I saw her again this morning. She had a new red coat, and I openly admired her shapely curves.

     I'd been captivated from the first time I saw her coming down the street. The crowd seemed to part, and there she was. A sudden heat washed over me as she passed. I sneaked a quick look at her caboose and knew I had to have her.

     I dreamed about her last night. My dream was steamy and the sweat glistened on my bare chest as my body pumped in rhythmic lunges. I gave her what I knew she needed, and she responded to my efforts with a shudder as the fire inside her grew.

     I pulled myself from my reverie with a smile. After tonight, I wouldn't have to dream. I sat down, but I didn't have to wait long. Just like that first time—the crowed parted as she came chugging into the square. Her boiler gleamed with a shiny new coat of red paint, and steam billowed from her pistons.

     She came to a stop, and I boarded one of her cars, a telegram clutched in my hand.

It read: 

Inner city transit seeking firemen to shovel coal for the new commuter line.

Apply in person tomorrow evening.

     Hello, 

     I'm Andrew Regin(sometimes). Sometimes I'm @dustygrein's little brother(Brandon Grein), but most of the time I'm Papa Man to my grandchildren.

I'm the author of Guardians vol. 1 and 2. These books were written several years ago for my daughters when they were young, and have only recently become available on amazon.

I was introduced by my brother Dusty and received a warm welcome from several people. Thank you @ValerieKCHN @butlersteph @RubyPond @CreativeChaos @Soulhearts @Soulhearts @ChelleA @CreativeChaos @Mnezz @CJames @sandflea68 @Vi @Winterreign @nehasri @leewilliams 

**Part 1 here: https://theprose.com/post/155882

...rounding a bend in the animal path she'd been following, she spotted the bear. He had his back to her, and when he turned his head to look at her, his muzzle was stained red with blood. She had interrupted his breakfast, and he roared his displeasure at the intrusion.

     Shoshawna's heart raced as she gazed at her target. His black fur glistened in the morning air, his black eyes shining like agates. He gave another roar and turned back to his meal. He seemed to be giving her the chance to change her mind.

     Cold fear gripped her heart, and for just a moment she considered backing away. Keasi's image appeared in her mind however, and she steeled herself.

     “No!” she shouted. “I’ll never give up!”

     The bear did not turn his head as he had done before. Instead, he spun his entire body around to face her, turning much faster than she would have thought possible for a creature so large. He stood on his hind legs and was taller than her father. He probably weighed more than two of the biggest warriors in her village, and fear coursed through her once again...

...Shoshawna looked at Keasi, and he smiled encouragingly. She had fought in the 'Kid Games' several times, but her latest opponent was much larger than her.

     The Kid Games were unsanctioned and held well away from the village. The parents and warriors knew about the games of course, having participated themselves at a young age. Some of the younger warriors—like Keasi—were even present to coach or cheer on their younger siblings.

     “Never let them see your fear,” Keasi said. “If you do, the battle is lost before it begins.”

     Shoshawna steadied herself and gripped her makeshift spear in both hands as she made her way to the circle that had been scratched into the dirt. If her opponent drove her from the circle, the point would go to him. All she had to do was strike the larger boy with her blunted spear while avoiding a hit from him, but his size was intimidating.

     “Aaah!” she yelled. The older boy blinked, surprised by her scream. She took advantage of the boy's distraction and swung the butt of her spear at his side...

...the bear lumbered toward her on his hind legs, his massive paws were covered in daggers and his mouth was agape, revealing sharp teeth, dripping with blood and saliva.

     “AAAH!” she shouted, bolstering her own nerve.

     The bear roared back and then charged. He was on her in a moment. She fell backward, but she brought her arms up just as Keasi had shown her. The bear did not react as predicted, however; he didn't go for her throat with those horrible teeth. Instead, he caught her on the left side with his claws, raking them downward. Pain exploded in her ribs, and her left arm fell limply to her chest...

...pain shot through her ribs as the older boy's weapon hit her in the side. Stumbling backward, she landed on her butt in the dirt. The boy who was acting in the war-leader's stead yelled, “Honor!” and motioned to her opponent, awarding him the point for that round. She tried to rise, but fell back down, wincing at the fire in her side.

     “Feel the pain, Sho,” Keisi yelled. “That's your pain, not his. Use it. Feel it. Make it work for you.”

     Gritting her teeth she forced herself to stand and face her opponent once more...

...racking pain ran through Shoshawna’s entire body, but she held tight to the blade in her hand. She jerked her arm, but without the bears throat to provide resistance, her fist came up. The bear went for it like fish to a piece of colored string. Pain shot though her hand and a muscle spasm drove the knife into the soft pallet at the back of the bears throat. The creature’s own momentum carried it forward, and Shoshawna's left shoulder took the shock of her fist, the knife hilt, and part of the bear's lower jaw. The knife was driven upward and blood poured out in pulsing waves, washing over her face, blinding her...

