It was December 5th, a chilly morning. The trees lost their leaves and are dormant, the animals in hibernation. The sun hiding behind the mountains, making this a rather cold day even if the sun were to shine. Trudging through the snow alone, sneaking past the sleeping camp, Liniwa was making his way to his usual place. Clothed in a buckskin longsleeved shirt and pants, his Moccasins sinking in the crunching snow. He held his medicine bag close to him as he trudged on up a hill. Wearing a beautiful turquoise necklace that he made. There were turquoise beads that wrapped around the string-thread like material, and hanging in the middle of it was a wooden bison carved beautifully, practically as if a wood carver made it himself upon years and years of work. Such fine detail that only the human eye could see. Upon making his climb up the hill that he did almost everyday, he always thought of why Chief HawkFeather didn't like the Wasichu. Sure, they took land when they wanted to, but then again, they were living in a world of mechanics, not knowing that the gases their machines gave off hurt Mother Earth. That much, Liniwa knew.

He finally made it up to the top of the hill, hidden perfectly by the dormant trees. Upon reaching the top, he saw the chain link fence. He had made it. Going over to a tree, he looked under a hole near the tree's roots where he stashed small blocks of wood. Taking one, he went to go sit back down under one of the other trees. Sighing heavily, he took his bag off and set it down next to him. Then, he took his knife from his side and looked at the block, thinking of what he wanted to do, then when he got the idea, started to carve it.

The sounds of laughter and little kids filled his ears. Lifting his head, he looked to see the Elementary kids were out, playing and enjoying the snow. Liniwa, couldn't help but smile a bit. Kids were joyful, especially the Wasichu since they didn't know much about the world. You could easily teach them anything. Liniwa, always tried to teach them his side, the tribe's side. Hoping that maybe when the kids grew up, that they could help them and not the Wasichu. Course, they had their fair share of freedom. They may just receive knowledge and not help at all. But it was alright, because Liniwa liked to sit there and watch for hours. Soon enough though, when the kids had left back into their building to learn classes, the College next to them would show their students. Wasichu. But Liniwa was never noticed, so it was fine with him on where he was at.

Looking down at his carving now, he saw that it was going well. he got a basic shape of a wolf howling. Smiling a bit, he started to carve some more with his knife, being careful with each stroke. He was making this for one of the Wasichu kids in the Elementary. One of the kids that adored and loved to learn about him. And he knew he could trust the kid because he was the one that always came first to him, eager and happy. That image never left Liniwa's mind. Lifting up his head, he watched the College students linger around and talk.

Rose came charging out of the school with a big muscular boy behind her, the boy grabbing her wrist and almost swinging her around. "Come on Rose, I know you say your as free spirited and strong as the bison tattooed on your back, but what does that have to do with my chances with you?" The boy named Tyler asked, getting a swinging at his nose which stopped just inches away from it. "It means what it means Tyler. As I am free spirited and not broken like other girls, I don't want some hot muscular guy who will break my heart eventually. And if you follow me around, I will shatter your nose, and like a girl, you'll have to get a pretty serious nose job. Now get away from me Tyler...... Before my fist changes it's mind!" Rose said, seeing Tyler run off as he knew that Rose could throw a mean punch as hard as he could.

Rose sighed, sitting on a bench and running her fingers through her silky soft blonde hair that adorned the tan crown of her head, sky blue-ish steel eyes looking at her short pleaded skirt that happened to be the color of her eyes. She wore a matching tank top but no jacket at all, and had white knee socks that had blue ribbons on the top. And she wore mary janes, that were a bluish color of sorts to make the outfit go together. And when Rose got up and turned around to talk to a friend, she had a native like tattoo of a bison on her back. She caught a glimpse of Liniwa's knife shimmering in the light coming from the clouded sky, slowly walking over to him as her mary janes crunched through the snow until she got to the chain link fence.

"Hello? Is anyone there?" Rose asked, seeing the knife in the snow. Hadn't there been someone here just minutes before? There were fresh shaving on the ground next to the knife as well. "Hey Rosie, whatcha looking at?" She heard a boy behind her say. She turned around to see Joven and his gang who graduated three years ago, but hung out around these parts so they could get laid a lot by women and girls who didn't think they were pretty and that they were lucky to be with them. Joven grabbed Rose's hands with force, tying them around her back and picking her up as if she was as heavy as the sand bag he always lifted at work. Everyone was inside by now, and Rose had no idea what to do. "Please! Somebody please! Help me!" Rose screamed before Joven clamped his hand over her mouth so she couldn't make anymore noise.

