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Escape From Manitou Island: Part 179 |
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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.)
CALLING DOWN CLOUDS CHARMIAN'S STARE FOLLOWED the direction that Little Wind pointed in, and she found herself looking at Kenu, who, in his human form, was toddling along after Remy, stepping in his footprints in a surreptitious attempt to walk more easily. He still refused to ride on Mani or any of the others, but aside from his apparent exhaustion, seemed to be holding up pretty well. "His people...?" Charmian whispered, then took in a breath and turned to Little Wind, who walked along with glazed eyes and a vacant look. "Kenu's tribe! You sense them--?" "Some of them are far to the west," Little Wind said. "My manitou can see them. It's how I sense things. My manitou senses them, and it passes through me. Even if it's far away, or right beside me, it works. Right now it's far away from me, but it can see them better than I ever could." "That's how mine works," Charmian agreed, surprised that she'd never even thought about how it worked until now. She clenched her fists. "Kenu's people! What are you doing looking for them--?" She jumped in front of him again as if to block his way, and he finally slowed to a stop. "If you're going to trick them into getting all killed again--!" Little Wind's eyes abruptly cleared as he came out of his vision, and he blinked, seeming confused. Then they focused on her as he must have realized where he was. "What--?" he said, then, "What?" He took a sharp step toward her. "I didn't plan those other Animiki to get killed! I didn't think they'd be stupid enough to fall for that scroll. And I didn't think YOU'D be stupid enough to keep reciting it like that!" "A little after the fact!" Charmian retorted, as Thomas and Moon Wolf and the others they'd left behind came close. "That was Grandfather's scroll. Not mine! You want to see mine--?" He started pulling at the numerous little scrolls dangling from his pack and began tossing them at her as if he were shooting Megis shells, and Charmian gasped and struggled to catch all of them before the wind could blow them away. "There! And there! Take a look! See what they say. I'm not hiding anything." "You know full well I don't know how to read these stupid things! For all I know even if I could read one, it'd probably make my head fall off!" Moon Wolf appeared at her side, which was just as well, as she'd been about to call him anyway. He took a few of the scrolls from her and opened one up to look at it as Stick-In-The-Dirt arrived and picked up another one which she'd missed. There was a brief silence as they read their contents. Stick-In-The-Dirt's face grew confused. "Wait...wait a moment!" he exclaimed, and his head popped up. "This isn't a wabano scroll!" "Neither is this one," Moon Wolf said, frowning. "What...?" Charmian looked from one to the other, brow furrowing. "Well--what ARE they, then--?" "This one seems to be asking for the assistance of rain manitous," Stick-In-The-Dirt said, reading the pictograms. "This one asks for the ability to see like an owl at night," Moon Wolf said. When Charmian just gave him a perplexed look he said, "Asks, not compels. These aren't phrased like wabano scrolls. From what I can read of them, anyway." "What...?" Charmian said again, fainter this time, and picked up another scroll to look at it. She couldn't tell what it said. It looked like a drawing of a tree with little people around the bottom, but that didn't tell her much. Winter Born stood on tiptoe to peer at it, and let out a little gasp, then hopped up and down. "Grandmother Cedar! I recognize that! They had drawings like that in the Mide lodge back at home." "WHAT?" Charmian said now, her voice startling the others. She held the little birchbark out at Stick-In-The-Dirt. "Is that what that is--?" When he furrowed his own brow but nodded, she whirled to Moon Wolf next. "I was told that wabanos and the Midewiwin don't mix! If that's so--" She could tell from the look on his face that he was about ready to demand where Little Wind had gotten the scrolls, but Little Wind was already retrieving them, tying them back up. His face looked flushed with embarrassment, but he seemed indignant as well. "It was Grandfather Mishosha's insistence that I become a wabano like him and follow in his footsteps!" he said, taking the scroll with the tree picture on it