Saved

For someone who had lived at sea for so many years, you'd think I'd be a great swimmer. Unfortunately, I sank down in deep water as fast as rocks. The waterfall pushes currents rapidly away from the fall and we drift further and further away. I felt my bottom touch the floor of the water and my lungs now burn, not from the cold, but from the waters I had just inhaled. I am choking. I am drowning. I am dying.

Long silky black hair flowed smoothly in the water as he dived down towards me. I tried to keep my eyes open to see him, but my exhaustion now takes me.

"Dakon…hold on." His voice replays in my thoughts as my eyes slowly shut and peace overcomes my body entirely.

*

There are spirits all around me. Watching me as I transition in and out from life and death. They are ancestors but they aren't mine. Their painted face, caramel skin, long black braids and clothing tells me I am a foreigner on their land.

His lips are pressed against mine as he forces air into my lungs. I feel my body is heavy and sinking into the earth as I lay on the wet ground by the riverbank. He stops blowing air in my mouth and presses my chest to force the water out, repeating again and again.

My consciousness is waking me from the darkness I was consumed in and I start to cough. My lungs burn when I inhale and with each exhale, the water tickles every part of my trachea, pressuring me to cough even more.

"Ikwanaamo… take in air and breathe slowly." His voice calms my panic and I do as he says.

He turns me onto my side. I can feel the drain of my lungs and stomach as the lake water pour out of my mouth. The strong algae odor makes me gag until I vomit. Pulling out a sharp stone from one of his pouches dangling on his waistband, it starts to cut my corset strings until I am completely free from the suffocation. My breast popped out and my exposed nipples stood stiff from the cold.

He grabs what is left of my corset and covers my breasts as I shiver in the cold then leaves my side and disappears into the woods. My heart ached like a lost child and tears started to bellow in my eyes.

He left me. I am alone again to fend for myself. I close my eyes and the tears drip off the side of my face and collect into the crevices of my ear.

Footsteps trampled around back and forth and I thought to myself that if they find me, I'm already half dead. I will just bite my tongue and choke to death on my blood, before I allow them to do me any harm.

He popped out of the wood and crouched down next to me. "Nibaa gaawiin… no sleeping." he whispered to exasperated.

He covers me with a leaf then slips his hand under my arms and knees then lifts me up into his strong arms and carries me away from the riverbank.

He laid me down on a bundle of leaves with the area around me cleared away, just in case there were small critters looming around. Next to me there was a small fire with stones inside the flames. He digs a small hole nearby and places a few big leaves inside along with some of the water from the river. Poking one of the big stones, he flicked it straight into the makeshift underground bowl of water and it immediately started to boil.

He pokes a small stone from the flames and sets it aside, next to me, along with some herbs he had gathered from earlier.

"This will hurt." he said to me, "Bagidanaamo…breathe deeply."

I took a deep breath and he yanked out the knife that was embedded in my leg. I closed my mouth and grunted, trying not to make a sound as the pain resonated throughout my whole body. Blood gushes out of my leg and he quickly puts pressure on my open wound.

He untied his waist belt with his free hand and used part of the string to tie around my leg, slowing down the severe bleeding. He scooped water from the makeshift underground bowl with a wooden ladle and poured warm water over my wound. Gently, he wiped away the blood, cleaning my open wound in the process.

He then clamped the small searing stone between two sticks and some strings hovering it over the open wound. I could feel the heat of the stone as it moved close to my skin.

"One more deep breath." He said and I brace myself for more pain. He grabs the herbs and put a handful in his mouth, chewing it fast.

He presses the rock onto my wound to cauterize it shut and my flesh sizzled in the heat. I could no longer contain myself as the pain took over.

"Aah!" I groaned trying to sit up. The leaf falls off my chest and my breast bounces up and down as I jolted in pain.

His eyes met the bareness of my body and he turned his gaze away, setting down his tools to the side and spitting out the herbs to spread on my wound. After he wrapped up my wound with leaves and vines, he placed his hands on my shoulders, moved in closer to my face whispering, "Shh… lie down. Resting time is now." He laid me onto my back and covered me up again.

This stranger is kind. I am no longer alone. Sleep sets in.

*

I shiver through the night as the frost crept along the riverbank. He is up and ruffling around, switching cold stones with hot ones. He had been placing the hot stones around us to keep us warm, but it wasn't working anymore. Even he was starting to shiver in the cold. I opened my eyes and watched him as he climbed the trees and cut off some long branches with leaves intact.

