Chapter 6

A/N: I'd like to thank leelator for giving me information about Pacific Northwest tribes and the Quileute, it helped me decide what to include in these last two chapters! :D


Pictures of some tattoos are included at the bottom.



Chapter 6

White Swan made her way along the path, enjoying the small amount of time she had to herself. She had some time to kill before she had to get back to her chores, so she’d decided to go for a walk among the village. She enjoyed easy, gentle days like the current one the best.

When there was nothing important to get to right away, she loved walking through the village and taking in the sights and sounds. Always one to enjoy a relaxing walk outside, she was glad the day had turned out nice for once. Sunny, but with some clouds to provide a brief reprieve every now and then, there was also a slight breeze meandering through the area.

White Swan smiled as she spied a group of children playing their version of a chasing game. Her smile widened as their laughter reached her ears. Truly, on days like this one it seemed as if bad things didn’t exist in the world.

As she neared the children, Turtle Dove stopped playing long enough to wave to her before she returned to her game. White Swan waved back as she approached Squirrel Gathers, who was looking after her young charge.

Squirrel Gathers grinned at White Swan before looking back at the children. “Enjoying the day I see.”

White Swan chuckled. “Just for a bit. I have some time before I have to start the rest of my chores.”

Squirrel Gathers nodded. “Oh, I don’t blame you. It is a nice day, isn’t it? I’m glad I get to spend most of it watching Turtle Dove which means I get to spend it outside too.”

“Mm hm. Lucky you!”

The two of them shared a laugh before White Swan went on her way. She took another path between the houses heading towards the area where corn stalks and other products grew next to a flat, grassy section. She liked this area because it was a big open field which could be covered in lots of colorful wildflowers if the season was right.

Hoping that the recent rains had proved beneficial, White Swan went to the field to pick some flowers so that she could pass some time maybe making a crown or two. As the houses grew fewer, she could hear shouts and other sounds coming from the field. Frowning to herself, she tried to remember if there had been anything planned for the use of the field that day since it often served as the place to hold many of the village games and other celebrations.

It wasn’t until she turned the corner of the last house that hid the field from her view that she saw what all the commotion was. About thirty feet away was a group of braves in a circle, cheering and shouting at whoever was in the center of the ring. As she began to give the group a wide berth, she managed to see what they’d been excited about.

In the center of the group were two braves who’d clearly just been sparring with each other. As the winner raised his arms above his head, the loser picked himself up and grinned despite the fact that he’d been bested. The two braves shook hands before moving out of the circle so that two more braves could spar together.

White Swan knew that this wasn’t a planned event, but rather it was just the younger warriors getting together to spar and practice so as not to become too lax in their fighting skills. Although this group was small, there were times when the groups were even smaller or larger. Varying in size and preparation, the sparring groups would sometimes put on mock fights just to see if they could outwit each other.

Clearly, this was just a spur of the moment kind of group since there didn’t appear to be any elders or young children among them. Choosing to keep on walking around them to head for the rest of the open field, White Swan stopped when she caught a glimpse of one of the warriors. She craned her head, trying to look through the crowd until she could see him even more clearly.

In the middle of the group, sparring with another brave was none other than Black Wolf. Her eyes went wide as she watched him nod, then touch blade handles with the other brave before backing up to prepare to fight.

Quickly looking around for a place to partly shield herself from their view, she spied a group of hedges near a house. She backtracked then darted into the hedges, ducking behind them before she looked around to see if anyone had noticed her. Since it appeared that she hadn’t been seen, she turned her attention back to the fight.

It took a few moments before she could see Black Wolf through the gaps between the crowd and when she did, she nearly gaped. Not only was he sparring heavily with his opponent, but both braves had removed most of their clothing and accessories so that they were clad only in their breechclouts.

She watched as the two of them circled around the small clearing. As Black Wolf’s back came into her view, she noticed just how muscular he really was. His shoulder blades and muscles were a symphony of movement as they flexed and bunched while he stealthily moved around as if he were gliding.

When his opponent suddenly faked a lunge to the left then lunged right, Black Wolf seemed to see it coming. As the knife reached for him, Black Wolf leaped out of the way. Moving behind his opponent, Black Wolf swept his leg out to knock the brave off of his feet. The brave merely stumbled once before whirling around to engage Black Wolf in hand to hand combat.

As the two of them continued to go at each other, White Swan became fascinated with not only the way the two of them seemed to move as if they were performing an intricate dance, but also with the way Black Wolf looked in general. She watched as sweat began to form all over his body giving it a slight sheen in the dappled sunlight. Even the edges of his hair became damp from his exertion.

