The Haunted Wood
A SHARD OF light fell through the pitch darkness, then a shadow nearly blocked it up, growing larger as it stepped into the room. The light vanished, plunging everything into gloom again; then with a crackling noise, a fire appeared in a hollow in the wall, and Turtle blinked the sting from her eyes, right before she felt herself flying forward and let out a yelp.
She landed and tumbled head over heels down what seemed to be a pile of puppies; when she landed at the bottom, she realized that was nearly what they were, a great pile of animal skins, mostly wolves; she let out another yelp and scurried back from them, then saw the shadow looming over her, and with a third yelp scrambled back into the furs. She cowered there shaking for a moment or two; then the shadow moved forward and swept the top of the fur pile away. Turtle sat trembling in the midst of them, teeth chattering, staring up at the huge figure which stared back down.
Megissogwun's eyes were impassive, disinterested...though he did frown just a little. "And you are the granddaughter of Kabeyun," he said in his deep dead voice. "Not remarkably impressive."
Turtle blinked a few times, then her lower lip started to stick out. "I don't know any Kabby-yun," she retorted, "but I know my papa, and he'll kick your TAIL!"
Megissogwun raised one eyebrow just slightly. "Oh really? Will he?"
Turtle nodded defiantly. "You bet he will! Once he comes looking for me and finds me, then you'd better run! NOBODY beats Papa and gets away with it!"
"I hate to tell you this, small child, but I have already done just this," Megissogwun replied.
Turtle's eyes widened, then blinked. Her lip started quivering anew. She bit it and scowled at him, tiny fists clenched.
"JUST YOU WAIT! Once he finds me you'll be SORRY!"
"Oh really," said Megissogwun, with less conviction this time. He seemed to ignore her vehement nodding and started to turn away. "Well then...keep telling yourself this...and perhaps you will not be so much of a pain before I'm forced to kill you."
Turtle started scrabbling at the furs. Megissogwun stopped and looked back at her as she tumbled head over heels and fell to the floor again. She pushed herself up, kicking away a few stray furs and jogging awkwardly toward him as if she couldn't bend her knees properly. She halted right before him, glaring up into his face with her lip sticking out and her fists clenched at her sides and her hair sticking out every which way.
Megissogwun raised an eyebrow again. "What do you plan to do, small child?"
Turtle's nose wrinkled. "You're a BIG MEAN MAN!" She drew her leg back, and kicked him in the shin as hard as she could; a second later, Megissogwun's expression hadn't changed much, but Turtle's had, as her face scrunched up and she started hopping around on one foot, clasping the other and yelping in pain. "Ow! Ow! Ow...!"
Megissogwun crossed his arms. "Is that what your father plans on doing to me? Because if so, perhaps he'd best save his breath."
Turtle hopped over to the fur pile and collapsed against it, putting her stubbed toe up to her mouth and sucking on it. "Just you wait!" she exclaimed around it, her voice muffled. "He'll hurt you a WHOLE lot more than that! Just wait and see, he'll come for me!"
Megissogwun stared at her blandly. "You had better hope so," he said at last, before turning away and walking back toward the far side of what Turtle now saw to be some sort of cave, or hollow beneath the ground. She peered around at the walls uneasily, the throbbing in her toe fading as anxiety took over. She rubbed her foot and her eyes grew when the big man held his hand up before a large rock protruding from the earthen wall, and a hazy image appeared. She thought that she saw a dull grassy field, and dark hills in the distance, but couldn't be sure; it made no sense to her. The big man stared into the image for a moment or so, then one of the feathers on his head twitched just a bit, and he held up his hand again.
"He's already out, I see," he said, and waved his hand so the image started to fade; he looked back at her and she gasped at the sudden attention, ducking back into the furs. "You'd better hope your father has even half the mettle his father has," he said in that eerie dead voice, and finished waving the image away. "Else there will certainly be a troubling turn of events for you."
After a night spent in the pine woods upon the hills, the group set out south again, tramping through the damp clumps of grass as the sun slowly arose.
