Night & Day
"LEAVE HER ALONE."
Chakenapok stared at Charmian, the smile vanishing from his face and the flare disappearing from his eyes. Charmian stopped rocking back and forth, her broken arm cradled against her chest; the voice which came to her ears was harsh and venomous, more hateful than anything Chakenapok had said so far. She saw who stood behind him before he did, but she also saw Chakenapok's muscles tense, and his head slowly turn to look over his shoulder.
It was only Manabozho. But...his eyes glowed like two sapphires, his feathers were bristling like the hackles of an angry dog, his teeth were bared, and his fists were clenched so tight that she could see the tendons in his arms. A surreptitious glance around the cave showed her that Mudjikawiss's, Peepaukawiss's, and Chibiabos's eyes glowed just the same, yet the looks they bore on their faces were surprised, as if they had just stumbled in on something unexpected. Moon Wolf and Marten looked much the same. Her eyes shifted back to Manabozho, and she realized that he was glowing. Not just his eyes, but...all of him.
"Manabozho...?" she whispered.
Chakenapok took a step to the side and gave her a narrow-eyed glance. "Your next trick, Mainlander?" he murmured, and his nose wrinkled. "You honestly think this will frighten me...?"
She found that her voice was stuck. As if to answer in her place, however, she saw Puka and Chibiabos slowly start to step backwards, toward the tunnel entrance; and a moment later, Mudjikawiss did the same. Moon Wolf and Marten glanced at him with wide eyes, then the medicine man picked Marten up and made his way toward Charmian. She stared up at him, brow furrowing, as he reached down and took hold of her good arm.
"Moon Wolf--?"
"Oh, amusing!" Chakenapok snapped. "Some ACT this is! As if a piddling little Rabbit can save this Island after every time you've failed--?"
"I haven't failed yet!" Charmian turned in a circle, dragging Moon Wolf with her. She glared at Chakenapok. "Take a look, I'm still here!"
He pursed his lips. "Yet you haven't exactly done much yet." He lifted his hand and his fingers glowed. "Want to show me that wonderful second wind of yours again?"
Charmian's throat stuck again, and she pressed her arm more tightly to her chest. "If you even TOUCH her again I'll destroy you MYSELF," the hideous voice came again, and Charmian felt her skin prickle when she noticed that Manabozho's mouth was moving when it spoke. Chakenapok's eyes grew and he actually lowered his hand; Moon Wolf steered them toward the tunnel again. Charmian couldn't figure it out--this didn't look or sound anything like the Manabozho she knew. Even his face seemed different, his posture, everything--if it weren't for the two upright feathers upon his head, now flaring angrily out to the sides, she wouldn't have been certain that it was actually him.
Chakenapok snorted. "So the Rabbit finally shows his teeth. Who knew, he actually has some." He crossed his arms. "Go right ahead and try to bite, little Rabbit. As soon as I knock your little teeth out, I'll very much enjoy the look on your face when I do the same to this little mainlander of yours." He turned his head and smirked at Charmian.
She opened her mouth. And that was it. Chakenapok's eyes flashed wide when something CRACKed against his head, and in an instant he was lying on the cave floor, blinking and stunned, with a fresh line of blood running from his nose. Everyone gawked and then looked up. It didn't look as if Manabozho had even moved. He stood up straighter, and Charmian shuddered when she saw that the dark and light of his eyes was gone, replaced by a full glow of blue. He lifted his head and his feathers flared, looking just like rabbit's ears. The glow settled all around him and she felt sure that he was going to shapeshift, yet he stayed the way he was, and the two brothers stared at each other, glowing and furious, and confused and appalled.
Chakenapok put a hand up to press it to his nose. "Did you just...hit me...?" he whispered in disbelief.
Manabozho glared down at him. "You said this fight was about me," he growled, and his voice at last sounded a bit more like his own, yet still far different from any other time that Charmian had heard his voice. "Then you fight me. Not them, not her."
