White Swan and Quiet Pheasant

The Elk Clan had traveled to a new world. It had endured a rigorous journey across dangerous glaciers, ice cold waters, mountains, and ferocious bears. They had established themselves in a new world. Through hard work they flourished.

They had constantly been pushed south by the brutal winters and had subdivided into multiple sub-clans. There were seven “Elk” clans. White Swan was a member of the Elk Horn Clan. Its traditional leaders treated the women as their property. This was something that White Swan and her sister Quiet Pheasant railed against.

The clan’s prosperity meant that there was no reason to question the culture it practiced.

White Swan, stubborn and hardheaded, struggled accepting her role in a world ruled by the men that surrounded her.

She looked into the placid water at the reflection of her sister Quiet Pheasant. She recognized her younger sister as a person with a similar attitude and with a quiet conviction as strong as hers that they would not bend to such a situation. Her sister was the one that listened deeply and then later shared her insights.

The two were just twelve moons apart in age. They would spend endless amounts of time discussing how they could influence the decisions of their parents, their parent’s friends, and their own constituency. They were determined to change their society.

White Swan’s eyes lifted and took in the white capped mountains with their peaks lifting high above the broken layer of white clouds.

The sun was bright, and its warming rays warmed the back of her neck as she stayed kneeling at the water’s edge.

Clear, early mornings such as this were rare.

White Swan turned her eyes once again to her sister and admired her slender figure. They were very much the same.

Winter had been hard but the two had proved to be good hunters of small game. They had rebelled against staying in the camp as the other young women did. They had consistently brought in enough small game that the family always had a solid evening meal.

Their parents accepted their wandering ways and gave them the freedom to do so. Both of them knew that their daughters were not to be contained.

White Swan endured the bullying taunts of the younger men and quite openly returned the taunts by noting the weakness of those teasing her.

She ignored the stern looks from both the older men and women.

She was constantly on the lookout for ways to respond in unexpected ways.

The most troubling was when White Swan overheard one of the elders speaking to her father about doing a better job at controlling his daughters. Quiet Pheasant overheard the same warning. The two discussed this and what they might do to maintain their freedom to do what they wanted to do.

There seemed to be no direct way.

They came up with an approach that would serve them well throughout their lifetime. They began with their parents, prepared a celebration dinner, and let them know what great parents they were.

Their mother pulled them aside and asked what they were up to.

White Swan replied that they were only treating everyone the way they wished to be treated.

Quiet Pheasant’s assurance made their mother smile.

“I will help the two of you,” their mother said with a smile. She too knew the frustration of fitting into the hard work of the camp while the young men went off on their hunting adventures.

The change in their behavior at first yielded a positive response but several of the older members of the leadership team continued to rail against the fact that the two were not engaged in the same manner as the other young women.

White Swan and Quiet Pheasant continued their excursions out into the wilderness. They roamed the hills like the tomboys they were.

Their father taught them how to hunt and how to protect themselves. He was very proud of his daughters capabilities.

He showed them not only how to protect themselves from the wild animals with spears and a small stone hammer, but also from other humans.

White Swan listened to her father as he showed her how to use the power of a larger opponent to overcome him. This was an ancient art that had been passed down to him from his father and grandfather.

The direct support of their father was important to both she and Quiet Pheasant.

Quiet Pheasant commented later that their father was worried about what some of the elders might do because they were breaking the unwritten rules of the clan.

Everyday White Swan and Quiet Pheasant would go out to a secluded location and practice what their father had taught them. It was not long before White Swan was certain that she and Quiet Pheasant could beat any of the young men in a one-on-one fight.

They did their victory dance in celebration of the praise they received from both their father and mother.

They continued to practice their self-defense and they continued to hunt.

They were now on a hunt and were now on the attack.

White Swan felt the early morning sun on her neck. Her breathing was deep and steady. Her heartbeat had a deep steady rhythm. Her legs were taking long smooth strides. Her feet barely touched the ground. She felt the pure energy rise into her mind. She knew she was in the other world where she could do anything and be anyone.

Thank you for reading this far.