Face To Face
CHARMIAN STARED INTO the glittering blue eyes, her own eyes watering in the whirl of the wind that spun around them; the eyes which fixed on hers were vaguely malevolent and yet oddly blank at the same time. She found that she couldn't stop staring into them, and it felt as if her voice had been sucked down into her throat.
She felt Mani's fur bristling and heard him let out a shrill whistle. She felt his muscles tense and prepared herself to let go of him for when he should charge at the big man standing before them...but his eyes flicked toward the manitou and flared brighter, and then Mani whistled again.
Red Land One--! He didn't bother enunciating anything else, but a barrage of mental images flew through her mind, and she could tell that he was frozen to the spot. She glanced at him in surprise and his eyes shifted toward hers, panicked, but other than that he did nothing, didn't even flick an ear. Charmian looked back at the man in the trail and she gasped to see that he was walking straight toward her.
She took a step back, then another, but her legs were shaking so badly that she could barely move, herself. She tried tensing her legs to flee but hardly anything happened, other than a flex of her toes.
What's--what's wrong with me--? Why can't I move--?!
She shifted her eyes and stared at him as he approached. She tensed her arms and just barely managed to curl her fingers into fists, though she wasn't sure if she'd be able to make any use of them or not. The big man stopped and bent down so that he looked right into her face, and she would have started shaking even harder had she been able. He was just as Augwak had described him, only the GeeBee hadn't managed to capture just how intimidating he was. He wore enough feathers to challenge even Niskigwun, though they weren't all gathered atop his head in a ruffled plume like the Michinimakinong's; only three stood upright, the rest trailing down his back and shoulders. Red and black and yellow paint decorated his face and arms, a feather tattooed on his chest, though she was surprised that she even got to see the latter; he wore so many necklaces of shells and beads and claws that she never would have been able to count them. The little items decorated bands around his arms and legs, and at his waist, and feathers dangled from his breechcloth and leggings; everywhere were the colors red and black and yellow. For some reason her eyes fixed on a large glistening cowrie shell he wore, and she blinked when she saw it.
She gasped again and tried to jerk back when he put his face right up to hers and frowned. His frown looked nearly like a scowl, and she thought he was going to start bellowing at her, like Black Elk Horn or Mudjikawiss would; which was why she wasn't expecting it when he spoke, his voice deep and ominous, yet oddly restrained, as if he were bored.
"You are the most powerful upon this Island...?" he said, sounding unconvinced.
Charmian blinked again. She tried to speak, yet no noises came out. The big man's frown grew; he looked her over from head to foot, and from the corner of her eye Charmian could see the look that Mani was giving him, his lip barely managing to curl back, yet the rest of him unable to react. Charmian cringed when the stranger poked at her own necklaces--the little dried sprig of cedar that Singing Cedars had given her, and the little cowrie shell from Yellow Turtle--yet that was all that he did, before standing upright again, his frown etching deep lines into his face.
"You are not the most powerful upon this Island," he said; she would have thought he was grumbling, but for the fact that his voice always seemed to remain the same. He turned his head slightly, seeming to lose interest in her, and looked toward the woods. "Though you were near him..."
Charmian blinked. "Near--?" The sound of her own voice startled her; she felt her muscles go loose, and flexed her fingers, then drew her arms in toward herself, able to move again. She looked at Mani but he could only return her stare with a regretful one of his own; she silently let him know it was all right, before turning back to the stranger. She chewed her lip furiously. He'd beaten up Augwak, but...maybe the GeeBee had been less than forthcoming after all? Perhaps he wasn't quite so bad as he had made him seem...
"Why...why are you looking for the most powerful on the Island?" she asked, and he slowly turned his head back to look down at her, his expression both cross and bland, though she somehow knew that was the way he must always look.
"You ask a question of me, girl?" he said in that strange deadpan voice.
Charmian bit down her annoyance at being called "girl" and nodded. "It's just--well--we've been looking all over trying to figure out what your whole point here is, and--"
"I do not have time to discuss matters with girls," he interrupted, turning back to the woods.
