Leaves
Chapter One
Ware-Yami-Tote
[This is something that I'm making up. I've been thinking about it for a long time, and I someday would like to make a graphic Novel out of it. So all of this is from my imagination! Thank you!]
We lived a village surrounded by clouds; it was small with only a hundred people or so. Every day we lived our lives quietly and slowly, and each day was considered special. Even though we lived in the cold spots of our land, we were tough and strong and able to withstand the harsh temperatures. When the Sea Clan came for our treaty, they bundled up and their nose ran with sick. Many of us laughed at their foolishness, and they just rolled their eyes.
Every year, we held a ceremony in honor of our peaceful coming together, though the Sea clan only came over for this. We never saw them, for the clouds of our village made things hard for us to leave. Somehow they managed to walk through the clouds every year, even though we were told they were poisonous.
When we held these ceremonies, each of our clan leaders drank from the same cup, and all of us found a partner of the opposite tribe to dance with. Only the ones whose hair was growing light were allowed to dance though, it was unfair.
…
"Hey, Blondie, wake up…" I ignored my little sister, she was being annoying again, and I lost track of the dream I was having. It seemed so important, and it was falling away from me. "Wake up, you need to see something!" I rolled over and tried to fall back asleep.
She jumped on me, "Hey!" I opened my eyes, it was still darkness, and I had preparations for the ceremony to help with later in the light, and she wasn't helping the fact I was fatigued, "It's still dark hour, what do you want?"
"Look in the water basin," she pointed to the corner of my shelter, "you won't believe it!"
I crawled over to the water, and looked into the reflection. I was still heavy with sleep and it took me a moment to refocus my vision. When my eyes adjusted to the dim light that was beginning to peek through the flap in the tent, I noticed the roots of my hair were lighter.
"Do you see it?" she tugged on the black part of my hair, "You can dance in the ceremony now!"
"I don't want to!" I sat on my legs.
"You're old enough to mate!" she teased, "You get to mate with Zi, and you know how much he likes you!" I cringed, I really disliked Zi; he was such a jerk, "He'll hold you, and you'll have twenty babies!"
"Shut the hell up!" I screamed, "You little brat!" I yelled louder than I had meant to, the wolves started to howl."
"Ha! Look what you did!" she stuck her tongue out at me, and ran out of my tent.
"Joryn!" I heard my father yell, "What's all the noise for?" I knew that I had to face my people soon, so I grabbed my furs and went out. My face hit the solid chest of my fathers, and I rubbed my nose in pain. When I looked up at him, his eyes were in shock, "Joryn… your hair…"
"Yeah, what about it?" I put my hands on top of my head, "It doesn't mean anything…"
He took a lock of it in his hands, "I was worried this day would never come…"
"Why would you say that?" I yelled embarrassed.
"You're 17 summers old," he sighed and dropped the piece of hair, "Most young-adults get their new coat at 12 seasons." He grabbed my shoulder, "Do you have your mark?" He pulled back my furs, his eyes grew in shock, "It's not Zi's symbol…"
I pulled back from him, "Good!" I smiled, "He's mean anyway."
"You don't understand." My fathers' light hair covered his face, "You have to be mated to someone here. No one has a symbol like that, maybe one of the younger men has grown into adulthood today…" my father wandered off into though and then said, "Go ring the bell."
"Father…" I whined.
"Go." He stated and pointed to the morning bell. I sighed and did as I was told; I picked up the stick and struck the silver plate three times, it made a loud chime with each strike. People walked out of their tents sleepily, in confusion as to why their chief was waking them so early.
After they were silenced from the questions they shouted at my father he raised his arms and said, "Joryn has come of age today." The crowed started chattering in excitement, "Silence!" he shouted and they immediately ceased their words, my father continued, "If there was anyone that has come of age within the last week, please come forward."
Two younger boys a girl slightly younger than me and Zi walked to the front of the crowd. The younger boys and the girl looked scared but Yi just looks smitten with himself. His eyes were saying, 'Ha, ha, ha, ha, she's mine,' but he was terribly mistaken.
My father walked in front of the four of them, "Please present your marks, and make them visible." Each of them pulled down their sleep clothing, and my father pulled me forward to compare. He looked over each on carefully, and then he came to Zi and nodded his head at him. Zi's confident face turned to rage.
"What is this?" he yelled, "She was promised to me!"
"Calm down Zi…" my father warned.
"No! How can this be! The midwife said she was mine!" he got into my father's face.
