"NO!" This time the chorus included Red Hand and the Shaman. The irony that this was the first thing they had all agreed to since negotiations began passed over them briefly and they shared a collective blink. The Shaman recovered first.
"NO...no one sees Silver Totem but Shaker of Bones!" He trembled with age and wounded pride. "This is Silver Totem's wish!"
"Really?" asked The Doctor lowering Leela's arm and leaning in intently. "You mean no one has ever seen this Silver Totem fellow but you?"
Artie watched the Shaman carefully. "NO ONE!" The old man screamed.
"Then how does the rest of the tribe know Silver Totem even exists?" asked Artie.
The betting died down and the old man shot Artie a venomous glare through the torchlight. The tribe watched expectantly. Red Hand especially.
"I have seen him!" Owl's Eyes stepped from the crowd and all gazes followed him. "I helped to erect the special teepee the shaman ordered for him." He lowered his head. "Forgive me shaman...we were ordered to leave but I hid on the hillside and saw Silver Totem as he entered his new home. He was tall, and covered in silver skin and his head was large and looked like a kachina. I wasn't close but I know what I saw. I saw the shaman and I saw Silver Totem. Forgive me shaman for my disobedience."
The old man gave a sly, smug grin and nodded patronizingly and placed a fatherly hand on the brave's shoulder. "You are forgiven." Then he turned triumphantly to the crowd.
The Doctor smiled. "Well then...we'd be forgiven for a little visit wouldn't we? What harm would there be?"
The old man's smile evaporated. "No!"
Red Hand raised a hand for silence. "I cannot let the girl fight."
The girl looked at him, no longer confused but defiant. "And why not?!"
Red Hand looked at her worriedly. Artie knew Red Hand had daughters and his look was far more fatherly then the shaman's attempt had been. "Because this fight...for honor...for judgment...is to the death. Kills like Bear fights because two of the braves who died were his brothers. He makes the sacrifice willingly for the cause of justice for his family. But what do you fight for?"
Leela stood taller and faced Kills like Bear standing within arm's reach of the huge warrior. "It is good that he fights for honor. It is good that he seeks justice. I too, am a warrior. I am a tribesman of the Sevateem! And I fight for justice as well. I would be honored to battle Kills like Bear. I would fight to prove our innocence, if your law demands such as display, and I would win."
The silence was explosive. So much of Leela's statement was beyond belief...beyond ridiculous that there should have been laughter. But there wasn't. Red Hand distracted Leela by lifting her hand gently in his and turning it over, seeming to examine it for signs of the truth, and then he lifted his eyes to hers again. "This is to...the...death."
"Oh don't worry...Leela won't kill anyone. She's sworn off that. Haven't you Leela?"
All eyes turned to The Doctor who grinned.
"So do we have a deal? Leela wins, and we see Silver Totem."
The betting was back...the crowd grew louder ...Red Hand, still holding Leela's hand, looked pensive.
"James West, if you battle Kills like Bear, you might win. I know your reputation as a warrior and know that you would battle honorably. But a win will just send you and your friends home. This woman's reputation is unknown to me. I do not know this Sevateem tribe she speaks of....but I believe she speaks true. She accepts challenge, and the people desire this challenge."
Jim stepped forward, his stance tense with worry. "My friend's and my life depend on this battle too Red Hand. I do not let women fight for me...I like living."
There was chuckling coming from the crowd. Leela clearly bristled, but held her tongue admirably.
Their lives rested on this battle and Artie knew they at least stood a chance with Jim...but he couldn't...in all honesty...discount the girl.
Red Hand nodded. "This is difficult." Then he turned to the big warrior who had stood like a sullen tree watching with hooded eyes.
"Kills like Bear. Your brothers lay dead and you believe the white men have violated the treaty made with your tribe." The chief laid a compassionate hand on the warrior's chest. "Two stand ready to meet your challenge and the tribe's justice. You will choose who you will fight."
The warrior nodded and strode forward and stood in front of Jim and Leela, seeming to look at them both simultaneously. He didn't move.
Jim, shirtless, stood in the heat of the bonfire and torchlight, looking, as always, fit and quietly confidant. His hands clasped behind him. He stood with a steady gaze, calm, ready.
Leela, too, stood calm and confident, as tall as Jim, lean and well proportioned.
One hand rested on her empty scabbard at her hip, as though it was it's natural place, the other hand at her side a fist casually clenched.
Both of them held an almost kinetic energy. Motionless, but their stillness full of possibilities. Jim looked maybe over confidant, slightly, but probably only noticeable to Artie, who knew him so well.
The same could be said for Kills like Bear. Silent and thoughtful but a face that betrayed nothing he stood for what seemed like an eternity.
When his mouth opened it was a deep, pain-filled rumble.
"Her." He pointed at Leela and cheers went up from satisfied bettors.
Red Hand nodded. "And why?"
Kills like Bear nodded at Leela. "I care not for who walks on our land, or who digs for gold, or treaties. But this one..." He inclined his head at Leela. "Was witnessed over my little brother's body. She accepts the challenge like a warrior...with the words of a brave. She wants to live and save her friend's life as much as this other one. But she understands what the fight means to me." He nodded with respect to that. "The other one's only other concern is not to have a woman chosen over him."
