Part 54: The Not-So-Dead End

Main story folder & table of contents: "Escape From Manitou Island" 
Previous chapter: "Part 53: Fire Down Below" 

PART FIFTY-FOUR:
The Not-So-Dead End

"YOU SET FOOT in strange lands without medicine?" the strange man in the glowing robes said. "This is a foolish thing for a human to do."

Without warning he flicked his hand up and Charmian saw a fireball headed her way. She went stiff, eyes goggling in surprise, then threw up her hands to ward it off, a startled yell escaping her throat.

"F-FIRE!!"

She felt something strike her wrist, and winced at the shock; then she felt a warmth fly around her, like a bunch of steam suddenly wafting past, and blinked her eyes open, confused. The fireball was gone, though she could still see little sparks from it floating around the cave; the man in front of her stared at her with wide eyes, seeming surprised himself. He still held his hand up, and she crossed her own arms in front of herself, feeling stupidly like Wonder Woman.

"What's the big idea?!" she yelled.

The man in gold frowned and lowered his hand a bit. "You control fire...?" he asked, sounding skeptical.

"Huh--?" Charmian looked around herself again--where had that fireball gone, anyway? "You mean--I did that--?" Her brow furrowed. "But...I haven't been able to talk to the manitous and okis here yet--"

She let out a tiny gasp when the man strode toward her and suddenly grasped her jaw in his hand; Walks-On-The-Shore started forward, but a brief gesture from the man made him freeze in place, and she could tell from the look on his face that he didn't do it voluntarily. The man in gold frowned at her so hard that she felt like he was chastising her with his eyes.

"What sort of creature are you?" he demanded.

Charmian's mouth worked without any sound coming out at first. "I'm--I'm HUMAN!" she exclaimed. "DUH!"

His frown grew. "A human controlling fire--? A human who is not a wabano--? I can tell you are not a wabano, for you ask for your medicine; yet you're not a nanandawi, nor a jessakid, nor a Mide."

Charmian's face started going red. "OF COURSE I'M NOT! I'm a regular human!"

"Explain your reason for trespassing in this place," the man said.

She had to fight back a scowl; having to explain herself over and over was starting to get remarkably irritating. "I already SAID why I'm here! It's because of Manabozho and--"

"You said that this person is the child of Kabeyun," the man said, and his eyes suddenly flared blue; her own widened when she realized that he must be a manitou, himself. "Explain why some friend of the West Wind's would set foot in here!"

Charmian clenched her fists. "I already TOLD you, stupid!" she snapped, unable to stop herself. "I'm not a friend of the West Wind and if it wasn't terribly important I wouldn't even be BOTHERING with him! Manabozho's nothing LIKE Kabeyun! He's a lot nicer for one thing, and smarter, and more considerate, and probably BRAVER too!!"

She knew that she shouldn't be saying such things about a manitou--especially one whose services she was hoping to employ--and the man's eyes glowed even brighter in response, making her cut herself off a bit too late and try not to wince. Then, to her surprise, the glow faded from his eyes completely, and they looked like normal human eyes again; what was more, the hardness in his face faded, and he even looked almost ready to smile at her. She blinked, then took in a breath when she felt him letting her go. He took a step back, standing straight again, and she rubbed gingerly at her neck.

"You are not here on account of Kabeyun?" he said.

Charmian tried not to scowl as she shook her head. "Hardly! I'm only looking for him because I HAVE to! Shawondassee's the one who sent me here, not him!"

"You speak of a child of Kabeyun," the man said. "I was not aware he had children."

Charmian's brow furrowed a bit. "He has five of them," she said, then bit her lip. "That I know of, at least. All sons. Two of them are dead...sort of...but the other three are okay. The oldest one's just like him from what I hear and then there's the middle one, and then there's Manabozho. I came here because of him."

The man in gold took another step back. "I apologize for treating you in such a manner, then. You must understand though that the West Wind and I have never been on the best of terms."

Charmian blinked. "You're Wabun?" she asked. When he tilted his head she let out her breath. "The East Wind? Because...I was looking for the East Wind." She glanced back at Walks-On-The-Shore, then at Wabun. "Um...do you mind...?"

Wabun waved his hand; Walks-On-The-Shore immediately relaxed, almost sinking to the ground. He rubbed at his own neck and gave Wabun an evil glare.