"Pretty girl, your luck ran out long ago! Your our bitch now, so don't you dare make another sound! Or else you'll get the whipping of your life!" Joven said, making Rose's eyes nearly pop out of her head as she wondered if Joven and his gang were really the notorious gang that took girls and sent them off as mail ordered brides. She closed her eyes, hoping for a miracle to happen or someone who might be able to save her.

Liniwa had heard the sound of footsteps, the sound of a voice, and he was gone in seconds. His knife lying in the snow, the sun shining down on it. He was hiding behind the large tree, trying to catch his breath and lower down his quick beating heart. As much as he was one to be curious, he was still afraid to be near the Wasichu. Soon enough, when he heard the footsteps walking away with more voices, he peeked his head around the tree to see a girl, who appeared to be being taken away by a group of guys. He was curious, watching the group haul the girl away as if she were a young calf of the sort. But just by looking at her, seeing the look on her face, the way it just felt, like she needed help. But what could he do? If he did anything, surely it would start something between the Native Indians and the Wasichu.

With a shaky hand, Liniwa bent down to pick up the knife from the cold snow. His hand shaking with the knife in his hand, he watched the girl being taken away. This was going to hinder him greatly back at the camp for sure. Quickly, Liniwa moved over to the fence, cutting at the chain link, trying to saw some of the pieces off. When he found that it wasn't working, he knew that what he was doing would be very daring. It was just a matter of time on how he would do this. Risking his life like that. Why would the Wasichu treat each other like that? Treat each other wrong? It wasn't right at all. Gripping the handle of the knife firmly in his hand, he held the knife with his teeth, then took the liberty to climb the fence, being careful of it's barb wire. Once he made it onto the other side, he felt this feeling inside him.

I'm on Wasichu soil.. I'm on their land now. If I get caught, then I am done for. he thought as he took the knife from his teeth, gripping it tightly but still slightly shaking. Then, he started to sneak quietly and carefully towards them. Hoping he wouldn't get caught. Don't kill them, it will cause problems. Just injure him and run off.. From there, he took a deep breath, exhaling quietly he moved quicker until he was right behind Joven and sunk the knife deep into his leg. Hearing the poor guy cry out in pain, and watching him drop to his good knee, it caused controversy immediately. The two other guys had turned around and this was just his own war he had called upon himself. Liniwa took the girl from Joven, backing up a good few feet before setting the girl down, then went over to confront the other two. Just a swing from the blade caused a large gash on the side of one guy's cheek. And after some punches from the other guy was being thrown, Liniwa did what he could to protect himself, even pushing the guys away. It was a tussle for a good 10 to 15 minutes.

But when the three guys had run off, Liniwa was trying to catch his breath, his knife still gripped tightly in his hand. Slowly, that grip loosened and he put it away in it's satchel. Liniwa only glanced at the girl for a brief moment, still trying to catch his breath before looking at the guys that were retreating, and then at the fence he had come from, running back over to it, scaling it as fast as he could and jumped down onto the other side. From there, he hid up in a tree, staring down at the girl as if afraid.

Somehow, Rose's prayers were answered, and in a flash Joven was on his knees bleeding badly. She felt someone's arms wrap around her waist and pulled her back away from the men, and as she looked up at her savior, she realized that....... He was a native. Her breath caught in her chest as she saw him fighting, defending her as if she were his own kind. Once Joven and his gang were running away, she saw the native catch his breath before climbing back over the fence, running up a tree and hiding in between the long thick branches of that tree. She slowly picked herself up, carefully and painfully getting out of the cuffs before she walked over to the chain link fence.

Rose tucked her hair behind her ear, looking up into the trees and barely seeing her savior. "Thank you for saving me....... I don't know what I can give you to thank you....... My name is Rose Tyler....... I'd at least like to know the name of my savior." She said, slowly gripping onto the fence as she wanted to come over....... But would he let her without killing her? "They were about to ship me over to some other place to a man who I don't even know who I must marry........ Do you know that's called a mail order bride? But anyways...... You saved me from that fate...... So thank you!" Rose said, smiling at him with those full lips of her that made any mans heart melt.

Liniwa peered slowly through the thick branches to look at the girl for a moment. She was pretty, beautiful actually. He could understand why the guys had wanted to steal her away like that. Very slowly though, he made his way down the tree, but kept his distance from the girl. Listening to her talk, he tried to understand, though it was only a little that he could understand. He understood that she told him her name, which was Rose and the fact that she was thanking him. He knew that much. Slowly, Liniwa opened his mouth to say something, shaking a little.

"L-Lin-Liniwa.." he managed to say to her, telling her his name.

