bit, eyes near agleam with relief and revelation.

And he turns.

Back the way he came.

Long gun still in hand.

Circumvents the small cabin.

Opens the door and steps inside.

His father remains at the table, a man more patient than any creature has ever Uncas observed in his years upon the earth.

And his adopted brother.

Having turned so quick, in a blink of an eye, it seems his face has appeared from the back of his head.

His dark eyes, the wildness in them more prominent than ever.

Mouth slightly open, teeth nearly bared in intensity of the moment.

Hair afly and wild.

And words seem, for the rarest of occasions, to have completely left his tongue.

And Uncas moves only his eyes to look to first his brother, then his father.

And back again.

And smiles.


Alice is wrapping her sister warmly within the heavy furs of a long past grizzly.

Child within, cradled to her breast, now calming in the embrace of the only one to whom he has been enveloped the entirety of his existence thus far.

She is calming as well, the mother.

Enchantment and awe at this tiny babe whom she now cradles overwhelming, for the moment, any pain and discomfort and trauma she might have felt only moments ago.

Cora is pale and weak, all strength and energy depleted by the ordeal she has just endured.

Her sister has cared for the child, wiped him down clean, rubbed him warm in the chill of the outer world.

She has given him to his mother, kissed them both in relief and love.

And as Alice is rising from the transcended pair, Nathaniel appears.

Having vertabily burst from the cabin the moment his Mohican brother smiled, he has raced on numb legs to the hut and ducked inside so quick and fleet that the flap barely moved.

And is now standing wide-eyed and in absolute wonder at his wife.

The woman he saved on the George Road.

The woman he esorted throughout the wilderness.

The woman who surprised him with a stolen musket, a cutting tongue.

And a love unanticipated in the whole of his life.

He is standing and staring, as if this is the only moment that has or ever will ever be of import to him.

She had been gazing down at the child in her arms.

The child so worn and weary-looking itself, all heavy-lidded eyes and pursed lips.

And Cora, cheeks and lips bright red against the unnatural paleness of the rest of her body, looks up and sees . . .

"Nathaniel-"

. . . him.

He starts to move, only to have a hand press his arm.

"Gently," Alice Munroe murmurs low. "The labor has been hard."

And so the rough tough ruthless warrior responds in a softer, more humbled, more halting tone than Alice has imagined he would utter in all her days.

"Yes. Yes, of course. Thank you, Alice. I will be forever in your debt."

Then moves to his wife and firstborn child.

Lowers himself carefully to their side.

Reaching an arm around her to cradle the weakened frame. Kiss the damp forehead.

As the tears of joy and gratitude track silently down his face.

And with the other, gently stroke the cheek of his . . .

"It is a boy, Nathaniel."

. . . firstborn son.

"He is beautiful, Cora."


The child has fallen asleep.

Her support and cleanup complete, mother and child and father united and together, Alice smiles gently at the three of them.

And, pulling the flap aside, leaves them to their family bonding.

Chingachgook stands a close distance away, allowing the new parents the privacy of their new child.

Yet ready to move forward to take part in that joy in his own turn.

His smile is warm and proud as Alice moves toward him.

Reaches out a gentle hand to take hers.

They do not speak with their mouths but his eyes are warm and proud as he takes hold of her hand in a warm embrace.

You have done well, Wënichana.

I have done what I could, Wètuxëmùksit.

Uncas is beyond, a further bit away, allowing his elder the honor of his age and station.

Alice moves to him, steps into his welcoming embrace.

His body is warm and the smell of him a refreshment to her.

But in his embrace, all of her own strength drains away from her in an instant because it can now.

And she feels herself begin to tremble, sag.

Tears that were not in her eyes moments ago now streak down her face of their own accord.

He releases her enough to peer into her face with searching eyes.

"I am alright," she hears a voice say.

And realizes it as her own as the man she loves reaches down and smoothly lifts her up in a protective embrace as her legs become water and shaking overwhelms her.

She feels him carry her away as her weary head lolls upon his shoulder.

Feels tendrils of his coarse, dark hair waft across her face.

The reverberation of his softly rumbled reply.

"Nuli watu."

I know you are.

And then she allows the world to fade from her for a while.

As the morning sun rises upon a fresh, new day.

And new life upon it.


Whew, I feel like collapsing too, don't you? ;)

Reviews aren't popping up to reply to but I'm getting them thru my email. When they do come thru on fic, I will reply to each of you because I love chatting with you!

I also couldn't just leave Cora in heavy labor that long so I did decide to post. I mean, have mercy.

In the meantime, thanks to ELY72, MohawkWoman, AsterLaurel, Conbird, and BrynnaRaven for reviewing! :D