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Escape From Manitou Island: Part 152 |
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(DISCLAIMER: This part, and all parts hereafter, are works in progress (WIPs) and have not been proofread or checked for plot inconsistencies. I've decided to present them "as is" for now, as there is a significant amount of unfinished material; yet this story has been on hiatus for a long while, I've forgotten certain details, and I have no plans to resume work on it any time soon. Please keep in mind while reading that details may change in the future. Should you spot an inconsistency, however, please feel free to point it out to me for possible correction.)
THE GANG'S MOSTLY HERE MAKWAQUAE LUNGED FORWARD and sank her teeth into the bottom of the pine tree's leader. Winter Born's shriek pierced the air as the top branch of the tree snapped loose and went plummeting to earth, taking her with it. Black Elk Horn's face went white and he dropped the gun. "WINTER BORN!" Lieutenant Barrington stood frozen, watching the little girl fall as if in slow motion. She managed to miss the branches as she did a slow spin in the air, and he caught the briefest glimpse of her eyes--wide and full of panic--as she plunged toward the ground. Just like in a dream--just like on the Island--he went running, flinging his arms up over his head. He had absolutely no hope of catching her--yet catch her he did, somehow, Winter Born's scream cutting off in a startled yelp as she struck his arms and the two of them slammed into the snow with a thud. Barrington grimaced at the pain which shot through both of his arms--as well as through his ribs and knees--but his eyes popped open almost immediately to see if she'd made it. Winter Born lay limp for just a moment before her own eyes opened and she sucked in a startled breath, then started coughing, the air knocked out of her. She winced and snaked a hand back to rub at her behind. "Ow...!" As soon as she felt Barrington's arm she blinked and finally noticed that she was lying atop him. Her brow furrowed. "You...?" she said in a small voice, as if confused. Barrington stared back at her for a moment, then they both glanced toward Black Elk Horn. He stood just where they'd left him, the gun lying in the snow at his feet and a bewildered look on his face. A bellow made them all snap awake, and they glanced up into the pine tree. The black bear was snarling and roaring, and pine needles began raining down over them as she started coming back down. They all froze again for a fraction of a second, then Black Elk Horn dashed forward and grabbed hold of Winter Born, who let out a small startled cry as he heaved her into the air. "Hurry!" he barked, and snatched up the gun and went running off with her. Barrington twisted his head around in time to see the stunned look she gave him as her father carried her off. The bear's bellowing came from overhead. I DON'T CARE WHICH OF YOU REMAIN BEHIND! WHEN I GET DOWN I'LL TEAR YOUR HEADS CLEAN OFF!! Barrington sucked in a breath--now was apparently the best time to leave--and pushed himself painfully to his feet, retrieving his own gun. Every bone in his body ached from breaking Winter Born's fall and it was a moment before he could catch his balance, turning in a dizzy circle and stumbling off after the others. He gave Black Elk Horn's receding figure a menacing glare as he tried to run. Not even a THANK YOU--? Well what was I expecting? That's redskins for you... He heard the creaking and snapping of branches breaking, then an awful thud when the bear hit the ground, and he winced and picked up his pace. Her roaring was hideous and he could only imagine how beyond infuriated she must be by now. Where was that other savage--? Barrington glanced fearfully from left to right, expecting to see the even bigger bear come barreling at him--but he never thought of looking up. It was only at the last moment that he caught some sort of motion from overhead and his head snapped back to see something large descend so quickly that he couldn't even tell what it was. He gasped and lunged forward into the snow--but it flew directly over him and at the bear instead. Barrington twisted his head around in time to see whatever-it-was strike the bear in the face--she skidded to a halt and grimaced, shaking her head and obviously confused. Then the shape descended again and now he could tell what it was, and he grabbed at his gun. The large, winged, wolf-headed thing was still a fearsome sight to him, after his encounter with it and its family on the Island, but at least its attention was focused on the bear, and he was pretty sure it wouldn't attack him. He got to his feet and watched stupidly as X'aaru lunged repeatedly at Makwaquae, snapping at her back and shoulders yet always managing to fly up and out of her reach when she tried biting back. He was unbelievably nimble for such a big creature, and the gusts of wind from his wingbeats were obviously unsettling the Bearwalker as well. STAND STILL, YOU STUPID MUTT!! she bellowed, swiping at him with one massive paw. All that she managed to do was dislodge a few feathers, but as soon as she saw them she took an odd amount of interest in them and reached out to pick them up in her mouth. At the last minute Barrington remembered