Honani, The Badger

My father is an idiot of the worst kind. He refuses to subdue his pride, refuses to admit he's wrong. I'm not buying in to what the rest of this camp says just yet, though I do find Chumana's story disturbing. What I find more disturbing is that the honored chief of a village could be so stuck in human affairs, that he would exile his own wife and children is some desperate far-flung attempt to save face and save power. 

Oh, right. Zia says I'm supposed to introduce myself. Call me Badger, or Honani if you like saying interesting names. I'm sure you can guess the name: My spirit animal is the fierce badger. Stopping at nothing, fighting until the very end, very grounded. I struggle with the spirit realm, which is probably why I'm the resident skeptic of the group.

I'm the only one the spirits didn't seem to affect that Halloween night. I mean sure, I felt sick and lost a few hours, but that happens in the desert on long journey with little water. Heat stroke does things like that., people. 

Chumana

Where shall I begin, but to tell you of myself? I am Chumana, the Snake Maiden. I am called this because when I was born,  a viper of the desert rest itself next to me but did not strike. The snake is my guardian. Most fear him, but I respect his ways. The snake is a curious creature, but not the creature of evil he is made to be. 

I am Running Bear's sister. I do not know why he calls himself of that name, but he forbids me speak his true name. I chose to run with him because of the darkness that is within my father. I shall now tell you a tale of our family's downfall, and why it is so important he never find us.

About seven cycles ago, my father came home with some words written on a piece of paper. He said they were from a young boy passing through, a boy with no hand. He said that the had been divinely inspired to pass along a legend long forgotten, and had lost his hand in pursuit but gained enlightenment. He refused to give his name, calling himself only "The Emissary". Father read these words and soon began to act very strangely. He would remain awake late at night, rereading. He would go out into the night and sometimes not return until daybreak. At first he seemed fearful of the night, but as time passed on, he changed. 

Our mother one night while he was gone stole the papers from a hidden hole on our wall. She read them herself, and the very next morning confronted him.I confess, I do not know what transpired in the conversation. But every night thereafter, my mother also began to consume herself in reading the words The Emissary left behind.

A cycle and a half later, the symbol started appearing. My father became more and more agitated, my mother, more paranoid. She began to refuse my father's company. She held a meeting with a few elders and told them what she had read and seen. They ignored her, of course. And then, father discovered the symbol in their bedchamber and perceived it to be the ultimate abandonment.

He forced her out of the house, on a journey of purification. Or, so he said. 

But I caught him talking in his sleep, two nights before Running Bear and Zia returned. He mentioned the box dwelling, sending her there to be "Remade". And that he was sorry he had failed. Then he screamed, and awoke, and ran from the house.

I am resigned to the fact that Zia is right about this. That there is more to it than a broken life symbol. When something is worshiped as this figure was in the dwelling....It is bigger than a legend. But what if it is real? My father then serves a false god of death.

In which this blog almost came to an abrupt end.

I wish I was joking about the title. I was so preoccupied with getting to Mesa Verde and avoiding the Chief and his friends that I sort of forgot the day. October 31st. The Day of the Dead, Halloween, The Beginning of the Winter Calendar..Whatever you call it, one thing is certain. It is a day for precaution. Why anyone celebrates it is beyond me, but maybe that is just my experience with the spirit world talking. All I know is, Halloween is the day the veil between the living world and the realm of the ancestors grows very thin. It is a day of transition, leaving everything vulnerable.

We were walking through an empty stretch of desert, we didn't really have a choice but to cross this open patch of ground. It was nearing midnight, the darkness was covering us almost completely. It was decided that we'd go at it at a slow run, spaced out. We were almost exactly halfway across the stretch when Running Bear crumpled to the ground.  Naturally I thought the Chief had shot him. We've managed to stay only a half a step in front of the bastard this whole time. He's attacked us twice already with no real damages, but..I can't enter Mesa Verde until I've lost him. I can't let him find my place. It...is too sacred for the evil he would bring there.

Running Bear's sister screamed and ran to him. She rolled him over and...his face...He looked frightened. "Spi...Spirit...." Spirit? A spirit did this? And then I remembered. It's October 31st, and we're on potentially active ancestral ground.  I don't know what happened here in ancient days. I know little about what happened anywhere, unless I get a friendly spirit to talk. And this one obviously wasn't feeling friendly.

Running Bear's brother then spoke up. First time I ever heard him say a thing. "Zia. Look. Look around us. The dead walk."

