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Escape From Manitou Island: Part 164 |
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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.)
OUT OF CONTROL WINTER BORN STARTED hopping up and down and waving her arms in protest, but Charmian didn't offer another word before she got a running start and plunged right into the spinning winds. She promptly fell to her knees and wrapped her arms over her head with a yell, the wailing and tittering was so monstrously loud, and the whirlwinds seemed to tear at her from every direction. "CHARMIAN!" Winter Born's yell came just barely audible to her ears. If you think to assist her, the whirlwinds said, then the deal with Keewadin-Nodin is off. "Kabebonikka wants his deal?" Charmian shouted, her voice quickly carried away by the wind. "Then he's getting it! The ONLY way Winter Born shows her power is if I'm in trouble!" You are interfering, the winds said. "Like hell!" She managed to lower her arms and peer upward through teary eyes. "Kabebonikka didn't say ANYTHING about getting her started! I'm just--" she waved at the whirlwinds themselves "--doing the EXACT same thing he's doing! If I'm not allowed to do this, then HE isn't allowed either!" No responding thought came from the whirlwinds, but another voice did say in Charmian's head, Impressive. You're quite smart for a human. "Yeah? Well..." Charmian grimaced and brushed snow from her eyes. "I have to be to deal with YOU!" Flattery will get you nowhere right now, Kabebonikka's voice said, but if you insist on endangering yourself to get results, go right ahead. I have to admit...you are quite amusing to watch. "Glad you're having so much fun," Charmian muttered, then winced and covered her head again. Winter Born was still yelling and jumping, and by now those on the other side of the wall of winds were shouting as well, but she couldn't tell what they were saying. Already the whirlwinds had increased in intensity, and she knew that Kabebonikka was just holding up his end of the deal. A tiny part of her mind already regretted doing this--as her fingers and nose were rapidly going numb--but if it was the only way to get Winter Born angry enough... Chakenapok had to kill Thomas before I got pissed off enough to really fight him, she thought with a twinge of anxiety, so God knows what I'll have to do to MYSELF to piss her off...! "That's all you've got?" she screamed at the tittering whirlwinds. She clenched her fists. "I've faced SPRING BREEZES tougher than you!!" Immediately it felt like she'd been kicked under the chin by a mule. She fell backwards and had to blink a few times to get the stars from her eyes before realizing that it was snowflakes she was seeing, and she winced and rubbed at her head. Winter Born, seeing this, yelled something and started battering herself against the whirlwinds with no visible results. Whenever she seemed ready to break through, one of the winds would break apart from the rest and deposit her back where she'd started before rejoining its fellows. Tears filled her eyes and she ran back and forth, her mouth moving noiselessly, but Charmian was too busy to pay much attention to her. On the other side, she saw that either the others had decided to make her act look more convincing, or else they were convinced themselves that it wasn't an act. Manabozho appeared to be hurling wind of his own at the whirlwinds, again with no results; Thomas was trying to do the same, and Moon Wolf's and Little Wind's hands were glowing, but so far the two of them seemed to realize that they couldn't make much difference. Black Elk Horn was holding up his gun but he too wasn't bothering to fire. Charmian was glad to see a few more level heads, like Francois and Niskigwun, but even they seemed anxious about her situation. She cast Mani an apologetic look as soon as she saw how he was shaking his head, and hoped that he understood. She peered back at Winter Born. The more trouble I'm in, she thought, the more convincing it is. She made a face. Why do I always have to get the crap pummeled out of me for things to work out right--? She pushed herself to her feet and held up her hands. "WIND!" she yelled, and tried waving her arms, only to end up grabbed onto by the whirlwinds and yanked into the air. She let out a startled yell as she went flying, then plunged headfirst into the snowbank. She thought she dimly heard Winter Born calling her name this time as she spat out a mouthful of snow, but maybe it was just her ears ringing. Come on! she thought. I've faced LOTS worse than this! I thought you were the second most powerful Wind! Your ability to flatter is starting to wane, Kabebonikka said. Did you ever stop to think that perhaps Kabeyun was merely lucky? Lucky, schmucky, Charmian retorted. I nearly had my SPIRIT taken over before! If you think knocking me around a little is going to bring her power out, then you have another thing coming! I suppose, the North Wind replied wearily. Very well then. Don't say that I wasn't generous, though. A sharp shhinng noise suddenly caught her attention, and she froze in place before peering tensely over her shoulder. She first noticed how everyone else had fallen still as well, their eyes wide; then she noticed how the whirlwinds were picking up more and more grains of snow--grains which only hardened into pellets of ice as they were whipped around, and which then sharpened into points from the force of the spinning. Charmian felt the blood drain from her face as the whirlwinds morphed from mere spouts of air into spinning razor blades of ice. There, Kabebonikka