Chakenapok blinked, then wrinkled his nose again. "You think you can order me around, pissy little Rabbit?" he muttered, starting to push himself up. "If you want to be the first to die--then I'll gladly oblige! It seems all of you are demanding something different today!"
He got up and started walking toward Manabozho, who merely stood where he was and watched him come. Charmian tensed and started to move forward but everyone's hands held her back. She glanced around at them and saw the strange look in the brothers' eyes; even Mudjikawiss seemed cowed, somehow. "What is it--?" she asked in confusion.
Puka slowly shook his head. "I've...never seen Baby Brother like this before," he whispered.
"He has changed," Chibiabos said.
She looked up at Mudjikawiss again but all that he did was shake his head as Puka had done. "Best leave him alone," he muttered, and she looked back into the cave.
Chakenapok halted before Manabozho, who was standing atop a small rise near the back of the cave, so that Chakenapok had to look up at him. He lifted his hand and flames appeared. "Remarkable how interested all of you are in my welfare now," he said, eyes narrowing. "When before, you would have just stuck me under a rock in a cave, and been done with it."
"Manabozho..." Charmian spoke louder now, straining against the others and wincing at the throb of pain in her arm.
"You keep saying this game is to end," Manabozho said. "Then end it."
Chakenapok snorted. "You order me--? What--are you my big brother, now--?"
Charmian tensed again. "Manabozho--!"
She'd caught the glint of fire sparking from the heel of his hand before anyone else could. Chakenapok threw his arm forward and a billowing cloud of flame soared toward Manabozho. He held up his arms and fended it off--it must have been considerably more powerful than what he'd hurled at Charmian--yet he managed to deflect it at last, and it dissipated into harmless smoke. Another firecloud was batted aside, and Manabozho scowled and clenched his fists.
"I thought you wanted this over with," he snapped. "So end it already! Right HERE!"
Chakenapok started forming a fireball. "Would you prefer it in your chest or in your face--?" he said, mimicking Niskigwun's voice.
Charmian strained against Moon Wolf's grip. "Manabozho--! You can't fight him--!"
Chakenapok whirled to look at her and his eyes narrowed so that she gasped. "You'd like to get involved AGAIN, little girl--?" he snapped, and spun around on one foot, arm going back. Moon Wolf's fingers clawed into her arm and he put his other hand out in front of her, fingers spread--but something slammed against Chakenapok again, spinning him in a circle, and he toppled to the floor, gawking and gasping. He rolled over and shot to his feet, one hand clasped to the back of his head and an ugly grimace on his face.
"HOW DO YOU KEEP DOING THAT?!"
Manabozho clenched his fists. "You made a mistake fighting down here," he said, his voice deadly low. Chakenapok's brow furrowed, but Charmian's eyes shifted up toward the cave ceiling, then widened.
"A cave," she murmured, and the others looked at her. "Stone! Earth! Sandling medicine--!"
Chakenapok glanced back at her with wide eyes, catching her words. CRASH! Their mouths fell open when a stalactite moved across the ceiling and slammed into him, knocking him over. It vanished almost as quickly as it had appeared, and she realized that it had never been a stalactite at all, but an artificial projection of the cave ceiling, and now it withdrew again, leaving a water-smoothed surface behind. Chakenapok painfully pushed himself to his feet and rubbed at his cheek with a wince.
"Interesting," he rasped. "Looks as if you've been practicing a little bit." He looked up at Manabozho again and his mouth twitched, lip bleeding. "Have anything else you'd like to try--? Before I kill you? I've already planned it out in my head, you know--first I can crush the humans and the little rat, as they are merely nothing. Then Big Brother Mudjikawiss can go first--because I know you would never miss him. I will remove his head from his body as cleanly as you can decapitate a dandelion." His mouth twisted. "Then Big Brother Puka. How should he go--? I do believe I'd like to strangle him with his own beads and feathers, and make him choke on them. And then paint him with pitch just like your precious little birds. And Wabasso..." He glanced back toward the tunnel with an ugly smile. "I see I have to think up yet another way to finish him off..."
