Fallen Warrior, Fallen Lover

This is one of my friends favorite stories I have ever done. Not the same for me, but I thought I'd put it on here. I did this one for school also.

 

Fallen Warrior, Fallen Lover

The horns sounded, shattering the silence with their trumpeting call. Azi-nana was out picking corn. That was her chief job in the tribe. She despised it, but it was better than building fires or skinning animals. If some job had required swimming in it, she would have loved it. But even the men rarely went into the water. Only her and Kai-hom. They were the only ones who appreciated the water. He swam some too, though not as much as her. She remembered briefly the sight of him when he had just come out of the water. His dark skin shone with specks of water, and his hair framed his face, clinging to his skin. His face was handsome, even with the slightly large nose, the eyes set a bit too far apart. Azi-nana rarely noticed those anymore. He was tall, and well built, and easily towered over her. They were both strong, their muscles toned by the swimming. They loved it, and did it as much as they could. But swimming was frowned upon, and the practical Indian women insisted she do "something useful." So she dutifully picked, planted and watered the corn. It was not all bad. At least she did not have to be with the other women in the village in her job. They were all too soon to criticize, to gossip, to judge her. She was not welcome with them, she knew, they had told her. She couldn’t think of a time she ever had been. She was too different, too strange. At first gangly, than cute, than beautiful, she even looked somewhat different than the woman of the village, with her high cheekbones and forehead, and her hair was almost always wet. But they did not care much about that. It was her parents that set her apart, with both her mother and father dead, at the same time. What an odd thing, an orphan. At first, she was like a new discovery. They all watched her to see what an orphan acted like, what they did. She hated it. They all believed her father had killed her mother, then himself, but she couldn’t believe that. So, she avoided them, the whispers, the stares, and dutifully tended the corn almost day and night.

But at the sound of the horns her head jerked up, her thick black hair whipping her brown face as she did, and the corn went rolling in all directions as she leapt to her feet, taking off like a deer in the wind. Her long legs stretched out, covering the ground quickly. Her thick, rough dress scratched her thighs as they rubbed against them. The grass tickled her bare feet. She had forgotten her moccasins again. She did not care. Kai-hom was home! It had been a long, dreary three weeks without him. The battle with the Ravens had not taken as long as she had dreaded. Her uncle would be home. Jarga was her only family, and she had missed him deeply, but it was nothing, nothing compared to the deep, empty longing she had felt towards Kai-hom. Now, finally, he was home!

The run to the riverbank seemed to take eons longer than the usual two minutes. She winced as her foot scraped over a rock. Why did she always forget her moccasins? At first, she just thought it was more comfortable without them, then by the time her uncle scolded her for her dirty, bare feet, it had become a habit and she rarely ever remembered them. But her mind quickly strayed back to the returning warriors. Were they already there? Was Kai-hom looking for her?

    She burst over the last small hill and upon the scene, her eyes hungrily searching the faces of the young warriors for her young warrior. She crept closer. She would surprise him.

She saw Jarga first. He was greeting many people, but had a worried look on his face. She wondered what was bothering him.  He only ever frowned when extremely worried.

Finally, through the throngs of people, she saw the last canoe being dragged ashore. She looked again. She turned slowly to scan the crowd again.

He was not there.

She quickly shrank back into the crowd, doing what she did best. She became invisible. No one noticed her as she calmly walked to the edge of the crowd, her calmness not at all mirroring her pounding heart, her suddenly sweaty hands, and her crazed mind racing in horror.

She froze as she heard a loud voice.

“Greetings, Jarga."

She started as her uncle’s name rang in her ears.

“Greetings.”

The shaman gripped the chief’s arm in his hands a scant five feet away. He smiled and moved his arm in a large arch to gesture towards the celebrating and happy people.

“Your return has brought many smiling faces.”

Azi-nana wanted to scream. She wanted to grab the shaman and shake him. She wanted to attack her uncle, to demand him to release Kai-hom from wherever he was hiding him immediately. She wanted to slap the ecstatic and celebrating people next to her, to hurt them until they were no longer happy or excited about the returning warriors. The warriors, her warrior that would never come home. She wanted to push the warriors back into their boats, to tell them to return, to go back and get Kai-hom.

She did nothing.

“Yes.” Her uncle answered, but looked troubled. He turned to the shaman. “Where is Azi-nana?”

“Oh.” He sighed. “You know her. She doesn’t like to stay in the village. Really you must talk to her. She does not get along well with anyone but her Kai-hom. The women of the village can not take any more of her nonsense.”

Tears pricked Azi-nana’s eyes and she did nothing to hold them back. Their backs were to her. She could escape unseen.