...Shoshawna circled to the left as Keasi stalked her. He held no weapon, but she wasn't sure her own would do her much good; he had bound a cloth over her eyes.

     “This isn’t fair,” she said. “I can't see you.”

     “Close your mouth and open your ears.”

     She tried to focus on the sound of his footsteps, but whenever she swung the butt of her spear, he was no longer there.

     “Smell the wind,” he said.

     She swung at the sound of his voice, but once again, he was gone. Then something clicked. She didn't smell the wind, she felt it. There was a sudden change in the breeze. She knew what direction it had been coming from and she swung. This time, her spear found resistance. It stopped and froze in place. She removed one hand from the spear and lifted the blindfold to peek out. Keasi held the end of her spear in one hand, and once again his eyes beamed with pride at her accomplishment...

...she had no time to wipe the bear's blood from her eyes. The weight of the beast came crashing down on her chest, and the air exploded from her lungs...

...Shoshawna tried to follow Keasi up the small stone cliff, but she lost her hold and fell backward. When she hit the ground, the air was driven from her lungs.

     “Are you okay?” Keasi asked...

...But, that was just a memory, wasn't it? Her air was trying to return, but the weight of the bear on her chest was making it hard to breathe. She could feel her own blood soaking her dress and she was getting dizzy.

     “Are you okay?” Keasi asked once again.

     He no longer felt like a memory. He sounded very real. She knew why. “I'm dying,” she whispered, but she wasn't sure he could hear her.

     She felt the bear roll off her and winced as a hand was pressed to her side. She tried to blink away the blood in her eyes but everything was blurry.

     “Are you proud of me?” she asked.

     “I've been proud of you since we were small children.”

     She laughed as she tried to picture Keasi as a small child. He was much older than her.

     “You've always been brave,” he said as his strong arms lifted her off the ground. The pain in her side sent a shock through her and she passed out...

...“You're going too high,” Awkeatu yelled from far below.

     Shoshawna looked out from her perch near the top of the tree; a tree so impossibly tall its branches touched the sky. Her heart raced with excitement and just a little fear, but she could see the whole world from up here...

...her head still swam, and her vision was still blurred, but she could feel Keasi carrying her. “Are you taking me to heaven?” she asked.

     “Don't talk,” he said. “It makes the bleeding worse.”

     “We have to let the tribe know where the bear is. His sacrifice won't mean anything if his meat is wasted. There will be no honor for him.”...

...“Why does the deer have to die?” she asked.

     “His sacrifice will sustain us,” Keasi said. “It brings honor to him and to us, but only if nothing is wasted.”

     “I think you should have this honor,” she said, trying to hand the eyeball back to her brother...

...Shoshawna opened her eyes to find the old shaman sitting beside her, holding bandages. Awkeatu was standing over her, waving a smoldering incense ball. Their village was small, and the holy-man was also the medicine man. Awkeatu had to learn both trades.

     “Keasi saved me,” she whispered.

     “Keasi's been dead for over a year,” the old man said. “And if you don't lie still, you may yet join him.”

     “I know he's dead, but...”

     “It was Awkeatu that pulled you from beneath the bear.”

     “I'm sorry,” Awkeatu said. “You can hate me if you want, but I didn’t interfere until the bear was dead—I swear.”

     “Thank you,” she whispered before the world went dark once more...

...“The bear didn’t act like you said it would,” she admonished Keasi. “It didn’t go for my throat. I think I would have bled to death underneath the bear, if Awkeatu hadn’t saved me; he must have been following me.”

     “He cares a great deal about you.”

     “But as a shaman, he wont have any honor.”

     Keasi laughed. “You have enough honor for three people,” he said.

     “I love you, Keasi.”

     “I know,” he said. “I love you too, Sho.”...

...Shoshawna stroked the dark black fur that now lay on the floor of her hut. “Thank you,” she said. “Your sacrifice brings honor to us both.” The meat had been consumed while she recovered, but it had sustained the village.

     She felt a hand on her shoulder and looked up at her friend Maisa. “It's time,” the girl said.

     Shoshawna followed her from the hut. The tables in the middle of the village had been arranged in a circle. They were laden with food for a celebration in her honor, but no one was eating. Her father stood in the center of the circle, holding a collar with a single bear tooth hanging from it.

     She knelt before him and he fastened the collar around her neck. Then he tied a feather in her hair. When she stood, he handed her Keasi's knife—her knife.

     “Honor,” her father said, and a cheer went up all around her. The entire tribe began to chant “SHO-SHAW-NA! SHO-SHAW-NA!”