"I apologize for such treatment," Wabun said. "But you must understand the circumstances of living in this place." He turned and gestured at the cave. "There is anything you want--?"

There's nothing there, Charmian thought with a frown, only to widen her eyes as soon as she saw that a fire had suddenly appeared in the middle of the cave, three little pallets situated around it, and a pot dangling over the fire with something that smelled terribly good simmering in it. The little flames set in the walls seemed to have multiplied as well so that the cave was much brighter than it had been previously, and she had to shield her eyes.

"Um--" she said, "--actually--we just came to talk--"

"Sit yourself and rest while you are here," Wabun said. "And talk while you do so. And eat. I can tell you haven't eaten in ages."

Yes I have, Charmian thought, then remembered that she'd barely touched the corn soup that Snowy Pine had given her, and as if in response her stomach growled. It seemed like the noise carried all throughout the cave, and she blushed and put a hand to her belly; Walks-On-The-Shore didn't even bother hesitating before making a beeline for the pot, and she sighed and decided to go along with it. Wabun had insisted, after all...

"I guess I am a little bit hungry..." she said, and found a cup of some sort of soup already in her hands. She stared down at it, uncertain of how it had even gotten there. Wabun gestured at the pallets and she sat down; Walks-On-The-Shore was already eating, as if he hadn't eaten in weeks. Wabun settled himself down on the pallet between them but completely ignored the Huron, turning to her instead and fixing her with an intent stare.

"And so Kabeyun has a family?" he inquired. "This I find strange. Explain."

Charmian frowned a bit around the spoon that had just as mysteriously appeared. She felt ready to be offended by his rudeness, before reminding herself that this was probably just the way he was; maybe being a Wind didn't mean being raised with manners. She shoved this odd thought away before he might read it. "Well...it's not so much a family," she said. "I'm not one to speak ill of manitous, but I think it was more of a biological contribution than any attempt at a family..."

"You say he has five sons?" Wabun pressed.

Charmian nodded. "Mudjikawiss--the oldest--he's just like Kabeyun, from what I hear. He's a big ass, mostly. Peepaukawiss is...well...Peepaukawiss. Wabas--um--Chibiabos is--was--is a nice guy, but he's not really with us anymore...same with Chakenapok, he's the youngest...and Manabozho, he's the youngest one still living...he's not at all like the others...he's pretty pissy sometimes, but not anything at all like Mudjikawiss, and I take it he doesn't much care for Kabeyun himself since Kabeyun never even went to visit him when he was growing up..."

"This sounds like Kabeyun," Wabun said, his eyes darkening a bit. "The mother, tell me of her. Who is she?"

"Well...her name was Wenonah, and she was a human, and--"

"A human mother--?" Wabun blurted out, his eyes going wide again. He leaned toward her so much that she backed away and nearly fell over; Wabun looked like nothing less than a gossip-hungry reporter, with the way that he stared at her. "Kabeyun has children by a human?" he echoed himself. "Explain!"

Charmian blushed. "Well--I can't explain it!! It's not like I was THERE at the time!" She took a few hasty swallows of soup just to give herself something to do. "I don't know what to tell you. From what I hear it just happened. It's not like he cared about her much. Like I said, except with Mudji, he wasn't much of a father. That's about all I know. Honestly!"

Wabun at last sat back a bit, frowning, though not at her. "This does again sound rather like Kabeyun," he mused aloud, then sat upright, his aloof look returning. "Your ability to call upon fire," he said. "Humans do not normally possess this ability unless they are wabanos, which you obviously are not. Explain."

Charmian rolled her eyes and sighed gustily; this guy was getting annoying. "Someone taught me. A wabano taught me. He didn't teach me his wabano powers, though," she said when he frowned. "He just taught me how to fight. Manabozho taught me the rest. He told me how to talk to manitous and ask them for their medicine. But it's different everywhere I go. I can talk to the manitous on the Island, but here, I don't seem to have that power. They don't listen to me much here."

"Explain this Island you speak of," Wabun said.

"It's a little Island west of here. There's this guy who's threatening it, and--"

"Explain how this Manabozho is tied in to this, and what this has to do with Kabeyun or myself."

Charmian clenched her free fist and nearly dropped her bowl. "CRIPES! I'm GETTING to it if you'll just let me TALK!"

