I Will Always Be Your Friend
A Dances With Wolves Story
By TunnelsOfTheSouth
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Dances With Wolves and all its wonderful canon characters are the eternal property of Tig Productions, Majestic Films International, Allied Filmmakers and The Great Spirit.
I have enjoyed myself hugely with this work.
I make no monies from any of my fanfics, only the joy and delight of creation.
"If you love somebody, let them go, for if they return, they were always yours. If they don't, they never were..."
Kahlil Gibran
Chapter One
A New Beginning
"You… hunt… for me?" Wind In His Hair tried to speak some of the new wasichu words Dances With Wolves had recently taught him.
Seated among a gathering of young men around Ten Bears' lodge fire, he elbowed his good friend hard in the ribs to gain his attention. "We need… fresh meat… for feasting."
He quickly hand-signed that he wanted to go hunting at the next sunrise and grinned. "Good words?" he asked slowly.
"With you," Dances With Wolves shook his head after he finished eating his mouthful of venison. He wiped his greasy fingers clean on the old piece of deerskin beside him. "Yes, I will go hunting with you tomorrow when the sun rises. The winter has been too long. It will be good to get out of the camp for a while with you."
"With you…" Wind In His Hair repeated slowly before pulling a discontented face as he reached for another piece of roasted meat from the basket beside the fire. "Witkotkoke wasichu iapi…" he complained.
"They're not crazy white words. I have learned your language," Dances With Wolves replied in fluent Dakota. "It would be good for you to try and learn more of mine. You could need the words one day if more wasichus like me come to these lands."
"My Dakota words sing like the wind," Wind In His Hair stated loftily in his native tongue, gesturing his deep frustration. "Your wasichu words only grunt."
He pointed to his neck. "They hurt my throat like breathing too much smoke."
He coughed pointedly, raising one broad, denying shoulder as he bit off a mouthful of meat before chewing it and swallowing. "Talk your wasichu words with Stands With A Fist. She likes to hear them. I do not."
"My wife tries hard to learn them to please me," his friend argued. "Kicking Bird wishes to understand too. He knows he must. I told him the white men who are coming are more than the stars."
"Maybe so. But I do not want to please you or to know any more of your words. If the white men come here I will kill them all. Then they will not need to speak with me," Wind In His Hair concluded logically, drawing the side of his flat hand expressively across his throat.
Dances With Wolves laughed as he shook his head. "You have a way with words that is quite breathtaking, my friend." He stretched his arms above his head, yawning widely. "I am going to bed now. It is late and I have eaten too much. I will see you in the morning. Come to my lodge."
He stood from his cross-legged position in one fluid movement, acknowledging his host, Ten Bears, who was seated at the back of the lodge, with a courteous bow of his head and a wave of his hand. He turned and ducked beneath the door flap, disappearing into the night.
The old man broke off his conversation with Kicking Bird. He shook his head at Dances With Wolves as he watched the younger man leaving the lodge.
"The young bull tires before the old. It was not so in my youth." He accepted the bowl of bone marrow soup his wife handed to him. He sipped it with deep satisfaction before going back to his conversation with his old friend. "We did not need to sleep. We danced and sang until the sun rose."
"We also thought we were like the eagles and could fly." Kicking Bird smiled ruefully. "Now a good fire and strong fresh meat are better than anything. We can always dance and sing later."
He frowned after the white man. "It has been a long, hard winter. I think maybe Busy Bee is tired from all his efforts to pollinate his single flower," he said quietly.
"My wife tells me he has finally succeeded." Ten Bears nodded. "Stands With A Fist came to see her yesterday to tell her the news." He popped a large piece of soft marrow into his mouth and chewed it carefully. "It is good."
"Then I am glad for them. They are right together. Their child will be welcomed with love by everyone." Kicking Bird leaned forward to pick up a rib of roasted meat from the edge of the fire and the two older men went back to their interrupted conversation.
Wind In His Hair hastily wiped his fingers on the piece of deer skin before he also jumped to his feet and left the cosy warmth of the lodge. He followed his friend through the lodge flap and out into the evening darkness.
He frowned at the three sets of youthful legs hidden in the grass beside the lodge. Smiles A Lot was up to his usual tricks, watching and listening to the men as they talked. He and his two friends, Otter and Worm had thought themselves securely hidden beneath the rolled-down bottom of the lodge skin.
