Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Dances in the Glen ❯ Like Humans Do ( Chapter 2 )

IMPORTANT NOTE: the Indian tribe in this story is completely fictional, as well as their language, because I didn't want to dishonor an actual tribe's traditions and history by getting it completely wrong. This story is also not historically correct (so don't use it for any reports or anything like that) and characters and events have been created to keep the story interesting and original. If you are interested in knowing the meaning of certain "Indian" words used in this story, you are welcome to drop me an e-mail and I will send you the glossary of the most used words. Note that later on in the story the meaning of the words will come into play and you will find out what they mean even if you don't have the glossary. ^_^

CREDIT: some credit goes to Jennifer Roberson for her work on the language of the Cheysuli in the series "The Chronicles of the Cheysuli." I hope she doesn't decide to sue me . . . . Anyway, it's a really good fantasy series and I recommend it!

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Dances in the Glen

By SaiyanBlack

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They stopped at a camp later that morning, just as the sun was reaching up over the trees. Heero put two fingers in his mouth and let out a whistle that sounded like a lark. In seconds it was answered by a similar call from in front of them. He directed the horse with his knees through the underbrush and into a clearing that was set up as a temporary village. There was a startled gasp from the girl with him but he ignored it.

Several square-shaped tents dotted the grassy clearing, each with paintings of animals or seasons. Fires glowed in front of each one. They were far enough away from any white man town to have decent cook fires without being spotted. A tall brave with a red slash across his chest from left shoulder to right hip came up to his horse. Green eyes met deep blue and volumes were said between them.

"I take it that the party was successful?" Trowa asked, passing a skin bottle to Heero. He pulled the stopper out and took a swig, letting the cool liquid run down his throat. It soothed his nerves like their shaman had made it to. The sound of steady hooves coming up to them signaled Duo's arrival into the clearing.

"Hey, Heero," the long haired Indian said with a frown, "save some for the rest of us. Not all of us are as used to killing people as you are."

The blue eyed teen gave the other a look and tossed the skin to him over the distance. The girl squirmed again and he looked down on her head.

"You had to kill?" Trowa asked from the ground between the two horses. Heero looked down to him with a blank expression. He closed his eyes to hide the emotion that he knew would show there if he didn't and swung off the black horse.

"We didn't have a choice. They attacked first." He looked up at the blonde girl expectantly. She met his eyes with a confused expression and he sighed. He was tired, though he wouldn't show it, and he'd had it with putting up with the pale girl. Frustrated and too tired to tell her in her native language he reached up and pulled her off the horse's back a little more roughly than he'd meant to. She `eeped' and fell into him. Placing her on her feet he turned to Trowa.

"We were outside the town by a couple of lengths, scouting the area. We were charged on by a group of men with guns."

"Were they military?" the tall teen asked looking at Duo as he too had to pull his charge off his gray horse. It seemed that he too didn't have the patience to deal with the girl, which in itself was odd, because Duo hardly ever lost his patience. The constant attack on their lands by the white men was wearing even the calmest warriors to the breaking point.

"No," the braided teen answered, "just a band of rag-tag farmers and the like. Apparently one of our scouts had been spotted and they had called all the men and boys out. I didn't see any riches out there, though."

"So it was likely that our target wasn't even in town when you attacked," Trowa decided after listening to his two friends' complete explanations of the raid.

"Yes. If he had been, no doubt that we would not have made it to the town itself," Heero told him, "Not only would there have been military soldiers but the townsmen would have been more organized than they were."

Heero brushed the soft black bridge of his horse's nose and walked into the camp. Trowa and Duo walked with him the two horses following behind their riders without being led. The two white girls were another matter. They stood behind with each other as the three braves moved away. Heero glanced back at them then looked up at Trowa who towered over him and Duo by only a couple of inches.

"Would you take them to your rujholla? We'll meet you in Quatre's hut."

Trowa nodded and watched as both of the other warriors walked off to tend to their horses before they started the council with Quatre and Wufei. They probably wouldn't even take some time to eat and rest for themselves before all of this was over. The tall Indian turned to put the two white girls in his line of sight. They stood together, looking around with a lost and almost frightened look on their faces.