said, sounding satisfied. I do think this will suffice. I hope your theory is correct, human, otherwise, I'll have killed you for nothing. Charmian blinked. Then yelped and ducked to the ground when the nearest whirlwind surged straight at her. She heard the faint whir of the ice blades passing right over her head, and when she raised it again she saw several strands of red hair drift to the ground before getting sucked up again. Another whirlwind was coming at her, and she yelled and scrambled to her feet, dodging it but nearly running into a third. They weren't packed as tightly together as they'd been before, but she had to keep dodging between them, like some hapless tourist trying to dodge her way through a mass of knife-wielding whirling dervishes. "Charmian! CHARMIAN!" Winter Born screamed, stamping her feet in the snow. Charmian just spun around as quickly as she could, having to mimic the whirlwinds' gestures in order to avoid them. She thought that she'd finally gotten their pattern down right when they abruptly changed direction, as if taking part in some strange square dance, and with another startled yell she was forced to change her direction as well. Every so often she managed to raise a hand and hurl wind at them, but it was pretty much useless against them. She felt one of the ice razors slice through her sleeve and graze her arm, and yelped a third time, grabbing at it; the cut was an impossibly thin one, but it stung like crazy. Another razor sliced across her cheekbone and she hissed and clapped a hand to her face, hurling fire at the whirlwind as it retreated. The ice razors melted, but were promptly replaced when the gust simply picked up more granules of snow as it moved across the ground. "Dammit!!" Charmian snapped, holding up her hands. "This is a LITTLE bit overboard, you know! WIND!" She hurled a gust at the nearest approaching whirlwind, hoping to knock it aside just long enough to give her room to throw more fire. This time the blast succeeded in driving it back a bit--but she gawked in disbelief when the wind that she had just hurled morphed into a small whirlwind itself, picking up grains of snow and forming razors of its own. Again she felt her face go white, and frantically waved at Manabozho and Thomas to stop trying to attack the whirlwinds themselves. They gave her perplexed looks but halted; Moon Wolf said something to them, and the looks they then got showed that they understood. Charmian didn't see more as she then had to try to avoid the whirlwind that she'd just created, and she dropped to the ground in time for it to zoom straight down her back. It must have picked up more snow, for she felt a razor jab into her back and slice straight down over her ribs, just beside her spine, and yelled in pain before it passed over her and whirled off into the rest of the melee. "CHARMIAN!!" Winter Born shrieked. Shit that HURT!! Charmian screamed to herself, briefly forgetting exactly what she was doing this for. She let out a real scream and started indiscriminately hurling fire at every whirlwind which passed, managing to melt the ice razors away on a few of them, though by no means making any sort of progress. Every so often she managed to catch sight of the others staring through at her as if she were some strange mad animal in a zoo, and she could dimly tell that they wanted to help yet couldn't think of any way to do so. She started regaining her senses, and began aiming a bit more selectively, but for every batch of razors she melted another batch took its place. Dammit!! she thought desperately, dodging one of the winds. What the hell is it going to take to piss her off--?! Hold on--she knows I don't stop fighting if I can help it! Maybe it's time I tried the helpless damsel bit after all--? Charmian promptly fell to her knees and let out a wail of pain. She was looking in the direction of the others, and so the expressions that they got on their faces were quite comical as soon as they saw her do this. More than a few jaws looked ready to hit the ground. She had to keep scuttling from side to side to avoid getting hit, though she did allow a few of the smaller razors to graze her as they passed, even though they made her hiss every time. She clasped her arms in her hands and let her eyes fill with tears--which wasn't too hard, considering how cold and blustery the winds were. "IT HURTS!!" she cried in her whiniest voice. "I CAN'T FIGHT THEM OFF!!" She glanced from face to face, seeking the most sensible, and focused on Francois, of course. "HELP!!" she yelled, flinging out her arms beseechingly. The voyageur gave a stupid blink, then reached out and shoved Black Elk Horn toward the whirlwinds. For the briefest second Charmian felt as offended as Black Elk Horn looked, but then she realized that Francois hadn't misunderstood her after all. She turned her attention to the ogimah instead, waving her arms. "HELP!!" she yelled again, then gritted her teeth and gave him her most ferocious glare. "HELP, DAMMIT!!" "CHARMIAN! Fight them off!!" Winter Born cried from behind her. Charmian flung out her hand for effect. "They're stronger than I thought they were!" she shouted back. "Don't try coming in!" She glared at Black Elk Horn again. "For cripes' sakes already--OW!!" She scuttled sideways when one of the razors slashed at her shoulder. She blinked the tears and snow from her eyes to see Francois saying something to Black Elk Horn; the latter blinked, turned to look at her, then at Winter Born. An instant later he was running straight at the whirlwinds, arm up before his face, and before she could warn him about the