"Like I'd want to be yours!" I yelled in my defense, I was tired of people making decisions for me. Ever since I was young everything I did was what the midwife said. Zi had always treated me like an item ever since Nikko our midwife had said that we were to be mates.
Zi looked at me with hurt in his eyes and I regretted it, he walked away through the crowd. My father cleared his throat and kept talking, "Is there anyone with a symbol that resembles a wild clover?" I looked at him, it looked like a clover? I tried to look at the back of my shoulder, but it was too far.
After a few moments of silence from everyone, my father sighed, "Then that means you have no mate, Joryn." He looked so sad, but I wasn't. I had never wanted a mate, all I really wanted to do with my life was take one of the wolf pups with me into the mountains and make a life for myself that way.
"Loryb," there was a soft voice from the crowd, "She has a mate elsewhere." Everyone turned to see the snow-white hair of Nikko; she stood next to her mate Tyran, the strongest warrior in our village, "Fate is never set in stone. That was just an estimate; looks like the tides have changed."
"Nikko," My father looked annoyed, "You did this on purpose, didn't you?"
She nodded, "Like my mother did for you and I."
There was a silence between my father and Nikko; there was a history between these two.
Finally, my father turned to me, "Go get ready for the day, and then meet me at the lake."
I nodded and turned away without saying anything to the people watching me walked away. They all looked to me as if I didn't belong there. They had eyes of confusion and fear, as if I was some intruder in their peaceful home.
This had to be some sort of curse; the more I thought about being alone, the more it hurt.
…
The night before
When I had become a man, the elders had chosen me to be the next High Warrior Chief of the Ocean Tribe. My grandfather had been the one before me, and they chose me, giving me his name, hoping I would become great like him.
The ritual into becoming a War Chief was a painful one, and it was almost not worth it. They branded me with a sea-star shaped piece of sky stone that was found on our beaches. The smell of burning flesh and the sizzling of skin made my skin crawl; I did everything I could mentally to not cry out. My chest was red and sore after that. I couldn't avoid hugging my mother, and I almost cried when she squeezed me.
After the ritual, I walked out onto the beach, trying to ignore the pain. I threw rocks and stared out into the ocean, and soon I wondered out into the tide pools, the reflection of the moon glistened off the water. I could see myself, and I used the water to look at my burn.
It looked like it was going to heal, so I looked at my face. My face was pale and strained, and my eyes had dark marks around them. I knew that this would happen, and I knew it would hurt, but I tried to keep my mind away from my destiny. It didn't help the circumstance whatsoever.
I lowered my head, and dug my feet into the sand. There was a sound in the water, and it made me look up, a light brown wolf of the Cloud Tribe looked at me in the reflection. I remained silent as it looked at me, then it went through the reflection, and I still stayed frozen.
This had to be a dream.
The wolf's wet face rubbed up against mine, and it felt comforting. Its cold nose touched my ear, and it made me jump. This creature pulled back, and let out a howl of mourning, and with a splash of water it was gone.
"Tanrik!" someone called, I wasn't quiet used to my new name; my old one was Zamai. "Tanrik where are you? The Elders want to see you!" I walked to where the yelling was coming from, and I found my best friend Strea. She was a short, chubby girl with dark skin, not yet matured, but wiser than anyone in our tribe.
I walked closer to her, and her eyes went wide, "Ran-ran, what happened to your hair?"
I ignored what she called me, and looked at my hair, instead of being the pale of blond it originally was, it was now a night sky black, "What did happen?" I questioned.
"You're a man now!" she yelled excitedly, "That means you can get married!"
"I know that…" I looked at my hair closely, "Why is my hair all black? When we get our new coats, don't only the roots start? I think I would have noticed this dark of hair growing this morning."
Strea looked to me unsure of what to say, "Maybe it's because of your brand. What does your mark look like?" she grabbed me and turned me around looking at my bare back. Our people rarely wore anything on our torsos; it was always warm by the ocean.
"What does it look like?" I asked.
"Like a wild clover…" she walked back to face me, "No one like that has a clover on their back."
"I don't really care…" I sighed, "Let's go see what the elders want."
Strea and I walked back to the village in silence. When we entered the village, there was an ominous scene unfolding. Everyone was standing around the First Tree, while our head elder stood higher up next to our thrown. When he spotted me, he waved me towards him. "Tanrik, please sit here."
I walked through the crowd, and took a seat in front of my people. They all looked with concerned faces, and Elder Pagea leaned in next to me, "Xa, what happened to your hair?"
