07/01/2006
06:56 PM
Currently the moon is in the waxing Half Moon phase (53% full).
Meadow by Lake Arthur
A large, open meadow spreads out before you, sloping down on one side to the shore of a clear blue lake. Scrawny field grasses sway slightly in a gentle breeze; scattered clumps of trees stand like outposts for the surrounding forest. Deer tracks crisscross the meadow, forming a network of lines through the grass. The deep forest of the northwest spreads out on three sides, balanced by the clarity of the crystalline lake.
To the west, the meadow slopes down to a rocky beach on the shore. An ill-kept dirt road enters the meadow from the north, marks a curving line between grass and trees along the meadow's northeastern border, and veers eastward. A bumpy trail, scarred with the tracks of a dirtbike, forks away from the main road and passes beneath the trees to the southeast. Several overgrown trails lead off into the deeper forests to the south and southwest.
Obvious exits:
Forest Rocky Beach Road North
Jacinta has arrived.
This arctic wolf's thick, cream coat seems almost yellow when touched by the sun. She's not large, but her stocky frame seems sturdy enough. Perhaps despite her thickness of body, there is an air of alertness about her. It can be seen in the deep brown of her eyes, the cant of her ear, and the facility of each step.
Red-eyed and still sniffling, Veronica sits facing the lake. Her arms are wrapped around her knees, the rest of her covered in a green rain poncho. Wet hair hangs in her face, and her visible clothing is muddy and soaked.
From the edge of the clearing, still safely hidden from prying eyes, a lone, white wolf peers into the meadow. She sniffs several times, and her ears twitch this way and that as she hunts out any signs that others might be nearby. Satisfied, she steps out into the thick, damp grass. Lifting her muzzle, the wolf calls out with a quiet, plaintive howl, just loud enough to carry across the meadow.
The plastic-swathed girl's eyes go round at the sound. Her breathing accelerates and her pulse pounds. She goes very still for a long moment. One hand emerges from the poncho to brace on the ground, then she slowly twists her body towards the sound. The other hand pushes the hood of the poncho away. She searches for the source of the howl, disregarding the rain now pattering onto her head. "Hello?" she says softly, not really expecting a response.
The wolf shakes some of the rain from her ruff and looks at the girl. There is a soft 'buff' of a sound, almost a reply, and she steps once in the girl's direction. Rich brown eyes study the form, and her nostrils quiver, trying to take in the scent from this distance.
The movement of white on green-brown draws the teenager's eye. Her lower lip quivers, then she braces her hands on the ground and starts struggling to her feet. "Ohshitoshitohshitohshitoshit," she whispers, gaze locked on the wolf. "Ohgodohgodohgod." The scent of fear mixes with the flowery smell of perfume and soap. Her purse, previously tucked under her knees, tangles underfoot, and she stumbles as she starts to back away.
The wolf, still more than 10 meters away, sits back on her haunches and lets her tongue loll. She tips her head a bit to the side, continuing to watch the girls, and her ears are pulled forward.
Veronica holds out one hand towards the wolf in a 'stop' gesture as she hunkers down to grab her handbag. "Nice dog. Nice dog." The thumping of her heart slows a fraction as she realises that the animal isn't about to charge her. "Nice puppy. I'm not going to hurt you." Then, she's at a loss. Indecision crosses her face as she tries and fails to take the next few steps away.
Pierces Ice remains seated, almost still except for the movement of her tongue as she pants lightly. Her head tips the other direction and then straightens, a large, almost comical yawn making her tongue curl before she returns to her slack jawed pant.
The girl peers at the wolf when the creature yawns. She pulls the strap of her purse over her shoulder, then one hand flicks the catch and opens the bag. She rummages inside, eyes still locked on the animal, eventually producing a cell phone.
Pierces Ice shifts smoothly, but quickly, through the forms until she reaches the one she was born to. She is dressed in the formal garb of her people, from wolverine and caribou headress to beaver and sealskin muqluks. "Put that away, child," she says in a calm, quiet voice as soon as her vocal chords are able.
Veronica's jaw goes slack, and she makes a faint whining noise. The phone thumps to the ground, its owner blinking frantically. "Uh uh. Uh uh," she finally manages to say in between short, frightened breaths. "Uh uh..."
Jacinta stands where she is, but her eyes follow the phone to the ground and the observant would note satisfaction. "Be not afraid, child. The spirits say you are ready for your calling."
"Sp...Sp...Sp..." Veronica tries to repeat the word and fails. One foot manages to 'unfreeze', and she takes a step backwards. "Spi...Spirits," she finally manages to say. "Is that...is that what you are?" Her voice comes roughly through a very dry mouth. Her eyes are still wide and bright with fear.
Jacinta still does not move, hands remaining at her sides. "In part. As you are, in part. As you will come to understand. It is time."
Veronica stares. "Is this a vision quest? A real...a vision quest?" She licks her lips, her mind still struggling to justify what she sees and hears. "Are you an ancestor? Am I dead?"
