Warrior Wren
Wren was bullied her entire life. People thought it was idiotic for her warrior parents to name their war child after a meek bird. Through their ridicule, she passed every day with tears, but never let anyone see her in despair. She was a child of war, yes, but that doesn’t discredit her being a living being with feelings. Her childhood and adolescence was filled with horror from her classmates and “friends”.
Until she became a young adult.
Her life consisted of preparing for what seemed like a war that was never going to begin. Her skin was battered and scarred, her hair was stringy and thin, and her muscles always ached profusely. Despite the agony, she pushed through—just like with the bullies. People continued to ridicule her for her imperfections, but she kept doing her practices and trekking through difficult areas to train herself about direction and swiftness.
Everyone else continued their training and boasted about how they hadn’t acquired a scar, and their hair is still beautiful with long locks and moisture, and how they looked marvelous as if they were gods and goddesses. While they kept at it, she listened, but her mind stood still as she knew her purpose. Their words became invisible things that went through one ear and out the other.
This bothered the people. They wanted to see her fail and be exiled from the town. Their jealousy became so strong that they made this their daily routine, and their goal was only to make her fall. Thank goodness, thank God itself, she only prevailed.
Although, the others did not see her performance. They only saw her exhausted and beaten down. They were never able to see the impossible things she accomplished. So, with their ruthless thoughts, they told her how she will never be able to defend herself or anyone else. They attacked her capability to be a warrior. They said she will get tired from a light hike into the mountains and get lost in the forests. Through their laughter, she turned around and walked away. She heard their distant boasting: If a wolf were to attack us, I would totally be able to fight against it. Said one man. Yeah! And if a lion were to roar, I’d reach through its throat and pull out its vocal chords! Said one woman. Another man shouted, Uh huh! And if a bear AND a tiger were to come around, I’d tie ‘em together and hang them from a tree! Finally, a woman exclaimed proudly, But most importantly, I would never be afraid!
Soon, a lion, wolf, tiger, and a bear all appeared. The people panicked and screamed. The other warriors stood stable and gawked at the monstrosity. They feared God had made their stories come true. They didn’t know anything about fighting animals. They were only trained on humans! What were they to do! In their minds, they were grateful Wren wasn’t there to see this. But where was she?
“Look for her! She can’t see this!’
“Where would she be?”
“I don’t know, does it matter? Just see if you can spot her!”
“Why are we worried about her when we have monsters in our town killing people?”
“SHUT UP!”
“NO, YOU SHUT UP!”
“AH! I can’t stand this anymore I’m retreating. I didn’t say anything—I didn’t ask for this…”
“Fine! Go we don’t care!”
“Seriously what are we to do with this situation… Maybe we should seek Wren’s help.”
Besides the horrific noise around them, it became silent. They froze in deep thought. They couldn’t let this happen. But what about what they said before in front of her? They can’t let her see them this distraught and clueless, but they had no choice. Even though they recognized it, they decided it wasn’t worth risking their reputation, so they each together tried to battle with the animals.
Warrior Wren stood atop a house she was guarding for the people of the town. Its roof was made of dry twigs and mud. The mud cooled her feet and soothed her. More people were racing towards her shelter. She knew this was going to happen. She shook her head in disappointment as she watched these “warriors” try to defend against the monsters. Warrior one, who claimed he would rip the lion’s vocal chords out, was playing tug-a-war with the lion with his battle ax; the lion won as it whipped him up and threw him behind. Warrior two, the one who claimed to tie both the tiger and the bear together and hang it, was climbing a nearby tree to attempt an escape route. Warrior three, the one who claimed to be able to fight against a wolf, was being chased by one with terror in the eyes. And the last warrior, the one who claimed to never be fearful, was crying as she ran towards her begging for her to help them.
“Please! We are sorry about what we did! Please forgive us! We were idiots before! And some of us were just kidding, Wren. You have a beautiful name!” She turned around and gasped at the scene and turned back to continue: “But most importantly, we need you, Wren. We need your skills and intellect!”
Wren wasn’t persuaded or convinced. Although, it was her purpose to save all. She jumped down and walked with such tranquility. The woman walked in awe beside her. And she felt a wild combination of safety and fear as she looked at Wren who stood amongst the chaos.
She just stood there assessing everything, but standing her ground. This right here was what she trained for. These living, wild beings were the ones she trained with. She knew all along of this happening and attempted to stop it in advance. Obviously, it didn’t work. And she knew why. It’s because she realized you cannot tame living beings. You can only prepare yourself for success.
First, the tiger and the bear saw her and began to inquire of her presence. They started to carefully walk over to her. The wolf saw, and followed with a salivating mouth. Then, the lion recognized his army was distracted, but didn’t follow. Like Wren, the lion is the leader. She was the head of the warriors, and he was the head of the animal kingdom. Alpha to alpha, they stared, but he continued to torment the others.
She, a meek, little Wren of a woman, still battered and torn physically, was soon eye-to-eye with this beast. The lion’s breath reeked of his dinner from a couple days prior, and his eyes grew wild. Little did he know about the wild within her.
The bear, tiger, and wolf all sneaked around her sniffing the ground beneath her feet and glancing her up and down—assessing her if you will—as the lion recognized her beauty.
Yes, she was ugly on the outside because of what she has been through. He has seen it all happen and so have his accomplices. Unlike her fellow warriors, the lion, tiger, bear, and wolf have witnessed her transformation into this wild woman who controlled her every thought and decision.
The warriors were confused at first, but then it hit them like a brick. A true warrior doesn’t shed blood, but energy. There is no need for fights and threats. The skill is truly not in the muscle, but in the thought and motivation. They, collectively with the lion’s accomplices, noticed she had finally become wilder than the beasts surrounding her, and abundantly stronger than the people who have tried to bring her down.
A true warrior, yes, but most importantly, she is Wren. She is an agile, wonderful, peaceful woman—a successful and complete human being. She is part of Animalia just like everyone else. Her extravagant, addictive, wilderness in her heart was finally noticed.
A Wren she was, a warrior she has become, but forever a living, breathing being.