06 - The Last of the Mohawks : Traitor
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By David
Saturday, July 15th 2006 - 11:02:15 PM
The Last of the Mohawks
Part 3: Traitor
My heart leapt when I heard the shout, for I recognized Lone Wolf's voice. The three warriors struggled for a few more minutes. Then André and Fox stood up and looked down at Lone Wolf who lay on his stomach with his hands tied behind him. They pulled Lone Wolf to his feet and dragged him over to a stake.
Lone Wolf continued to struggle even though his hands were tied, but they soon had his wrists bound to the stake. André wrapped a rope around Lone Wolf's waist and drew it tightly against the stake. Since his bound wrists were between the small of his back and the stake, Lone Wolf was forced to bow forward. He continued to kick at his captors, so André lashed his ankles against the stake.
They didn't tie him any more than that, so his body and legs could twist and writhe, but he could not escape. His war paint had become badly smeared in the fight, and the feathers in his headband hung down rumpled and broken. He no longer looked like a fierce warrior, but like the pathetic and helpless captive he really was.
With Lone wolf out of the way, it was easy to take care of Tangle Foot, and then Running Deer. The two warriors were soon bound to stakes the same way as Lone Wolf, and with smeared paint and crumpled feathers too.
Lone Wolf sneered at Fox. "So, how does it feel to be a traitor, Shadow Warrior? Or maybe your name should be Back Stabber."
"My name is Fox," he answered. "And I'm not exactly a traitor."
"Ha!" Lone Wolf scowled at him.
Now Mario stepped in to defend Fox. "Remember when you told me you might adopt me into your tribe?"
Lone Wolf glared at Mario, but said nothing.
"You know that's how it works. We captured a Mohawk named Shadow Warrior who showed great courage and we adopted him into our tribe. It's the same as you were thinking of doing with me. He's now an Abenaki and his name is Fox."
"Hey," Tangle Foot said. "If I become an Abenaki, can I get a new name too?"
"Of course, but it's not as easy as that. First we have to torture you. If you are brave, then we may agree to adopt you."
"Well, I don't know about the torture."
"You don't have a choice," I said. "Release him from the stake, Fox, but leave his hands tied behind his back." Fox untied the ropes on his waist and ankles so Tangle Foot was free to walk about.
"Now, kick off your moccasins," I ordered, and Tangle Foot did so.
"Your torture will be to run the gauntlet," I said.
"You're not going to beat me, are you?" Tangle Foot's eyes widened and he backed away from us.
"Okay, Mario," I said, "show him."
Mario ran towards Tangle Foot, who was shirtless like all the Mohawks, and dug into his ribs with wicked fingers. Tangle Foot yelped and twisted away from Mario, and into the hands of Fox. The four of us surrounded him, driving him from one to another as he yelled and laughed and tried to squirm away. Soon he tumbled onto the grass, and we were able to attack his feet as well as his torso.
After a few minutes of it, we stopped and stood over our prisoner who lay exhausted on the ground.
"Do you still wish to join the Abenaki?" I asked.
"Yes," he replied between gasps.
I looked at Mario, André, and Fox. They all nodded.
"OK. You're in. What is your new name?"
"You mean I can pick my own?"
"Of course."
"That's great. Call me Hawkeye."
We helped Hawkeye to his feet and untied his hands. Then the five of us confronted Lone Wolf and Running Deer, as they stood tied to their stakes.
"You can torture us all you want," Lone Wolf said. "We're not joining up with any bear-poo Abenakis. Never!"
"Speak for yourself," Running Deer said to him. "It's beginning to get pretty lonely being a Mohawk." Then he looked at me with a grin. "I suppose I have to run the gauntlet too?"
I looked over at the torture frame I had been tied to earlier. "No. You guys put a lot of work into that torture frame, and I hate to see it go to waste."
Running Deer looked at it and nodded. "Okay. With five of you, I guess there's not much I can do about it, so let's get it over with." One thing I can say about Running Deer is that he had a spirit of adventure. We untied him and Running Deer didn't struggle as André and I each took one of his arms and lead him over to the torture frame.