Jacinta shakes her head slowly. "Qanga. No. Not yet. The vision quest will come, but you are not yet prepared. You have much to learn before that day. Come. It is time to begin your instruction."
A thought occurs, and the girl takes another step away. "Who are you? Did my dad talk to you? Is he here?" Her panicked expression turns to a frown, and she looks Jacinta over again. "I don't have to go with you." Her voice wavers as she tries to sound defiant.
Jacinta still does not move toward the girl, but her expression takes on a slightly harder edge. The wind, which has been steadily coming from the south picks up a bit. "I do not know your father. I am Jacinta Amousuk Aketachunak. Nav'pagtuk Evunek. The spirits tell me it is time, and I do as the spirits say." She tips her head to the side and listens to the wind against the trees. She gestures, and a great gust comes from behind her, to the northeast, to swirl around and buffet the girl gently from the west. "Anuqa, Kayuanuqa. Caa?" Her voice can be heard above the wind, but almost as if it is a part of the wind itself.
Veronica flinches from the sudden shift in the wind, one hand coming up to shield her face from the rain. Her lips pull back in a grimace. "What did you say? Are you a shaman? What did you do? What are you doing?" She shivers, suddenly wet and cold again.
Jacinta gestures again and the wind shifts so that it comes from behind the girl. "I am like you. But I am trained, and you are not. Come with me, and I will be your teacher."
When the wind changes yet again, Veronica unconsciously follows its motion. Catching herself before she turns completely away from the other woman, she snaps her eyes back to the Garou. "Trained? I don't understand. What is this?" The confusion and fear are still there, but once more, they've abated. The girl shivers, moving one step nearer. "Just tell me what you are. What's going on? Please? I don't understand this indian stuff!"
"I am what you are," Jacinta begins. She drops her hand and the gusts of wind drop away as well. "I am Wendigo, called by blood to be Grandmother's Protector. I am Manitou. I am Carayak. I am Garou. Come with me, and I will begin your training."
"Can I do what you did?" She tries to wrap the poncho closer to her body. "All of that? Or is that what the training is...and can I call my brother? He was going to pick me up later, and if I don't call him, or if I don't come back, my dad'll call the cops. How long am I going to be gone?"
"Come," Jacinta says, and takes half a step back, body turning, though her focus remains on the girl. "All of this we will discuss, but it is best done where there will be no prying eyes, no interruptions."
Veronica closes her eyes, fighting with her fear and her misgivings. Then she takes another step forward. Then another. On the fourth step, her eyes open again. Despite her fear, she walks onward towards the other woman. The cell phone is forgotten in the grass.
Jacinta's eyes fall to the cell phone and she turns back to get it. "I will bring this for you."
Veronica glances back at it and freezes up again. She swallows hard a few times. "Okay," she eventually says, her hands clenching and unclenching as she tries to work through the nervousness now growing.
Jacinta snatches up the cell phone and puts it in the pocket of her kuspuq. Then, she leads the girl through the forest.
Veronica follows, demonstrating a remarkable lack of confidence, grace and woodland skill. She does have enough sense to take off the poncho, after getting caught on a few branches.
Jacinta pages: It's a several hour hike. Shall we handwave it with a single pose?
Jacinta pages: Or a couple?
You paged Jacinta with 'Certainly.'.
Jacinta makes no comment as the journey begins, not correcting or otherwise condemning the cub's forest ability. As they walk, she begins asking questions, surreptitiously removing the battery from the phone as she walks. She asks questions about the girl's family, and where they are from. Why she was by the lake, and why she was crying. And she asks if there is significance to the necklace she received from her mother that morning.
Veronica is reluctant and evasive with her answers, at least at first. Though she gladly talks about her brothers, her parents are a closed subject. When the questions about the lake come, she explains that she had a fight with her father over something, and she and her brother took a drive to cool down. She demanded to run in the open, and so her brother dropped her off, after making her promise to call him when she was ready to go back into Kent Crossing. The question about the necklace shuts the girl up for several minutes, and finally she answers that it was supposed to be a reward for not bothering her father about the powwow they were supposed to go to up north.
The trip continues for several hours. The hike at first fairly easy, and then growing steeper as they enter the foothills. Jacinta's questions continue, though she respects the girl's evasiveness and does not pursue too much when the girl attempts to evade. "You did not wish to go to the Potlatch?"
Jacinta goes home.
Jacinta has left.
Rainbow Lake(#2713RJ)
Long and narrow, the lake stretches a mile to the north and south, right at the heart of the woodland. Tall, silver beech trunks mix with the even taller evergreens and dominate the mountain valley. Where the canopy has been broken by a fallen tree, a riot of brambles and nettles have erupted, clinging to anything and everything and fighting for light among the thick forest. Underfoot there is a deep bed of mulch and last year's leaves, muffling any footfall.
Other plants have found a foothold where the beeches make way for the line of water. The edges of the lake are overhung by a wall of dark myrtle, their scent hanging sweet and heavy in the air, giving the place a dreamlike quality. The waters of the lake itself are a clear, unruffled indigo, dropping into bottomless darkness, with otherworldly reflections of the sky floating above the depths. Rainbow flashes of light play about the reeds and weeds that break the surface here and there, throwing colors into the air.