"It is decided." Artie pulled Jim back towards him just before he could make a protest. He knew Red Hand would let the decision stand and arguing it would be considered an insult to the leader and his tribe. Jim knew it too and held his tongue with difficulty.
The Doctor, who had watched with respectful silence, which Artie suspected he didn't usually do, smiled.
"Then it's on...Leela wins, and we visit Silver Totem?"
Red Hand nodded as the Shaman glowered in the background. "Or she loses...dies...and you all die."
"It is no matter!" Interrupted Shaker of Bones. "She will lose!" He spat on the ground and stalked away.
The Doctor didn't blink. "Can we have time to prepare?" he asked politely. "Oh...and can I have my bag of sweets again please...I'm hungry."
"You have one hour." And the bag of candy was handed to the tall stranger by one of the braves and the Chief returned to his teepee casting one sorrowful look at Leela before the flap closed behind him.
"Well that was a lucky thing." clapped The Doctor as they were escorted to a place near the racks of drying buffalo hides.
"Lucky?" Jim growled. "That giant is going to kill your friend and we're all going to end up with our scalps hanging from his spear and you call that lucky?"
Artie cleared his throat and Leela tensed. The enormity of the coming fight was weighing in on her. "Can she really beat that guy?" He asked The Doctor. For the first time he saw the Doctor actually seem to consider that question. There was an almost paternal worry that clouded his eyes for a moment and he seemed to gaze at nothing in particular.
"I didn't want to. You see we've been weaning Leela out of her savage upbringing." He whispered conspiratorially. "She has potential you know. But her prowess at knocking people about has come in handy at times, I hate to say." He grinned at her. "I don't exhaust myself having to rescue her very often. She's a capable little brute."
This must have been high, and unexpected, praise because it pulled Leela out of her reverie with a blush.
"However..." The Doctor held out his hand and gave her a stern look.
The girl seemed to grasp the gesture immediately and reached up and pulled something out from under her hair. It was a small tufted thorn. She laid it, carefully, in her mentor's hand. He, in turn, retrieved a strange candy from the battered bag in his pocket and stuck the thorn into the sweet and repocketed the bag and stoppered thorn.
"No more of these on you?" he admonished. The girl shook her head. He grinned. "Good girl. Leela...you mustn't kill the boy. Do you understand?"
"I will try Doctor." Leela was serious and tense again. "But don't make me promise. The nature of a challenge battle like this may force me to complete the challenge fully or offer an unforgivable insult. You need to see this Silver Totem. If he can solve this crime...or if he is responsible...I may have to fulfill this task to get us what we need."
The Doctor frowned at this but nodded his head curtly.
Jim was now watching Leela with an unreadable expression. Though the idea she might win was foreign to him...it was clear that she grasped the situation and dynamics of the coming fight with an almost soldierly clarity.
The exchange struck Artie as surreal. It was time to follow a different subject.
He turned to his friend. "Jim...do you think its Loveless? That suit of armor he used when he was pretending to be the "Lord of the Forest"...he almost had us at war that time with the Indians."
Jim chewed his lower lip. "It might be...though I don't see how. We destroyed that contraption. No. Loveless tends to bother us most in California. He thinks it's his by inheritance. He has never had designs on the Colorado territory that I know of."
Artie grunted agreement. "But he's insane Jim...as well as a genius. He could have rebuilt the armor and his designs are always changing."
"That's just it Artie. The designs change with Loveless..." James West was buttoning back up his shirt as he spoke. "He's never repeated a gimmick...ever."
"No." The Doctor said low. "I fear we are looking at something more sophisticated then any man here, on Earth, could conceive. No matter his genius. Those men were killed with a weapon that will not be possible, on this planet, for another 500 years. If my suspicions are correct you may have more to worry about then an Indian war and treaties. You may be looking at the end of your world."
Artemus Gordon should have been looking at this man with as though he was crazy, but there was something in the distressed seriousness of his intense blue gaze that precluded mockery. The Doctor and Leela were an unknown element...possibly unstable as well...but Artie couldn't seem to help the shiver that ran up his spine.
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Their hour was melting away and Jim looked around again. The braves who guarded them silently watched their every move and their horses were on the other side of the encampment, hobbled with the painted ponies of the tribe. Finally with a growl of frustration he took Leela abruptly by the elbow and took her to a corner of their guard ringed enclosure and turned her to face him.
She did not resist the move, nor did she seem unsettled by it. She looked at him expectantly, her eyes narrowed a little. Jim thought that she'd be very pretty if she scowled less, but shook off the thought quickly.
He lowered his voice so that only she could hear him. "You do whatever you have to in order to survive...do you understand me?" Her eyes opened wider and she nodded almost imperceptibly. Yes...she was prettier with the scowl gone. "Artie and I have a few surprises of our own...if we can...we'll help."
The girl touched his arm. "Get the chain with the strange pendant during the fight. And the little metal pole with the red crystal. Give them to the Doctor. If I die...the Doctor has a Magic Box...a ship...that you can escape in near by. It is your best chance."
He looked at her skeptically. She scowled again. "Trust us!" she pleaded with frustration. The braves stirred around them and he knew their hour was up. Without another second's hesitation he took her in his arms and kissed her. She didn't resist though she stiffened for a moment, caught off guard, but she returned the kiss with brief but ardent gusto.
