The Start Of The Journey
THE SMALL GROUP seemed to appear out of nowhere, gathering in a huddle and peering around themselves at their surroundings. Geezhigo-Quae, the Sky Mother, had led them to the door which had most recently been used, and they had stepped through it without even knowing where they would end up. As such, now that they were here, they had to figure out where here even was.
Charmian rubbed her hands together somewhat anxiously and was glad that they had Francois aboard; he glanced around and then started walking, and everyone simply trailed after him without a second thought. Charmian looked at all of the others and sighed miserably.
Thomas cocked his head. "What is it? We've just barely gotten started and you look all defeated already."
"I just realized how poorly we prepared for this," she murmured, and tugged on the strap of her pack. "The only food I have is some candy bars for Pakwa...and some instant soup I meant to give Crooked Creek." She blushed.
"Well..." Thomas looked at the others with them, then back at her. "I rather think we could get stuck in worse company, as far as finding food goes."
"Not to worry, ma chère," Francois called back, not even looking over his shoulder. "Food is the least of our worries. Firstly we need to determine where we are." His step slowed, then he looked down at the grass. "The woman in white said you were seeking that rabbit fellow, didn't she?"
"Manabozho?" Charmian nudged past X'aaru and Mani and made her way toward him. "Yeah...I almost forgot! He slipped through and could be in all kinds of trouble..."
"I get the feeling he didn't go far," Francois replied, pointing at the ground. Charmian looked but at first didn't see anything; when he noticed her confusion, he bent down and touched a finger to the grass. Charmian bent even closer and thought she saw some sort of little tracks in the dew.
"Rabbit tracks...?" She frowned. "But how can you tell they're his? He usually travels like a human."
He pointed ahead a bit. "I actually did not have to figure it out." She looked up and blinked when she saw a feather lying a few feet ahead; she hurried to pick it up, tilting it this way and that in the dim light. She looked at the others anxiously.
"One of Manabozho's feathers," she said.
"Ooohhhhhh!" Peepaukawiss's hands crept up to his face. "You--you don't suppose something happened, do you--?"
"I believe he just lost it," Francois said; "the grass is barely disturbed." He stood up and gestured at them to follow. "He's heading south."
"South--?" Charmian remembered how Glooskap had recommended that they seek the advice of the other Winds in seeking Kabeyun, the West Wind; his suggestion had been that they look for the East Wind or the South Wind first off. But Manabozho hadn't been present when he'd suggested that... "How can you even tell which way is south?" she started to ask; when everybody around her but Thomas and Winter Born turned their heads and started to answer, she winced and shook her hands wildly. "Never mind!! I'll figure it out on my own someday."
"If it helps any," Thomas said to her from the side of his mouth, "I don't have a clue either."
"Yeah, but you're a long knife," Charmian murmured in response.
Winter Born tugged on her vest and she glanced down at her. "I wasn't really sure either," she offered. "I thought south was that way." She pointed just a little bit southeast.
Charmian sighed. "Thanks for the attempt, at least." She at last looked around at the new landscape they'd been plunked into. "I wonder where on the map this place is..."
They wandered through a landscape that looked vaguely familiar, at least on first glance. She'd once taken a doorway through the Sky Tree which had led into a grassy land of wide-open fields interspersed with small groves of birches; this land looked much like that land, with its rolling meadows and solitary stands of trees. The sky was heavy with clouds, and the grass was all shades of brown and yellow, already soaked with dew; when she looked southward she thought she saw hills in the distance, but couldn't be sure if it was that or forest, or forested hills. She felt depressed simply walking in this place, and hurried forward to walk next to Francois; she frowned a little when Winter Born followed suit, but said nothing.
"Glooskap said we should head east or south first," she said; when the voyageur gave her a curious look she realized that she hadn't yet explained their real purpose for being here; she peered back and saw more curious looks, and blushed again.
"Perhaps you should simply start from the beginning, ma chère," Francois suggested.