razors--in case he couldn't see them--he'd plunged through them and landed in a muddle several feet away from her. He hissed and held the gun over his head, watching the winds spinning around him with wide panicked eyes. Charmian scrambled toward him on hands and knees. "She has to throw a fit!" she hissed at him. "Ever since she's been with us, every time she gets REALLY pissed off, she goes all--Ocryx or something!" "And you WANT such a thing to happen--?" Black Elk Horn shot back. He swung at one of the whirlwinds and struck the ice razors away with the stock of the gun. "She started doing such a thing when we were lost in the snow and it was only that BEAR that stopped her!" He grimaced and swung at another whirlwind which, Charmian was surprised to see, had been aiming at her instead. "Who's to say that once she starts, anyone can stop her--?" "Look, you can HARDLY go keeping her powers canned up forever!" Charmian snapped. "And they just might be the thing we need to get OUT of this mess! Weigh the options--Winter Born throwing a fit--or the Island being destroyed! Which do you prefer--?" He opened his mouth to speak but at that moment one of the whirlwinds slammed into him from the side, knocking him over. Charmian gasped and dodged it, though not in time to avoid another razor slice down her left arm. She yelped in genuine pain this time and fell over as well. The cut to her back was throbbing insanely by now, and she squirmed in the snow a little, wishing that Justin were on hand. "If your idea is right," Black Elk Horn hissed under his breath, "then she has to be convinced! She's not stupid like YOU seem to think she is!" Charmian's mouth fell open in disbelief. Then clicked shut in even greater disbelief when Black Elk Horn stumbled to his feet and started trying to force his way through the barrier. Several of the whirlwinds immediately converged on him and started slashing at his arms and legs, but he somehow managed to wade his way through them and almost to the other side. Charmian's eyes grew wider and wider--was he going to make it after all?--when a small but incredibly fast whirlwind zipped past from her right, and Black Elk Horn let out a startled cry before falling to the ground. A second later Charmian saw the slash laid across his back, and gasped, wondering exactly how deep it was. "FATHER!!" Winter Born screamed, the aura around her flaring terribly. She has to be convinced, Charmian thought, and, steeling herself, started scrambling toward Black Elk Horn as if to try to drag him back. As soon as she reached out for him she saw one of the razors coming straight at her wrist as if to slice her hand off, and managed to deflect it, only to get broadsided by the whirlwind itself. With a cry just as surprised as Black Elk Horn's she was sent tumbling, and had to quickly regather herself and throw her arms over her head as another batch of winds started attacking her from all sides. She gritted her teeth at the numerous stings, but felt even more anxious in the knowledge that surely Kabebonikka could do much worse than this if he wanted to. And if he didn't get his results soon-- "Stop it! STOP IT!!" an awful voice screamed, and Charmian sucked in a breath. She--and Black Elk Horn, she noticed--peered in Winter Born's direction. Winter Born's fists were clenched and tears were streaming down her face--but the aura around her had the exact same malevolent glow as it had all of the other times that Charmian had seen her get truly angry, and even her eyes seemed to be glowing, too. She looked about ready to start crackling with electricity like an Animiki, and when Charmian peered toward Black Elk Horn she could see the mixed awe and fear on his face. It looks like maybe we'll get a show after all, Kabebonikka said in Charmian's head. "You wanted it?" Charmian hissed, wiping blood from her arm. "Then you're getting it!" She gasped and jerked back when a loud WHUMP came from right beside her, and all of the blood drained from her face when she saw the immense ice razor that had embedded itself in the snow just inches from her right arm. If she'd been leaning a bit to the side, her arm would have been severed clean off at the shoulder. She swallowed the painful lump in her throat and started trying to move, only to gasp again and duck her head when Winter Born started letting out a hideous shriek fit to rival anything that Ocryana had ever let out. From the corner of her eye she saw everyone on the other side of the barrier scuttle back to a safer distance, and wished that she and Black Elk Horn could do the same, but now that they were stuck in here-- "YOU THINK YOU'RE SUCH A GREAT MANITOU?" Winter Born shrieked. "YOU'RE JUST A HUGE BULLY! LET GO!!" Charmian expected her to fling her arms out as she'd done before--but she dropped them instead, fists clenching again, and gritted her teeth almost hard enough to break. Her eyes flashed and then--Charmian wasn't sure what exactly happened. For the briefest second, which felt like an eternity, the wailing and tittering and howling of the whirlwinds seemed to cease, and a deadly silence fell over everything--she couldn't even blink, trying to tell if time had somehow stopped--and then it felt just like she'd slammed into a wall. She felt herself flying backwards, the snowy landscape spinning in circles as she pinwheeled--she caught the briefest glimpse of something else flying, and dimly assumed that it must be Black Elk Horn--before the dizzying dreamlike motion abruptly halted and she yelled when she collided with something. She tumbled to the ground--or at least what she assumed was the ground--and had