[Flashback] Ma'ii's Rite of Searching

[Ma'ii]

OOC (for Colombina) :

Colombina,

I'm assuming that the Rite of Searching requires that the participant bring only his weapons and precious little else since it's a rite of passage that is both religious and age-grade in nature. If you have a more concrete idea that you haven't posted in the guides, then please tell me so I can modify anything that is amiss.

Season of Spring, Day 79, 507 AV
Crack of Dawn

Ma'ii checked his weapons again, not that he needed to since he had checked them several times already, to make sure that everything was prepared. He'd been looking forward to this day with both eagerness and not a small amount of trepidation. Today he would be called from his tent to stand before the Wayhali and the men of the tribe and sent away, banished, until either Brother Crow or The Rainbringer finds him worthy and sends him a Spirit Guardian or his body feeds the desert.

Ma'ii felt them coming even before he heard their soft footfalls on the sand. Three people, one of them the Wayhali's son Tsakáka by the feel of his movement. They stopped a few feet from his tent.

"Ma'ii" called out Tsakáka "it is time."

Saying nothing Ma'ii pushed aside his tent's flap and stood before the three men of the Kalanue Chaktawe.

Tsakáka motioned to Ma'ii to follow him as the two other men moved to strike Ma'ii's tent and pack his belongings. He would be bringing nothing except his weapons, his faith, and his skills with him. And if he were to feed the desert then his belongings would be given to those who would be among the living.

Ma'ii followed three steps behind Tsakáka in the semi-darkness of near dawn towards the tent of the Wayhali and the cluster of men standing in a U and as still as only a Chaktawe can be. Reaching the edge of the gathering Tsakáka stepped to one side to allow Ma'ii to proceed alone into the gathered men. He stopped in front of Wayhali and waited...

[Colombina]

Wayhali Ahanu's face was covered in the traditional black paint of the Kalanue as he stood at the center of the Chaktawe. To his right was Ma'ii's male family and to his left were the leaders of the tribe and the white-haired Abayla Luhiwa. She was etching out Ma'ii's shape against the sky, taking a likeness should the sand enfold him.

Behind the half moon of Chaktawe, the Wayhali's tent loomed, before them a fire smoldered blue smoke. A heady fragrance wafted from the fire as the Wayhali's daughter fed it small periwinkle flowers. She glanced up at Ma'ii through her black hair glossy as satin.

The flames snapped and popped from the flower's sap. There was no other sound as a flock of ebon eyes solemnly considered Ma'ii.

Ahanu opened his arms and smiled despite the serious cloud that brooded over the meeting. His voice was warm and craggy, like the redstones at noon.

"Do not look so grave, Ma'ii. Whatever happens this is a beginning for you. Either way you will be touched by the gods."
His smile grew paternal, "But we have heart that you will return to us wiser."

Ahanu beckoned his daughter who left her scattering of the flowers. They fluttered to the top of her feet. When she moved, she danced between steps, gliding and floating into place before Ma'ii.

Her eyes were kind and her expression was soft and wise, made so by appreciating the sacred in this morning. She raised her cupped hands, showing they were painted with long black stars. The eldest male of Ma'ii's family, placed a raven feather in her illustrated hands. As she tied it into Ma'ii's hair, her father spoke a blessing.

"We are with you in the raven, in our gods, in our wisdom. When you leave us, you take us. When you walk alone we follow. So take no path that would turn you from honor. For when you turn aside, we all do."

The Wayhali's daughter had slipped away into the smoke and dawn, singing as she went.

A figure Ma'ii knew well stepped forward with the final question and last farewell.

"What do you seek, Ma'ii? What do you bring to your searching?"

OOCThe last figure is of your choosing .

[Ma'ii]

Niyol, mentor of the young hunters, stepped forward with the final question and last farewell.

"What do you seek, Ma'ii? What do you bring to your searching?"

Ma'ii breathes in deeply of the chill, early morning air to compose himself before replying. No child is told of what happens in the ceremony much less that there were questions. He knew that this was not the time for glib words and he knew that these questions were not riddles. All he could do was was answer them as honestly as he could and as simply as he could.

"I seek the guidance and blessing of Brother-Crow. I bring only myself, but where I walk so walks the spirit, wisdom, and honor of the People of the Raven."

[Colombina]

An appreciative hum filled the room. Ma’ii had spoken well of his people and his purpose. Niyol nodded his head and added with a rare smile. “Do not forget fair Makutsi who moves under the stones. She will bring life and the even scarcer gift of beauty.” The tent's inhabitants slowly left in a swaying line until only Shikoba remained. From her pockets she withdrew red flowers, throwing them into the blue fire. Her voice passed through the smoke, warm as whispers and fluid and water. Even as she left the tent a song followed behind her. "Feathered brother, Shining sister, Spirit of guidance, Show the way Through me, Within me, Below me. The old ways, the forgot ways, the wild ways." Her song was the last thing Ma’ii heard before he drifted into dreams, wreathed in sweet smelling smoke. ~*~ When Ma’ii awoke, the world was painted in evening’s indigo and cold had wrapped around his bones. A blanket was over him and a pack beside him. Any footprints around him had been covered, leaving only mute sand. His people were gone as were their tents. Nothing remained but the softly breathing desert.

[Ma'ii]

Ma'ii took a deep breath and stood up. The desert stretched out all around him seemingly empty of any life, but the Chaktawe knew better. The first thing that he needed to do was find some shelter, then he needed to look for water.

He strapped the pack on and draped the cloak over it so that he wouldn't need to dig it out of the pack later. Then he stood motionless, arms slightly away from his body, feeling for any movement.

Sensing no movement in the immediate vicinity, Ma'ii picked up his spear in his right hand and started to move towards the nearest redstone formations to look for an uninhabited cave. Or one that whose inhabitants he could flush out. He kept his arms slightly away from his body and moved slow enough that he retained his ability to sense movement.

Brother-Crow, grant me your cunning. Mother Makutsi, give me your blessing. he thought in silent prayer as he made his way across the sand towards the redstone buttes.

[Colombina]

The desert had a way with playing tricks on one's eyes. Ma'ii's original approximation of the red rocks was turning to be only one-third of the actual distance. They loomed on the horizon but rarely grew in size. Unaided by his tribe's guides, his steps meandered from side to side. When the Chaktawe ceased focussing on a single point in the distance he could not keep from drifting. Dry as it was, the desert was nearer a sea than one would guess and Ma'ii was a lonely skiff. Tanroa was thick in the air, making the chimes seem longer. As Ma'ii tried to press toward the buttes, he found life struggling from the rocky ground. The boulders meant both the proximity of Ahnatep and the border to greener lands. Water would be more abundant here than in the heart of the Burning Lands. In one floundering bit of life, a murder of crows danced around a coyote hole. The area had a little brush and slim cacti that resembled a hand with narrow fingers outstretched. The coyote hole was a paw sized tunnel into sandy ground, an animal's pursuit of groundwater.