Thread: Blood Money (Malicious Lullaby ~ Daddeo)

It seemedVincent Bauer was shocked to see her there. Tansy wasnt sure if she did bad by saying his name, his full name like she always had done, but it was too late. It was out and now her tribe and these white men knew. She couldnt take it back, even if she wanted to. If. She didnt want to take it back. Besides, it was too late now. The remark of his one of his fellow white men was crass and it made her eyes narrow, shooting daggers in that mans direction. And then a feeling she hadnt known since a year ago when the first expansion happened. Anger. Blood-boiling anger. Tansy was angry. Very angry. They wouldnt know what savage was when she was through. But what stunned her was when he slid off of his horse and raised the plant that he apparently kept. She taught him that and for a flickering moment, that anger in her seemed placated. Perhaps she had really gotten to him, enough that he actually had respect for her and her people. But his accomplices did not. Theyd never understand. If Vincent Bauer had never taught her his language, including words like what his accomplices had said, what they called her, she might not have reacted ever. But she did. And even if it had been for a flickering moment, her anger was no longer directed at him but his accomplices. Tansy screamed a little bit when the first shot was fired between her feet. She jumped back and her father grabbed her arm, tugging her behind him, or trying to since she wouldnt exactly budge. She was as stubborn as he was. Thats what made her his daughter for sure. It all happened so fast. Another shot rang out, Vincent Bauer was trying to contain the situation and then a full on war started. She didnt charge. She just dodged. She didnt even hide. But then it felt as if time stood still. Because when she pushed her long black hair out of her face, she saw that her father was clutching his chest. Had he been shot? NO! She screamed, stepping forward, only to be knocked down on her knees in all the commotion, even accidentally hit in the face by one of her tribes warriors, causing her lip to have a severe gash that was bleeding. She winced and wiped it away with the back of her hand. And when she looked up, things seemed to slow down enough. Though what she saw, her heart broke. Her father was lying on top of Vincent Bauer and when Tansy pushed herself up to her feet, her shins and knees scraped from the dirt and bleeding a little bit, her eyes widened in horror. Her father was dead. She breathed hard, suddenly feeling frozen, only to watch everything unfold before her. Ahiga got to her father before she could even muster strength to move and removed him from Vincent Bauer and when she saw, she could see that he was equally injured. Her father was dead, the chief was dead and he had only appointed Ahiga as chief once he married Tansy. But that meant that there was no chief and until then Just as Ahiga raised his knife to scalp him, Tansy rushed forward. During all the excitement, she didnt notice what the other warriors were doing and neither did she care. Her father was dead and she had a feeling that he saved Vincent. Something told her in her gut, deep inside of it, that her father spared his life. But she couldnt be sure. No one could be, especially since she didnt see it. All she saw was the aftermath. And that led to her fathers death. Emotion and pain, indescribable pain for the loss, flooded her yet she pushed it away. All she knew was now she had her hand around Ahigas wrist, stopping him for the murder hed be committing and she glared at him. There was something missing from her. The light in her eyes faded and now she was as stone cold as her father had been while chief. Dont. She snapped in their language. Dont you touch him. If youre going to touch him, you will take him to the healer so he can be properly looked after. She hadnt ever seen Ahiga as mad as he was now after what she told him. With the way he yanked his wrist from her grip, as if contemplating listening to her, Tansy knew he was furious. How dare a woman like her stop him, a man of his standing and power from doing what he could. But he couldnt do anything he liked because he wasnt chief. She was, at least for now. She was acting chief. Tansy didnt even spare him another glance and instead turned to her father, crouching down beside him. Her hands shakily but gently touched his chest, one hand over the bullet wound in his chest and she swallowed hard. Her eyes stung with heavy moisture and she blinked it back, or tried to but tears fell and she saw them color into his dirty shirt. She sniffled as her hands moved to his cheeks, his strong cheeks. He was a big man, not in size but in height, in muscle, in strength, a very well kept man for his age. He was. She always thought him to be invincible. That if anyone would outlive even her, even the youngest children of their tribe, itd be him. And now here he was. Stone cold dead, pale for such a tanned man and he seemed so small suddenly. Her head bowed and pressed to his chest and she let it go. By now, it was just her and her father on this land and she mourning over his death. But she didnt allow herself any time at all really to mourn him. The that went by was so fast. It felt as though everything around her was moving so fast and she was moving so slow. She wasnt paying attention to anything. She had some warriors bring her fathers body back to the tribe where he lay in their hut, being prepped for his burial. Tansy didnt go to the hut. She was just giving orders, helping where she could to anyone else who might have been wounded, anything but allowing herself to feel her own pain. She was in pain. A lot of pain. She didnt even let one of their many healers tend to her scrapes and the gash on her lip.