Wabun blinked, then his eyes began to glow; Charmian slowly shrank into her vest, and again began shoveling soup into her mouth. After a moment the East Wind's eyes faded and returned to normal and he let out a breath; Charmian peered up at him and he lifted a hand to rub slightly at the back of his neck.

"You must...forgive me," he said after another pause. "I have not...had the company of others in a long time, thus I have forgotten how to speak to them."

Charmian furrowed her brow. "You don't get any visitors here? What about all those manitous and okis?"

"They merely live within this set of caves," Wabun replied. "I watch over them as I vowed I would. This is all."

"You mean I'm the first one who's come here in...how long?"

"You are the first I have seen in this cave, other than spirits, in perhaps..." he paused briefly "...all the time I have been here."

Charmian's eyes grew. "You've never gotten a visitor?"

Wabun shook his head curtly. "Explain this thing with Manabozho and this Island," he said again, then, "please."

Charmian let out a small breath and set her bowl down with a clank, even as Walks-On-The-Shore stood and started filling his up again. "Well...basically, there's this big guy threatening the Island. I'm confused, I thought you knew about it. Geezhigo-Quae said she called you to defend it, after all."

Wabun furrowed his own brow a bit. "You mean this same Island that was flooded in the past...?" When Charmian nodded his stare drifted toward the fire. "Strange. I admit I did not question her much when she asked me to step forward. She merely asked me for my services, and I granted them. It did not matter what I did it for."

"So you didn't even know about the Island?" Charmian asked in surprise.

"I knew her issue was with an island, but I did not ask the details. She merely asked me to fight this manitou called the Pearl Feather and put an end to him. Unfortunately, I should have listened to Shawondassee's advice."

"So Shawondassee warned you off, too?"

Wabun looked at her closely. "You claimed he sent you here--?"

Charmian nodded. "Yeah," she said. "But he's hardly a HE!"

Wabun blinked, then the expression on his face softened again, and she was surprised when the faintest trace of a smile even came to his mouth. "Well," he said, "at least now I know you speak the truth. Shawondassee spoke with me before I set out against this Pearl Feather. She claimed that he was the most powerful manitou she had ever seen, and that I should be careful of him. I admit I was not so clearheaded back then as I am now, and thought that I stood a chance. I suppose that as soon as I saw how much he looked like Kabeyun, I should have realized that there was not a chance of me winning."

"That obvious, huh?" Charmian said.

Wabun nodded. "It was not what I would call a 'fight.' He gave me barely a look before making a comment that he had better things to do than fight one such as myself..." his eyes glowed a bit "...though he did not use nearly such courteous language as this. In any case, when I attempted to attack him with my fire, it was not long before I found myself defeated." He paused, giving her a look. "Basically, he snapped my collarbones, my ribs, my arm, and both of my legs." Charmian winced. "Needless to say I was not much of a match for him after that."

"Sorry to hear it," Charmian managed.

Wabun lifted a shoulder somewhat magnanimously, in what she took to be his attempt at a shrug. "It was not nearly so intolerable as what those thuggish dolts Kabeyun and Kabebonikka did afterwards," he said, and his mouth twitched in a near-scowl. "The injuries I could have withstood quite finely. The vulgar remarks those two made afterwards were something entirely unwarranted."

"Shawondassee said pretty much the same thing," Charmian said. She rubbed at her neck. "Unfortunately, I'm looking for Kabeyun, and I might need to end up speaking with Kabebonikka, at this rate. I came here to ask if you might know where Kabeyun is. We need somebody to fight the Pearl Feather again, but it's not looking good."

Wabun frowned. "He is back then, you mean?"

Charmian nodded. "We don't know how or where he came from, but I saw him myself. What he did to you makes it sound like he wants to marry you, in comparison to what he did to me!"

"I take it he barely 'gave you the time of day,'" Wabun said, and she nodded. He sat back a bit and stared at the fire. "Why is it that Shawondassee sent you here to me?" he said quietly. "Knowing full well how Kabeyun and I got along? He treated her in much the same way."

"She said that last she knew, you were going off to try to better yourself so you could stand up to him," Charmian said. "She said maybe there was a chance you'd gone to see him again."

