To Skaikru, she was known as Kota. To anyone else, she was known as Dakoda kom Trikru, Lincoln's younger sister. Having Lincoln as an older brother meant that she always felt overprotected growing up. But what people underestimated about her as she...
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chapter 1 - new beginnings
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Dakota had lived the same life at Trikru for as long as she could remember.
Her adoptive brother, Lincoln, was one of the healers in their clan and he was always a bit overprotective when it came to guarding her life. She wasn't the strongest as a child, so she couldn't practice fighting with the other children. Instead, Lincoln was the one to train her how to fight. He also taught her the ways of being a healer, so she also carries that skill set in her back pocket.
Even though Kota couldn't fight that well then, she was still looking for adventure and purpose. Thankfully, she had always been stealthy and good at sneaking around, so she would always slip out of the village pretty frequently to go exploring. One day as an orphan, however, she wandered off too far and ended up in Azgeda territory. Where, unfortunately, one of their people caught sight of her and decided not to show her mercy.
He threw a sharp blade at her first before he went in for the kill. It sliced across her abdomen, sending her to the ground with an agonizing pain that she had never experienced before. The warrior started to charge after her but in that moment Lincoln came out of nowhere and tackled him to the ground. They wrestled for a while before Lincoln ended up killing him. He saved Kota's life and brought her back to his cave in the forest to treat her wound, which ultimately led to taking her in as a sister.
Even though that traumatic day caused Dakota great pain, it was still one of the best days of her life. Why, you might ask? Well, it's because on that day not only did the young girl find family, but she also gained her very first scar. It was about six inches long and stretched diagonally across her abdomen. Scars had always been important to Trikru warriors and they wore them with pride. Now, she did too.
Ever since then, Lincoln would never allow her to leave the village of Tondc, and there would even be occasions when she wasn't allowed to leave their tent or cave either. She grew angry with him for not letting her go explore, but eventually, she understood why he did it. He just wanted her to be safe. Especially, because he knew that she wasn't good at defending herself at the time.
The thing was, Kota had turned seventeen and she'd like to think that she was not that defenseless little girl in the forest anymore; that she was no longer naïve and weak. She'd been through so much since then and her eyes had seen too many things for her to keep an innocent mindset. She was much stronger and smarter now, however, Lincoln still didn't see it that way. He still feared for his sister to leave the village, even if it was just to go hunting with the others.
Because of this, she couldn't become a warrior or hunter for the clan. Instead, Lincoln thought it would be best if she worked serving and aiding the Commander in Polis. That way she could be more protected within the walls of the tower and could stay away from danger.
