Thread: Blood Money (Malicious Lullaby ~ Daddeo)

It seemed they were still trying to pick up the many fallen pieces of when the white men barged onto their land that they claimed and drove them away by force. Some died from their tribe while others died from the others around them and in the end, two managed to flee further away while the rest succumbed. There were little of them left but they watched in horror as the white men decimated the land with their buildings, structures and many construction. She watched for a year as the new town was built. It was a horror show in her opinion. A freak show. Seeing what they could do to the land, taking rich and pure soul and violating it. She didnt recognize the land that used to be apart of her home anymore. The piece of land where her mothers bones were buried. The piece of land where so many memories lay waiting like ghosts of memories that she might never get back. This past year, it was a dark time for her people. Her father became more strict. He was the chief of their tribe, one of the tribes who was pushed away from their land, closer to the mountains. In the winter, it was a nightmare. How they survived it, she didnt know. Some died, most just got sick but as the winter faded away, so did the illness. And what came with the passing of the seasons was a higher chance. A chance to keep everything alive. But while everyone else was working avidly, so was she but she had also been trying to skip to the town. It wasnt a betrayal but a curiosity and when she saw it for the first time during a festival under the guise of a poor street urchin, she was floored. It was a beautiful town to be quite honest with so much hustle and bustle. Being apart of her tribe her entire life, she didnt know anything else. She didnt know that there was technically a world outside of it. She just thought her world was it. That the way of her tribe, their beliefs, their ancestors and the Earth was their world. There was a world beyond them. It didnt mean she wanted to conform but she was a knowledgeable girl, always curious about something new and exciting, different from what she always knew. One day, she met this white man. She knew who he was right away because she never forgot the faces of the men who came and pushed her and her people and their tribes away from their homes for their own greedy personal gain. This man that she met, he was one of those hired guns. She didnt know why he had bothered to talk to her, why he found her. All she knew was she couldnt afford to be betrayed, couldnt afford to be given away because if her tribe found out, if her father found out, shed be a disgrace who had shamed them all even if that was never intention. Like her mother, Tansy was a very curious girl. She wouldnt let curiosity kill her like it killed her mother. The white people werent so terrible. They had their issues like everyone else but of course, she observed this as an outsider looking in. The only white person she spoke to and actually got along with was Vincent Bauer. The same man she met and even to her surprise, to this very day, they had promised quite a fruitful friendship. Over the course of the year, Tansy learned English, white people customs and a lot about a culture she couldnt have even fathomed. It was the same with any people of this time. They knew what was their own and stuck with it, hardly ever wanting to branch out of that into something else, not usually open to wanting to learn of something new. Tansy was someone who thrived on knowledge, new experiences and new worldly cultures. The culture of the white people was as unique and sacred as the culture of her people, of her tribe. Its what made them all so different. It was why her skin was darker and tanned compared to Vincent Bauer. It was why there was a diversity that was becoming a growing majority. Without it, the world would be a boring place. It was something that she understood but something that her father, her tribe or most white people didnt understand. Everyone was stuck in their own ways. Everyone wanted to be the superior race. No one wanted to be inferior. To her people white people were dangerous and savage murderers. To white people, her people were dangerous and unintelligent savage animals. To Tansy? Everyone was their own person. Over the year, not only did she learn from Vincent Bauer but she taught him as well. It wasnt that she couldnt ever forgive him. But as long as he didnt expect her to forgive him immediately, then what they were doing was deemed okay in her eyes because she still didnt trust him. She trusted him enough to meet him whenever she could on the outskirts of the white people town and far away enough to be out of sight from her tribe. She trusted him enough to turn to him for help with her English or to impart the wisdom and knowledge of her people and ancestors to him. They helped each other it seemed. But as long as he was still involved in the work that he did, she couldnt ever push past the layer of distrust she had for him and let him in more or let herself want to be let in by him. They were distant but their friendship was one she valued. Especially when the day came Being the chiefs daughter and his only heir, it meant that she was to eventually carry on or have a husband who would be the next chief and theyd run their tribe together, side by side. And much to Tansys dismay, her father chose the strongest warriors in the tribe, a man so prideful and boastful about his ability, of his war craft that just being in the same hut as him, being anywhere near him, she wanted to run the other way or pitch herself right off the mountain edge. His name was Ahiga and he was a troll. Tansy despised him yet he was the strongest since her father. It only made sense but she hated him. She didnt even care for him. She pleaded and pleaded with her father before hed announce it and instead, he put her in her place and told her not to forget who she was a part of this tribe, a female of this tribe, his daughter and shed do as he said. There was no way around it. One day, she missed one of her meeting with Vincent Bauer because of her engagement to Ahiga. And when she finally could meet with him again, she was so silent, so sullen. She didnt tell him for the longest time until she had finally been asked what was wrong with her, why her spiritsuch a vibrant and colorful spirithad disappeared. Tansy was always smiling, even after white intrusion, she found a way to smile, despite how much of a dark time it was for her people. She was so bubbly, out going and a strong woman, something no man could seem to see, at least in her tribe. She didnt know Vincent Bauer perceived her. But she had finally told him. She wasnt particularly happy to say it and it was the first time she had said it out loud to anyone, to herself even. The first time she admitted it to herself. She was engaged to a swine, so much so that going home now repulsed her. Somehow though, she found a way to gain her spirit back. It took sneaking into more festivals, this time in actual white womens clothing rather than a street urchin disguise. She had fun. She found a way to laugh again and when she was with her tribe again, she longed for her secret double life. By day, she was among her tribe. By late afternoon and usually night, she was part of the people that let her be her without knowing her. It became an addiction. An escape. One that she needed, especially since she had no control of her life. Yet. That fateful day came. White men approached their little tribe on a slightly elevated patch of land, closer towards the mountains. Tansy saw the guns. She saw the same threat. But what was worse, she saw Vincent Bauer and her heart sank into her stomach. It was happening again. She ran to find her father, to tell him but he had seen it coming and this time, they were better prepared. Sure, their weapons would be no match to guns, pistols and fire power, but what the white men lacked in strategy and covert operation, her tribe had been practicing and learning it for the past year so that if this were to happen again, which her father saw coming, they would be ready. Her father decided that theyd fight. Men were preparing. Ahiga included. Tansy was concerned for all the members of her tribe, Ahiga included and she gave him something. It was the first time she showed any sort of caring towards him and his well being since they were engaged to be married. She gave him the bracelet made of turquoise and wood that she always wore for safety and good luck. He was stunned by this gesture since she didnt exactly keep it a secret that she hated him. He was touched but that emotion that he expressed to her was quickly pushed underneath the thick resolve he wore, that of a warrior. It was in that moment that Tansy saw a different side of Ahiga. Her father gave her a hug. It was like they were going off to war. Well thats because they were. She looked at him as her hands rest on his chest and she heaved a deep sigh. Please let me talk to them. She spoke in their language. I know one of them, please Father. We might be able to stop this before it even has to start. He looked furious, enraged even that she might know a white man but he let it slide. For the sake of his people, hed give his daughter a chance. But the first chance those men attack, the tribes warriors wouldnt hesitate. She walked at her fathers side, approaching the men with a row of warriors behind them armed but none of them making an effort to actually try and strike. Vincent Bauer. She spoke. Whenever she addressed him, she always used his full name. No matter how close their friendship was, she always called him by his full name. Why do you come here? She spoke English and she could hear gasps around her. From her father and the men, she could literally feel Ahiga burning glares into the back of her skull. Shivers. She might have just signed her death sentence. What do you want?