Life Less Ordinary
Prologue
Author's note: Through this first adventure, I'm going to do my utmost best to be true and respectful of the ways of the Lakota people. Native Americans have had enough exploitation and outright mishandling of their ways by writers. I do not want to add to that. That's part of why this has taken so long. I've been doing as much research as I can. It may not be entirely accurate, but I think the only way to be entirely accurate would be if I was raised among them. I'll do my best.
Ten Crows sat quietly as he waited for the other men to quiet down, lightly stroking the eagle feathers on the sacred pipe in his lap. The holy man's wizened face was grim. He didn't find much comfort in what he had to tell his people, but it was his duty to them to tell him what he saw in his vision. It was only right that they know, and it was their right to not stumble about in ignorance of the troubles to come.
"What did you have to say to us, Ten Crows?" Black Arrow asked as he sat across the fire from the elderly man. Black Arrow was the leader of their band. The holy man had watched this man grow from a boy into a strong warrior and a capable and wise leader, and this comforted Ten Crows a bit. No matter the trouble that came, he knew the band was in good hands.
The old man lifted his head to look around at everyone seated at the fire, looking at him with rapt attention. "Wakan Tanka granted me a vision. In my vision, I looked up to the stars, and from those stars walked a man with eyes as sharp as the eagle's. At his side walked a she-wolf that shone like the sun. Neither spoke as they approached me, but the eagle-eyed man looked down at me as I was seated with sorrow in his eyes. Still, he did not speak, but I felt his sorrow for our people. He then walked away with the she-wolf, across the plains, and as he did so, the stars began to fall from the sky like rain."
Murmuring rose from the men as they looked around at each other in alarm. What was the cause of such sorrow? Ten Crows watched them and nodded, understanding their concern, as he shared it. At his side, his student, Broken Stone, stood to address the circle of elders. "What Ten Crows says cannot be true. It must be a false vision. Stars do not fall from the sky like rain. Ten Crows is old, perhaps his mind is failing him."
Angry grumblings rose from the rest of the men, upset with Broken Stone's disrespect of the holy man. Several of them shouted at him to sit down and be quiet. Only Ten Crows and Black Arrow were silent, gazing across the fire at each other with solemn looks. After a moment, Ten Crows raised a hand and said, quietly, "I only know what Wakan Tanka has shown me. I trust the vision to be true, but I cannot make any of you believe it if you do not wish to."
"Ten Crows' visions have never led our people astray before," said Runs In Thunder, a young warrior who had be re-named when he was a boy after he ran through a terrible thunder storm to rescue his little sister who had wandered from the village, "Why should we not trust his visions now? Perhaps the stars have a deeper meaning. A group of white soldiers have camped down river from us. Perhaps the vision is a warning that we will have trouble with them."
Broken Stone tutted in disbelief, but said nothing. He had no answer to give.
"Leave us," Black Arrow said simply, and the men filtered out of the lodge while Ten Crows lit the pipe. The two men smoked in silence for a long while, watching the smoke swirl in the air. "I believe you are telling the truth," Black Arrow told the holy man.
"I know," Ten Crows nodded, handing the pipe to him.
"Who is this man that came to you in a vision?"
"That, my old friend, I do not know."