The Third Degree
CHARMIAN BLINKED UP at the unkempt little girl seated upon her chest, her own back pressed into the wet sand of the east shore; the Fairy Arch rose up above them. The girl grinned and it looked as if she were missing half of her teeth, her dark hair sticking out in various directions as if it had never been introduced to a brush. Her feet were even muddier than Winter Born's.
"Huh--?" Charmian blurted out, confused.
The Arch shimmered and Thomas and Niskigwun came out, the Michinimakinong grabbing onto Thomas's hand to keep him from falling as Charmian had. The two of them spotted her sprawled on the beach and their eyes widened; they hurried down toward her, Pakwa drifting overhead with a blank look on his face, and Niskigwun picked up Turtle while Thomas helped up Charmian.
Charmian rubbed at her head. "Where--where did she come from--?" she asked, glancing at Turtle in confusion.
Niskigwun let out a heavy sigh, as if the weight of the entire Island rested upon his shoulders. "None have yet determined how she does this," he said wearily, and Turtle started wriggling her legs, still grinning from ear to ear.
"I want to beat the big Lynxes too!" she exclaimed, bobbing her head. "I bet I could! My papa's the strongest person EVER, and he beat a big Lynx once, and I bet he could do it again! I bet I could beat a Lynx without even trying. I would just go up to it and say, 'You know, Lynx, I could beat you bad just like Papa did, because I'm just like him too!' And the Lynx would say, 'What do you mean, you could beat me?' And I would say, 'Just like I said, big Lynx, just like Papa did,' and the Lynx would say--"
Charmian's face started screwing up. She pulled her pack around to face her and dug in it, yanking out a pair of candy bars. Pakwa's eyes lit up and he floated down, holding out his hands; she tossed him one simply because he showed the sense of mind not to bowl her over and rifle through her pack himself for a change. The other candy bar was promptly unwrapped and shoved in Turtle's mouth; the little girl blinked a few times, letting out a murmur, then her own eyes lit up and she crammed the bar in all the way so that her cheeks jutted out as if a stick were in her mouth. She started chewing and gave a lopsided grin...at least, Charmian assumed it was supposed to be a grin.
She let out her breath and replaced her pack. "Where were we--?" she asked.
Niskigwun pointed up the bluff. "We were to go and see to this foolish GeeBee, and determine whether his story has any merit or not! Which I highly doubt, despite what he's told you."
Charmian shrugged. "I'm telling you, he has no reason to lie now of all times!" She started up the bluff anyway. "But if it'll get everything settled down and back to normal..."
They started tramping up through the trees, at last locating a rough path worn up the bluff's side; despite its presence the going was difficult, and Niskigwun and Pakwa had to assist the other two more than once, Turtle clinging to the Michinimakinong's back and humming the entire way. They reached the top of the bluff panting and sweating and started tramping in the direction of the tribe, Charmian and Thomas wiping the hair back from their foreheads and sighing tiredly.
"You don't seem to have as many qualms about visiting the Island, at least," Charmian said to Niskigwun, as he set Turtle down and carefully tucked his wings into his wingcase; it hung between his shoulders as if it were merely some sort of small pack, and he arranged the feathers on his head to cover his pointed ears. He lifted a shoulder a bit sheepishly.
"They...do not notice me much, around here," he admitted. "Just as long as I keep my wings hidden...I assume most of them do not even guess what I am. If we were of the mind to do it, my people could likely pass for Islanders now, and likely few would even suspect."
Charmian's mouth twitched. "Well, it's not what I had in mind when I suggested giving the Island another shot, but it's a start, right?" She pulled her pack around and dug in it again. "That's right, I wanted to give you something...I tried to bring everybody something back from the mainland..."
The others gathered around her, looking curious. "You already got one of yours," she groused at Pakwa, but handed him a few more candy bars just the same; at least he bothered to look excited to get them, and drifted up over their heads again, tearing into the packages and popping them in his mouth whole. "I wasn't sure what you might like," she admitted to Niskigwun, "so I supposed I'd get you what you already have." She pulled out something long wrapped in tissues, and carefully unwrapped it. Niskigwun's eyes grew when she held up its contents. "Peacock feathers," she explained. "It's a...funny bird...where I come from. Well...not where I come from, but..." She shrugged and handed him the feathers. "Anyway, I thought you might like them."