"Ahem!" Leela jumped and turned to see the Doctor standing behind her.
"Pep talk?" He asked calmly watching both their faces.
Jim had the distinct feeling of being caught by a girl's father in a compromising position. But The Doctor's head bobbed with enthusiasm.
"Heart rate accelerated...adrenaline boost...respiration up...blood oxygenated...hmmm well it isn't The Charge of the Light Brigade, but Leela appears sufficiently motivated. Thank you Mr. West."
He covered his mouth and cleared his throat. "My pleasure." He found himself grinning.
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The kiss HAD been a surprise. As had been her reaction to it. She had watched the man West with suspicion...sometimes with extreme dislike...for the last few hours. But as a trained warrior himself, she had not resisted being pulled away to the side by him. She had thought he would probably do just that...to consult with her about the coming fight and maybe offer a tip or two. The kiss was NOT something that had entered her head as a tool to prepare one for battle. But apparently The Doctor approved of the physical reaction it had engendered in her. Was it people outside her Tribe who confused her...or men in general?
Probably just men, she decided.
And they could get more confusing. The Doctor, as they walked with their guards towards the large ring cleared of people and debris, put his large hand in hers and gave it a reassuring squeeze. Whether he was reassuring himself or her she couldn't tell, but as they walked she saw him glance at her nervously once or twice, his face clouded. For all the confidence he had in putting her forward as their champion, he worried. Whether for her or all of their futures she couldn't imagine...but she knew one thing. That The Doctor must suspect a very great danger, indeed, in order to actually be encouraging her in her savage ways. So she decided to be the most savage "savage" she could be to accommodate him.
Once they reached the circle of earth, The Doctor partially turned and looked down at her, his great eyes searching her face, which she deliberately kept impassive. It was an awkward moment. Then he clasped both her shoulders with a strength that startled her, and gave her the quickest of pecks on her forehead.
"Win." He whispered. But his eyes were telling her to 'Be careful.' And she knew..and he knew...that that was impossible.
Then came a surprise for all of them. Red Hand ordered the rest of her small group to be tied to poles surrounding the ring.
"I am sorry West...Gordon," said Red Hand sorrowfully. "But I cannot have you trying to help the girl. If she wins you will be free. If she loses I will make your deaths swift."
Leela watched as they drew The Doctor, unresisting, to a pole as his eyes stayed on her. He tried to smile at her in his silliest, most endearing way, but the worry in his gaze made her uncomfortable and she turned away. West and Gordon protested, West testing his bonds with angry frustration. Someone had been thorough.
Red Hand led her to the ring's center by her elbow and once there he handed her back her knife with a small bow and retreated to the ring's edge. Leela turned the hilt in her hand until the worn, smooth leather fell into the grooves of her hand, as it should. She took a deep breath, comforted by it's weight, knowing it's length like it were part of her arm and knowing it's balance made her feel steadier...as though she had stood lopsided without it.
War whoops tore through the chilling night air and Leela saw Kills Like Bear coming through the crowd parting it like a leper as his tribesmen stood away to show respect for the giant brave. As he came to the edge of the ring an old woman who had held his hand parted from him with a sad nod. Her tears clear in her eyes and on her cheeks from even a distance...shining in the torchlight and full moon. His mother. The dead braves' mother. She lowered her head respectfully to the older woman and saw a stiffening of her spine and a deepening of her frown.
The brave was bare to the waist, his long hair in a braid down his back. His huge hand grasping a knife that was longer then hers slightly...but still looked like a toy in his fist. She fell into a wary crouch and her feet moved sidelong, taking her to the opposite side of the ring and in the opposite direction of his circling. She needed to see how he moved...how he held himself...and how, and what, he watched about her before she could make a move. And from the way he moved, she knew he was making the same determinations.
The battle had begun.
He took an experimental slash toward her left side and she turned away from it. An inexperienced fighter would leap back and risk falling over, instead she made a complete turn, low and quick and made an equal slash towards her opponent who opened his arms wide and turned away. His eyes widened, just a touch. He took a more daring lunge the next time. She caught his wrist with her left hand and brought her elbow down into the crook of his arm, bending his arm upward and drawing herself to him, her right hand stabbing forward trying for his upper chest. He grabbed for her hand and caught the knife slightly. She had drawn first blood, but he had stopped her blow in mid air and held her easily. He threw her away from him as hard as he could and she rolled backwards twice before coming to a stop on her back.
On instinct she rolled to the left and felt the ground tremble as Kills like Bear crashed, blade first, into the place she had just vacated. She rolled to her feet and scampered back. Bear jumped up and they began their circling dance again.
"You are a warrior." His voice rumbled. "I had hoped what I'd heard in your words was true. I have never killed a woman...I feared that the warriors would say I chose an honorless fight...an easy kill."
She didn't let the compliment pause her. "You bleed first Kills like Bear." She switched her knife, fluidly, from her right to her left hand, and nearly connected with his upper right arm in a rabbit fast lunge. "A Sevateem Warrior is never an 'easy kill'."
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Artie tried once more to loosen his hands enough to do any good...to reach anything secreted on his person. But the braves had done a good job. His fingers were almost numb and the tips were starting to throb. He stopped trying.
