Mountain's Mouth

         Many many moons ago, when the soil was young and great forests stretched out to touch both oceans of this land, there lived a small village of native people. They lived in harmony with Mother Nature, only taking what they needed from the earth, returning what they didn't use. The earth would thank them with fields of healthy maize and trees with nutritious fruits. These people were good to the land, and she was good to them. The village lived peacefully alongside Nature for a long time.
         One night, a large lumbering figure came down from a mountain nearby. It was hungry, and took all the fish from the nearby river under a moon-less night sky. Then, it returned to the mountain in shadow, disappearing into the night. In the morning, a fisherman of the tribe noticed the lack of fish in the river and brought the news back to the Chief. The Chief thought about the situation, and since there was still other sources of food available to him, he told the fisherman not to make a big fuss about it.
         Just outside was a girl with long, dark hair and bright eyes like honey. Her skin was a pleasant sun-kissed tone of tan, just like most of the others in her tribe. She wore the hide of a young deer that one of the older woman from the tribe had made for her when she had come of age. The tan leather vest covered her chest, hanging loose over her skirts. The top layer of skins that she wore at her waist were tan with the white spots of a fawn, and hung down to her knees. She wore thick moccasins on her feet, and a wild turkey's feather hung from her turquoise head band.
         This was the Chief's daughter, Anpaytoo, and she had overheard the concerns over the missing fish. She had heard rumors of something that came down the mountain nearby every now and then, taking some food. Some of the stories were that of a terrible, dark creature that lived in the mountain. Anpaytoo didn't believe in most of the rumors. She did wonder, though, about what could be up there. Without mentioning it to her father or anyone else, she decided to head up into the mountain, carrying nothing but a small blade she had borrowed from one of the boys in the village.
         Anpaytoo stepped through the forests towards the mountain, hearing the chatter of birds and tree rodents. They were lively today, and there was no understanding their energetic conversations. The girl was careful as she walked not to break the fallen bones of trees. She didn't want to disrupt Nature with any heavy steps. As the earth tilted upward, and Anpaytoo had to tread carefully as she continued to climb. The Sun's face was high in the sky, spots of her essence dotting the ground where the tree's leaves left room for her to shine down.
         The dark haired female stopped at a clearing on the mountain. She was not close to the top, but before her was a cave. The mouth of the cave was dark and said no words. Could this be where that fabled creature lived? Anpaytoo shook her head. No, it was just a rumor. The shaman of the tribe had never said anything about it, and there were no stories told that spoke of the rumored dark beast, except what some of the men would tell the youth to scare them. Anpaytoo knew she wouldn't be able to see in the darkness, but she felt drawn to enter the cave. After saying a short prayer for protection that the shaman had taught her, she entered the mountain's mouth, stepping into the darkness.
         It was dark, and she could feel the cold of the stones beneath her feet, even through her moccasins. The floor was smooth and weathered, and she could feel the icy water of puddles here and there. Echoes of drops of water falling from the ceiling surrounded her, breaking the silence. So far, nothing that terrifying. Anpaytoo kept going, relying on her ears, hands and feet now that her eyes could not help her. The cool air in the cave smelled kind of musky the further she walked in.
          “Who comes here?” A grunt surprised the girl. It was a deep, rough voice that sounded like it had been used rarely.
         Anpaytoo remained silent and stiff, unsure of what to say or do. She may have trespassed on someone's home unknowingly. There was a sound like sniffing the air.
         “Who? Why you come here?” The voice demanded.
         Anpaytoo nearly squeaked as she felt air brush past her side from the other's movement. It would do her no good to show fear to this being, so she took a deep breath and stood up straight. “I am Anpaytoo. I come to find what happened to all the fish.” she responded. The voice mumbled incoherently and she heard some shuffling around.
         “I took fish, but not all.” the being told her.
         The girl sighed lightly. There was no way that a single being would have needed all the fish, right? This couldn't be the reason all the fish were gone. “Do you know where the fish had all gone after?” Anpaytoo asked. The being grunted, and possibly sat down by the sounds of it.
         “No. I took fish, left many. I come back here after. Saw nothing.” it told her.
         So, this man didn't know what happened to the rest of the fish. At least there was that. “I'm sorry for intruding. I will go back to my village now.” she told the being.
         There was a shuffle, and something that sounded kind of like a growl. “Tread carefully, young one.” the voice said, then it sounded as if the man got up and walked further into the cave.
         Anpaytoo returned to the village before nightfall, wondering about the person she had talked to in the cave. She also couldn't help but wonder about where the rest of the fish had gone. Once the shaman was free, Anpaytoo requested to see her, wanting to ask her about it. “Our Mother is testing us, young Anpaytoo. We must stay true to our ways to get past this.” the wise shaman told her when asked about the disappearance of all the fish. The girl was wondering about the man in the cave, but hadn't asked about it. Instead, she thanked the shaman for her time and left to go about her normal nightly ritual. After eating with the rest of her tribe, and praying thanks to Mother, she curled up into her warm fur blanket, falling asleep.
