Pauwau and Hassun

The warrior wandered through the bitter cold in search of any signs of food. He could not return alone and empty-handed. Ten hunters left the village almost two cycles of the moon ago. He alone remained. In the quiet of night, they disappeared one by one. Five arrows he had lost in the silent shadowy nights, now three remained in his quiver.

He found a large boulder and decided there was no better place than this. The warrior named for stone, Hassun would meet the Great Spirit here. He bared himself to sister wind and sat awaiting his end.

What he seen sent ice racing through his half frozen veins. A pauwau appeared from the side of the mountain. Only her clothing marked her as one of the evil pauwau. He stared knowing the temptation that a pauwau could be. He had faced them before in battle. Wicked cackling hags that they were. Their powers were undeniable. He watched them enthrall strong warriors, yet he had escaped their grasp. Killing them quickly, sending them to the evil for which they served.

This one was different. She did not have a wicked haggled look. She was young wearing a thick fur of a bear. His hand strayed towards his bow. Yet he looked once more upon her face. She moved like a great cat on the prowl. Silently, she moved closer. Her cat like eyes took in the warrior, his bow and arrows at his side. The warrior shivered in the wind his lips turning blue.

“Warrior are you hassun? Does Sister Wind not chill your blood?”

He sat staring at her. She opened her fur revealing herself to him. He started to reach for his bow and suddenly she stood just out his sights.

“You should come to me. My home is warm and I have food to share. Should you choose to come, the path I take will be marked.” Before her voice stopped echoing, she was gone.

The sun was nearing the earth when a strong wind threw him to the ground. Several minutes passed as he lay upon the cold earth. He crawled blindly through the relentless dark night finding a cave in which he crawled.

When next he awoke, he found the dark had come again. Thick furs covered him and yet he could not remember where he was. The smell of food overwhelmed him and he reached without thought ate the meat on the summer leaf. The meat was sweeter than any he ever tasted. Finding his clothing near he dressed and moved towards the fire.

He found bones near the fire. He grabbed the stick and to light the cave. He found the missing warriors. Their skins stretched upon the caves walls. Their sightless eyes seared his soul as an arrow with his own fletching sprouted from his chest.


Hassun - Native American male name meaning stone.

Pauwau - Native American female name meaning witch. In this case I used the word not as a name but to refer to what she is.

The prompts used were Cave, Native American, and a slight reference to the Wendigo - or evil spirit that caused people to crave human flesh or cannibalism.

Word limit = 500, and 481 is the word count