I Am Gamer

by Gabriel L Rathweg

  Shadow Bear looked up followed by the rest of his tribe and nodded solemnly to the Chief. I could tell they would do what the Chief said. After that the sun started to rise and we said our goodbyes we began the trek back The Peoples village while the Jicarilla headed back to theirs.

  The return trip was much more sedate. The Chief put scouts out ahead of us but he didn’t expect too much danger and we traveled at a much more enjoyable pace. The trip back took most of the morning and afternoon so we arrived with the sun at our backs during the early evening. No monsters had accosted us and the conversations we had were quite enjoyable.

  We talked about how the fight went and the Chief was extremely interested in, The Tactics, as he called them. I tried to explain concepts to him like higher ground and using the terrain to your advantage. He took it all in nodding here and there. Either he was a natural student or I was a natural teacher, or some combination of both but he soaked it up. I was talking about the tactics of Sun Tzu and Julius Caesar by the time we reached the village.

  The rest of The People greeted us as we arrived like returning heroes, which we kind of were considering we had killed so many Wendigo at once with barely anyone dying. Of course they were sad about the losses but the living were celebrated. Chief Running Hawk declared we were going to have a feast and everyone broke into action.

  Winston was at the forefront greeting me with a happy whinny and I gave him a hug around his huge neck and patted his head. The Chief excused himself and told me to clean myself up for the feast. The brothers grabbed me and we went off to a bathing area on the far side of the village. There was a natural choke point where the water pooled up creating a refreshing clear and crisp bathing area. The three of us stripped down and the brothers entered the pool first. I dipped my toe in and shuddered. It was freezing cold. I took a deep breath and sucked it in. I knew I stunk so better to get it over with. I jumped in splashing fully into the pool.

  It was cold. Really fucking cold! The second my head went underwater I screamed at the top of my lungs air shooting out and water coming in. I shot up bursting from the water and hacking out a lungful of water while trying to suck in life giving air at the same time. The brothers laughed at me and I glared at them when I finally caught my breath.

  A trio of much more feminine laughter joined the brothers and my face turned bright red as I slowly turned at the sound. Standing their naked as the three of us were Moon Flower and her two sisters. There I was standing in waist high water with nothing on but my birthday suit. I watched in horror as the three girls laughed and their eyes trailed down to the water line. I spun around quickly and made my way to the other side of the pool.

  “What is the matter Law? Have you not seen a woman bathe before?” Thunder Foot joke.

  “Do not mock the man.” Ice Blossom said. “Moon Flower has let us know that his people are quite prude and he is ashamed of being naked.”

  I turned around shocked. I’m what?

  “Whoa it’s not like I’m ashamed it’s just that where I come from we have a privacy thing.” I stammered. “Besides, it’s not normal for siblings of different sexes to take baths together especially not at your ages.”

  The siblings looked at each curiously. Then they all burst out laughing at once. Moon Flower finally controlled herself enough to speak.

  “I think I see what the misunderstanding is. The brothers and the three of us are not blood siblings. Chief Running Hawk adopted both of them.” Moon Flower explained. “The Chief has only daughters by blood.”

  I looked at her a little perplexed.

  “My siblings,” she gestured at them all, “the brothers are the sons of another tribe. Although, the boys are both related to each other they are engaged to my sisters. Thunder Foot is Ice Blossom’s fiancé and Night Star is Lightning Fists.”

  “Oh that makes more sense… so that just makes you the only…” I trailed off as Moon Flower approached me slowly in the water.

  I looked around the pool and somehow everyone else had disappeared. I don’t know when but both the other couples had gone and the two of us were now alone. She waded across the pool through the waist high water and stopped just a few inches away from me. Her hair was down and the wet glossy mane framed her heart shaped face trailing down over her perfectly sculpted breasts. I swallowed as I took in the sight of her naked body. She was beauty personified. Never in my wildest dreams had I imagined being with a woman this gorgeous.

