Chapter Text
I stepped off my carriage and took a look around and the vast land. They really weren’t joking when they said it was huge. What I really wanted to see were the Natives. I had no clue life existed out west.
Back east, men spoke of this place as though it were untouched wilderness waiting to be claimed.
Standing there now, I felt foolish for ever believing them.
There were paths through the grass where countless feet had already traveled. Smoke drifted somewhere in the distance, too steady to belong to a campfire left by passing hunters. The land felt lived in.
It felt old.
Older than England.
Older than the colonies.
Older than the maps folded in my satchel.
The coach driver unloaded my trunk beside me before climbing back into his seat.
“You sure this is where you’re getting off?” he asked.
I looked out toward the endless forest rising against the horizon.
“Seems as good a place as any.”
He laughed at that.
“Suppose that’s one way of looking at it.”
The carriage pulled away with a groan of wood and iron, leaving me alone with my belongings and more silence than I had ever heard in my life.
For the first time since leaving home, I wondered whether I had made a terrible mistake.
Then I caught movement near the treeline.
A figure stood among the trees.
Not close enough for me to make out his face.
Only close enough to know he was watching me.
I walked closer to the trees with caution but curiosity. Suddenly, the man began to approach me.
He reached out his hand to my face and began to feel me.
“Hey—“ I blurted out.
He lifted a finger up to my lips and gave me a hug.
At this point, I wasn’t sure if they knew English or not. Lots of people had come here before me and I wasn’t sure if some of the Natives knew or not.
To my surprise—
“Hi, what’s your name?”
I stepped back in shock at his English.
“Hey-“ I stuttered, “my name is Walker.”
He shook my hand.
“Talon. Nice to meet you.”
“Nice to uh, meet you too?”
I stepped back to get a full look of him.
He looked just like me, except he had long black hair and tanned skin. He wore little clothing, only a beige sarong and feathered earrings.
“What are you looking at, English boy?”
I was startled by his comment.
“Oh, uh, nothing. Sorry.”
He nodded his head.
The silenced stretched between us for a second.
“So, you speak English I see,” I remarked.
He raised his eyebrow.
“Does that surprise you?”
“A little.”
He crossed his arms and stared at me.
“Where are you from?”
“London-“ I said, but cut my self off. I didn’t know if he knew or not.
“Sorry, England.”
“Ah,” he replied. “Tells.”
“What does that mean?” I questioned. I raised an eyebrow.
“Nothing, you just seem a bit entitled to the land.”
I stepped back.
“Entitled?” I repeated.
He shrugged.
“I know you English. You are here to take the land from us.”
I looked him up and down, then shifted my stance.
“I don’t know who you’ve met, but that wasn’t my intention-“
“Sure,” he replied.
An awkward silence fell between us.
Talon finally said, “Do you even have a place to sleep tonight?”
I looked at him.
“I was planning on just setting something up out here…”
For the first time, he laughed.
“Oh English boy, this is not the place you want to sleep outside. Follow me.”
He reached out and grabbed my hand. We disappeared into the tree lines.