Range land

Time was almost at a complete stand still, the fire danced slowly sparts lit up the air around us. I laid to the side and put my arms around her and pulled her as tight as I could. Nothing could ruin this moment. Imatari laid in the corner away from the fire. She enjoyed the coolness. the warm walls presperated as I kissed her shoulder gently and then laid my head down and pulled the cover over her shoulders. "good night I whispered" not sure if she heard me or not before she drifted off to sleep.

Mika's fluttered one more time as he pulled her closer and she snuggled in next to him. "Goodnight" she smiled "I love you" she whispered and ran her hand along his cheekbone before drifting off into sleep.

Whisper had watched from a distance. 'That woman' she thought. She looked over at Imatari ~Do you understand humans?~ She asked

"I love you too" I said. It felt so good rolling off my tongue that I had to chuckle. I quickly pulled it back in to not wake Mika. I snuggled up to her and kissed her forehead and driffted off to sleep.

Imatair lifted her head when Whisper spoke ~Me? No....I try not to even try, gives me a headache~ She rolled her eyes and chuckled

Whisper chuckled ~I'll stop then~ She sighed and went to sleep as well

..............next morning

I awoke as the fire was dwindeling. The sunlight shone in, The small hole at the end of the cave was showing nothing but blue sky. I smiled and shifted onto my elbow and kissed Mika's shoulder and ran my hand along her arm and side. I quickly got up without waking her and put on my pants. I darted outside and found a few berries for breakfast and came across a wild flower that resembled an indian paint brush (if you don't know what it is let me know) I came back in and crawled beside her and laid down again. I placed the flower inside the bowl and set it to where she could see it when she woke. I went and rolled up her bed roll and the other blankets that we didnt sleep in waiting for her to wake.

~I wasn't implying that, sorry~ she said softly as she laid her head on her paws and then plopped on to her side instead

Mika shivered slightly as a small wind entered the cave and nothing was sheltering from it beside the blanket. 'Jarlon! Where..' for a moment she thought last night had all been a dream. 'no it was more than a dream it had to' then she saw him sitting waiting for her to wake up. She smiled and sighed "For a minute there I thought last night had just been a dream" She looked over and saw the flower. "Oh it's beautiful" she smiled and lightly touched it so as not to hurt it. She sat up pulling the blanket around her and smiled at him stretched a tiny bit and yawned. Her hair falling where ever it wanted to, having twists and tangles from the night before.

(before)

Whisper chuckled ~No I was thinking about stopping trying to understand them for awhile now~

"good Morning Beautiful" I smiled sweetly at her and then pulled forward on all four and grabbed her close and crawled over to her and handed her her close as I kissed her. "I was starting to think the same thing, until I saw you laying beside me. right where I wanted you all along. I do hope that i didn't make things awkward for you"

Mika smiled as he kissed her again and handed her her clothes. "mhmm thank you" she said as one hand met his gently taking the clothes but she was still kissing him. "And where I wanted to be" she said softly as their kiss broke. She slipped on her shirt and started lacing it up again "Awkward how?" she asked

Not sure how to word I searched for the words "Well, with what happened before, I've never 'slept' with a women, and you....had a bad expereince to say the least" I shifted my eyes as she got dressed

Mika smiled slightly "Remember what I told you" she cocked her head to the side as her hair gently swayed. "I am making new memories. Ones that it would be up to us what kind we made. I don't want to be stuck with only the bad memories." She smiled slightly at his mention of last night being his first time. "And did you like it?" she smiled coyly "In a way it was my first time to" she said softly "first time it was done in love" she smiled

I looked up at her and smiled "Good, Then I hope it was an incredible memory, because it is unforgetable for me, not sure if I can hunt now, my soul is going to be to sensative" I joked

Mika laughed and crawled forward to him a bit. "Definitely an incredible memory" she said as she kissed him. "Don't worry the urge to eat is enough to convince one to hunt" she smiled and pulled on her pants. She felt like a big kitty, she didn't really want to get up, she just wanted to flop over on her back and look up at him. She sighed slightly and started braiding her hair.

"well.not hungry yet" I laughed "I know i know, we have to hunt and get back to the village. Besides I need to start on the warehouse anyway" I sighed thinking of all that needed to be done. As she braided her hair I went and rolled up the other bed roll

Mika watched him rolling up the bed roll and sighed slightly. Right at the moment she didn't want to go back, didn't want be a leader again. She just wanted to stay here. Here they didn't have to hide their feelings, didn't have to worry about being discovered. She tied of the end of her hair and slowly laid back down on the bare rock. She looked up at the cave ceiling and her eyes wandered it. "I wish we could stay here" she said quietly. She didn't even really realize that she said out loud.