  “Umm… yeah so… fancy meeting you here…” I tried to joke, my voice cracking slightly.

  She held a finger up to my lips silencing me. I was quiet as she pressed her naked body up against mine.

  “I have decided you will be my fiancé. I, Moon Flower, daughter of Chief Running Hawk, leader of The People, second to the Chief choose you Lawrence Lawrence Wrath also known as Law to be my husband.” She intoned the words with the finality of complete faith that what she said was true. Then she bent forward and kissed me.

  TRACK 28 – STAND BY ME – FLORENCE + THE MACHINE

  That was the most amazing two and half minutes of my life. Fuck off! You try and get with the most beautiful girl you have ever seen and see how long you last. Anyway, I also recovered quickly and the next few times over the course of the next hour went much better. I would have kept going if her sister Ice Blossom hadn’t came and told us it was almost time for the celebration.

  “I am yours and you are now mine.” Moon Flower said, as we embraced a final time.

  I nodded and kissed her. Then we exited the water and dressed ourselves. Sometime during the last hour someone had come and cleaned my clothing and left new stuff for Moon Flower. I basked in the afterglow of sex with someone that you care about and felt the same emotion from Moon Flower. After we were dressed we headed back to the Chiefs yurt. I could have sworn everyone was looking at us but it had to be my imagination there was no way everyone knew right?

  Moon Flower was wearing a buckskin dress and a wreath of flowers on her hair which was somehow braided now. She was just as beautiful as usual. My leathers were cleaned and I no longer smelled of body odor and dead Wendigo. Winston and Freak were waiting for me at the base of the Chief’s yurt and Moon Flower and I patted them on the head. Freak joined us as we mounted the stairs and made our way to the top. We held hands as we walked up the stairs. At the end was all of Moon Flowers family.

  The Chief was behind the fire with his adopted family standing beside him. Thunder Foot and Ice Blossom were on his left and Lightning Fist and Night Star were on his right. He wore a neutral expression as we approached. Oh crap! I didn’t think about what he’d say about what Moon Flower and I did. We stopped on the other side of the fire. The Chief stared at the two of us and then at our clasped hands and Moon Flower’s smiling face. Then he broke into a huge smile and came around the fire taking both of us in a big hug.

  “Moon Flower has chosen well. I approve of her choice and welcome you into our tribe. You are now one of The People.” He said, releasing us from the hug and smiling from ear to ear. “Now let us celebrate!” He cheered turning his back and clapping his hands.

  The other two couples rushed over and began hugging and patting me on the back. The rest of the tribe appeared each carrying some type of food item or drink. I hugged Moon Flower and celebrated with my soon to be brother-in-laws or was it sister-in-laws? I shook my head. Everything was happening so fast. Suddenly we were surrounded with platters of grilled meats and horns and skins of drink. Tribal drums began and soon everyone was dancing, eating, and drinking.

  The drink was some type of fermented maize beer stuff not super strong but definitely alcoholic. The meat was great grilled, smoky, and gamey deliciousness. After about an hour or so we were all good and tipsy plus full and happy. Chief Running Hawk quieted us down and stood in the center by the fire and addressed us all.

  “My fellow tribes folk tonight we celebrate the newest member of The People Lawrence Lawrence Wrath.” He paused as the whole tribe cheered. My
new fiancé loudest among them, I grinned at her enthusiasm. “I also am proud to welcome him as a soon to be son to me as he will marry my daughter Moon Flower, the last of my daughters to find a husband.”

  He paused again as the cheers came and waited for them to die down. Once it was silent his face changed from one of happiness to one of sorrow.

  “We must also mourn the loss of two of our own, Hearty Arrow and Iron Faun sacrificed themselves for The People they will be remembered.” He stated solemnly.

  The whole tribe lowered their heads and silence took over where laughing and joy once reigned minutes before. The Chief eyed everyone in the crowd before he continued.

