The Arrival
LONG AGO, BEFORE even the moon was within the sky to count off the months, Gitchi Manitou, the Great Spirit, arose and created upon the waters an island, that all of his creations might have a place to rest and to build their homes upon, an escape from the dark waters which enclosed it on all sides. Upon this island was placed every manner of animal, from the great moose and bear down to the smallest mouse and sparrow, as well as other creatures, stranger creatures...the Wendigo giants, with their long limbs and hearts of ice and their implacable thirst for blood...the Maemaegawaese, Mizauwabeekum, and Pukwudjininees, or the small people who lived within the earth and trees...the Nebanaubae, or those people who lived within the water and swam like the fish...and the manitous, some animallike in appearance, others more human, each of them with their own powers over the wind and the earth and the fire and the water. In time, Geezhigo-Quae, the Sky Mother, descended to set foot upon this Island, blessing it with her presence and taking it over as Gitchi Manitou retired from his creation forever. Geezhigo-Quae loved this Island dearly, and held it near to her heart as if it were her own.
Outside of and beyond this Island, however, there lurked other creatures, among them the Mishupishus, or the great Underwater Lynxes who forever dwelled within the dark waters surrounding the land. These creatures, with darkness in their hearts, envied the happiness of all those who lived upon the earth, but they were not strong enough to sate their anger, and so were forced to bide their time patiently, always waiting just off the shore. Within the sky lived the Animiki, or the Thunderbirds, and it became their duty to watch over the Mishupishus, hurling lightning at them whenever they attempted to threaten the Island; and in this way the land was protected from those who might hurt it, and all upon it flourished under the watchful eye of the Sky Mother.
Among the powerful manitous was one known as Megissogwun, the Pearl Feather, who was known for his pride and cruelty, for even the manitous are not perfect beings; as such, when he approached the Sky Mother and demanded that he be allowed to take her as his wife, his demand was rejected, and he was told to leave her presence, for it was not meant that the Sky Mother should be aligned with a manitou whose heart was so dark and whose spirit was so cruel. Megissogwun, however, was not one to take refusal so easily; and he quit the Sky Mother's presence, vowing to take his revenge upon that which she held most dear.
All knew of Megissogwun's great power, yet none knew of the influence he wielded among the other creatures who envied the Island its beauty and peace; thus all were caught offguard, when a great army of the Mishupishus attacked as one, besieging the Island and roiling up the waters so that they splashed over its shores and up the sides of its hills. The Thunderbirds hurled their lightning to no avail, as none had ever seen the Lynxes act in such swift, organized concert, nor with such deadly intent. All creatures of the Island sought safety, yet many were killed in the great flood which overtook all the land; Geezhigo-Quae was spared when a great turtle offered its back for her to ride upon, and all she could do was watch as Gitchi Manitou's creation was destroyed, the last of the land sinking rapidly beneath the waves. From not far away, they were watched. The Pearl Feather had gotten his revenge.
Still, the Sky Mother was not one to let the whole of the Great Spirit's creation be obliterated so easily, and she quickly devised a plan whereby the Island might be born again. Enlisting the aid of the surviving animals of the Island, she sent down one after another, deep below the waves, to seek out a bit of soil to return to the surface. The beaver dove as deeply as he could, yet the water was too deep, and he was drowned. The otter attempted the swim, and proceeded even deeper than the beaver, but he too succumbed to his exhaustion long before he could reach the bottom. Out of all the animals, at last it was the lowly muskrat which made the dive, struggling to the very bottom and back up again, before all the life fled his body and he floated to the surface. The Sky Mother rescued him from the waves, and retrieved from his clenched claws the tiny bit of soil which he had managed to scrape from the hill of the submerged Island. She revived the drowned animals, and with this tiny bit of soil, placed upon the great turtle's back, she began the creation of a second Island, to replace that which had been lost.
It was known that the Pearl Feather could not be allowed to remain free, as he could just as easily return to destroy this second creation; and so out were sent the Four Winds, to seek him and subdue him before he might call upon his army of Mishupishus yet again. Shawondassee, the South Wind, fought him, but it was to no avail; Wabun, the East Wind, sparred with him, but Megissogwun was far more powerful. He nearly fell before the freezing blustering might of Kabebonikka, the North Wind, yet even he could not defeat the Pearl Feather. At last, Kabeyun, the fierce West Wind, took on the dark manitou and managed to subdue him. The Pearl Feather was defeated, and the safety of the new Island was ensured, and Geezhigo-Quae proceeded with her creation.