Charmian's mouth fell open. "Ex--exCUSE me--?" She clenched her fists yet refrained from screaming at him. "I'll have you know I know my way around here, and a lot of the people on the Island, AND I know what you've been up to lately, if not the why--"
He turned to look at her again. "You know this Island...?" When she nodded adamantly he tilted his head forward, just slightly. "Then perhaps you can tell me where he is. Since you were obviously close."
"Tell you where who is?" Charmian demanded.
"The strongest upon the Island," he answered, sounding remarkably bored.
Charmian had to force herself not to pull at her hair. "How do I even know who that IS?"
"Simple." He turned around fully now. "You have his scent on you."
Charmian's eyes goggled. "Scent--?" Her face went brilliant red. "I--I don't have ANYBODY'S scent on me! What kind of person do you think I am?!"
"You were quite near him," he went on. "And so I know you would know where he is." He stepped toward her again, and she backed into Mani, feeling his tensed muscles and his inability to help her if it was needed. "Tell me where I may find him," the big man said, and Charmian just stared at him, unable to believe that he didn't say, "Please" or at least, "Or else."
Her brow furrowed. "I--I don't even know who it is you're looking for!" she exclaimed in confusion.
A bit of an expression finally made its way to the big man's face, the vaguest trace of displeasure and annoyance. "Kabeyun," he said, simply.
Charmian's own look of confusion only grew. "Ka--Kabeyun--?" she echoed, baffled. "I don't even know who that is! How could I be near him if I don't know who he is--?"
"You have his scent on you," the big man said blandly. "So why you do not tell me where to find him, I fail to understand."
Charmian clenched her teeth. "I just TOLD you I've never even HEARD of the guy! Ever stop to think that maybe you're on the wrong island?"
"This is the Island he avenged," the big man said, making her brow furrow further. "There is no other place he would be, but here, or in the west."
"West--?" Charmian took in a breath. "Are--do you mean Mudjikawiss?"
The big man tilted his head to the side a little. "'Mudjikawiss'?" he echoed, then shook his head slowly. "This is not the name of he whom I seek." He stepped toward her again. "If you do not tell me where I may find Kabeyun, then I will kill you."
Her eyes went wide. He said the sentence so blandly that it hardly sounded like a threat whatsoever, as if he made such comments every day. She opened her mouth and got ready to fight him off, yet found that her muscles again refused to work, and her voice stuck, so she couldn't even call a manitou. She let out a tiny choking noise when he grasped her by the front of her vest and lifted her up as if she were as light as driftwood, and held her dangling before him. She stared at him, numb and frozen, and he seemed to search her eyes for something. She shut them, hoping he couldn't read her thoughts.
Why not--? Maybe it's better if he does. Then at least he'll know I don't know anybody named Kabeyun!!
"Hm," the big man said, and she cracked open one eye to peer at him nervously. His nostrils flared and his lip stuck out just slightly.
"This is not Kabeyun's scent," he muttered. "It is close...yet it is not his."
And with this, he lowered her to the ground and set her back on her feet.
She felt the movement returning to her muscles, and edged toward Mani to press herself to his side; even if he couldn't move, she took a bit of comfort in his merely being there. "Wh...why are you looking for Kabeyun?" she managed to ask, her voice as thin as paper.
The big man looked into the woods again. "I seek him so that I may kill him." He turned away and looked down the path, head turning from left to right. Charmian's stare roved over his back; she saw what looked to be a seashell tattooed upon his shoulder, and at last noticed the huge ax hanging at his side; it looked to be almost as long as she was tall, and she swallowed. Up until now, Mudjikawiss had been the biggest scariest person she'd ever met; yet this person looked like he could beat him, easily. No wonder Augwak hadn't been any challenge at all.
She pushed herself away from Mani just a little. "Why--why do you want to kill him?" she asked, raising her voice a bit as she seemed to be losing his attention.
"Because he has humiliated me, and there are none who do this and live," he said, not even bothering to look back.
Charmian frowned. "You can't think of some better way to deal with this--?"