     She looked down at the knife in her hand and felt a single tear run down her cheek.

“Honor, Keasi,” she whispered. “Honor.”...

(c) 2017 - Andrew Regin

Shoshawna found it difficult to focus. Memories kept intruding into her thoughts as she moved through the forest on silent feet...

...She sat at her brother's side until the end. She watched the rise and fall of his chest as he drew his last breath. The sickness had taken him quickly. She was glad he hadn’t suffered, but she wasn't sure if he understood when she told him how much she loved him. She hoped he knew.

     No one else would ever know how much he meant to her. He had raised her from an early age. Shoshawna had no memory of her mother, but that hadn't mattered while Keasi was alive. Now he was gone. Now he would join Mother in Heaven.

     Tears streamed down her face and she wiped them away, angry at her own weakness. Keasi had taught her to be brave. Her grief was hers to bear. She had seen eleven years and shouldn't be such a baby. Keasi wouldn't have cried.

     “Honor, Keasi,” she said, the tears building in her eyes once more.

     Shoshawna's father sat on Keasi's other side. He was the village chief and his face remained a stony mask as he laid Keasi's hand down before standing. He left the hut to inform the rest of the tribe that it was over. It had always been this way. She knew her father loved her, but his honor and duty to his people came first.

     “I will be your honor now, Keasi. I swear it on my life.”...

...Shoshawna shook herself from the memories of that awful day the year before. She had to concentrate on what she was doing now. She had to make Keasi proud; she knew he was looking down from heaven. Failure would mean joining him, and she couldn't stand the thought of facing him in disgrace. Someday she would join him, but with any luck that would be many years away.

     “I'm not afraid,” she told herself, for the hundredth time. She had come too far to give up now. She wasn't sure returning empty-handed was even an option for her. Convincing her father had been a feat of its own, one that had put his honor on the line. To convince her father, she had had to gain support from the village shaman...

...Shoshawna could see Awkeatu sitting outside the old shaman's hut as she approached. When the young apprentice saw her, he tried to rise, but lost his balance and fell. His face turned red as he stood up.

     “It's not a good time,” he said, brushing the dust from his deer hide pants. “He's not well.”

     “I know,” Shoshawna said, “but I must speak with him.”

     “I know why you're here, and you're too young,” Awkeatu said.

     Shoshawna felt her anger rising and she clenched her fists. She was tired of hearing that from everyone, and Awkeatu was only a year older.

     “I mean... I don't think you’re too young,” he stammered, “but they do, that's all.”

     Her anger receded a bit. They had grown up in the same village and had been friends for as long as she could remember. Recently however, he had become awkward in her presence. She wasn't stupid, and his discomfort would have been cute—even flattering—under different circumstances, but she had no time for childishness.

     “I'm twelve, and it is my right,” she said. Most people waited until thirteen or fourteen to attempt the trial, but twelve was the required age. She had to do it... for Keasi.

     “You could die,” he said, but Shoshawna just stared at him until his shoulders slumped. “Very well.”

     He pulled back the deerskin that covered the entrance of the shaman's hut. He said something to the man inside and then held the flap open so she could enter.

     The old man sat on his pallet. His face, covered in the wrinkles of many seasons, conveyed wisdom. There were no feathers in his hair; as a holy man, he wasn't allowed to accept honor. Respect was another matter however, and Shoshawna bowed her head. Her eyes were then drawn to the contraption he was propped up against, which consisted of a hide stretched across a wooden frame.

     “Do you like it,” the shaman asked. “Awkeatu made it for me. He's a smart one. He won't bring honor, but he will make a good husband some day.”

     She felt the heat rise in her cheeks. “I did not come to talk about Awkeatu,” she said. She was a little worried about offending the old shaman, but this was important. Fortunately, he chuckled at the blush on her face.

     His laughter turned into a coughing fit, and she dropped to his side, placing her hand behind his back and helping him sit up a bit. As his racking cough subsided, he motioned to a bucket of water. She grabbed a birch-bark cup and filled it before handing it to him. He took a long drink and then sat back once again.

     “I know why you are here,” he said.

     “I'm of age.”

     “That remains to be seen.”

     “I don't understand. I'm twelve, now.”

     “There is more than one way to measure age.”

     “Please, I have to. Without the trial, my life means nothing—not to me, and not to Keasi.”

     “I know what Keasi wanted for you, but I doubt he would have pushed you to make the attempt so soon.”

     “He was my age when he faced the beast.”

     “True,” the old man mused, as if considering the matter. Then he looked at her once more. “But he is only one of a handful of boys—your age—to have faced the trial and lived to tell the tale. The youngest girl to even try was fourteen.”