Part of the valley around the lakeside to the south is clear of trees, and often here in the brush and grass a small herd of three woods buffalo can be seen.
Contents:
Jacinta
Maqii
Obvious exits:
Longhouse Two Eagle's Bluff Blue Mountains
Veronica is in surprisingly good shape-the length of the walk tests her, but she's not gasping for breath. When the question comes, she goes quiet again, staring at the ground. "Yeah, I did. Dad said we wouldn't have time."
Jacinta grunts in reply to that as the two come over the rise to where the trees thin out by the shore of the lake. "Some parents do not understand as well as others," she says. "Did your mother ever speak to you of the Manitou?" Her tone is light, but there is an edge of importance underneath.
"One of dad's friends owns a spa named Manitou something. I think it was in one of the scripts, too. Mom doesn't talk about any real indian stuff." The cub looks out over the lake, taking a deep breath. "This is really beautiful," she adds softly, awe in her voice.
Jacinta gives a small smile ducking her head in a nod of appreciationg. "This is where you will begin your training. This is the home of our people. We are Wendigo." She moves over to the lake, bends down to take a sip from her hand, and then sits on the steps of the Maqii, gesturing for the girl to sit beside her. "Before we can tell your family where you have gone, we will need to know that they understand who they are. If they do not, we will have to allow them to think you missing, or dead. So, I will ask you questions, and you will try to find the answers, yes?"
Veronica looks around for a moment, deciding where to sit, then some classroom manners kick in, and she sits on the ground in front of Jacinta. She hides a brief moment of worry as she adopts a pose similar to the one she was discovered in. Her chin rests on her knees this time, and the poncho is already gone. "Okay. Yes."
Jacinta says "Your father had no time for powwows, and your mother knows little of her herritage." She allows her gaze to drift out over the lake, smiling slightly as she spots one of the bison grazing there. "What do you know of your grandparents?"
Veronica stares at the ground. "I didn't know any of them except my grandmother. Mom said she was..." She pauses and looks around again, trying to find the right words. "She said grandma was a drunk. And lazy. That was her mom. But I kind of remember grandma just being happy all the time. She died when I was four. Mom said she kidnapped me when I was a baby, for a couple of days."
Jacinta frowns. "That is sad." She pauses, expression uncertain and mildly unhappy. She lets her hands rest on her knees as she thinks, finally asking, "Does your mother have brothers, or sisters? Aunts or uncles that you have met?"
You say "No. They don't talk to us." Her voice and expression go flat, and she studies Jacinta's face. "I don't even know where they are."
Jacinta sighs deeply. "That is unfortunate. Your grandmother was not lazy. She was Garou. I believe. It is passed through the blood, but only a very few are chosen. If your grandmother did not tell your mother, it will be very difficult to explain to her, now. Perhaps, when you have learned what you need, we can find your mother and your brothers and tell them of their great herritage. But, I fear, for now, they cannot be told of you."
The tears slip free again, rolling down Veronica's cheeks. "I want to say goodbye to them," she says, digging her face into her legs for a moment. "I want to be what I'm supposed to be, because I know if I don't I'll just go crazy, but I want to say goodbye."
Jacinta frowns, slowly lowering herself to a crouch by the girl's side. "Perhaps you could write a letter. I can send it to my family and they can send it to yours. There would be no trace to this place, but you would be able to tell them that you are well."
"I won't tell them where I am, or what I'm doing, because I don't want your people to get into trouble. My dad's a shaman. He'd probably do something to them if he knew they had me. I promise I won't. I just want Bobby to know I'm okay. He's my brother," the cub rambles, struggling not to sob. "I really want to do this. I promise I won't tell them anything."
Jacinta juts her chin at the longhouse. "Later, you can write your letter. I will see that it gets mailed. Ii?" The last word sounds like an elongated ee-yee, and she inflects it like a question.
Veronica sniffles, rubbing her face along her forearm. "Yes?" She swallows, blinking furiously to stop the tears. "So, now what happens? What do I have to do?" She wraps her arms around herself loosely.
Jacinta nods once. "Assirtuq." She smiles as she stands once more. "Now you begin to learn. First, I will show you, slowly, what we are, so that if you should see others, you will know, and not fear. Then, I will tell you our greater purpose, and a little of our history." She smiles, then, and adds, "And, if your brain has not collapsed under the weight of all this new knowledge, I may teach you our laws." Taking a step backward she asks, "Are you ready?"
Veronica rubs her face with her forearm again. "Maybe. I think so." She stands up slowly. "Okay."
Jacinta nods. "We are shapechangers. Werewolves. Grandmother has seen fit to give us five forms to serve her needs. This one, we call Homid. It is the one you and I were born to, though that is not true of all our kind." Another step back, giving herself room, and she slowly adds muscle and height as she slips into Glabro. Through her overly large teeth, the beetlebrowed Ahroun says, "This, we call Glabro. It is the near man. In the next forms, I will not be able to speak in ways you understand, so I will say now."
