The Warrior's Song

Sherry's hands were slick with sweat, and she surreptitiously wiped them on her jeans, hoping like hell that no one noticed. She was supposed to be confident, in charge, but felt very unsure of herself in the moments leading up to the ceremony. Her first healing ceremony, after long years of study and practice, and she was finally trusted enough to take the place of strength at the patient's feet. She was terrified.

Random moments from her studies flitted through her mind like birds on speed, and she closed her eyes, and forced herself to focus. Her breathing became slower and deeper and then her training began to take over. She opened her eyes, and nodded to her partner for the evening, the shaman doing the actual healing, Diane Littlefeather, who began the song. Sherry closed her eyes, and was gone, somewhere in the ether, watching for whatever might approach and take advantage of Diane's openness.

It first appeared as a patch of darkness, swelling and moving like a fogbank rolling in from the sea, but it felt malevolent. Sherry gathered her strength around her, and her mind called out to her guides, Koi chito (the cougar), Hushi (the hawk), and Sinti (the snake) for help. They were there within an instant, guarding Diane as she worked her healing on the person prone in front of her. Diane's soul was open while she healed and she was depending on Sherry to watch over her.

The darkness came closer, and a pair of cold, blue eyes stared out, meeting Sherry's gaze, and she began to sing the words of strength, her voice ringing through the space. To her astonishment, she heard deep, booming laughter, and the eyes came closer. A snarl came from her right, her warrior side, and Koi chito launched itself at the darkness, muscles bunched and hair standing on end. The fog retreated reluctantly, still laughing; the echoes lingering even after it had disappeared. Sherry finally felt herself being called back down, and she went with the call, grateful it was over.

She opened her eyes to see Diane looking at her, lines of concern etched in her forehead. "It's done...are you okay?"

Sherry nodded, afraid to try to speak. She could feel the cold lines of sweat that had run down her sides while she had been gone, her hands were clasped tightly together, the muscles in her arms so tight they were beginning to ache. Accepting Diane's hand, she stood, and realized her legs were a little shaky, but Sherry made her way slowly outside to gulp at the cool night air.

Diane's voice startled her, "Was it that bad?"

"Oh....no, it wasn't. I guess I just wasn't sure what to expect, that's all. I didn't realize I'd be this tired." Sherry wasn't ready to share her experiences yet, if ever.

Diane smiled as she turned to walk to her truck. "You did good, kid. Relax, the first time's over now, and you did great. It gets easier now."

Sherry's smile was slight as she answered, "Thanks. I'll see you later, then. Joseph's waiting for me."

She heard Diane’s' "goodnight" as she turned towards Joseph's truck. The thought of his warm presence quickened her steps and she found the energy to smile at him as she climbed up in his truck. He leaned over to press a kiss against her lips, and asked, his voice soft and deep, "How'd it go?

"Fine, but I'm tired....didn't realize it would take as much out of me as it did." Sherry impatiently pushed the wayward strands of black hair that had escaped from her braid behind her ears, and realized it was limp and damp between her fingers, as if it had been a humid mid-summer night, instead of the cool temperatures of early spring. She closed her eyes, and leaned her head back against the seat for the short ride home. Joseph was here, she could relax.

The sound of the truck tires crunching on the gravel of their driveway woke Sherry from her doze. She shook the tendrils of sleep out of her mind, and headed inside, Joseph's arm slung around her shoulders, it's weight warm and familiar.

"You want me to make us some coffee?" Joseph asked once they were inside.

"No, thanks, babe...I'm beat. I think I'm just going to take a hot bath and then head to bed." She headed towards the bathroom, her mind turning over the experiences she'd had at the ceremony.

She undressed, laying her clothes across the countertop before pulling the shower curtain back and turning the water on. As the tub started to fill, she sat on the edge and carefully undid her braid, letting her hair fall free, and then running her fingers through it's length.

It was then that she saw it, a movement in the corner of her eye. It was nothing definite, just a faint shadow that moved swiftly past her and was gone. 'A trick of the light', she thought.

A slight chill ran up her spine. She shook it off and chuckled nervously and then stood and eyed herself in the mirror. "You're not going to freak out now, Sherry Hawk. It's just your imagination; get a grip."