Manabozho's lip curled back to bare his teeth and he crooked his hand at the cave wall. "MANABOZHO!" Charmian yelled, but the stone was moving already, rippling and then breaking into jagged hunks which soared straight at Chakenapok. They started striking him, even though he stood his ground; he grimaced as they hit, but Charmian could see the grin on his face. She raised her voice above the noise of the rock striking rock.
"Manabozho! IT'S MAKING HIM STRONGER! This ISN'T what I meant--!"
He didn't seem to hear her, or else didn't listen. He jerked his hand up in the air and the ground surged beneath Chakenapok, making him lose his balance; he fell onto his elbows and had to scrabble at the floor as it rose up higher and higher over their heads. One gesture from Manabozho sent it zooming toward the back wall, and a split second later Chakenapok met the rock head on, sliding to the floor in a messy heap as soon as the wave retreated back into the floor and disappeared. Chakenapok barely managed to lift his head, putting a hand to it, but he let out a faint rasping noise that Charmian felt was laughter. She saw the way his fingers glowed, though he didn't lift them yet.
Manabozho! she thought desperately as he started walking toward his brother. Stop attacking him! This isn't what you need to do--!
Manabozho halted before the struggling Chakenapok and stared down at him as if he were an insect. Chakenapok let out the rasping laughing noise of before, putting out his hands and slowly pushing himself up onto hands and knees, his arms shaking and the few feathers left on his head drooping over his shoulders; Manabozho stood over him, one hand crooked, and watched him fight to stand. Charmian quailed at the look in his eyes--the only other more hateful look that she'd ever seen had been in Chakenapok's own.
Chakenapok dragged his head up and grinned at his brother, jagged teeth gleaming. "What do you plan to do now, Brother...?" he wheezed, blood dripping from his mouth.
Manabozho's eyes narrowed in disgust. "You killed Mother," he grated, and his voice finally cracked, just a bit. "You killed Wabasso. You'd kill everyone on this Island, because of this game." His fists clenched and his feathers slowly rose, the glow returning to him. "You'll do anything to win this game, and I'll do anything to end it."
Chakenapok's grin grew even uglier, something that Charmian had thought was impossible. His eyes goggled when Manabozho's arm shot out, however, and a second later he was suspended in the air, his brother's fingers digging into his neck. Chakenapok tried gasping for breath, grabbing onto Manabozho's fingers as if to pry them loose, letting out little choking noises as his feet dangled above the floor. Everyone watching stared on in disbelief as Manabozho held him up with one hand, as if he weighed no more than a puppy.
Manabozho's eyes narrowed again, glinting blue. "You call me Brother now?" he hissed. "And you think I am the foolish one--?"
Chakenapok squinched his eyes shut and tugged at Manabozho's fingers. "What...are you...going to do...now...Big Brother...?" he wheezed between clenched teeth, his eyes watering but the ugly grin coming back to his face.
"You have to go after him together!" Charmian cried. "It won't WORK this way!"
"I can kill him right here and now," Manabozho said, his voice like rocks grinding together; he and Chakenapok stared into each other's eyes. "I can crush his neck, and crack his skull, and bury him so deeply that Gitchi Manitou himself would never find him. I could do every single one of these things, and never feel a shred of remorse."
Charmian clenched her good fist and bit her lip, eyes blurring. "Manabozho...!"
Manabozho's eyes turned into blue slits. "I fail to see even what that stupid Wolf saw in you," he growled under his breath, and tightened his fingers again.
Chakenapok hissed and swung his arm at his head. A blast of flame seared over Manabozho and he yelped and dropped him, batting it away before it could burn him; he snarled and struck out at a fireball that Chakenapok threw at him, and Chakenapok had to block it, letting it wash over his head and back. It latched onto all but a couple of his remaining feathers and burned them into ash which trickled to the floor. An instant later the two of them were clasping hands like wrestlers, their arms pushing against each other and their teeth bared as they glared into each other's eyes hatefully.