We tied him in a tight spread eagle as I had been. His drawn up arms caused his chest to stretch out and his abdomen to sink in beneath the arch of the bottom of his rib cage. I walked around him and got views from all angles. His tight skin revealed the contours of his bones, and I could see the collarbones at the top of his chest in the front, and his shoulder blades from behind. I ran my finger down his spine, counting the lumps of his vertebrae. Then I began to count his ribs with my fingertips. That set him to laughing and twisting his body as best he could.
I stood back and let the others have turns tickling Running deer, and we kept it up for several minutes as he laughed and writhed on the frame. When we had finished torturing him, we agreed that he had shown bravery and adopted him into the tribe.
"What is your new name?" I asked.
It took him a few moments to get his breath back. "Can I keep Running Deer?"
"Sure."
We untied him, and the six of us decided to go to our Abenaki camp where we had an elaborately decorated peace pipe and a good supply of corn silk.
"What about Lone Wolf?" Fox asked.
"Let's just leave him tied up here," Hawkeye said.
"No," I said. "I think it'll be more fun if we bring him with us. Release him from the stake, but make sure his arms are tied up really good." I thought that maybe if Lone Wolf had to walk with us tightly bound while we were all free and having fun, he might swallow his pride and decide to join us after all.
Once Lone Wolf was freed from the post with only his wrists bound behind his back, I pushed his elbows together so they almost touched and André bound them firmly. Then we wrapped a number of ropes around his arms and body from his chest to his waist, and up over his shoulders and down between his legs. It was definitely overkill, but he was quite a sight when we had finished.
We made him walk that way with us to our camp, and then tied him to a stake with more ropes around his upper body. We also tied his legs to the stake at the thighs, above and below his knees, and at the ankles.
Then we ignored him and sat in a circle smoking the peace pipe. Corn silk smoke has its own unique taste and aroma, but it's harsh so we didn't smoke much, and of course we didn't inhale. Nevertheless, a brave would cough now and then when some stray smoke caught his lungs. We talked and laughed about our adventure and other things for quite a while.
Then we heard Lone Wolf shout, "hey guys! Remember me?"
I turned and looked at him. "Lone Wolf! You're still here?"
"How about letting me go now? Being tied up like this is pretty tiresome."
"Not a chance," I said. "Mohawk warriors are way too dangerous to just let them go running around all over the place."
He sighed. "Okay, you win."
"That's pretty obvious."
"What I mean is, I'd like to join your tribe."
"Oh really? Even though you think we're bear poo?"
He didn't answer, and I really felt sorry for him as I saw him standing there. His arms were tied so tightly behind him I couldn't see any part of them. It looked as though they had been lopped off right at the shoulders. And the ropes formed deep furrows on his torso as they pressed into his bare skin. He had a hangdog look, and I even saw a tear running down his right cheek. I felt he had had enough.
"What do you say, Guys?" I asked my fellow Abenakis.
"Only if his name is Wolf Who Carries His Tail Between His Legs," Hawkeye said.
"Wow. That's a mouthful."
"Isn't it, though?" Hawkeye laughed.
He accepted is new name, and we untied Wolf Who Carries His Tail Between His Legs. We soon got sick of calling him that, so we changed it to Crazy Wolf.
Peace didn't last long, and the following week our new Abenakis decided to become Mohawks again, with Running Deer as a new assistant chief to help temper Lone Wolf. That was OK by us. Warfare was one of the fun things about being Indians. We had a good supply of corn silk, however, and our wars always ended with a few drags on the peace pipe, because we were all friends at heart.
David
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David's stories
- 01 - The Battle of the Lemon Fair : Mario is taken hostage (m+/m)
- 02 - The Battle of the Lemon Fair : The best laid plans of mice and men (m+/mm)
- 03 - The Battle of the Lemon Fair : Into the enemy camp (m+/m+)
- 04 - The Last of the Mohawks : Captured (m+/m)
- 05 - The Last of the Mohawks : The wind changes (m+/mm, m/m)
- 06 - The Last of the Mohawks : Traitor (m+/mmm)
- 07 - Pestered by Mario (m/m)
Index of all stories in the "Archive for Everyone" section