Chapter 1

Chapter 1:

A/N: I am using most of the characters from the Twilight books, but they will have "native" names instead of their book names. For example, I do not call Jacob...Jacob Black. In this story he is known as Black Wolf. Also, as slaves are taken into the tribe, they will then be called by their tribe name, hence the reason from this chapter on, Bella is called White Swan. The only time the English names will be used is when an English speaking person is talking to another English speaking person. Hope that doesn't confuse everyone...


Okay, now for the Disclaimer:


I do not own the books of the Twilight series. I also do not own anything from the FICTIONAL Quedeyona nation. Nor do I claim to know exactly what life was like for any Native American tribes in the past. This story is purely from my imagination and is in NO WAY meant to reflect the real Native American tribes that once existed or still exist today.


Now, on with the story...





* Six years later*

Bella Swan, now known as the slave White Swan, continued to scrub the clothing against the rocks at the edge of the stream. Her friend Rosalie Hale, another slave now known as Mouse Daydreams, knelt next to her doing the same with her own pile of clothing. There were several other slaves also washing clothing along with them, while several braves kept an eye on them.

None of the slaves even glanced at their watchers as they continued to gossip among themselves. The Quedeyona watchers didn’t protest over the slaves use of their native English language while they washed clothes and gossiped. The only time the braves got upset was when one of the slaves spoke to them in English when they clearly couldn’t speak it.

All slaves that had been there for a long enough time eventually got the hang of the language. White Swan had been a slave with the Quedeyona for six years and had gotten good at speaking their language. Mouse Daydreams had only been there for about four years, but she was getting a pretty good grasp of their language too.

Despite knowing how to speak the Quedeyona language, the slaves tended to use English when talking amongst themselves. Especially when they were discussing something they didn’t want the Quedeyona to hear. And at the moment, it was Mouse Daydreams who didn’t want the Quedeyona watchers to understand what they were talking about.

White Swan, for her part, kept trying to convince Mouse Daydreams to let her inform someone of the recent incident that had happened to her. No matter how much White Swan tried, the one year younger teen refused to budge.

“Rose, I know this is getting serious. You have to let me intervene on your behalf! You know we have rights even as slaves,” stated White Swan.

Mouse Daydreams continued to wash her clothes without looking up at White Swan. “I know we do, Bella! But why are you so determined to help me out? Shouldn’t you be looking after yourself first?”

“I’m not the one trying to hide all the cuts and bruises!” mumbled White Swan.

Mouse Daydreams gave her a quick glare before going back to washing. “So, my skin is more sensitive than yours. I can’t help that.”

White Swan huffed as she shoved a stray piece of hair off her forehead. “It is not! I’m not being tossed around like a sack of potatoes, Rosalie! Badger Snaps may constantly hurl insults at me and taunt me, but it’s only him. Not the rest of the family. His father and older brother treat me with the same respect all slaves are to be treated with. And you know that his mother loves the way I care for her daughter. After all, Turtle Dove is the youngest of the family.”

“Yet you allow him to abuse you.”

“He only uses words Rose. Trust me, he knows that I know what my rights are. He knows that the moment he goes too far, I’m going to his father and telling him what his youngest son has done to me. I won’t keep silent, Rose. I won’t.”

Mouse Daydreams threw down the cloth she was wringing out. “And just who am I supposed to go complain to, huh? You said it yourself. You can go to anyone else in the family to complain about Badger Snaps. I can’t do that since it’s the whole family who’s involved!”

“That’s why you have to let me tell someone, Rose. I can intervene for you.” pleaded White Swan.

Mouse Daydreams huffed. “Right, as if Crow Flies will try to protect a slave that isn’t one of his own.”

“He will! Once I explain to him what your family is doing to you and he sees the evidence himself, he’ll protect you. Crow Flies is a reasonable man, Rosalie. He’s never mistreated me in the six years I’ve been with him and he’s listened to me when it has mattered.”

“Rose, Bella is right. I’ve met Crow Flies a time or two when my owner has visited with him. He is indeed a just man,” said one of the other slaves.

Mouse Daydreams sighed as she sat back on her haunches and stared at the water. After a few moments she shook her head and looked up at White Swan with watery eyes. “I can’t, Bella. I just can’t. Just let it go. Please?”