everything he'd learned so far about the wabano medicine dolls, and he gasped and fumbled to load and aim his gun. It went off before he even had time to aim it properly, and the bear's head jerked back, her muzzle wrinkling. Both of them blinked to see that the feathers had completely vanished. Makwaquae started to growl, then Barrington screamed when something landed on his head. "HEY! Whaddya trying to do, kill me?!" a voice exclaimed, and he saw the little furry person hop down to the ground and scamper off, clutching the feathers in his hand. He looked over his shoulder and waved hurriedly. "C'mon! She's gonna be REALLY mad soon enough!" "I'll try holding her off until--" X'aaru yelped and flapped upwards a bit when the bear snapped at him "--until you're all safe!!" IDIOT! Do you honestly think I'll stand around and waste my time on such trivial things--? Makwaquae roared, but when she tried running after the others the demon whipped at her head with his long snakelike tail, and her roar grew to a shattering pitch, making Barrington wince and pick up his pace despite his still-throbbing ankles. Black Elk Horn was so far away now that he was nearly a speck, but Marten kept halting halfway between them, waving frantically. As soon as Barrington caught up with him he went bounding on ahead to Black Elk Horn. "C'mon!" he called again. "I have a shortcut!" Barrington fought down a groan; every time somebody used the word shortcut it seemed like SOMETHING was bound to go wrong. Yet with the Bearwalker still bellowing and struggling behind them, he knew that it was probably their best chance of escaping. So when Marten went running off into a small vale lined with pine trees, none of the others hesitated to follow. "You're real lucky!" Marten exclaimed as he dashed on ahead of them, the noises of their panting and footfalls sounding preternaturally loud in the enclosed space of the trees. "I found it on accident when we were looking for you guys! I always keep my eyes open for shortcuts, y'know, because one can never be sure when they're going to be attacked by a vengeful shapeshifter and need an expedient place to hide!" He grinned at them over his shoulder. "Hey, isn't that neat? Expedient? Glooskap taught me that word! He says to learn at least one new word every day and I always asked myself, why would I ever want to use a stupid word like expedient?--but take a look, here I am..." A faint roar echoed in the distance, making them all pause briefly, ears straining. Flapping noises came from overhead and they gasped and jerked back when gouts of snow began raining down from the branches, X'aaru making a clumsy landing not far from them. He shook the snow from his feathers, eyes wide and teeth chattering. "She's...she's coming right for us!" he gasped. "REALLY angry!" "Get going to that shortcut," Barrington said, earning a glance from each of them. He pulled out his powder horn and started loading his gun. "I'll see if this'll hold her off for at least a minute or two." When he saw the blank looks they were all giving him he scowled. "Go on!" They hesitated, then turned to follow Marten, who was busily heaving a small stone from between the roots of a tree. He scampered down into the hole left behind; Winter Born crawled in next, then X'aaru and Black Elk Horn began digging at the opening to make it bigger while Barrington eyed the trail they'd left into the woods, waiting for the bear to appear. He didn't have to wait long, as her snorting and snarling made her approach obvious. A large dark shape appeared at the entrance to the woods and he took aim at the bobbing form. He waited until he could see her eyes--blazing and enraged--before firing, and she stumbled and slid to a messy halt, raising one forepaw from the ground with a bellow that shook the trees. Strangely, as he whirled around and went running for the tunnel, he could have sworn that the bellow was half the roar of a bear, and half the scream of a woman, though he didn't wait around to discover what that might mean. Even as the awful noise still echoed throughout the woods, he ducked and clambered into the tunnel without another look back. Moon Wolf was dumped near the back of the broken wigwam by one of the mitchi manitous, which then shook its antlers as if contaminated and trotted back out into the open snow. Everyone else was allowed to remain free, but the little camp was surrounded so there was nowhere to run to anyway. They remained at the side of the frozen lake yet again, sitting at various distances from the sputtering fire, tense looks on their faces. Mishosha was dusting a coating of snow from his robes. "What an utter disappointment you all are turning out to be," he commented with a disdainful almost-pout. "I spend far more of my time egging you all on, rather than fighting you all off. I do hope you turn out to be a much better challenge when your last desperate moment comes, wabano, because so far your powers are pretty trivial; I have no clue what everyone's going on about when they talk about you." Moon Wolf didn't respond, as he was lying unconscious. Thomas cast a glance at him, then gasped a little when Mishosha strode into the wigwam, kicking aside a piece of wood broken from Thomas's escape and leaning forward to look down at him. "And you as well," he said, and