Niskigwun accepted the several feathers and held them in his hands as if they were butterflies' wings. "They are...beautiful," he said softly, staring at them in awe and running a finger over the eye of one.
"Glad you like them," Charmian said, replacing her pack. She glanced up when Thomas tapped her shoulder, and he arched an eyebrow at her.
"Nothing for me?" he inquired.
Charmian blushed a little and fiddled with the pack strap. "I--I got you something, too!" she insisted. "It's just that--well--" She glanced at the others, then back at him, and waved at them with a grimace. "In private!"
Thomas started laughing. "I was only joking! I rather assumed you were the surprise." When her face went brilliant red he waved it off. "I'll wait then! I can be patient. I've been waiting for you to come back, haven't I--?"
Charmian tried not to scowl. "It's not like I had much of a choice to come back sooner!" she retorted, yet let it go. The noises of the camp came to their ears and they picked up their pace. Charmian frowned a little when she realized that it sounded more active than it had been before, excited cries ringing out every so often. Suddenly, she wasn't certain if she wanted to go back there or not.
Niskigwun noticed the noise as well and also frowned. "Are they causing a fuss over that GeeBee...?" he inquired, and Charmian shook her head, though she wasn't sure what the cause could be. They exited the woods and stood at the edge of the clearing, eyes wide; there were a lot more people in the camp now, pacing back and forth, and a lot more attention had been drawn to the medicine lodge at the far side. The fires still burned, but the drummers were gone; and more people than she would have expected were taking their chances peering inside the doorway, then letting the flap fall and murmuring to each other in great interest. Charmian's heart thudded and she hurried across the camp, the others gawking before following.
"Crap!" Charmian hissed. "I told him I'd figure this whole thing out. I didn't think everybody would start peeking in on him!"
"He has been left here unattended--?" Niskigwun cried.
Charmian grimaced. "No, not unattended! There were DRUMMER guys here before! And nobody was even INTERESTED in him then!!"
She had to nudge her way past a few of them, and they glanced at her without even bothering to look offended; "Excuse me," she said, belatedly, and made her way to the entry. She glanced around the camp but couldn't see Black Elk Horn or Silver Eagle Feather anywhere, though the thudding sound of footfalls came, and she noticed Winter Born also nudging her way through the crowd, her own eyes wide.
"Charmian!" she exclaimed, making Charmian wince. "You came back!" She nearly tripped over someone's foot but managed to regain her balance and halted beside her, panting. "You won't believe what happened!" she cried.
Charmian's brow furrowed. "Augwak's done something--?" she blurted out, unable to think of anything else.
Winter Born shook her head vigorously. "Not him! The other one!" Before Charmian could ask, she was busily pulling open the flap, and waving at her to look inside. With a brief glance at the others, Charmian did so.
She could barely see anything at first, because of the glaring light outside; then she saw Augwak's yellow eyes glaring back at her balefully, and nearly pulled her head back out. Until she noticed that he was no longer lying stretched out on his pallet, but sat crouched next to the left wall, one hand rubbing at a bruised elbow. Her eyes shifted to the side and she noticed with some surprise that a second pallet now lay there, and it was occupied just as Augwak's had been; blinking, she crawled into the opening, Winter Born and then Niskigwun following.
"Who is it...?" she asked softly as they moved toward the pallet.
Winter Born shrugged. "They found him on the lakeshore! In a canoe! His shoulder's all bloody...like he's been hurt...but nobody's ever seen him before! He's dressed all funny, too!" She made a face. "All in red!"
"Red--?" Charmian stooped down over the pallet and looked into the face of the person lying there. It was a man, and she was surprised to see that he was white, just like she was. He was unconscious, his dark hair pulled into a small tail; a mat was covering him, so she gingerly lifted it to get a better look at him. His red and white outfit confused her even more. She glanced to his side and saw a tricorn hat resting underneath the mat as well, and her frown grew.
"He's British," she said after a moment, and pulled the mat aside to reveal his uniform; the others, Augwak included as well as Thomas and Turtle and Pakwa, all looking down at him. A bandage had been tied around his shoulder and his clothing was bloody and mussed, as if he'd been running a great deal; she looked him over, but other than that couldn't really tell anything about him.