"I could kill you in an instant!" Manabozho snarled, digging his feet into the floor. The remains of the fire spun around them, sparking and hissing. "I would not EVER regret it!"
"So be done with it, BIG Brother!" Chakenapok retorted, grinning ferally. "And let us see how much of a tiny cowering Rabbit you REALLY are!" His grin grew. "Would you like to say hello to Mother--?"
Manabozho's eyes flared in the same instant that Charmian grimaced, remembering Mudjikawiss's reaction--and with a scream of rage, he redoubled his efforts, Chakenapok's feet starting to slide across the floor. The grin on his face told Charmian that this must be what he'd wanted, and she quailed inside, trying desperately to think of a way to call off the attack.
A strange strangled noise arose in Manabozho's throat and he let go of one of Chakenapok's hands to hit him in the face. Chakenapok started laughing out loud, but this cut off as soon as Manabozho let go of his other hand and hit him again. The cracking noise that the blow made made her grimace, and Chakenapok stumbled sideways. Manabozho grabbed him before he could fall and started running, his arm pressed to Chakenapok's shoulder; a second later they slammed into the wall, Chakenapok's head banging against it. Manabozho threw him against it again, his eyes livid blue, and Charmian saw blood smeared on the wall when they pulled away from it. Her stomach twisted in on itself.
Manabozho took a step back and Chakenapok tottered dizzily, blinking and dazed. Yet as soon as Manabozho's hand clamped around his neck again, his eyes cleared, and the grin returned to his face. His own eyes glowed as yellow as Manabozho's glowed blue, and the two of them stared at each other malevolently, teeth bared and feathers flaring. It looked almost as if Manabozho should have grown claws like Chakenapok's.
Charmian blinked, then all of the blood drained from her face. Her hand, which had been gripping Moon Wolf's arm, slowly fell away; the medicine man looked at her with a frown, but she no longer even noticed him. Her eyes were fixed on Manabozho's face, on what she saw there now, and she realized why it startled her so much.
He...looks just like Chakenapok.
It was there. His eyes weren't yellow...and he didn't bear the flame tattoos upon his face, nor the pointed teeth...yet aside from these differences...the look there was exactly the same as the one she had seen so many times before, upon his brother's face. Every line of hatred and rage was exactly the same...and now that she saw them both together, face to face...the way that the fire had singed away Chakenapok's feathers, so that only two remained, made him look like his brother, as well.
She felt her breath leave her and her thoughts go silent. At that moment Manabozho blinked, and she knew that he finally saw it too. She saw his eyes fix on Chakenapok's--perhaps he saw his reflection there--but whatever it was, his eyes slowly grew, his snarl slowly fading away, and the look on Chakenapok's face shifted as well so that again they looked like one another. Manabozho's brow furrowed in vague disbelief and Charmian could practically guess what he must be thinking.
He looks like me...
Chakenapok blinked, seeming confused. After another moment or two the look in Manabozho's eyes shifted once again and his fingers unclenched. He let go, and Chakenapok fell, again as if in slow motion, to land on hands and knees on the floor. His head jerked up and he gawked at Manabozho in disbelief.
Manabozho stared down at him. Charmian wasn't certain what the look in his eyes was--but she let out her breath on seeing it, and felt the ache in her spirit stone fade.
"You're just like me," Manabozho said.
Chakenapok blinked again. "Wh--what--?" His mouth fell open, then his fingernails gouged into the stone. "What?" He launched himself up to his feet and clenched his fists, all of his fangs bared. "I'm nothing like you, you little coward! I am NOTHING like you!"
Manabozho took a step back, but not out of fear. "You're afraid now," he said in the same oddly quiet voice. "Afraid of ending up alone again, and left behind. You're just like me."
Everyone in the tunnel entrance straightened up. Chakenapok's eyes burned more brightly and hatefully than Charmian had ever seen. "YOU LITTLE PISS! HOW DARE YOU COMPARE THE TWO OF US! I AM FAR STRONGER THAN YOU WILL EVER BE!!" He jerked back his arm and hurled a blast of blue fire directly at Manabozho's face.