his formerly affable look shifted into one of irritation. "All of that power lying within your hands...and what are you doing with it? You were supposed to go and get that fire-haired girl...now what became of that plan, by the way? How is it that all of you are such disappointments to your medicine?" "Maybe because we're not like you think," Thomas replied, his own look forming into a scowl. "Oh really?" Mishosha's mouth twitched and he crossed his arms. "Don't think I didn't see what you did to my manitou out there. Biting it was a little bit overkill...don't you think? You still have some red on your nails and teeth...you'd deny that's who and what you are?" He stooped close again so Thomas leaned back against the wall. Moon Wolf's eye at last opened a crack and he blinked groggily, but other than that didn't move. "Come on now...don't say you haven't felt it, whenever the cold comes around and there's ice in the air. One can never truly run away from what they are. That's why I made my doll after you, after all. It's in your blood--in more ways than one." He sniggered. "And who's to say you even had to kill her? I rather imagined you would have had a little fun first before finishing her off--" Thomas lunged forward, but Mishosha's movements were faster; a mere flick of his hand and Thomas was restrained as if he were tethered to the posts of the lodge, and all that he could do was strain against them, teeth bared and eyes glowering. Mishosha's mouth twisted into an ugly smile and he leaned even closer so that their faces were inches apart. "See...?" he murmured. "You would be drinking my blood right now, had I not restrained you so...and you'd say that this isn't part of who you are? Now why do you keep fighting it? When it's so obvious that someday, you won't win...?" "Hopefully my hands won't be tied that day," Thomas growled. "And you'll be the one standing in front of me." Mishosha chuckled and finally stood, taking a step back. "Well, that's amusing, though not exactly in my plans. I was hoping you'd take care of that fire-haired girl, but it looks like you've lost her, and I really haven't the time to stand around waiting--" He cut himself off, freezing in place. Everyone looked at him at once, including Little Wind; the wabano's eyes were wide and fixed on some spot seemingly in open air. He took a breath, as if just remembering to do so, and his voice came out in a harsh whisper. "Makwaquae." Moon Wolf tensed slightly. Little Wind opened his mouth as if to speak, when Mishosha whirled around and stalked back toward Thomas so abruptly that Thomas flinched. A second later Mishosha had him by the collar and was shaking him, his own teeth bared and his eyes practically flashing. "Where are they?" he demanded. "Where are those little girls?" Thomas gritted his teeth but didn't answer. Mishosha started letting out a strangled growling noise and the fingers of his free hand curled into a fist; he let Thomas go so he thudded back against the wall, and, with a quick glance around the lodge, threw up his hand and started waving it at everyone sitting around them, one after another, until he caught the reaction in Thomas's eyes and halted with his aim fixed on Stick-In-The-Dirt, whose face went pale. "If you don't tell me, he goes first!" Mishosha grated. "And then him--and then him!" His aim moved to Moon Wolf, then to Mani. "I don't care if I have to end up KILLING her to get her back, Wendigo brat--I'll gladly do it if you don't speak up!" "Long Knife," Moon Wolf said in a low warning voice as Thomas started struggling against his invisible bonds. "If you even scratch her I'll tear your THROAT out!" Thomas shouted. "If you don't tell me where they are she'll have no more throat, period," Mishosha hissed. Fire formed around his fingers and his aim went back to Stick-In-The-Dirt. "Now tell me where they are." "G-Grandfather!" Little Wind exclaimed, jumping up. Mishosha glared at him and he ducked his head. "They--I think I feel them somewhere to the west," he stammered. Mishosha frowned. "Feel them--? You tell me you really can sense them like that--?" He turned to Thomas and his sneer returned. "Looks like you won't be so useful after all then, Wendigo brat. I take it that I wasted my time and energy on you for nothing. Maybe you really are just a pathetic human." "Which is more than you will ever be," Thomas said in return. Mishosha's sneer turned especially ugly. "You should have kept your mouth shut," he said. "For that, you get this." And his aim moved toward Mani. "Long Knife!" Moon Wolf shouted as Thomas fought and managed to push himself to his feet. Mishosha let out a bark of a laugh and hurled the fireball; Mani whistled in alarm and started to duck, but at the last minute it veered away from him and straight toward Stick-In-The-Dirt instead. The medicine man let out a startled yell and ducked himself, and the fire struck the wall of the wigwam, sending it up in flames. Mishosha rolled his eyes. "You truly are an unimaginative bunch!" he complained, calling up another fireball. Moon Wolf started pushing himself up now and weakly lifted a hand, his fingers glowing blue. However, Mishosha's fireball let out a tiny pop noise and suddenly evaporated into nothing. Mishosha's eyes grew huge and he blinked, then looked at his hand, baffled; he