Unfair Fare
LIEUTENANT BARRINGTON CREPT along the hallway inside the immense Sky Tree, peering at the numerous round doorways but hurrying along whenever one threatened to open. He chewed on his lip as he went. He wished that he'd followed the others a little bit more closely; now, he had no idea where any of them had gone. He couldn't see any of them, or even hear them. What was more, this had to be the downright strangest Tree he'd ever been in. He continued glancing at the smooth floor and wondered how a tree could even live in such a carved-up state. What was more, how could it have blue bark and glittering leaves, to boot...?
A rustling noise came from ahead and he glanced around himself wildly, then ran down a side hallway. He came to a doorway bigger than the rest and dodged inside when it opened up for him, not even bothering to question how the door worked; he found himself in a large round room with a sloping floor and polished crystals set in the walls. He stared for just a moment at the wide balcony overlooking the open air before the rustling noise drew his attention again, and he ran toward the balcony, ducking around the corner where it extended somewhat beyond the window, and crouching down as far out of sight as he could get without climbing over the rickety railing and falling to his death. He held his breath and tried not to shiver in the cool evening air as he heard the door open again, and the rustling noises made their way across the room behind him.
He very carefully peered over his shoulder and into the room. His eyes grew when he saw the woman coming straight toward him. Her features were native, as well as her clothing, but her hair was white with a streak or two of pale blue, and her eyes shone like sapphires. Her face was lined with age yet somehow she seemed both ancient and ageless at once. Barrington's eyes grew widest when he noticed her oddly pointed ears...and the transparent wings which fanned out from her back before tucking into place again. He drew back into his corner as she approached, and he could hear the rustle of her dress. For some reason the images that had been stitched onto her dress--suns and moons and birds--stuck in his head, though he wasn't sure why.
She halted just within his line of sight, not looking toward him. She stared out at the landscape spreading far below in silence for a moment.
"I know you are watching," she said, and Barrington's muscles tensed, his fingers digging into the bark.
He made himself freeze when the air in front of the balcony rippled, as if a mist of heat had just arisen, and then something began to appear. His eyes widened to see a vague form taking shape like a ghost floating above the balcony; the old woman lifted her head to look up at it. Barrington's breath stuck in his throat when he recognized the face before him. It was the same man who had carried off the little girl, back on the Island.
He seemed to take somewhat solid form--though Barrington looked him up and down and couldn't see his feet, a fact which made him suppress a shiver--and crossed his arms. "So you watch me as well?" he said, and it took Barrington a moment to realize that neither he nor the old woman was addressing him, but each other. Apparently neither of them even noticed him.
"I do not have to watch you to know that you are there," the woman in white replied.
The big man's mouth twitched. "So you know me better than you would care to admit. Are you aware then of the location of your manitous? For I sense only three of them coming, and they are the weakest of the lot. One of them is the last son of that West Wind who humiliated me. Do you recall?"
Barrington saw the old woman's fists tighten at her sides, but other than that she betrayed no emotion. "Yes, I recall," she said. "I am the one who called him to defeat you, after all."
The big man nodded slowly. "Yes...I recall that as well. Do you realize, then, that I have come looking for old Kabeyun...? And cannot find him? What hero of yours is this, that he will not even show his face? He sends his piddling halfling son to take me on...of course, this puts me in a very sour mood."
"He did not send anyone," the old woman replied. "Manabozho follows you on his own. When you seized his daughter, you made yourself another worthy enemy."
"'Worthy'?" The big man snorted. "You overestimate your little manitous, Sky Mother. If one could even call him a manitou, for he is nothing like you, and he is certainly nothing like me, nor like his father. I am disappointed that this is the best you could drag up."
"There are others," the old woman said. "Those who accompany him. You would do well to learn that they are not as piddling as they seem."
"Ah...you mean the girl and her companions." The big man nodded. "I sensed her medicine...it is strange medicine, but strong nonetheless. Still, nothing to worry me. I am surprised by you, Sky Mother, that you would send a child to help your Island. I had thought you cared for it more than that."
"I do," the old woman replied, "which is exactly why I send her. She has defended it twice already. I believe she will succeed yet again."
A snort. "You think so little of your Island...?" He lifted his chin, then his eyes narrowed slightly and glittered. "You sent one of those Michinimakinong of yours also, did you not...? The feathered one, the friend of the humans. Why you did not just keep him at home, I fail to understand."
Only now did Barrington notice a slight wavering in the old woman's expression. "What do you speak of?" she demanded, her voice soft yet cutting.