Charmian's spirits lifted a little when the sun began to burn the dew and rain away, warming the air until her feet were dry and she didn't feel like rubbing at her arms to warm up anymore. The bleary atmosphere didn't even seem so bleary anymore with the sun shining on it--the grass looked more coppery and golden now rather than yellow and brown--and it and the trees swished in the breeze, birdsong joining them so that everyone picked up their pace, slightly buoyed by the change. Only Augwak remained as cranky as ever, tramping along and muttering the entire way.
"Have either of you ever met any of the Winds before?" Charmian asked Peepaukawiss and Manabozho, who were tramping along side by side, although Manabozho didn't seem to be enjoying the arrangement.
Puka clapped his hands together. "I have actually met NONE of them but Kabeyun in my entire life! I did try to make my way south to meet with Shawondassee, you see, but I got rather sidetracked along the way, because there was this wonderful dance going on in the field, and I just HAD to attend, and of course I won EVERY honor there was to give, because my outfit was the very BEST to be seen--"
Manabozho shook his head with a scowl when she looked at him. "I never had any reason to look for any of them," he grumbled. "As far as I'm concerned, we're barely family."
"Oh! 'Bozho!" Puka cuffed his arm. "You are always so negative! No wonder nobody wants to visit with you! When we meet Shawondassee," he said, straightening his feathers self-importantly, "you'd best let me do all the talking, just because you're such a sour fellow."
Manabozho looked ready to bite into him. "If anybody talks I think I'll be doing the talking," Charmian said. Puka deflated slightly but at least Manabozho seemed somewhat mollified.
X'aaru crept up on Charmian's left, peering around them; Francois walked in the lead, Remy trailing after him. "It's so lonely here," the demon murmured, Charmian glancing down at him. "How could anyone live here?"
Charmian pursed her lips. "I'm wondering if it's actually as lonely as it seems." She put a finger to her mouth and whistled loudly, then waited, although they still walked. It was a while before anything happened; she only noticed anything at all because she saw Mani's ears prick, and she squinted into the shrubbery that littered the meadows at intervals. When she looked closely she thought she saw eyes peering back at them, and her face lit up.
"Hey, look! See?" She waved and the eyes disappeared; frowning, she whistled again, then caught a look from Manabozho and made herself whistle a little more slowly, feeling somewhat stupid. The trick seemed to work, however, as the eyes reappeared; she whistled again, and saw them blink, yet they didn't approach. Mani whistled, and several manitou heads popped out of the bushes, their ears flicking; they whistled in return, then started coming toward them. Everyone slowed down to watch them approach. Charmian looked them over but couldn't make out any differences between them and the manitous on the Island.
"Did they understand me...?" she asked a bit uneasily.
Mani snorted. Understand Red Land One...but never see your sort before. Cautious.
Charmian glanced at Mani. "They must recognize you as an ogimah, then. White people must not have come here yet." She looked back toward the manitous--four of them were drawing near, and she thought she saw a few more approaching from the south. They craned their necks and sniffed at the air, walking around the outer edges of the group. She pulled her pack off and started digging in it. "Maybe you'd better translate; my manitou's still a little fuzzy, apparently."
Mani whistled and the manitous halted; Charmian pulled a couple of granola bars out of her backpack. Pakwa whined when she started unwrapping them but she merely stuck her tongue out at him.
"Oh, shut up! It's just two, you won't starve!" She held them out toward the closest manitous; however, one toward the back hurried past them and came right up to her, sniffing at the bars before taking one in its mouth and starting to chew. The other manitous halted and Charmian chewed on her lip when the first one took the other granola bar and ate it too.
"I wanted them to share," she said in disappointment as it finished the bar off. "I don't have enough to give all of them one."
Mani stepped up beside her and started whistling. The lead manitou--which was the biggest of those who had approached, yet was smaller even than Mani--looked up at him, ears flicking, then whistled in response. Charmian frowned and tried to understand what it was saying; it sounded vaguely coherent, but she still couldn't make it out. Apparently Mani noticed her distress, for he whistled at it and it started speaking again, but decidedly slower this time.
