I awoke in my bed, crammed in the corner of a buffalo skin TeePee. The sun rose from the pine trees’ horizon. Fog floated around the air like a long lost crow, sweating off the underground springs. Chief Cornstalk was up early standing in the center of the Cheyenne Tribe territory: he had important sad news for us all. I dressed myself in the latest fashion, which at the time was breechcloths and leather. I stepped outside the warm teepee, as the mixture between the hot air and cold air rolled off my skin, and turned into steam. Chief Cornstalk announced that twenty five Indians were killed in a stampede of buffalo. One of the men that got trampled was my old friend Honiahaka, who took some of the tribe hunting. Luckily some lived, sadly Honiahaka did not return. As sad as that was, the tribe still had no gatherings and food from the hunt.

“No food,” Chief Cornstalk began, “no fed bellies!”

My fellow Indians gasped.

“No buffalo skin,” said the chief, “NO BLANKETS!”

My fellow Indians gasped once more.

“No blankets,” Chief Cornstalk said, “NO WARMTH!!!”

My fellow Indians gasped.

“No warmth… no fed bellies… CHEYENNE TRIBE DIE!”

My fellow Indians gasped in shock.

So, long story short, one of us had to step up and go hunting. So I volunteered, as I had grown tired of sitting around with the Cheyenne women all day. I gathered some fellow warriors of mine, Dark Feathers, Toad Hops, Oak Stump, and Eagle Warrior to join me in the great hunting expedition.

East we traveled across the trees and the creeks aboard our horses. Past a place we called the ‘Long Lands’ we traveled – a place of great meditation for me. I shall never forget the waterfall rocks I’d sit at and watch the sunset; not because of its beauty I remember it, but because during my last meditation a monster grizzly bear chased me down the waterfall. I didn’t meditate there anymore…

“Hold places!” Eagle Warrior demanded. “I smell danger.”

The next thing we heard was the ferocious growl of a bear! Upon a nearby ledge a tree was pushed to the ground by humongous furry paws. Eagle Warrior was a brave one, he drew his tomahawk with an intense glare in his eyes, sizing the bear up as it acknowledged us.

“Eagle Warrior, do not be foolish,” the wise Oak Stump said, “for your enraged act of war will only bring wrong doing on us.”

“You speak of nonsense, Oak Stump!” Eagle Warrior replied, “If this bear wants a war, I shall give him a fight he will not forget. And when he is dead, I shall happily use his body to feed and replenish our materials. Chief wanted a hunt, he’ll get one.”

“BEAR CHOOSE NOT WAR!” Toad Hops yelled, “Bear mind bear’s tree. Bear mind bear’s river. Bear mind bear’s waterfall. Bear mind bear’s trout. But bear not mind us. So we not mind him.”

“Where is Eagle Warrior?” Dark Feathers asked.

The answer to that was most unfortunate. While Toad Hops went on about what the bear minds, Eagle Warrior ventured forth to antagonize the bear.

“Hunt, or be hunted!” Eagle Warrior said as he raised his tomahawk, throwing it at the big bear. The bear ducked, before charging him angrily. Fearless Eagle Warrior leaped at the bear, and punched its snout.

“Fear the fearless!” Eagle Warrior yelled, as he dodged the swatting of the giant bear claw. Eagle Warrior pointed his two fingers at the bear, before bringing them down into the bear’s eyes. This only enraged the bear. It clawed Eagle Warrior’s throat, and dragged him away across the path in front of us. The only thing left of old friend Eagle Warrior was his echoing screams as the bear ate his remains in a bloody, horrible mess… I probably could have helped him, but bear did not like me; I did not like bear. So, therefore, why go after him? Sure I liked Eagle Warrior, but one like is no match for two not likes. So, me Dark Feathers, Toad Hops, and Oak Stump listened in shock, before continuing on our hunting journey.

After a while of traveling through the Long Lands, we eventually came to a comfortable looking opening in the middle of the trees.

“Take load off. Ey?” Toad Hops asked us.

“For sure, Toad Hops.” I answered.

So Dark Feathers built us fire, and Toad Hops found some squirrels, and I cooked the dead squirrels over the fire after stabbing a spear through them, and we ate.

“Good squirrel!” Oak Stump said. “Yep! Good squirrel… good campfire… good land… good trees… good air… and good sitting log!” Oak Stump said, acknowledging his surroundings.

“And good night!” A voice yelled from behind me.

I heard the trotting of many horses, before the hooves skidded to a stop behind me. Five angry white men sat upon their horses, looking down at us with their guns pointed at us.

“…Want squirrel?” I asked.

“I don’t want your darn squirrel, Indian!” One of them said, as sweat dripped off his chin.

“You four are on Death Gun property. We don’t take too kindly to visitors… Especially Indian visitors!” another said.