The second Island was created in the image of the first, yet of course, it was not exactly the same. Gone were the giant Wendigoes, as their power had been too great for the Island to withstand; the smaller, weaker GeeBees and Windwalkers took their place. The Mishupishus retreated further away into the great lakes, and the Thunderbirds retreated higher away among the clouds. The manitous and Nebanaubae and little people were joined by the Michinimakinong, the children of Geezhigo-Quae, who had taken their name from the Great Turtle who protected their mother and offered her shelter in her time of need, and whose back became this new Island; into their hands was entrusted this second Island, so that it would always be safe. And in time came the wolf demons, they who were known as the Ocryxes...and even later than this, there came those strangest beings of all, known to everyone as humans...
In time, the numbers of the humans upon the Island began to grow, so that the Michinimakinong, the protectors of the Island, could no longer live in secrecy; they sought out these strange newcomers, and offered their hands in friendship. They were greeted cruelly, however, as these humans, lost from the land of their birth, were afraid of the strangers, and met their offers of friendship with violence; at last, Geezhigo-Quae opened the Fairy Arch, the gateway to her own land, and it was through here that all of the Michinimakinong fled, and the gateway was sealed, and the Island was left to the humans, the GeeBees, the Ocryxes, and the manitous.
After yet more time had passed, another stranger came among the Islanders, one who did not look as they did, but whose skin was pale and whose eyes were the color of the lake; there were others like him, and not like him, who were to follow, but this could not have been known at the time. At last, however, knowledge of the strange Island reached the outside world, for better or for worse; and it was this stranger who first gave the name that the Island was to hold for the rest of its days. In the tongue of the Islanders, it had always been known as Manitou Miniss, the Island of the Spirits...but to those who came to see it afterwards, it would ever after be known as L'Ile Des Manitous...Manitou Island...
The water was as black as jet, and as smooth as a polished stone; as such the canoes easily sliced through it, paddling silently toward the distant shore. Their occupants sometimes glanced down at the water, sometimes up at the sky; but they did this always without speaking a word, although every so often, a handful of tobacco would be tossed out into the lake, and the canoes would just continue on their way. It was strange for the lake to be so still and silent.
The canoes were allowed to pass in safety, as their occupants were unimportant. Deep beneath the absence of waves, shapes which were blacker than black slid through the water, their eyes gleaming yellow-green, their horns glinting copper; they wound sinuously around submerged trees and rocks and sunken canoes littered with bones, sometimes looking toward the surface, more often looking toward the murky lakebottom. They reached the place of the towering rocks and half-submerged sea caves, and slipped silently within, making their way through the caverns, disappearing down hidden channels in the rock and deep within the earth.
Down here, there was no air, no light; still they swam, one after another, winding through the watery tunnels, picking their way through the labyrinth as if they had traversed it a hundred times. They spoke with each other without speaking aloud, their long tails flicking from side to side, sending silent messages from one to another.
The lake is still.
Not a wave.
As black as the night.
He will be coming soon.
Their eyes flashed and they would have smiled at each other, had their faces been visible. As it was, they picked up their pace, swimming ever further and further through the earth, occasionally meeting comrades swimming out of adjacent tunnels, sending their silent messages to each other, and gathering in numbers until a great horde of them made their way southeastward, their long bodies filling the tunnels of which no one else had any knowledge.
They swam all night, winding and sliding, twisting around hunks of waterworn rock and making their way closer to the surface. When it came, they swam out into open water again, and spread out, their numbers making the water black. Wavelets rippled here, but they did not care; he had said he would signal his return upon the great northern lake, and they had been listening, and now they were on their way to meet him.
The Turtle Island. He will go there...he will find the one who defeated him...and then that one will be no more...
And the Turtle Island will be no more...!
They swam toward the surface of the water, where daylight already was arriving, and watched as more canoes made their way past, these ones different, larger, and with no one tossing tobacco on the waves. They did not care. They were beyond caring for such piddling offerings, when they had been promised something so much greater in return merely for being here...