The girl, Leela, was holding her own. More then holding her own, in fact. But the brave was big...and fast...and as Artie watched, Bear made a broad and serious stab at Leela and her back arched away to avoid it, throwing her off balance. He continued through the stab to catch her under the ribs with his shoulder and tackle her to the ground, her knife skidding away from her grip in the dirt from the bone jarring impact.
Jim threw himself against his bonds uselessly and Artie knew he didn't imagine The Doctor's face grow pale as the massive brave began pressing his blade toward Leela's heaving chest as her arms strained to resist the relentless progress.
Bear did not smile or gloat as he pressed the knife forward. As the tip knicked her skin and a trickle of blood welled and fell towards her throat, he spared a glance at her face, which was a mask of desperate concentration as she pushed helplessly at his arm.
"You fought well." He said loud enough for the crowd to hear and they applauded their agreement...Bear's coming victory...or both.
Artie felt sick as he thought of the explosives in his boot heel and the knife in his lapel and his inability to reach either. The Doctor, his face blanching and his mad blue eyes, wide and near as panicked as Jim's strained struggles, shouted suddenly in a hoarse, choked, voice.
"Leela!" He bellowed angrily. "Get up you stupid little barbarian! I swear...you fight like Neeva...NO...you fight like a TESH!"
A furious scream welled out of Leela at this, Artie imagined, insult, and Leela's legs moved in a way that reminded Artie, inappropriately, of an accomplished French young lady he had had the pleasure of knowing and wrapped themselves forward around Bear's broad chest. The brave looked down startled at the double-jointed maneuver just before he toppled backward off her chest and between her legs, the back of his head striking the well packed earth with a vibrating thud. She launched herself onto his chest instead and snatched the knife from his open palm and pressed it forward under his jaw, her eyes ablaze with savage triumph. One thrust and victory was hers!
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A muffled sob in a sea of cheers caught Leela's ears and she stopped. Kills like Bear hadn't moved...he was still stunned his head still ringing from the slam into the earth...he was at her mercy and the rule's called for his death. But the eyes of the frightened old woman's had stolen Leela's fury. She stood and with a deliberate flick of her wrist the knife embedded itself in the dirt beside Bear's ear, knicking it.
She raised her fist. "I claim victory! I demand we be freed!"
Red Hand stepped forward sadly. "You have to kill...to win."
"I have no right to take an old woman's last son. If I did," she said respectfully bowing to the Chief. "I would not win...I would be a murderer...and I have told you before. I, and my," She looked at The Doctor and pointedly at West and Gordon. "FRIENDS...are not murderers."
Red Hand stepped up to Leela and she stiffened as he put his arms around her and hugged her tightly. She relaxed into the hug with a tired relief. When the Chief released her he smiled broadly, the first time she could recall seeing him do anything but frown, and he turned her in the direction of the deepest depth of the audience.
"Leela, Warrior of Sevateem is the victor!"
The cheer was deafening and Leela was almost knocked over by the force of it, of the tribe who pressed in on her to touch her and pat her head and shoulders. The crowd parted slightly, but lowered its volume, as Kills like Bear walked through it with her knife in his hand. Leela watched him warily, until he turned the handle to her and presented her with her weapon and smiled. She took the blade and sheathed it and put her arm out. He clasped it high near the elbow and shook it firmly then let go and retreated into the crowd. His mother stepped forward and her apple doll face crinkled in a grateful smile and she kissed Leela's cheek and followed her son, disappearing into the crowd.
She had not been able to see the release of the others. The Doctor appeared like a ghost behind her and placed a large hand on her shoulder and she turned. She wanted to hit him for his remarks earlier but he was smiling so warmly that all she really felt like doing now was melt against him and allow him to keep her upright. Then West stepped out of the din of faces and Leela stood straight and inclined her head to him not sure what she should do. West's solution was to draw her into a mind numbing kiss that made her nearly as close to passing out as she was when Kills like Bear tackled her with his shoulder. Though she had to say...she preferred West's way better. When he let her up for air the one called Artie pushed a wet cloth into her grateful hands and she daubed at the dirt on her face then cleaned away the blood on her chest.
The Doctor had wandered away...not far...Leela could see that he watched Shaker of Bones who glared at them dangerously. The Doctor smiled back at him. Leela's attention was brought back to the crowd around her as Red Hand ordained a celebration for her. She felt the blush rise in her cheeks.
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The girl had fallen to sleep in his arms as they sat before the bonfire. The last of the tribe had gone back to their teepees. The day of negotiations, death, anger and battle had culminated in a feeling of goodwill toward Leela's compassion. And as she lay exhausted against his chest while The Doctor and Artie spoke in hushed voices, Jim had to wonder if he would have been so compassionate. He was a capable fighter. He didn't doubt that he would have won had he been chosen. But the win would only have allowed them to leave before their job was really done. This strange girl's actions had saved them and possibly the negotiations as well. Jim lifted Leela gently. The Doctor glanced up from his conversation with Artie and eyed him curiously.
"I'm taking her to the teepee to sleep..." he had the uncomfortable feeling of being watched by a paternal figure again. "I'll be right back."
The Doctor nodded and smiled at the girl.
"Taught her everything I know." His white teeth shone proudly.
West looked at the odd man doubtfully. "To fight?"