Thomas took a renewed interest in the unconscious man now and ducked his head to step inside, crowding next to Niskigwun. He tilted his head to the side. "His clothing is out of date," he said in puzzlement.
Thomas is from the 1800s... Charmian thought, and chewed her lip. "I've never really seen a British soldier before," she said thoughtfully, and poked at one of his brass buttons. "Only in history books. He looks kind of like the reenactment guys they always use." She had to shake her head and remind herself that this wasn't a reenactor, and immediately felt stupid. She blushed. "British history's never been my main interest in school," she admitted.
"Is that man bleeding?" Turtle called out from the doorway, her eyes wide. "It must be hard to tell if he's bleeding, 'cause he's all in red, and blood is red, and then it'd be hard to tell the two apart, but then again at least stains wouldn't be so bad, and..." Her voice trailed off in a muffled murmur when Pakwa placed his hand over her mouth and pulled her away from the entry, the flap falling shut and plunging them into near-darkness again.
Charmian glanced at Winter Born. "Is Black Elk Horn here--?" she asked.
Winter Born shook her head. "Nuh-uh. He left not long after you did. He hasn't come back yet! Mother's gone too. I don't know when they'll be back."
Charmian chewed on her lip even harder. "He definitely wouldn't like this," she said with some anxiety; when all of them but Thomas looked at her in curiosity, she rubbed at her neck. "Where I come from, the British and you guys did not get along!"
Thomas got an odd look. "I know this might sound strange, but, don't you come from where we all came from--?"
"I can't explain it! I just--have a really bad feeling about this." Charmian pulled the mat back up over the soldier and shook a finger at Winter Born. "Winter Born...make sure that your dad doesn't find out about this. If he tries to go near the lodge, then stall him or something, and try to tell the others not to mention it either--just Augwak is in here. If Elk finds out, there'll definitely be trouble. Got it?"
Winter Born bobbed her head. "Oh-kay." She turned and scrambled back out of the lodge.
Charmian let out a great sigh and ran her hand back through her hair as the other two resumed looking at the British soldier. "Great. JUST what I need." She lifted her head and blinked at Augwak, then scowled. "You better hope YOU don't have anything to do with this--!"
The GeeBee bared his teeth and let out a hiss. "Does it look like any of this was my doing? You would not believe what it took me just to keep from EATING that worthless thing! It's not as if any of YOU will make use of him!" He grimaced and clamped his hands over his belly. "I'm starving, too...and then they go and dump this fleshling in right beside me...so TEMPTING!" He started drooling. "What a waste...!"
"You'll live," Charmian growled, and looked at Niskigwun. "Ask him! He'll tell you the exact same thing he told me."
Niskigwun glanced at Augwak now, who blinked in confusion. "Ask me what--?" he blurted out, then let out an eep when the Michinimakinong stood up as tall as he could, flaring his wings loose of their case. He gripped his spear and gave the GeeBee an ugly look. Thomas and Charmian just stared.
"Answer me when I ask you this, GeeBee!" Niskigwun demanded. "Tell me what it was you saw on the west shore! What it was that you claim injured you so badly! And why you believe it was a manitou's doing!" He bared his teeth and flapped his wings so that the reed mats rustled. "Answer me TRUTHFULLY else I will toss your spirit stone in that FIRE out there!"
Augwak cringed and squeezed himself against the wall. "I--I already told the truth!!" he squeaked. "Ask the fleshling! I told her everything I know!" When Niskigwun just shook his spear he threw his arms over his head and shook like a leaf. "ALL RIGHT! ALL RIGHT!! I was on the west shore like I always am--the good GeeBee that I am!! And I had a bad feeling! All I wished was to find myself some food to eat, when this great gust of wind came in and nearly bowled me over! As soon as I lifted my head there was this FELLOW there all dressed in feathers and paint and wampum--he asked me if I was the most powerful on the Island? I asked who wished to know! He would not even tell me!" He started to scowl. "The NERVE! When he would not answer I gave him what for!" His scowl dissolved into misery. "And he BEAT me! He didn't even have to TRY!" He held up his hands and crooked his bony fingers. "The next thing I know almost all of my medicine is gone and those stupid dungheads are trying to EAT ME!!" He threw his head back and screamed at the ceiling. "THE INGRATITUDE!!"