Manabozho held up his hand and deflected it without a second thought. The fire pattered against the wall and vanished. Chakenapok gaped, eyes goggling, then let out a furious strangled scream and started launching flames at him as hard and as fast as he could. At first Manabozho blocked them, but after a moment he lowered his arms, and the fire flew over and past him as if it were water sliding off of a duck's back. When he lowered his arms, Manabozho was untouched. They stared at each other.
"I'm just like you," Manabozho said.
Chakenapok let out a gasp, mouth moving but no words coming out. Charmian's brow furrowed when she thought she saw...tears in his eyes. His fists clenched and unclenched, and he let out little noises of confusion and frustration. His head spun around to stare at those standing in the entrance, and Charmian tensed against Moon Wolf. A second later a ball of blue flame soared at them and she shut her eyes, but with a fizzling sound it disappeared. She lifted her head and saw Chibiabos lowering his hand. A second fireball flew at Peepaukawiss and he cringed but one wave of his hand dispersed it with barely any effort. When one came at Mudjikawiss, he just scowled and flicked it away. Charmian hadn't even felt any heat.
Chakenapok's lips curled back and a weird twisted noise started coming from him, rising steadily into a shriek. "WHY AREN'T YOU FIGHTING ME?!" he screamed, and started launching fireballs and firebolts as if it were the Fourth of July. Puka and Chibiabos just stood and stared in at him with pitying looks on their faces; Mudjikawiss continued scowling, and Manabozho's look was oddest of all, a vaguely sympathetic yet resigned look. Chakenapok screamed until his voice went hoarse, and only kept it up, spinning in circles and hurling fire madly at anything and everything. Charmian watched him in awe, and was reminded of nothing more than a toddler throwing the world's most massive tantrum. Chakenapok halted and started hurling fire at Manabozho alone, and now she did see tears streaming from his eyes, his voice coming out in a strange high screech which didn't sound at all like his sneering tone of before.
"Fight FAIR! Fight BACK!" he screamed. "You're supposed to FIGHT BACK!! STOP BEING A COWARD AND FIGHT BACK!!"
Manabozho's eyes darkened a little. "I don't want to," he said.
Chakenapok's eyes squinched shut and he tore the remaining feathers from his head, sounding like an enraged vulture. "DAMN IT, FIGHT BACK!! YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO FIGHT ME!!" He whirled toward the others again and crooked his fingers, his eyes wet and wide with rage and panic. "MAINLANDER! If you don't start fighting me soon THIS ENTIRE ISLAND WILL BE DESTROYED!!"
Charmian slowly shook her head, feeling a twinge of anxiety which didn't let itself be shown in her actions. "No it won't," she said.
He blinked, then his face twisted up in fury. He looked at Chibiabos, then back at Manabozho. "I KILLED him once!" he yelled. "I can EASILY do it again! OVER AND OVER! As many damn times as it TAKES until you FIGHT me!!"
"Try it," Manabozho said.
Charmian saw Moon Wolf and Marten gawk. But another firebolt hurled at Chibiabos resulted in the same as before--he merely lifted his hand, and it dissipated. This time when he lowered his hand he let out a small sigh, and the look on Chakenapok's face was the same as that upon Moon Wolf's and Marten's.
"I am sorry, Little Brother," Chibiabos murmured.
Chakenapok let out a gasping huffing noise. "Wh-what--?" he managed to get out.
"I am sorry." Chibiabos's feathers lowered. "For turning my back on you."
Chakenapok's eyes grew huge. "WHAT?"
Puka took a step forward and clasped his hands together. "Baby Brother!" he exclaimed, his eyes welling up with tears and his lip trembling. "I'm so sorry I never got to meet you! I would have if I had known, you do know this, right--?"