White Swan slowly nodded as she gave in to the pleading look in her friend’s eyes. Against her better judgment, she let the topic slide just as Mouse Daydreams wanted her to do. This wasn’t the first time White Swan had managed to catch sight of the cuts and bruises Mouse Daydreams tried to keep hidden from all eyes. And just like all those other times, she tried to convince Mouse Daydreams to let her talk to Crow Flies, the man who had taken White Swan away from the Danasga tribe to become a slave for his family.

In the six years that White Swan had been with Crow Flies and his family within the Quedeyona tribe, she had come to realize that her life could have turned out much worse than it had. Badger Snaps, the youngest of the two boys in the family, was constantly harassing White Swan when no one else seemed to be within earshot, but White Swan didn’t let it get to her. Besides that, Badger Snaps, who was seventeen years old, knew that she was waiting for him to do something he would regret.

He knew she was waiting for the day he did something to cross that line which would have her running to his father. And it wouldn’t be just Crow Flies that would take the hide out of him. His older brother, Blue Raven would also take a piece of his hide as would their mother, Dragonfly Takes Flight. All of them had come to appreciate what White Swan did for their family and knew she was worth her weight in trade.

So, just having Badger Snaps on her back was nothing compared to what Mouse Daydreams had to put up with every single day. Unlike White Swan, who only had one person harassing her, Mouse Daydreams had her entire family harassing her. And it wasn’t just verbally either.

The man who owned Mouse Daydreams, had purchased her four years ago when his wife was still alive. It was his wife who had been the sole protector of Mouse Daydreams. She’d kept both her husband and their only son from harassing their new slave. Unfortunately, she’d died in childbirth two years ago along with her unborn daughter.

A year after that, the man became hand-fasted to his second wife who couldn’t stand the sight of Mouse Daydreams. She made sure to let Mouse Daydreams know how she felt about her just as verbally and physically as her husband and stepson had been doing all along. So Mouse Daydreams’ situation had gone from bad to worse within a year and there was nothing White Swan could do about it.

“So, have you all heard about Antonia?” asked one of the other girls with them.

“No what about her?” asked White Swan.

“She got word that her father was looking for her. Seems he managed to track her down and negotiated for her freedom.”

“So that’s why I haven’t seen her for a few days,” replied Mouse Daydreams.

“Yep. Her father came and got her.”

“Wow, she must have been really happy to know her family was still alive,” mused White Swan.

“Well, she thought they were dead actually. I mean, their home was attacked while they’d all been asleep for the night, and Antonia said she never saw any of her family while they were carrying her away. She did see the house in flames, so she’d assumed they’d all died in the fire since she never saw any of them.”

“Did they all survive?” asked another one of the girls.

“No. I heard her father telling her that it was just him and her younger brother that survived. Her mother died from all the smoke from the fire as did her older sister. Her older brother died while trying to keep the Indians from setting fire to their home.”

The others got quiet as their thoughts turned inwards to their own families and the memories of how they’d all been captured.

After a few moments, White Swan let out a sigh. “Well, I doubt I’ll ever see my brother and sister again. I guess I should just be grateful that my life isn’t as bad as it could have been.”

“What about your parents, Bella?” asked one of the girls.

White Swan shook her head. “They were killed in the raid that we were captured in.”

“Are you sure, I mean Antonia’s dad lived…”

White Swan nodded. “Oh, I’m sure. I saw them die.”

Once more silence fell over them as their thoughts turned inward. White Swan couldn’t really remember the details of her parents deaths anymore since the years had made her memories blur a bit. Truth was, their deaths had never really bothered her as much as she would have thought. She did have nightmares of their deaths for about a year or two afterwards, but they were nothing compared to the nightmares she’d have of her younger sister, Alice.

Even now she still woke up from nightmares of hearing her little sister screaming for her to stay with her. She could still see the terrified look in Alice’s eyes as she reached out for her while they kept pulling them farther and farther away from each other.

Every time she woke up, she would just lie there and wonder where Alice was now. Had she wound up with a good family like she had, or had she been set free? Was she even still alive after all these years?

White Swan turned to glance at Mouse Daydreams and smiled. Alice would be Mouse Daydreams’ age now and she wondered if Alice looked just as lovely as Mouse Daydreams did.

“What are you smiling about?” asked Mouse Daydreams when she glanced up at White Swan.

White Swan’s smile widened. “I was just thinking of my sister and what she might look like now.”

