"Easy girl, easy." I told the mare softly, patting her neck as she pulled hard against my hold, wanting to join the hunt.
"Hold, girl!" I ordered, gently popping her. The mare blustered and pawed the ground but didn't try to join the hunt again. I sighed and quietly turned back to Smiles A Lot only to see a large bull heading for him.
"Shit! Smiles!" I yelled waving my arms, trying to get the younger boys attention. Seeing as I couldn't I turned toward the Braves and began yelling, waving my arms as my father stopped and looked at me before spotting the bull. He quickly turned Cisco and began shooting as the bull knocked Smiles off his horse and began charging after him as he ran.
I quickly ran toward him along with my father as the bull finally fell, merely inches from the young boy. As I reached him and my father a few moments later Smiles simply jumped up behind me and took the reigns from me, heading straight toward the camp. As soon as we reached the camp Smiles jumped off Nightmare and ran off. I blinked confused after him before sighing and shaking my head.
The rest of the day was spent by helping the women skin and clean some of the buffalo the Braves had killed and the night was filled with the sound of laughter and joy. I smiled as I sat around the campfire with some of the younger women, taking and laughing through hand signs and easy words as I let one of the women put my long hair into two braids. After a while I spotted my father and said goodbye to the woman, jogging over to him and Wind in His Hair, greeting them both with a smile.
"Having fun?" dad asked, looking at the finely done braids as I smiled and nodded. I gave Wind in His Hair a smile as well in greeting and he grinned back, seeming much more relaxed around us now as he led us toward another group.
"Oh no, no more. I'm full, I can't eat anymore and I can't tell the story again." dad groaned Wind in his Hair said something and tried to pull him toward the people but dad resisted.
"No, no more." dad ordered only for Wind in his Hair to become distracted by the gold buttons on dad's jacket, quietly fiddling with them.
"You like it? You want to try it on? Here." dad asked before taking the jacket off and holding it out to Wind in his Hair.
I smiled as the Brave got a shocked look on his face before he threw away the leg of meat he had been eating and wiped his hands on his pants before taking off the necklace/chest armor he wore, slipping it over dads head before he slipped into the jacket.
"Thank you. This is a good trade. This, good trade." I smiled at dad and the Brave's interaction before Wind in His Hair tried to pull dad toward the others again.
"No, no, I'm tired and full!" dad complained before Wind in His Hair said something, holding up one finger. Dad repeated what he said, holding up one finger before nodding, allowing the Brace to pull him toward the others while I laughed and went to give Blue some dinner.
After finding the calf and settling down away from the celebration I quietly fed her and started a small fire, not hearing Wind in His Hair as he walked up behind me until he sat down. I gave him a smile and he returned it quietly, reaching over and rubbing Blue on the head. We sat in silence for a while before the faint fire glinted off the arrowhead of the band that was still in my hair, attracting the Brave's attention. He pointed to it and said something with a slight smile. I glanced at the arrow head and grinned.
"Yeah, you gave this to me. The day you and Kicking Bird came to the Fort." I told him softly. The Brave cocked his head at me and I nudged his shoulder.
"You know, before you kidnapped me?" I added, making the motions with my hands, causing the Brave to look sheepishly at the ground and mutter something. I giggled quietly and turned my attention to the sky.
"Its so pretty." I whispered, staring at the stars as the Brave glanced at me before looking at the sky.
We lapsed back into a comfortable silence as we laid back on the grass, staring at the sky. I quietly began to sing a small song I remembered my mother singing to me as a babe, only loud enough for myself and Wind in His Hair to hear.
"*Sun goes down and we are here together/ fireflies glow like a thousand charms/ stay with me and you can dream forever right here in my arms/ tonight.*" I sang softly, my voice trailing off as I slowly slipped into sleep, unknowingly turning toward Wind in His Hair and cuddling up against him. I also missed the dark blush that moved across the Brave's face as he slowly rapped an arm around me as well.
When I woke up the next morning I heard someone chuckling before a hand rested on my shoulder, shaking me gently. I yawned softly and opened my eyes, looking up to see Kicking Bird and Stands With A Fist smiling at me.
I gave them a tired smile and sat up, feeling something heavy fall from my shoulder to my waist. I looked down to see that it was an arm before I noticed that I was cuddled up to Wind in His Hair.
I felt a dark blush move across my face as I quickly got up, causing the older woman and the Shaman to laugh, waking the Brave. Wind in His Hair jumped to his feet when he saw Kicking Bird and glanced at me before we both looked away, my blush darkening and one going across his face as well.
I coughed slightly and made my way over to Nightmare, placing her saddle on her back and fiddling with it embarrassed as I heard more laughter from behind me. After the embarrassment of Kicking Bird and Stands with A Fist finding myself and Wind in His Hair canoodling like that it wasn't hard for the older man to tease me throughout the next few days as we traveled back to the Fort, teaching me different words and sayings as we went along as well.
When we reached the Fort and watched the Tribe leave I felt a sense of loneliness overcome me, and I knew that dad felt it too. I sighed as I kicked a rock across the dry ground, watching the hill where the Tribe had disappeared a couple days before.
"Dad, I miss them." I voiced as my father stepped out of the cool quarters behind me.
"I do too. I think its time for a visit." dad replied.
"Really?" I asked excitedly, looking at him.
"Go get the horses and we'll head that way now." dad replied, seeing my excitement as I ran off before he finished.
I don't think I had ever saddled a pair of horses so fast as I did in the next few minutes. When we reached the Tribe, it was obvious that they had missed us as well from the size of the welcoming party that greeted us
We were given our own tents in the Village and we picked up the language much faster than expected, myself only hours after we had rejoined the village and dad a couple days after. I still blushed a bit whenever I saw Wind in His Hair and the women I helped around the Village teased me about it. I smiled as I walked around the village with Stands With A Fist, the two of us talking softly before I noticed some of the Braves riding back into the village with some new horses. Stands with a Fist followed my gaze and saw that I was watching Wind in His Hair again.
"Why don't you go talk to him?" she asked, giving me a small push.
"No, I-I can't. I can't even look at him hardly now without falling into a blushing stuttering mess." I replied as I moved my gaze off of the Brave and to my arms, which were full of sticks for the evenings cooking fire.
"You know he is always talking about you. Your father rants about it during his lessons. He's a bit confused as to why women are so strange." the older woman told me as we continued walking. I looked at her before glancing at the Braves to see Wind in His Hair watching us.
"He does care about you, Songbird." Stands with A Fist told me softly, using my new name. I simply looked at the woman and shook my head before continuing on my way. That night I laughed as I sat with some of the unmarried women, talking about some of the Braves as I braided Little Bird's hair.
"And what about you Songbird? What do you think of the Braves?" one of the women, Swift Deer asked.
"Hmm, oh, I admire them for their bravery. They are all good men." I replied with a shrug.
"No, no, we meant which do you favor? Your birthday is tomorrow and you will be of age. We want to know which you would like to ask for your favor." Dove Wing asked as the women giggled.