Since we seem to be in the midst of another convention doldrum, and since posting fiction seems to be one of the latest "in" things to do here, and since John asked about one of the Three Feathered Rivals, I thought I'd post one of my adaptations. I hope you enjoy it.
Peace,
Peter
Raven and the Young Warrior
(as told by an Impala Sun Hawk shaman)
Raven met a good-looking young man while he was
walking in the chaparrel. The young warrior was dressed
in yellow leathers, and had on red face-paint.
"Hey, young man, where are you going?" called Raven.
"I'm going to follow the war path."
"I am a mighty warrior, known by all the people here. I
can come with you to give you help."
"If you are brave, you may come with me."
"Oh, I am the bravest man around here! You will see.
Our enemies will run away at the very sight of me! We
will have a good time together. We will capture their
animals, and take everything they leave behind."
The young warrior barely looked at Raven. Raven was sure the warrior did not know him. The young man said, "You may come with me."
As they went along together, the warrior told Raven that they would camp that night at the place called Scalped Man by the Fire. Raven didn't like the name of the place, but did not say anything.
That evening they killed a bison and made camp. Raven made the young man do all the cooking. After the meat was prepared and cooked, Raven told the young man that he deserved the Warriors Choice, and took the best pieces of meat for himself. The young warrior looked at Raven. Raven wondered if the warrior might have heard about him. Then the young man sat down to eat and went to sleep.
Before he went to sleep, Raven took the pieces of meat he had saved and the rest of the meat, and placed it around the place he would be sleeping, by the fire. He wanted to be able to have the meat near by in case he got hungry in the middle of the night. Raven placed the bison's liver on his chest and the bison's heart on his left knee. Then he went to sleep.
In the middle of the night, Raven heard a noise and
woke up. Sitting up, he saw Scalped Man right in front of
him. Quickly, he picked up a big rock and brought it down
as hard as he could on Scalped Man's head. But it was not
yet Scalped Man, only Raven's knee with the meat on it,
and when Raven hit it he let out a very loud yell.
Immediately, the young warrior jumped up.
"What's going on?"
"Oh, it was just Scalped Man. He thought he could sneak
into our camp and kill us while we slept, by I scared him
away."
The young man went back to sleep. Raven spent the rest of the night rolling around on the ground while holding his knee, trying not to make any noise.
The next morning, they broke camp and set off. As they went along together, the warrior told Raven that they would camp that night at the place called Cooked Meat Flying All Around. Raven didn't know what to make of the name, but did not say anything. As they went along, the other man saw that Raven's knee was bothering him, causing him to lag behind. Raven said he would be all right, he had just hurt it in his battle with Scalped Man.
When they got to camp that night they sat down and waited. When it was dark, pieces of cooked meat began to fly in the air all around them. The meat was very easy to catch, and tasted delicious. When they had caught enough, the pieces stopped appearing. The warrior told Raven that they would camp the next night at the place called Arrows Flying All Around. Raven didn't like the name of that place. He said, "I don't know if I can travel that far. My knee was badly wounded, you know."
The next morning, they broke camp and set off. Raven said his knee was really bothering him and suggested they find somewhere else to camp. The young warrior looked at Raven. Raven wondered if the warrior recognized him. Then the young man said no more and began walking again. Raven followed him.
When they got to camp that night they made a fire and ate dinner. When it was dark, sharp arrows began to fly in the air all around them. The warrior stood very still, and moved only to grab fourteen arrows out of the air as they went by him. Raven was frightened by the arrows, and jumped all around trying to dodge them. The more he dodged, the closer the arrows came to hitting him. Finally he got down on the ground and tried to dig like a badger into the earth. An arrow nicked Raven, drawing blood on his right arm. Raven screamed that he was going to die, and rolled over on his back with his eyes shut tight.
When the arrows stopped flying, the young warrior came over to Raven, kicked his feet, and told him to get up. Raven jumped up and rubbed his eyes. "What's going on?" said Raven. "I must have fallen asleep. This knee wound is making me very tired."
As they got ready for bed, Raven said, "You know, you're lucky Scalped Man went after me first last night. He might have killed you then, but he could only wound me." The young warrior looked hard at Raven. Raven began to feel uncomfortable, and wondered if the warrior recognized him. Then the warrior told Raven that they would need these arrows when they fought the enemy, and gave him seven. He also told Raven that they would camp the next night at the place called Where Women Visit the Men. Raven liked the sound of that place, and said his knee would be much better in the morning, and that he might even be well enough to break camp early.
The next morning Raven did all the cooking and was the first one out on ther trail. He kept getting far ahead of the young warrior, and would turn around and yell, "Hey, why can't you keep up? What kind of warrior are you? When we find the enemy I'll have to do all the fighting myself! I have a bad wound, and still you can't keep up. Are you sure you're a warrior?"
