Chasing-The-Night (Kimu Tetsu)
Ainu Uktena Lupus Galliard
The Story of the Village

Chasing-the-Night lived in the village for some time, and became part of a pack that was tasked, amongst other things, with protecting the kinfolk. Eventually he became leader of this pack, although perhaps the mantle of leadership did come easily to him, as he was content to follow, even when his mind and heart told him that their path was not the best. Eventually he challenged for the leadership, and was accepted.

Their life was more simple than that of those in cities, and perhaps more pack-structured as well. They patrolled and hunted, and responded to summons when help was needed by others in the protectorate. They were a young pack, and not called upon to do great and epic things. Chasing, at least, learned a lot from the Kinfolk of the village, and saw them as his adopted family. I think that might not have been the case for the whole pack, but that is neither here nor there.

The encroachments of the weaver had been growing, and with them the incursions by Japanese "troops" of one sort or another. [Given how long ago this would have been - not all that - these must have been a very isolated and unknown group of Ainu indeed!]. It was clear that the Japanese were closing in on the entire protectorate, and there was great danger.

The pack, while on patrol, discovered a strong weaver spirit. On seeing them, it dispatched a message spirit of some sort, and engaged them. The battle was hard, although the spirit was alone and they were a pack. But in the end they triumphed, and brought the spirit down. The pack turned to their leader to ask what they should do. But he was not there.

Several nights before Chasing-the-Night had had a dream of Mercury and the Moon. In the dream he pursued a spirit through the umbra. Though he and Keiteki were relentless, it was always just ahead of them, and managed to evade their attempts to corner it. The rest of his pack was not with him, but that did not seem important at the time. In the dream he could feel the thrumming of a powerful call from the spirit calling to him, drawing him on. It was clear, in that dream-way, that the spirit was somehow linked to his quest, and at times he fancied he could make out faces of the Moon and Mercury in its silky wings. The dream ended just as he was finally leaping upon the spirit, as the moon was reaching its zenith.

And so, when they encountered the weaver spirit, Chasing was suprised to sense a whisp of the same spirit call as in his dream. It was an echo left by the messenger which their foe had dispatched.

So, when the outcome of the battle was certain, and without any word to the rest of his pack, Chasing-the-Night turned and dashed off into the inky umbra, following the scent of the messenger. Keiteki had gone before him, and together they were able to make out the spirit's path. As he ran he told himself that what he was doing was necessary; his pack would not understand the pursuit, and he could not ask them to follow his quest. And there was the defence of the village, although he expected he would return before that was a serious issue.

And so he ran. He ran until his legs burnt. He ran until his vision was misty and his chest had no breath left in it. He ran until his paws were raw and his tongue was dry. He ran with the single mind of a raw predator. And so it was that he did not lose the scent of the messenger, although he lost all sense of time and location. When he fell, unconscious from pure exhaustion, he had followed to the limits of his body and soul. He never caught sight of the messenger spirit, as far as he can recall.

When he awoke, he and Keiteki were far from their land, and no closer to his quest. During their return, the seriousness of his flight began to sink in. It took them three days to make their way back to the village, though they travelled with the best speed they could make.

The weaver had struck a few days earlier, and with them squads of Japanese troops. The village and surrounding forest was destroyed. Amongst the bodies that the Japanese left to rot were the kinfolk he had called his family, and those of the members of his pack. All had clearly done what they could to resist the invasion, both physically, and in the umbra, but to no avail at all.

The totality of the destruction struck him hard, and Kimu fled even before confirming that the sept had withdrawn. The survivors made their way to mainland Japan; to the heart of the lands of their racial foe, and were accepted into the dwindling ranks of the Uktena there.

Chasing-the-Night was never asked about the fate of his pack, and he never volunteered the story, although it stayed with him when he slept, and when ever he looked into the eyes of the Japanese who crowded the streets and buildings of Japan.

He was serious about applying himself to the tasks the tribe set for him, and he learnt with a singular dedication. Whenever possible he lost himself in the meditation and training that his kinfolk "father" had taught him, treasuring the memory of his "people" in the only way left to him.

His new elders were suprised when, without warning, he approached them and asked to be allowed to follow his quest to the United States of America. In due course his request was granted, and he left. He was not sorry to see the last of the Japanese, or to leave behind the warrens of the city for the plains of middle America.

But he did not find what he was searching for in America.