Wabun frowned a little. "What would make her say this?" Before Charmian could protest he shook his head. "Perhaps I left her with the wrong impression. I have been strengthening myself, yes, but not to go and face him. I learned long ago that I'll never be as powerful as he is, and that's fine. I never wanted to be. I admit that I did come here a long time ago in the hopes that, if he came to me, I could stand up to him on my own ground. But he has never set foot in this land. He has stayed in the west long even before I left home."

"Then...what are you doing here--?" Charmian exclaimed in disbelief.

He shrugged again. "After a while of wandering I found these falls. When I arrived the spirits here were at war with each other." He paused. "I saw how much what they were doing looked like what my siblings and I used to do. I'm certain Kabeyun and Kabebonikka thought that what they were doing was great fun, but Shawondassee and I hardly saw it the same way. To tell you the truth, I'm quite surprised either of them even stepped up in defense of that Island."

"I've been told they pretty much did it just to stroke their egos," Charmian mumbled.

Wabun nodded. "Yes, this sounds about right. In any case, once I'd convinced the spirits to cease their fighting for the sake of their families, it occurred to me that what I'd planned was foolish. There's no point in holding onto an old grudge. Shawondassee never did. Did she tell you how she cried like an infant when Kabebonikka went away?"

Charmian blinked. "She did?"

Wabun nodded again. "Even with as atrocious he was to us, she still cared about him...for whatever insane reason. I will hardly lie, even to a human, and say that I harbor any warm feelings for either of them. I reserve that for Shawondassee alone. But to waste my time here thinking of ways to get back at them...this is ridiculous. After all, they are hardly interested in coming here."

"So you don't know where Kabeyun is...?" Charmian asked, despair starting to set in.

He shook his head. "I'm afraid not...I apologize on behalf of Shawondassee, but she gave you incorrect information. I am the last person who would know where to seek Kabeyun."

Charmian slowly sank into her clothes, staring disconsolately at the fire. "Thank you anyway," she managed to murmur after a very long while. She started digging in her pouch. "Do you take tobacco...?"

"Tobacco--?" He frowned when she lifted up the pouch, and tilted his head to the side. "You bring tobacco with you?" he asked, as if finding this fact quite odd.

She nodded. "Why, is something wrong with that...?"

"Well..." His look grew even odder. "No one but wabanos has ever given me tobacco."

Charmian lowered the pouch a bit. "I'm hardly a wabano!" she insisted, then held it up again. "I said, do you want any--?"

"I did not give you the information you were seeking," Wabun said. "So no, I do not want your tobacco. There must be equal exchange. This is the rule for all those who practice medicine, wabano or not."

"But you still answered me," Charmian said, feeling quite ill at ease.

"But it was not a helpful answer," Wabun said.

"But...you STILL answered!"

"Would you just KEEP the stupid tobacco already...?" Walks-On-The-Shore said, spitting out a mouthful of soup as he did so. Charmian's eyes grew, and she hurriedly picked up her bowl and shook it; Wabun looked at it, puzzled.

"Soup! You gave us soup. I have to pay you back for that, don't I--?"

Wabun's eyes slowly rolled heavenward. "I'll hardly take tobacco for soup," he sighed gustily. "In case you do not know it, it's customary to offer food to visitors for nothing in exchange!"

Charmian let out an irritated growling sound and set the bowl down with a clank. Wabun's mouth opened when she pulled loose the string on the tobacco pouch and scattered a few of its contents in the bowl. "And I'm HARDLY going to leave here without leaving some of this! Some rule this is, that you don't even apply it evenly! Is it because I'm a girl--?"

"WHAT?" Wabun exclaimed, his voice making the cave vibrate. "You claim such a vile thing of me--?!"

"Well, it's not like you're going to any trouble to keep to your 'rule'!" Charmian said, starting to get to her feet.

Wabun huffed. "THAT'S BECAUSE IT DOES NOT APPLY HERE! You have nerve for a human! Shawondassee is a girl and I hardly think less of HER for that!"

"Good! Give the tobacco to her, then!" Charmian nudged the bowl forward. "She could use some more of her own, you know!"

"Are we going...?" Walks-On-The-Shore inquired, still sitting on the floor with his bowl of soup.

"Yeah, we're going," Charmian said, and he commenced sucking down the rest of his soup. She turned back to Wabun, whose eyes were glowing again. "Sorry to be going so abruptly--but we have to get looking for Kabebonikka next," she said, and he blinked and let out a breath. "It sounds like he's most likely to know where Kabeyun is, if he and Kabeyun were as much the peas in a pod that you and Shawondassee described them as!"