Charmian rubbed at her neck and swallowed. "Well...basically it goes like this. A long time ago Manitou Island was destroyed. This big guy named Megissogwun ordered these creatures called the Underwater Lynxes to flood it--"
"This won't go on for several moons, will it?" Walks-On-The-Shore asked.
Charmian shot him an evil look. "Like I was saying--flood. Geezhigo-Quae...she's...that lady who looks rather like a cloud...had a second Island made and that's the one you're all living on. And then all the Four Winds fought Megissogwun and finally Kabeyun, the West Wind, defeated him. He's been out ever since. But now he's back. He wants to fight Kabeyun but we don't know where Kabeyun is. And he kidnapped Manabozho's daughter Turtle, and he's kind of holding her hostage until we can find Kabeyun. But Manabozho's run off now, so we should find him before we head south or east to speak with the South Wind or the East Wind, because they're friendliest, and the North Wind is not, and they might know where Kabeyun is. The end."
Silence filled the air and she pulled her head further into her shirt, hiding a wince. "You're not a remarkable storyteller," Puka said after a moment, and the others rubbed at their necks and glanced in every direction but at her.
Francois stepped a little to the side as the color rose in Charmian's face and she clenched her fists. "So one of YOU tell it!!" she hissed, stomping ahead a bit to get away from them. Winter Born hurried to catch up as well and tugged at Charmian's vest again.
"I didn't think it was a bad story!" she said. She bit her lip. "Like...um...it didn't go on forever, like some stories do! Even though those stories are nice too..."
"Are we going to be walking all day?" Augwak cried, making awful faces. Charmian jumped; she'd forgotten that he was even there. She glanced back at him to see how he limped along, shaking a hand or a foot every so often.
She frowned. "If it bothers you, then why not fly?"
The GeeBee bared his teeth. "Don't you think I would be by now, stupid fleshling? When that windbag stole my medicine he stole almost all of my powers! If I fly for more than a few moments my head starts spinning and I practically crash to the ground! You have another suggestion?"
Charmian's frown grew. "Fly anyway." She turned away before he could protest. "He also stole some of Augwak's power," she added belatedly. "Not that that's high on the agenda."
Augwak shook a fist. "I HEARD THAT!!"
"Well, first things first, ma chère," Francois replied. "First we find your rabbit friend, then we decide which way to head out. Seeing as we're already heading south, maybe this would be the way to go." He gave her a questioning look. "You said you'd been told to seek out each of the Winds?" When she nodded he looked skyward thoughtfully. "I have to admit I have no clue where Winds live...but perhaps we could head south, then if that turns up nothing, east, then north."
"Then west," Charmian said, and her face lit up. "Like in a circle!"
"We'll have to find a decent spot to make a camp for the night as well. Don't worry," he said again when she started to look distressed, and his mouth twitched. "I'll let you know when that time comes."
"You'll do the hunting too, right...?" Charmian asked; when several of the others looked at her her ears burned. "I'm not some kind of chicken! It's just--well--I don't like SHOOTING what I then EAT, you know--"
"Shooting is half the fun of it," Walks-On-The-Shore said matter-of-factly, then did a cartwheel for no reason whatsoever. Charmian, Thomas, and Winter Born all peered at him uncertainly but all that any of the others did was that Marten hopped to the ground and started doing cartwheels himself.
"Wheeeeeee...!" he cried, rolling along like a furry wheel. He tumbled to a halt and stared at the ground, then started hopping up and down, pointing excitedly. "Hey, look, look! I think I found something!"
The others pressed forward and gathered around where Marten was pointing. It looked like a track in the wet grass, made by a human foot...when Charmian followed it backwards as best as she could, she thought it continued out of the trail left earlier by the rabbit, and her face lit up again. "I think this is him," she said. "He must've changed into a rabbit so he wouldn't be noticed leaving the Sky Tree...then changed back once he got here." She followed the track's direction and saw that it led toward the not-so-distant hills; they were crested by stands of pine trees, made almost black in the poor light. "He must've gone up into those woods."
"I do hope the atmosphere in this place picks up SOMETIME soon," Puka groused, shaking himself disdainfully. "My feathers will all start molting if this doesn't clear up!"
