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Chapter 20

Stories of the Sea-Bat

All stories in this chapter are told by their respective speakers. I will denote my comments with , but otherwise these are not my words, and I cannot know where truth and myth and exaggeration overlap.

I can only say that these are among the stories of the People of the Sea-Bat, and accepted by them as truth.

Before the great spirits were known to the people, they cowered along the shore, and built walls to keep out the night-cats, which were then larger and greater in number.

It was the coming of Wing Xien, the Beads Hero, from the lands of Dauria which changed that, but Wing was no Daurian, for the Beads had called to him across the void between worlds, and he had come to be claimed by them.

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Please understand that this is not Two-Wings Xien, nor Four-Wings Xien, but the outcast Wing Xien who came to our ancestors. He was strong, and feared neither the night-cats, nor the beasts in the sea. In particular, he was friendly with the sea-bats, and would ride upon them in the bottom of our holy lagoon.

And it was he who revealed that the sea-bats and their spirit were angry with our people, for in those days the People ate the sea-bats, and regarded them as fish rather than as living spirits.

He did say to his People, for he had taken a wife at that time, “Behold, the Sea-Bat is angry, for you eat of his people. He demands that he be permitted to eat one of the People, and in that way will balance be restored.”

And Fragrant Colors, a young woman from among the People, said: “I live every day in fear. My parents have lived in fear, and their parents before them. If it means that the People can live without fear, I offer my life willingly.”

And so it was that Fragrant Colors enjoyed a hearty meal of spiced fish and meats, and of vegetables and fruits and grains, and that Wing Xien took her in a boat to the middle of the lake. There, she willingly dove over the side, and swam down to where the Sea-Bat and his people consumed her.

And this is the story of how the People became the People of the Sea-Bat, for as we had eaten their flesh, so they ate ours, and neither has tasted the flesh of the other since that day.

As the first shaman, Wing Xien, so declared that there was peace between both halves of our tribe, those who walk in the air, and those who fly beneath the water.

Thus it was, thus it is, and thus it remains until the end of days.

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My story is of what Wing Xien did after that, for while he was the Bead Hero, he was also skilled with a spear. It was Wing Xien who taught our fathers how to make spears in such a way that they could fight back against the night-cats, and revealed the glories of the jungle to us.

It was Wing Xien who first took us to the Temple of Burning Rock, and who gave us our first warrior rituals.

With these weapons, and the rituals, the strength of two men became as three. Thus bolstered, our men became bold, and began seeking out and slaying the night-cats, even at night which is their time, and on the other side of the fire mountain, which is their homeland.

Many were the warriors that fell in this time, and not all were returned home, but their bodies were instead left for the night-cats to savage and feast upon. But so, too, were there casualties among the night-cats, to include their beloved prince, M’rarri.

And so it was that their spirit, defiant, came to Wing Xien in his dreams, and said that he was taking away the largest, oldest, and wisest among his people to another land.

On this week, when the coldest winds begin to blow, that is when fear vanished from our island. The night-cats no longer stalked us beyond the jungle, and learned to leave our warriors alone. And such was the bounty of the jungle that the People needed only that on their side, and the night-cats could have their side.

But this was also the dawn of a sadness for the people, for Wing Xien had listened to the words of the Night Spirit, and he, too, longed to travel to other islands. And he spoke to birds, and learned the way of wings.

And so, he departed, to help other peoples, and do great deeds in faraway places. And he did return to his Daurian lands, and take many wives there. But never did he call for his wives among the People, nor upon the children they had borne for him.

So, there was much sadness among the people. His son and the sons of his sons took up the role of shaman, and did spread their seed throughout the People, so that today all of the People bear the bloodline of Wing Xien.

Thus blessed, the People grew many, and strong. Even today, our people are more in number than can be counted on the fingers of a hand, and the hands of people cannot be counted on a hand, and more than four times this number are the numbers of our people.

Thus it is, and thus shall it remain, by the blessing of the Sea-Bat spririt.

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This is a tale told fully only in the huts of women, but it is needful that men remember it as well, for this is the tale of the Adobe Woman, and how she revealed to us the miracles of the fire-stone that lives only in the volcano.

Adobe Woman was born on an island to the east of here, child of a chaste woman and a spirit of the earth. Such was the love between woman and spirit that even without sexual relations, a child was born to them, and this child was the Adobe Woman.

But Adobe Woman was not born of man, and thus was unlike other women. She was strong and loud, and would scream and hit people to get her way. And when her people were living as she thought they should, she travelled to other islands, and attempted to get them to change their ways to hers.

And so she came upon the People of the Sea-Bat and said to them that women were the equals of men, and that they should be free to choose their husbands, and yes, to even have multiple husbands as men could keep multiple wives.

Both the men and the women of the People could not believe such words, for are men not men, and women as women? How could two such different types of people be as one?

And she proposed showing how her ways were the right ways, that she would enter our volcano, and still his rages, and in that way would our people flourish. In return, the People would honor her way, and women would decide the fates of women, and would be regarded as people and not possessions.

And so the People talked, men to women, and women to men. And this further request was made of the Adobe Woman, that there should be some way to enhance the coming together of man and woman, that would increase the number of children born unto them.

This was amenable to the Adobe Woman, and she bore the request of the People to the raging spirit of the volcano. And he agreed, that his power and essence would be given over to the growing of fire-stones, a plant like a stone in honor of Adobe Woman, and that he would stop raging and destroying things with burning rocks.

And so it is that when the Adobe Woman returns, and brings unto us another offering of the volcano spirit, that we the People, both men and women, are thankful of his gift, and do not waste it.

Even today, volcano be praised, we can enjoy his gift, and our women enjoy the children this gift brings.

But now, it is time to eat, and set the stories aside.

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