This was difficult for him to do because he was talking to a Wasichu when he knew he shouldn't be. Debating on whether it was ok to move or not, he walked slowly towards the fence, walking through the 3 inch deep snow. Taking his medicine bag, he took it off of him and set it next to him when he sat down in the snow. They looked to be sitting as if it were the movie of the Boy in the Striped Pajamas or something, both on either side of the fence, facing each other. But he was kind of happy though, because he was the first of his tribe to make it over the fence into Wasichu soil. Nobody would dare do that, let alone, save a Wasichu from other Wasichu.

Just by looking at Liniwa, he appeared to have a rather good frame and build. When working out in the wild like this, especially with the Tribe, you do gain muscle from working. But his wasn't crazy like that Joven guy. His was a decent build, and he was actually rather cute looking in a way. His clothing that consisted of Buckskin and the jewelry he had strung around his neck. Slowly, Liniwa took out the knife from it's satchel and the block he had been carving. The Wolf was taking better shape now, and the small detail that was being put into it could be seen as well.

Rose was stunned a bit when the boy called Liniwa told her his name, and she knew that the tattoo on her back may either be a coincidence or a prophecy from above. "Liniwa......" She said to herself, turning around and showing him her delicately made bison tattoo that had been done by a native from east of where they were now. "Your name means bison, no? I happened to get a tattoo of a bison when I was 18 and I moved out here away from my family....... It reminds me that I am free spirited and that I must stay strong as well." She said happily, noticing how handsome he really was. But she shook that idea out of her head, knowing that they could never be together........ Ever. "So, why did they call you Liniwa? Is there a story behind that name? Or did they just call you that?" Rose asked, sitting down at the fence and smiling at Liniwa.

For some reason Rose felt like she wanted to know everything about Liniwa, and she realized she always had. She had always had a fascination with the natives and their way of life, and sometimes wished she were one of them! But how could she? She had blonde hair, bright blue eyes, and lightly tanned skin. She looked nothing like them, and they would probably never accept her into their ways of life either. "Also....... What is it like to live your life? I've always dreamed of what it'd be like to have one big family...... My parents were always too busy to me, even to tell me they loved me! I guess....... I just wished that I could become one of you........ And....... Never mind." She said, her blonde hair hiding her sad teary eyed face. "I'm sorry...... I shouldn't have told you about that....... You probably think I'm weak or something." Rose said, her words coming out in an audible whisper.

Liniwa sat in the snow in front of the fence, facing Rose. He tried his best to respond back to her, knowing his english wasn't as good, and he learned this from Elementary kids. "My family.. my.. parents.. name me Liniwa because Bison are big and strong." he spoke. "Because they stubborn, fight for what they want. Protect. They..." he paused a moment, trying to find the right words. "... Bison can not be tamed. Always wild. My mom, call me Liniwa because she thinks... I could be better person than my father." With that, he started to carve more with his knife at the neatly carved wolf he was working on. Lifting his gaze slightly to look at Rose, and then back down at the wood-carved wolf. It was turning out really well now. It was howling up at the sky, it's stance a strong wolf longing for it's friends, pack.

"Life on our soil... tough." he said to Rose, busy carving. "Not easy to survive. Even though we live in Tribe, it not easy. We do not have medicine like Wasichu..." he spoke. "Do not have home like Wasichu. Do not have Food like Wasichu." Lifting up his head, his eyes scanning around him, he looked at Rose with his dark green eyes. "Life is difficult. And other tribes seek to kill... Like Pawnee... Also have to work for food, sometimes all day or even night. Winter kills, and Summer causes drought."

Rose lifted her gaze up to look at him, listening to every word he said, getting an idea as she heard his elementary English. She grabbed her bag and opened it up, pulling out a book that happened to be a dictionary. "Here, I want you to take this! It'll help you speak English better, and I doubt the elementary kids can teach you all you need to know about English. I'm heading out of town for a week, but I'll be back in no time. Please, take it!" Rose said, wrapping it in a scarf that was in her bag and threw both the book and scarf over the fence and onto the snowy ground beside him. "It's called a dictionary, and it has every word that someone who knows English could use in a sentence. Like one of the words in there might be intractable which means hard to control or deal with. Some people might not know what that word means, but you would be able to tell them then!" Rose said happily, smiling at him as she wondered if he would read the book or not. "Rose?! It's time for class!" One of her friends, Charlotte screamed, Rose getting up from the ground and waving quickly to him. "I hope to see you in a week!" Rose said before she started running towards the school, going inside to go learn more about English and how exactly it came to be.

