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Through the telling of the entire tale, the Chief had sat silently. Only small movements let them know that his mind was active and following every word she said. Across from him, his wife was a bit more animated, gasping a time or two and looking horrified at her story, but at the same time looking at the two of them, and especially at Marco, with gratitude in her eyes.

When she finished, the Chief did not move for a few moments that stretched on like eternity, before looking at Marco and addressing him first. "For your defense of Tisha, I thank you. For avenging her and protecting her in your journey thus far, I also thank you." He looked up, his eyes burning with fire and conviction as he turned them on Tisha, "My son speaks highly of Marco, and I do not need my wife to tell me, as she undoubtedly will, that the love in your eyes can not be mimicked through fear or any compulsion besides true feelings on your part. I believe that you do love him."

He paused heavily, sipped some coffee, and sighed, "Though ultimately, the decision to allow Marco to become part of the tribe is my own, in these perilous times, I feel it right that I set at least a small part of this before our elders and see what they have to say."

Tisha nodded towards the chief, her eyes brimming with the tears that wanted to fall. She'd hoped that Marco could become a member of the tribe and they could marry quickly, but it looked like it might take a little longer than anticipated for them. But she did know that it wasn't up to the elders if they married. It was up to the chief to step in, in place of her parents and brothers, unless she wanted to go to her uncle. Her eyes never wavered from the chief as she asked the second question again. "Will you allow us to marry?"

Marco's fingers tightened on her side. He sensed that she was becoming upset by the fact that the Chief had not immediately said that he could be part of the tribe. From the way she trembled slightly to the slight hitch in her voice when she spoke again; he was a canine, he could just tell. The older Indian thought a few moments longer and then slowly glanced at his wife, then at his son, then back at the couple, "Yes, Nizhoni, I will allow you to marry."

Her eyes lit up as the chief gave them permission to marry, and she hugged Marco, then looked at the chief with tears of joy sliding down her cheeks. Happiness shone in her eyes as she smiled widely. "Thank you so much. This makes both of us so happy." She stepped away from Marco, though her hand stayed in his paw as she reached out to the chief and gave him a one arm hug. Her hand tightened in Marco's paw, letting him know silently how much it was costing her to hug him, despite having grown up with the chief, and seeing him as a surrogate father or uncle.

A grin spread across the tall husky's face as the Chief told them that they could marry. He would have thanked him then and there, but Tisha beat him to it and instead he remained silent while she reached out and gripped the older man, who stood to meet her hug. His paw tightened on the young woman's hand, letting her know he was there and wasn't going to let her go, even though the Chief would never hurt her. The elder indian's wife was just as emotional, smiling widely and having tears of her own on her cheeks. But she also saw the way that Tisha held onto Marco, and the look she gave him was one of gratitude for being there for the girl they considered like a daughter.

Tisha was practically jumping for joy at the permission, and she looked at the chief. "When can we marry? Tonight? Or will you make us wait a little longer?" Her tone was eager to know how long they would have to wait, and it was evident that she didn't want to wait any longer than necessary. Her eyes sparkled with excitement, and she turned to hug Marco, knowing that this amount of public affection was allowed in unmarried couples in front of the elders of the tribe.

Marco gave her arm a tug and pulled her close to him the moment that she released the chief. He caught her up in his arms as her own slipped around his neck, and he gave her a squeeze, then looked over her to the Chief and his wife. The woman walked up to her husband and talked with him in low tones. For several moments they spoke, then he nodded to her and turned back to the couple, "I see no reason you can not be married immediately. You will have to speak with Brielle and Theron though, because while we were getting things ready here for your arrival, Theron expressed desire for them to be wedded immediately as well."

Tisha nodded as she looked at the chief. "That was one of the plans we made in case you gave permission for us to marry immediately. Originally, Brielle and I wanted to share our wedding day, but when it was apparent that Black Elk and I weren't meant for each other, she changed her mind, so I told Marco that it would be best if I talked to her before we went through with having our marriage at the same time as hers."

The Chief nodded but his wife spoke, "You must talk to Brielle then, and my husband will gather the elders now to speak with them about Marco becoming part of the tribe. She can not complain if he is part of it, though I suppose it is her right to choose. Don't worry dear, if she won't let you marry on the same day as her, tonight, you will marry tomorrow."