He finally looked at her over his shoulder. "There is no better way than killing." He turned away again and took a step. "This scent is nearby. I suppose I may easily find it on my own."
Charmian jumped away from Mani, though his eyes pleaded with her not to go. "Hold--hold on!" she yelled. "Why did you take Augwak's power--?"
"Augwak?" he asked blandly.
She nodded, though he didn't turn around. "The GeeBee! You beat him up and took his medicine. Why did you do that--?"
"Because he is weak," the big man replied.
"You--you didn't take it because you need it, or anything?"
He halted again and this time his expression held a hint of insult in it. "I do not need a GeeBee's medicine," he said.
Charmian chewed her lip. "Well--will you give it back then? He would really like it if you returned it..."
The big man turned away once more and started walking. "He will not need it."
Charmian blinked. "Huh--?" Knowing it was foolish, she jogged after him a few steps, waving her hand; he didn't look back. "Hold on! What do you mean, he won't need it? It's HIS medicine!"
"Once I kill Kabeyun, I will destroy this Island," the big man said blandly. "He will not need his medicine when he is dead."
He went on his way without another word. Charmian stared after him in shock; she moved her leg to follow, only to hear a loud whistle from behind her; she looked back and saw Mani at last struggling to life, shaking his head and forcing his legs to move. He tottered toward her jerkily, eyes wide and nostrils flaring. Charmian hurried to him and grasped onto his shoulder as if to help keep him from falling over, even though he was the size of a moose.
"Mani! Are you okay--?"
He whistled loudly again. Red Land One! Manitou! He is the one--!
"I know--I know." She rubbed his shoulder, feeling a twinge of numbness in her own. She gasped and glanced around them. "The calves--!" she exclaimed, just as there was a little pop off to her side, then another, and another, and in an instant, the three little manitous were standing around them, whistling and chattering away. They immediately trotted over to line up behind Mani, who started shaking his legs and his head.
"They're okay," Charmian exclaimed, letting out her breath in relief.
Tell them to hide whenever a strange manitou comes, Mani said, and Charmian felt a bit foolish; it had never occurred to her that they might have been hiding the whole time, their disappearance had been so abrupt. She kept a hand against Mani's side, though he seemed to be regaining his senses by now; his ears flared and he met her eyes. Red Land One! Instead of speaking his thoughts, he sent more images into her mind, and she placed her other hand to her head, wincing at the sudden barrage. She saw the Island, then she saw the lake, and no Island, and pretty much understood what Mani was saying; she nodded.
"I know," she said. "We have to get back to the others. We'll look for X'aaru just like we were going to, and meet at Arch Rock. There's nobody on this Island named Kabeyun that I know of, so we should be safe, for the moment--he said he won't destroy it until he kills Kabeyun." She made a face. "I hope!"
The manitou seemed distressed, but didn't object. He bobbed his head and they continued along the East Bluff.
The trail had been nice enough, until a group of native women with baskets situated on their shoulders came along, at which point Lieutenant Barrington decided to step into the woods instead. He watched them pass, chattering the entire way; to anyone else they would have seemed friendly enough, but by now he knew better. Any one of them could have a knife hidden under her clothes...even those baskets looked big enough to conceal small weapons. He hated hiding from women, but now that he knew what they were capable of, he decided not to take his chances. He had no gun on him anymore, thus no real way to defend himself. Even more he hated the thought of hitting a woman; but if he had to...
He decided to keep to the woods, and had to watch his step as the ground sloped steeply downward at points, leveling out at others. He wiped a hand across his brow as he went, and sighed, staring at the ground. It was littered with pine needles and dried bits of cedar.
That story can't be true. It makes no sense. As if I got an education merely to find out that places that make no sense exist! There's only ONE island...and this must be it...
But how did it change so drastically? Even if they were all in on it...how could they have done all this? And those elk creatures...and that rock...
Could one of them have slipped something into something I ate or drank...?
His step slowed a little as he mulled this over. Out of everything, it made the most sense. He hadn't eaten anything, but that candied item, since waking up that morning in the fort...if it was even the same morning...he glanced up through the treetops and felt his spirits sinking as soon as he realized that he had no idea how much time had elapsed since then. And soldiers' food had never been much to write home about. Still, all it took was a few drops of something, and he never would have noticed...