Unable to tear her eyes away from the tantalizing view, she briefly wondered how it was that she’d never noticed just how toned and ripped Black Wolf really was before this. She realized he must have really worked out while he’d been away all those years. Now, she could see the tight muscles of his arms and chest as well as the myriad of tribal tattoos he had on his shoulders, biceps and back.

She was amazed with the way the tattoos seemed to become animated with each movement of his muscles as if they were trying to jump off of his skin and come to life. On his back, she noticed the majority of the tattoo was a huge tribal sun surrounded by a ring of whales. Then on one shoulder was a circle which showed two wolves facing each other on their hind legs, as if they were either greeting each other or fighting. Connected to the bottom of the circle was the fin of a killer whale which then bloomed into the entire whale, looking fierce as it seemed to jump in an arc.

On the other shoulder, was a tribal eagle, its wings spread wide as its gaze looked to the sky where the Great Spirit resided. Beneath the eagle was another tribal wolf, its position symbolizing that the one who bore the tattoos was a descendent of the chiefs of the tribe whose given names included the wolf. With every movement Black Wolf made, wings flapped, wolves prowled and whales swam.

Still, every time she saw something else that she hadn’t noticed before, her attention would immediately go back to his muscular body. He had a set of the most pronounced washboard abs she’d ever seen and she could just imagine washing her clothes on them rather than in the stream like she usually did. Then there were the hip lines peeking out from the top of his breechclout since it really left nothing to the imagination.

Granted, she should be used to seeing a man walk around in nothing but a skimpy piece of cloth covering his groin area and part of his behind since that’s what the males generally wore every day. However for the first time ever, that little piece of cloth covering Black Wolf became something so much more than a standard piece of clothing. Suddenly, White Swan felt like she was doing something forbidden. Like she was intruding on something private.

Still, she couldn’t look away from the beauty that was being displayed before her. And from the looks of him, it didn’t look like he had any tan lines like some of the other men did from wearing their jerkins and leggings for too long in the sun. Nope, he was all tanned flesh and rippling muscles with the dancing tattoos on his arms and back.

As Black Wolf and his opponent separated for a brief respite, White Swan found herself craning her neck for a better view of him. When he’d stepped back, he’d become hidden from her view and she quickly tried to find him again amidst the crowd. Growling in frustration when she couldn’t see him, she almost fell forward into the hedges but she quickly recovered.

She was just glad she hadn’t been too loud as to call attention to herself. Just then, Black Wolf and his opponent resumed their fight and she got caught up in watching him all over again. With each movement he made, she fell further, more and more. So taken with the sight before her that she wasn’t paying any attention to the time passing by.

By the time the fight was over and the two braves shook hands before moving out of the center of the circle, White Swan’s body was heating up and she was feeling things she’d never felt before. Confused with her reaction to Black Wolf, she took deep breaths and tried to calm herself down.

What was wrong with her? Why did she feel so hot and sweaty when she hadn’t been the one exerting herself? And why was her heart pounding so hard as if it were trying to force its way out of her chest?

Shaking her head to clear it of wayward thoughts, she straightened up and glanced back towards the group of braves. Black Wolf was being congratulated by several others as he wiped himself down with a cloth.

Once more White Swan found her gaze captured by the mouthwatering sight of that cloth moving over those sleek muscles. Just when she was getting past the point of no return, a voice broke into her daydreams.

“Bella! Beautiful day isn’t it?” called Mouse Daydreams as she spotted White Swan near the edge of the field.

Startled, White Swan glanced back at Mouse Daydreams before looking in the direction of the group. Her face flamed as she realized Black Wolf was looking straight at her. A smile covered his face as he waved to her, clearly glad to see her.

Still blushing at almost being caught ogling him, White Swan returned a timid wave of her own before turning away to head to where Mouse Daydreams was waiting. By the time she’d reached Mouse Daydreams, her heartbeat had calmed down, but her cheeks still felt a bit warm. She just hoped it wasn’t too obvious to Mouse Daydreams.

As she joined Mouse Daydreams, the younger girl fell into step besides her and they walked back towards the center of the village.

“So, you have some time to yourself?” asked Mouse Daydreams.

White Swan nodded. “Yeah and you know how I like to take a walk on days like this.”

Mouse Daydreams scrunched up her nose. “Yeah, I know. You said you always like being outdoors.”