Tisha looked up at Marco, grinning up at him as an idea formed in her mind. "Marco, you need to stay here with the chief, so when the elders approve you becoming a member of the tribe, you can get ready. Black Elk and I can ride down to meet Saqui, Citlali and Theron before they arrive and I can get Saqui to agree. Black Elk knows not to let Theron too close to me until we're together again, and I've been handling my fear around him. This is a perfect test for my control, since you know he would never hurt me."

Marco smiled down at her as she kept holding onto him. His intelligent eyes searched her face, but he took a moment before he said anything about what she suggested. He finally nodded, "Alright, Tisha. Just be careful, I don't want you to... you know." He smiled a bit and planted a kiss on her forehead, not really caring if anyone cared about the show of affection.

"I promise, Marco. I'll be careful, and you know Black Elk will make sure I'm safe. We'll just head down to meet them, talk to Brielle and Theron about the wedding, and then head back here. Cause if she says yes, I want to get ready myself! I'm not marrying you in less than my finest doeskin dress," Tisha said as she grinned up at him, pulling his head down as she pressed her lips to his muzzle. "I love you, darling. I'll be back in a few hours. Snowflake needs another good run, but I'll keep her in check for when we have time to ride together."

He smiled and nodded, knowing that Black Elk would keep her safe as she said. He looked at the young Indian and nodded at him, then looked back at his bride-to-be and kissed her right back on the lips. He licked them with his tongue and then nuzzled her before letting her go. "I love you too, sweetheart. Go on now, get going." He smiled and pulled back from her to let her head out. She had to go meet them or they couldn't even prepare to be married.

"I'll be back soon, my love," she said, her hand remaining against him as she slowly pulled away to get Snowflake. Black Elk followed her out to the barn, both of them grabbing their horses' bridles, then going out to the corral and getting their horses, slipping the bitless bridles over the horses' heads before swinging up onto their backs. Turning the horses in large circles, they let the horses gather speed, then sent them over the corral 'walls' and off towards the path that Tisha and Marco had taken coming up to the cabin, leaving Marco with the chief and his wife.

The chief looked at Marco, a smile on his lips. "Nizhoni is very precious to the tribe, as well as to her family. Let me take you to her uncle, so you can get to know the tribal side of her family. He is also part of the elders, so having him on your side before talking to the other elders will only help your case to become a member of the tribe."

Marco nodded his head, "She is precious to me as well Sir, I would be honored to meet her uncle." He licked his lips and turned to follow the older man out of the house as well, "Sir, as I'm sure you are aware, we only have limited supplies up here. When we escaped the town we gathered all the canned food and things that we could, and I grabbed several guns and all the ammunition. I am still, as yet, uneducated as to the ways of the Indians when it comes to providing for such a large group, but we were planning to go back to the town to get what we could." He paused, "And...there was some talk of trying to make our way to my own family's home to the south..."

The older man nodded, smiling wisely up at the tall husky. "We are not going to move on like we usually do. Not with these new developments that have occurred. We will stay here and keep the ranch safe as we used to. Things are going to be more like they were in the old days, and our hunters will be able to go hunt for food. Did the two of you plant the seeds that were left here?"

Marco nodded, happy to hear that they would be staying there it seemed. That was probably a good thing for all involved. He still hoped that they could get down to his family's home at some point, he wanted to bring them back up here. He licked his lips and nodded, "Yes Sir, we have the garden entirely planted, and just watered it this morning."

"Good. That gives us more food supplies than just wild vegetables. Did you get the fruit seeds planted, or waiting on those for a while? Some of those need to be planted earlier in the year, but they all take time to grow large enough to produce good fruit. I think the ones planted when Nizhoni was a young child are producing perfectly ripe fruit, not too bitter, not too sweet. Anything newer than those are still not quite right." The chief walked with him, taking the tall husky to meet Tisha's uncle, Wapasha. "Now, Wapasha, Nizhoni's uncle, is Comanche. They're traditions are not quite the same as the Lakota's, but they have adapted to our traditions while bringing theirs to mix with ours. So you'll have to learn all the new traditions fast. But we'll help you as much as we can."

The husky shook his head, "No, we haven't done the fruit trees yet. We were waiting on them while hunting and getting the other work done." He followed the Chief out of the house and over toward where the other members of the tribe were gathered now and were milling about, sorting things, preparing and working to get things set up there on the land around the cabin, "Thank you, I still do not know all the traditions of the Lakota..." He chuckled, "I guess it will be a fast course in various Indian cultures."