Wind In His Hair kicked out with one moccasin, connecting with the nearest foot. The boys scrambled up as soon as they knew they'd been discovered.
"Go!" Wind In His Hair shook a warning fist at them. "You have horses to care for!"
The boys needed no further urging. They ran off, whooping and laughing as they darted away through the camp toward the herd gathered beyond the lodges.
All around Ten Bears' home the large ring of buffalo skin lodges glowed like giant lanterns with their fires kindled within. The drifting smoke from the top flaps hung in the air, adding the flavour of burning pine resin to the chilly night.
The band had recently moved to the first of their summer grounds. Their herds of horses and tent homes had spread out across fresh green pastures. It was a welcome change from the close confinement of their winter camp. The cold air crackled with the sound of flickering flames and the people's excitement over the first spring visit from a nearby band of Cheyenne who had moved with them.
In the distance, a much larger fire had been lit on the cleared ground at the centre of the village. The brisk cool of the evening encouraged the groups of passing villagers to hurry from their homes to the welcome warmth of the dance ground and the company of their like-minded fellows.
They intended to sing and dance the night away. Tomorrow and the necessary business of living would arrive soon enough. There would be new buffalo hunts to plan and old enemies to be aware of.
Wind in His Hair quickly caught up with his strolling friend, tugging at his buckskin sleeve. "There will be dancing down there tonight." He pointed to the distant fire with a lift of his chin. "I heard Ten Bears telling Kicking Bird that you have finally pollinated your single flower. Your wife does not need you."
"The news runs fast around this camp," Dances With Wolves complained good-naturedly. "But yes, my wife is having my child. We are pleased. It is good."
"That is why we called you Busy Bee. All winter, you never ceased in your buzzing." The warrior waved his hand expressively through the air before punching his friend lightly in the shoulder. "I am pleased for you. Now you should look for another wife to help within the lodge. I am told the Sahiyena people have brought some of their fine daughters for the dancing and trading tonight. You should look among them for a pretty one."
"Thank you, but I am more than happy with my one wife. I am white, I do not look for another," Dances With Wolves replied quickly. "Perhaps you should go, my friend. I do not like to see you so alone with only your old mother to care for you. You may find a Cheyenne woman who is right for you."
"I had the right one for me…" Wind In His Hair shook his head, his expression briefly clouding with remembered grief. "I needed no other. But she who was my wife took the spirit road along with my unborn child. A bad water fever made her sick and she could not recover."
He raised his eyes to the twinkling stars far above. "She did not want to leave me but she slipped away one night while I slept. I know she and our child look down on me."
Dances With Wolves reached to clasp the other man's shoulder with understanding. He used the connection to draw the warrior with him into the shadows behind a dark, empty lodge. They were then hidden from the sight of the passing groups of chattering people. They could talk privately without being overheard.
He shook his head. "I did not know about your loss. I am sorry for you, my friend."
"I do not like to speak of it." Wind In His Hair stepped back from his friend's loose grasp, turning away to pat the long nose of the fine buffalo running horse securely tethered behind the lodge. The animal whickered a quiet welcome, glad of the company.
"A fine horse." Wind In His Hair ran an appreciative hand down the side of the animal's dun-coloured neck. "Almost as good as yours."
He looked back at his friend. "That very bad time for me was before you came to live among us. You were not my friend, then. You were a weak, useless white man with a very good horse. There was no honour in stealing from you. I did not see how you could be my friend. I would have killed you then, but there was no honour in that either."
He sighed in defeat. "It is strange how time has the power to change so many things." He tapped two fingers against his temple. "I cannot think in circles like Kicking Bird. My mind is straight, like an arrow."
He pointed his fingers skywards toward the full moon. "My questions always go unanswered."
"I am very glad you didn't succeed in killing me the first time we met." His friend smiled wryly. "Or steal my very good horse. Cisco is like a brother to me. And Two-Socks." He stood watching the warrior closely, seeing he needed to talk.
"You were meant to become my brother. I know that now." Wind In His Hair grimaced. "At first I found it hard to like you. You and your strange wasichu words." He tapped his temple again. "You made my head hurt."
He turned to frown toward the distant fire. "Maybe it is time to start looking again. The wise men like Kicking Bird told me my grief will pass, just like the seasons turn. Maybe so, maybe not. I do not know."
Dances with Wolves shook his head. "Go down to the fire. I am going to bed," he replied firmly. "I am tired and my wife waits for me."
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