shook it and a new fireball emerged, but just like the one before it, pop, disappeared. Mishosha's mouth fell open. "What the--?" "WATER!" The voice echoed through the camp--and promptly Thomas and Moon Wolf were both upright, straining to see outside. A cracking noise came from the ice on the lake, and Mishosha whirled around in time to see a wall of water coming straight for them. He let out a startled yell which was cut off as soon as the water cascaded down over the burning wigwam, putting out the flames. It then withdrew, and everyone raised their arms, expecting to be dripping wet--which was why they were doubly confused to see that only the part of the wigwam consumed by the flames had been doused, as well as Mishosha. The wabano stood chattering and dripping and beyond bewildered. He lifted both hands, but called up no fire; instead his fingers curled into hooks and he let out an awful hissing noise. He slowly turned around to look outside, practically bristling. "Where...is...she...?!" "WIND!" the call came this time, and Mishosha let out another yell, this one plainly infuriated, when a gust of wind whipped up out of nowhere and began whirling around him. His hood flew over his eyes and he fought to pull it back down; two shapes appeared behind him at the missing wall of the wigwam, and everyone recognized Singing Cedars's two okis. They whistled and turned to hurry away; the others followed, Moon Wolf stopping to assist Thomas, who was still half paralyzed by Mishosha's earlier spell. As soon as they exited, there were Singing Cedars and Niskigwun awaiting them, Niskigwun holding a sort of blowpipe in his hand; more frantic gestures sent them hurrying toward the woods they'd raced through earlier. As soon as they got here, however, the okis whistled and guided them in a different direction from before; they started heading south, back out of the trees, which earned very confused looks from the others in the group. "He can easily follow our footprints..." Moon Wolf started to protest, only to notice that these were vanishing behind them as they ran. He blinked, confused, and glanced up at Niskigwun, who trotted along behind. "We managed to secure the assistance of some snow manitous," Niskigwun said, then made a face. "Technically, they should not be helping us, but Kabebonikka has apparently not been treating them the best as of late..." "And so where are we going--?" Thomas asked, easing himself loose of Moon Wolf's grip and starting to run on his own. Niskigwun started to point somewhat northwest, when trotting sounds came from behind them and they looked to see Charmian coming up close. They both blinked again and opened their mouths at once, but she cut them off before they could even speak. "We made another camp to hide out in for the time being. Just for a little bit. We can regroup there and then haul tail west like we were supposed to!" She shook her head as she dashed past them, ignoring the protesting looks on their faces. "No time right now! I'll explain it all when we're there!" Thomas and Moon Wolf stared after her for a moment before they both started to scowl, but obediently picked up their pace. They continued trotting through snow that under any other circumstances probably would have slowed them down considerably, but for some reason it seemed packier than it should have been, at least, in the areas where they were running. Every so often they would glance behind them, but the slopes remained pristine and unmarked, their footprints filling in just as soon as they were vacated. More stands of trees emerged, and Charmian pointed out one through which a small river flowed; they descended toward this, their pace slowing only as they entered the security of the pines and came up close to the river, which was crusted with ice at its edges but otherwise still flowing. Everyone drew to a gradual halt, panting for breath and looking around at their surroundings. "Explanation...?" Moon Wolf prompted as soon as Charmian ran a hand across her brow. She made a face at him. "Cripes, can't I catch my breath first? There isn't much to say as it is. Basically I got lost. I think Kabebonikka must've been having a good laugh at my expense! Mishosha and Makwaquae came after me, but some pine trees hid me. Don't ask...I'm not sure I even get it myself," she said when their looks turned puzzled. "I know I should've just stayed put but you know how much I hate that! So I just started wandering around a little. But everything looks exactly the SAME out there, no matter which way you go! Fortunately, I found this little river here..." Bubbling noises came from the water, and a large black head slowly arose. "MISHU!" Kenu exclaimed, and went running to throw his arms around the Lynx's muzzle. "I put my hand in the water and asked for anybody nearby to come down here if they could," Charmian explained. "I sensed Mishu and he came. He said the rest of you were still at the camp near the lake and that Mishosha was still acting up, which was why he didn't want to come out. I started heading back and ran into Cedars and Niskigwun. I'm glad we made it back when we did! What the hell was even going on?" "A long story," Moon Wolf said dryly. "It seems that whenever we try leaving him behind, he pops up again. This time, he was hoping to get you and