away. "That doesn't--that doesn't mean I can't look at other things..." Charmian shook a fist. "If you STOLE these things then I--" "These are all in the same style," Moon Wolf said, staring at one of the scrolls remaining before Little Wind took it as well. He looked at Charmian. "It's the same style as the Animiki scroll, and the one the Nebanaubae had. But..." "See? You're still nothing but a liar!" Charmian snapped at Little Wind. "You just said that Animiki scroll was Mishosha's, not yours! I don't know why I--" She cut herself off with a gasp when Moon Wolf reached out to squeeze her wrist hard enough to hurt. She gave him a confused look but he only stared at Little Wind. "They are in the same style," he said, "but I remember the Animiki scroll...I took a very good look at it when I read it. I did not understand it at the time, but there were two styles of writing on it. The scroll itself was Little Wind's. But the spell was added to. I assume Mishosha is the one who did that." Charmian blinked. "But--Little Wind even read it to me! The part about death and everything. Don't even tell me he had no idea it'd been changed! You'd have to be a total moron not to get it." "Mishosha is powerful enough to have not needed to change anything but the appearance of the contents of the scroll itself," Moon Wolf said. "There are all sorts of things that go into these scrolls. Not just the words, but the way they're spoken, the way they're phrased, the way the drawings are made on the bark. It all works together. You could have recited the exact same spell with the exact same words but if the drawings had been just the slightest bit different, perhaps the Animiki would have won, after all. The tiniest thing can change a harmless spell to a deadly one. That's why such things are best left in the hands of more experienced medicine men!" "I know Grandfather Mishosha changed it," Little Wind said. He looked like he was almost on the verge of crying but was somehow restraining himself. "But it was only to help our cause. I didn't know exactly what it would do. I wrote it, and I let him change it, yes, but I thought it was the best thing. He said it would help us." He paused, eyes brimming, then added, "I didn't know that was what it would do...my spells have never been that powerful before. Never." "Then that means you wrote all these," Charmian said. "Even the Mide ones! How the heck could you write those unless..." She trailed off, realization beginning to dawn, but Little Wind abruptly turned and started walking away westward. The others cast puzzled looks at each other when Charmian gasped and hurried to follow him. "You have some sort of training--?" she called out. "No!" Little Wind shot back. "I grew up with Grandfather Mishosha. I know you saw his island! He and Grandmother Makwaquae and the manitous and I were the only ones there." "You can't just come up with this stuff out of nothing!" "I already said my manitou can see things. If you won't believe me then why won't you just let me do what you told me to?" "Huh--?" Charmian exclaimed. She dashed up beside him. "What I told you to do--?!" Little Wind glared at her, his eyes still wet. "You said I had to find the Animiki's tribe!" he said, voice cracking. "Well--let me look! And stop bothering me!" I--I did--? Charmian thought, bewildered, when it struck her--she had demanded that he do that, back in the Cree camp, what felt like a hundred years ago--You're the one who's going to pay him back. YOU'RE the one who gave me the scroll and insisted it would help the Animiki and not hurt them. Therefore this is on YOUR head. YOU'RE the only one who can repay it. Either you help us find his tribe, and get him back with his people, or it's YOUR head stuck on HIS beak! Holy cripes, she thought. You mean he actually intends to honor that--? "You're...you're trying to help us find Kenu's family?" she said at last, feeling rather dumb. Little Wind angrily swiped a hand across his eyes. "Well, what did you expect! I have to cover the dead. I had no idea my spell would be that powerful. It isn't what I intended. If you take something, then you have to give." He continued walking, leaving Charmian behind again. "Is it just me or does he make the world's worst wabano?" she asked the air. "Why would he be seeking the Animiki now of all times?" Stick-In-The-Dirt asked. "He's had plenty of chances before..." "I didn't get to ask. I'm wondering the same thing! That's what made me think maybe he's doing