Soon...he will be here...
Their eyes glittered yellow-green. The canoes breezed past over their heads, and they crept up toward the sunlight, the tops of their heads at last emerging from the water. Their eyes fixed immediately on the shoreline in the distance, toward which the large canoes went, and then wandered up, to focus on the great stone Arch which loomed over the lakeshore far below.
He will be coming.
And we will be waiting for him.
The sun was just rising over the east shore of the Island, and the canoes were already making their way toward the harbor, loaded with furs and lined with paddles. Even though it was still just dawn, the town was coming to life already, people bustling around on the shore and awaiting the approaching canoes; in the buildings, tallies were being made, and in the streets, horses clopped back and forth, people loaded with packages following suit, everybody looking different from everyone else yet all somehow speaking the same language, with only a stray unintelligible word here and there. Nobody even bothered questioning it anymore. This was the way the Island had always been. The stores and shops opened, and everyone awoke for a day full of work just as any other, the sun rising higher and beaming down on the people pulling canoes ashore and unloading furs and taking count and selling whiskey and handing out food and yelling out commands and other exclamations. The Island town settled into yet another day of buying, selling, trading, and anything else its inhabitants might choose to do.
The sunlight hadn't yet fallen upon the west shore, which stood in direct contrast to the east and south shores, its sands silent as the waves lapped at the rocks below the sea cave which the Islanders were careful to avoid. A solitary shape crouched atop this, staring out over the water as a soft breeze drifted over him. His long pointed ears pricked, and a troubled scowl settled upon his face.
Augwak, ogimah of the Wendigo GeeBees, always tried his hardest not to let anything trouble him, except the thought of an empty stomach. Times had not been good for the GeeBees as far as securing fleshlings went, but they got by. Rather, it was the strange scent in the air which bothered him now; his nostrils flared and he tried to determine what it was, but he had never smelled anything like it before, and that fact troubled him. Strange things usually spelled trouble for this Island; and even though he did not much care for the Island as a being, still, it was his home, and his source of food, and he certainly cared when that was endangered.
What is it...? Is it a mainlander? A fleshling? Some strange one...? No, I have smelled my fair share of fleshlings, and this is not at all like them...if I were absolutely forced to describe it...I would say that it smells almost unpalatable, if that is even possible...
Where is it coming from, then...?
He lifted his head and sniffed a bit more. Frowned. Tilted his head to look downward, into the waters of the lake, and his frown grew.
The lake...?
He stared at its rippling surface for so long that his eyes began to hurt, and he had to blink them. He scowled--whatever it was, it smelled bad, hence it would not make good eating--and since it was not really doing anything just yet, he supposed that was all that mattered. With a snort he turned and started ambling down behind the top of the cliff, where it merged into a small trickling spring, and he hopped to the ground and made his way into the woods not far from the small inland lake. He licked his lips and started sniffing at the air for something more palatable. Perhaps some stupid fleshling would wander too close to the west shore, and today would be his lucky day.
He had not gone far when a moaning noise caught his attention, and he glanced skyward uneasily. The wind had picked up, rather abruptly, too; his brow furrowed as it only grew, the leaves starting to rustle, then shake, then flail around in the gust which suddenly descended. It seemed to come in off of the lake itself, and within seconds the air was roaring, and all thoughts of finding food fled Augwak's mind in an instant.
He held his hand up to shield his eyes, narrowing them against the gale of wind and leaves that whipped around him. He hissed and would have batted at the air had he known it might make a difference, yet as it was, all that he could do was shield his face until it might die down. He ground his teeth together, however, and made a mental note that whoever was causing all this fuss would likely make a decent meal.
The gust finally began to wane, the branches of the trees slowing in their frantic whipping; the GeeBee started to lower his hand, snarling at the air, though he could see nothing but the woods around him. He looked from left to right and hissed again.
"All right!" he snapped. "I know that was hardly any ordinary wind! Whoever you are, show your cowardly face and let's get this over with! If you came looking for a fight, then you've FOUND one!"