Liniwa looked at the book that was thrown over the fence and in the snow. But even though he was going to say something, Rose was already gone. He sat there for a moment, wondering what it was he was going to do now. Clearly he couldn't take the book back to the Tribe, they'd know where he'd been. And the scarf, what was he to do with it? Or in his eyes, what was it? Taking the book, he wrapped it up in the scarf and stashed it under the roots and in the hollow of a tree. He'd come back for it at some point to try and decipher what Rose had given him. Putting his knife away in his satchel and putting the wolf carving in the hollow of the tree with the book, he stood up and headed back to the Tribe.

Over the week, Liniwa would return back to that same place, sit up in the trees and try to read each word, pronounce it, speak it. Often times he would get frustrated, and only chose words that he thought were easy. So his language selection was very minimal but enough for conversations and such. And soon enough when that week had ended, Liniwa was slowly making his return back up the hill to the fence, sitting there and waiting for Rose. Though, he wasn't alone, because someone had followed him. It was GoldenWing, a guy from the tribe. He looked to be spying on Liniwa, wondering what the fool was doing up on the hill. He smirked, coming out of his hiding spot, "Liniwa" he approached him. Liniwa was surprised to see someone had followed him here, and the two started talking to each other in their native language. "What are you doing here so close to Wasichu soil?" GoldenWing spoke. Liniwa was quiet, not saying anything to him. "You were watching the Wasichu, weren't you... I thought Chief said clearly that we are prohibited up on this mountain?" The two were arguing now, GoldenWing shouting and yelling at Liniwa. Even taking the chance to intimidate him by pushing him. "You think you are all high and mighty because you are the Chief's son?" Liniwa then knew that was the nerve ticking response to trigger him, "I am not his son... You know this! My father left me!" "Well he was stupid to do that! You need some sense knocked into you! If nobody is around to do it then I'll do it myself!" he snapped angrily.

Rose came out of her college class for that day, seeing Liniwa and........ Another native? Why was the other one here? They seemed to be arguing over something, seeing Liniwa get pushed by the other native. she felt her teeth grind together and she ran over to the fence, smashing into it and scaring the other native half to death. "Get away from him you ass! He's done nothing to you and nothing to us Wasichu! So get out of here, before I kill you with my bare hands!" She said angrily, pounding her fist into the chain link fence which earned her a couple of cuts on her hands that looked deep and were pouring out blood from inside of her. But she kept her angry face on until the native ran away, gripping her hand and cringing, wondering if she should go to the nearest hospital or not.

"Are you alright Liniwa?" She questioned, her voice full of the pain that she was feeling right now. She looked at him, wondering if she had screwed everything up for him. "Liniwa....... Your welcome to stay at my place if you need to! I live alone in a big house and I'll make sure that your secret is safe with me........ If your in danger....... Come with me now! I don't want to see you hurt Liniwa! Your the...... The first friend I've had in a while. Please....... If your in trouble....... Please come home with me....... Please?" She asked, giving him her famous puppy dog face that worked on everyone.

Liniwa turned his head to see Rose appear, surprised that she would even do something like that. GoldenWing was clearly pissed off, and he wasn't one to run away from anything. He looked at Rose, pure anger in his eyes, then looked at Liniwa, "If I tell Chief this, you're in serious trouble..." With that, he ran off, and Liniwa stood there, clearly wondering what to do. He looked over at Rose for a moment, as if he were upset about something. "Why... Why would you come here, and shout at GoldenWing?" he spoke calmly, but also in a state of shock and surprise. "If he tells Chief, it's the end for me..." he sighed. He paced around for a bit, fresh footprints in the snow with each step. "And I cannot leave the soil I am standing on. It breaks code. Besides, the Wasichu will imprison me. That's like asking for a death sentence.." he whispered, shaking his head and walking around some more.

This wasn't how he wanted to live life. He wanted to grow up and fit in with the Natives, not be an outcast and sent on trial to die. Especially by his own tribe. He'd rather die by the Pawnee than anything else. With that, Liniwa started to walk off back into the forest and back down the hill. He knew he would be in trouble for sure.

"No, I didn't mean........ I thought I was........ Shit......." Rose murmured as Liniwa walked away, turning away for a second before looking back. "Be safe Liniwa." She whispered, trudging back into her college for next days classes. Days passed, but Rose never came out of the college using the back door. She didn't think Liniwa wanted to see her anymore. Days turned into weeks before Rose finally went out to the back, walking over to the fence and pressing her back against it, sliding down and until her knees pressed against her chest. God........ Please let Liniwa be safe....... Let him not get into trouble by my hand ever again....... If he chooses to stay away, that is his choice. Just....... Don't let him get into trouble by me again. She prayed, not even turning to see if Liniwa was behind her. She placed her head in her arms and just sat there....... Not knowing what else to do.