something for Mishosha." Charmian craned her neck to see the rest of their group, still moving far ahead, but Mishosha, near the front and walking by himself, didn't seem to be doing anything particularly suspicious. Although his mere presence was suspicious enough. "Somebody should go check and make sure he's not up to anything, just in case." "I'll tell Marten to keep an eye on him," Winter Born offered, and ran off. The others left with Charmian looked at her when she shut her eyes and stood still for a moment. "Apakwaanaajiin isn't really sensing anything," she murmured. "But I don't think she's as powerful as Little Wind's fireball...as unbelievable as that sounds..." She opened her eyes and sighed. "I kind of wish we had a shaking tent or something! They're supposed to help find stuff, aren't they?" "We don't need that," Moon Wolf said. "We have our own ways of finding things." He whistled loudly and almost everyone in the group ahead halted and turned back to look. Charmian blushed and felt like shrinking into the snow, but Moon Wolf made some sort of gesture--sign language again?--that some of the others must have understood, for a few shapes broke apart from the whole and came trudging back their way. Charmian frowned to see that Singing Cedars, Mani, Niskigwun, and the GeeBees were the ones approaching. Their faces revealed their own mix of puzzlement and confusion, though none of them said anything, at least until they drew near, when Augwak groused, "NOW what? Any time we make any sort of progress we have to go all the way back!" "Marten will be keeping an eye on Mishosha, and Kenu is out of the question," Moon Wolf said. "And those two loons would hardly suffice. Who do you think should fly ahead west and try to make out why Little Wind would be looking for Animiki now?" The newcomers all blinked. "I--I don't know," Charmian said, then, a bit less flustered, "I'm not sure. I don't know all the pros and cons of this. Why Singing Cedars?" "His okis might be able to range ahead of us and see. The manitou could do the same thing." "Oh," Charmian said, feeling stupid again; Singing Cedars looked the same way that she felt. He put his fingers to his mouth to whistle but she said, "No! Not them. Not right now, at least." When he furrowed his brow she explained, "Your okis are wood okis, and Mani is wood and water. There's not much of that around here. They can't fly. I don't think they'd find the Animiki themselves." She looked at Niskigwun and the GeeBees for a long while, then said, "I wanted to send Niskigwun...but I don't know. I think the GeeBees could get further in this snow, truthfully." The Michinimakinong grasped his spear and looked ready to retort, then bit his lip instead. He seemed to consider her words for a moment before standing down without any argument, and this surprised her a little. They were really putting this much faith in her decisions? Pakwa had raised his hand. "Go look if you want," he offered. "Nnn...o," Charmian said slowly, her teeth creeping over her own lip; there was another collective blink, and Pakwa raised his eyebrows even as he lowered his hand. "Thanks for the offer, Pakwa, but I think he would do better." And her stare settled on Augwak. "WHAT?" Augwak screamed right on cue. "Er...huh?" Pakwa added, scratching his head. Niskigwun--and most of the others--looked barely able to contain themselves, so she turned to face them, spreading her arms. "I know, I know...but it's just a hunch I have. I know he's lost most of his power but Pakwa, well, he's not so much a Wendigo anymore, is he? Just take a look at how well Augwak's held out all this time despite his powers being gone. If it were Pakwa, he'd be dead by now." "Er...all right," Pakwa said, still not sounding convinced. "You mean even though he's a complete wimp, Augwak can better handle all this snow and cold," Thomas said, trying not to frown too hard. Charmian ignored the way that Augwak started hopping up and down, swinging his clenched fists in a threatening manner. "I know it sounds dumb but yeah, that's it. Pakwa might be stronger but Augwak better knows what he's doing." The GeeBee ogimah raised one fist and opened his mouth wide to rail at her, then blinked when he realized what she'd said, then didn't seem to know what to do. "And if he gets killed in the process then it's no big loss," Charmian made sure to add, glaring at him, and he gnashed his teeth and began letting out his angry teapot sound. "You know FULL WELL