         For the next few weeks, Anpaytoo made visits to the stranger in the cave, talking to him more and more. She felt that he had become something like a friend to her. He may have a funny way of speaking, and even refuse to leave the cave with her, but he was kind. When asked for a name, he would grunt something that she could not understand, so she had nothing to call him by. However, after having talked to him, she could see that he had kindness in his heart. He even had mentioned to her that he could see if there was another river nearby with fish in it to share. Anpaytoo would look forward to the days that she could slip away and talk to this man in the cave.
         One night as the Moon hid her glistening face, some dark figures came down from the mountain nearby, taking all the food from the fields and trees around the village before disappearing into the shadows. The next morning, the people of the village woke up to see the maize was ravaged and the trees were bare. Even the bushes seemed all but picked clean of berries. This would make things more difficult for the people who had depended on the fields their whole lives for food. A meeting was held by the chief as the sun was high in the sky. The Chief had called the village elders and the shaman to his tent for the meeting, wanting to find out what they should do about this problem. There were many mouths to feed, but not enough food stored away to feed them all. One bold elder man suggested that there should be a hunt for whatever had done this.
         “It would do no good to send our men to the mountain. Our energy is best placed here.” the shaman had spoken up. Two other elders agreed that they might have to move the village to another place now. An elder woman claimed that Mother has turned their back on them. The shaman shook her head.
         “Mother is always with us. This is a test from her. We should continue to take care of her the way we always have, and not lose faith in her.” she told the group. There was silence after the shaman spoke, and the Chief ended the meeting, telling everyone to make do with what they had for now.
         After the Shaman took her leave, the Chief pulled the Elder man that had spoken first aside. He made plans to send out a hunt to the mountains, even though the Shaman hadn't approved of the idea. The elder agreed to gather up a pack of hunters from the tribe to go up the mountain after the sun's face descended to her place of rest, and the moon started to peek over the land across from her tired sister.
         Anpaytoo overheard her father making these plans, shocked that he would do such a thing. The shaman's advice shouldn't be brushed away so lightly. What if someone got hurt? The girl's face paled a bit as she thought of the man in his cave. He was up there, all on his own in that cave. What if the hunters came across him and hurt him, thinking he did this? Anpaytoo had to warn him to keep him safe. She left as soon as she could, the sun starting to get low on the horizon. As the sky started to show the soft hues of twilight, Anpaytoo left for the mountain.
         The sky was slowly darkening as Anpaytoo ran through the forest to the mountain. She hadn't brought anything with her, not even the blade she had had previous times. There were howls of wolves calling for each other in the forests, and hoots of owls waking up over her head. The girl didn't waste time listening to these night creatures, climbing up the mountain to get to the cave. It was already dark by the time she reached the entrance to the cave. Without hesitation, Anpaytoo stepped inside, leaving the bit of light from the slivered moon behind her.
         “Anpaytoo. Why you come now?” the familiar voice grumbled at her as she reached the depth of the cave she would meet the man. The girl took a moment to catch her breath.
         “Friend, something took all the food and fruit from around my village. There's a pack of hunters coming up the mountain with the moon tonight.” she told him. There was some incoherent rumble of his voice as he grumbled something.
         “I am safe here. Cave is dark.” he muttered.
         The girl shook her head, though he couldn't see it. She knew that the cave lead to a dead end. If they entered with their torches, he would be cornered and possibly even attacked, blamed for the disappearance of the food. “No, they come with fire in their hands and hearts. They hunt for what stole our food away.” she told him, reaching out to try and grab at his hand to lead him out. Her fingers brushed against some warm fur, not finding his hand.
         “You'll be safe with me. We should leave together.” she told him, turning to head out of the cave.
         There was silence for a while, then a grunt. “Anpaytoo... I will follow.” he grumbled, and she could hear his steps as she led the way out.
         Anpaytoo was relieved to know that she was able to get the man to follow her out, hoping that in doing so, she would be able to protect him from the hunters. She knew he wasn't the one that took all their food. On one of her previous visits, she had brought him some fruits and corn, and he said that he preferred meat over that. The young lady couldn't imagine that one man would take all of that corn and fruit if he would rather have a deer or some fish. The light of the moon greeted them up ahead, and they stepped out of the cave together. The moon smiled down on the clearing, and Anpaytoo had to take a moment for her eyes to adjust. She turned to look to her friend to find that it was not a man at all.