Veronica shivers, caught between cold and worry again. "Okay." Her eyes grow wide at the shapeshift, and remain that way.
"The next is the war form, we call it Crinos. Then, I will take the war wolf form, Hispo. The final form is Lupus, the wolf, as you first saw me." As she says the final word, Jacinta moves smoothly upward into Crinos. She does not remain there for very long, however, just long enough for the girl to get a good look. Then she slides through Hispo and into Lupus. When she reaches the wolf form, she stops, settles onto her haunches and looks at the girl with a tilt of her head and a lick of her nose.
You say "You howled, right?" She steps to the side, looking over the wolf-form Ahroun. "Does every Wendigo turn into a wolf, or are there other Wendigo who turn into other stuff?"
Jacinta slides back up into Homid, remaining seated as she completes the shift. "Every Wendigo becomes wolf. There are other changers as well, but all Wendigo are wolf. There are also wolf-changers who are not Wendigo. But I will tell of those another time."
Veronica sits down again as well, taking her cues from the elder now. "What about silver? My dad got me these Navajo earrings once, but I didn't like them. They were silver, I think. I just remember them feeling weird."
Jacinta flinches at the thought of silver. "It is as the stories say. Silver can harm us where steel cannot. But these are details. You must be hungry after this hike. Come to the longhouse, and I will feed you dryfish and akutaq, and tell you our history."
Veronica gets to her feet. "What's akutaq?" she asks, managing a close-to-correct mangling of the unfamiliar word. She straightens her clothes, then waits for Jacinta to lead.
Jacinta has left.
You move through the low doorway into the longhouse.
Longhouse(#4045RAJs)
Six cedar posts form two rows of three pillars, holding up beams that run the length of the longhouse, and two more hold up a beam that forms the apex of the shallow roof. A small, square hole in the ceiling provides most of what little light is to be had in the day, and a fat-oil fed lamp under the hole supplies warmth and light in the dark hours. The walls of the building do a good job blocking the weather, with only a few stray cracks that have since been patched.
Spare planks for the walls and ceiling are stored along the ground on the sides, forming a wooden floor in the sleeping spaces. Cloth and hide hangs from the ceiling to the sides, dividing the sides off into individual personal spaces. The centre area of the longhouse has a simple, dirt floor, packed solid from being trod across; the slightly-off-centre area where the lamp is kept is ringed with rocks.
Contents:
Jacinta
Obvious exits:
Out
Jacinta smiles at Veronica's attempted pronunciation and takes her over to where the food is stored. "Akutaq," she says, as she passes some dried fish and venison jerky to the cub, "is sometimes called Eskimo Ice Cream. It's a good dessert." She takes a handful of salmon strips for herself, passes some on to the cub, and then settles on a pillow by the lamp. "Do you like stories?"
Veronica accepts the food carefully, juggling it in her hands until she has it balanced. "Yes." She sits on another pillow, setting the food on her knee. She takes a careful bite of jerky, and tries to get comfortable.
"Assirtuq," Jacinta says, and crosses her legs to begin. "I am not a Talesinger, so my words will not be so pretty as some. I am a Warrior, but I know the stories, and can tell them to you." She takes a bite of her dryfish, breathing through her nose as she chews. "Long ago, when the earth was new, Grandmother had many children, human and animal. Many of her human children were very beautiful, and many of the animal children wished to marry them. This is how the animal changers came to be. But grandmother did not want all of her human children to take animal children for their mates, and so some chose to marry other humans. These you can see all over the world, today. There are too many."
Veronica leans her elbows on her knees, studying the jerky for a moment before snapping her attention back to the elder. She nods slowly, obviously trying to absorb all of the story.
"One of Grandmother's most strong and beautiful daughters married one of the wolf children. Together they had three strong sons. Elder Brother was wise in the way of the Yua, the spirits. Middle Brother was strong in the ways of the heart, understanding people. Younger Brother was fierce in the ways of the warrior, a mighty hunter." She takes another bite of her fish and studies the girl before continuing. "Others of Grandmother's wolf children married human children and bore wolf-changer babes as well, but none were so close as the three brothers."
The food is disappearing quickly from Veronica's knee, but it's being eaten without an eye turned towards it. The cub is enraptured by the tale, her brow furrowed as she tries to understand what is being said.
Jacinta says "Now, this was long ago, and there was still a land that had no evil in it. None of the wolf-changer children lived in this land, yet, because Grandmother had chosen them to protect her from the evil. But one day the Horned Serpent came to this pure land, and with no protectors, he started to grow strong. He had many children in many parts of this land. Grandmother cried and cried and asked her wolf-changer children to go and protect her from the Horned Serpent. Most did not want to go. They did not want to leave their homes. But the three brothers went. They were honorable, and they loved Grandmother very much. Their wives and families came with them as they answered Grandmother's call and went to the new land."