Chakenapok's jaw dropped. "Wh--what is this--a damned FAMILY REUNION?" he screeched, and whirled on Mudjikawiss, flames rising around him again. "What of YOU, you huge stupid dung-brained BEAR? Are YOU going to say you're SORRY too--?"
Mudjikawiss's nose wrinkled. "Hardly. But if you think I am going to fight you just to grant you this little game, then you'd better think again!"
Chakenapok gasped and huffed and snarled. His fingers crooked and he looked ready to start tearing the cave apart. "Stupid piddling HALFLINGS! Father was a puff of hot air and Mother was nothing more than a pathetic HUMAN!"
Not a single one of them bit. Chakenapok started turning in circles again, but this time, rather than hurl fireballs, all that he did was gash the rock with his feet and scream at the ceiling. Charmian felt Moon Wolf's muscles untense and looked up to see understanding enter his eyes; a moment later Marten looked the same, and they all stood watching Chakenapok lose his temper. A few times he lashed out and threw fire at the walls, gouging the rock open, but this was all that he could do; another fireball thrown at Manabozho resulted in nothing. By the time that he had turned around again Charmian couldn't tell whether he was screaming or sobbing.
She carefully pulled her arm free and stepped into the room. No sooner had she done so than Chakenapok had turned and was aiming his hand at her chest, fire swirling over his knuckles. She stared into his eyes, mad and yellow and streaming, and he gasped for breath, his chest hitching frantically.
"I can still kill you, you little bitch!!" he hissed. "I may not be able to kill them but I can EASILY kill YOU!"
Charmian sighed and her shoulders relaxed. "But you won't," she said, and this just enraged him more. He clamped his free hand to his head, screamed at the ceiling, and launched the fire at her.
"I am sorry you died for me," Manabozho murmured.
Charmian blinked. The fireball vanished right before her eyes, and if it were not for the utterly appalled look on Chakenapok's face, she wouldn't have been certain if it had even existed. She found herself staring into his own eyes, and they were bigger yet than she had ever seen them; his mouth hung open, blood lining his teeth, and his arm remained extended, his hand shaking. It slowly lowered, though the look on his face didn't change; he even more slowly turned his head to look back at his brother. It was a moment before Manabozho could turn his head to meet his eyes, and Charmian took in a breath to see the expression there. Manabozho looked...guilty. His eyes briefly met hers, and she sensed a thought, before he turned back to Chakenapok.
You were right. I am just like him.
An odd sound caught her attention. Her gaze shifted to Chakenapok, and she saw him take a tentative step back, his shoulders shaking and his chest hitching. He continued stepping away from Manabozho and the others, and she saw the terror in his eyes; they no longer flared or glowed whatsoever, and as she watched, the fire around him died down and faded away as well, until he was left looking much like any normal living person, if not for his yellow eyes and the flames tattooed upon him. His stare darted between all four of his brothers as he edged toward the back of the cave, his teeth clenched and little gasping whimpering noises escaping him. He kept his hand stretched out but there were no more flames rising from it.
"What are you doing?" he cried, his voice cracking. "What are you doing to my power?!"
"You're doing it," Charmian said; when he glanced at her she lifted her good shoulder a little. "I told you. It's just what you told me. They know that you're a part of them now. And they're a part of you, but you just don't see it."
His pupils contracted to tiny points. "They--" He yanked his hand back and clenched it into a fist. "THEY ARE NOT A PART OF ME! I AM NOTHING LIKE THEM! NOTHING!!"
"As long as you deny them, then you have no more strength," Charmian replied.
He flailed his arms. "I do not need them! I have NEVER needed them! I WILL NOT EVER NEED ANY OF THEM! ANYONE! I DON'T NEED ANYONE BUT MYSELF! I'M PERFECTLY FINE ON MY OWN!!"
Chakenapok's eyes squeezed shut and he let out a screaming shrieking wail, jerking his hands at the walls as if to shatter them to pieces with his flames, yet nothing came. Then he drew his arms in and hunched in on himself, still screaming and crying; he collapsed to his knees, and Charmian gasped and drew back when he started to change.
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