As soon as the words left his mouth, the wind died completely, and his ears pricked and rang in the ensuing silence. He made a face and rubbed at them as if they hurt, turning in confused circles. There was nothing there, not even a bird or a squirrel. What then had that all been--?
"Are you the most powerful upon this Island?"
Augwak bristled, then leapt up and around, landing on all fours with a hiss. He blinked in surprise to see that now someone had joined him. His eyes wandered up, as the newcomer was tall, and finally alit upon his face...his shoulders were broad, his entire build sturdy and menacing, and he wore a breechcloth and moccasins adorned with quills of red and black and yellow, forming patterns of arrows and warclubs. A full set of feathers decorated his head, three standing upright, the rest cascading down through his long black hair; war paint was upon his face, and a stylized design of a feather was tattooed over his breast. What was oddest was that he was decorated from head to foot in numerous strings of beads and shells and animal claws, to the point of appearing rather ostentatious, and he even made a rattling noise when he moved his foot. His arms were crossed and he stared down at Augwak with a dull, almost bored look on his face.
Augwak's nose wrinkled. "What?" he snapped.
The big man lifted his head just slightly. "I asked, are you the most powerful upon this Island?" he said, again in the same deep deadpan voice. He looked and sounded as if he wanted to yawn more than anything, and this fact infuriated Augwak.
He bared his teeth and crooked his claws. "Who's asking?" he hissed. "Because as I said, if you're looking for a fight, then you've found one RIGHT HERE!"
The big man's look grew even more bored, if that were even possible. "I take it you are not the most powerful upon this Island," he said.
Augwak lost his temper at this, letting out a strangled screeching sound and hopping up and down, fists clenched. "I'M STRONG ENOUGH, DUNGBALL!" he screamed. "You think you can just breeze in here and try to best me? Make a bigger wind, make a bigger impression? Then I'll have you know that I am OGIMAH of the Wendigo GeeBees, and if you seek someone to beat your brains in for you, then you've found the RIGHT party!"
The big man let out something that sounded almost like a sigh. "You do not look like the most powerful upon this Island," he said dully.
Augwak gnashed his teeth so hard that they hurt. "You want to find out so badly--?" he snarled. "Then FINE!"
With this, he leapt up into the air, arms extended. The big man tilted his head back to follow his progress as he flew up among the branches, then came soaring down at him. He didn't so much as move a muscle to defend himself, and Augwak's lip curled back with glee at the thought of getting the chance to rip something open, to start the day off much better. He swung his arm through the air, claws aiming straight for the big man's throat to tear it out.
He missed. Or, more accurately, he did connect with the man, though it wasn't his claws but the other man's fist that met him, slamming into the side of his face and driving his head almost all the way around. Augwak crumpled and crashed to the ground, pushing himself up with a pained grimace and rubbing at his jaw. He blinked the haze away and jerked his head up, staring at the big man in shock. He'd just--hit him--?
The GeeBee's eyes flashed and his face went livid. "You...think you can...come here and do THIS to me--?" he growled, muscles tensing so his arms and legs stuck out at odd angles. When the man just looked at him boredly he let out an infuriated shriek and leapt up again, diving straight at his middle. He held his claws out, ready to jam them through his gut and rip out his intestines if need be. Augwak had always preferred the liver or the heart to the intestines, yet in a pinch--
His fingers tensed in anticipation of sinking through the man's skin. Instead, a blow struck him on the other side of the head, and his neck snapped back, and he tumbled head over heels to land with a thud in a messy heap. He had to slowly disentangle himself this time, groaning and grasping his jaw in pain. He dragged his eyes open to see the man simply giving him that same blank stare.
"You are hardly that strong," he said.
Augwak blinked, and his chest hitched. He sucked in a breath and felt his eyes sting--then blinked the feeling away and scowled, bristling all over. He pushed himself upright and started stalking toward the man.
"You think this is funny...?" he wheezed, unable to control the shaking of rage in his limbs. "You think you can come here...and humiliate me...as if YOU own this place--? I'll have you know something ELSE!" He bared all of his teeth and held up his claws. "You have NEVER fought anyone like me!"