She broke away from the crowd, running as fast as her legs would carry her. She flew over the hill overlooking the water, leaving behind her the throng of dark-skinned people, the complaining shaman, the warriors, and, although she regretted it somewhat, her uncle. She needed to be alone. She needed to think, to relax, to get away.

She needed to swim.

Yes, that would make everything better! To swim! It was all she wanted now, she told her self, trying to ignore the pain, the yearning for Kai-hom's arms around her, his lips gently touching hers. He had never been too demanding, always quiet, and gentle.

She furiously pushed the thoughts away, walking determinedly towards the forest. Her path led to her lake, the river flowing into it. That was her favorite place to swim. She would go there. She tried to think of something else, but the same thought came drifting back. He had never been too demanding, always quiet, and gentle. Unlike...  

"Azi-nana!"

She froze. How had he seen her? She furiously wiped the tears away, turning quickly to face Azeel as if nothing was wrong.

"Azi-nana." He breathed, then smiled. No, sneered was more like it. The look he gave her was not pleasant, or full of love like Kai-hom's had been. It was full instead of coveting; a furious wanting that frightened her. He did not love her, but he wanted her. She would be just another prize to him, like the scalps and treasures he had adorning his hut walls and floors, taken from previous battles. Did someone now have Kai-hom's scalp, hanging on their wall?

"I heard about Kai-hom." There was no sorrow, no pity in his voice. His eyes washed over her like cold water from a swamp, filthy and sticky. She looked away and said nothing. He observed her silence coolly.

"I have spoken to your uncle." He said after a moment. Azi-nana did not move, but her eyes widened in horror. Please, please no...

"He thinks it would be wise to halt your grief with glad tidings." He paused. "He has given me you to marry."

As he said it, he reached a hand towards her. She jerked away, her head shooting up in shock. "No!" She gasped.

"I understand that it is soon, maybe too soon, but we have decided the ceremony to be in three days."

"Too soon?" She gasped, then her voice changing to a snarl. "When Kai-hom has not laid dead on the ground for but a day, you ask for my hand. Not even asking, demanding! Well, Azeel, you shall not have it!" She raced away, dodging his outstretched hand that reached for her like a yawning, open mouth, dark and threatening.  She ran away from him, and for a moment, she heard him following. Her heart leaped into her throat, and her legs flew like those of a deer, leaping over rock and bush in her way. The footsteps stopped. He had followed maybe thirty steps before halting. He must be sure she would come back. After all, he didn't need her now. He could wait for three more days, Azi-nana thought bitterly.

How could her uncle betray her so? He must have thought it to be the right thing to do. Or was he simply trying to get rid of his brother's troublesome daughter? Most likely. After all, who would want her, a girl who could get along with no one, and was so different it was frightening? But Kai-hom had understood. He had loved her. She had loved him. He had listened when she needed it, said just what she needed to hear. How she needed him now! 

Azeel! How dare he! Her memories of him were dark, angry moments. His eyes following her every movement, his coveting, wanting hands, touching her own that last night! That last night had been the very worst.

She remembered it easily. Kai-hom had asked her to wed him. The answer had been easy. The yes was tumbling out of her mouth before he could even finish the question. It had been announced, there was a celebration, a dinner. It went until it was very dark. Kai-hom bid her farewell till the morning. Then, as she had entered the shadows out of the reach of the campfire's light, Azeel stepped from in front of her, blocking her path. 

"Azi-nana!" He had slurred. It was plain he was drunk. He had staggered towards her.

"Azi-nana!" He had gasped. "Don't do it! Don't marry him! He's cruel, he hates you! It is only a joke he is playing a trick on you, he is mocking you in front of the entire village! He's a liar, a filthy liar-"

Azi-nana had cut him off abruptly. She did not believe a word he said, and she would not let him talk badly about Kai-hom. "We were talking about Kai-hom, Azeel, not you." She said calmly, coldly. She turned away from him. 

Then, in a second, his hands were grabbing her, pulling her towards him, his lips slammed against hers, brusque and frightening. He kissed her. She pulled away from his demanding grip quickly. He gripped her hands, not allowing her to escape.

"Azeel!" She had said frantically. "Let go of me! Kai-hom! Kai-hom!" 

She had called for him. Azeel had laughed, pulling her closer. 

Then, a crack split the air and he had tumbled away from her, clutching his face where he had been hit, releasing her at last. She moved quickly away from him. Arms caught her as she fled. But they were not Azeel's. They were warm, comforting. Kai-hom...

He had come to her rescue then. But now he could not.

She plunged deeper into the forest, knowing where she had to go. The water. She had to swim. It was the only thing that would help. She had to swim...

She stopped suddenly, jerking to a halt as a brisk wind filled her eyes, ears and hair. It was blowing to her right. Strangely, oddly, it felt something like Kai-hom's caress, as he held her in his arms that night.