“Yep,” replied White Swan as she and Mouse Daydreams stopped and sat down on a log that had been made into a bench, then set between two of the houses. It was items like that which gave the people places to rest in some shade and talk with out being in the middle of a crowd.

“What are you up to?” White Swan asked Mouse Daydreams.

She shrugged. “Nothing. I was just trying to avoid being told to do something else, that’s all.”

White Swan frowned at her. “Are you hiding from your family again?”

Mouse Daydreams pouted. “It’s not that! I just wanted a break, that’s all. I finished my last chore a few minutes early, so I thought I’d find you.”

“What for?”

She shrugged. “To chat, I guess.”

White Swan nodded as she leaned back against the log. “Okay.”

Neither one of them spoke for a while as White Swan tilted her head back and gazed up at the sky. She sighed in contentment as she watched the clouds floating in the sky. Mouse Daydreams glanced at her when she’d sighed and shook her head.

“You really do like it out here, don’t you Bella?”

White Swan nodded as she lifted her gaze to Mouse Daydreams. “It’s beautiful.” When Mouse Daydreams gave her a disgusted look, she continued. “What? You don’t think so?”

“Not really. It’s too hot and there’s no place to sit and be cool in really. Not like there was back home.”

White Swan arched an eyebrow. “Back home?”

Mouse Daydreams nodded. “Yes, back in England.”

White Swan’s eyes went wide. “You remember that?”

“Of course I do, I was five when my family and I came to this country.”

“Oh, I was born here.”

Mouse Daydreams’ eyes went wide. “Oh, but you must have had a great home where you were born.”

White Swan nodded. “Well, yeah. It was this log cabin. I shared a room with my younger sister and Emmett stayed in the family room while my parents had their own room too.”

“A log cabin! Ugh, I really don’t like those homes either. They smell bad when it rains and all through the winter!”

White Swan shrugged. “It’s not so bad.”

“My house in England was huge! I had my own room and my sister had her own too. We were on the other side of the house from my parents. Our house was high on this cliff, so the breeze from the ocean would always keep the house cool no matter what.

The floors were made with this shiny stone that always remained cold and the walls were made of something called plaster. And when it got cold in the fall and winter, we had plenty of fur and woolen blankets to keep ourselves warm. The coverings they have here are nothing compared to what we had at our house in England.”

White Swan saw the look of disgust on Mouse Daydreams’ face as she said the last part. Tilting her head slightly, she asked Mouse Daydreams a question. “Rosalie, why did your family leave England?”

Mouse Daydreams rolled her eyes. “Daddy thought he could make more money if he expanded his business over here. And when he made it on the east coast, he decided to move us more in-land. That was when our group was raided.”

“Oh, well you must have had another great home on the east coast.”

She shook her head. “No, it was a log cabin.”

Even White Swan could hear the distaste in Mouse Daydreams’ voice as she spoke.

“It was dark and drafty. And it smelled like wet, decaying vegetation. Daddy didn’t want to have a real house built because he planned on moving out West for his business. He said when we made it to the other coast and he’d expanded his business across this country, we’d finally have a real house.”

As Mouse Daydreams gave a sad sigh, White Swan patted her arm. “I’m sorry your family didn’t make it to the other coast.”

Mouse Daydreams nodded. “Me too. But I’m not giving up on that yet! Someday I’m going to live in another house as fine as the one I was born in! With those shiny stone floors and strong plaster walls! And I’m going to have lots of warm, fuzzy blankets and a huge fireplace for the winter! It’ll be beautiful! And I’ll invite you and all my friends over for tea!”

White Swan smiled sadly as Mouse Daydreams jumped up and spread her arms wide, lost in her dreams. She knew Mouse Daydreams wasn’t made for the kind of living one had in a place like they were now in. Mouse Daydreams had been raised in a place where she probably never had to worry about leaking roofs and drafty rooms. More than likely Mouse Daydreams had always had someone else there to do everything for her, so that she never had to lift a finger herself.

Now, in this place she was doing everything for someone else. No wonder she seemed moody and sullen all the time. It was a long way to fall for someone who had come from a family like the one Mouse Daydreams had come from.

White Swan’s life had been nothing like that. She’d been born and raised in log cabins all her life and hadn’t once complained about it. Always following her father and older brother around, White Swan wasn’t afraid of getting dirty or working hard. Even her mother had worked as hard as her father.

Alice was the one who turned out to be similar to Mouse Daydreams. While White Swan was outside in the garden with her mother or fishing with her father and brother, Alice remained inside complaining over the chores she had to do in there. Unless it was sewing or making their meals, Alice hated doing the indoor chores just as much as she hated being outside.