I stopped mid roll and looked over and laughed "Here?" I chuckled "That's an odd place to want to stay. It might get kinda tight in here" I laughed. "I know, i'd like to stay here with you too, but we have responsibility, that is why Chaya and Athara gave us these" I said as I brushed my hand against her amulet and smiled even bigger when I realized she was still wearing the amulet. I ran it between my fingers and kissed her. "But we'll be together soon enough, It will be hard to keep my distance, but I'll be ok"

Mika blushed when she realized she had said it out loud. "Ya I know, I guess sometimes I just wish she had chosen someone else. I have almost killed Bardon about 3 times now. My d@mn temper" she sighed. She looked over when he gently stroked the amulet around her neck and then the feather charm he had given her. She smiled. "Ya..all in one house with many curious eyes" she rolled her eyes slightly and laughed. "Why did you leave the tribe in the new world stalking panther?" she asked using the name her uncle had told her.

Again she surprised me. I froze for a moment "how....how.....I mean how did you know....and. WHAT?" I half chuckled nervously.

Mika laughed slightly "The tribes are very interconnected. When you told me you had joined a tribe there for awhile in hiding I remembered stories my uncle had told about a young white man that had come and joined his tribe. That the young man had become almost one of them and had even taken a indian name. I connected the dots" she shrugged "Thinking back I do actually remember a gathering where I saw a young white man for an instant, but I ah was distracted again." she blushed slightly.

"Yes, the great hunt gathering" I blushed a bit. "I remember that. They asked me to go on the hunt with them, otherwise I wouldn't have come to the gathering. I was rather shy, and knew that most natives didn't like the white man. that's why I carried out a favor for your uncle"

Mika nodded "We had good reason" she said instinctively but then she bit her tongue. "I'm sorry, bad habit" she said softly. She looked down and took a deep breath. "So why did you leave?" she asked again

"it's ok, I understand, I killed one of the swines." I then thought for a moment. "I was there for 6 months when I had hunted down General Daniels and was stocking him. Finally I was able to get close enough to kill him. When I did I was injured and your uncle found me bleeding in a field beside him. He thought I was one of them and almost killed me when he saw that I wasn't a normal looking white man, I had darker skin and a different complection. I'm still amazed how smart your people are. Anyway he took me back and fixed me up. After I was better I wouldn't stay in the village for fear of being killed. I didn't always get the kindest looks. I would stalk around the forest, and not even your uncle would hear me. I would just hide in the shadows. One day he saw me stalking a mountain lion, just for the fun of it. Must have been where I got my name" I shrugged "But then things started getting nasty. People went missing and were being killed. Fingers began to get pointed at me because I was getting closer to the village and staying in a young ladies tent. Nothing happened, she was just nice to me. Well fingers were pointed at me for it. I shyed away fromt he village again and stalked the man that was doing it. I caught him and brought him in, after that I just didn't feal right, felt like I needed to go, to help mend things. So i did just that, besides I needed to get back to Ilaturi and I missed my Imatari"

Mika looked over at him and listened. "I am sorry for my peoples suspicious nature" she said quietly when he finished. "I should say however, I never heard anything but good reports from my uncle. He did mention you scared him almost to death a few times when he would turn around and you would be right behind him. He said several times that he was glad you were on his side. He was very proud of you..." she said quietly. "he...had lost his own son to that man a few weeks before. He said you reminded him of flying eagle. He couldn't kill you"

"Yes...he told me that later on, he was happy his sons death was revenged, not purposley for his son, but none the less dead. Ilaturi sent me to kill him because he was taking land that wasn't his to take, and doing it by force. Ilaturi couldnt stand by and watch, well hear about it. They had all the right in the world to be suspicious, white men have been bad news right from the beginning." I shook my head at the dissapointment but had to laugh about her comment about scaring her uncle. "Yes, I about gave him a heart attack once. Never ment to, I was just quiet. He was a fun man to learn from and hunt with. He taught me alot. I wish I would have gotten to know his son. But I can't believe you were right there and i didn't see you, I mean I may have, I remember seeing a stunnding young lady but she was also with a strapping strong young man."

Mika smiled "Most of them, but sometimes we lump them all together, and we shouldn't have." She sighed and then looked up and blushed when she mentioned a stunning young lady and strapping young man. "Ah haha ya that would have been Running Wolf" she said quietly. "a few years later...he went on his first war party to save a young man that had been abducted by the Pawnee. The young man was the son of my uncles best friend. Only one brave came back from the war party. The tribes never saw the abducted young man again. Unless I count as the tribe now" she sighed.