"A wolf did it." I whispered back. She looked at me bewildered, choking back words of question. She opened her mouth to speak, but our head Elder Souk began to talk.
"As we all know, we have a new Chief." He motioned towards me, "Please welcome him as our leader. He will guide us into prosperity, just like his ancestors did many years ago."
That's when I stood, "I think I can speak for myself, sir." Souk looked at me confused, and slightly angry, but I turned and faced the people I grew up with, "Please, hear me out. I don't know the first thing about leading a tribe. I can't guarantee anything, but I will say this: I love you all, so I will do whatever it takes to make you happy."
They all looked at me, blank and silent. Strea raised her fist and yelled, "Hell yeah!" and they all started to cheer, leave it Strea, always making a scene. She smiled at me and disappeared into the crowd. Soon, the crowd dispersed and I was alone with Souk and Pagea. (Mob Psychology anyone?)
Souk grabbed my arm; he looked furious, "What's wrong old man? Mad I took all your thunder?"
"Tanrik, you're still young," he said, "but you still have a responsibility. Have you even considered finding your mate?" He looked at my back, he had every marking memorized in our tribe, he looked back to me troubled. "Has anything strange happened tonight?"
I thought back to the wolf unsure if I should tell him, I decided I should, "A wolf appeared before me. A tan one, it looked like a Cloud Tribe wolf. It had feathers and beads in its fur." Souk looked troubled for a moment, deep in thought and then his facial expression lightened.
"It must mean that there is something is waiting for you there." He patted my back, "Good thing you're required to attend the peace ceremony tomorrow. You'll learn the secrets of air riding, and how to get up into the Cloud Clan's land."
"Wait, I have to go?" I stared at him, slightly angered, "Why? I never made that dumb treaty."
"Tanrik, you have an obligation," he crossed his arms and smiled, "You're the Chief. You're going." He walked away not listening anything else I had to say. He was right, I had to go, but I never really wanted to leave our village.
"Tanrik," Pagea patted my shoulder, "Are you alright?" This woman was my birth mother, but I never called her mother. I was given to another family, because I was an unwanted accident. When my mother was off on the beach collection shells, a man from the Cloud Tribe appeared and took her innocence, and I was born. She was forced to give me away, for I was an impure child.
"I'm fine Pagea." I sighed and left her alone. I felt bad for never letting her know me, but if I did, the Elders would throw a fit and she knew it. We kept apart from each other, hoping that when we left our world to join the Great Spirit, it would allow us to love each other.
This day had enough excitement, so I went to the new house I had been given. Unlike the Cloud Tribe who made their homes from anime hides, we carved our homes from the sides of cliff faces. It was cooler during the day and warmer at night. We were able to have fires in the homes, and we had more room to put the things we found.
I put my fire out and looked out into the sky. The image of a wolf flashed before my eyes, I rubbed them and it was gone. "Am I going crazy?" I mumbled to myself. I walked away from the sky, and looked at my bed. It was huge, and my black wolf, Jamz stared back at me. He sat on my bed, looking like he knew a secret, 'So, how are you Tanrik?'
I jumped back when I heard his voice enter my head, "How in the hell are you talking?" I screamed at him.
'Quiet down, others will hear you.' He seemed to almost roll his eyes, 'I'm not talking to you. I'm connecting to you through our thoughts.' I had no idea what to say, only that I was going crazy, 'You're not crazy, this is something the Great Spirit gives all of the Chiefs. It's a secret that only the Chiefs now, and if you tell anyone, but your mate, it will ruin the entire spell.'
"Well that's ridiculous." I growled, "How's a guy supposed to stay sane?"
'That's what the mate is for.' He looked around the room. 'Where is she? Or in some cases…he…'
"Oh shut-up." I kicked a deer pelt on the ground, 'I like girls, and for your information, she's not in this village.' I tried speaking through our connection, and it seemed like it worked. "Did you hear me?" I wanted to confirm it, and he nodded his muzzle, yes.
'She has to be here. Where else would she be?' his dark, raspy voice was sarcastic.
"I don't know!" I started to pace, "I guess I don't have one." Jamz hopped off my bed, and walked to the entrance of my cave, "Where are you going?"
'Go to bed,' he commanded, 'I have to get some information. Don't worry, I'll see you around. Stay out of trouble please.' I almost yelled out to him, but the thought of people asking me who I was talking to put me on edge.
Instead, I pulled off my shorts, pulled back my sleeping furs and went to sleep.