Mouse Daydreams returned her smile. “That’s right. You said she’s my age.”

White Swan nodded. “Uh huh. She’s a few months younger than you.”

“What do you think she looks like?”

White Swan grinned. “I think she looks like our father. Her hair is probably the same dark brown as my father’s was. And sometimes when there wasn’t much sun, it almost looked black. Emmett’s hair was that way too.”

“So your older brother looks like your father too?”

White Swan nodded. “Yeah. I’m the only one who really looks the most like our mother. I have the same color of hair as she had.”

Mouse Daydreams made a face. “Well, I’m not sure if a guy who looks like you is going to look all that manly.”

White Swan laughed. “Well the last time I saw Emmett, he was twelve and he certainly looked like he was on his way to being a man to me.”

“Ooooh! That would make him about eighteen now, right?” asked one of the other girls.

White Swan nodded. “Yes it would indeed.”

“What about your sister, Rosalie? What do you think she looks like now?” asked the girl.

Mouse Daydreams nibbled on her bottom lip before answering. “Well, she’d be about seventeen now. So, I think she’d be much taller than me. But that’s because Leah was always so tall like our dad and I’m shorter like my mother was.”

“So, you look like your mom then?” asked White Swan.

Mouse Daydreams shook her head. “Oh no, I look like my dad with my mother’s height.” She laughed as she added, “That’s what’s funny. The last I remember of her, Leah looked like my mother with my father’s height. And for some reason, it just made her look even prettier. I just know she’s got to be absolutely stunning now.”

“Hey, don’t sell yourself so short,” replied White Swan. “Some of us would kill to have the figure you have.”

“Yeah and I even know of a few Quedeyona women who’re envious of your eyes and fair skin,” added another girl.

Mouse Daydreams blushed. “Thanks, but I think I’d rather blend in with the rest of them like some of you do. With my coloring, I’m sticking out like a sore thumb.”

White Swan rolled her eyes as they all went about gathering up the clothing they’d washed. Mouse Daydreams was forever telling White Swan how lucky she was to have hair and skin that tanned well.

She believed it was easy for White Swan to blend in with the Quedeyona tribe, while someone like her with brown hair that lightened in the sun and pale skin that rarely tanned stood out as being so different. That was one of the reasons Mouse Daydreams believed her owners were so cruel towards her.

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The slaves made their way back to the village with their watchers around them. To an untrained eye, it could look like several white women being herded by heathen savages, but that wasn’t really the truth.

Sure the slaves never went to the stream to wash without several braves to guard them, but it wasn’t to keep them from running off. It was really to keep them from being captured by any other raiders lurking out there or to keep any wild animals from injuring them.

And if any of the slaves decided to make a run for it, where would they go exactly? There was nothing but wilderness and ocean for miles and miles in all directions. So, unless any of the slaves were paying attention to their surroundings when they were first brought there, they were bound to get lost and die out in the wilderness.

Since most of the slaves had been taken there as children, they didn’t know where they were at all. From the moment they’d arrived at the tribe, that place had become their home. Unlike some other tribes, the Quedeyona were not nomads so their homes were built into the ground, making them stationary.

The surrounding wilderness and the ocean provided lots of game to hunt and fertile ground to grow any necessary crops. There was also several lakes and an ocean in the area to provide all the necessary water for both sanitary and other uses.

It was only when it came time to trade for the things that they couldn’t get off the land that they had to travel a few days to get it. Things such as certain weapons, horses, slaves and other goods they felt they needed. So every so often, a small group of warriors and council members were sent off to gather what the tribe needed from far away.

Sometimes the group returned within a few days and other times they returned after a few weeks. However that particular day, as the slaves returned to the village with their washed clothes, they could hear murmurings of a group of braves who had just returned after having been gone for a few years.

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As soon as the slaves were within the village, the braves who’d been charged with their care immediately left them to join the growing crowd near the center of the village. Some of the slaves tried to see through the homes towards the center of the village, curious as to who had been gone for so many years. While she was curious, White Swan was more interested in getting her freshly washed clothes back to her owner’s home since she knew it would be relatively empty.

While Quedeyona homes could be built to accommodate a family and any slaves they owned, it could still get rather crowded within the home. After all, the homes were used mostly as a place to sleep or rest rather than a place to live. Most all of the living and other activities took place out of doors for a tribe as active as the Quedeyona.