"You can hardly molt them if they aren't your own," Niskigwun grumbled, looking equally ready to molt.
Puka flashed his teeth. "Speak for yourself! You probably STOLE all yours!"
Niskigwun raised his spear. "Do you want to LOSE all yours--?"
"Are we there yet?" Remy asked.
"O-ho!" said Kwemoo and Maang, for no discernible reason.
X'aaru tucked his tail between his legs. "I think I have to go..." he murmured meekly.
Charmian ran a hand down her face. "It's just like a road trip...only furrier...and...featherier." She lifted her head and glanced at the hills, then back at the others. "Actually...if you guys don't mind, maybe I should do this part myself." When they all looked at her she scratched her ear. "It's...kind of personal. 'Bozho doesn't really like it when people know he's upset...and I kind of get the feeling he'll be upset."
"I thought he went tramping off to take on that big lug on his own!" Augwak groused.
"I know him a little better than you do," Charmian retorted, "and my gut's telling me he's up in those woods, and not going anywhere soon." When they just stared she flushed. "Look, it's just a feeling I have! He's done this before. He acts all brave, but as soon as everybody's gone...well...he has to work up his nerve a bit. I'm not saying he's a coward. Just that he's probably up there, working up his courage!"
"And hoping someone will show up to stop him," Niskigwun said, but none of them offered any further argument. Charmian nearly scowled but Francois tapped her arm and gestured her toward the hills.
"Go right ahead, ma chère...we won't be going anywhere. We'll follow behind to get a better look at these hills and see where we might rest for the day. Go do what you have to do."
Charmian let out her breath and nodded. "I won't take too long...I hope," she said, then looked at X'aaru, who was shifting from foot to foot. "Go on, you don't have to wait until I get back." The demon looked relieved as he turned and scurried off toward a nearby stand of trees. "Be back in a bit," Charmian promised, and started jogging toward the hills. The others slowed their pace and the forested slopes drifted closer; she vaguely wished that she hadn't been so hasty, and had asked Thomas or Marten or Mani along, before biting her lip and picking up her pace.
I hope I'm right, she thought a bit anxiously. But then again...this is Turtle we're talking about...would he chicken out for her...?
I REALLY hope I'm right...the last thing we need right now is you deciding to go running off and pretending to play hero, Manabozho...!
She mentally rebuked herself a bit as she started passing the first stands of trees. Manabozho might have bluffed and swaggered a lot, but he did have some actual spirit in him. At least, during her confrontation with Chakenapok, he'd shown some backbone. And that fight hadn't even involved Turtle. She wondered what he would do now that the little girl was involved. She chewed her lip harder and hoped that so far, he hadn't done anything too stupid. A failure to think things through was one of his less endearing flaws.
She slowed down again and started peering around the trees as they grew thicker. She had to be careful that she didn't trip over the numerous little pits and rises littering the ground, though she did stub her toes now and then. The air had grown damp and humid and she rubbed the chill from her arms; the woods grew darker ahead, barely any light shining through the branches, and she had an uneasy feeling about going too much further, but made herself continue anyway. Every once in a while some sort of small animal would go racing off and startle her; she rebuked herself again for acting like a child.
"Manabozho...?" she called out in a small voice, and stepped into the shadows. Little bits of overcast light filtered down here and there, allowing her to make her way around without running into anything, though her feet were soaked by now. After poking around the trees for a while she finally halted and just stood where she was, then shut her eyes. At first all that she heard was the very slight rustle of the breeze, and an occasional cracking or popping sound far in the distance...as soon as the air grew so silent that she could hear it humming in her ears, she thought she heard something else further off to her right, and turned that way, throwing out a mental net. She didn't catch anything, but neither did she feel absolutely nothing. She opened her eyes and sighed to herself.
"You don't want to be obvious, but you do want somebody to find you, huh?" she murmured, and started walking. "You are kind of predictable, sometimes..."
