Family History

"...the bad spider lay stuck in the web until morning. That is why we use the dream catcher. It keeps us safe while we sleep as the spirits watch over us." Sokanon-Tahki, Cold Rain- the ancient wandering village storyteller having concluded her tale for the evening stood to her feet and stretched, her hunched back straining against the motion until an audible -crack- could be heard whereupon she sighed contentedly and smiled looking around at those gathered near the fire.

The frigid mountain winds howling their snow-filled fury outside the grand house had all but been forgotten about and drowned out by the words of the old woman who now stood before them as she spoke to the various tribal members. A young adolescent Snowy Owl, sitting near the front behind his other friends and family was still digesting the plethora of tales Sokanon-Takhi had shared during the evening.

The other members of the tribe-including Chief Gomez himself, who had deigned to come in to hear the tales of the traveling woman, cheered and clapped as it became evident that the old woman was finished.

The cheers were silenced as the flap to the gathering was opened in the rear of the hut and a large strange looking figure stepped in.

Everything about the man was wrong. For one, he entered the room walking backwards. His leggings and furs all faced the wrong direction-he seemed to have dressed himself in the dark as even his jewelry and necklaces; they were all worn backwards. He wore his shoes on the wrong feet.

When the man spoke, his words made no sense, "It is bad to be leaving again so quickly."

Zas was disturbed by the various mutterings and sense of confusion that rapidly filled the room. The young teen took in the scene.

The weather outside being as bad as it was should have made it good for the man to have found shelter. He had only just arrived, but what's more is that judging from the rest of his tribes reaction-the man was a stranger who had never been to the camp before.

Cold Rain chortled. "Why cousin, it has been a long time. How are you?"

The older woman without waiting for a reply turned to the gathered tribe and spoke again, "Forgive my manners, everyone this is my cousin- Mawsaw P’aw-Soat, Six Thunders.

The unwonted guest for his part looked at the rest of the tribe and began to sorrowfully sob, "I am so happy! I knew I would not find you, so I went home."

Cold Rain bewilderingly nodded understandingly. The conversation was maddening to Snowy Owl, and looking around at the gathered crowd, he could tell he was not alone.

Chief Gomez at this point forced a smile and walked over to greet the newcomer. As he held out his right hand to shake, Six Thunders took off his moccasin and offered his right foot as he ceased his sobs and in an angry tone shouted, "How rude of you to say good bye!"

For a split second the room went deathly quiet as the tribe looked on in wonder and tension filled the room-everyone watching to see how Chief Gomez would respond.

The Mescalero chieftain frowned and made to reach for his weapon at his side, clearly not approving of the visitor.

Zas's father, Shoshone Desert Wanderer was there in an instant, gripping the Chieftain's arm, holding it firmly in place. His action cause the Apache chieftain a moments pause but resulted in a stern look, clearly demanding an explanation.

As Shoshone was about to speak, Cold Rain spoke, "Chief Gomez, I am terribly sorry. My Cousin is a Contrary warrior."

At this new revelation, Shoshone released the Chieftain's arm and melded back into the crowd. Chief Gomez, upon hearing the information quickly relaxed and a smug look replaced the concern that was formerly present.

The rest of the tribe seemed to almost give an audible sigh or relief as the tension evaporated.

The newcomer and the elderly woman sat down at the center of the room and began a private discussion of their own-clearly to discuss something of great importance, which led to the rest of the gathered crowd exiting the hut. All except for Zas B'ul.

He did not understand. Why did this stranger, who did everything wrong, and even insulted the chief completely get away with nary a word of complaint from anyone. Is the man mentally sick? What is a Contrary warrior?

Zas got to his feet and approached the two new figures engrossed in their own conversation. As he drew near, Six Thunders spoke to the curious Apache, "Go away, we do not want to speak."

Zas stood his ground. It did not matter to him if this would be considered disrespectful- he needed, no demanded an explanation.

Cold Rain smiled at the young indian, "What is it little owl?"

Snowy Owl turned to face her, "I do not understand. What is a Contrary Warrior?"

The Old woman grinning replied, "Perhaps you are."

Six Thunders then addressed Zas, "You did not talk to her but to me. Do you not see?"

Confusion clearly written on his face, Zas does not respond. Cold Rain gives a sigh, "You ask an interesting question. "What is a Contrary Warrior". But instead of asking the warrior himself, you spoke to me when he was right here. That is why I said what I said."

Zas nods but says nothing.

She looks at him and says, "A Contrary warrior is a type of medicine man, a healer, a teacher. They have been given a Thunder dream and as such are given to us by the spirits to help us understand the world and ourselves better. They do everything opposite of how it is normally done so that we must stop and question what it is we are doing and why."

Six Thunders shakes his head no and smiles. "That is wrong."

Zas beginning to see, just tilts his head and gives the man a long queer look.

Six Thunders looks to Cold Rain and says, "That is why he is here."

The Old woman pauses for a moment before looking to Zas and saying, "What is your real purpose in being here Little Owl? He seems to think you have other questions."

Snowy Owl looks back at the woman and says, "I had come tonight hoping to hear a story-the real one...about my mother. I am told you know of her."

Sokanon-Takhi gives a sad look, "Oh. I see."

She takes a breath before saying, "I will tell you the story of your mother, but I am curious why you do not speak to your father about this."

Zas lowers his head, "He does not speak of her."

The woman nods solemnly. "I understand, well then...Please take a seat."

Zas promptly did as instructed as Cold Rain re-situated herself to face him. Six Thunders re-situated himself as well but he instead turned his back to Zas.

