‹ Prequel: A Good Run
Status: 2 of 7 volumes. Active.
The White Doe
Eighteen
And so for the first time in the history of the Croatoan people, a woman was trained in the arts of war.
Evergreen Thunder, White Doe's instructor, was shocked at how quickly and well she learned, even though glimpses of her uncanny powers had manifested to one degree or another all her life. Her aim with the bow was deadly. She handled the knife well in hand-to-hand combat, executing staggering flips and dives that caught him off guard time after time, even when he knew to expect them. For the specific training she would need to slay Walkers, they used the bodies and skeletons of their enemies. Soon a young maiden barely into her womanhood was smashing skulls and stabbing chests without a qualm.
"You are ready." Said Evergreen Thunder a few months into her training. "We can go to the mainland."
.
They went to the village of Dasemunkepeuc, where, unbeknownst to White Doe, her grandfather had accidentally killed many of the Croatoans, believing them to be Roanoacs. The village was deserted by the living. The Roanoacs had abandoned it long ago and the Croatoans, remembering the tragedy, had also left it alone, despite the supplies that they could have used. According to Ceremonial Fox, whose magics enabled him to see far beyond what mortal eyes could, it was a veritable nest of Walkers.
Evergreen Thunder, Takes From Eagle, Ceremonial Fox and White Doe landed there midmorning.
White Doe was nervous and awkward and in her eagerness she ran the canoe over Ceremonial Fox's foot while hauling it ashore.
"Ai!" He cried, hopping and clutching his injured foot.
"I am so sorry!" Said White Doe, feeling her face grow hot. She was turning that odd shade of red, that shade that none of the others turned and she hated it.
"A new war dance, Ceremonial Fox?" Teased Evergreen Thunder.
Ceremonial Fox glared, then gingerly tested his foot.
.
It was a brief walk to Dasemunkepeuc and some of White Doe's enthusiasm faded
The few buildings still standing were overgrown with vines and wild melons. What had once been high stocks of fresh corn was now little more than dried, picked-over cobs. It was a bad place, with a tense feel to it.
"There is little here to salvage," Said Takes From Eagle. "But that is not the reason we came. White Doe, we can return if you so wish it."
She wanted to cry out, "Yes, let us return, I shall fight Walkers soon enough, there is no need to sit and wait for them to come!"
Instead she said, with a calmness that surprised her, "We have come to kill Walkers. Let us do so."
Evergreen Thunder, White Doe's instructor, was shocked at how quickly and well she learned, even though glimpses of her uncanny powers had manifested to one degree or another all her life. Her aim with the bow was deadly. She handled the knife well in hand-to-hand combat, executing staggering flips and dives that caught him off guard time after time, even when he knew to expect them. For the specific training she would need to slay Walkers, they used the bodies and skeletons of their enemies. Soon a young maiden barely into her womanhood was smashing skulls and stabbing chests without a qualm.
"You are ready." Said Evergreen Thunder a few months into her training. "We can go to the mainland."
.
They went to the village of Dasemunkepeuc, where, unbeknownst to White Doe, her grandfather had accidentally killed many of the Croatoans, believing them to be Roanoacs. The village was deserted by the living. The Roanoacs had abandoned it long ago and the Croatoans, remembering the tragedy, had also left it alone, despite the supplies that they could have used. According to Ceremonial Fox, whose magics enabled him to see far beyond what mortal eyes could, it was a veritable nest of Walkers.
Evergreen Thunder, Takes From Eagle, Ceremonial Fox and White Doe landed there midmorning.
White Doe was nervous and awkward and in her eagerness she ran the canoe over Ceremonial Fox's foot while hauling it ashore.
"Ai!" He cried, hopping and clutching his injured foot.
"I am so sorry!" Said White Doe, feeling her face grow hot. She was turning that odd shade of red, that shade that none of the others turned and she hated it.
"A new war dance, Ceremonial Fox?" Teased Evergreen Thunder.
Ceremonial Fox glared, then gingerly tested his foot.
.
It was a brief walk to Dasemunkepeuc and some of White Doe's enthusiasm faded
The few buildings still standing were overgrown with vines and wild melons. What had once been high stocks of fresh corn was now little more than dried, picked-over cobs. It was a bad place, with a tense feel to it.
"There is little here to salvage," Said Takes From Eagle. "But that is not the reason we came. White Doe, we can return if you so wish it."
She wanted to cry out, "Yes, let us return, I shall fight Walkers soon enough, there is no need to sit and wait for them to come!"
Instead she said, with a calmness that surprised her, "We have come to kill Walkers. Let us do so."