She stepped through hollows and climbed over fallen logs for a time before she came to a deadfall of trees, and drew to a halt, unsure of how to proceed until she realized that the slight noise was coming from there. Furrowing her brow, she picked out the sturdiest log and carefully started climbing up, wincing whenever her foot slipped. She discovered a hollow in the midst of the deadfall and peered down into it. Sure enough, she could just barely see somebody sitting within. With a sigh she lifted her leg over the edge and started climbing down inside. She settled herself on one of the logs rather than on the bottom of the hollow, tucking her legs under herself and looking upwards at a small patch of sky visible through the pine boughs overhead.
"I kind of thought I'd find you somewhere in here," she said.
Manabozho didn't lift his head. He sat crouched on the bottom of the hollow with his arms wrapped around his knees, which were drawn up to his chest, his chin resting upon them. He stared at the side of the enclosure as if watching an invisible TV, his feathers drooping and a scowl etched on his face. Charmian stared at him for a moment, then sighed and climbed down a little bit more. She rested against the side of the enclosure.
"Geezhigo-Quae said the Tree told her where you went," she said.
"Stupid Tree," Manabozho grumbled.
Charmian tilted her head a bit to the side and saw how red his eyes were; she nearly asked him if he'd been crying, then decided against it. "You know it was a bad idea to just go running off after him," she said. "Everybody's at the bottom of the hill and they're just waiting to help you out. Me too. There's nothing wrong with accepting help."
"I don't need any," Manabozho groused.
Charmian rolled her eyes. "I know you better than that by now! Why did you let me find you if you believe that? We all saw how Megissogwun treated you. Maybe you can beat him--but at least not yet. If you want Turtle back, then you're going to have to accept us."
"Go away."
"Uh-uh." Charmian frowned. "You think I don't care about Turtle too? And the others? You think we don't care about you? Why you believe you can just run off after him and--"
"I wasn't running after HIM!" Manabozho suddenly snapped, his head whirling around and feathers bristling; Charmian cut herself off with a blink. He shrank in on himself as if peeved about his outburst and looked at the fallen logs again. "I was going to go try to find the Winds," he muttered. "But I don't know where to look."
Charmian blinked again. "You...you were looking for Wabun? And Shawondassee?" She edged closer and sat down beside him. "Why didn't you just say so...? That's what we're doing too! And if we don't know where to look then we just keep walking until we find them. You're related to them--I'm sure you'll tell when they're around."
"I wasn't looking for Wabun or Shawondassee," Manabozho growled.
Charmian's brow furrowed a little. "You were looking for Kabeyun...?" When he didn't say anything her look of confusion grew. "But...I thought you didn't like him. That--"
"I DON'T like him!" His feathers flared again and he bared his teeth; she felt that he would have leapt up, if there had been space enough for leaping. "And that's the whole point! Even IF we find him--then what? What good will finding him do?"
Charmian stared at him as if he'd turned green. "Well--it'll help Turtle, for one thing--"
Now he did jump up, and nearly hit his head on a protruding log; with a scowl he struck it with his hand and it flew out of the pile, making Charmian throw her arms over her head when the rest of the deadfall started to collapse; when that didn't happen, she peeked out and saw that he'd stopped it, just by placing his hand against the wall. He glared at her. "And how will it help Turtle?" he demanded. "You actually think that IF we even find him--he'll care enough to fight Megissogwun? That he'd actually HELP in any way?"
Charmian's brow furrowed again. "She's his granddaughter."
Manabozho flailed his free arm. "TAKE A LOOK! Are you FORGETTING something--?"
She opened her mouth to speak, then shut it and shrank back a little, remembering.
Manabozho saw the look on her face and snorted. "Now you remember--? How he never even came to see ME? After I was born? He didn't come to see me even ONCE in my life. He never came to say goodbye to Mother after she died. He never came to see how Noko might be doing. He came to see MUDJI all of the time--he came to see PUKA some of the time--he even came to see WABASSO once or twice. But me? He never came ONCE. What makes you think there's any chance whatsoever that he'll care one bit about Turtle?"
Charmian chewed her lip. "Maybe he's changed," she said, a bit lamely; truth to tell, her own opinion of Kabeyun wasn't that high either.