The big man's mouth twitched again. "You know full well of what I speak. As soon as I destroy that Island, I will come and destroy this land, and this Tree, and everything within it. You should be glad to be rid of such stuff as this."
The old woman's face paled slightly, then the color immediately rushed back and she clenched her fists. "I know you wouldn't dare do this," she grated, the tone of her voice making Barrington's own face tense. "You have as much to lose as do I."
The big man lifted his chin again. "Do I? You care for them far more than anyone. I do not care for them at all. You are the one who ensured this, when you refused my offer."
"Hardly an 'offer,'" the old woman snapped. "Is this how you make all your 'offers'?"
"It was a worthy offer, and you rejected it; and so now you and yours will pay the price." He uncrossed his arms and his image wavered. "You were given your chance long ago," he said. "Everything that comes now is just a result of what you yourself decreed for yourself and your Island and everything else. Seeing as your hero Kabeyun isn't here to defeat me again, I rather think that my plan will go through more smoothly this time, and there will be no third Island to take the place of the second. I have to admit, though." He crossed his arms again. "You were a worthy opponent. Much worthier than this little Rabbit, and much worthier than that West Wind, who goes about with humans." His mouth twitched once more. "At least you bothered to keep to manitous."
Barrington watched as the old woman's wings slowly flared upward, making her look bigger than she really was; he bit his lip and tried to keep from chattering when a chill entered the air, and he saw her hair rise slightly as well, the leaves on the Tree beginning to rustle. "You had best leave my Tree," she said, in a voice that sounded like acid; Barrington shivered in spite of himself. "Else you will find your victory much more short lived than the last time."
This time the big man actually smiled, though it was a cold slight smile which Barrington didn't like at all. "At least you admit I stand a chance," he said. "Perhaps I should rethink destroying this Tree after all." His image began to fade, and he lifted his head, nostrils flaring, as he started to vanish into the air. "Tell your Michinimakinong I said hello," he said, his voice fading as well. "It will be a true pity when I destroy them...knowing what they are." His voice disappeared into the cool air, as well as his image, and Barrington found himself staring at nothing but dark sky glittering with stars; it took him a moment to notice that his fingers were digging into the bark hard enough to hurt, and he had to loosen them, letting out a small breath. He froze when he noticed the old woman still standing several feet away; she stared at the sky for a moment or two, then let out her own breath; and a second later she slowly sank to the floor, her wings slumping and her head sinking forward so far that her long white hair fell around her face, shielding it from his view. Barrington nearly jumped to his feet, feeling the need to run to her and see if she was all right; yet he heard her breathing shakily, and forced himself to stay. She put out one hand against the balcony in front of her and he paused when he saw how it trembled.
"I will not let you do this again," she said, her voice thin and weak. "I will not let you destroy the one good thing which came of this. And I will not let you destroy my Island. No matter what it takes...I will not let you take everything away from me yet again."
She stayed kneeling on the balcony, her wings shaking; Barrington stared at her for what felt like ages, before feeling the ache in his tensed muscles; when the woman refused to move, he slowly pushed himself up to his feet, not taking his eyes off of her as he edged his way back into the great room. It was only when he had taken several silent steps along the sloping floor that he finally turned around and ran toward the doorway, instinctively throwing up one hand so the door vanished before him and he jumped out into the hallway. He halted, then turned on one heel and went dashing up the hall. He glanced at the doors but none of them seemed right; he couldn't even place why he felt the way that he did, but he did, and for the moment he decided to follow his intuition, no matter how irrational it might be.
He at last came to a doorway that made him draw to a stop, and he stared at it for a moment, panting; it didn't seem any different from any of the other doors. Yet he made his way toward it, holding up his hand and watching the door draw back and disappear. He stepped inside and halted as soon as he faced the multitude of other doorways, each inset with a cabochon, which greeted him now. He looked from one to the next, uncomprehending and completely lost. His fleeting intuition left him.
Barrington clenched his fist at his side and stared at the doors each in turn, biting his lip. They surrounded the room; and though he had a strong feeling that the others had recently come through here, he had no idea where.
Frustrated, he started making a circuit of the room, looking into each cabochon in turn. He couldn't see anything through them. He wondered why he'd had the thought that he might. He tried to make out some sort of pattern to their colors, but found none; then he checked the floor, but it was made of wood like the rest of the Tree, and there were no signs anywhere that any door had recently been taken. Barrington stepped into the middle of the room and rubbed at the back of his neck with a sharp sigh. He couldn't believe that the ridiculous winged fellow hadn't left any of his numerous feathers behind to mark the way.
He started to turn back for the main doorway even though a part of his mind insisted that this was the way to go; gnawing on the inside of his mouth out of irritation, he took a step, before a low humming noise made him freeze and then peer anxiously over his shoulder.