The blonde felt his stare and she met his gaze, poking the other girl in the arm to get her attention while her eyes never left his green. He turned back towards the camp and began to walk to the hut his sister was staying in. Catherine was probably the best person to help get the two girls used to the life of the Resh'ta-ne.

"Come," he said simply in their language. He heard the sound of their hard soled shoes and long skirts against the ground as they scurried to catch up to him. Trowa led them to a large hut near the center of the camp, painted with his symbol of the hawk and pushed aside the flap to enter. As he expected to find her, he saw his sister sitting on several furs, stitching a moccasin out of tanned deer hide and tallow thread. A knit basket of brightly colored beads sat near her lap and a bone needle rested in her hand. She looked up at him with crystal gray eyes.

"Trowa!" she smiled and put her work down. He walked in, putting a hand on her shoulder in greeting. He was aware that the two white girls had followed him, though hesitantly. Crouching down in front of his sister so he was on a more even height with her face, he explained the situation.

"Duo and Heero picked up these two in yesterday's attack on the Peacecraft village," both siblings noticed that the two girls jumped at the name. Trowa continued, "Heero said he picked up the blonde at the general's home. She may be an important piece in this whole thing. Would you take care of these two along with the others you might get?"

Catherine looked at the two girls that were probably the same age as her younger brother. She might be older but he was the man of the family and tradition said that she must do what he told her. But Trowa would never force her to do anything she didn't want unless there was some kind of danger. These two white girls were dirty, scared - though they probably wouldn't show it outright - and tired from a night long ride in the forest. They couldn't pose that much danger.

"How many are there?" she asked her brother.

"Six maybe eight."

She thought about it. "Alright. Is there anything specific you want me to do with them right now?"

Trowa stood, "No. Just get them cleaned up and get them a change of clothes. White man's dresses don't work for the kind of traveling we'll be doing."

His statement made Catherine think of something she'd been meaning to ask him. "How long until we get back to the Village?"

He looked away and started toward the door flap. "I don't know," he said, "I'll need to talk to Quatre and the others." And with that he was gone, leaving the two girls with her.

She sighed then looked at the two girls. They both watched her warily, like she was going to attack them or something like that. Looking them over again, she saw that Trowa had been right about their clothing. Their dresses were long and dragging, no doubt with multiple layers underneath the colored outer layer, and their shoes were hard soled and created lots of noise when they walked. They probably weren't even aware of the sound, but to Indian ears it was as loud as a galloping horse through the underbrush.

Catherine stood, putting her needlework off to the side so no one would step on it. Then she walked to another flap toward the back of the hut and pushed it aside. There she collected the basket of hide hand-me-downs she kept for just this reason. She walked back out into the main part of the temporary hut to see that the girls hadn't moved.

"I'm Catherine," she told them in English. "Come, let's get you cleaned up."

They followed her outside and the blonde smiled wearily at her. "I'm Relena and this is Hilde," she motioned to the shorthaired girl walking next to her. Catherine led them to the river where she handed them a basket of soapstone that sat near the water

"Wash up. It's cold, but clean."

Catherine set the clothes on a rock and turned away to give the two girls some privacy. She heard them whisper to each other and the sound of thick clothes hitting the hard packed ground and bodies wading into the water of the river. A duo of gasps made the Indian smile to herself. That water was freezing and it would only get colder as they moved north to the village. The war against the white men was only starting, and this party of braves and warriors were the means to tell the General Peacecraft. This Relena, if she was really from the Peacecraft house like Heero said, then they may have just found the key to the battle.

There was a whistle from the forest in front of her and she walked toward it. Behind the trees, out of sight of the river, stood the dark Wufei. Around him were several frightened and dirty faces of children and young teens. He looked just about to snap, it was no secret the Wufei didn't like children.

"Heero says to clean these up too," his eyes wandered to the river, "Ask those girls to help."

Catherine smacked him upside the head for looking. Several of the children giggled weakly through their remaining tears.

"Woman!" the horse tailed teen roared threateningly. Catherine just glared back and the brave turned back toward the camp, muttering threats and curses.

The Indian woman smiled warmly at the children and motioned for them to follow her. She checked that the two teen girls were somewhat clothed and found that they had pulled two long shirts over their heads. The hide almost went to their knees, leaving most of their legs bare. Catherine approached them.