So saying, he let out a shattering bellowing scream, and flung his arms up; he spun around, and around, and around, and the gale of wind rose, leaves tearing from the trees and whipping in frantic circles. The big man lifted his head to look up at the whirlwind's might, and he even arched a brow as if impressed. Augwak's lip curled back again and he cackled, flailing his arms so that the wind began tearing at the big man's clothes and accessories, and he had to shield his eyes.
"HOW'S THAT?" Augwak yelled over the scream of the wind. "STRONG ENOUGH FOR YOU--?"
With a shriek of glee he jerked his arms forward. The gale rushed straight at the big man in one giant wall, and Augwak grinned and clenched his fist, ready to make it tear through his heart and rip out his insides and knock off his head--though of course, it should leave his liver and heart intact, as Augwak had not yet had his fill that day, and it had been quite a while since he'd sunk his teeth into a nice juicy liver--
CRACK. The wind didn't strike the man, or blow off his head, or blow through his gut; instead, the big man merely lifted his arm, and batted the gust away, so it smashed up into the treetops and shattered apart around them, leaves and branches falling to the ground. Augwak stared at him with his jaw hanging open, unable to believe what he'd just seen; the big man turned his head to give him that blank look, and seemed ready to sigh again.
"That was not very strong," he said.
Augwak gaped, then started huffing. All of his words fled him; as the big man started walking toward him, he dug his claws into his hands hard enough to draw blood, though he didn't even feel the sting. All that he could feel was the rage and confusion and disbelief surging up inside him--what sort of creature was this, that a GeeBee's--the GeeBee's--wind couldn't even faze him? As he came closer, Augwak at last caught a whiff of what he had scented from the lake--and this made him blink and pause momentarily, growing even more bewildered. When the big man towered over him, he started to shrink in on himself just a bit, his yellow eyes even larger and rounder than usual.
"What...what are you?" he whispered, ears quivering.
The big man's eye twitched, though not in amusement; it looked as if that emotion were beyond him. He crossed his arms and his nostrils flared.
"What I am is none of your concern," he said, "seeing as you are not the most powerful upon this Island. My words are for him alone." And with this, he brought up his foot--and Augwak didn't even get to let out a yelp, before his neck snapped back, and he went flying through the air, head over heels, to slam straight into a tree. It shook when he struck it, and he collapsed to the ground, dazed and with a line of blood trickling from his nose; he managed to shakily push himself up, blinking at the woods now swirling around him, but he did catch a brief glimpse of the big man as he approached once more. He hissed weakly and held up one hand, and ice shards flew at the stranger's face.
The big man simply held up his hand, and the ice evaporated into water which pelted harmlessly against his moccasin. Augwak raised his hand again, but the big man grasped it as if to shake it, and the next thing he knew, he was soaring through the air, a startled scream escaping his throat. His hand was let go and he slammed into another tree; before he could fall, his leg was grabbed, and with a yelp of panic, he started spinning through the air. His head struck a branch and he grimaced, his cry cutting off; a moment later he jerked to a stop, and found himself staring the big man in the face, the stranger's fingers wrapped around his throat tight enough to hurt yet not quite tight enough to strangle. Augwak's glazed eyes fixed on his as best as they could; he found steely gray-blue eyes staring back, and that was when realization finally struck him.
A--a manitou--!
"I am seeking the strongest upon the Island," the big man said; "You are not he"--and with that, Augwak went flying, spinning through the air like a whirligig, before slamming to earth with a sickening crunch, his limbs bent out at all angles and his eyes fogging over. He let out a tiny puff of a breath, but that was about it.
Dead silence filled the air. The big man stared at the pathetic GeeBee for a moment or two, then snorted, and turned away. He stood at the edge of the woods and looked upwards, his eyes moving as if he were searching for something; after another pause he let out one final snort.
"He is not here," he muttered, and turned back the way he'd come. "I will return when I know that he is." He started walking toward the shore, easily clearing a path through the dense trees and undergrowth around the cave. "This was a waste of my time."
With a series of loud rustling cracking noises, he disappeared from view, and the area behind the cave fell into relative silence once more. Augwak lay unmoving upon the ground, his body twisted at seemingly impossible angles and his eyes vacant...and after a while, with the slightest of breezing noises, one GeeBee, and then another, and then more, began to land at various distances around him, cocking their heads and crooking their claws and licking their teeth hungrily.
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