Mani turned to her. Had to tell him Red Land One is a little...slow, he said apologetically. Otherwise, will not stop yapping!
"I guess I understand," Charmian said, brow furrowed. She looked at the other manitou as he kept whistling, and he slowed his speech down even more when he saw that she wasn't getting it. His eyes shifted toward Mani and she could tell what he was thinking; she had to keep herself from scowling.
Finally she could make out a few words--Strange ahead--never go--probably best not. She perked up somewhat and tried harder to focus on what he was saying but Mani chose then to speak, and the two of them conversed a bit, before the lead manitou took a step back. Mani addressed Charmian again.
Says the woods further ahead are haunted, and is best to go around them. Told him we look for South Wind One. Has never seen him, but knows he lives to south. South Wind One used to visit lands south of here often, not so much nowadays.
"He used to visit...?" Charmian took a step toward the manitous and whistled as carefully as she could. Have any of you ever seen him? Can you say what he looks like?
The lead manitou frowned a little and she realized that her speech must still sound rather odd; yet one of the smaller manitous who'd first come forward did so again now, whistling just slowly enough that she could understand the basic gist of what it was saying. Great-great-great-great-many-times-great-grandfathers saw...long ago...South Wind One never ages...always young...far in south, right way...looks like man...all red and gold and yellow...many feathers. Doesn't move much.
Doesn't move much...? Charmian thought in puzzlement, but brushed it off and nodded. "Thank you," she said, then whistled the words; the smaller manitous whistled in response, but the lead manitou nudged at them with his antlers, and they started drifting away. He turned his head to look at her, and she blinked when she saw the way that his eyes flashed; he didn't seem happy. He looked at Mani and whistled. Mani whistled, and received another one in response. Charmian's brow furrowed.
"What's going on?" she asked. "What're you talking about?"
"He says he doesn't like that you're looking for the Wind," Manabozho said, and she glanced back at him in confusion. He stood at the edge of the group with his arms crossed and a dull look on his face. "He says that only those who seek trouble seek the Wind, and frankly, I have to agree."
"But...we're not looking for trouble!" She turned back to Mani. "Can't you tell him? We just want to help the Island--our Island. Can you tell him?"
Mani shook his head. Doesn't believe. Not even Mani.
Charmian opened her mouth to protest, when Manabozho stepped past her and looked the manitou in the eyes. The manitou blinked, his own eyes widening, and took a step or two back, ears flaring; he seemed uneasy now. The two of them stood in silence for a short while before the manitou turned around with a whistle; the others peered at Manabozho, tossed their antlers, and then turned as well. They started trotting away across the meadow and back toward the bushes.
Thomas stepped up on Charmian's other side, Winter Born beside him. He scratched his head. "Wonder what that was all about...?"
Charmian cast Manabozho one last glance as he turned away to resume his place at the other side of the group. "Manabozho...? What'd you tell them? Why did they go away like that?"
"I just told them the plain truth," he said without looking back. "That you're stubborn, and you'll go through the woods whether they want you to or not, and they'd best just be on their way before you decide to do something foolish."
Charmian felt the heat seep up into her face as they started walking once more. "I--why did you tell them that?" she cried in disbelief. "Now you'll have them all AFRAID of me! I didn't want THAT!"
Manabozho ignored her and she fumed. She felt a tug on her vest and glanced down to see Winter Born staring up at her. The girl gestured her closer and she leaned down so she could whisper in her ear.
"That's not what he really said," she whispered. "He really said that they shouldn't give us any trouble, because we have every right to go this way, because he's part manitou and he's related to the South Wind himself. Oh." She paused. "And that you're stubborn, and you'll go through the woods whether they want you to or not. That's what he said."
Charmian's brow furrowed. "That's what he said...?" She lifted her head to look at Moon Wolf, who was walking right behind them; he nodded, and she looked at Manabozho once more. "Well...why didn't he just say so?" she groused, but decided to leave it at that.