The elderly woman began after placing another in the dying fire and taking a long slow draw from a pipe. "Many suns have passed since this tale first began. Very few long nights have been spent in retelling this story."

Six Thunders interjected, "To understand nothing, you must not know everything."

The older woman nodded, "Yes, you must know. Your mother was not born Apache. She was not of the Natahay. She grew up in lands far from here. She once told me that her people-the Mojave, were river folk. I have not known others like her for she was quite rare. A thing of beauty." https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/09/e3/88/09e3889778062c3e56811d802579d581.jpg

Zas looked to the woman and asked, "How did she get here?"

Cold Rain spoke again, "She was claimed by a Mescalero brave named Crows at the Moon. He led his band in a great horse raid across much of the land. She was taken along with many many mustangs by his band and brought here to Chief Gomez as proof of his accomplishments. Before she was known by the Natahay she went by another name: Pelipa. She told me it meant lover of horses. I truthfully do not know if she spoke true in this, but it is what she claimed."

The old woman gave a small guffaw as she recalled something further, "She was a fighter that one. When she was first brought before the chieftain she bit and kicked and screamed the whole time. In my opinion-she should have been called Can't be caught, for it never seemed to matter what or who bound her, she always managed to break free and run. This was eventually how she came to be known by your father. He was the one warrior she was never able to escape from."

Cold Rain smiled fondly at the memories, "Yes, back then it was all the talk. She would sneak out having slipped her bonds, and be well on her way. Several search parties would hunt for her, but only one brave could ever find her. I suspect that it was for that reason, Shoshone came to love her and eventually made her part of the tribe by marrying her. At this point she became known as Malia-Mansi, Bitter Plucked Flower. For several years, she was with Shoshone. I believe that she had feelings for him as well, and that she only kept trying to run away because it was part of what brought the together..."

The older woman nodded, "But, that just an old woman's take on it. Many others think she was never truly happy here, and as soon as she had the chance, she ran away....if only that were so."

Snowy Owl gave a concerned look, "What happened?"

Six Thunders spoke again, "Nothing happened. Asking for answers to questions you already have."

The young brave tuned out the rest of the words the crazy man was saying. His focus was on the storyteller.

Cold Rain continued, "You happened. You were born and there was a great party. I have never seen a more proud father than yours the day you entered the world. Many chiefs held you aloft. But your father...he lifted you higher than them all and blessed the sun, the moon, the earth, the stars-...it was a wondrous thing." She trailed off.

A long moment of silence passed before she spoke again, "Bitter Plucked Flower left while this all was going on. I know she smiled when she held you, young owl for all mothers do, and I cannot think of why she would leave her child. I was the last one to see her...to this day, why she left- I do not know. It was dangerous to leave at night, but to go without food or water makes little sense to me."

Zas shook his head is disbelief, "Ss-so she just left? Did my father not find her? What is it? Why does no one say anything?"

The old woman hung her head, "There are some within the village who say she left to return to her people, that she just tried to escape while everyone celebrated; that she just got lucky and managed to elude your father when he sought after her...."

Snowy Owl gripped the old woman's hands firmly, and stared deeply into her eyes, exclaiming with a raised voice, "What happened?!?"

The young Apache at this point felt a sudden strong hand get placed upon his shoulder. He turned to see who now gripped him, surprised to find an unexpected and unknown man.

The old man sported a fashionable raccoon fur hat, an unruly dirty  blonde/brown beard and mustache, a weather beaten face, and bear claw necklace. https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/ac/b8/15/acb815f89c8c7745ef5324064f02be96.jpg

He escorted the young Apache out of the hut and into the freezing, snow and mountain winds. Once the two were a good distance from the hut, he turned to face Snowy Owl. The bitter screaming wind temporarily died down to a low moan. His voice sounded like the harsh and grinding footsteps made when walking in deep snow as he spoke, "The question you asked is not meant for their kind to answer. You don't know me, but I'm your grandfather. Call me Bill or Watches-the-Sea. I don't much care either way. Since I'm one of your kin, I will tell you what only I can tell you."

Snowy Owl stood shivering, his teeth chattering and he did his level best to keep his body warmed by gripping his chest tightly.

"No easy way to say this kid. Your mother was stupid. She was not kinfolk, she was not our kind. She never stood a chance. She tried to run off and leave you and your father, but it's a dangerous world son. Worse if you are stupid. She ran off an got nabbed by one of the damn leeches. They dealt her a fate worse than death-damn creatures made her into one of them. Your father, when he found out she done took off, chased off after her."

The words hit Zas like an avalanche, and made his blood run cold.

The old mountain man was unrelenting. "Your Father hunted them down, using every trick I taught him but they got ways of disappearing that makes finding 'em damn near impossible. Only way we know as much as we know is that she left him a note. I don't expect you to be seein' her here again though. Your Father has made it plainly clear to their kind that they ain't welcomed here, and every one of 'em he finds, after he's pulled every last ounce of information from 'em about where your mom and the bastard who grabbed her are, die and sends the message real nice and clear again."

The old garou spits, "Word of warning-you see a leech, just kill it. Your mother is a damn lost cause. You ask me, you're better off without her. Don't say I never gave ya nothin'."

The lone mountaineer gives Zas a once over, then without a further word turns and begins marching off further into the snowstorm. The young Apache numb and freezing felt a single hot tear streak down his face. He looked off in the direction his grandfather had gone, then turned to the village hut he had walked out of; the Silent Strider pup hung his head low and simply walked home.