Dindi
"Dindi! Stop!" shouted Tamio. He pulled Dindi away from the enemy. "That's my mother's brother, Abiono!"
Dindi stopped fighting.
The leader of the "enemy" Tavaedies coughed and gasped for air. He took off his mask. It was Abiono, Zavaedi of their own Tavaedi troop from the Corn Hills.
Now she saw clearly. The Tavaediå and the twenty or so boys and girls stood on a forested cliff. They could see the sea far away. Morning light covered the land below. Meadows were dotted with strange round hills. The trees and fields wore autumn colors—yellow like citron and red like cinnamon. At the top of each man-made hill stood a log wall around dome-shaped houses.
Cold tingles ran down her back. She had almost run off that cliff when she tried to escape.
"Abiono! Did you rescue us already?" Hadi asked. He rubbed his eyes.
"No, idiot," Tamio said. He looked at Hadi with disgust. "Don't you see? The fake kidnapping is part of Initiation. Isn't it, Uncle?"
"Yes." Abiono winced and moved his costume. "Learning to face fear is part of becoming an adult."
Everyone started talking at once.
Hadi kept asking, "So we aren't slaves?" He said it like he still didn't believe it.
Jensi wanted to know if they could bathe now.
Kemla said, "Fa! I knew the truth the whole time. Dindi, your goat-headedness better not ruin our chance at Initiation."
Dindi's face grew hot. She felt that same old mix of shame and frustration. Why did she always try to do the right thing and still mess everything up? It didn't seem fair. She broke a taboo even while trying to stop being stolen as a human sacrifice.
"It's taboo to show the truth about the capture too soon. But now you all know, thanks to Dindi"—Abiono sighed in her direction—"we will give you your totems now. We were going to do it soon anyway. We are traveling to the Yellow Bear tribehold for your Initiation."
"What?" Tamio sounded angry. "Why are we going to outtribesmen?"
"We used to take you to our own ancestral tribehold, the Rainbow Labyrinth," said Abiono. "But many years ago, the Bone Whistler took over that place. He banned the use of Many-Banded magic, Imorvae magic. So we had to go to other tribes for our training. As for me, I went to the Purple Thunder tribe.
"A few years later, the three clans of the Corn Hills made a deal. Now we take our Initiates to the Yellow Bear tribe. We train together with their young people. We have done this every year since, even after we heard the Bone Whistler was gone.
"Remember, when we travel to the place of Initiation, we represent more than just our own clan. We represent our whole tribe. In this land, we are the outtribesfolk. Walk with honor."
Abiono looked out at the sea. He cleared his throat.
"There are many more secrets you will learn as you grow. Some you will only learn if you become Tavaedies.
"Now"—he smiled a little—"we will not let you walk through the land of outtribesmen as naked as pigs. Look inside your baskets."
Everyone blushed. They had been wearing only loincloths so long, they forgot. The girls and boys moved away from each other. They untied the cords that held the tops of their baskets closed.
"I knew it," said Hadi. He pulled out flint arrowheads, axe heads, and spearheads. "I have been carrying rocks."
Dindi opened her basket. The first thing she saw was a ball of fur. It stretched and yawned, very happy with itself.
"Puddlepaws, how did you sneak in?" She picked up the kitten, scratched his head until he purred, then put him aside. Of course, his neko, Miskymew, wasn't far away. She was still asleep in the basket, even lazier than the cat!
The fae was sleeping on a long strip of cloth. Dindi pulled it out from under the glowing purple cat-faery. It was mostly white, with maze-like bands of purple, blue, yellow, green, red, and orange.
Below the cloth, she found tools made of chert and bone. They were wrapped in grass. She saw awls, spoons, loom weights, and scrapers.
"Your clans gave each of you your Birthright," said Abiono. "You should find gifts for our hosts, the Initiate wrap—I will show you how to wear it—a dancing costume, and your totem."
Dindi put on the wrap the way Abiono showed them. The others did the same. Then they helped paint each other.
The paint symbols showed their trial. They painted black across their eyes, like blindfolds. Red around their wrists, like ropes. Then they all went back to their baskets to look for more treasures.
Grass separated the items inside. Dindi kept digging. She found a beautiful costume with beads. The others found the same, judging by their shouts.
The formal clothes were very old and expensive. They were dyed white and decorated with beads and clan symbols.
Dindi's outfit had a slit skirt, a chest band, many hoop necklaces, and a cape and headdress made of swan feathers.
"What's this?" said Tamio, searching in his basket. "I don't want a girl's toy!"
"The dolls are not toys. The doll is your totem of light," said Abiono. "It was made in your first seven days of life. It will be buried with you when you die. It is precious. Do not lose it.
"You will need it for the Initiation ceremony. If you pass the tests, you will get a new totem.
"Men will receive a pestle. Women will receive a mortar. Those chosen as Tavaedies will receive a Windwheel."
"Oh, mine is beautiful!" said Kemla. She held up a doll made from a corncob. It had real horsehair braids and a red dress with gold and amber beads.
Tamio's doll wore a purple shoulder blanket and held a tiny riding hoop. It looked cute.
Hadi's doll had a small spear and a messy smile painted on its face.
Jensi's doll had corn silk braids and a bone bead dress. It wasn't as fancy as Kemla's, but it carried a tiny water jar on its head.
Dindi dug under the fancy clothes in her basket. She found something wrapped in dry grass.
Her corncob doll.
It was old and worn out. The paint on its face was gone. It had no hair. The dress was torn. There were no beads left.
That was not why she dropped it like it burned her.
The doll flashed in Dindi's hand.
For one clear moment, everything became sharp and bright. The grass at her feet, the sun shining on the sea—they all glowed.
Dindi felt like she had taken off a blindfold. The world shone like it was lit by a brighter sun.
The light pushed her to her knees. It reached out and pulled her into another mind, another place, another time.