“Death Gun?” Toad Hops questioned.

“That’s right. And if you don’t get out of here, I’m going to show you why we’re called that!” White man said.

They jumped off their horses and surrounded us. One came awfully close to Dark Feathers, noticing how he drank out of his flask without worry. “You there! What are you drinking?” White man demanded an answer.

“Special drink,” the clever Dark Feathers responded.

“Oh yeah?” White man chuckled, ripping the flask out of Dark Feathers’ hands. He poured a nice big sip down his throat. “OOO-wee! That’s some strong stuff. What’s in this?”

“Indian spices…” Dark Feathers replied with a grin.

White man threw back another big sip, before his whole face began to twitch. The twitching began spreading throughout his body, and his eyes began to cross. Within another moment, he fell to the ground.

“Hey! What the heck!” Another Death Gun said. “What did you do to him?”

Dark Feathers smiled, “Guess I have better tolerance for special Indian drink…”

“Well you better stop guessin’ and get to beggin’ boy, because I’m fixin’ on putting one right between your eyes!” A Death Gun said, walking over to Dark Feathers, aiming his weapon.

“You don’t want to shoot Dark Feathers…” Oak Stump said, “For one who kills Dark Feathers will be brought forth a great curse!”

“I ain’t scared of no curse!” he replied, cocking the revolver.

“Good, then prepare yourself for a life of doom and misfortune.”

“I don’t know, Carl!” Another Death Gun said, “These natives are one with the spirits. Remember, they cursed that down we crossed by a few years back!”

“Coward!” Carl of the Death Guns replied, “But… what kind of curses?” He asked Oak Stump.

The other members of the gang surrounded him in curiosity, as he distracted them with his tales about curses. Meanwhile, me and Toad Hops snuck up behind the remaining four gang members. In our hands we held sleeping dust. It was an old trick made up by the leaders of our tribe. A single breath of it would put you to sleep. It was a nonviolent defense that we used if we needed to. As we continued sneaking up on the white men, Toad Hops stepped on a stick, snapping it loudly. The gang members turned around quickly, but their faces were met with a hard toss of the dust, putting them into a long sleep.

Me, Dark Feathers, Toad Hops, and Oak Stump continued our hunting expedition. Where were we going? – One might ask themselves. Why, to the great buffalo grounds of course! There was no better place to hunt buffalo than the Yellow Grassed Planes. Across a never ending path we rode. My horse, Windy, began getting spooked. “What is it, Windy? What is it?” I asked him.

Then, from the trees above jumped a big cougar cat. Straight onto Oak Stump, pulling him off his horse, onto the ground.

“Help!” Oak Stump yelled. “Help!”

My horse reared me off the back of it, right next to the cougar cat. I quickly pulled myself up to see the cat biting at Oak Stump as he fought with all his life. I kicked the cat causing it to run off into the bushes.

“Oak Stump! Are you okay?” I called.

“Yeah, I am okay…” He said as he got up.

“THE COUGAR IS COMING BACK!!” Dark Feathers yelled, as the cougar ran at us.

The cat jumped onto Oak Stump as he was standing. He screamed as he ran away with the cat gripping his shoulders, and chewing away at his face.

“Oak Stump, watch out for the….!” Dark Feathers’ words were stopped, as we witnessed Oak Stump falling off the ledge of a cliff with the cat still on him. “…cliff….” Dark Feathers said, finishing his sentence.

A second later, we heard the thud of poor Oak Stump.

After a few seconds of silence, Toad Hops said, “Is cat dead?” Me and Dark Feathers looked at him disappointedly.

“What will we do now?” Dark Feathers asked. “Three of us remain, and yet we still have no buffalo!”

“First the brave Eagle Warrior, and then wise Oak Stump!” I said. “I say we turn back, as no buffalo is worth the lives of us.”

“NO!” Toad Hops yelled, “Does the birds not need the trees? Does the trout not need the water? Does the fire not need the log? It does. Just as Cheyenne tribe need the buffalo”

“Oh yeah. I forgot about that.” I said.

“For as dumb as you are Toad Hops, that does make sense. Who said this expedition would be easy? No one! Oak Stump, Eagle Warrior… they died for buffalo. If we turn back, then they died for nothing! Besides, we are almost at the Yellow Grassed Planes,” added Dark Feathers.

After another little while of traveling, we finally got to the great Yellow Grassed Planes. As we laid eyes on the yellow grass fields ahead, we saw the silhouette of an old friend, meditating on a rock.

“Honiahaka!” I yelled. “Fellow Indians said you got trampled by buffalo!”

“I did!” Honiahaka said. “But I survived. What brings you here my old friend?”