"Do you wish to continue into the woods, ma chère?" Francois called back.
Charmian blushed and hurried ahead as he had started walking on without her; the others continued as well. "Yeah! Just straight on through. Whatever'll get us to Shawondassee soonest."
He nodded. "Very well. Though you should be aware that if a manitou says the woods are haunted, there's a good chance that they are."
Charmian stared at his back as he kept walking--he'd said the comment as if he were saying that the sun was shining and it would be a nice day. She looked at the trees anxiously, but couldn't exactly back out now without looking like the world's biggest chicken. She swallowed the lump in her throat and hoped that whatever ghosts they might run into were friendly ones, or at least disinterested ones, like the lost spirits on the Island.
"I don't think I've ever exactly met a ghost," she murmured. "Unless you'd like to count Wabasso before he came back...are they nice or are they nasty?"
Francois gave her an odd look. "I'm afraid you misunderstand 'haunted,'" he said. "This does not necessarily mean ghosts live in the woods. Only that some sort of spirit dwells there, perhaps friendly, perhaps not."
Charmian chewed on her lip. "Well--what sort of spirits usually live in woods?"
She nearly gasped when Niskigwun came up on her right side. "I will walk ahead," he offered. "I have experience with all sorts of spirits...whatever lives in these woods can hardly be much more than I am used to."
Mani stepped ahead as well. Will keep my ears open in case of more manitous. Should be safe enough to pass, if we ask right.
"Oh!" Charmian dug in her pocket and pulled out a small pouch. "I'll try tobacco if nothing else works."
The trees finally started looming around them and she discovered that they were almost identical to the ones that she and Manabozho had been in, pines mixed with birches, the ground undulating and covered with a shrubby mix of grass and undergrowth and fallen needles. They fell silent as they walked; even the glaring sunlight did little to light the path much, and it eventually grew so dark that Moon Wolf raised his hand and used his flames to illuminate the ground. The blue fire gave everything an even more unnatural look, and Charmian found herself walking very close to X'aaru, the demon practically brushing against her. When she felt something grasp her ankle she let out a shriek and jumped up onto X'aaru's back, making him yelp. She glanced down and saw Augwak standing where she'd just been, teeth clacking like castanets.
Charmian's eyes grew. "Wh--WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?!" She jumped down and smacked her hand over the tops of his ears, making him grimace and throw his arms up. "THAT WAS MY LEG, DAMMIT!!"
Augwak leapt back, bumping into Pakwa, who nearly fell over. "It--I THOUGHT IT WAS A TREE LIMB, FOOL! I was going to climb up a tree to get away from these SPIRITS that live here! You think I did that on purpose? As if I would ever!! Your ankle feels like a dead branch!!"
Charmian's face started to go livid. Thomas and Winter Born hurried forward to grab her arms and pull her closer to the front of the group, and Augwak was allowed to live a little bit longer.
"The NERVE," Charmian growled, stomping now just behind Francois and Remy, who every so often kept turning back and making faces at Winter Born. "Touching me like that and then telling me I feel like DEADWOOD!"
Puka, off to her left, furrowed his brow. "Would you rather he had told you you felt like a gorgeously firm--" He cut himself off promptly when Charmian's hand smacked across his head next, his feathers spinning wildly in circles.
"NO more discussion of what I may or may not feel like!" Charmian hissed, and everybody quickly nodded their heads, eyes wide and mouths shut tight. She turned to face the front again, fists clenched. "And the next person who touches my leg will get their fingers ripped off."
"As if I wanted to dirty my hands on that," Augwak muttered, but he saw the venom in her glare and ducked to the back of the group just in time.
"I'm hungry!" Marten exclaimed; he was now perched atop Stick-In-The-Dirt's head, and the medicine man didn't look terribly pleased about his hitchhiker. "Do you have any more granny bars--?"
"Those are for negotiation only," Charmian said. "Besides, can't somebody like you get food on your own?"
