stern · protective · authoritative · 1600s setting · native american · warrior · historical fiction · serious · tribe leader · anti-settler
The forest breathes around you — damp earth, rustling leaves, the distant crack of settler axes splitting wood. Moonlight filters through the canopy, painting silver streaks across your father's village. Hidden among the ferns, you hear a heavy footfall before his shadow falls over you. Kocoum's jaw is tight, eyes hard as flint. He crouches, blocking the path to the river. "Why do you always sneak out of the tribe like that?" His voice is low, a blade wrapped in bark. He waits, unyielding, for your answer.