One of the cabochons was glowing faintly.
Barrington frowned a little and turned back to look at it. It stood somewhat to the right, the stone a deep dusty rose color; as he stepped closer he thought he could make out a faint image within the crystal. Curious, he craned his neck and peered into it. At first what he saw didn't make much sense. An unfamiliar landscape, rolling meadows studded with bits of forest. His frown grew until he thought he saw a winding river and tiny figures making their way along it, and then his spine stiffened.
The Tree itself uses a similar medicine...I spoke with the Shadow Wolves and they told me there were once various ways to and from the Fairy Realm but long ago they fell into disuse...
You'll know it when you see the glow of the Weavers' webs beneath the rocks. These were used to make the going safer...
This Tree...it's some kind of...gateway? Like that tunnel...?
He tentatively reached out one hand toward the cabochon. As he did, the humming grew louder and he jerked his hand back when the door receded and disappeared. He blinked at the distant sight of meadow, and couldn't quite believe that he was seeing such a thing, inside a Tree.
He let out his breath then. "This is the least strange thing I've seen," he muttered, and as soon as he said it, he found that the sight of the meadow didn't surprise him quite so much anymore. He made certain that his gun was in place over his shoulder and stepped up to the doorway, putting his hands on the rim. He put his foot up between them and bit his lip; it looked like kind of a steep drop...and when he peered out and looked from side to side, the fact that he seemed to be ready to step out of thin air rather than out of a Tree made him blanch. He shook the feeling off the best that he could, took a breath, and shut his eyes. He pulled himself through the doorway and, when he found himself falling through air, braced himself for a fall.
The doorway vanished behind him, closing within the Sky Tree. The silhouette now standing in the open doorway flared a wing, staring at the closed door with shimmering blue eyes.
"Good luck, Long Knife," Geezhigo-Quae murmured.
"I thought you wanted to use the shortcut," Mishupishu said with a frown.
"Well..." Charmian spread her arms. "We do...if you'd show it to us."
"I just did." The silence drew out, and finally the Underwater Lynx sighed. "It's right down there!" He pointed with his horn toward the water, and Charmian felt her stomach sink. "Right there in the river!"
Everybody stared at him for a minute, then peered down at the water. "Oh," Augwak said after a pause. "Is that all."
Charmian's face nearly dissolved and she slowly sank to land on her knees beside the water.
The Lynx noticed her look and furrowed his brow, then swam closer. "What is it?" he asked with what sounded to be genuine concern. "You did mean the shortcut to Shawondassee, didn't you...?"
"Yes," Charmian said, sliding her hands down her face. "But I didn't think it would be in the middle of a river."
"Huh?" Mishupishu glanced from one of them to another, then at the water. "But it's a really safe tunnel," he insisted. "Most Mishupishus don't use it because it's so small, so you wouldn't likely run into any more of us; and the water keeps it from..." He trailed off, then his spines sank. "Oh."
Manabozho stomped toward him and gave him a glare. "NOW you get it?" he snapped, and the Lynx lowered his head meekly. "Not EVERYONE is a water-dwelling snake like YOU!"
"Chill out, Manabozho," Charmian said, rubbing her head. "There has to be a way down to it, if we just think." She lifted her head to look at Mani. "You're a water manitou. Do you have any ideas?"
Mani shook his head and whistled. Can make it down there myself, but as for the rest of you, not so lucky!
"I could probably make it," X'aaru murmured, "but I could only carry one of you at a time...and my record for diving is five times in a row..." He started bobbing his nose, apparently counting everyone with them, and then lowered his own head.
"O-ho!" Kwemoo--or Maang--crowed. "We could likely make the dive, but as for carrying anyone, that is another story altogether! O-ho!"
"I could ask the river manitous themselves to help," Charmian thought aloud, "but I don't know how helpful they'd be..."
She trailed off when she saw the way that Mishupishu moved his head from side to side, his eyes wide and fixed on hers. As soon as he noticed her stare he lifted his head a little and flicked the end of his tail.
"Well--I could take some of you," he offered. "Not all of you at once, but some--granted--it would be quite a while before I could come back for the rest..."
Charmian glanced back at the others and saw that Stick-In-The-Dirt's face had gone a sickly shade of green, and he was slowly creeping back behind Mani. Thomas and Peepaukawiss didn't look much better; and the look on Augwak's face, if put into words, would have been something that she'd rather not have said aloud.
"If you think I'm crawling into that ghastly BEAST'S mouth," he growled when she looked at him, "then you have another thing coming!!"