Selecting a packet of herbs from a shelf, she poured some out in her hand and scattered them into the steaming water rising in the tub. Sitting again on the edge, she swirled the water with her hand, testing the temperature and stirring the beads. Satisfied, she lifted her right leg into the tub and slid into the hot water, dragging her left leg in last.

She sighed, feeling the warmth soaking into her, closed her eyes and leaned her head back. Swirling the water over her, she let her mind drift, soaring out over the meadow like her namesake, comfortable in the familiar surroundings.

Sherry found herself lying in the tall grass, a warm breeze caressing her bare body. And her companions were there. Hushi circled lazily over her as Sinti wove through her long hair and around her neck, Koi chito lay close by and nuzzled her hand for attention. She absently scratched between his ears listening to the cries of Hushi.

It was Koi chito's ears that caught her attention, suddenly erect and facing forward, his eyes narrowed, and he began to growl softly, rumbling through his body. Sinti released himself from her and coiled close by, head wavering as if looking for an opening to strike. Hushi darted down, turning sharply behind her as a dark, wispy tendril reached closer to her. Koi chito crouched on his haunches ready to pounce. The booming laughter rang out again as the tendril receded out of sight.

Water splashed as Sherry woke with a start. She quickly took inventory of her surroundings. The water was cold and murky. She rose, grabbing a towel and pushed the drain lever. Stepping out, she wrapped the towel tightly around her body. Her hands shook uncontrollably as she dried her hair, and she took a deep breath and made a conscious effort to calm herself.

"Don't let this get to you, Hawk. You are strong enough to handle this. Stop being so jumpy." She stared at her reflection in the full-length mirror, eyes wide, trying to get a grip on her emotions. She smiled as she refastened her towel more tightly around her. "I may not be a teenager anymore but I'm still sexy woman."

"Yes, you are." Came the voice from behind her. "And even more so than when you were a teenager. You are far from old, and you are still the most frighteningly beautiful woman I have ever seen."

Her smile broadened as she turned toward Joseph, keeping the towel pulled back for him.

"Feeling better? I was beginning to wonder. You've been in here for over an hour."

"I'm feeling much better now." Sherry replied as she sauntered to him and pressed her damp body against him. "I always feel better with you here."

"Maybe so," He pulled the towel tight around her again, "but as beautiful as you are, you still look pretty tired. I think what you need is a good night's rest. No arguments. Off to bed with you now."

"You'll get no arguments from me as long as I can use you as a pillow."

"That would be my pleasure." He took her hand and led her to the bedroom. Removing her towel and tossing it aside, he pulled back the quilt before lifting her and gently setting her on the bed. She fell back lightly, her hair cascading over the pillows, slipping her legs between the sheets as Joseph pulled the covers over her. She was already drifting off as he slid in beside her. A warm feeling washed over her as his arms wrapped around her and pulled her snug against his bare chest. Sherry inhaled his scent and a smile crossed her face, and then sleep overtook her.

*******

Sherry was in a village that was instantly recognizable as hers, yet she'd never been there before. The large, wooden homes were built in the traditional Chickasaw way, and there were women going about the tribe's daily business. She glanced down, and saw that she was dressed as the other women; in a deerskin dress, and moccasins. Her hair was pulled back and greased; she could feel her braid hitting her hips as she walked.

Tohbi Hashi!", he called her by name. "Minti alla!" That was her name; she knew it even though it had never been spoken to her before. "Child," he had called her demanding that she come to him. She turned, an indignant reply on her lips, and saw a man beckoning to her. She didn't know him, although he seemed to know her very well. He was tall, taller than those around him, and his hair shone in the sun from the grease with which he had dressed it. He was muscular, in the prime of life, and was probably considered very handsome, but Sherry could feel the waves of menace that seemed to flow from him.

She boldly raised her eyes to his, "Chi hohchifo nanta?" she called back, her voice strong and unwavering.

He answered, "Who I am is not important - my message is." Sherry saw that he met her gaze, not dropping his eyes in the gesture of respect, and his eyes were not a color seen in the tribe.

They were blue.

Her hand flew to her mouth as she gasped. She had seen those eyes before.