"To win," His eyes sparkled in the dancing flames. "...the right way."
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"NO...no one sees Silver Totem but Shaker of Bones!" He trembled with age and wounded pride. "This is Silver Totem's wish!"
"Really?" asked The Doctor lowering Leela's arm and leaning in intently. "You mean no one has ever seen this Silver Totem fellow but you?"
Artie watched the Shaman carefully. "NO ONE!" The old man screamed.
"Then how does the rest of the tribe know Silver Totem even exists?" asked Artie.
The betting died down and the old man shot Artie a venomous glare through the torchlight. The tribe watched expectantly. Red Hand especially.
"I have seen him!" Owl's Eyes stepped from the crowd and all gazes followed him. "I helped to erect the special teepee the shaman ordered for him." He lowered his head. "Forgive me shaman...we were ordered to leave but I hid on the hillside and saw Silver Totem as he entered his new home. He was tall, and covered in silver skin and his head was large and looked like a kachina. I wasn't close but I know what I saw. I saw the shaman and I saw Silver Totem. Forgive me shaman for my disobedience."
The old man gave a sly, smug grin and nodded patronizingly and placed a fatherly hand on the brave's shoulder. "You are forgiven." Then he turned triumphantly to the crowd.
The Doctor smiled. "Well then...we'd be forgiven for a little visit wouldn't we? What harm would there be?"
The old man's smile evaporated. "No!"
Red Hand raised a hand for silence. "I cannot let the girl fight."
The girl looked at him, no longer confused but defiant. "And why not?!"
Red Hand looked at her worriedly. Artie knew Red Hand had daughters and his look was far more fatherly then the shaman's attempt had been. "Because this fight...for honor...for judgment...is to the death. Kills like Bear fights because two of the braves who died were his brothers. He makes the sacrifice willingly for the cause of justice for his family. But what do you fight for?"
Leela stood taller and faced Kills like Bear standing within arm's reach of the huge warrior. "It is good that he fights for honor. It is good that he seeks justice. I too, am a warrior. I am a tribesman of the Sevateem! And I fight for justice as well. I would be honored to battle Kills like Bear. I would fight to prove our innocence, if your law demands such as display, and I would win."
The silence was explosive. So much of Leela's statement was beyond belief...beyond ridiculous that there should have been laughter. But there wasn't. Red Hand distracted Leela by lifting her hand gently in his and turning it over, seeming to examine it for signs of the truth, and then he lifted his eyes to hers again. "This is to...the...death."
"Oh don't worry...Leela won't kill anyone. She's sworn off that. Haven't you Leela?"
All eyes turned to The Doctor who grinned.
"So do we have a deal? Leela wins, and we see Silver Totem."
The betting was back...the crowd grew louder ...Red Hand, still holding Leela's hand, looked pensive.
"James West, if you battle Kills like Bear, you might win. I know your reputation as a warrior and know that you would battle honorably. But a win will just send you and your friends home. This woman's reputation is unknown to me. I do not know this Sevateem tribe she speaks of....but I believe she speaks true. She accepts challenge, and the people desire this challenge."
Jim stepped forward, his stance tense with worry. "My friend's and my life depend on this battle too Red Hand. I do not let women fight for me...I like living."
There was chuckling coming from the crowd. Leela clearly bristled, but held her tongue admirably.
Their lives rested on this battle and Artie knew they at least stood a chance with Jim...but he couldn't...in all honesty...discount the girl.
Red Hand nodded. "This is difficult." Then he turned to the big warrior who had stood like a sullen tree watching with hooded eyes.
"Kills like Bear. Your brothers lay dead and you believe the white men have violated the treaty made with your tribe." The chief laid a compassionate hand on the warrior's chest. "Two stand ready to meet your challenge and the tribe's justice. You will choose who you will fight."
The warrior nodded and strode forward and stood in front of Jim and Leela, seeming to look at them both simultaneously. He didn't move.
Jim, shirtless, stood in the heat of the bonfire and torchlight, looking, as always, fit and quietly confidant. His hands clasped behind him. He stood with a steady gaze, calm, ready.
Leela, too, stood calm and confident, as tall as Jim, lean and well proportioned.
One hand rested on her empty scabbard at her hip, as though it was it's natural place, the other hand at her side a fist casually clenched.
Both of them held an almost kinetic energy. Motionless, but their stillness full of possibilities. Jim looked maybe over confidant, slightly, but probably only noticeable to Artie, who knew him so well.
The same could be said for Kills like Bear. Silent and thoughtful but a face that betrayed nothing he stood for what seemed like an eternity.
When his mouth opened it was a deep, pain-filled rumble.
"Her." He pointed at Leela and cheers went up from satisfied bettors.
Red Hand nodded. "And why?"
Kills like Bear nodded at Leela. "I care not for who walks on our land, or who digs for gold, or treaties. But this one..." He inclined his head at Leela. "Was witnessed over my little brother's body. She accepts the challenge like a warrior...with the words of a brave. She wants to live and save her friend's life as much as this other one. But she understands what the fight means to me." He nodded with respect to that. "The other one's only other concern is not to have a woman chosen over him."
