Black and grey realism tattoo of a rhino facing forward, with Against the Wind script above and below it, on an upper arm.

Realism rhino with Against the Wind script

Realism · Upper arm · Black and grey · Photo

A detailed rhino head and body face forward on the upper arm, with the skin folds, horn and ears rendered in fine shading. The script reads Against the Wind, with Against above the animal in a sharp cursive and the Wind below in a bold, upright lettering. The tattoo is shown in black and grey, with soft tonal shading giving the animal depth against the skin.

Realism Lettering Upper arm Script Lettering

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A story inspired by this tattoo · fiction

Pull your stool nearer, the fire's as old as I am and wants company. This is the tale of Calla Dern, the kingdom where the wind came down off the mountains every day of the year and nothing grew on the plains but grudges. The people there walked bent double. Even the goats leaned.

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There was one beast that never leaned. The grey rhino Oruma had come down from the western scrub the winter the wells went salt, and she walked straight into that gale with her head low and her plates set like a shield. Children ran beside her shouting that she'd be blown into the sea. She never turned. Her horn was worn to a pale stub from years of shouldering rock, and her ears were ragged as old sails.

Then came the summer the governor, Aldous Pell, decided every herd must be driven into the gully for shelter. Pell had never walked a mile into the wind in his life, and he called the rhino a fool and a danger. The herders barred the gate. Oruma stood in the mouth of the valley all night with her face to the storm, and at dawn she had not moved a hoof. The herders came out to see why, and found the ground behind her soaked, though not a drop had fallen on the gully side.

So when they ask in Calla Dern why we set our faces into the gale, we answer the way she taught us. Keep your head low, plant your feet, and walk toward the thing trying to push you back. Now mind the embers. That's the tale, and the fire's dying, so off you go.