Woman of the Wind

[Kiwidinok]

Her name meant "woman of the wind." It was a good name for a hunter. Her mother did not want her to be a hunter, but the man who named her said it would be a good name for her. He said the wind crept into her tent when she was born, crept into the womb beside her and kissed her. He said the wind was a part of her spirit.

She stood over the fallen wolf, bloody axe in hand. Her arm bled freely, and she watched as her life fell into the jaws of the dead wolf. She watched her blood fall into the jaws of the Earthmother. She threw back her head and screamed.

In the tent, a fire burned brightly. Her fur was matted with blood and paint, but the fire danced in her eyes. The man who named her handed her a bowl of smoking herbs, and she breathed deeply.

"Kiwidinok."

She closed her eyes. The world became too small for her. It pressed in on all sides. She could feel the Earthmother trembling.

"Woman of the wind."

She opened her eyes. The man who named her sat before her, but he was not the man who named her. His eyes were red coals. His fur was black as char. His hooves were made of steel.

"You are a woman."

She could smell her own blood. She touched the matted hair between her thighs. Her fingers came away red.

I am a woman. I am Kiwidinok.

[Villayna]

((very nice start! welcome to TNG!))

[Kiwidinok]

((Thank you! I plan to have more to come.))

[Kiwidinok]

"No. You cannot go."

Kiwidinok straightened, looking her mother in the eye. "I am a woman, now. The man who named me told me so."

"He does not make you a woman!"

"I am a woman, now. Mu'sha has touched me with her blood."

"The moon flow does not make you a woman!"

Kiwidinok nodded, hefting her pack and her father's aged, battered rifle. "No. The man who named me does not make me a woman. Mu'sha does not make me a woman."

She stepped forward and cupped her mother's tear-soaked face in her hands. "I am a woman, now. I know it in my spirit."

Her mother sobbed and threw her arms around Kiwidinok, pulling her close.

"You are a woman. You know it, and that makes it so. But it does not make you wise, my daughter." She pulled back and looked into her daughter's eyes. "You are a woman. But that does not make you less my child."

The two rested their foreheads together, and Kiwidinok's heart felt heavy. And yet, she knew in her spirit that she was a woman. She knew, like the wind knew, it was time to go.

"Peace, mother."

"Peace, daughter."

Kiwidinok slung her father's rifle over her shoulder and stepped into the world.

[Yichimet]

(( Hmm... *wanders Mulgore for a bit* ))

[Kiwidinok]

On the plains of Mulgore, Kiwidinok worked at a pair of sticks, her tongue caught in her muzzle, focused intently on her task. Overhead, Mu'sha shone brightly.

"Come to me, fire. Please. I am cold, and I beseech you for warmth. I am hungry, and I beg you to cook my food. I will feed you and bed you and give you my smile."

A spark caught in the kindling beneath her sticks, and she felt warmth spread through her. She smiled.

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The fire roared warm before Kiwidinok. Her haunches rested on a stone, flat as her hooves. On a long stick, a slab of meat cooked slowly, smoke escaping the fire's face to dance across the velvet sky. Kiwidinok lifted her eyes to the sky and smiled. Brother Wind caressed her cheeks, and she turned her fur into his touch.

She heard a noise in the night, but she did not stir. Lowering her head, she spoke. "Come into my firelight and share my meal." Her eyes were bright in the flames, the flames she had fed and borne.

A shu'halo stepped into the fire, grey of fur and milky of eye. He carried a gnarled staff, and his form hunched with the weight of his winters. He sat on a rock opposite the fire from her. Wordlessly, she offered him the haunch.

"Welcome to my fire, old one."

"Your fire?" He laughed softly. "A fire is a fire. It belongs to none."

"I have bedded this fire. I have fed it. I bore it. It is my fire."

"It is fire. Fire is fire. You cannot own the fire."

She stared into the fire. The flames danced and licked at the stars, heedless. "Coyote."

The old one chuckled. "If I must be."

She shook her head. "Do not trick me, Coyote. I am a woman."

"What is a woman but a girl who did not die?"

"I flow with Mu'sha's blood."

"You have not died yet."

Kiwidinok stood, glaring over the fire at the old one. The old one sat impassively on the rock.

"You are cruel."

"I am the wind. If you would make less wind yourself, you could hear me."

She closed her eyes took a deep breath. He was infuriating. And yet, she heard the wind whistle past her. It rustled her fur, touched her ears, danced along her sides. For a very long time she stood, listening. Finally, she opened her eyes.

"You are the wind."

"How am I the wind? It is madness to say I am the wind."

Kiwidinok shook her head. "You are the wind. The wind says only what it says. The wind does not lie. The wind blows freely, without regard to feelings, but it blows as it blows and no other way. The wind is the wind. You are the wind."

The old one smiled. "Now you are a woman."

"A woman is just a girl who has not died yet."

The old one laughed. The wind blew, the fire bent, and sparks leapt from the bed.

Kiwidinok woke. The fire was embers and ashes. The old one was gone. A haunch of meat sat on a rock across the fire from her, half-eaten.

[Amoola]

(( *reads with interest* I'm liking... keep it up. :D ))

[opalexian]

((wow, nice! Please, more!))

[Kiwidinok]

Kiwidinok crouched in the tall grass of Mulgore. Brother Wind walked at her side, touched her flank. She leaned slightly into him.

The short men worked in the mountains not far from her. She was told they were raping the Earthmother. All she saw were picks and sticks and short men. But the Man Who Named Her said they showed no reverence. She saw no reverence.

He lifted her gun, moving forward through the grass. She was a huntress. Brother Wind flowed ahead, kicking up dust and grass, blinding the short men. The rifle kicked in her hands, and a short man fell to the ground. Another yelled into the wind. He fell to the ground.

All the short men fell to the ground.

Kiwidinok moved into the camp of the short men, holding her bloody axe at her side. One of the short men had bitten her leg with his tool. She walked with a limp.

She lifted his tool. Her blood still shone on it, wet and hot. It was an odd axe. Kiwidinok felt curious. She moved to one of the rocks. She brought the tool down on the rock, and it split with a crack.

Kiwidinok dropped the tool like she would a snake, stepped back. She shook her hand. It felt cold. It was a merciless, hungry tool. When it split the rock, it felt happy. The rock felt sad. She looked around, saw the marks of the short man tools on the rocks all around her, on the mountains of Mulgore itself.

She threw back her head and howled in rage and pain. When she and Brother Wind left the short man camp, all the tools had been broken over the short man anvil.

[Laron]

"May Elune guide your steps as you walk with the Earthmother."

Amadare Redthorn
Druid of Claws & Teeth

(Love this!))