There's a slight spark of recognition, but the cub keeps her tongue. She searches her knee, then her lap for any fallen crumbs of food, but doesn't take her eyes off of the tale teller.
Jacinta says "The way was hard, and Grandmother worried for her children. She sent three Tuunraq, Totem Spirits, to help. Uktena, master of the waters, became fast friends with Elder Brother. Turtle, the earth bearer, joined with Middle Brother. And Sasquatch, giant spirit of the forests, walked among Younger Brother's children." She stops for a moment, studying the girl. "The wolf changer children did battle against the Horned Serpent and their losses were great. Greatest were the losses to Younger Brother's children, because they were the fiercest of warriors, and they held the flank against the evil. One among the lost was the favored of Sasquatch. His grief when she fell was so great that it tore a hole in the world, and turned his heart to ice. No more was he Sasquatch, because of his pain, he became Wendigo."
Veronica mouths the word 'Tunnraq' and 'Sasquatch', trying to commit them to memory. She loses track of the tale for a moment, but her attention returns at the pause. Questions are starting to brew again as she listens.
Jacinta says "Wendigo had no mind for anything but vengeance. His heart is cold and he wanted only to devour his enemies. His cold heart turned the land cold, and covered it with snow. Elder Brother and Middle Brother feared that all of the new, Pure Lands would be killed by Wendigo's rage. But Younger Brother was not afraid. He told his brothers, "Go. Fight in the lands to the south. I will hold Wendigo here, in the north." And he did. Elder Brother and Middle Brother went south, to reclaim the rest of the new lands, but Younger Brother stayed in the north. He called to the Great Wendigo Spirit and asked what could be done to calm his rage. "Only one thing," he said. "Only if you promise to fight the Horned Serpent and all of his Children wherever you may find them." And so Younger Brother promised, and all of his children wear his promise."
You say "So, where is the Horned Serpent now?" She leans forward, wrapping her arms around herself. "Or did Younger Brother...um...Wendigo...did they kill it?"
Jacinta sits quietly for almost a minute, chewing the remnants of her dryfish before throwing the skin into the fire of the lamp. The fire flares briefly, and then settles. "The three brothers did slay the Horned Serpent in the Pure Lands, and they remained very close for a very long time. All of their children and their children's children remember how close the brothers were, and that they are brothers, too. And, for a while, this whole land was clean and free of the touch of the Horned Serpent. But then the Qassak's came. The whites. The Wyrmbringers. And they brought back the Horned Serpent, and they woke the sleeping banes that Elder Brother's children tended."
Veronica's eyes narrow a bit. Dutifully, she mouths 'Qassak', then cocks her head. "What's a bane?" she asks.
Jacinta clicks her teeth together as she considers how to answer. "A bane is the spirit of the Wyrm, the Horned Serpent. Some are small, some are large. The smaller ones we can destroy. The larger ones we can only put to rest, and watch so that we are ready to keep them slumbering should they begin to stir, or until we can find a way to destroy them forever."
Veronica blinks, her lips turning into a frown. "Are white werewolves just stupid or something?" She mouths the word again-'Qassak'-filing it away for future reference.
"Most," Jacinta replies without giving it much thought. "Some are worthy of respect. Most are greedy and lack honor, like their ancestors. There are thirteen tribes. Are you ready to hear their names?"
Veronica nods, licking her lips and going back to hugging her knees. "Okay." She closes her eyes a moment, murmuring her other new words to herself, then nods more and focuses on Jacinta again. "Okay."
Jacinta nods. "First, as you have already heard, Wendigo. We are Younger Brother's Children. We answer to the Great Spirit of the North. We understand his rage, and we share in it, but we also understand that he is mad with grief, and to let his rage free could do more harm than good. We must balance our rage with wisdom."
The cub's head nods once, silently. No questions this round.
"Next," Jacinta continues, "is Elder Brother's Children. Uktena. They are our brothers, and whatever needs they have, we will see to. We also worry for them, because they spend so much time watching over The Horned Serpent, and they keep too many secrets. We love them, and honor them, and we watch over them to protect them. We will not let them fall."
"Fall?" Veronica rubs her face with her arm again. "Are they dying?"
Jacinta chews on her lower lip, considering the cub's question. "It is possible to be born to Grandmother's wishes, and die a servant of the Horned Serpent. If you allow your heart to turn black, to become sick, if you follow the wrong path. Our brothers spend so much energy learning the ways of the Horned Serpent, it is possible their hearts will be turned. We must protect them from themselves, if it comes to that."
Veronica grinds her teeth, then tips her head so her nose rests on her knees. "Oh," is all she says, as she tries to imagine what such a thing must be like. "Are they indians too? Like Wendigo?"
"Brothers," the Fostern says with a nod, as though that clearly answered the question. "Third, Croatan. Middle Brother's children. They are all dead. All the Croatan, and the Great Earthbearer Spirit, Turtle, and all their families, wolf and human, gave their lives to defeat Eater of Souls. That is a story best left for a Talesinger, but know this. We mourn Middle Brother's death. We grieve his loss, while others simply forget. And we know that he gave everything for Grandmother. Middle Brother is gone, but we will not forget his sacrifice, nor will we forget the qussaqs, the wasichu, who caused this need."