Mouse Daydreams moved behind White Swan and crossed over to the other side of her, trying to get her own view of the returning group. “I wonder who it is that’s been gone so long.”

White Swan shrugged. “I don’t know, but we’ll find out soon enough. I’m going to the house to put these things away before it gets crowded. You should do the same.”

Mouse Daydreams rolled her eyes. “Yeah, it’d be great to avoid running into any of them, but I’m not really in a hurry to put away their precious clothing now, am I?”

White Swan turned a stern look on her friend. “The last thing you should want to do Rosalie, is to aggravate them any more than they already are.”

Mouse Daydreams sighed. “You always have to say the right thing, don’t you?”

“Come on, I’ll help you get it put away before I head over to my home. That way you’ll get out of there quicker and then you can go see what all the excitement is all about, okay?”

Mouse Daydreams smiled. “Yeah, that’s great.”

White Swan followed Mouse Daydreams to her home and quickly helped her put away all of the clothes she’d washed. As soon as they were done, they left the house and White Swan picked up the basket of clothes she’d left just outside of the door.

“You sure you don’t want me to help you with your stuff, Bella?” asked Mouse Daydreams.

“That’s okay, I’ve got it. You just go and see what’s going on so you can fill me in later.”

Mouse Daydreams waved to White Swan as she began to make her way towards the huge crowd that still gathered near the center of the village. “See you later Bella!”

White Swan nodded as she turned to make her way to the place she’d called home for the last six years. By the time she’d made it to the door, she was closer to the center of the village than she’d been when she’d been at Mouse Daydreams’ home. Standing in front of the door, she had a better view of the crowd standing around the center of the village.

Most of the crowd had broken up into smaller groups, apparently following one or two of the returning braves as they made their way back to their homes. White Swan glanced up and quickly scanned the groups she could see wondering if she would recognize any of the braves that had been gone for a few years.

A smile immediately covered her face the moment she recognized one of them. Mountain Lion Guides had been a friend of Blue Raven’s when White Swan had first arrived there. She remembered Mountain Lion Guides well because he’d been the only one who had immediately recognized Badger Snaps was up to no good. The moment he’d realized that, he’d put the younger boy in his place in such a way that no one other than White Swan had witnessed it.

In fact, White Swan was certain that was part of the reason why Badger Snaps was so mean to her. He resented the fact that White Swan had been privy to that one embarrassment to his manhood. Still, White Swan had always liked Mountain Lion Guides for his quiet stoicism and the way he seemed to see everything that was going on around him.

As she watched him greet others, she realized just how much he’d grown since the last time she’d seen him. He was taller than most of those around him and his hair was much shorter than she’d remembered. His skin was even darker than she’d remembered too and it really stood out when he smiled.

In fact, she was rather amazed that he had smiled at all for she remembered he hadn’t really smiled much in the past. Clearly, he was happy to be home again. As the crowd he was with came closer, she heard a deep voice call out from behind the crowd he was with.

“Sa-ham!”

As Mountain Lion Guides turned towards the voice, White Swan vaguely thought that it sounded like the voice had been saying something suspiciously close to the name Sam, but it could have been her imagination.

She watched as Mountain Lion Guides stopped and called out, “Jah-cub!” before gripping the arm of the brave who’d called out to him. Once more White Swan thought it sounded like he was saying something suspiciously close to the name Jacob.

When Mountain Lion Guides stepped back from the other brave, White Swan realized it was yet another one who had been gone for a few years. Like Mountain Lion Guides, he too had grown since the last time she’d seen him.

A few inches taller than Mountain Lion Guides, he had black hair that appeared to have lighter brown highlights from being out in the sun often. While he had russet-toned skin, she could tell it appeared a little darker than its natural hue. That was clearly another indication that he spent a lot of time in the sun.

And while there were plenty of things that were different about him, from the sun kissed accents to the hints of tattoos running down one arm and the dimples that appeared when he smiled. There was one thing that remained the same since the last time White Swan remembered seeing him.

This one thing had always caught White Swan’s attention since she’d never seen the like of it on any of the other Quedeyona tribe members with the exception of that brave’s mother. For besides Gentle Otter, her son was the only other person who had a smile like that, a smile that rivaled the sun.

And when he turned towards her as he walked with Mountain Lion Guides and the rest of the crowd, White Swan realized it was still true.

Black Wolf still had the most sunny smile she’d ever seen.