Safe from the storm

Callie at rest (1)

I was sleeping soundly when I was awakened by the pain of claws in my left bicep.  I rolled over toward the edge of the bed where my nose was met by the big cool nose of Callie, a 25 pound all white American Eskimo dog.  As my eyes grew accustomed to my surroundings I could see the dark eyes in the white face. They were frightened and pleading.

The large bedroom was basked in the orangish color of the salt lamp we use as a night light. It gives off a warm and comforting glow which doesn't actually light the room but makes it so you can get around without tripping and falling.  Quickly I ran through my awakened-in-the-middle-of-the-night routine.  First a quick glance at the clock.  1:13 am.  Next check Pamela.

Pamela had bilateral knee replacement on December 7th and had to have one of the new knees removed and replaced with a temporary plastic joint until an infection acquired during surgery heals. She not only had the pain of surgery but of recovering from the infection, so getting sleep is very hard for her. She was sleeping peacefully. I knew that it had taken her hours.  'Dang,'  I thought to myself, 'I can't wake her up.'  I looked back at Callie, who had her front paws on the bed and waiting anxiously. "Be quiet and get down," I tried to whisper to the apprehensive dog.  She got down.

Everything in the room was normal, except for the nervous American Eskimo. The next step was getting my body moving.  You see,  I was first diagnosed with arthritis when I was thirty-two years old.  I'm now almost 70 and have had the heinous disease in just about every joint in my body for the past 38 years. I have had to sleep flat on my back with my arms at my side and not daring to cross my ankles for well over ten years just to diminish the pain sufficiently to sleep.  As you can imagine, you don't just jump up with arthritis unless you want some really serious pain. You have to coax, plead a bit, and slowly move a joint to get it to start moving.  Callie waited impatiently.

I really wanted to tell her to go back to bed and let me sleep, but Callie has never awakened me or insisted that I follow without good reason. I rolled my left leg off the side of the bed and used the patent Vance-method to lift my body to a sitting position. Well, it isn't actually patented. It's just a way that I've learned to get up where there's nothing to grab.  I put my elbow on the bed and use my forearm to leverage myself. Thankfully it is a lot harder to describe than to do. Callie watched closely as I put my feet into my slippers with her nose so close that she almost pushed them on because I wasn't moving fast enough.

"I must have left the gate closed," I thought.  I didn't think she would awaken me because the food dish was almost empty. Besides I had just checked that the evening before.  She might wake me up for water, but the most likely problem was that the gate which we use to keep the dogs out of the bedroom area when we're not home and my daughter's puppy, who lives with them in the apartment down stairs, from getting us up to play at 5:30 or 6 a.m., was closed.  If it was closed Callie could not get to either food, water or the doggy door.

As I rounded the corner from the master bedroom I could see that the gate was open. I looked down at the dog who was walking at my side looking up at me with foreboding.  "It's open Callie. What do you need?"

I checked the food and water, although I knew exactly what I was going to find, but I went through the exercise in hopes that whatever she needed would manifest itself in the act. As I moved through the house I kept a close eye on the large white animal with the pleading eyes. It was then that there was a small flash of light at the window like someone had used an old-fashioned flash bulb nearby.

That was it. I reached down. Patted the frightened dog and said "It's okay."

I wasn't angry with Callie for waking me up.  I wasn't happy but one or more of them gets me up at least twice during most nights. But now I was filled with compassion and my heart melted.  Callie is terrified of storms. I spent a few moments trying to comfort her.

My smartphone weather app showed that there was a storm front just about ready to engulf us. That, I thought, was why my arthritis hurt more than usual.  Remember how you giggled when your grandparents would tell you that they could tell when it was going to rain because their rheumatism hurt?  Believe me, it's true!  Callie is evidently sensitive to the pressure change long before there are signs of a storm.

By the time we got back to the bedroom I could hear rain softly falling on the skylight above the bed. I put a large dog bed close enough to our bed that I could easily reach down and comfort the frightened dog. Callie sat next to the bed and looked at me with her longing eyes. "You're too big to sleep up here," I said softly. "I'm sorry."  She just sat and looked.