She slowly turned to the right. Where was she going? She didn't know. She needed to swim, why was she walking away from the gentle murmur of water lapping across the smooth stones of the riverbank? The woods here were darker, the trees closer together, but the strange wind filled them, stirring the drooping branches and quieting the birds’ cheerful voices, chirping to her from the riverbank.

As if in a trance, she walked away from the path, the wind pushing her forward. She had never been here before. Where was she? How far from the path had she wandered now? Should she go back? Her mind ran wild with these troublesome questions, but her feet trod on, paying no attention. Then an even more disturbing one rose to her mind. How long had she been gone?  A few mere seconds it seemed, but as she turned to glance at her path, she could see nothing familiar, and there was no longer the sound of the river calling to her.

There was a slight tilt to the ground. She was climbing. Up, up, up. She glanced down. She had not come nearly as far up the hill as she had thought, but the path was still invisible beneath the throng of treetops and trunks blocking her view. What she had presumed was a mountain was really a steep hillside, but it continued upward, then abruptly flattened out so she could not see what lay at the top.

Her mind went wild with warning. This was foolish! She had never been here before. Why was she seemingly following the wind? But the wind gently rushed around her again, and she felt safe and protected. She walked on, the wind urging her forward. It grew stronger the higher she got, until it was a quiet gale, fierce but light, strong but gentle. It was the strangest wind Azi-nana had ever witnessed or felt. Her doubts returned suddenly, but were again brushed away by the quiet tempest, rushing over her like cool water...

She had reached the top.

The wind abruptly calmed, shifting to a gentle breeze pushing her onward. She obeyed. The ground was shockingly flat, and easy to walk on after the demanding slope. She glanced up to survey her surroundings.

There were scattered trees around her, but they died off into bare ground a few feet ahead. The ground was a tannish rock, covered with a brown dust that might have once been dirt. There were no bushes, and no sign of wildlife, not even the chirping of a bird. And, ten feet in front of her, the ground stretched away from the land, like a finger pointing, ended suddenly, and dropped away. She could hear the rushing of water again. She cautiously stepped forward.

It was a sheer cliff, a two hundred foot fall into her beloved river, which was twisting and frothing violently against the cliff bottom, as if angry at it for luring her there. She felt her stomach churn. She hated heights. But something kept her there, even as she stared down in horror at the drop beneath her feet. 

The wind. It pushed her to the very edge of the cliff, so her bare toes curled over the edge of rock. She felt it, she knew it. The wind was Kai-hom, calling her to him.

To die? How could she? The village, her uncle...would they really care? What awaited her back there? A short freedom before marriage to Azeel. She couldn't run or hide, for she knew he would track her down easily. She would have to marry him. Be his prize, his pet, to show off to others than abandon, leaving her alone until he returned to demand dinner and care. What if they had children? How would she care for them on her own? Could she truly love them if they were Azeel’s?

Kai-hom had been her one friend, her sanctuary. With him gone, who could protect her, who could shield her from the angry glances, the coveting stare of Azeel, the whispering and muttering of the other indians, pushing her away from them and towards Kai-hom? But now, where could she flee?

The wind rushed around her, echoing her thoughts in her ears. It had grown again, the gentle breeze forgotten, also the quiet tempest, replaced with a crazed yearning, as desperate as her own. It blew and shoved against her back, and she stared down. A long fall, rocks, her river, her beloved river, rising to catch her...

She did not feel the plunge into the shallow depths, did not feel the cold seep through her skin, the rocks tearing her body. All she could feel was Kai-hom's arms enveloping her, his lips touching hers.

She was home.   

 

Author's Note

Please feel free to put what you want on here, try not to swear. Like I said, this isn't my favorite story, so I don't mind if you suggest or tell me what I did wrong, I won't hold it against you. :)

Reviews

[crystalandra]

What a great story! I enjoyed reading this and loved how you presented the situation...What more can I say? I loved it although it was quite sad in the end that she killed herself to be with her true love...Well done.

[Aarea]

Thank you. I never actually considered the ending sad, but everyone else did. After all, what kind of a future did she have in her clan? One with Azeel and no Kai-hom and no acceptance in her clan. The ending was meant to liberate her, but I can see how you would think it sad. Thank you for reviewing!!! I love your reviews, they are so uplifting!!!! :)

[Lone Wolf]

This is a beautiful plot. Really, no sarcasm. Thanks for sharing this piece of writing with us. I really enjoyed it.

[Aarea]

Thanks a bunch! :)

[Maggie]

I don't know why this isn't one of your favorites. I really, really liked this story. I loved the imagery and the storyline, the plot, the characters, everything. I don't quite know if it fits for the mental illness contest, but I will be considering it.