The chief nodded at the tall husky as they kept walking towards the elders. Another older Indian male rose to his feet as they approached. The chief gave Marco a grin, "I just hope you learn the cultures to pass to your young with Nizhoni, since she tends to break tradition more often than not." The chief waved the other older Indian over. "Wapasha, this is Marco. Marco, Nizhoni's uncle, Wapasha. If you have some time, Wapasha, we have a matter of utmost importance to talk to you about."

Marco hadn't even considered having children with Tisha....that was completely off the radar as of right now, he wondered if it would even be possible, but then it probably was. But did they want to bring children into the world that now was? Well...the Indians had lived much as they always had off the land and they continued to have kids, so why not? He pushed all of those thoughts away as the older Indian rose. Marco gave him a abbreviated bow and then said, "Wapasha...it is an honor."

Wapasha gave a nod. "Let's go to the lake to talk. We can send the young ones back to their mothers while we talk." He offered his hand to Marco. "I presume that this talk has something to do with my niece. It's not all the time that Nahuel introduces me as her uncle, so I'll presume that until told otherwise." The chief turned towards the lake, leading the others towards it.

Marco turned with Tisha's uncle and the Chief and nodded, as they turned to walk along. He shook Wapasha's hand and then they moved off. "Yes Sir," he said softly, nodding. "It is about your niece, Nizhoni..." He paused as they left the camp, knowing that the older man had said they would talk down by the lake. Once they reached the edge of the lake, he said, "I wish to take your niece's hand in marriage."

Wapasha nodded, giving the tall husky a thorough look over. "Should I presume that you've asked Nahuel already? And telling me is more of a formality?" His eyes unfocused for a moment as he stared at Marco, then he looked at the chief. "From what the spirits are telling me, though I would like to hear the story from you, young Marco, he is worthy of a position within the tribe." The chief shook his head as Wapasha spoke. "You never let us get anything past you, Wapasha," he said, laughing. Turning to Marco, he gave the husky a rueful grin. "Wapasha is the shaman of the tribe. He often knows things before we do. Though not always."

Marco glanced at the Chief for a moment, unsure as to what he was to say, but the elder Indian continued on and spoke more, so he turned back and waited. This older man was definitely different than the other Indians, and the way he spoke was more solemn, but he did detect an air of friendliness about him that reassured him. Marco was relieved when Tisha's uncle said that he was worthy of a position in the tribe, and he chuckled softly, "I can see....Thank you sir..."

Wapasha and Nahuel chuckled at Marco's slightly confused look, then the chief gave the husky a slap on his shoulder. "As I told you, if Wapasha is on your side, the other elders will be as well. No one denies the chief and the shaman together. We can call the other elders together and get the approval for you to become a member of the tribe, and then you can finish the chores you were working on while we wait for Nizhoni and the others to arrive, hopefully with the good news that Saqui will allow the two of you to marry with her and Theron."

Marco blushed just a bit, but then grinned and nodded, "Well then, it sounds like perhaps I have nothing to worry about." He grinned more widely and turned about, glancing back toward the house and barn. "I hope, at least for Tisha's sake, she will allow us to do so...I know that Tisha wishes to marry as soon as possible," he smiled.

Meanwhile, as the two elders talked to Marco, Tisha and Black Elk were racing down the path that had brought Tisha and Marco to the cabin. As they rode down to meet with the group, Tisha looked over at Black Elk. "Can you ride with them up? I'm going to try to get Brielle to ride with me separate from Citlali and Theron to talk to her about me and Marco getting married along with her and Theron."

Black Elk nodded and smiled at her, his tongue passing over his lips a moment, "I'll ride up with them. You just make sure you're as convincing as you can be. I have a feeling that Father and your uncle will have no problem bringing Marco into the tribe, though I can't say for sure."

Tisha grinned and said, "What? You think I can't be convincing, Black Elk? I'll have you remember all those escapades we used to get into as kids. The four of us. Who was the one that convinced the rest of you to join in on them? Granted, we're all grown up now, and it's something more important than diving into the swimming hole naked, or following the hunters as they went to get food. But I was good at convincing you guys to join me then. I can be just as convincing at talking to Bri about letting Marco and I get married with her and Theron." She urged Snowflake to a slightly faster pace, knowing that they couldn't race down the path, but going at a faster canter would help them meet up with her cousin, aunt and Theron.