“Chief Cornstalk sent us to hunt buffalo! But upon our journey, Eagle Warrior got mauled to death by bear, and Oak Stump got killed by a cliff… and a cougar.”

“Great tragedy,” said Toad Hops.

“But I am ready for another hunt!” stated Honiahaka. “If you want, I join you!”

“Sure, Honiahaka!” Dark Feathers said. “We could use your help if you are up to it.”

We searched the planes with our eyes, before quickly finding a herd of buffalo.

“Here’s the plan,” Dark Feathers said, “Toad Hops and I will get on the far side of them, and spook them to you and Honiahaka so you can get a good shot. Be ready!”

Off me and Honiahaka went, side by side we walked to the field, while Toad Hops and Dark Feathers rode off on their horses.

“Like old times, huh Honiahaka?” I reflected.

“You mean few weeks ago?” Honiahaka asked.

“Long time for me…”

We armed our bows in our hands, as off in the distance Dark Feathers and Toad Hops yelled at the buffalo, scaring them to us. A big stampede there was approaching us. Closer and closer they came.

“Ready, Honiahaka?” I asked.

“Indeed.” He replied.

I stretched back my bow string, before pointing it at a buffalo’s head. Honiahaka did the same, aiming at the same buffalo to make sure we killed it.

“SHOOT!” I yelled.

We both released the arrows, shooting the big buffalo in the head. It quickly fell dead in its place, but the rest of the buffalo continued running at us.

“Run!” I yelled, leaving Honiahaka behind assuming he’d follow. But he didn’t.

Honiahaka stood still, staring at the stampede.

“Run, Honiahaka!!!” I yelled.

“I will in a second. Kind of tired…” He said calmly as the buffalo came at him.

Just then, I saw the stampede of buffalo trample my friend!

“AAAHHHHHHHHH! AHHHHHHHHHHHHH! AHHHHHHHHHHHHH! AHHHHHHHHHH! AHHHHHHHHHHHH! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! OHHHHHHHHH MY GOODNESS! THIS HURTS REALLY BAD! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! AHHHHHHHHHHH! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!” Honiahaka screamed, as the buffalo trampled him to death.

“Rest in peace old friend…”

Well, we finally got our buffalo, and used all three of our horses to carry it back to our territory after burying Honiahaka. Too bad he died. On our way home, we came across the area where poor old Oak Stump died. All was quiet as we remembered him. Then another cougar jumped from out of the tree, and started biting Dark Feathers.

“AHHHHHHHHHHHH! GET IT OFF! AHHHHHH! GOOD GOD ALMIGHTY!” He screamed as he ran away with it holding onto his shoulders.

“Dark Feathers, watch out for the….” My sentence was interrupted by Dark Feathers falling off the ledge of the same cliff Oak Stump fell.

Me and Toad Hops continued on our journey, holding onto Dark Feathers’ old horse, keeping all the buffalo remains. Then, the Death Guns stopped us on the trail.

“Look who it is!!! The old dust throwing tribe!” One said. “Where’s your friend!?”

“Dead!” Toad Hops responded.

“Yeah, you with him!!” He said, shooting Toad Hops dead off of his horse.

I was a broken warrior. I had lost all my friends! But at least I got a buffalo, that was pretty cool. I continued my way, back through the long lands when I heard a ferocious growling coming from the trees beyond my path. The bear that killed Eagle Warrior. If Eagle Warrior had been around this whole thing may not have ever happened. He may have been foolish, but he was a true warrior! He could have taken on the Death Guns single handedly if he wanted. Everything was the bear’s fault, and I wanted revenge!
I jumped off my horse, grabbed my bow, my tomahawk, my spears and my knives! It was time for war!! Though revenge wasn’t always encouraged, and neither was killing an animal that I wasn’t planning on hunting. But I didn’t care! Bear had enraged me for the last time!

“FIGHT ME BEAR!” I yelled.

And sure enough, it came from out of the big green bushes, with Eagle Warrior’s dagger sticking out of its head. He must have stabbed it with his dying breaths. The bear stood on two legs revealing its full size to me. I readied my bow, shooting an arrow clear into its chest! The bear roared, tearing after me angrily.

“You’re dead!” I said as I swung my tomahawk into its face. 

It clawed my chest with so much force that I fell backwards. Anxiously, I grabbed my spear, and drove it into its neck as it tried to attack me once more, killing the beast.

Only a short ways from the territory, I dragged the bear, and the buffalo back with the horses.

Upon arrival, Chief Cornstalk asked me, “Where be the others?”

“Oh, they died…” I said.

“Oh,” Chief replied.

“But, I killed big bear, and buffalo!”

“Good!”

And that’s about the end of the story…. So, what can we learn from this eventful story? – Nothing. That’s just what happened. So I hope you enjoyed this tale of adventure, heroism, and death….