I'm on my last leg, fleshling! Yet you keep sending me out to do these ludicrous tasks! You must WANT me dead!" Then before she could open her mouth he whirled around and popped up into the air, arms spread. He glared over his shoulder. "What in the hell am I looking for NOW?" Charmian blinked in surprise, then her mouth clicked shut. "Animiki," she said at last. "Or rather, why Little Wind thinks they might be nearby. Anything out of the ordinary. Whatever it is, find it and come back to tell us." Augwak grimaced, showing his teeth. "'Anything out of the ordinary'! That certainly narrows things down!" And he zipped upwards and sped off with a gust of wind. There was a brief silence. "Well," Thomas said at last, "that was rather odd." "Kind of expected him to piss and moan a little bit more than that," Charmian agreed. She rubbed her head. "I must be wearing him down!" She turned to look at Moon Wolf and spread her hands. "Well--? Did I do it right?" Moon Wolf lifted a shoulder. "We'll find out when he returns, or not." "I suppose we just keep walking until then," Thomas said, taking Charmian's arm when her face started to darken at the wabano's vague answer. "Nothing we're not used to." Winter Born came jogging back to join them, panting a little bit. "Marten...Marten turned into a flea and hopped up on Old Man Mishosha's shoulder," she said, making Charmian wince at the potential stupidity of this ruse. "He came back and told me that he doesn't seem to be doing anything, at least, not that he can tell. But then Old Man Mishosha gave me this look, so I think he knew what we were doing." "Yeah, kind of figured that," Charmian sighed. "Well, at least that's one thing we don't have to worry about..." She trailed off, staring at the western sky ahead. "Don't tell me he wussed out already," she grumbled, seeing a dim shape flying back their way. "Is that really Augwak?" "Yep," Pakwa said; then, "Can smell him," he said when they looked at him, then he shrugged when they just looked at him harder. "Can't help it that your noses must all be broken!" Charmian crossed her arms as Augwak came to a not-too-graceful landing in the snow. "You better have a damn good reason for coming back--!" she snapped, but he sliced one bony hand through the air to cut her off, which just made her start steaming. He gasped for breath, but she couldn't be sure if it was from his weakened state, of from actual exertion, seeing how short a time he'd actually been gone. "You...you said anything out of the ordinary!" he wheezed. "Well, that's what I found! The land gets different not too far from here! It changes!" "Huh--?" Charmian blurted out, then took an abrupt step forward. "The plains! Is it the plains--? Are we finally there--?" "No," Augwak said, and her face went crimson. "How would I know! I don't know these 'plains' you keep blathering about! But that's just it!" He hopped up and down, seeming rather excited now, and that perplexed her considering his earlier foul mood. "The snow and storm! Some distance away from here, it completely stops. The ground isn't snowy anymore. There are a few flakes, sure, but nothing at all like this. It's like it just--cuts off!" "Cuts off...?" Charmian thought about this for a moment, then turned to the others and said, "Kabebonikka...we're already out of his realm, so he has power here--so why would he just cut it off?" "Maybe he hasn't gotten that far yet?" Winter Born suggested. "Or maybe he has no reason to keep it up that far," Thomas said. "Didn't you have some sort of agreement with him about reaching the west...?" "He said if we made it to the plains, then he'd call his snow back." Charmian's face lit up. "That MUST mean we're even closer than ever! And that must be why Little Wind thought to start looking for the Animiki. His manitou noticed the break in the snow before we ever could." "Well, so we're close," Augwak said, his enthusiasm dying as he just made a sour face. "Seems like that's what you KEEP saying! If we're so damn close then how come we never GET there?" Charmian threw a wad of snow at his head. "Don't ask me, you moron! I've never been this far west either!" She dusted her hands. "But if Little Wind's senses are right..." She shut her eyes again. "Chakenapok! Can you still sense me--?" Not that well, Mainlander, his voice came, very faintly. If you need to speak to the Red Swan... "No, it's not that," Charmian said. "I know you can't sense me very well but can you sense anything else