"Miss Relena! Miss Hilde!" a small girl exclaimed, running up to attach herself to the first girl's leg. The blonde smiled down at the child as several joined her to greet the older girls, who they seemed to know quite well.

"Hil!" a young boy called from the back of the group of kids.

"Devin!" the shorthaired teen ran forward to embrace the boy, who could have only been in his sixth year. "Are you okay? Are you hurt?"

"I'm okay," he told her.

"Would you help me clean off these children?" Catherine asked in English, interrupting the reunion. Both girls looked at each other and nodded. The one that introduced herself as Relena pushed the children off her and walked over to the heap of cloth that had once been her dress, ripping off a good half of the outer skirt. Hilde saw what her friend was doing and did the same to her old dress. Catherine watched with interest, wondering why they were tearing apart their old clothes and her interest peaked even more when she saw Relena stuff something into the basket of hide clothing. She put the incident in the back of her mind to check on later and saw Relena and Hilde pile the scraps near the soapstone basket.

"I'll take the boys if you take the girls and the toddlers," Hilde told Relena with a mischievous glint to her tired blue eyes. The blonde smiled in return and directed the two girls, both about the same age as Devin, named Bethany and Theresa. She knew both of them from church and had seen them every once in awhile at the town's small school. Bethany's shoulder length brown hair was an unruly mess and her violet dress and stockings were in shambles. Theresa's black hair was in no better condition and her blue dress was covered in dried mud.

The boys were in the same or worse condition. Jason, Theresa's twin brother was covered in the sandy mud from head to toe and the only thing you could see clearly were his hazel eyes. Adam and Leon were the other boys, Leon being the oldest at twelve. Both were dirty and Adam's feet were bare. The last of the children was a small boy holding onto Bethany that both Relena and Hilde recognized as Eli. If the girls remembered right, he could only be about three.

All three women split the children into groups and they washed them in the river with the cloth rags as washing cloths. Soon they had six tired children, one sleepy toddler, and two extremely weary teens. Catherine made sure each was clothed properly, which meant giving Relena and Hilde pants to go under the long shirts they wore. Unfortunately, the Indian woman didn't have any moccasins on her, but there were a few back at the camp and she could teach the girls how to make them.

She led the group through the woods and back into camp. She whistled to let the sentries know that it was her and her group and a whistle answered it, telling her that she had been recognized. They filed past Quatre's hut, his symbol of the sun above the door flap which was open and had a fire burning at the front. Heero sat in front of the opening with the head of a huge wolf in his lap, Duo sat on the other side of the fire, absently playing with the beads in his braid. He smiled at Catherine, as did a blonde, dark eyed brave standing in the doorway of the square hut known as Quatre. Neither Trowa nor Wufei were in sight.

"Get them ready and rested for travel. We leave tomorrow," Heero told her in his usual monotone voice. He looked her straight in the eyes as he said it, almost challenging her to say no.

Catherine nodded. "You should get some rest yourselves," she said, seeing how tired all three braves present were. Even though they hid it, each had their own way of showing they were worn out to those that knew them well. Trowa's green eyes said it, Wufei's impatience doubling, the firm line of Quatre's mouth, and Duo's endless fidgeting. Heero was harder to see but if you looked hard enough, you could see that mask he wore slipping.

Quatre smiled encouragingly at her, "Don't worry about us. We'll be fine."

Catherine nodded again and directed the group behind her to follow. First it was Jason and Theresa each staying close to the other twin, then it was Adam and Leon after him. Hilde walked with Devin on one side and Bethany on the other, both holding onto her hands. Relena stood there for a moment with Eli on her hip, taking a good look at the brave that had captured her. Heero just looked right back and neither was fazed when the look turned into a glare.

Relena finally broke eye contact, walking after the rest of the group toward Catherine's hut. The three braves around the fire watched her leave and duck into the flap and out of sight.

"You sure know how to pick them, Heero," Duo said with a grin.

The glare still in Prussian blue eyes focused on the longhaired brave. "Shut up, Duo," he growled and looked away after getting his point across.

He didn't look at the hut the blonde girl disappeared into, but almost through it. Less than five minutes ago Duo, Quatre, Trowa, Wufei and he had talked it over. Through all the smoke and dirt, not to mention the lack of proper lighting, neither he nor Duo had seen any resemblances to the General Peacecraft, who they'd seen in person before. But in the morning light, both Trowa and Wufei, the later who seen her at the river and received a smack from Catherine for it, had mentioned that she did look like the white General.