     “I know.”

     “Then you know what happened to her.”

     “I do, but she wasn't taught by Keasi.”

     He looked hard at her for a long time, and she met his gaze with determination. “You know that he won’t be easy to convince.”

     “He'll listen to you,” she said with a smile. Now that she had won the old man over, it was time to convince her father...

...Shoshawna looked down at the tracks in front of her. The creature that had made them was big. Its paw was larger than her own hand. She knelt down to have a closer look. Yes, the tracks were fresh. She could almost hear her brother's voice...

...“See how the edges of this one are rounded and worn?” Keasi said. “This is an old track. The bear that made it is long gone.”

     “He was big, wasn't he?” she asked.

     “Very good,” he said, ruffling her hair.

     Shoshawna beamed at his praise. At eight she could identify a dozen different types of animal tracks, but those of the bear were most important.

     She looked at the flint knife at her brother's side. He had killed a bear with nothing but that knife. It was because of this single act of bravery that he was now a warrior and was able to carry the blade. She was determined to follow in his footsteps.

     “Now this one,” he said, pointing to another track, “is much fresher. See how the edges are sharp and much better defined?”

     Shoshawna nodded, trying to burn the knowledge into her brain...

...She adjusted her grip on the knife as she began following the tracks. The knife, which had been her brother’s, would only become hers if she were successful. She stooped and grabbed a pinch of dirt, sprinkling it into the air to test the breeze...

...Shoshawna followed the tracks left by Keasi a short time earlier. She came across others that he had intentionally left two days before, but she ignored them; at ten she could tell the difference. The tracks ran alongside a large boulder. As she followed them around the stone, someone grabbed her from behind. Keasi tickled her until she screamed.

     “How did you know I was there?” she asked.

     “I could smell the flowers in your hair,” he said. “Next time, leave the flowers at home and stay down wind.”

     “How do I track you and stay downwind at the same time?” she asked, but he just smiled and winked...

...She was definitely downwind of the bear, and it didn’t take long for her to catch his musky scent. She was closer than she thought. If she wanted to back out, now was the time, but for Shoshawna there would be no turning back. It was time to do or die. That phrase took on new meaning for her as she prepared to face the beast...

...“Okay, Sho,” Keasi said. “It's time to do or die.”

     He held his spear in both hands, and Shoshawna came at him. Her own spear was just a long pole but it served its purpose. She was too young to wield a spear. Only warriors were allowed to compete in the games, but she and Keasi would often steal away where he could train her; this was much more often than anyone else knew.

     “Some day you'll surprise them all,” he said when the impromptu battle was over. “I can't wait to see the look on father's face when you win your first fight.”

     “But before that can happen, I have to become a warrior,” she said.

     “There's plenty of time for that.”

     “Can I see your knife?”

     He looked around to make sure no one was watching, and then pulled the knife from his belt, handing it to her handle first. She grabbed it blade up, but he corrected her. “Not like that,” he said. “Turn it over so the blade is facing down.” She did as he asked and he continued. “Now put your arm straight out and bend your elbow so your forearm is across your chest with the blade sticking out toward me.”

     “Like this?” she asked, raising her arm.

     “Perfect. Now put your other forearm on top of the first, so the fist of each hand is touching the elbow of the other.”

     She did what he asked, and he gently removed the knife from her hand.

     “Keep your arms there.” He grabbed a small stick off the ground and put it in her hand to simulate the knife he had taken. “Now, I'm the bear.” He grabbed her forearms and lifted them up, placing them against his neck. “The bear is going to go for your throat. When he does, bring your arms up under his chin. He's big and heavy, so you'll only have one shot before he kills you. When your forearms touch his throat...”

     Shoshawna—anticipating his next command—jerked her arms apart, drawing the stick across Keasi's neck and sending him tumbling backward. She dropped the stick and put her hand over her mouth. “I'm sorry,” she said. There was a deep scratch where the stick had come into contact with his skin, and a trickle of blood ran down his throat. She was afraid he would be mad, but his eyes shone with pride...

...rounding a bend in the animal path she'd been following, she spotted the bear. He had his back to her, and when he turned his head to look at her, his muzzle was stained red with blood. She had interrupted his breakfast, and he roared his displeasure at the intrusion.

     Shoshawna's heart raced as she gazed at her target. His black fur glistened in the morning air, his black eyes shining like agates. He gave another roar and turned back to his meal. He seemed to be giving her the chance to change her mind.

     Cold fear gripped her heart, and for just a moment she considered backing away. Keasi's image appeared in her mind however, and she steeled herself.

     “No!” she shouted. “I’ll never give up!”

(c) 2017 - Andrew Regin

Note: Part 2 here: https://theprose.com/post/155883