Finally, they made camp. As soon as it was dark two women in green shawls came into camp. One went over to the young warrior, and the other went over to Raven. Raven could not tell if she was young or old. He gave her a piece of meat, and thought by the sounds she made when eating that she must be very old. He figured that younger women would come to the camp later in the evening, so he told her to go away.
When she got up to leave, Raven saw by the firelight that she was a very beautiful young woman, and he called out for her to sit down again. But she didn't. Raven got up and smoothly tried to tell her that it must have been a ghost she heard telling her to leave. But she just kept walking.
At first Raven thought that she might come back, or that some other woman might come to him. But no one came. Raven then got very angry with himself. He knew the woman might have spent the night with him if he had not sent her away. Now he had nothing. He was so angry that he couldn't sleep. He could hear the other woman and the young warrior talking softly. He could hear that they were not making love. Raven hoped that the other man might call out, telling him to come and make love to the other woman. But he didn't call out. Raven waited until it was light again for the woman to return, but she never did.
While they were eating breakfast the next morning, the warrior told Raven that they would camp that night at the place called War Clubs Flying All Around. Raven didn't like the name of the place, so he tried to lag far behind the young warrior, saying his knee hurt him and that they would not make it to that camp. But they did anyway.
When it was dark, heavy war clubs began to fly in the air all around them. The warrior told Raven not to move, or he was sure to get hit. Raven dodged them anyway, and was hit on the head and knocked out. The other man stood very still, and grabbed two war clubs out of the air as they went by him.
When the war clubs stopped flying, the young warrior came over to Raven, kicked his feet, and told him to get up. Raven jumped up and said he must have fallen asleep again. The young warrior looked hard at Raven, but Raven was too dazed to notice. Then the warrior told Raven that they would need these war clubs when they fought the enemy, and gave him one.
He also told Raven that they would camp the next night at the place called Vulvas Flying All Around. Raven liked the sound of that place, and said right away that his knee felt better and that they could get an early start the next morning. He asked the young man if they were the best kind of vulvas, young and full, just the kind a warrior likes. The young man said they were. Raven asked the young man to tell him all about these vulvas, but the young man just went to sleep. Raven stayed up all night thinking about vulvas, and what they would be like with no women attatched. He wondered how easy they would be to carry around.
Raven was up early the next morning, and fixed breakfast. On the trail he left the young man so far behind that Raven could not shout to him to hurry up. Raven could only shake his head at how slow the other man was, and he wondered if the man was tired from such a long journey.
After it got dark that night, things began to fly around in the camp. Raven knew what they were, and he jumped about trying to grab one. No matter how high he jumped, they stayed just out of reach, just brushing their moisture on Raven's fingertips. Raven jumped around until he almost collapsed from exhaustion. The vulvas all made sweet sounds, and he was going crazy with desire. Then, Raven had an idea. He threw his war club up into the air, and hit one of the vulvas. It fell to the ground with a soft sound, but flew back into the air before Raven could jump on it. Then Raven had another idea. He emptied all the arrows out of his quiver, and swung it in the air like a bag. Finally, with a tremendous leap, Raven was able to catch one of the flying vulvas in his quiver. With a triumphant yell, he jerked it out and laid down on top of it - but he could not get his penis to work at all. The other man was sitting under some trees quietly laughing.
When they went to bed that night the warrior said that they would camp the next night at the Real place, called Where the Enemy Attacks.
All the next day, Raven complained about how his knee hurt him. When he did that, the young warrior would look at him, which would make Raven feel strange and he would stop complaining. Sometimes Raven would stop walking. When he did that, the young warrior would look at him and stop to wait for him to catch up, which Raven always did. They made camp and went to bed. All night, Raven's knee hurt him because he knew they would be attacked in the morning.
At dawn, they were surrounded by the enemy right away as soon as they broke camp. Raven took one look around, and remembered that he had lost all his weapons the night before. When he tried to run away an enemy caught him, killed him, and scalped him. The warrior bravely fought off all the other enemies with his arrows and war club, and then went looking for Raven.
When he found Raven, he kicked his feet and told him to get up. Immediately Raven got up and started running. Then he realized no one was chasing him, so he stopped. He turned around and cried out to the warrior, "This battle has made me very tired. I am going home now. Remember what I taught you the next time you have to do this alone. You're lucky I came along." Then Raven left.
The young warrior, whose name was Sun Hawk, said "I will remember, Raven. I fought. We won. I was lucky you came along, and I will not forget you. I know you now. And, I know your tricks now too. I will remember."
(Adapted from the Wichita tale "Coyote and His Knee", as told by Barry
Lopez
in his book _Giving Birth to Thunder, Sleeping With His Daughter_, Avon,
1977,
p129.)
End of Glorantha Digest V3 #55
WWW material at http://hops.wharton.upenn.edu/~loren/rolegame.html
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