"It is decided." Artie pulled Jim back towards him just before he could make a protest. He knew Red Hand would let the decision stand and arguing it would be considered an insult to the leader and his tribe. Jim knew it too and held his tongue with difficulty.
The Doctor, who had watched with respectful silence, which Artie suspected he didn't usually do, smiled.
"Then it's on...Leela wins, and we visit Silver Totem?"
Red Hand nodded as the Shaman glowered in the background. "Or she loses...dies...and you all die."
"It is no matter!" Interrupted Shaker of Bones. "She will lose!" He spat on the ground and stalked away.
The Doctor didn't blink. "Can we have time to prepare?" he asked politely. "Oh...and can I have my bag of sweets again please...I'm hungry."
"You have one hour." And the bag of candy was handed to the tall stranger by one of the braves and the Chief returned to his teepee casting one sorrowful look at Leela before the flap closed behind him.
"Well that was a lucky thing." clapped The Doctor as they were escorted to a place near the racks of drying buffalo hides.
"Lucky?" Jim growled. "That giant is going to kill your friend and we're all going to end up with our scalps hanging from his spear and you call that lucky?"
Artie cleared his throat and Leela tensed. The enormity of the coming fight was weighing in on her. "Can she really beat that guy?" He asked The Doctor. For the first time he saw the Doctor actually seem to consider that question. There was an almost paternal worry that clouded his eyes for a moment and he seemed to gaze at nothing in particular.
"I didn't want to. You see we've been weaning Leela out of her savage upbringing." He whispered conspiratorially. "She has potential you know. But her prowess at knocking people about has come in handy at times, I hate to say." He grinned at her. "I don't exhaust myself having to rescue her very often. She's a capable little brute."
This must have been high, and unexpected, praise because it pulled Leela out of her reverie with a blush.
"However..." The Doctor held out his hand and gave her a stern look.
The girl seemed to grasp the gesture immediately and reached up and pulled something out from under her hair. It was a small tufted thorn. She laid it, carefully, in her mentor's hand. He, in turn, retrieved a strange candy from the battered bag in his pocket and stuck the thorn into the sweet and repocketed the bag and stoppered thorn.
"No more of these on you?" he admonished. The girl shook her head. He grinned. "Good girl. Leela...you mustn't kill the boy. Do you understand?"
"I will try Doctor." Leela was serious and tense again. "But don't make me promise. The nature of a challenge battle like this may force me to complete the challenge fully or offer an unforgivable insult. You need to see this Silver Totem. If he can solve this crime...or if he is responsible...I may have to fulfill this task to get us what we need."
The Doctor frowned at this but nodded his head curtly.
Jim was now watching Leela with an unreadable expression. Though the idea she might win was foreign to him...it was clear that she grasped the situation and dynamics of the coming fight with an almost soldierly clarity.
The exchange struck Artie as surreal. It was time to follow a different subject.
He turned to his friend. "Jim...do you think its Loveless? That suit of armor he used when he was pretending to be the "Lord of the Forest"...he almost had us at war that time with the Indians."
Jim chewed his lower lip. "It might be...though I don't see how. We destroyed that contraption. No. Loveless tends to bother us most in California. He thinks it's his by inheritance. He has never had designs on the Colorado territory that I know of."
Artie grunted agreement. "But he's insane Jim...as well as a genius. He could have rebuilt the armor and his designs are always changing."
"That's just it Artie. The designs change with Loveless..." James West was buttoning back up his shirt as he spoke. "He's never repeated a gimmick...ever."
"No." The Doctor said low. "I fear we are looking at something more sophisticated then any man here, on Earth, could conceive. No matter his genius. Those men were killed with a weapon that will not be possible, on this planet, for another 500 years. If my suspicions are correct you may have more to worry about then an Indian war and treaties. You may be looking at the end of your world."
Artemus Gordon should have been looking at this man with as though he was crazy, but there was something in the distressed seriousness of his intense blue gaze that precluded mockery. The Doctor and Leela were an unknown element...possibly unstable as well...but Artie couldn't seem to help the shiver that ran up his spine.
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Their hour was melting away and Jim looked around again. The braves who guarded them silently watched their every move and their horses were on the other side of the encampment, hobbled with the painted ponies of the tribe. Finally with a growl of frustration he took Leela abruptly by the elbow and took her to a corner of their guard ringed enclosure and turned her to face him.
She did not resist the move, nor did she seem unsettled by it. She looked at him expectantly, her eyes narrowed a little. Jim thought that she'd be very pretty if she scowled less, but shook off the thought quickly.
He lowered his voice so that only she could hear him. "You do whatever you have to in order to survive...do you understand me?" Her eyes opened wider and she nodded almost imperceptibly. Yes...she was prettier with the scowl gone. "Artie and I have a few surprises of our own...if we can...we'll help."
The girl touched his arm. "Get the chain with the strange pendant during the fight. And the little metal pole with the red crystal. Give them to the Doctor. If I die...the Doctor has a Magic Box...a ship...that you can escape in near by. It is your best chance."
He looked at her skeptically. She scowled again. "Trust us!" she pleaded with frustration. The braves stirred around them and he knew their hour was up. Without another second's hesitation he took her in his arms and kissed her. She didn't resist though she stiffened for a moment, caught off guard, but she returned the kiss with brief but ardent gusto.
"Ahem!" Leela jumped and turned to see the Doctor standing behind her.