More words to learn, each one tested, then tucked away. Veronica's eyes drop closed again as Jacinta speaks of grief and loss. Again, it looks as though memory may be stirring. Then the cub is watching again, waiting for the next story.
"Of those who came later, some are white or brown or yellow, but not Wyrmcomer." The last word is almost spat out. "The Children of Gaia are, as a tribe, okay. They offer respect where it is due. They strive for peace, above all else. There is a time for peace, and there is a time for war. I hope they understand the difference."
Veronica's head bobs again, to show her understanding. There's no sign the girl is getting bored, though she's glancing at the food storage every so often now.
Jacinta seems to notice the girl's glance, and she rises as she continues. "The Silent Striders were born in Egypt, and their home is gone. The Horned Serpent controls it all. We understand their grief, but yet they confuse us." She looks up, in the midst of scooping something vaguely white into a bowl. "We are wolf changers. It is our way to walk with a pack, to claim a territory and remain there for as long as the food is good and we can hold it. The Silent Striders walk alone, and they do not stay. They will not stay anywhere until they can return home."
Veronica watches the bowl intently, but nods her head again.
Jacinta returns with two bowls, each with a wooden spoon, and full of white, fluffy glop, slightly frozen berries mixed in. "The Stargazers, though I have not seen any for some time, and only met one, I can tell you a little. The one I met was strange, but seemed to possess much wisdom. He was a ragabash, a trickster, and was good at his job. My elders tell me that the Stargazers are the most like us of all of those from afar. I know that they are not the land stealers that the qussaq tribes are."
Jacinta pages: If she's had pemican, it's a bit like that. It's the eskimo version of a pretty common native dish. This is made with fat, boiled fish, and berries, and just a bit of sugar. All whipped up almost as whipped as frosting.
You say "They're warriors, too? And wise, like we're supposed to be?" She holds out a hand for a bowl, licking her lips and trying to figure out exactly what the contents are. "Are there ragabash Wendigos? Like...um...coyote and raven were tricksters?"
Jacinta gives a nod as she hands over the bowl. "Yes. Ragabash is one of the auspices. I will tell you more of those when we finish the Tribes." She sits, cupping her bowl in her hand. "Bone Gnawers. The Bone Gnawers are survivors. They have always been the lowest of the Tribes, always looked on badly. But they are honorable. They will keep their word, if they can. And they will be here when the last of Grandmother's Children have fallen. They are often dirty, often unfed, or unwell. But they have a strength of spirit none can break."
Veronica takes the bowl and takes a spoonful of the glop. Into her mouth it goes. The cub looks confused for a moment, then starts working the food around in her mouth, letting herself get used to the new taste. There's another moment of revelation, then the girl smiles faintly. "Grandma made this once," she murmurs.
Jacinta smiles a bit, brows rising and falling quickly. "The Black Furies are a tribe all of women. They are a little unbalanced, because they do not accept that men are also important. They are strong, and they understand that we must keep what clean places we have left. And, from what I have seen, they have honor. Another Tribe is unbalanced in another way. Do you remember I said that some of the wolf-changer children are born of wolves?"
Veronica shakes her head, another spoonful of the 'eskimo ice cream' already keeping her quiet. "MmMm." She swallows thoughtfully. "Or I forgot already. Sorry..."
Jacinta takes in a slow breath and mentally backs up. "You and I were born to homid form, born of humans. Some were born to lupus form, born of wolves. Once, it was even, half of our number, or more, were wolf-born. The first of Younger Brother's wives was wolf. But, with our lands destroyed by the Wyrmcomers and qussaqs, there are very few of our wolf-brothers left. The Red Talon tribe is made up only of wolf-born. They have a great anger, like ours, for the stupid qussaqs who destroy our homes. They forget that this land was once ours, and that they stole from us, as well." She drifts off for a moment, thoughtful. "But they did not lie. They did not break vows. They came as wolves and claimed land as wolves, and we understand this. And we understand their rage as they understand ours."
Veronica looks thoughtful for a moment. "So...qussaqs. They destroyed the land and now we're all screwed up because of them? And they're still here? That's stupid. We should kick them out of our land." She frowns and digs in her bowl. "I guess that part's next. Why we haven't kicked them out yet."
Jacinta takes a bite of akutaq and stops with the spoon still half in her mouth at the final question. Swallowing, she answers. "The qussaqs, the White People. Our ancestors signed contracts with theirs, made treaties that they disregarded. Now we are too few, and they have too much power. It is too late. And the Horned Serpent is too strong for us to spend our time fighting them. But we /remember/ what they did. We /remember/ that the Wyrmcomer Tribes are not to be trusted."
"Which ones are those?" Veronica takes another spoonful of akutaq, licking the spoon clean to make sure she gets all of the mixture.