Charmian and Thomas winced; Charmian glanced down at the British soldier, but he didn't even bat an eye. "As if you did nothing to prompt this action--?" Niskigwun growled, and Augwak hissed and landed on all fours, ears flaring.
"I already TOLD you, you pissant!"
"Hold on a minute," Charmian said, and they all paused and looked at her. She stared at Augwak so intently that the GeeBee blinked, then began to fidget; when she crawled toward him he grimaced and squeezed himself against the wall again, but all that she did was hold up her hand toward his chest. A glow started to appear, when Augwak hissed again and slapped her hand away.
"Ow!" Charmian yelled, and started rubbing at her hand. She gave him a venomous look. "I was just trying to look at your spirit stone, STUPID!"
Augwak bared his teeth. "As if I am to believe this! When you were the one who would've KEPT part of it, had you not promised to give it back! OW!!" He threw his arms up over his head when Niskigwun conked him with the shaft of his spear; Charmian held out her hand again, and a glow appeared at Augwak's breast. They all leaned forward to look at his spirit stone; it glowed deep murky red, bands of black swirling around it like smoke. Thomas frowned a little.
"What are you looking for...?" he asked Charmian.
Charmian frowned as well. "Anything different." She paused for a moment, then gave him a very odd look. "Maybe it's just me, but...well...his spirit stone."
"What--?" Augwak lowered his arms, blinking at her. "What is it? What's wrong with it?" He glanced down at his chest and poked at it as if he could reach the stone, then gave her a furious glare. "Tell me what it is! What are you talking about?"
Charmian pursed her lips. "Maybe it's just me, but...it doesn't look quite as dark as the last time."
Thomas's and Niskigwun's eyes widened, then they both leaned forward in great interest. Augwak squirmed and clamped his hands over his chest but the spirit stone shone through as if they weren't even there.
"Hm," Thomas said.
"I believe you are right," Niskigwun commented.
Augwak flailed his arms. "HOW WOULD YOU KNOW?! YOU'VE NEVER SEEN IT UP CLOSE!!" He huddled in on himself and let out a wailing noise. "Stop STARING at me!! Go HUMILIATE someone ELSE--!!"
Charmian sat back on her heels and looked at the other two. "I really don't think he's lying," she said. "Wouldn't his spirit stone be darker if he were, and if he still had his medicine...?"
"I doubt he would subject himself to staying in here if this were not so," Niskigwun grudgingly agreed.
"In any case, what do you think a powerful manitou could do with GeeBee medicine? According to Augwak he was pretty strong, so why would he need that?"
Niskigwun rubbed at his head, looking perplexed. "I wish that I knew," he admitted. "He said he was looking for the 'most powerful,' however..."
"Which is Ocryx," Charmian said. "But he didn't attack Ocryx--at least, I haven't heard anything about it."
"He left just after he attacked me!" Augwak insisted. "Perhaps I was more than enough for him--?"
"I think you were just in the wrong place at the wrong time," Charmian said, and the GeeBee's hope deflated. "Whoever he is," she said to Niskigwun, "he has the power to take other people's power. Which leads me to believe that whoever this 'most powerful person' is, that's what he plans to do."
"If he is already so strong, and takes more medicine, then he could quickly become a problem," Niskigwun murmured. "I sense he is already a reason for concern, else Geezhigo-Quae would not have sent me." He turned to the doorway. "I will report back to her what I know. Perhaps this will be enough information to figure out where he has gone to."
"W--wait a minute--!!" Augwak cried, as the other two moved to follow. "You're going to just LEAVE me like this?" he squealed.
Charmian lifted a shoulder. "We'll try to find this manitou guy," she said. "And get your medicine back before it's too late."
Augwak blinked. "Too--too late--? Too late for what--?"
"Simple." Charmian lifted the flap and gestured outside, where Pakwa still sat with Turtle grasped in his arms. "Geezhigo told me. If your spirit starts to get too light, it changes, and then you begin to lose your old Wendigo powers. You become just like him."