"Pep talk?" He asked calmly watching both their faces.
Jim had the distinct feeling of being caught by a girl's father in a compromising position. But The Doctor's head bobbed with enthusiasm.
"Heart rate accelerated...adrenaline boost...respiration up...blood oxygenated...hmmm well it isn't The Charge of the Light Brigade, but Leela appears sufficiently motivated. Thank you Mr. West."
He covered his mouth and cleared his throat. "My pleasure." He found himself grinning.
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The kiss HAD been a surprise. As had been her reaction to it. She had watched the man West with suspicion...sometimes with extreme dislike...for the last few hours. But as a trained warrior himself, she had not resisted being pulled away to the side by him. She had thought he would probably do just that...to consult with her about the coming fight and maybe offer a tip or two. The kiss was NOT something that had entered her head as a tool to prepare one for battle. But apparently The Doctor approved of the physical reaction it had engendered in her. Was it people outside her Tribe who confused her...or men in general?
Probably just men, she decided.
And they could get more confusing. The Doctor, as they walked with their guards towards the large ring cleared of people and debris, put his large hand in hers and gave it a reassuring squeeze. Whether he was reassuring himself or her she couldn't tell, but as they walked she saw him glance at her nervously once or twice, his face clouded. For all the confidence he had in putting her forward as their champion, he worried. Whether for her or all of their futures she couldn't imagine...but she knew one thing. That The Doctor must suspect a very great danger, indeed, in order to actually be encouraging her in her savage ways. So she decided to be the most savage "savage" she could be to accommodate him.
Once they reached the circle of earth, The Doctor partially turned and looked down at her, his great eyes searching her face, which she deliberately kept impassive. It was an awkward moment. Then he clasped both her shoulders with a strength that startled her, and gave her the quickest of pecks on her forehead.
"Win." He whispered. But his eyes were telling her to 'Be careful.' And she knew..and he knew...that that was impossible.
Then came a surprise for all of them. Red Hand ordered the rest of her small group to be tied to poles surrounding the ring.
"I am sorry West...Gordon," said Red Hand sorrowfully. "But I cannot have you trying to help the girl. If she wins you will be free. If she loses I will make your deaths swift."
Leela watched as they drew The Doctor, unresisting, to a pole as his eyes stayed on her. He tried to smile at her in his silliest, most endearing way, but the worry in his gaze made her uncomfortable and she turned away. West and Gordon protested, West testing his bonds with angry frustration. Someone had been thorough.
Red Hand led her to the ring's center by her elbow and once there he handed her back her knife with a small bow and retreated to the ring's edge. Leela turned the hilt in her hand until the worn, smooth leather fell into the grooves of her hand, as it should. She took a deep breath, comforted by it's weight, knowing it's length like it were part of her arm and knowing it's balance made her feel steadier...as though she had stood lopsided without it.
War whoops tore through the chilling night air and Leela saw Kills Like Bear coming through the crowd parting it like a leper as his tribesmen stood away to show respect for the giant brave. As he came to the edge of the ring an old woman who had held his hand parted from him with a sad nod. Her tears clear in her eyes and on her cheeks from even a distance...shining in the torchlight and full moon. His mother. The dead braves' mother. She lowered her head respectfully to the older woman and saw a stiffening of her spine and a deepening of her frown.
The brave was bare to the waist, his long hair in a braid down his back. His huge hand grasping a knife that was longer then hers slightly...but still looked like a toy in his fist. She fell into a wary crouch and her feet moved sidelong, taking her to the opposite side of the ring and in the opposite direction of his circling. She needed to see how he moved...how he held himself...and how, and what, he watched about her before she could make a move. And from the way he moved, she knew he was making the same determinations.
The battle had begun.
He took an experimental slash toward her left side and she turned away from it. An inexperienced fighter would leap back and risk falling over, instead she made a complete turn, low and quick and made an equal slash towards her opponent who opened his arms wide and turned away. His eyes widened, just a touch. He took a more daring lunge the next time. She caught his wrist with her left hand and brought her elbow down into the crook of his arm, bending his arm upward and drawing herself to him, her right hand stabbing forward trying for his upper chest. He grabbed for her hand and caught the knife slightly. She had drawn first blood, but he had stopped her blow in mid air and held her easily. He threw her away from him as hard as he could and she rolled backwards twice before coming to a stop on her back.
On instinct she rolled to the left and felt the ground tremble as Kills like Bear crashed, blade first, into the place she had just vacated. She rolled to her feet and scampered back. Bear jumped up and they began their circling dance again.
"You are a warrior." His voice rumbled. "I had hoped what I'd heard in your words was true. I have never killed a woman...I feared that the warriors would say I chose an honorless fight...an easy kill."
She didn't let the compliment pause her. "You bleed first Kills like Bear." She switched her knife, fluidly, from her right to her left hand, and nearly connected with his upper right arm in a rabbit fast lunge. "A Sevateem Warrior is never an 'easy kill'."
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Artie tried once more to loosen his hands enough to do any good...to reach anything secreted on his person. But the braves had done a good job. His fingers were almost numb and the tips were starting to throb. He stopped trying.
