Up On The Mountain
May. 28th, 2021 10:48 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jimmydragon OOC: This takes place after THIS POST.
Grandfather Takawitha pronounced his blessing over Jimmy, Mark, and Walter. TIn turn the Adamses thanked the holy man and his assistant with offerings of tobacco, sage, sweetgrass, cedar, boxes of foodstuffs carefully packed, and an envelope of cash that would cover any expenses for their trip home.
Before leaving Grandfather Takawitha pulled Jimmy aside and told him, "Tonight or tomorrow, the spirit of the Faraway Mountain will come," the old man said in his low, gravelly voice. "Listen to their voice, but do not be afraid to follow what your ancestors and the people who have accepted you as theirs have to show you."
Jimmy nodded his acceptance of the holy man's words. He was filled with both a sense of relief and trepidation at once. Would he finally come to know who his real father was? With no further remarks, the old man and his younger assistant got into their old blue Chevrolet sedan and headed down the gravel drive toward the road. The heavy vegetation slapping the side mirrors of the old car as it lumbered off.
After a light meal, Jimmy and Mark mounted the two horses that they would take partway up the mountain to where the permanent tipi site was set up. Walter, Erica, and Lily had helped the two men check and double-check the things they would need that had not already been hauled up to the tipi site the day before. JImmy was mounted on Walter's black gelding, Marvin, while Mark would be taking the bay mare, aptly names Sassy, that both Lily and Erica tended to ride rode the most. Erica seemed almost chuffed by the thought that her new friend, Mark, would be riding what she considered to be her horse.
"You be nice to my friend, Sassy!" Erica pressed her forehead against that of her horse. "You know your way around and Mark is new here."
The horse blinked and let out a sigh, and looked back over her shoulder at Mark as if she had completely understood what the girl had said to her. Jimmy suppressed a laugh. In all probability, the horse probably did understand every word. At least, that's what he was always raised to believe anyway.
"Ah, don't you worry about us, Erica," Mark grinned as he patted the horse's neck. "I'm sure that Sassy and I will get along just fine. And if I'm not mistaken, I think I spied her watching me packing an extra apple or two as an incentive, so I bet she knows."
"We'll back tomorrow sometime, Kitten," Jimmy pulled back on the reins to back Marvin up slightly. "Can we count on you to keep an eye on the ridge and let your Mama and your Papa know when we're coming back down?"
Erica's face blossomed into a smile and she nodded in agreement. There was hardly anything that her favorite cousin could ask of her that she wouldn't agree to. That Jimmy set her about such an important task along the same lines as she had done in helping her mother for the sweatlodge was of particular importance. For Indigenous people, it was important to include the children the sacred and the spiritual into their daily lives from a very young age. It was how he was raised and he was pleased that the traditions were continued. The modern world always presented its own set of problems but Lily and Walter seemed to be managing the balance better than many others that he knew of.
The pair said their goodbyes to Jimmy's aunt, uncle and the kids and headed toward the well-worn trail that led to bluffs where the tipi was tucked. Of course, they could have hiked the nearly two-mile distance, but given how long the sweat lodge ceremony had taken, it was important that they get to where they were going by nightfall.
The morning fog had long since burned off and dappled sunshine shone through the leaves that sheltered around the homestead and up the mountain. After they reached the edge of the forest, Mark was the first to break the silence.
"You have a really nice family, Jimmy," Mark smiled. "Thank you for bringing me and for trusting me with something this important."
The sweatlodge had left Jimmy feeling oddly connected yet somehow removed from his usual consciousness. He was aware of his best friend's words but didn't respond right away. At last, a smile crossed Jimmy's face and he nodded. "You make a difference, Bro. Who else could I possibly trust with something like this?" Suddenly, he let out a soft chuckle aand grinned at Mark. "And who knows what we are going to find once we've got you settled at the tipi and me half naked on the side of the mountain under a full moon?"
Grandfather Takawitha pronounced his blessing over Jimmy, Mark, and Walter. TIn turn the Adamses thanked the holy man and his assistant with offerings of tobacco, sage, sweetgrass, cedar, boxes of foodstuffs carefully packed, and an envelope of cash that would cover any expenses for their trip home.
Before leaving Grandfather Takawitha pulled Jimmy aside and told him, "Tonight or tomorrow, the spirit of the Faraway Mountain will come," the old man said in his low, gravelly voice. "Listen to their voice, but do not be afraid to follow what your ancestors and the people who have accepted you as theirs have to show you."
Jimmy nodded his acceptance of the holy man's words. He was filled with both a sense of relief and trepidation at once. Would he finally come to know who his real father was? With no further remarks, the old man and his younger assistant got into their old blue Chevrolet sedan and headed down the gravel drive toward the road. The heavy vegetation slapping the side mirrors of the old car as it lumbered off.
After a light meal, Jimmy and Mark mounted the two horses that they would take partway up the mountain to where the permanent tipi site was set up. Walter, Erica, and Lily had helped the two men check and double-check the things they would need that had not already been hauled up to the tipi site the day before. JImmy was mounted on Walter's black gelding, Marvin, while Mark would be taking the bay mare, aptly names Sassy, that both Lily and Erica tended to ride rode the most. Erica seemed almost chuffed by the thought that her new friend, Mark, would be riding what she considered to be her horse.