Holy. Fucking. Hell. You know the saying "When Hell is full the dead walk the earth"? Yeah well. It has truth rooted in the legends. All of us were enveloped by a literal wall of spirits. Unhappy ones. Screaming voices, cursing, howling...It was painful. Soon, all of us were on the ground on our knees, hands pressed against our ears. They assailed us from all sides. I don't know how many of you have ever been physically attacked by something not completely of the physical world, but, it is decidedly unpleasant. And can be deadly in the long term. And it's hard to fight back.

Pain. Unnatural pain. Oh, it hurt..
And then they disappeared as quickly as they had come.  I looked up at the sky. Blessed daylight. The sun was rising. Oh, thank you Great Father.. And then I realized something.

We'd been in the same spot, under attack by these strange spirits, for almost five hours.

Confrontation

This went almost as I expected it. Almost. Running Bear and I traveled back to his village to warn his family and village that there is eyewitness evidence that something terrifying is going on. And that a poor woman got caught up in it and was wrongfully accused of blaspheming and dishonor. I understand Running Bear's wish to have his mother's honor reinstated, but...this trip was potential suicide for both of us.

     I didn't enter the village with him at his request. I wouldn't have gone anyway~this is his fight, not mine. But I couldn't entirely help myself, and I hope he forgives me for this...But, I went to a safe spot about a half mile away from the village and entered the spirit state. I walked into the village, and took a place atop the roof of the meeting hall, which is where (I'll call him Chief) chose to meet his son. I could tell from that that this wasn't going to go well. As the eldest son of the village chief, he was more than entitled to talk to his father in the privacy of his former home regardless of the news.

     But his father  refused, and demanded a tribal hearing. Running Bear asked for a compromise, with his family and the elder board being the only attendees. I'll hand it to Running bear for thinking on the fly like that..The whole village would have been chaotic. So, here I was, on the roof in spirit form, listening and watching through the smoke hole in the roof. 

     And it got ugly fast. Bear asked for ten minutes of uninterrupted time for three specific goals: To defend his mother's honor, to explain his absence and journey, and to address the elders and his family specifically. The last means that the chief cannot interject during the specific address. His father actually stood and threw down his ceremonial spear at this. Not even five minutes in, and there is a violent act on the horizon.

     His requests were granted, with a two minute limit placed on his last request. He got right to the point, telling pieces of the legend that we confirmed, talking about his journey. I couldn't help but smile when he talked about how we met. When he started talking about our travels though...Things became very heavy. 

    The Chief's face got redder and redder as Running Bear talked..I could tell that he had familiarity with some of the explanations that were given, involving the symbol and pieces of the legend. I could also tell that either he dismissed them as garbage or...he was unwilling to admit that his son might be on to to something. But no, that would mean admitting he was wrong. Pride and fear would never let him do that. Chief angrily let his son know that the time for explaining was over, and that his two uninterrupted minutes would begin now.

     Running Bear switched gears. He walked right over to his brothers and sisters. "Look, guys, I know you think I'm a dishonorable son who fled his village and defied his father. That's what you've been fed. But now you heard the story from me. All I ask is that you decide what you believe for yourselves. And if you believe me, do one thing for me. Protect yourselves, protect each other, and protect the people. You might not ever see me again, but if you ever need me, you can find me.

    He signaled that he was done, and then sat down. It was obvious what was coming. Or...I thought so. What happened next, I did not expect. 

Chief: "Running Bear, so you call yourself, you are challenged to a fight to submission or death as per tribal law. You have made a scene of this family and have stained our reputation. If you submit  you will be executed, as is fitting for a traitor like yourself.  You will be struck from our family record forever and your spirit will have no home. What say you?"

Running Bear: "By honor I accept, and by right I claim my life and safe passage for myself  and my friend should I triumph. By victory I also claim the right of my mother to be reinstated into this tribe. Name your ground or your weapons."

Chief: "Your terms are blasphemy!"

Elder: "No, Chief, they are within his rights to ask. Calm your spirit."

     The Chief lost it at this. He started knocking things and people to the ground, screaming about  how his tribe and his family had deserted him. He then turned on Running Bear, jamming the ceremonial spear into his shoulder. I could take it no longer. I returned to my physical self and ran for the village. By the time I got there, though, The Chief had been subdued by the Elders. Three were injured, two of which were Running Bear's siblings. Twins,  a boy and a girl. An elder turned to us and said, "Run, get yourselves clear of this village. This man is Chief no longer, but the vengeance in his heart is strong. I feel a darkness within him. Go."

     Running Bear's siblings looked at us then, all five of them. The decision was theirs to make. Run or Stay. Either was dangerous. In the end, three ran and two stayed. The twins asked to come with us, while the third sister fled alone.