"Thank you for the soup," Walks-On-The-Shore said, bowing as if he were Japanese. He turned for the entryway and started walking on his hands out of the room.

Wabun furrowed his brow when Charmian turned away, readjusting her pack. "HOLD ON!" his voice boomed when she was halfway to the entry, and she cringed and halted, peering back uncertainly. He was glowing yet again, and looked like he was ready to start growling. He jerked his hand up and she gasped, throwing her own arms up before herself like she had earlier. She felt something strike her forearm and winced, taking an involuntary step back. When the tingling feeling began to diminish she hesitantly opened her eyes and looked at herself, but couldn't see anything different. She lowered her arms and stared at them in confusion, then looked back up at him.

"What did you just do?" she exclaimed.

Wabun scowled. "Equal exchange!" He took a breath and attempted to compose himself, seeming rather out of sorts. "You claimed you have difficulty getting the manitous to listen to you here and elsewhere," he said. "So perhaps in exchange I can offer you a little help."

"Huh--?" Charmian lifted her right arm and felt the tingle running up and down it; her fingers seemed to glow a little, and she gawked at them. "What did you just do--?" she yelled again. Her face screwed up. "You didn't give me some weird spirit-changing power or something, did you--?!"

His face screwed up in return. "Why would I do that?"

"I don't know! One of your FOLLOWERS did it to me once!" She grimaced and shook her arm as if to throw it out. "I still don't know if I got rid of that or not...!"

Wabun rolled his eyes and sighed as if the weight of the world rested on his shoulders. "No, I did not give you something like that. I could tell from when you walked in and warded off my fire that this is your element." Charmian blinked and looked again at her arm. "And so I give you a little bit of my medicine in exchange. You do not have to always ask another spirit for fire if you should need it, and you do not have to rely on taking your medicine and paying for it later, like a wabano does. Go ahead, if you doubt me, try it."

Charmian's brow furrowed. She bit her lip and gingerly flexed and stretched her fingers, before extending her index finger as if pointing toward the cave wall. She nearly said, "Fire," before reminding herself not to, and instead just thought about it. She gasped and hopped a little in surprise when a flame emerged from her finger as if she'd just turned on a lighter. She stared at it with her mouth hanging open, then looked up at Wabun.

"This--you mean this is mine now--?" she asked in disbelief. "I have--I have my own medicine now--?"

Wabun nodded, rolling his eyes once more. "Yes, your own medicine. Be grateful; not many humans possess such a thing. Most people such as yourself rely on asking others. In the future," he added, "you should be more careful to learn how to speak to the spirits of where you are going, so you are not caught unprepared like this! If I had been serious about throwing you out of my cave, I would have used something MUCH stronger!"

Charmian continued staring at her flaming finger, then gently shook it out, and called it up again; the flame appeared just as before. When she willed the flames to fill her palm, they did, slowly creeping toward her wrist; when she visualized a fireball, one emerged, just a small one, but a fireball nonetheless. Her face lit up as she experimented with it, trying it out with her other hand and achieving the same results. A smile spread across her face. It felt strange, not having to ask for such a power, but it felt...liberating, too.

"Thanks," she said, then looked up at him. "Thanks! A lot! I mean it!" Wabun nodded. She shook the fire off and reached for her pouch, furrowing her brow. "You're sure you don't want more tobacco...?" His face started going brilliant red and he clenched his fists, a strange strangled noise escaping him; she pulled her hand away and waved at the air. "Okay! Okay. We're even!" She adjusted her pack once more, beaming. "Thank you for the help too. Even though you don't know where to find Kabeyun or Kabebonikka. I appreciate what you did know. I'll leave you alone now. Thank you for the fire!"

She quickly bobbed her head, then turned and started jogging once more for the entryway, where Walks-On-The-Shore had already exited. As she reached it, she again heard the East Wind speak up, though she kept moving, hoping to catch up with the Huron. What Wabun said, however, effectively made her stop all over again.

"I said I don't know where to find Kabeyun. I never said I did not know where to find Kabebonikka!"

Continue:

Part 55: Easterly Advice  (13+) Wabun gives directions to the North Wind, but leaving in peace won't be easy... #1428631 by Tehuti, Lord Of The Eight

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