to blink a few times and shake her head to figure out what was going on. She furrowed her brow blearily to see Moon Wolf staring at her with goggling eyes, then realized that she was lying atop him. "Huh...?" she managed to get out, before somebody grasped her arms and Manabozho and Niskigwun helped her to her feet. She staggered a little before regaining her balance, then winced when the throbbing pain of all of her cuts came back to awareness. Thomas was helping up Moon Wolf, and some distance away, she could see Stick-In-The-Dirt seeing to Black Elk Horn, who was similarly sprawled upon the ground. Charmian felt a pang of confusion. "How did--" She turned around to look back at the whirlwinds and saw that they were in fact still there--but there was quite a distance away, now. Somehow she and Black Elk Horn had been thrown clear of them, and Winter Born was still standing on the other side. "What...what just happened?" Charmian asked, mystified. "You mean you don't know--?" Thomas exclaimed. "You went flying through the air all of a sudden--I thought maybe you'd PLANNED it that way!" "Since when do I fly?" Charmian protested, and pulled her arms loose. "It felt like I ran into a brick wall! Was that a shockwave or something--?" "I'm guessing it has to do with her," Moon Wolf said, nodding in Winter Born's direction and rubbing at his elbow. They all stared at her in silence for a moment, and Charmian understood what had actually happened. Her eyes grew. "She knocked us out of harm's way." She turned around fully to face the whirlwinds. "So we don't get hurt!" She looked back at the others, excited. "Do you think that means she can finally control it--?" The words were no sooner out of her mouth than another hideous scream filled the air, making them all wince and cover their ears. A look back showed her that the glow around Winter Born was flaring out every which way--spouting tendrils, almost--and an instant later, she almost seemed to explode with light which blasted out toward the whirlwinds and consumed them from every angle. For a second Charmian was blinded--then she saw the whirlwinds halt in place as if frozen, quivering slightly like jelly. They began spinning again, but it was a frantic sort of spinning, and she vaguely sensed their fear at being overcome so unexpectedly. She felt a twinge of sympathy for them, but evidently Winter Born no longer felt the same way, as she let out a third scream and suddenly the whirlwinds were sucked up into the air. Everyone stared up at them in awe. The whirlwinds continued spinning for a few more seconds before breaking apart, and Charmian had to squint to make out the vague forms of the numerous windlings flitting every which way. They had no features that she could make out, but she could distinguish that there were a great many of them, and possibly several had made up each whirlwind. They darted about and collided with each other frantically, their tittering and wailing having changed into panicked gasps, and Charmian couldn't quite believe it when Winter Born's eyes flashed again and they all lit up as if an electrical storm had started in their midst. The wind acquired an odd shrieking sound which Charmian didn't like, and judging by everyone else's reactions, she could tell that they didn't like it either. "What's she doing?" Kenu cried, covering his ears. "Is she going to turn into an Animiki too--?" "Well, if this doesn't impress Kabebonikka, then nothing will!" Manabozho had to shout, also covering his ears. "Don't you think this is a little--" Charmian managed to get out, before Winter Born tilted her head back, and the glowing flashing mass of winds let out a horrendous BANG and seemed to evaporate into a single gust, "--overkill?" Her voice trailed off when the remaining gust swirled in a moaning circle and then evaporated into nothing. Everyone blinked and glanced around themselves in surprise at the sudden silence. Peepaukawiss let out his breath. "Well! I think that went very--" Winter Born's scream cut him off and they all winced. Charmian flinched, eyes wide, to see that the aura still flared around her--in fact, if anything, it seemed to have grown even stronger--and her eyes were still glowing as well. She stared for the briefest moment at where the winds had been, then turned to face north, fingernails digging into her palms. Before anyone could speak, another shockwave rippled through the air, knocking everyone over. Charmian sputtered snow from her mouth and shook her head dizzily. "OOOHHH!" Marten cried, puffing up. "What's she doing?!" "Charmian!!" Stick-In-The-Dirt cried frantically, and pointed northward, needlessly. Charmian looked, and felt the blood drain from her face yet again. The bulk of the shockwave--or whatever it was--must have been aimed north, for spreading out ahead of Winter Born was a huge swath of compacted snow, and this just grew and grew the further it went, until whatever she'd just sent out collided with the nearest stand of trees and swept them as flat as a village of matchsticks. Charmian could sense the startled cries of the manitous living within them, and winced, tottering to the side as Mani and the okis let out shrill whistles of fear. Winter Born stood still in place as the massive wave of destruction continued its northward sweep, plowing down trees and gouging up snow, aiming directly for a small mass of wooded rocky hills in the distance. Charmian put a hand to her head and could only watch, horror taking her voice away. "No," she heard Moon Wolf say from just behind and off to her side, his own voice cracking, "I don't think she can control it." |