Jacinta takes several bites of akutaq, scraping the bowl with her spoon, before she answers. "Fianna, Get of Fenris," she tics off on her fingers, "Shadow Lords, and Silver Fangs. These are the Wyrmcomer Tribes. Individuals may surprise you, but as a group, they are not to be trusted. Also, the Glass Walkers. Not truly among the Wyrmcomers, are almost all qussaqs, and almost all without honor."
The names are repeated, filed under 'bad people', next to qussaq and Wyrmcomer. Veronica's bowl isn't quite cleaned, not that she isn't working on solving that. "Are there any more? I wasn't counting." She shovels herself another spoonful of dessert.
Jacinta looks down into her bowl quiet for a moment. "Of the Tribes? Only one. And this one you must remember." She lifts her chin, piercing dark eyes on the girl's face. "No matter how much we disagree, or distrust those tribes I have already mentioned, remember that all of us serve Grandmother. This last does not. If you see one give no quarter. Call for aide, run if you are outnumbered, until you can find your pack, but do not let one live while you have breath to spare. These are the Black Spiral Dancers. They are Fallen Garou. As a Tribe, they serve the Horned Serpent, and there is no return. Only death can set them free." There is, despite the force of her words, a hesitation in her expression at the end, and a caught breath, as though she might have said more.
You say "How do you tell the difference?" The girl sounds timid, her last spoonful of akutaq halfway to her mouth. "Do they look different? Are they all qussaq?" The word sounds almost right. She frowns a bit, and finishes the spoon's journey. Swallowing quickly, she fires off another question. "Is there more about them than what you said?"
Jacinta's lips purse and she puts the bowl down beside her. "I call you Wendigo because it is in your blood. But you will not be Wendigo, truly, until the day of your Rite of Passage, when you stand before The Great Spirit and he claims you as his own, and as adult. The same is true for other Tribes, and for some, the blood does not matter. A wolf-born found by a Red Talon will be raised by them, Rited by them, no matter their blood. Uktena takes in many children not of his blood, or whose blood is not pure. We are more careful." Her gaze turns to the flame of the lamp and rests there for a while. When she turns back to the cub she begins again. "Just as you will not be Wendigo until you are claimed by him, one born of Dancer parents is not evil by birth alone. It is the choices she makes, that prove whether she will become His Servant. If she is raised by His Servants, it is likely that is the path she will follow, but if she is raised and Rited by Grandmother's Children? She must make the choices. You cannot tell the darkness of a soul by looking at the face. You must look at the actions. Grandmother gives us gifts, Cikiun, like the power to bring the wind that you saw me use today. To some she gives the power to sense the nearness of the Horned Serpent."
"So. They all choose to be Horned Serpents. We know what we are, Wendigo and Red Talons and the other tribes, but they walk away from us, and go join the Horned Serpents. Black Spiral Dancers. Right? That's why the only good thing we can do for them is kill them?" Veronica sets her bowl and spoon aside as well. "Do I get to learn how to find them?"
Jacinta does not stem the grin of pride the fills her expression. "You will learn how to fight them, but you may not be able to learn to feel His presence. It is a gift she reserves for the Angalkuq, the Shaman. You were born under a Gibous Moon. That makes you Talesinger. Grandmother has other Cikiun for you."
Veronica's returning smile is hesitant, but it comes. "Which one are you?" She says after puzzling out the next new word. "How many...jobs are there? Trickster, Talesinger, An-gal...um...shaman."
"There are five," Jacinta says. "We call them Auspices. They are the paths Grandmother and Luna have chosen for us, and we can tell them by the shape Luna takes overhead on the night we are born. A full moon, as I was born under, is the Ahroun, the Warrior. Luna says I should be a leader in the ways of war. The gibbous moon, that you were born to, is the Talesinger, the Galliard. Singers, dancers, crafters, storytellers, teachers. My father, Waasuk Okitkun, Driftwood Dances, was a Gibbous Moon. He crafted many things from the driftwood that came to Nunam Iqua."
You say "Do we have to be all of that? I failed art. My sculptures sucked." She cocks her head. "And I'm not good at teaching stuff, either. Are there tests, or just the vision quest, and the Rite of Passage you said happens, too?"
Jacinta shakes her head slowly. "No. You will find Luna's calling. My father was also famous for his drumming, but was no singer. There will be a test for you, as part of your Rite of Passage. But you will have much training before then, do not fear. You may also find that, as you come to understand who you are, you are better at things the qussaq school told you that you could not do. The other Auspices are the half moon, called Philodox, or Way Keeper, the judges and arbiters of our kind; the crescent moon, the Angalkuq, Shaman, or Theurge, who know the spirits better than any other; and the Ragabash, the Tricksters or Heyoka. They are the ones to question, to make us remember why we do what we do, and to scout ahead in war."
The frown comes again, and Veronica bites her lip. "I shouldn'tve kept asking all those questions, then? I just wanted to know the whole story. Was that okay?" She hides her mouth again.