Manabozho glared at her, then hissed and struck the log that his hand rested against; it collapsed and the deadfall made a horrible creaking noise before settling into place. He pulled his hand away and sat down hard on the ground, crossing his arms. "As if you really believe that," he muttered. "I thought over the same thing myself--and trust me--he hasn't changed. Some things never change--and the Winds are among them."
"So you'd just give up without even trying?" Charmian leaned toward him. "Look. Megissogwun's watching us, so we have to at least look like we're doing what he wants. Which means finding Kabeyun. Maybe, if we at least FIND him, and try to get him to fight, then Megissogwun will see that we did our best. I know it's a stupid thing to hope for," she said when he glared at her again, "but it's for Turtle, so don't you think even the smallest shot is worth it?"
Manabozho's resolve seemed to waver a bit and he turned away. She hated the misery that started to settle on his face; he might have looked grumpy a lot of the time, but he rarely looked miserable. "I came..." His voice faltered and his feathers sank. "I came here to try to think of something...but no ideas will come." His eyes grew glassy and he started gnawing on his thumbnail. "Why can't I think of any ideas? I can usually think of all sorts of things! Whenever I'm in trouble, I can get right out of it! Why won't anything come now?"
"It's a lot more personal this time," Charmian said. "You didn't have a lot of ideas when Wabasso died, did you--?" When he lifted his head and met her eyes she reached out to touch his arm. "The rest of us are going out to find Shawondassee. I think he lives somewhere in this direction, but it's probably going to be a long walk. Puka's with us. I think the two of you could help a whole lot finding him, since he should be your uncle, right? We thought we'd start with him; then if he has no idea where to look for Kabeyun, we try Wabun, then Kabebonikka as a last resort. Either way, we all eventually end up heading west." She paused, then bit her lip. "I know it doesn't sound like much...but we'll do everything we can to get her back. We just need you along too. I don't even know where we're going to be headed. I don't know this place at all..." She looked at her hands. "And I don't even know how to call up manitous around here, either. You and Moon Wolf taught me all about that...if I'm going to do my best, I'm going to need your help, too."
Manabozho stared at her for a moment as if surprised, then looked at her hands. "You don't have any powers here," he said, and she shook her head. His brow furrowed. "You never learned how to talk to outsider manitous...?" When she shook her head again he said, "You mean you really don't get it?"
Charmian's brow furrowed. "What do you mean, get? I just figured they don't understand me."
"They all talk the same language," he said, as if she were remarkably stupid.
Charmian scowled. "I know that! Wabasso told me! But I still have trouble understanding them, and them understanding me!"
He stared at her as if to make sure she were being truthful, then let out a great sigh. "Don't people have accents and dialects where you come from? Didn't you ever stop to think that maybe you have to speak slower?"
Silence. Charmian stared at him for such a long time that the air started to hum again; then she felt the heat start to seep up into her face. "Sp...speak...slower...?" she echoed in disbelief.
Manabozho nodded. "Yes, speak slower. You probably sound all funny to them! They have to get used to what you sound like and you have to get used to what they sound like. And then when you figure that out you have to ask them for things the way that they prefer to be asked for things. All manitous are different, but they're all much alike too. Why you didn't get this before, I have no idea. I thought you were brighter than that."
Charmian's jaw fell and the blood drained from her face. A moment later Manabozho yelped when she smacked him over the head, making his feathers spin. He peered up, grimacing, to see her already ascending the side of the hollow. "JACKASS!" she yelled. "That's the last time I ask YOU for advice!!"
Manabozho blinked, then got to his feet and grasped onto the logs. "H--hey!" he blurted out. "I thought we were supposed to be HELPING each other!"
"Buzz off!" Charmian's leg disappeared over the edge of the deadfall and she vanished from sight. Her voice carried over from outside. "But you BETTER make sure you buzz SOUTH!"
Manabozho stood in the little enclosure staring upward with his mouth hanging open for a few moments, before shaking his head, muttering impolite things under his breath, and clambering up the logs after her.
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