         He was a bear. A great, big brown bear. His beady little eyes reflected a bit of the moon's light, glistening as he looked about, all four large paws on the ground. Anpaytoo felt shocked that her friend, which she had thought was a man this whole time, was in fact a wild creature. It didn't frighten her, however, and she smiled to the bear.
         Anpaytoo was surprised about having been able to understand the bear speak. There were many tales in her tribe that told of animals speaking to man. However, there was also a story of how man lost the ability to hear the beasts speak. It was not every day that someone in the tribe would be able to speak to an animal and tell tale of it. The story master and the Shaman were the only ones she knew of in the tribe that could understand the animals. It was a great honor to her, for her to be able to hear this bear speak.
         Unfortunately, they were not alone. There was a shout nearby, and when Anpaytoo looked in that direction, she saw the flecks of light from torches being held, and noticed that the hunting pack had made it to the clearing. They were already docking their arrows, aiming at the bear, shouting for her to step away.
         “You tricked me? Anpaytoo, what is this?” the bear asked, standing up on his back feet, disgruntled.
         “No, I didn't! Stop, don't hurt him!” she responded to the bear, then shouted over to the group of hunters.
A nervous archer let an arrow loose, and it struck the bear in his left shoulder. The bear roared in pain as he was hit. He growled something that Anpaytoo couldn't understand, taking up a more hostile stance, growling at the pack with his paws raised, swinging at the open air. Some of the warriors backed off, unsure, but there were still those who had their arrows trained on the bear. Anpaytoo closed her eyes, praying that Mother would send the hunters away.
         “Stop! Please don't hurt him anymore!” she shouted to the hunters.
         A series of howls sounded loudly nearby, distracting most of the hunters. They seemed wary of the wolves that might be sneaking up on them, calling to pull back.
         One of the hunters, though, were determined to try and take down this beast to bring back to the village. As he loosed an arrow, Anpaytoo jumped in front of the raging bear, wrapping her arms around him the best she could. Anpaytoo bit back a cry as the arrow struck her shoulder instead of the bear, burying her face into thick brown fur. Her shoulder hurt so much, but she did not regret her sudden action. The hunter backed off, shocked at what he had done, running of with the rest of the hunters to go back to the village. Her friend calmed down, and she felt a large paw gently settle on her back.
         “You hurt...” he grunted, ears pinned back against his head. “You hurt like me.” he grumbled, moving back to sit on his hindquarters. Anpaytoo then noticed that the shoulder she had taken an arrow in was in the same place that the bear had gotten shot. She moved to settle against the bear's fur, waiting for help to come.
         The shaman soon appeared with a trustworthy woman from the village. The medicine man would not come along after hearing about the bear. Wild animals wasn't something he could handle. The shaman knew how to tend wounds enough, and having a stronger heart than him, met Anpaytoo and her friend in his stead.
          “Anpaytoo. I see you have made a friend.” she commented as she approached.
         The bear grunted, but made no move to hurt the wise woman. He allowed her to pull the arrow from his shoulder as gently as she could, saying a prayer as she treated the wound. It wasn't long before she knelt in front of Anpaytoo, looking deeply into her eyes. Anpaytoo could only hope that her eyes shined with as much wisdom as the shaman's one day. The shaman's dark hair was streaked with starlight strands of hair, a testament to her vast experience. She smiled at Anpaytoo.
         “You've bonded with this spirit, young one.” the shaman told her before tending to the arrow in her shoulder.
         The girl wasn't quite sure what that meant for her, but it resonated as truth to her. She and the bear were connected in spirit, and though she didn't understand it, she could feel it. Anpaytoo ignored the pain, smiling over to the bear as he lay beside her, head resting on his paws.
         “What was it that took all the food? Do you have any ideas?” she asked the shaman, realizing that that was still an issue. The shaman had the arrow out of her shoulder and was saying a prayer under her breath as she put a salve on the wound. Once the prayer was done, the older woman looked to Anpaytoo.
         “There are people on the other side of the mountain, consumed by shadow. They must have found their way to our village and got greedy. It is a test from our Mother. A test of our faith in her. If we continue to take care of her, she will reward us once more.” the shaman told her, then stood up. Anpaytoo leaned back against the bear comfortably, looking up at the stars twinkling above.
         “You know my father sent the hunters out, right? Will you make sure he won't hurt anyone else?” the young lady asked.
         “Oh, I knew he would. Don't worry. He has learned his lesson, and even apologized.” the shaman smiled, getting ready to head back to the village with her trusted assistant for the night. Anpaytoo was glad to hear that her father had admitted he had been wrong in sending out the hunters.
         “Tell my father I'm sleeping here tonight.” Anpaytoo told the shaman. The shaman smiled back at her, nodding before taking her leave. The bear rumbled a farewell as he watched the shaman leave. Looking up at the stars, Anpaytoo leaned back against the bear, smiling.