"You be nice to my friend, Sassy!" Erica pressed her forehead against that of her horse. "You know your way around and Mark is new here."
The horse blinked and let out a sigh, and looked back over her shoulder at Mark as if she had completely understood what the girl had said to her. Jimmy suppressed a laugh. In all probability, the horse probably did understand every word. At least, that's what he was always raised to believe anyway.
"Ah, don't you worry about us, Erica," Mark grinned as he patted the horse's neck. "I'm sure that Sassy and I will get along just fine. And if I'm not mistaken, I think I spied her watching me packing an extra apple or two as an incentive, so I bet she knows."
"We'll back tomorrow sometime, Kitten," Jimmy pulled back on the reins to back Marvin up slightly. "Can we count on you to keep an eye on the ridge and let your Mama and your Papa know when we're coming back down?"
Erica's face blossomed into a smile and she nodded in agreement. There was hardly anything that her favorite cousin could ask of her that she wouldn't agree to. That Jimmy set her about such an important task along the same lines as she had done in helping her mother for the sweatlodge was of particular importance. For Indigenous people, it was important to include the children the sacred and the spiritual into their daily lives from a very young age. It was how he was raised and he was pleased that the traditions were continued. The modern world always presented its own set of problems but Lily and Walter seemed to be managing the balance better than many others that he knew of.
The pair said their goodbyes to Jimmy's aunt, uncle and the kids and headed toward the well-worn trail that led to bluffs where the tipi was tucked. Of course, they could have hiked the nearly two-mile distance, but given how long the sweat lodge ceremony had taken, it was important that they get to where they were going by nightfall.
The morning fog had long since burned off and dappled sunshine shone through the leaves that sheltered around the homestead and up the mountain. After they reached the edge of the forest, Mark was the first to break the silence.
"You have a really nice family, Jimmy," Mark smiled. "Thank you for bringing me and for trusting me with something this important."
The sweatlodge had left Jimmy feeling oddly connected yet somehow removed from his usual consciousness. He was aware of his best friend's words but didn't respond right away. At last, a smile crossed Jimmy's face and he nodded. "You make a difference, Bro. Who else could I possibly trust with something like this?" Suddenly, he let out a soft chuckle aand grinned at Mark. "And who knows what we are going to find once we've got you settled at the tipi and me half naked on the side of the mountain under a full moon?"
Re: Revelation
Date: 2021-11-16 12:59 am (UTC)He was about to say something to reassure him, when they turned the final bend in the trail and Walter and Lily's house came into view. Jimmy's young cousin, Erica was standing at the end of the driveway, obviously waiting for them. Mark raised his hand in greeting. The door to the house also opened and Jimmy's aunt, uncle, and other cousins came spilling out having clearly been looking out for their return from the windows.
He waved again and glanced at Jimmy, not even trying to guess what he was feeling. "However you want to tell them what happened, or if you don't want to talk about it at all." Although given the blanket covering him, probably some explanation would be needed at the very least. "I'm right beside you, bro."
Re: Revelation
Date: 2021-11-29 03:49 pm (UTC)When he and Mark arrived back at the cabin, Aunt Lily, Uncle Walter, and the kids didn’t question his state of dress or inquire as to how things went. They knew that it would take a while for him to process what happened and what he had seen
He went through the motions of taking a shower, getting dressed in clean clothes that he still had in his knapsack. After he was fully dressed, he took a bit of the food that was offered. The elk stew and fry bread were more than enough, but beyond taking a single serving of each, surprisingly he wasn’t feeling too hungry.
That night at the fire pit outside the cabin under the stars Aunt Lucille sat down next to him on the log bench. In the background, he could hear Mark and Uncle Walter nearby playing some sort of game with the kids. Those were the kinds of sounds that he remembered from when he spent his summers with his maternal family. Even now as a grown man, the smells, sights, and sounds of the place helped him to relax. It was what he needed after all he had seen and experienced on his vision quest.
“Auntie,” Jimmy began carefully, “Did my mom ever tell you about my real father?”
Aunt Lily was silent for a few moments before she nodded. “Yes,” she acknowledged. “Patrice told me on the night that the two of them had been together. As sisters, I knew she was seeing something in the woods. Of course, you know our people - there are some things you don’t discuss or speak their names out of fear or just not wanting to know. Anyway, I never questioned her version of anything she told me…..after.”
“Did she describe him to you at all?” Jimmy asked.
Lily let out a long sigh. “Just a little. Your mother said that he was at once beautiful, terrible, strange, and not quite human.”
Jimmy scoffed at the last. “Yeah. Definitely ‘not quite’!”
There was another silence between them, and it seemed as if the entire forest, including Mark, Uncle Walter, and the kids got quiet, too. Jimmy was certain that his aunt was choosing her words carefully, even though she had no idea what had happened to him during his quest.
“Jimmy,” Aunt Lily spoke at last. “There is nothing you can do to change my mind, your family’s mind about you. We love you, we helped raise you, and as you must know, we and the Mohawk People will always protect you as one of us. We have always suspected who or what your real father was. It doesn’t matter. Not to us.”
Jimmy let out a scoff and poked a stray coal back into the circle of stones that made the fire pit. “Not even if I end up being some huge dragon?”
Aunt Lily shook her head and wrapped an arm around his shoulder, planting a kiss on the side of his forehead. “Hell, you’re already a rock and roll star! So you can believe me when I say, not even then.”