Bunching the pile behind me and slowly crawls in the space between me and the pile of leafy branches. He places his arms under my neck and cuddles me from behind. Our bare skin touches and warmth is created between us. Swooping his other arm over, he grabs hold of the leafy branches and pulls it over, covering the both of us.

He places both arms around me, wrapping me tightly into his body. My shivering subsides and so does his.

When I woke up the warmth of the sun had already melted the frost creating morning dew drops on the surfaces of everything around me. The leafy branches had protected us from the cold and the frost overnight since it was all wet but we remained dry.

The fire pit was nothing but ashes and stone. He was still fast asleep holding me tightly in his warm embrace.

I tried to move his arm off me, but he only held on tighter to me with his hand accidentally cupping one of my breasts. As soon as he realized his hand was on my boob, he moved his hand shifting it to cover my mouth.

"Shh… waagosh… fox." We watch a red fox roam by, scavenging for food. If found nothing and made its way towards the river.

As soon as the fox disappeared from view, he pushed the branches off of us and slowly removed his arm from under my neck.

We sat studying each other for the first time in daylight.

I am in my blood stained undergarment pants and naked top up with only a leaf covering my bosoms. My black hair is a mess and there's bruises all over my pale skin. My left leg has a big leaf wrapped around it bandaged in place.

His black silky hair drooped nicely at the side of his face, split perfectly in half down the middle of his head. He is shirtless, and his trousers have the texture of hide. He had strings wrapped in a few layers around his waist with pouches sewn on. There was additional shin coverage of furry hide wrapped below his knees that draped down to his heels. His caramel skin shone beautifully in the sun and the muscles he carried on him speaks out loudly, "everyday is hard work".

I didn't realize it but I was staring at his handsomeness with my mouth slightly opened, ready to drool. I have never seen a more beautiful creature in my life.

He pointed at himself and said, "My name is Giken. What is your name?"

"Sereen." I answered.

"You can speak my tongue?"

I shook my head no.

"You can't speak but you understand?"

I nod my head yes. He gave me the biggest and most likable smile, showing off all his beautiful white teeth. All I could do was observe his two dimples, glorifying his beauty.

I slap my forehead, "STOP DROOLING! He is your savior, you should thank him." I yelled at myself. I look up at him. He probably thinks I'm crazy. I gave him a weirded chuckle and he started to laugh.

"You're silly! Niiganii always talks to herself too, when she's nervous."

"Niiganii?" I repeated after him.

"Niiganii is my mother. She is the alpha of the pack and Chief of our tribe. We are the Ma'iingans." Giken said.

"Ma'iingans?"

"The Ma'iingans, is the brotherhood of wolves. We migrate by following the rivers and streams and hunt over populated areas to create new riverways for the land. Where this is water, there is life. What about you, Sereen. What tribe are you from?"

I shake my head.

"Right, you can't speak my tongue. I shall teach you on our way back to the pack." Giken said.

I give him a confused look.

"When we fell off the cliff, the waterfall pushed us pretty far south. I need to go back north. My brothers will probably meet me halfway. In our tribe, we leave no one behind even if they're dead. They are probably searching for me right now."

My stomach growls and it finally registers in our heads that we are famished.

Giken stood up and plucked one of the branches out of the pile. He unsheathed a stone knife and started trimming away at the branch until it was a nice smooth pike.

"I will get dinner for us." he said as I tried to get up. He puts one of his hands out to me, gesturing for me to sit back down."

"Your leg. It needs to heal. Do not stand. Just rest."

I relaxed and a cold shiver ran quickly through me. Giken is watching me very intently then he sets the pike down and undo both of his shin covers. He quickly tied them together into a big piece and made his way towards me.

On his knees facing me, he bends over and wraps the hide around my torso chest first, removing the limp leaf from underneath, and tying it at the back. His face nearly touched mine as our breath shared the air between us. Our eyes locked on one another. Heat rises onto my face and I blush. Giken gave me a side smirk, his dimple popping inward enchantingly.

"You are very beautiful when your skin turns red." Giken jokes. He finished tying the back piece together, stood up, took his pike and headed for the river.

I slap my forehead again. "What is wrong with you! You have never done this before with anyone. What is going on?"

I lean back and slouch picking at the bandage on my leg.

"Mayagwewinini…foreigner" an unfamiliar voice said and cold hands touches my shoulders, possessing me. My body stiffens up as I tilt my head upwards. In my vision, the spirits that were all around me from before, are once again surrounding me. They are angry.