Then as she just walked by, clean and dressed in Indian hides, he saw that the resemblance was there. She wasn't a servant at the Peacecraft house, she was one of them. They had just found an important key in the battle against the settlers. They just had to confirm it.

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Relena stirred from her sleep by the sound of voices. By further listening, she named the higher pitched, female voice as Catherine. But the other, male voice she couldn't put a face to. It sounded familiar so it must have been someone that she had seen the day before.

It wasn't the Indian that had captured her, this one's voice wasn't even near deep enough, and it wasn't the one that had gotten Hilde, it lacked the lighthearted tone. The only other man that she'd actually listened to while he talked was the tall one that had brought her and Hilde to Catherine. What had the woman called him at lunch the day before when he came in with meat for the stew-like mixture they had eaten? It was something that started with an `r'. Or was it a `t'?

"Ci'ama rujho," Relena heard Catherine say quietly in the dark of the tent. "Lucuo mue ei'ala."

"Ha'uwe," was the mumbled reply. "Heero y Duo gua enlo a'mue cheysu. Ti assi wa."

"Ame," was the last thing she heard before a set of quiet footsteps walked out of the tent and swoosh of the door flap falling back into place. Another pair, almost completely silent, walked in the direction of her corner and she saw the tall green eyed brave push aside the curtain. He saw her awake and beckoned her with one hand.

As quietly as she could Relena stood from the fur blanket she had been sharing with Bethany and Eli. Carefully, she tucked the two in the warm hide and Eli began to fuss.

"Take him," the brave told her in a whisper and Relena took a glance at him before leaning down to pick up the toddler, who quieted once he was in her arms. Silently she followed the Indian passed the other sleeping children and Hilde, who was tucked sound asleep with her little brother. He led her out of the tent and into the false dawn of early morning. She shivered in the fall air and pulled Eli closer so he wouldn't wake.

The brave stopped at a tent with the painting of a wolf on it. As if to prove a point, a familiar gray wolf lounged on what could be called the doorstep. Relena backed up a step, afraid it was going to attack, which was completely silly on her part because the huge canine only whined at the tall brave, who bent down to scratch the pointed ears.

Her guide vanished into the tent and the wolf's yellow eyes turned their attention to her. She started and stepped back yet again. It seemed to study her and almost dare her to pass through the door flap.

"Gu'ame ta'ne."

The deep command from inside made the ears twitch and they yellow eyes lost the glare, though it still watched her. That voice . . . that was the man that had taken her almost two days ago. The Indian that met her glare head on the morning before, when she had tried to find some reason for her captivity in his masked eyes. But she had come up empty handed. Though, it wasn't as if she was a captive; she was not bound and was able to move around freely if she wished . . . not that she tried to. Once her and the other children from Jefferson had bathed and eaten, the nine of them had all fallen asleep. The physical and mental weariness from their town being set aflame and being carted off into the night had let then sleep well past the daylight hours and into the silence of night.

The door flap in front of her opened and the same brave that had been on her mind looked out at her sternly. He eyed the boy in her arms before nodding inside, a signal to come in. She walked forward cautiously, watching both the brave and the wolf as she ducked into the warm tent. The sight that greeted her from there wasn't exactly as comforting as the firelight warmth. Four pairs of eyes focused on her and a fifth watched her back. Most of the braves she'd seen before, there was the green eyed one that lived with Catherine, the one that had captured her, the one that had captured Hilde and the blonde one she had seen the day before with the previous two. There was another, he had black hair that was pulled back and dark eyes that just dared her to do or say something. That wasn't the most welcoming feeling.

The one behind her let the flap fall back into place and came up beside her. Relena looked up into his Prussian blue eyes and soon found herself stuck like that. His eyes, they were so expressive and showed everything he felt . . . and he knew it. That mask he had was a barrier to prevent people from getting too close so they could see his eyes in detail. Somehow, this information made him seem more human than the person that had swept her off the ground and onto a black horse.