He noticed her reaction, and his lips split in a cruel smile. He held her gaze as he reached behind him with his left hand, and pulled an older woman from the shadows. In his right, he held a flint knife.

Sherry was drawn closer, pulled by the terror reflected in the other woman's face as he twisted her braid tightly around his fist. As she drew closer she could hear he was singing, chanting almost, under his breath. Still, Sherry went closer, casting her glance wildly around her for someone to help, but the others in the village seemed oblivious to what was going on. It was almost as if the drama playing out was invisible to all but Sherry, the man, and his captive.

The closer she came, the more the man seemed to enjoy the game he was playing, his mirthless smile growing wider with each of her steps, and Sherry could see he had filed his teeth into points, as some of the more savage tribes were known to do. The captive woman cried out in pain as he jerked her braid, and Sherry felt a spell of silence around her shattering. Now she knew.

She threw back her head, and began her own song. The notes she sang echoed loud and clear through the village, although no one turned to look at her. Her heart was racing, and she wasn't sure in a battle of strength that she had what she needed to best her opponent, but she had to try. It was what she had been taught to do. She felt Koi chito's presence, hard and warm against her right leg, and she knew that her other companions were close.

"Tohbi Hashi'!" His voice boomed her name, and she stopped mid-note, gazing at him. Again, the smile was there, and his voice rolled over her, deep and terrible. "I may not be able to reach you here, but I want you to see what I will do to you when I am able to reach you. You cannot be on your guard all the time, warrior woman, I will find you." His warning complete, his right arm swung, and the woman next to him collapsed, her throat cut.

Koi chito launched himself at the man, his roar almost drowning out Sherry's scream of anguish. Mid-leap, her constant companion changed form, from Koi chito to Wolf, something she had never seen happen before. Wolf was on the man in an instant, white teeth snapping at his throat. Sherry's screams seemed to bring down the wrath of the sky; there was a flash of impossibly bright light, and the man, the wolf, and the village disappeared, replaced by Joseph's face, her terror reflected back to her in his dark eyes. Her throat was raw, but the screams still came. Joseph pulled Sherry into his arms, holding her tight and rocking back and forth, crooning nonsense words to her as if she was a child.

When her sobs quieted to hiccups, Joseph asked softly, "Do you want to tell me about it?"

Sherry nodded against his shoulder, not trusting her voice quite yet, and then pushed back to lean against the headboard of their bed. The air of their bedroom seem close and smothering instead of the haven it usually was, and she reached for her robe. "Do you care if we go in the kitchen to talk? I really need to get something to drink, my throat's sore."

Joseph nodded in answer, the concern still apparent in his face, but he followed her wordlessly into the kitchen, then sat and watched her as she busied herself heating water for some willow and sweetgrass tea to treat her throat. When she dropped the packet of sweetgrass the third time, Joseph stood, and took the things from her, pushing her gently in the direction of a chair at the table. He'd noticed her hands were shaking. It was slight, but it was there.. Sherry didn't argue, but sat, her shoulders slumped, while Joseph finished fixing her tea for her, and then place a steaming mug in front of her. She sipped from the mug, blowing on the surface to cool it, and then sighed, as if she'd made her mind up about something.

"I'm scared," she began, and then couldn't help it as a tear rolled down her cheek.

"I know you are, babe, it's written all over you right now...but what happened?" Joseph reached out and took one of her hands in his large, strong grasp, absently smoothing his thumb over her skin.

"I don't know.....not really." Sherry's head dropped , her black hair swinging forward to hide her face. Joseph released her hand and held her face within his hands, bringing her up so that he could look in her eyes. Her dark eyes had a bleak look in them he'd never seen before, and for the first time, he began to feel frightened. Sherry was normally so strong.

"Please, Sherry, tell me what happened! Let me help you.....please."

She drew a shuddering breath, and then started to talk, telling him about her experience at the healing ceremony earlier that evening. Joseph let her finish, knowing that she had to get it out of her system. In his experience, things weren't near as frightening once they were shared.

"Babe, I know that had to be scary, especially to be challenged like that your first real time, but what made you scream tonight? Were you dreaming about it? Reliving it again? I swear, I've never heard screams like that before."