The girl, Leela, was holding her own. More then holding her own, in fact. But the brave was big...and fast...and as Artie watched, Bear made a broad and serious stab at Leela and her back arched away to avoid it, throwing her off balance. He continued through the stab to catch her under the ribs with his shoulder and tackle her to the ground, her knife skidding away from her grip in the dirt from the bone jarring impact.
Jim threw himself against his bonds uselessly and Artie knew he didn't imagine The Doctor's face grow pale as the massive brave began pressing his blade toward Leela's heaving chest as her arms strained to resist the relentless progress.
Bear did not smile or gloat as he pressed the knife forward. As the tip knicked her skin and a trickle of blood welled and fell towards her throat, he spared a glance at her face, which was a mask of desperate concentration as she pushed helplessly at his arm.
"You fought well." He said loud enough for the crowd to hear and they applauded their agreement...Bear's coming victory...or both.
Artie felt sick as he thought of the explosives in his boot heel and the knife in his lapel and his inability to reach either. The Doctor, his face blanching and his mad blue eyes, wide and near as panicked as Jim's strained struggles, shouted suddenly in a hoarse, choked, voice.
"Leela!" He bellowed angrily. "Get up you stupid little barbarian! I swear...you fight like Neeva...NO...you fight like a TESH!"
A furious scream welled out of Leela at this, Artie imagined, insult, and Leela's legs moved in a way that reminded Artie, inappropriately, of an accomplished French young lady he had had the pleasure of knowing and wrapped themselves forward around Bear's broad chest. The brave looked down startled at the double-jointed maneuver just before he toppled backward off her chest and between her legs, the back of his head striking the well packed earth with a vibrating thud. She launched herself onto his chest instead and snatched the knife from his open palm and pressed it forward under his jaw, her eyes ablaze with savage triumph. One thrust and victory was hers!
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A muffled sob in a sea of cheers caught Leela's ears and she stopped. Kills like Bear hadn't moved...he was still stunned his head still ringing from the slam into the earth...he was at her mercy and the rule's called for his death. But the eyes of the frightened old woman's had stolen Leela's fury. She stood and with a deliberate flick of her wrist the knife embedded itself in the dirt beside Bear's ear, knicking it.
She raised her fist. "I claim victory! I demand we be freed!"
Red Hand stepped forward sadly. "You have to kill...to win."
"I have no right to take an old woman's last son. If I did," she said respectfully bowing to the Chief. "I would not win...I would be a murderer...and I have told you before. I, and my," She looked at The Doctor and pointedly at West and Gordon. "FRIENDS...are not murderers."
Red Hand stepped up to Leela and she stiffened as he put his arms around her and hugged her tightly. She relaxed into the hug with a tired relief. When the Chief released her he smiled broadly, the first time she could recall seeing him do anything but frown, and he turned her in the direction of the deepest depth of the audience.
"Leela, Warrior of Sevateem is the victor!"
The cheer was deafening and Leela was almost knocked over by the force of it, of the tribe who pressed in on her to touch her and pat her head and shoulders. The crowd parted slightly, but lowered its volume, as Kills like Bear walked through it with her knife in his hand. Leela watched him warily, until he turned the handle to her and presented her with her weapon and smiled. She took the blade and sheathed it and put her arm out. He clasped it high near the elbow and shook it firmly then let go and retreated into the crowd. His mother stepped forward and her apple doll face crinkled in a grateful smile and she kissed Leela's cheek and followed her son, disappearing into the crowd.
She had not been able to see the release of the others. The Doctor appeared like a ghost behind her and placed a large hand on her shoulder and she turned. She wanted to hit him for his remarks earlier but he was smiling so warmly that all she really felt like doing now was melt against him and allow him to keep her upright. Then West stepped out of the din of faces and Leela stood straight and inclined her head to him not sure what she should do. West's solution was to draw her into a mind numbing kiss that made her nearly as close to passing out as she was when Kills like Bear tackled her with his shoulder. Though she had to say...she preferred West's way better. When he let her up for air the one called Artie pushed a wet cloth into her grateful hands and she daubed at the dirt on her face then cleaned away the blood on her chest.
The Doctor had wandered away...not far...Leela could see that he watched Shaker of Bones who glared at them dangerously. The Doctor smiled back at him. Leela's attention was brought back to the crowd around her as Red Hand ordained a celebration for her. She felt the blush rise in her cheeks.
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The girl had fallen to sleep in his arms as they sat before the bonfire. The last of the tribe had gone back to their teepees. The day of negotiations, death, anger and battle had culminated in a feeling of goodwill toward Leela's compassion. And as she lay exhausted against his chest while The Doctor and Artie spoke in hushed voices, Jim had to wonder if he would have been so compassionate. He was a capable fighter. He didn't doubt that he would have won had he been chosen. But the win would only have allowed them to leave before their job was really done. This strange girl's actions had saved them and possibly the negotiations as well. Jim lifted Leela gently. The Doctor glanced up from his conversation with Artie and eyed him curiously.
"I'm taking her to the teepee to sleep..." he had the uncomfortable feeling of being watched by a paternal figure again. "I'll be right back."
The Doctor nodded and smiled at the girl.
"Taught her everything I know." His white teeth shone proudly.
West looked at the odd man doubtfully. "To fight?"
"To win," His eyes sparkled in the dancing flames. "...the right way."
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