nearby--? Like Animiki?" Thunderbirds...? She felt his confusion, but he fell silent for a moment or two before answering. I...do think I sense something like them, he said at last, seeming surprised. At least, something that feels like the being who came to the Island. West of you. But I can't be certain how far or how many. See. Charmian flinched a little when she felt a sort of tug, realizing that Chakenapok must be passing on what he sensed to Apakwaanaajiin so that Charmian could sense it too. And then she did, and she took in a breath, slowly rising onto her tiptoes while the others stared at her in puzzlement. "I...I feel it too!" she whispered. "Little Wind was right...they can't be too far away! I bet we could even reach them--!" No sooner were the words out of her mouth than she heard a small cry from ahead, and her eyes popped open and her breath flew out of her with a whoosh. Kenu, still walking ahead with the others, was jumping up and down and pointing at something they couldn't see. He began whooping and dancing in circles, feathers bobbing. "ANIMIKI! ANIMIKI! I'VE FOUND MY TRIBE!!" He flung his arms out and a bright crackle snapped in the air around him. Niskigwun, still standing with Charmian's group, let out an odd strangled sound before zipping away, his wings buzzing as quickly as Cheengwun's, and an instant later he'd thrown himself atop the little Thunderbird and crushed him to the ground. Everyone gawked when the Michinimakinong gave a bloodcurdling scream that made Charmian's hair nearly stand on end; she grimaced, having seen the crackle that passed over him as well. She and the others raced back toward the main group, where Peepaukawiss was helping Niskigwun to his feet; Niskigwun, for his part, staggered a little, wheezing; little tendrils of smoke still arose from his feathered headdress. Winter Born saw a tiny flame licking at his wingcase and gasped before hurrying to bat it out. Kenu sat smushed into the snow, the most awful look imaginable on his face. "What was that ALL ABOUT?!" he bellowed, his eyes scrunching up. Charmian stooped down to grasp his arm and help him up. Marten dusted the snow from his clothes and fluffed out his feathers again. "If you transform right in the middle of all us who knows what you might do!" Charmian chided him, trying to keep herself from sounding too accusatory; she had to remind herself of his age. "Take a look what happened to Niskigwun just trying to stop you. We know the Animiki are there. It's better if you try to call them before they freak out and come down here thinking we're KIDNAPPING you like before!" "Oh!" Kenu exclaimed, blinking in surprise. "That's right! They might not know about all of you yet!" He spread his arms again, waving at her when she raised a hand. "I'll just call them down! And tell them everything's all right! I'll clear it right up, you'll see!" Charmian let out a breath, then gave Niskigwun a sympathetic look, but he still seemed too dazed to bother being angry about his singed state. Kenu took in a great breath and then--the ground seemed to shake when a booming CRACK split the air, and everyone stumbled, but at least nobody else had been electrocuted or squashed or whatever would have probably happened otherwise. There was an answering boom from the clouds gathering in the west, and they began roiling and surging forward at an alarming rate. Little Wind, some distance ahead by now, halted and stared at them before slowly shrinking down to the ground, but they passed over him without noticing. Charmian watched in awe as gigantic birdlike shapes began forming in the sky, their eyes flashing as their beaks opened and closed. "Don't think I'll ever get used to this," she murmured. "Well, at least they won't attack us this time," Thomas said; then, "Probably." Charmian made a face. The clouds descended and started breaking into separate shapes which drifted toward the ground. Charmian's hand snaked out to grasp Thomas's arm as the lead cloud rolled their way over the snow, still flashing and grumbling, but this reaction seemed much more subdued than Ishkode-Aanakwad's arrival had been. Kenu broke from the group and jogged over to stop in front of it, throwing his arms wide. It looked like he was trying to stop some sort of monstrous storm creature from attacking them, and for an instant Charmian expected him to either get bowled over or enveloped in it, which was why when the cloud flashed and abruptly transformed it surprised her so much. |