It had only been a couple short months since Koyo had begun his quest to confront and eliminate evil beings across the land. His last successful venture consisted of him decapitating a snake chief who had been stealing all of the good pieces of meat from other members of the village leaving them with scraps to survive on for the Winter. Once he defeated the greedy chieftain he was able to distribute the meat among the poorest of the village to ensure their survival and well-being. After going from village to village performing the same actions, Koyo became a tribal legend. For many he was considered the equivalent of a native Robin Hood. Currently he was on his way to what he believed would be his final mission. He had heard rumors of a village suffering from the tyranny of a cannibal chieftain. The stories say that the chief was somewhat of a giant and consumed a member of the village each week as compensation for his protection. Should any of the villagers try to escape he would capture them, chop them up, and stew them for dinner.
The sun began to set, the wind began to pick up, and the trees of the forest began to cast tall, ominous shadows across the ground. Koyo smelled something peculiar as he walked along. Every time the breeze kicked up, he caught the scent of a sour, putrid odor coming from the direction he was walking. As he got closer he was able to distinguish a soft glow in the distance: campfires. At this point the sun had completely disappeared from the horizon and the glow of the moon began to shine through the clouds.
"I will go down to the village tomorrow when it is light", Koyo thought to himself. He found a small clearing a kilometer or so outside of the village and made camp for the night. He lit no fire that night for he did not know what kind of attitudes the villagers may have towards outsiders. "Perhaps they might all be cannibals", he pondered. Koyo went to sleep against a tree, waiting to venture into the village once the sun has been up awhile.
Rays of sunlight pierced through the brush of the forest waking Koyo. He began his trek towards the village once again but noticed a smaller puff of smoke rising above the trees not far from him. He was in no hurry to reach the village and decided he could spare some time to discover what caused the smoke. The smoke billowing up became thicker the closer he got until finally he glimpsed a homely lodge sitting in the woods. He crept up to the door, knocked, and awaited a response.
"Come in Koyo, I've been waiting for you for some time."
Hesitantly, Koyo entered the lodge and saw an elderly woman working at a table grinding some herbs together.
"Who are you, and why were you expecting me?" he asked.
"I'm called Grandmother, and once I heard of your triumph over the Snake chieftain I knew you would be on your way here. I know what goes on in the village and I assumed, correctly, that you would be interested in intervening. Before you head in to the village, you must know that the chief is protected by a curse cast upon him by the spirit of these woods. You won't be able to defeat him until you destroy the spirit."
"Grandmother, I have no way of reaching the realm of spirits and besides that I have no intention of visiting my ancestors prematurely. I have heard the stories of those who visit the Ghost Camp and never return."
"You must take these herbs I've been preparing, Koyo, and make tea out of them. I've included in here a mixture of Pine, Cedar, and Sage which, once consumed, will allow you to reach the spiritual plane. Remember, you must take only 4 sips of the tea for should you drink any more you will remain a spirit forever. By taking only 4 sips you will obtain 4 hours of time to locate and destroy the spirit."
Koyo took the herbs and sat near the fire in Grandmother's lodge. He set them in the pot and watched as it began to boil. The smell aroma was pleasant and warm, then suddenly he felt a chill race down his spine as his eyelids grew heavier and the light of the fire began to fade from his vision.
Koyo awoke suddenly and sprang to his feet. As he glanced around he noticed everything was a haze. The walls of the lodge moved out of his way like smoke, and the bright fire he remembered before closing his eyes now emitted only a soft glow. Though he had never been here before, he knew he had crossed over into the spirit world.
To be continued...
Author's Note
This story was strongly influenced by the stories of Kut-O-Yis as well as the Camp of the Ghosts from the Blackfoot Unit. I changed the name of Kut-O-Yis to something that sounded similar but wasn't as complicated to type out haha. I liked how his character helped the poor people of the community by taking away from those that were being greedy. I also really liked the spiritual aspects of the ghost camp story I had read from part A so I thought I'd try to combine the two.
Bibliography
The Camp of the Ghosts here
Stories of Kut-O-Yis begins here
Image Information
Sunset in the woods. Found here (pxhere)
Inside Grandmother's Lodge. Found here (flickr)
I really enjoyed reading you story! It was great! Koyo does sound like a native Robin Hood. The cannibal chieftain sounds awful. I would definitely not want to come across him for hear of being eaten. Koyo is very brave if he wants to defeat the cannibal chieftain. I like how you ended with a to be continued. The way you wrote the story and the information that was at the end makes me want to read the next part right away! Great job!
ReplyDeleteHey JT! I enjoyed your perspective of this story. It made sense that there would be a person similar to Robin Hood in this culture, and I liked that you took into account some of the stories from the readings to determine which beasts he might face. I also liked how the method of reaching the spirit plane was more of a realistic and non-magical one, since it involved drinking a tea made of real plants. Overall, a very fun story, and I'm looking forward to reading part two!
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