"No, that's not what happened. Oh, god, Joseph, it's so much worse!" Sherry stood up and began pacing in the kitchen, hair streaming out behind her as she moved.

"Whoever it was at the ceremony was here tonight...oh, god, he was in my mind!" Her hands went up over her face. Joseph jumped up and quickly pulled her into his arms. He could feel small shudders continually coursing through her body. She leaned into him for a moment, drawing on his strength and his love and then pushed away again. "Let me tell you, please. Maybe it won't seem so awful after I've told you. I'm okay, really."

Sherry paced wordlessly for a few moments, gathering her thoughts.

"I was in a village, an old one. I don't know when it was, but I lived there, I know I did. I heard someone call out 'White Moon,' and I knew that was my name, don't ask me how, and then the same person said 'come here, child!' It pissed me off, someone calling me a child, and I turned around and asked who he was. The weird thing was it was all spoken in the old language...I don't even speak that!"

She paused for a few sips of lukewarm tea to soothe her throat, and then continued, "When I turned around, it was him. I think it was whoever it was at the ceremony tonight!"

Joseph interrupted her, "Babe, you don't know that it was the same guy. I know it freaked you out tonight, and maybe that was just your mind compensating for it."

"Oh, no, it was him, I know it was! He smiled at me when I asked who he was, and it had to be the most awful thing I've ever seen! He had his teeth filed down to these horrible......points, and he smiled, and then he pulled a woman out from behind him by her braid. She was so scared, Joseph, she was terrified of him! I don't know who she was, but all I could think of was getting her away from him." Her pacing started getting faster, and she absently twisted a lock of long black hair around her finger as she talked.

"I got closer, but it was so weird, it was like we were invisible to everyone else. And he was singing...this horrible tuneless thing, almost like a chant. I saw his eyes, Joseph...I saw them! They were the same eyes that I saw tonight at the ceremony!"

"Sherry...you don't think that maybe you were just going over the ceremony again? Hasn't that happened before?"

"Yes, it has, you know it has, but I swear this was different. The woman he had made some kind of noise, I don't know what, but then I knew it was the same man. I just.....knew. And I started singing....the same song I was taught as a guardian. My guides were there; I could feel Koi chito against my leg. He interrupted me, yelled my name again, and his voice was so loud, it hurt. He told me that he couldn't get to me here, but he wanted to show me what he was going to do to me when he did. Oh, Joseph, he slashed that woman's throat!"

Sherry sat down again, fiddling with the mug of tea in front of her, her body still shaking. The tea was cold, but it gave her something to do with her hands. Joseph put his arms around her and pulled her onto his lap, shushing her, and placing kisses on her forehead, lending her his strength. He stroked her hair almost aimlessly, his mind working.

"That's not all that happened." Sherry's voice was small and quiet.

"Babe, you don't have to tell me anymore, don't think about it any more tonight. We'll go see Diane in the morning, and see if she has any idea what's going on."

"No, I have to tell you this... it’s... it's important." Sherry pulled back some so she could look into his eyes. "When he killed the woman, Koi chito leaped at him, and shape shifted in mid-air....Joseph, he changed to a Wolf....your guide."

Joseph's eyes grew wide at her revelation, but he didn't know what to say, so he just held her close, and worried.

*******

Sherry was standing in the kitchen, phone to her ear, at daybreak the next morning. She listened to it ring on the other end at Diane Littlefeather's house, and every time it did, she said "answer it," as if saying it was a charm to make it happen. Just when she was about to give up, she heard Diane's sleepy voice on the other end, "I hope someone's dying."

"I know it's early, but I really, really need your help." Sherry's voice cracked on the last word, and Diane was instantly awake.

"What is it?"

"I'm not sure, to be honest, but I think I need to talk to you. Can Joseph and I come over for a minute?" Sherry chewed on a thumbnail while she waited for Diane to answer.

"Um....sure, I guess. What time is it?"

"About 6:30, but I've been up all night. There's something really weird going on Diane."

"Okay, okay. Just c'mon over. I'll throw on some clothes and put the coffee on."

"We'll be there in a couple of minutes, then... bye." Sherry hung up the phone and nodded to Joseph, sitting at the kitchen table waiting for her to finish her call. "Let's go."