  “That is why I have decided that we will invoke something that has not been done since before the Great Suffering. I hereby appoint Lawrence Lawrence Wrath War Shaman of The People. He was sent to us by the Trickster himself and it is our task now to wage war on the creators of the Great Suffering. We know who they are and we know what to do.” He paused. “Anyone who disagrees with my choice and our mission speak now.”

  Everyone stood tall and was quiet, staring at their Chief. He nodded proud of his tribe, now my tribe, and turned nodding to me.

  “Let us celebrate tonight and begin our preparations in the morning War Shaman, welcome son.” He said embracing me.

  I nodded choked up with emotion and he nodded in return.

  “Let’s resume the celebration!” He cheered.

  The drums began again as did the dancing. My periphery began to go off but I ignored it and enjoyed the remainder of the fun. As the Chief said preparations would begin in the morning. The night passed we ate and drank more then retired for the night. Thankfully Moon Flower had her own yurt and we had privacy. I made up for my earlier speediness.

  The morning came quickly and I woke up before the sun had risen. I glanced over at the beautiful girl who was snoring softly next to me and smiled at the prior days and nights events. I found my clothes and snuck out of the yurt quietly getting dressed in the cool morning air. The sun wasn’t up yet and I took the time to wake up properly and enjoyed the predawn quiet. Freak and Winston were sleeping by the yurt entrance and I smiled at them as I accessed the messages I had ignored earlier.

  YOU HAVE BEEN ACCEPTED INTO THE TRIBE ‘THE PEOPLE’

  NEW TITLE ACQUIRED ‘OF THE PEOPLE.’

  YOU HAVE BEEN PROMOTED TO RANK OF WAR SHAMAN OF THE PEOPLE.

  NEW TITLE ACQUIRED ‘WAR SHAMAN.’

  DO YOU ACCEPT THESE NEW TITLES… Y/N?

  Of course I selected yes and a new window appeared.

  ABILITY GAINED

  WAR SHAMAN (Level 1)

  You are now the leader of The People during times of war. The Chief has given you the authority to command the tribe in all matters of policy. This includes all things economic, military, and diplomatic. Abilities will increase with level.

  As soon as I dismissed the screen a new one appeared giving me a whole range of new options. I looked over the new screen.

  WAR SHAMAN

  TRIBES – The People

  ELITE WARRIORS – Chief Running Hawk, Moon Flower, Thunder Foot, Ice Blossom, Lightning Fist, Night Star, Silent Mouse

  NORMAL MEMBERS – 46 workers/warriors

  RESOURCES AVAILABLE – Wood, Metals, Food, Animals

  No resources collected…

  No tasks assigned…

  Do you want to assign tasks… Y/N?

  Ok there was a ton of shit to do and the day was just starting. Moon Flower joined me outside and hugged tight to my side. The sun was just appearing over the horizon lighting up the sky in a myriad of colors. I smiled and kissed her forehead then selected yes. It was going to be a long day.

  TRACK 29 – CHAMPAGNE SUPERNOVA – OASIS

  I had used most of the predawn time to study the options available to me and too work out a plan of action. All the menu options had submenus and more things to choose from the deeper I went. It was almost overwhelming the amount of choices available to me. I remember a parable my dad told me once. It went like this;

  Two bulls, a young one and an old one in its prime, were standing on a hill and looking upon a herd of cows.

  “Hey let’s run down there and fuck one of them cows!” The young bull called out and started running towards the herd.

  “Whoa there young buck!” The older bull called out waiting while the young bull stopped and looked back at the older bull. “Let’s walk down there and fuck them all.”

  I took it as a metaphor for take your time and do things right. My dad used weird metaphors a lot. I also took it as take things one at a time and make sure they are done well, either way it’s what I did and started with one thing at a time, the first being resource collecting as that’s the basis of any strategy building game. I had devoted quite a bit of my young life to playing real time strategy games and empire building simulations. All were the same, collect resources to build stuff, research your technology tree, and upgrade your base and army.