"Sit," he told her, nodding to an empty fur near the fire between the braided, smiling brave and the silent one that brought her here in the first place. She sat quietly, arranging her legs in a cross-legged position, something she would have never been able to do if she hadn't been wearing the hide tunic and pants that Catherine gave her. With her legs comfortably settled, she held Eli against her chest and in her lap instead of on her hip. The child never stirred and she was glad for a baby's natural ability to sleep through anything as long as they were being held.

The men, though she thought they could only be about the same age as her, all waited for her to settle herself before speaking.

"You must excuse our rudeness, but times are hard," the blonde one began civilly. "Your name is Relena Peacecraft, is it not?" he asked and she nodded slowly, wondering how they knew who she was.

"A'saii, I think we have just come upon the key," he said and smiled at the others. Relena felt sorely left out of half the conversation. What key? What did her name have to do with anything? And what the heck was an "a'saii!?"

The one with green eyes spoke to her next. "Do you know who we are?" he asked. She shook her head, still utterly confused.

The dark one smirked, "We are the Resh'ta-ne."

Her eyes widened and she stared slack-jawed at all five of them. The Resh'ta-ne were the only North American Indian tribe to have a city-like home built. They were separated into several clans and looked much like the white men with their different coloring. And that's about all anyone knew about them. Her own brother was the leader of the move against the Resh'ta-ne in the army and had many followers. The last Resh'ta-ne brave that had been captured had told the soldiers questioning him that his people are the rightful rulers of the land and that they would take it back with the will of the gods. After that the man had been slain . . . by her own brother's hands. He even told her himself that he had done it.

And here, in front of her were the same Resh'ta-ne that her brother worked so hard against . . . and they knew who she was. That key they had been talking about was her. She just hoped that if they decided to kill her they'd do it quickly. The long haired brave that sat casually to her left, grinned at her, his almost violet eyes twinkling with mischief.

"Don't worry," he said, "we won't kill you. You're much more valuable alive."

Relena stared in horror at him. That didn't sound better, it sounded worse! The brave himself was still grinning from ear to ear and didn't seem to notice the reaction on her face.

"Duo, stop scaring her," the tall one scolded giving the said brave a look. Relena had this odd feeling they were all speaking English for her benefit.

"My apologies, meijhana," the one called Duo told her with a now sheepish smile on his face. She didn't know what that last word meant, but from his tone it must have been a compliment or something else like that. Three of the others rolled their eyes and the blonde smiled and shook his head.

"Cheysu la'hana," mumbled the dark haired one under his breath and Duo laughed. Eli stirred slightly in her arms and she rubbed his little back soothingly to keep him asleep even though all the noise that the man next to her was making.

"Let us introduce ourselves," the blonde said after a moment. He pointed to the braided Duo, "The laughing hyena is Duo of Dark Water." This introduction however only made the brave laugh again, several of the others smiled.

"I believe you've met Catherine's rujho, Trowa of Red Hawk," he motioned to the green eyed brave that sat on her other side. She still didn't know what the word rujho meant but she had a feeling she'd find out sooner or later.

"And also Heero of Wolf Wing," he pointed to the one that had captured her. The brave didn't even acknowledge that he was being introduced, just met her eyes with his for a brief moment.

"This is Wufei of Shenlong," he motioned to the dark brave and finally pointed to himself, "and I am Quatre of Setting Sun."

Relena bowed her head in understanding, not really knowing what else to do since they already knew her name and who she was. There was a whine at the door and some gentle chuckling before the familiar face of Catherine poked her head though the flap. The braves looked up at her expectantly and she nodded, ducking back out before anything was said. That thoroughly confused Relena. It was like they had just had some conversation without saying a word to each other.

Quatre stood first nodding to her politely before walking out, Trowa and Wufei following. Duo stretched before he too got up. He smiled warmly down at her, putting a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"Don't worry about anything, Relena. We're not as savage as your people make us out to be." And with that for her to chew on he was gone. Just from the way he said it, she felt like there was no way she couldn't believe him. He was too lighthearted and kind to be what settlers and other Americans said they were. She just couldn't see him killing mercilessly. But life with family traditions engrained in the army and politics, she knew that appearances could be deceiving.

The one named Heero caught her attention when he too stood, grabbing a bow and quiver of arrows which he slung over his shoulder. He glanced at her as he walked past, pointing at the fire in the center of the room.

"There's food for you and the boy in there. Stay in here. Finn will be outside."