Black Elk laughed and kicked his horse forward after hers. Yes, he fondly remembered how persuasive she could be, though she was sometimes getting them in trouble too...still, he could never forget swimming naked with the others, or doing any of the other things she had mentioned. He just chuckled to himself and soon, as they went riding over the next couple of dips in the road, the small group ahead came into view, Brielle, her mother and Theron with the wagon and the supplies that they had brought.

Seeing her relatives, Tisha nudged Snowflake even faster, and felt her mare jump over a fallen log. She eased back onto Snowflake's back, letting the mare slow to a walk to meet with her cousin, aunt and the tiger that had caught her cousin's heart years ago. "Saqui," she called out to her cousin. "Good to see you again, cousin. Citlali, you too. Theron..." Snowflake tossed her head up as her cousin's fiance reached to hug her, backing up.

Theron tilted his head but backed away, not sure why the horse would have backed away, or why there would have been a look of panic in Tisha's face for a few moments. He licked his lips but said nothing. Her aunt and cousin both smiled and, though they detected something wrong, they said nothing. Brielle shifted her own horse around the wagon to come up next to her cousin, reaching out to hug her herself.

Tisha hugged Brielle, the momentary panic that had crossed her face fading as she held tightly to her cousin. "Bri, I need to talk to you. Care to ride up ahead with me for a bit of privacy? Black Elk can ride with Theron and Citlali." She pulled back a little, looking her cousin in the eyes. "It's really important. And I promise, I'll explain why that just happened to you."

Their arms remained around one another for a long moment, but then she pulled back and looked into her cousin's face, "Of course Tish. If it's that important, I'm sure Mom won't mind if we ride ahead." She smiled and gripped her cousin's shoulder with her fingers for a moment, looking back to catch a nod from Citlali. She turned back then and twisted her horse around so they could ride off. Black Elk moved up next to Theron and patted him on the back.

Tisha rode ahead with her cousin, the slight tension that was still in her being around males other than Marco starting to fade. "It's a long story, but the day that Marco and I came by the stables to get the horses, I was violated. Not by Marco, mind you. A gang of five grabbed me. Three of them didn't get to try anything, another one tried to shove his dick into my mouth, and the leader raped me. Marco heard my screams and came to my rescue. I know that the leader is dead, and the one that tried to get me to suck him off got severely injured. I'm not sure what happened to the other three though."

Brielle had not known what had happened to Tisha, all they had gotten out of her was that something bad had happened and she didn't want to talk about it. Now though, it seemed she was ready, and Brielle listened, albeit with a wide open mouth and a gasp on her lips. She stammered, "Nizhoni....I...Oh....Oh my gosh. Darling, are you ok now? I mean.... you seem to be but...Fuck..." She shook her head, hearing what had happened was simply horrible. "And...and Marco, the husky with you, you say he saved you? Where is he now?"

"It gets worse, Saqui. After we left there, Marco carried me back to the house, but the front door was open. No one was inside. I went upstairs to change clothes, while Marco looked around. We gathered what was available at the house, guns, food, blankets, even the candles and hurricane lamps. Ian and Tris's knives. Then we went to get the horses and met up with you and Citlali." Tisha grinned at her cousin, remembering how Bri had pulled her gun on Marco. "He's good at hunting and fighting. I'm not sure how you got the drop on him at the stables," she gave a low laugh. "Anyway, we headed to the cabin and ran into Selina. We camped with her the first night, sharing the food we caught and the roots and stuff she gathered. In the morning, we headed for the cabin again, and after we made it to the cabin, Marco told me that both Mom and Dad were dead in the house, along with some thug." She looked down for a moment, then decided to finish the story as quickly as possible.

"We were planting the seeds when Black Elk arrived at the cabin, and I freaked out, attacking him, not even realizing who he was. He's been staying with us at the cabin, kinda as our chaperone. I have trouble being around males other than Marco, and if I have to be, we've found that it's easier for me to hold his paw while giving a hug or even a casual brush of hands while doing dishes. I froze up completely after an innocent brush of my fingers against Black Elk's while doing dishes the first night he was there." She shook her head, then looked at her cousin again. "Over the last week, Marco and I fell completely in love with each other. When the tribe arrived earlier, we talked to Chief Nahuel and his wife to get permission to marry. We'd like to marry with you and Theron tonight, if you'll allow us to. Chief Nahuel was all for making Marco a member of the tribe, and when Black Elk and I left, he was taking Marco to meet with your father to get his verdict before talking to the other elders of the tribe." Tisha looked at her cousin, her eyes pleading with her cousin. "Will you let us get married with you and Theron, Saqui? Please?"