Marten's lip stuck out. "Yeah, but where's the fun in that?" He fell back so he hung halfway off of Stick-In-The-Dirt's head, and started flailing his arms. "I'm huuuuunnnngryyyyy, huuuuunnnngryyyyy..."
Charmian ground her teeth. She started pulling on her backpack; Pakwa saw the motion and hurried forward, his eyes hopeful. "If I give you one, will you just chill out--?"
Marten popped back up with a wide grin. "Sure! That's all I wanted anyway!" He hopped to the ground and started bounding toward her.
"And I won't even have any left to give to Shawondassee or anybody IMPORTANT," Charmian groused, pulling out a granola bar and kicking Pakwa's questing hand away. "Pakwa, I TOLD you, they're NOT all for you, and the next person who touches me is going to get their FINGERS ripped off--!!"
She lifted her head to glare at him--only to see that he still stood a good several paces behind her, his head cocked quizzically. She blinked in confusion, and glanced at Marten just as he reached his hands up toward the granola bar--then he let out a tiny "Eep--!" and seemingly vanished into thin air, a puff of dead leaves rising around where he'd been.
Charmian halted abruptly. "What--!"
She cut herself off with a yelp when something grasped her by the ankle again--then before she knew it, she was upside-down, and saw the surprised looks on everyone else's faces before they too vanished and all that she saw was trees. It felt like the world was zooming past her and her heart would leap out of her throat! It took her a moment to realize that she was moving up through the air, feetfirst, as she saw the trees all around her, blurring with motion. Then everything stopped with such a shock that her head hurt--then she was falling back toward the ground. She spotted the others, all scrambling toward her and staring upward in astonishment--she managed to get out a yell before she was moving upward again, and she dimly realized that she must be on some kind of bungee.
"GET ME DOWN!!" she screamed, kicking and flailing against the snare she now felt around her ankle. A high-pitched cry caught her attention and she saw Marten dangling from a similar snare not too far away; Kwemoo and Maang flapped around him, o-ho'ing as if there were no tomorrow. Charmian started twisting herself around, trying to figure out what had happened. Were the woods booby-trapped--?
She lifted her head to look at the ground and ask the others what might be going on--when she saw the ground around them start to move, and she gasped and started flailing again. "LOOK OUT!!" she screamed; Moon Wolf, Niskigwun, and Francois seemed to figure out in time what was going on, as they all hurriedly leapt back, the voyageur dragging Remy and Winter Born with him; yet the others froze where they were, then let out a collective startled cry when what looked to be dozens of tiny hands reached up out of the ground and grabbed onto them. Charmian's eyes widened when she saw snares slipped around their ankles as quickly as anything--then she shut her eyes when they came zooming up toward the treetops all around her. Manabozho managed to slip out of his snare and landed on the ground with a thud, but was immediately grabbed again by the little hands hiding under the leaves and pine needles, and he started hissing and kicking at them furiously.
Charmian twisted around in circles, trying to face the few who had escaped, but unable to stop the cord from which she dangled from turning. "WHAT THE HELL'S GOING ON?!"
"Ch--Chaaarrrmiaaaaannnn!" Marten cried, his tail all puffed up, and as soon as she turned her head, he zipped up into the air and out of her sight. She gasped and wrenched herself sideways, cocking her head at an uncomfortable angle to see into the branches overhead. Marten was quickly being shuttled along toward the tree trunk, crying out the entire way; her eyes widened once more when she finally saw what was carrying him.
Tiny--tiny PEOPLE--?
She blinked. Three or four of the tiny people--for that's exactly what they looked to be--halted on the tree branch closest to her, looking down--they were shorter even than Marten, their heads large and their bodies small almost like infants; they were dark brown and covered entirely with fur, their ears pointed, and their eyes large and black, with tiny yellow pupils. As soon as they looked at her Charmian felt her blood run cold; they opened their mouths to show rows of gleaming teeth, and lifted their hands, which wielded tiny needle-sharp spears. They came running, screeching like wild monkeys, and she threw her arms down over her head with a panicked scream as the tiny creatures bore down on her.
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