Naru

The pounding of hooves echoed through the forest as your horse barreled between towering pines. Branches snapped against your coat, leaves whipped across your face, and the distant shouts of lawmen slowly faded behind you. For the last several hours, you had been riding without rest, fleeing from a robbery that had gone horribly wrong. What was supposed to be a quick train heist for your gang had turned into chaos, gunfire, and bloodshed. Whether the money was worth it or not no longer mattered. The gang had scattered, and now you were alone.

America was changing.

Railroads cut through the wilderness. Towns grew larger every year. Telegraph wires stretched across the horizon like spiderwebs. People like you—outlaws, drifters, cowboys—were becoming relics of a fading age. The world no longer had much use for men who lived in the saddle.

Eventually, when you were certain nobody was following, you guided your exhausted horse into the deeper woods. The animal's breathing was ragged, and yours wasn't much better. After finding a small clearing near a creek, you dismounted and tied the horse to a nearby tree.

Your stomach twisted painfully.

You hadn't eaten since the previous morning.

The little food you carried had been lost during the escape, leaving only a few belongings stuffed inside your worn backpack: several books you'd collected throughout your travels, a blanket, spare ammunition, and a handful of personal items. You weren't much of a reader, but something about books fascinated you. Maybe it was because they offered a glimpse into worlds larger than your own.

Kneeling near a pile of dry sticks, you attempted to start a fire. The knife struck against the stone again and again and fuck all came. You rubbed your tired eyes and tried once more, still nothing. The forest around you remained silent.

Or at least, it seemed silent.

Unbeknownst to you, another pair of eyes had been watching for several minutes.

Naru moved carefully between the trees, every step measured and quiet. The morning hunt had brought her far from her village, and she had expected to find deer or rabbits among the forest paths.

Instead, she found you.

The stranger.

The outsider.

The American.

Everything about you looked wrong to her. Your clothing was unlike anything worn by her people. Your boots were thick and heavy. The pistol hanging from your belt caught her attention immediately, along with the strange books tucked into your bag.

Most concerning of all, however, was the horse.

Few things traveled through these lands unnoticed, and certainly not horses ridden by armed strangers. As she watched you struggle with the fire, confusion slowly mixed with suspicion.

You didn't seem dangerous. Well you are dangerous but not at this very moment. You just looked tired, hungry and lost. It was almost pathetic in Naru's eyes and yet Naru knew appearances could deceive. She had heard stories about settlers and soldiers. She knew enough not to underestimate them.

So she approached.

One careful step after another.

Until she stood only a few yards behind you, then she drew her bow. The string tightened with the arrow pointed directly toward your neck. "Put your hands up. Throw your knife on the ground."

The command cut through the silence like a blade. Your body froze immediately at the sound of the feminine voice right behind you but you can feel the prick of the arrow head in the back of your neck.

Years of surviving dangerous situations had taught you one important lesson: when someone already has a weapon aimed at your head, sudden movements are usually a terrible idea.

Slowly, you raised your hands, the knife slipped from your fingers and landed in the dirt and only then did you turn your head enough to see her—this pretty yet intimidating Indian gal with black face paint over her eyes and looking down at you with a bow.

And for a moment, you forgot to breathe.

She looked nothing like the people you'd encountered in towns or settlements. Her posture was confident. Her eyes were sharp and focused. The bow in her hands never wavered.

More importantly, she looked completely capable of putting that arrow through your skull if you gave her a reason. "How many of your people are here?" she demanded. And when you told her it was just you, she almost didn't believe it at first.

"How many weapons?" You glanced toward your revolver, the knife on the ground, and a rifle on your back. "Where are your people?"

You told her again firmly but also carefully, you're not trying to get shot for your misuse of tone. Naru's eyes narrowed, she didn't believe you and was most certain of if.

You could see it immediately. Most people lied when confronted and you certainly looked like the kind of man who lied often. "What is your name?" Naru demanded before you started to hesitate, and shd saw your hesitation in your eyes and stammering in the voice. "Don't lie to me, stranger!"

Naru said with a raised voice which made you flinch backwards an inch. It was just iving strangers your real name had gotten you into trouble before but something told you lying now would be even worse.

You told her.

The silence that followed felt endless.

A breeze rustled through the leaves overhead, the creek continued flowing nearby. Neither of you moved. Finally, Naru lowered the bow slightly, noot enough to trust you but just enough to show she wasn't planning to kill you immediately.

"You are far from any settlement. You should not be here," she informed, then looked to her left and right to see nothing but grass and trees. "Then why are you here?"

You glanced toward the dying sunlight filtering through the trees. How exactly were you supposed to explain that? That the law wanted you, that you have a gang to get back to, and that the life you'd spent years building was collapsing around you while the world marched forward without you.

Instead, you settled on a simpler answer. "I'm trying not to die" you said. For the first time since meeting her, Naru seemed uncertain. Only for a second but you noticed it. Because beneath all her suspicion, she recognized something she had not expected to find.

You weren't invading.

You weren't hunting.

You weren't threatening anyone.

You were surviving.

The same as her and her people of the evolution of the world. The same as countless people forced to adapt while the world around them changed.

Neither of you understood the other.

Neither of you trusted the other.

But standing there in the wilderness, separated by language, culture, and fear, a small thread of curiosity began to form. And neither of you yet realized how much that single encounter would change both your lives.

Naru looked down at your makeshift campfire but had no fire, even though Naru still didn't trust you, she couldn't bear to see your naivety on wilderness survival. Even the simplest of making a fire. "I see you made a campfire. Where's the fire?"