But--why would they drug MY food, and no one else's--? And then let me get away--?
He made a growling noise and ground his knuckles against his head. It had to make sense. All of this HAD to make sense, somehow. He just had to find out how.
He glanced up just in time to see an opening in the ground before him, and slowed to a stop, staring curiously.
A cave...?
It made sense, at least. He knew the island moderately well, and knew of no cave here, but that didn't mean one didn't exist. He looked at it for a moment or so and considered taking shelter in it, before reconsidering; he would take mental note of it, and come back to it later, if need be. He turned and started looking for the trail again.
A sharp barking noise made him jump, and he whirled around to see a small furry creature racing toward him, yapping like a hyperactive puppy. He gawked at it and then let out a startled yell when he saw that it had wings and the strangest tail he'd ever seen; he stumbled back a few steps, yet all that it did was hop around his legs, barking and snapping. Its tail made rustling noises over the ground and it growled in between yaps.
Barrington's face twisted up and he kicked at the pine needles, showering it. "Go on! Git! Go away!" The doglike thing just continued barking and hopping around him; he started toward the cave, only its barking grew even louder. As soon as he reached the cave entrance it latched onto his boot and wouldn't let go; he shook it violently, but it held on as tight as any terrier. Baring his teeth, he wrenched his leg free, and gave it a swift kick to the side. The furry creature let out a yelp of pain as it tumbled head over heels and landed in a messy little heap several yards away.
Barrington clenched his fists. "Nasty little mutt! Go chew on one of the savages if you must chew on some--"
A growling noise cut him off, and his eyes slowly widened...the noise was coming from right beside him. Feeling the hair rising on the back of his neck, his eyes shifted to the left, and he could see the muzzle of some creature--a much, much bigger version of the little one now pushing itself up from the ground--just an inch or so from his face, so close that he could feel its breath. Its fur was tawny silvery gold, its eyes red and green and the most livid ones that he'd ever seen.
An answering growl came from his right side, and now his eyes shifted that way. This creature was even bigger than the other one, its fur gray, horns curving up from its head just like the other's, and its eyes were even more livid. Barrington stood frozen where he was with the two creatures growling into his ears, though every one of his muscles started to tremble. He peered at the little creature, which shook its head and looked up at him. Its own muzzle wrinkled and it let out a little snarl, tottering toward him. His leg tensed to kick at it, but the snarling noises of the two big creatures made him think again.
Right about now, returning to the fort sounded like a nice option.
Thudding noises came from the woods not too far away, and his eyes flicked up; the big brown elklike creature appeared, tossing its head and whistling; the red-haired girl sat atop it, ducking her head and looking at him with surprise in her eyes. She climbed down from the manitou's back and jogged toward him; his eyes goggled and he wanted to scream at her to watch out for the huge creatures growling into his ears, yet she barely even seemed to notice them. She stopped before him, looked down at the little creature now gnawing on his boot, then back up at him with a puzzled frown.
"What happened?" she asked.
All that he could do was let out a strained noise, not even daring to talk. Her brow furrowed and she looked down at the little creature, then stooped to pick it up; he would have grabbed onto her had not the other creatures been so close. She stood upright and looked into the little creature's eyes as it wriggled and whined, then back at him again with another frown.
"You kicked him?" she asked, then gave him a dark look. "Well no WONDER they're pissed off! You think you can just go to somebody's home and kick their kid and get away with it--?"
Barrington's eyes widened again. "K-kid--?"
She rolled her eyes. "Well, DUH! What do you THINK he is--?" She held up the little wriggling creature; it snarled as soon as it saw him, and he jerked, then froze, the other two resuming their ugly growling. She tucked the creature under her arm. "I think you owe an apology," she said, and when he blinked, she nodded first at the tawny creature, then the gray one. Barrington's eyes shifted from one to the other, then back to her, and he grimaced.
"Wh--wh--what--are--they?" he managed to force out between clenched teeth.