Augwak's eyes looked ready to fall out of his head. "Th--THAT?!" he shrieked, his ears quivering. "I will turn into THAT?!" Before Charmian could move he had her by her vest, and was shaking her back and forth; Thomas and Niskigwun both bristled in return and surged forward, but she waved them back, her eyes wide.
"Fleshling!" Augwak snarled in her face. "I will hardly allow myself to be turned into something like THAT! That creature STOLE my medicine! You yourself always speak of how wrong it is to take without asking!" He let go of her so that she nearly fell back, and she blinked up at him--or rather, down--as soon as he ducked close to the floor, clasping his hands together. She blinked again when she could have sworn that she saw tears in his eyes.
"Fleshling!" Augwak cried. "You have to help me!! You have to help me get my medicine BACK! I'll NEVER return to normal if I don't get it back!"
Charmian scowled. "And this is a BAD thing--?"
Augwak choked back a sob. "You yourself always say it, fleshling!! Ask before you take, else it's not yours for the taking! You turn your back on this now? You turn your back on me? When I need your help the most?" He dropped his head to the floor, prostrating himself. "After all that trouble you went through to get my spirit back before, now you will give me up so easily?! I had thought you were made of more than this, fleshling!!"
Charmian opened her mouth, then slowly shut it and stared down at him. After a few moments of silence she lifted her head to look at the other two, and furrowed her brow a little.
"He does have a point," she said meekly.
Thomas's and Niskigwun's jaws dropped. "Are you SERIOUS?" they both exclaimed, then started waving their hands.
"Charmian, you DO remember what he tried to do to the Island the LAST time--?" Thomas cried.
"Charmian! You do remember what he tried to do to YOU?" Niskigwun practically yelped.
Charmian winced and waved her hand. "I didn't say it was a GOOD thing or a SMART thing!" she retorted. "It's just...well..." She drew in on herself a bit and fiddled with the corner of her vest. "It's just that--what kind of hypocrite would I be if I didn't help him?!" She gestured at the wall. "You remember what I learned from Snow Bear! And from Crooked Creek and everyone else. You don't take without asking. Besides..." She looked down at the sniveling Augwak, then shrugged helplessly at the others. "What do you think the GeeBees will do without him to keep them in line?"
Thomas and Niskigwun stared at her for a moment, then sank. "She does have a point," Niskigwun said miserably.
"Still, since when do you owe him anything?" Thomas challenged, frowning. "After everything he did, don't you think he seriously had something coming to him--?"
Augwak's head popped up and he snarled. "Shut up, halfling!!"
"If I go by that then I'm no better than he is," Charmian sighed, pushing herself to her feet. "You've seen how this Island works! I really get the feeling that if he wasn't meant to be this way, then he wouldn't be this way." She turned to the doorway again. "We'll get to the bottom of this," she said, and a look of relief washed across Augwak's face. She glanced at him over her shoulder. "For the ISLAND, not for YOU," she clarified, and he shrank a little bit. "And if you seriously want us to get anywhere, that means you'll have to HELP us when we need it, too!"
Augwak nodded hastily. "Any--anything you need! Simply ask it and I'll do it!"
"It won't involve eating anybody," Charmian said, and pushed up the flap to step outside. "Maybe you could've saved us all some trouble by eating that manitou in the first place."
Augwak sputtered and scrambled to the doorway as they crawled out. "I would not even TOUCH that thing!!" he yelled. "Not with that awful hideous STINK in the air!!"
Everyone froze. They all turned their heads to look back at him, and he peered from one to the other, eyes wide and uncertain. Niskigwun slowly turned about and stalked toward him, gripping his spear so tightly that the GeeBee grimaced and began to slip back away from the entry.
"What is this you just said...?" the Michinimakinong demanded in a deadly hiss.
Augwak swallowed so hard that his Adam's apple bobbed. "I...what? What do you--ggghuukkhhAAHKK--!" His eyes goggled when Niskigwun wrapped his fingers around his throat. "I--uhhkk--all right! All right!!" he managed to croak, and Niskigwun let him go with a thud. Augwak rubbed at his bruised neck and gave the Turtle Fairy the most peeved look he could muster. "There was a bad smell in the air!" he groused. "Just before that lout showed up and ruined my day! I nearly lost my appetite because of that damn smell!"