So we have two new companions, making our way to a hidden site in Mesa Verde. I've known it all my life, and I've never seen signs of another soul there. We'll be safe as soon as we get there. It's getting there that's the problem.

Going home

Running Bear here,


I'm going home to confront my father with the facts. He destroyed my family. He accused my mother of an evil act of blasphemy. That symbol...that symbol has nothing to do with refusal to bear children! It's much, much worse. But did he help her, no, he sent her away and condemned her to die. I tried to find her and save her. But I couldn't, I failed, but it's his fault and he needs to know it.


Zia says I won't be doing any good except getting myself formally banished and maybe run off. I don't care at this point, I have to get this off my chest. I don't really know what's going to happen. I don't even know if he will talk to me.


But if there's any chance at all that this...whatever this figure is...If it could go after my family, I have to warn them. My mother...might have connected the family to It somehow. If  this thing is a spirit...I don't know. Zia doesn't know. But my family has to be warned even if its the last time I ever see them alive again.


Wish us luck, we'll be there in a couple of days.

Answers

We entered the box at first light yesterday. It took both Running Bear and I to lift the hidden door once we pried the latch free. It was almost as if someone had tried to glue it closed.
Those words...."This is where tragedy begins"..They set me on edge from the moment I saw them. Both of the people I investigated had been here. One is still missing and the other...Well, you know what happened there.
Their tragedies did indeed, if not begin, at least intersected with this place. This box with no windows and a hidden opening, this relic of the ancient world hidden away in the darkness.

Once the door was opened,  there were stairs leading down into complete darkness. We lit torches and walked slowly downwards, noticing the changes in the rock as we descended. It quickly went from the soft brown  typical of this area to a much harder and slightly darker rock...Then we noticed that every single stair had the too-familiar (X) carved into it... And the outer walls....someone had painted them darker, and darker the farther down the stairs we went. By the time we hit the last stair, the walls were solidly black.

We reached the bottom stair, and stepped into the room...And it became readily apparent what the purpose of this structure is. A temple, with a dedication to something quite familiar and.

Along the floor, there was a large depiction of that dreaded symbol, again. But in the center of the X was a 5-foot high stand, and on that stand, a carved statue of the figure with no face.On the four faces of the stand, in an ancient language, were the words "The One Who Is".

Running Bear started throwing up. I felt it then, an overwhelming urge to panic and flee. I felt the taint pressing against my skin. The figure it was coming from the figure the taint the figure they are linked all of this is linked..

Then Running Bear screamed and pointed to the wall. A shadow, spirits save us, a shadow with four arms, what was casting that shadow how was there a shadow I don't know have to run flee before it catches us

We ran up the stairs and dragged the door shut, fled the cave. We're almost out of Chaco, stopping just long enough to eat and post. I don't rightly know where we're off to yet, just know that we have to get out of this canyon.

The Box

We made it down into the cavern..We climbed down the side of the cliff face early this morning to avoid the glare from the morning sun reflecting off of the pale walls. The entrance and passageway were much smaller than the old spirit's vision led me to believe. He must have been a smaller man in his time..

When we arrived, though, I could not believe the size of the cavern room itself. I didn't spend much time looking at it when the spirit showed it to me, but I didn't imagine it would be this large. I mean...the ceiling of the room has to be at least 40 feet above my head, and the oddly circular room must be at least 30 feet in diameter. And that box...What a strange and creepy object of the ancient world. As I said before, it is completely windowless, and at a glance, has no entrance. I wonder as to how the ancients even found this cavern, much less bothered to build a dwelling here. It is some sort of temple I assume...

We also found undeniable proof that we aren't the only ones to come here, and recently.. The old spirit spoke of a young boy and a wandering woman....I think I know who they are. The grandson, and Running Bear's mother..I found a necklace lying on the ground at the southern tip of the box. I showed it to him, not expecting him to gasp and fall to the floor..

~~That's...that belonged to my mother...I made it for her just before I left on my sacred journey to manhood. I made it so that she and I would share a physical link, so she would stop being afraid. She was here...
~She is the wandering woman, then..I wonder if the grandson is the young boy.. I wonder if he left anything behind.


Running Bear soon located what he had left behind. His hand. There were skeletal remains of a hand two steps to the left. On the hand was a ring with the symbol of the boy's tribe. This is, gruesomely enough, how he also located the hidden entrance to the box. Underneath the hand was a primitive latch hidden in the rock. In a circle around the latch were words in a very ancient Puebloan language..

When translated, they read:   This is where tragedy begins