Charmian gave him an odd look. "They're Ocryxes," she said, "wolf demons." She gestured at the tawny one and then the gray one again. "That one's Khiieta, and she's Tiiku's mother, and that one is X'aaru, and he's the father. This cave is their home. Tiiku says you kicked him when he was just trying to keep you out. I think you should feel lucky that ALL they did was growl at you like that!"
"He says?" Barrington hissed. "He didn't SAY a thing!!"
She rolled her eyes again and sighed. "He said it in my head. Aren't you ever going to figure out how things work here? X'aaru? Khiieta? Would you guys like an apology?" She bent forward and set the little creature on the ground. "He's new here, so he didn't know what he was doing. He probably thought Tiiku was some sort of monster attacking him. I promise he won't do it again, and if he does, then you can bite his face off, and I won't think any less of you."
The two creatures--demons--stopped growling at last, though the looks they gave him were no more pleasant. They didn't move an inch from where they stood, and he would likely brush against them if he shifted one bit; swallowing the hard lump in his throat, he stretched out his leg, preparing himself to ease out from between them. "I...I'm...I ap...apologize," he managed to get out, his voice small and thin; the creatures flared their wings, and he cringed, preparing to be eaten alive, yet all that they did was take a step back each, and he quickly darted away from them and toward the manitou, whirling around to gape at them. Now that he got a proper look at them he saw how big they truly were--bigger than bears, even--and they both glowered at him malevolently with their strangely glowing eyes before glancing at the girl.
"He didn't have to KICK him," the gray one--X'aaru--said in a voice which was just slightly rough, yet spoke perfect English, somewhat plaintively at that; Barrington jumped at the sound of it coming from that wolflike face. "Tiiku wouldn't have hurt him any!"
"And even if he did, he knows that we would take him to task for it!" the tawny one--Khiieta--added, her voice sounding the same as any woman's voice he'd ever heard.
Charmian nodded. "I know...he's just confused, is all. Don't worry, I'll set him straight. He won't bother your cave anymore either. I'm sorry he was such an ass."
The two demons gave Barrington a baleful look, then Khiieta picked up Tiiku in her jaws, by his scruff, and started to turn away. Barrington started to relax until the pup growled at him again, but the female demon had already turned and was descending into the cave in the ground. The male demon turned to follow her.
Charmian took a step forward. "Wait a sec, X. Actually you're the reason why I came by again." The demon stopped and looked over his shoulder, ears flaring in puzzlement. Charmian gestured southward. "Some of us are meeting at Arch Rock and I'd really like you to show up. Something's come up, and I wanted to go over what you think you saw and smelled down in the cave."
X'aaru's look grew worried--an odd expression, on such a fierce-looking face. "Something's happened--?" he asked anxiously, Charmian waving and cutting him off.
"Nothing too serious," she said. "Just wanted to compare a few things. Augwak should be there, and Pakwa and a few others. I was just hoping you might help out. If it's not too much trouble?"
X'aaru looked indecisive, then let out a small sigh and turned back. He came toward them on all fours; Barrington backed away this time, yet neither of them seemed to notice, but for the manitou, who snorted at him and made him jump once more. "Well...if I'm needed," X'aaru murmured; Charmian's mouth twitched and she nodded, reaching out to rub his ear before turning in the direction of the trail that Barrington had vacated.
"I really appreciate it," she said, heading back toward the manitou.
The demon headed into the woods, glancing back at them as he went. "There isn't some kind of problem, is there...?" he asked, still sounding uneasy, and Barrington couldn't quite believe that such a beastly creature could be quite as neurotic as this one seemed to be.
Charmian made a face as she passed him, and he took pause as she climbed atop Mani's back. "No, no problem," she said, and Mani started forward. "Just a little talking. That's all."
"All right." The demon went on his way, the girl and the manitou following. Barrington stood in the woods for a moment or two before deciding to follow them himself, if only to not be left behind. But something else prompted him to move as well. The look in the girl's eyes.
He'd seen that look before, and he knew the look of someone who wasn't telling the truth when he saw it.
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