The next morning I woke up to Two-socks scratching at the door quietly, wanting to go out. I groaned and slowly pulled myself out of bed before letting the wolf out, quickly dressing and heading outside, not noticing a group of horses tied to my dad's quarters as I braided my new trinket into my hair, letting it tap against my shoulder as I moved around the other side of the quarters, stifling a yawn before freezing as a group of eyes locked on me.
"Arise, there you are. We have guest's for breakfast." dad said cheerfully as he worked the coffee grinder.
"I can see that." I replied as I shook my head and moved past everyone and into the small building, grabbing a cup and scooping some coco powder into it before moving outside and pouring some of the hot water into the cup and stirring it.
I quietly looked around the group as dad mixed one of the warriors a cup of coffee offered him some sugar, causing the stoic man to smile a bit before trying to put some in Kicking Bird's coffee. I smiled and giggled quietly at the childish Brave, looking away quickly when he glanced over at me, a blush crossing my face.
Over the next few days it became a routine everyday for the group of Indians to come to the Fort and spend the day with us. We found communication was hard but we managed well enough. I learned the young Brave that had given me the feather the first day they had come was called Wind in his Hair, and some days when the group would leave he would give me another of these finely woven braids adorned with beads, a feather, or even a pretty stone carved into an animal.
I kept all of them, clamping some in Nightmare's mane and the others I kept on my nightstand, braiding into my own hair during the day. Each day I found myself looking forward to seeing our new friends. Then one day, we were invited back to the village, surprising us greatly.
As father and I mounted our horses and followed the Braves, Wind in Hid Hair rode beside me, the two of us riding up front with Kicking Bird and dad as we neared the village. As we walked the horses into the village I felt a wave of shyness come over me and looked down at my hands, biting my lip only to feel a nudge on my leg from Wind in His Hair.
I quietly glanced at him and he gave me an encouraging smile as we stopped outside of a large teepee. I quickly dismounted and patted Nightmare as she shuffled nervously. After calming the mare enough to tie her to my father's saddle I quietly followed the others inside and sat down beside Wind in His Hair when he motioned for me to do so.
I sat quietly through most of the interaction since it was all mostly aimed at my father. As I sat beside the young Brave I quietly fiddled with the small trinket in my hair, a pretty braid with a small crystal dagger on the end. Only when I smelt smoke did I look up to see the chief who I heard was named Ten Bears handing a pipe over to my father.
I crinkled my nose at the smell and heard Wind in His Hair chuckle at me. When the pipe was passed to me I made a face and quickly passed it off to Wind in His Hair, causing laughter to break from the older Indians in the tent.
When the smoke in the tent got to be to much for me to bear I stood and bowed to the chief before quickly leaving the teepee, holding my breath until the door closed when I went into a coughing fit, hearing the men burst into laughter, startling Nightmare a bit at the sudden noise.
Once I got control of my breathing again I walked over to Nightmare, quietly combing my fingers in her mane and fingering the feathers and trinkets that I had clamped there. I quietly looked around the village as I calmed the mare, taking in all the sights and sounds of the bustling village. As I looked around I spotted three familiar shapes riding through the village, watching me curiously.
As I stared back I remembered that these were the three boys I had met about a month ago when I splinted the youngest ones arm after he fell when they tried to steal Cisco. I raised a hand in greeting to them and the youngest smiled at me brightly, raising his own splinted arm in greeting. I chuckled at the child before turning back to Nightmare as she stamped her foot impatiently at me. I shushed her softly and rubbed her nose when she turned to look at me before pulling myself onto her back.
I quietly rode the mare out of the village and stopped on a small piece of flat ground, dismounting. I placed a hand on Nightmare's shoulder and gave a soft whistle before walking away. When I was almost 25ft from the mare I turned and gave a loud whistle, causing her to run forward before turning and heading toward me as I started running.
As soon as the mare was within arms length I quickly grabbed a handful of her mane and jumped onto her back, settling onto her with ease as I pulled her to a stop, turning to see some of the village watching me. I smiled and held up a hand before settling myself into a straight position and giving Nightmare a cue with my legs. The mare quickly straightened her legs and arched her neck before starting to prance, kicking her front feet so it looked like she was skipping towards our spectators.
I heard the group watching us start murmuring as I let Nightmare take over, letting her skip around in a circle before she stopped and began spinning, throwing up dirt before stopping and shooting forwards, sliding to a stop and spinning again in the opposite direction before skipping back to the onlookers, seeing that even my father and the men from the teepee was watching.
"Show off." dad called with a grin as Nightmare stopped in front of everyone and slowly got onto one knee so I wouldn't fall off as she bowed.
"You know it." I replied with a wink as Nightmare straightened. After my little display of horsemanship I knew I had won some respect from the men that had been watching, seeing as I had laid my reins down on Nightmare's neck before she began spinning and sliding, only using my legs to turn and stay on.
Over the next two weeks we were welcome to come to the tribe at any time, but we mostly stayed at the fort. I sighed softly as I laid on my bed, staring up at the ceiling of my quarters, my hand resting by my side on Two-socks' head as I willed for sleep to come to me. When I finally gave up on sleep and threw my legs over the side of my bed angrily and leaned over, my head in my hands I heard a very faint rumbling that slowly got louder and louder.
"What?" I mumbled sleepily as I stood and moved to my door, looking out to see a cloud of smoke over the hilltop.
"What the hell?" I asked myself as I threw open the door and rushed toward the hilltop, my dad soon joining me as I stared at the shadowy figures moving in the cloud of dust.
"Buffalo." I whispered. "Buffalo!" dad replied in excitement before rushing down the hill and running to Cisco as I ran and jumped onto Nightmare, bareback, not bothering with her bridle before we tore out for the village.
"Buffalo! We've seen buffalo!" dad yelled as we neared the village, myself stopping Nightmare when I saw the men doing a dance around the fire, decked out in animal skins and paint.
"Dad! Dad wait!" I called, trying to stop him but to no avail as he rushed into the village only to be pulled from Cisco and onto the ground by the men before they started throwing punches. I groaned and rode slowly over when I heard the warriors all start calling excitedly after Kicking Bird broke them apart. I stopped Nightmare beside my father as he pulled himself from the ground.
"I tried to warn you, oh great one." I told him sarcastically as he gave me a hard look, wiping some blood from his nose.
"Shut up, Arise." dad grumbled back as he wiped at his split lip where one of the Indians had landed a punch.
"You should have yelled 'Tatonka' instead of 'buffalo." I told him with a roll of my eyes.
"Shut up, I wasn't thinking about it." dad grumbled as he pulled himself onto Cisco.
"I know. You let your excitement overrule common sense." I replied with a sigh before a familiar Brave rode over with a large smile.
"Tatonka!" he said happily, adding something I couldn't understand before cocking his head at me curiously.
"What?" I asked. The Brave simply pointed at me and said something, causing me to look down and see that I was just in one of my very large shirts, causing me to let out a yell and tumble off Nightmare's back.