Waynan
Adventurer
Raven Elk comes to appreciate the fetish of the Bear and what it implies for himself and how it can help his friends, also, in future events.
As he pondered this new aspect of self, he fell into a moment's deep reverie, mere seconds in real time, but, long minutes in his recall ---
He was 8 again, and beginning to learn Ma's trade as an herbalist and some hedge sorcerer alchemy, when he asked her out of pure curiosity:
"What was I like as a baby?"
"Why do you ask, my son?" she queried back.
"I don't know. Ma. There's just this thing inside me that wants to know things --- no, not just things, but about people, places, The Outpost, you, my friends --- and me."
"Well," she smiled at her him. He remembered how she always has had a nice smile; not one of those smiles that was pasted on to give a good impression. It was genuine. "I'm glad we have a lot of work today. Talking about raising you from a babe will be a pleasant way to pass the time."
Ma was always open about letting Raven Elk know she wasn't her real mother, that he was Kinamin, an overtly vicious and violent people who was left behind after a Thisidabogan troop raided and overthrew a Kinamin force of warriors with their kin in tow, Not wanting to kill him, for he was but a mere newborn of 6 months or less, they brought him to The Outpost where the old Healer and her apprentice, Ma, took him in. For Ma, as she always says with a teary glint of joy in her eyes, he was her heart from that moment on.
The other thing that she remembers, vividly and wonderingly, is that Raven Elk was such a calm baby. Rarely fussing or wailing as most babies are wont to do, Raven Elk would cry when hungry or wet, but it was different. Even when he was a mere tot, she would say that Raven Elk never raged and railed, instead, she could see him fume with a dark fire, but one that was always, or nearly always, in firm and fierce control until Raven Elk was ready to unleash it on an opponent. It was very UN-Kinamin like in that the Kinamin were frenzied and chaotic fighters at all times. Ma always considered this the wisest way to deal with one's trials and challenges.
It was why Ma named him Raven Elk in the first place. His wise control of his inner passions reminded her of an Elk she had seen once, as a child herself, stand so still and patiently for so long, when a cougar was stalking about for prey, that a Raven graced its antlers by landing to rest on them as if on any snag. The wise Raven recognized the wisdom of the Elk, normally a totem of grace, agility and diligence, to stay as still as the oak and the maple, until the threat of certain death had passed. It was for this reason that, on his christening day, at aged 6, when all children get there permanent name, that she chose Raven Elk; for, she saw that same qualities of the Elk, well maybe not the agility so much, and the wisdom of keeping his own counsel as the Raven and only dispensing it at the opportune moment.
"She says I have the heart of the Healer, but the mind and soul of the Shaman." Raven Elk mused as he came out of his reverie. "She may be right; especially now with this new connection with the totem of the Bear."
As he pondered this new aspect of self, he fell into a moment's deep reverie, mere seconds in real time, but, long minutes in his recall ---
He was 8 again, and beginning to learn Ma's trade as an herbalist and some hedge sorcerer alchemy, when he asked her out of pure curiosity:
"What was I like as a baby?"
"Why do you ask, my son?" she queried back.
"I don't know. Ma. There's just this thing inside me that wants to know things --- no, not just things, but about people, places, The Outpost, you, my friends --- and me."
"Well," she smiled at her him. He remembered how she always has had a nice smile; not one of those smiles that was pasted on to give a good impression. It was genuine. "I'm glad we have a lot of work today. Talking about raising you from a babe will be a pleasant way to pass the time."
Ma was always open about letting Raven Elk know she wasn't her real mother, that he was Kinamin, an overtly vicious and violent people who was left behind after a Thisidabogan troop raided and overthrew a Kinamin force of warriors with their kin in tow, Not wanting to kill him, for he was but a mere newborn of 6 months or less, they brought him to The Outpost where the old Healer and her apprentice, Ma, took him in. For Ma, as she always says with a teary glint of joy in her eyes, he was her heart from that moment on.
The other thing that she remembers, vividly and wonderingly, is that Raven Elk was such a calm baby. Rarely fussing or wailing as most babies are wont to do, Raven Elk would cry when hungry or wet, but it was different. Even when he was a mere tot, she would say that Raven Elk never raged and railed, instead, she could see him fume with a dark fire, but one that was always, or nearly always, in firm and fierce control until Raven Elk was ready to unleash it on an opponent. It was very UN-Kinamin like in that the Kinamin were frenzied and chaotic fighters at all times. Ma always considered this the wisest way to deal with one's trials and challenges.
It was why Ma named him Raven Elk in the first place. His wise control of his inner passions reminded her of an Elk she had seen once, as a child herself, stand so still and patiently for so long, when a cougar was stalking about for prey, that a Raven graced its antlers by landing to rest on them as if on any snag. The wise Raven recognized the wisdom of the Elk, normally a totem of grace, agility and diligence, to stay as still as the oak and the maple, until the threat of certain death had passed. It was for this reason that, on his christening day, at aged 6, when all children get there permanent name, that she chose Raven Elk; for, she saw that same qualities of the Elk, well maybe not the agility so much, and the wisdom of keeping his own counsel as the Raven and only dispensing it at the opportune moment.
"She says I have the heart of the Healer, but the mind and soul of the Shaman." Raven Elk mused as he came out of his reverie. "She may be right; especially now with this new connection with the totem of the Bear."
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