Jacinta supresses a small grin, but turns warm eyes to the cub. "You are a cub. It is important for you to learn. Asking questions is the best way to ensure understanding. The Ragabash," she hesitates a moment, "It is their duty to ask questions, to draw understanding from others and make sure that the one they questions understands. It does not mean that others cannot ask. Just as I am a Warrior Moon, still I dance, sing, and drum, and I craft things as well as I am able. But my calling is to War."
Veronica smiles a bit. "This is the first time I've ever felt like I was in the right place," she says. "No matter how much people liked me, or how I did in school, or what I did at home, I never felt like I was where I was supposed to be. This feels like what I'm supposed to be doing. I just don't want to mess up now."
Jacinta takes the girl's bowl and retrieves her own. Her expression reads the open question, more? if Veronica is any good at reading bodylanguage. "You will do fine, Veronica. You will do fine. There is more information you need, but I think it can wait until you have slept. And soon, we will work on teaching you to feel the wolf inside. Ii?"
The cub nods to the unspoken question, then looks around the building. "Am I sleeping in here tonight?" she asks, her smile growing. "That'd be cool. What does that word mean?" She tries to pronounce 'Ii' and again, almost gets it right.
"Ii means yes in the language of my people," Jacinta answers readily. "I am Yup'ik. I was born in Nunam Iqua, which means the End of the World. It is very far from here, in the north where Wendigo is still strong." She gestures to the sleeping planks and blankets. "You will stay here for the early parts of your training. Later, we will take you further afield. In the days to come, I will take you to the place I protect, with my pack. It is Grandmother's Sacred Heart, and the reason there are Garou in this place."
Veronica looks over the sleeping spaces, leaning back from her 'bundled up' position to see what isn't obvious. "My dad says we're Cherokee. I don't think we are." She lets go of her knees and sits more comfortably. "Are you staying here too, or am I by myself?"
Jacinta considers for a moment before answering. "I will stay, tonight. Most nights I stay on the bawn, protecting Grandmother's special place. There will be others here as well, though. Desiree is kin. If you see her, you will know, because she is big with child. Most nights she sleeps here, and her husband, another Warrior of our tribe, will stay here when the moon is small." She pauses and then says, "One thing you will learn, once you have found your wolf, is that the pull of the moon is strong, particularly on those of us born when she is big. It is harder to remain calm when she grows full in the sky."
Veronica nods slowly. "So, be careful around people on big moons? Try not to go and get angry?" She chews her lip. "Okay. I should stay near here, then, huh? So I don't hurt anyone, because I don't know what I'm doing?"
"For now, yes," Jacinta answers. "And, because Desiree may return here, we may move you to the cave in a few days, until you have learned control, or until the moon is smaller." She smiles, then, "Do not worry. This longhouse was only built this summer. For two winters even the kin stayed in the cave. It is not a bad place."
Now the elder's reading her thoughts, because at the mention of the cave, Veronica's lip gets chewed more. "Okay. I just...um...I don't know anything about being out in the forest like this. I'll try not to get angry. Sometimes I just can't help it, though." She starts wobbling to her feet, yawning hugely. "Thank you, elder."
Jacinta puts the dishes to the side, to wash later, and picks up a pile of bedding. "Ii. Be yourself. I will stay with you, tonight, and soon I will introduce you to others of our tribe. There are not many of us, but more than there once were. And there are a few others that I will trust with your teaching, once you have begun." She carries the blankets to the bedplanks and begins laying them out. "You have shown, already, that you will be an adept student. I look forward to our many days together."
Veronica follows Jacinta to the place she's setting out the blankets, and starts trying to help. Bedmaking is something she knows. She keeps herself out of Jacinta's way as much as she can. "Thank you," she says again, straightening one corner of the bedding.
Jacinta leaves the rest of the bedmaking to the cub. "Sleep well, young one. I have some rituals to which I must attend before sleep, but you are welcome to join me for my run in the morning?"
Veronica nods vigorously. "I always run in the morning. That'd be cool. Thank you. Maybe in the morning I can write to my brothers?" She finishes the bed, then takes off her runners and sets her purse beside the blankets.
Jacinta glances toward a pile that includes a backpack and cardboard box off in one corner. "Ii. After the run, and then I will give you homework while I take your letter to be mailed." She smiles at the girl as she nears the doorway. "I will not be far, but this Rite must take place out of doors. Sleep, now, and I will return before long."
Veronica pulls back some blankets and slips herself into the bed. "G'night, elder," she says, wriggling down into the blankets. Her eyes are already dropping shut. "See you in th' morning."
"Good night, cub," is the reply as Jacinta picks up her drum and heads out the door. For a while there is a steady drumming, almost the sound of a herd of large animals running along at not quite a stampede. Later, the sound is different, somewhat more eerie. If the girl wakes during the night, Jacinta is there, but wolf formed and sleeping just inside the doorway.
Veronica sleeps the night through, tossing and turning once or twice. The combination of the long hike, the long lesson and the stress of everything she's seen and learned puts her out like a light.
-Fin-
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