Winter Born." Charmian's brow furrowed. "Winter Born and me...? Why us? I thought he was interested in..." She trailed off, noticing Thomas now, and her look grew even more perplexed. "Thomas?" She stepped toward him. "What happened to you...?" Thomas blinked, caught offguard, and took a step back before she reached him. She halted in front of him and held up a hand to touch his cheek, looking him over. "Your eyes are yellow," she said, frowning. "And your skin is cold." She looked down at his hands and noticed his claws now, and lifted his right hand, seeing the dried blood lining the fingernails. She looked up at him again, eyes wide, but he had to avert his own stare. She turned back to Moon Wolf instead. "Mishosha did this? He has another medicine doll?" Moon Wolf nodded. "He must have been watching us as we entered the Pukwudjininees' land. He attempted to send him after you to finish you off..." he looked at Thomas "...but the long knife didn't react quite the way he expected him to." Charmian stared at Moon Wolf for a moment, then turned back to Thomas. "Sorry," Thomas said before she could speak, and he looked ruefully at his hand, curling his fingers in so the blood wasn't visible. "He said I couldn't run away from what I am...and I guess he turned out to be right." A flinch passed across his face. "It doesn't even feel like I really did that...it's almost like I dreamed it all. I really did want to go after you. What if I'd managed to catch up...?" "We saw a dead manitou not far from the camp," Singing Cedars said, and gave Thomas a curious look. Thomas nodded reluctantly. "It was attacking us during the fight," Moon Wolf said. "It was going after him." And he nodded at Mani, who gave an affirmative whistle. "So I would've ended up dead if you hadn't killed it first," Charmian said. She lifted Thomas's hand again and pried his fingers loose to inspect the dried blood, then pursed her lips. "Well...it looks like he doesn't know who he's dealing with, then." She let go of his hand. "Because I could've told him that such a plan wouldn't've worked." Thomas blinked. "But..." he started to protest. "Oh, come on. Geezhigo-Quae took away some of your Wendigo medicine, and you've always been able to control it perfectly anyway! There's no way you would've laid a hand on me if you'd caught up. You'd never try to kill me or eat me or anything cannibalistic like that. Shut up," she said when Walks-On-The-Shore opened his mouth. Thomas's mouth fell open and he started after her as she paced toward the river. "But--I did try to kill you once--!" "But that was a long time ago, and you had a Wendigo spirit stone in you, and that's neither here nor there...!" "We're still missing Winter Born and the others," Moon Wolf stated as the two of them started bickering beside the river. "They haven't returned yet. I take it you didn't run into them." "Oh," Charmian said, interrupting her argument with Thomas. She bit her lip and looked at the snow. "No, we didn't. I was hoping they'd made their way back there. There hasn't been any sign of them yet?" "Black Elk Horn went running off after Winter Born and the red man," Stick-In-The-Dirt said. "And then the demon and the Marten went off after them. That was the last we saw of them." "I might have sensed them when I was down in the water," Mishupishu offered. "But I'm not sure. None of the rest of you feel anything like Underwater Lynxes." "Well..." Charmian shut her eyes and threw out her mental net. "Hm...if they're still around, they must be far off, or hiding," she said after a moment, and sighed. "Because I'm not picking them up either." "Maybe they've found a safe place," Manabozho suggested. "One where the manitous can hide them safely from Mishosha and the rest." "I hope so," Charmian said with a twinge of doubt. Stick-In-The-Dirt's eyes went wide then and he tugged frantically at Moon Wolf's arm, making the other medicine man frown. Charmian and the others looked at him questioningly. "What is it, Stick--?" "The other Makwamosa!" he started, and Moon Wolf sucked in a breath as well. "Makwaquae!" His fists tightened. "How did I even forget about her? He sent her out after you and the others." "I never ran into her outside of the woods, and that was ages ago," Charmian said, perplexed. "Then if she's not after you..." And Moon Wolf's stare, then the others', traveled vaguely westward. Charmian stiffened. "You mean she went after Winter Born--?" She gasped and jerked her hand at the air. "Come on!! That wabano scares me even more than MISHOSHA does!" "Wait!" Thomas called out, making her freeze. "He knows we're all in a group now," he protested. "And he can control me at any time! What do you think he'll be doing now that he's likely thrown off that wind and such? Do you really think it's a good idea for me to keep coming along--?" Charmian untensed, looking confused. "But...what else would you do? We can't leave you behind..." "That's exactly what I'm suggesting," Thomas said. "Leave me here with Mishupishu for now--I'm pretty sure he can stop me if he has to--and once you figure out how to trick Mishosha--" "That won't be necessary," a voice said, and they sucked in a breath each and turned around. At the entrance to the woods stood Little Wind, a grim look on his face, his fireball hovering over his shoulder. |