Charmian scowled. "Don't worry! I don't think he's interested in eating you, anyway!" She turned back to the river and chewed on her lip. "Even if we could all agree to it," she said, "I don't like the thought of waiting so long away from each other...there has to be some other way down there." After a pause her face slowly started to light up and she snapped her fingers. "Niskigwun!" He jumped a little, startled, when she turned to him. "You mentioned the Nebanaubae swimming southward, didn't you?"
The Michinimakinong blinked, then nodded. "Yes--what of it?"
Charmian clambered toward the water and peered in, Mishupishu following suit. "Well--maybe there's a few of them in this area...?" She placed her hand against the water, remembering how the beached Nebanaubae had spoken with her. "Hello...?" she asked, out loud and mentally.
The Lynx tilted his head to the side. "Oh--you're looking for a Sleeping One, now--?" Charmian nodded. "You're not afraid of them?" he asked in surprise.
She shook her head. "Not too much...I had one kind of...kiss me once..." her ears burned "...but that's about as close to a fish as I got."
"Well..." Mishupishu waved his tail, and looked around himself. "I suppose I could dig up a few, if there are any to be had...we all talk through the water, after all..."
"I'd appreciate that," Charmian said, and the Lynx disappeared under the water again, fading from sight. She placed her hand against the water again and sent out another message just in case.
Thomas squatted down beside her. "Kind of belated, I know," he murmured, "but what do you plan on doing exactly once we meet this Wind? I take it you've never spoken to a Wind before..."
"Well--they don't really make themselves very accessible," Charmian protested, before sighing. "I don't know. I just fly by the seat of my pants."
He gave her such an odd look that she knew he had no clue what the phrase meant; she blushed a little but he merely shrugged. "I guess we'll all find out when we find out, hm?" he said.
Charmian opened her mouth and--"EEE!"--she yanked her hand away from the water, shaking it wildly. She blinked a few times before seeing the face peering up from the water; after a moment another one appeared, then several more. Their large silvery eyes stared up at her as if they'd just awakened. "Oh," she said, surprised that they'd shown up so soon. "Um...hi." She put her hand to the water and the Nebanaubae closest to her reached up its hand and touched her fingers curiously; she shivered, as its skin felt like fish skin. "I was wondering if any of you know of a sort of...passageway down at the bottom of the river," she said, realizing that she was moving her lips as if she expected the creature to be deaf, and feeling her ears burning again.
The Nebanaubae tilted its head. Yes, there is a passageway, a long great tunnel. But only waterfolk go that way.
"That's kind of the problem," Charmian said. "I was also wondering if there was any way we might convince a few of you guys to help us down and through it. You're heading south anyway..."
What will you give us? the Nebanaubae asked.
Charmian blinked, then felt herself grimacing. "I have to pay again...?" She sighed. "I don't suppose you take tobacco, because for once I have enough of it..." She slipped off her pack and started digging around in it, then sighed and tilted it forward. "Go ahead...anything but the dreamcatcher. I don't know what you guys like!"
She had to tilt the pack forward at a dangerous angle for them to see it, and they peered inside, mulling over the selection of items she'd brought along. They peered at each other and seemed to converse silently, then the lead one stuck its head out of the water and looked around at everyone with her. It actually put a finger to its chin thoughtfully.
Charmian's mouth twitched. "See anything you like...?"
The Nebanaubae finished looking over each of them and its eyes fell on Stick-In-The-Dirt. Charmian frowned and glanced at him; his face went white and his eyes looked ready to fall from his head as he started creeping back again, one hand sneaking up to his mouth so he started gnawing on his fingernails. The Nebanaubae pointed at him.
Charmian's brow furrowed. "What about him?"
The Nebanaubae pantomimed having something around its neck, then pointed at the medicine man again. Charmian looked at him more closely and noticed that he wore an assortment of various necklaces, yet the one that caught her attention the most was the Megis shell. Her brow furrowed further and she pointed at it.
"The shell...?" When it nodded she shook her head, dismayed. "You can't have that! Isn't there anything else?"
The Nebanaubae's eyes widened a bit, then they began to look stubborn; she'd never seen such an odd expression on their faces before. We thought you wanted to go to the passageway, they said.
Charmian scowled. "Yeah, but not for THAT price!"
She gasped when a shadow fell beside her, and she and the Nebanaubae glanced up to see Stick-In-The-Dirt, gnawing furiously on his lip. He peered anxiously at the Nebanaubae before shakingly reaching up and pulling the necklace off over his head. Charmian's brow furrowed again in disbelief as he held it out, and the little white shell jiggled like a marionette on strings.