And just like Duo, he spoke and was gone. Relena wondered who Finn was absently just as Eli started to wake, probably from the now lack of voices. She decided to make the toddler her first priority and set the boy down on the fur that Trowa had vacated so she could check on what was in the small pot in the fire. She lifted the lid covering the stew-like mixture that resembled basically the same thing as what she and the other children had eaten the day before. It was still warm so she picked up the spoon sitting next to the fire and stirred it.

She looked back behind her at the little boy who was rubbing his eyes sleepily and smiled. Relena waved him over and he plopped down in her lap.

"Are you hungry?" she asked and he nodded. She pulled out the spoon and blew on it so it wasn't too hot. "Open," she directed and he put his hands in his lap and opened his mouth wide so she could put the long handled soup spoon inside. They continued this until Eli was sure he was full, and then Relena ate as the little boy rested in her lap.

"I have to go potty," he told her just as she was finishing up. She looked down at him for a moment before smiling and getting up, putting the lid back onto the pot to keep it warm for later. She took his tiny hand and led him out of the tent where she was greeted with the glow of morning.

Relena felt something nudge her from behind and she turned to see the wolf looking up at her, as if it wanted answers. She found herself still a little afraid of the large animal and she realized with a smile that this was the Finn that Heero had spoken of.

"We're going to use the bathroom. Is there a certain place we need to go?" she asked, feeling more than a little silly for talking to a wolf that probably went wherever and whenever it suited him. But to her amazement, the canine seemed to know exactly what she said and started to lope away from the tent. Quickly, Relena picked up Eli and followed the powerful gray shape into the forest behind the tent.

It stopped and looked at her expectantly. She stared into the yellow eyes a moment before walking a few steps into the brush where she found a latrine. Stunned, she turned to look back at the wolf, who yawned and stretched out in the grass and leaves that made up the ground cover of the forest to wait patiently. Relena shook her head and helped Eli do his business before setting him down next to Finn.

"Watch him for a second, please?" she asked before disappearing back into the brush to tend to her own needs. When she returned after a few minutes, she found Eli sitting in the grass, pulling on one of Finn's ears and petting the thick fur like only a child could. But the huge creature didn't seem to mind the slightly rough ministrations and tolerated the attention like it would if the child was one of its own pups.

This sight was yet another thing to add to the list of odd happenings that had occurred in the past couple of days. She shook her head and picked up Eli, giving Finn's abused ears a comforting scratch and walked back to the tent. As she was just coming up, the whole hide the tent was made out of collapsed and she stopped dead in her tracks.

From the other side she saw Heero look up at her before going back to his work of packing up the tent. She watched silently as the two room tent was packed into a bundle of hide and rods about the size of a cowboy's saddle pack. Relena silently praised the ingenious way it had been made just as the brave strapped it to a dappled gray horse that stood nearby.

The blonde stepped out from the trees and noticed that all of the tents that had made up the camp were either gone or being dismantled by braves. She heard the steady clumping of hooves and looked up just as Heero stopped, his black horse beside him. Eli looked at the two with his child-like curiosity and he reached forward to pet the long black nose of the stallion from Relena's arms. Heero took Eli from her, putting the boy on the ground by his feet.

"Get on," he motioned to the horse and Relena nodded dumbly, stepping forward. To her surprise she was lifted onto the broad back by two strong hands on her waist and she sat like a man would because of the lack of skirts. She found it amazingly more comfortable than sitting sidesaddle like she had been for the past 16 years. The brave handed Eli up to her and she settled the toddler in front of her, just as Heero leapt up to sit behind her.

Without saying a word, he directed the horse to move with a squeeze of his knees. Relena watched as braves loaded the other children onto the backs of horses of all different colors. Theresa and Jason sat behind a brave she didn't recognize, Adam behind yet another that wasn't familiar. She saw Hilde on a horse of her own, Devin and Bethany behind her, but the horse was being tied to the pack of a grey horse by the braided Duo. Trowa was lifting a disgruntled Leon onto a bay and mounted up behind the kid.

As they passed by, Relena sent an encouraging smile to her best friend, who returned it hesitantly. The blonde tried to ignore the arm casually around her waist and instead tried to entertain Eli so he wouldn't continue to pull on the black mane of their horse. And that's how their first day long ride began.

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