  Accessing the menu I found what I was looking for:

  46 workers/warriors

  This included old folks and young kids. Now I wasn’t one for making kids work and old people deserved retirement, but survival was on the line here and everyone needed to pitch in. This did not include babies and the infirm. I selected the kids first, there were twelve of them, and assigned them the task of food collection. This included foraging for fruits/vegetables and fishing/hunting. Kids were taught skills at a very young age. The older kids Dusk and Dawn specifically, took charge and I watched as they headed out. Those kids were way different then my friends and I were at that age.

  34 workers/warriors

  My worker pool shrunk and I nodded in satisfaction then selected the next group, the old. I had a simple task for them that included marking trees and gathering wood. I figured they could grab wood for arrows and spears and then mark the trees for younger workers to retrieve. To my surprise a wizened old man came up scoffed at my suggestion and said they would handle all the wood collection and cutting down of trees any size. His sentiment was echoed by the rest and all ten railed at me. I shook my head and sent them on their way I was no ageist if they thought they could do it more power to them I guess…

  24 workers/warriors

  This was the beginning of my plans for world domination! Well, not really, but it was the base for my idea of how to unify the tribes and create a fighting force able to defeat the European invaders and bypass their technological advantages. At least until we could build an industrial base to match and then excel them. I was going to turn these Native American peoples into Mongolian Steppe fighters combined with Roman Legionnaires and more. We would build new weapons and learn new tactics all from the memories of things I had read and watched.

  It was already historical fact that the plains Indians of North America were fantastic archers and became some of the finest horseman in history. I was going to capitalize on that and teach them tactics and make us weapons that would give an undeniable advantage to us. The same ones that the steppe nomads had wielded until the Mongol empire finally dissolved but those steppe warriors were never fully defeated until the seventeen hundreds. I’d make better bows and arrows, knives, tomahawks, swords, axes, and armor. Eventually we’d have firearms it would just take time. This was just the beginning.

  I assigned the remaining warriors to go collect wood for their bows that we would be making. This included the Chief, my fiancé, the rest of the elite warriors, and the rest of the regular warriors. During our trip down the mountain and on the run to save the Chiefs daughter I had seen many different types of trees that fit the requirement for bow making. There were Orange Osages, Yew, Ash, Hickory, Oak, and Maple trees scattered all around the area.

  I listed out the types of trees to my new friends and soon to be family. I told them the dimensions of the pieces they would need and off they went. Moon Flower kissed me on my cheek and I turned red and grinned automatically. The rest of the group teased
me a bit as they left while Chief Running Hawk smiled and clapped me on the back as he departed. At least her dad liked me. I shook my head and cracked my knuckles.

  They’d be gone most of the day if not all of it. Not only did they need to find three pieces of wood of the right dimensions it needed to be seasoned already. They couldn’t just cut it off the tree it would be to green. They were going to have to find wood already fallen from trees, seasoned by nature, and not rotting. It’d be good for them. The way I was taught was the wood finds you it’s a spiritual thing. Either way, I had the rest of the day to work on my self assigned tasks.

  I looked around and nodded. Now that all my people were doing their work it was my turn to get busy. It was time to locate some metal deposits.

  “Come on guys.” I called out to my animal companions.

  Freak and Winston’s heads perked up and they both came over. I patted each on the head then mounted my giant war horse. It was still hard wrapping my head around the fact that he had been a motorcycle just two days ago. Now he was a sentient monster of a battle horse. I grinned and shook my head while pulling up my map.

  The opaque window appeared and I studied it for a minute. The map had updated and changed from the one I knew in the future adding the real life changes from the past. Colorado was a natural mineral deposit. It was one of the reasons it got populated so quickly during the gold rush. But, there were many different kinds of minerals in the mountains, especially where we were located in the valley by Pikes Peak. My mouth smiled involuntarily as I studied the map. All this untouched splendor and nature was hiding all the materials I would need to begin my plan. I used my Total Recall skill and pulled up a memory of seeing a mining map of the area during the gold rush just a few hundred years from now.