Just as she couldn’t imagine Mouse Daydreams ever becoming comfortable living in a place like the village or in a log cabin, White Swan couldn’t imagine herself living the way Mouse Daydreams and her family had back in England. She couldn’t imagine not being able to go outside and feeling the grass beneath her feet as she ran through the field or the dirt between her fingers as she worked in the garden.

She’d never felt her life there in the village was that bad since it wasn’t much different than it had been before. The only thing that was really different was the amount of freedom she could have to do the things she wanted to do. That and the fact that she would do all the chores for herself, not as a slave to someone else.

Still, she knew she was fortunate to have a life that she enjoyed more than Mouse Daydreams enjoyed her own. Glancing to where Mouse Daydreams stood with her back to her, White Swan wondered what her older sister, Leah, had been like. Was Leah anything like Mouse Daydreams or had she been a hands on kind of girl, like her?

It would be something if Leah had been like her since Mouse Daydreams was a lot like Alice. White Swan realized that if both younger sisters were alike and the older sisters were alike too, then maybe Leah had treated Mouse Daydreams a lot like White Swan had treated Alice. And had there ever been times when Leah wanted to strangle her little sister when she became too whiny?

White Swan smiled as she remembered the times when Alice would go running to their parents to tattle on White Swan when she thought White Swan was doing something wrong. It was those times when she paid her little sister back with a prank or two. Still, despite their disagreements and differences, White Swan protected her little sister with everything she had. And she was certain Leah had done the same for Mouse Daydreams.

In fact, she was sure that if Leah were with them right now, she would care for Mouse Daydreams the same way White Swan cared for her. She would even be furious with the way Mouse Daydreams’ owners were treating her.

With that thought, she gave Mouse Daydreams the once over, trying to see if she could spot any bruises or marks on her body but the cedar skirt and leather shirt seemed to hide most of her skin from view.

She decided to try another tactic. “How’s Amanda doing, Rose?”

Mouse Daydreams shrugged as she turned back and joined White Swan sitting on the log. “Okay I guess.”

“You don’t know? I thought she lived with you.”

“She does. I just don’t see her often since we’re both busy.”

White Swan raised an eyebrow. “You don’t like her, do you?”

It wasn’t an accusation, but Mouse Daydreams huffed just the same. “It’s not my fault, you know! She just won’t shut up about how lovely this place is and that the people are not as scary as the stories made them out to be.”

White Swan tsked. “They’re not.”

“Fine, they’re not. But does she have to go on and on about how great they are? As if they are as civilized as we are!”

White Swan sighed. She was in no mood to argue with Mouse Daydreams on a day like this. Besides, it would just be futile anyway. Mouse Daydreams wasn’t ever going to change the way she viewed the Quedeyona and other tribes. To her, they would always be heathens and savages. Uncivilized beings that would always be far beneath those from the civilized world she’d been born into.

“I’m sure her enthusiasm is all because this place is so new to her. Be patient and it’ll soon wear off. You’ll see.”

“You think?” asked Mouse Daydreams.

White Swan nodded. “Sure, a lot of people come here with wide eyes at the newness of the place. Even I did for a time.”

That wasn’t entirely true, but she hoped Mouse Daydreams would at least give Amanda a chance to fit in.

Mouse Daydreams appeared to think about it for a few moments before nodding. “Okay, I’ll give it some time and see.”

White Swan smiled. “Good for you. And I’ll try talking to her also, maybe I can help her to see things like we do.”

Mouse Daydreams grinned. “Oh would you? Thanks Bella!”

“No problem.” She glanced up at the sky before motioning to Mouse Daydreams. “Come on, I should be getting back to finishing up the rest of my chores for the day.”

Mouse Daydreams grimaced. “Ugh, don’t remind me.”

White Swan chuckled. “Oh now see, you were actually enjoying the day too!”

Mouse Daydreams gave her a sheepish look. “I guess I was, but then again you always seem to make things seem better.”

White Swan wrapped an arm around Mouse Daydreams’ shoulders and gave her a gentle hug. “I’m glad I could do that for you, little sis.”

Mouse Daydreams laughed. “Thanks, big sis.”

White Swan gave her a wink as the two of them walked through the village arm in arm.

Black Wolf's back tattoo

The two tattoos on one arm: 2 wolves and a killer whale....

The two tattoos on the other arm: Eagle and Wolf