"What kind of smell?" Charmian asked in confusion.
Augwak made a spitting noise. "A BAD kind, that's what! How much clearer can I be? All I know is that it was blowing in off the lake and gave me a bad feeling--I don't know--perhaps that imbecile broke wind before I met him!"
"The lake--?" Niskigwun stared at him, then turned to Charmian and Thomas. They looked back, then Charmian turned once more and exited the lodge. Thomas and Niskigwun both tossed Augwak evil glares before following.
Charmian was already standing outside in the sunny air, staring upward at the tree branches pensively; Turtle and Pakwa stood beside her, as if trying to determine what held her attention. The others joined her and she glanced back at them.
"Have any of you heard from any of the Ocryxes lately...?" she asked.
They furrowed their brows. "I haven't," Thomas said, "but then again, I make it a point not to bother any of them."
"I have not seen any about," Niskigwun added.
"That's kind of what I figured." Charmian chewed her lip and then let out a gusty sigh. "I just want to check on them, then. We'll have to split up. Pakwa, you head on over to Devil's Lake and try to find Ocryx. Niskigwun, do you think you could head to Fort Holmes and look out for Tal Natha?"
The other two nodded, Niskigwun looking perplexed; Pakwa floated into the air and away to the west, and Niskigwun hunched forward a little, then flushed furiously and readjusted his wingcase. "I...will just jog until I am away from here," he managed to get out, and turned and jogged out of the camp. Charmian turned to Thomas and waved.
"And we'll go look for X'aaru and Khiieta, if we can find them." She frowned. "You know, last time I was here, they were looking for a cave to move into...and I don't even know where that is!"
She felt something step on her foot and let out a yelp, hopping; Turtle was jumping up and down like a pogo stick, and she grinned and waved her arm in a wide arc.
"I KNOW THE WAY! I visit them ALL THE TIME! It's not too far from here! Papa took me there once, you know, and said I should meet everybody on the Island, 'cause that's the nice thing to do, so he took me there, and dropped me in the cave, and I fell and fell, but then I landed on something warm and at first I SCREAMED but then I found out it was just a demon and it was a friendly one so I wasn't scared anymore so I said, 'Hi, demon!' and it said, 'My name's not demon, it's--'"
Thomas stooped to pick the girl up and tucked her under his arm, covering her mouth. He cast Charmian a questioning look. Charmian blushed a little, then looked at Turtle.
"Um...which way?"
"Mmffmmffmm," Turtle said, and lifted one arm to point vaguely northward.
Charmian let out her breath. "X'aaru's and Khiieta's cave, then," she murmured, and they started walking.
They left the camp behind, Charmian questioning Turtle every time they came to a fork in the trail, the little girl pointing the direction to go in every time. She still mumbled against Thomas's hand, as cheerfully as if she were free, and didn't seem to care that they couldn't understand a word she said. Charmian decided to ignore her muffled babbling, and at last noticed a low cave yawning open in the ground further back in the woods, away from the trail. They picked their way to it and saw that it was barely raised above the ground, looking merely like a small ridge of stone from a distance. They bent over the dark crevasse and peered inside, cocking their heads curiously.
"Never seen this one before," Charmian admitted, and poked at the edge of it. "It looks like a pretty decent place to keep out of sight, at least."
"So those two demons live here, then?" Thomas inquired.
Turtle nodded and started murmuring. "Mmmff ffmmmff mmfffmmm."
"Doesn't look that big," Charmian said, and picked up a stone and dropped it into the cave opening. She got down onto hands and knees and cocked her head over it, ear turned to the side to listen for the pebble's strike against the bottom. She waited a moment or two but heard nothing, and frowned. "Well...maybe I was wrong?" she said, puzzled. "If that stone hasn't hit bottom yet--" She cut herself off when a scuffling noise caught her attention, the sound of bits of gravel falling. "Oh! I think I hear it hitting something right nOW!!"
Thomas jumped back, nearly dropping Turtle. His eyes goggled when Charmian yanked her head away from the cave, something large and bristling dangling from her ear.
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