Death and Honor
by Aeris Ultimavara

Disclaimer: The movie belongs to 20th Century Fox. I only write this to express how deeply their beautiful piece of work moved me.

Notes: I wrote and published the first draft of this piece in 2002, immediately after watching The Last of the Mohicans for the first time. I had never been so truly upset by a movie before, and just had to get my feelings about it out.

This week I've been reading the original novel by J.F. Cooper, and decided to revisit this story. I've done extensive revisions to it, but kept the original spine, with all the same sentiments. I've just expanded, reworded, and explored them in more in depth. I hope the benefit of six extra years of writing experience have improved it.

It is decided. Alice is to be taken as the conquest of Magua - a fate which will be worse than death for that poor, tender girl. Separated from every friend she knows, forced to become slave to Magua - it will break her. The evil whims he will devise to subject her to will drain her of life more horribly than any of his weapons ever could. If, in fact, he does not choose to exercise them first.

I cannot bear to think of those bright eyes being so dimmed, of that sweet, gentle spirit being so degraded, of her suffering prolonged for even for one second more. The Hurons will pay for even thinking it. They will pay for what they mean to do to her. For what they already have done to her, forcing her to look on sights never meant for one so innocent. Sights that have left her crying in the night, left her struggling for the courage even to be able to speak.

Hot indignation bubbles up in my chest, and I feel I must move or else burn the ground I stand on. The recollection that I am the last of my kind briefly occurs to me - that I should not take such a risk, for fear of the future of our people - words that my father has oft repeated to me through the years. But what good would such a life be without the colonel's daughter? I could never find any woman who could match the beauty in Alice's battered spirit. If every hope of the Mohicans rests on me, my every hope rests on her.

Saving her is the only option, and my father seems to know it. His eyes understand, and I can wait for no further sign of approval. In an instant I am off, spurred by this burning disquiet within me. Fear for Alice, anger at her captors, the knowedge that I have shown her so little of what is in my heart, I feel them all pricking at me, forbidding me from stopping until I have her back with me.

I soon outpace the Hurons without them even noticing, too focused are they on their own perceived triumph and the awful prize they hold. I can see them just a few yards behind me, and I slip behind a cleft as they approach, little knowing what awaits them. I will defeat them, all of them, and bring her safely away home.

Now! Now is the time to strike! The first one drops with a broken and bloodied face, little comprehending who has come to demand judgement of his sins. I myself am barely aware of what I do as I search only for the one fair soul amidst the black. They fall quickly, and in the path now cleared, I see her, the fear, hope, and the love mixed in her eyes. Alice. Alice, I do it all for you. Please don't be afraid. As long as I draw breath, I will spend it fighting for you.

And now in front of my eyes, mocking, appears Magua, a spirit so consumed with darkness that it must swallow up all purity and beauty until it is as warped and destroyed as itself. But you may not have this one, Magua. This one still has one friend left in the world, who will die or see you dead before you touch her....

....Alas, I have spoken in haste! He is too much for me, though it seems my promise to defend her to the death will indeed be fulfilled, as I feel my life and strength ebbing out with the blood he draws at every blow.

Oh, beloved girl! I am sorry! Sorry that I could not save you. Sorry that I did not tell you of my love sooner. Sorry that we had so little time. I have failed you. Everything I have done has been for you, and it has all been for nothing. Why did I come up here alone? I, who was not strong enough to save the one he loved. Please forgive me my rashness, without which we both could have lived on many happy years.

Be brave, Alice. Be strong. But do not stay as their slave, even if it is only in your heart. Do not let yourself be cowed into submission. Even when they do their worst, think of me, and remember that you were loved. Let this give you the courage to keep your heart and mind when everything else is taken from you. Do this for me, my dear one. And when your day is done, I will be waiting to carry you home.

Between now and then
'Til I see you again,
I'll be loving you.
Love me.
-C. Raye