She shot to her feet and saw the wide-eyed looks on everyone else's faces. "Stick! No! You can't give them that!"
"It's...it's all right." His voice came out very small yet resigned; she sensed that he wished to say more, yet no words came.
Moon Wolf nudged his way past Francois and pulled at the Megis shell hanging around his own neck. "You're a Mide!" he snapped, making Stick-In-The-Dirt jump. "Keep your shell because you need it. I don't need mine."
"Moon Wolf!" Charmian yelled.
"It pointed at mine," Stick-In-The-Dirt protested.
Moon Wolf scowled. "It hardly matters whose it pointed at! You are still in the Midewiwin, and I'm not. Keep your shell."
Thomas tilted his head as Charmian hurriedly pulled at one of her own necklaces and drew it off over her head; the two medicine men turned to look at her just as she tossed Yellow Turtle's Megis shell into the water with a flick of her wrist. Their mouths both fell open in disbelief and possible protest--yet the Nebanaubae neatly caught the little shell, looked it over thoughtfully, then bobbed its head and turned to swim deeper into the water. Charmian let out her breath, then cringed when the other two halted beside her, practically bristling.
"What did you do that for?" Moon Wolf demanded.
"I was ready to offer MINE!" Stick-In-The-Dirt cried. "That was a gift you got from Yellow Turtle!"
"Don't you realize you'll never get it back now--?"
Charmian clamped her hands over her ears. "ENOUGH!" She glared at them both. "I don't need it! I shouldn't even be wearing it! You're a Mide, and you were one once," she said, pointing at Stick-In-The-Dirt, then Moon Wolf. "I've never been one PERIOD. Yellow Turtle gave it to ME. Meaning I can do with it what I want. I'm hardly going to stand here and watch you guys give up your Megis shells for a ferry ride!"
They both blinked; then Stick-In-The-Dirt looked almost ready to cry as if he'd raised a disappointing child, and Moon Wolf looked ready to tear her eyes out. Charmian rolled her eyes and turned back to the river, where the rest of the Nebanaubae were still waiting.
You are ready to go now? they asked.
Charmian nodded, then did a quick head count. "Kwemoo...Maang...X'aaru...Mani...you four should be fine on your own, right--?" They nodded, the two loons giving a bonus "O-ho!" "Then that leaves fourteen of us."
Manabozho scowled and stomped toward the water. "I full well know how to take care of myself!" he snapped, and Charmian jumped a little when he disappeared, an otter taking his place. The otter glared at her before sliding down into the river and vanishing from view. He even whipped his tail at one of the Nebanaubae as he went, making it duck aside to avoid getting hit.
Marten hopped up and down. "Hey, I can do that, TOO!" With a small poof he turned into an even smaller otter, and jumped into the water.
Charmian glanced at Peepaukawiss, but he only shifted nervously from foot to foot. "Ehhhhh!!" he groaned when he noticed their stares, and broke out in a sweat. "Um--if you wouldn't mind, I'd rather NOT be dragged along by some strange fish person, and NOT be smushed up in the mouth of some hideous Lynx! No offense," he quickly said to Mishupishu, who frowned a bit but nodded. "I think I'll just make use of my medicine for a change!" he added, and held up his hands, letting out a weird "Ooooooooo" sound. Charmian rolled her eyes when he slowly stepped toward the water and it parted around him, making way for the bubble which he'd formed. He beamed proudly as he slipped into the water, as dry as a bone, though he did squeak when Charmian made a point of poking at the top of the bubble before it disappeared.
"Eleven, then," she said, and looked at the nearest Nebanaubae. "Think you can handle that?"
The Nebanaubae nodded--Each of you come in, and we will take you there, it said, and Charmian decided to go first. She stretched her foot out toward the water.
"Wait!" She stopped and peered back when Winter Born rushed forward, panting. "Can I go first?" she begged. "Please?"
Charmian frowned. "Why?" she asked, then shook her head before the girl could answer. "I think it'd be best if I went first. Just to be safe," she said when Winter Born's face fell, and she almost expected a tantrum, but Winter Born merely nodded and took a meek step back.
"Okay," she murmured.
Charmian gestured at the others. "Is anybody going to have any problem with hopping in--?"
Francois stepped up to look into the river. "As easy as falling out of a canoe," he said, though the look on his face was somewhat doubtful; at least Stick-In-The-Dirt seemed a shade less pale than before. Charmian waved at them again, and sighed.
"Well...bombs away, I guess," she said, then, before she could wonder whether they understood that phrase or not, she took a breath and jumped into the water, steeling herself for whatever might happen next.
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