I climbed back into bed.  Our bed is an antique bed that is slightly shorter and narrower than a standard double. We ended up making our own mattress for it.  Besides we already had the two little dogs with us. Atilla-the-Honey, a blind nine year old Yorkie, and Teddy, a tiny deaf 13 year old Pom, had not even raised their heads.  They are what is left of the G-3 - -  the three small dogs who have traveled an average of 12,000 miles a year around the country with us for the past three years, spending their summer protecting a small campground in Glacier National Park. The third member of the group, Cubby, passed away this past Thanksgiving. All three slept with us in the bed in Willy, our vintage 16 foot camper trailer, which is smaller than this bed.  Callie is actually my oldest granddaughter's dog. When she's not with us she lives with my daughter and their puppy.  But now she sat and looked at me. She just sat.

I dangled my arm over the side of the bed as an offering of comfort. Callie continued to just sit and look. The fear and pleading in her eyes was more than I could bear. I could sense her body shaking violently. As the storm arrived and light began to flash at all windows I got up, picked up the shaking, squirming dog, and laid her down next to me. She snuggled close and in short while the trembling began to subside.

What the heck.  Worst case scenario - I would have to lay on my side and not get much sleep. The important thing was that everyone was together and safe from the storm.


=====
(1)  This is the best picture I have of Callie.  She is like one of those people who believe that you steal their spirit if you take their picture. She has a second sense that tells her that a camera is in the room.

FOR MORE STORIES AND BLOGS BY

Russell Vance

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Puma, the Sheepish Lion

Northwest end of Avalanche Lake looking toward where
Mt Cannon (far) and Bearhat Mt (near) meet.

It was late May in Glacier National Park.  The snow was gone below 4,000 feet but you could still hear avalanches echoing across Avalanche lake.  That's what makes the 6 mile round-trip trek worth the effort.

Some of you might know the spot where Hidden Creek drops down from Hidden Lake between Mt. Cannon and Bearhat Mt. and enters Avalanche Creek.  It is one of those steep, open, craggy areas that are great foraging areas for all animals. There is water, early spring plants and the carcass of those who died during the winter.  Of course it is also a great spot for live prey that is attracted by the water and plant life.

On this particular day a young mountain lion - also known as a puma or cougar - was watching for just such live prey and he wasn't disappointed.  A male mountain goat, known as a billy,  was also attracted to the area. The billy had wondered down from the high country above Hidden Lake. Billies are solitary animals and roam large areas.

The mountain lion caught sight of the billy. His body became tense and he crouched down in predator mode.  Slowly he began to circle above the seemingly unsuspecting billy. The billy never looked up until he suddenly started trotting up the side of the mountain. The mountain lion stalked behind.

This pattern repeated several times before the mountain goat started to run followed closely by the mountain lion.

Now we all know that a mountain goat isn't going to outrun a mountain lion.  But the craggy ledges of mountains are the mountain goat's sanctuary.  Mountain goats have been observed to go where no one else would dare to go.  In fact, mountain goat expert, Dr. Douglas Chadwick (1) tells the story of watching a goat go so far out onto a ledge that it could not go in any direction and could not back up. The goat did a mountain goat version of a gymnastic walk-over, bringing its hind legs in front of its front legs and then turning and walking off the ledge.  Don't under-estimate the strength and power of a mountain goat.

The mountain goat went out onto a solitary point that seemed to hang over the valley below. The mountain lion seemed to know that a mountain goat can easily eviscerate an adversary with its horns, so it stopped a few yards away. The goat was isolated. The only exit was past the lion.  Could the goat outlast the lion?

Anxious hikers across the deep valley on the Avalanche Lake Trail on the side of Mt Brown watched the stand-off through binoculars.  If you had asked any one of them they would have given the best odds to the mountain lion.  After all a mountain lion can bring down an animal many times its size. It is fast and lethal. Most of the on-lookers knew nothing of the mountain goats agility and lethal horns.

After quite a lengthy time many of the human observers began to wonder off.  Nothing was happening. Besides, they might also have decided that they didn't really want to wait for hours to watch the carnage.  Shudder. The others kept watch as though in prayerful meditation for some sort of miraculous deliverance.

Ironically humans have a tendency to see the carnivorous hunter as the "bad animal".  It's ironic because humans are omnivores who think we must be carnivores. Does that make us "bad animals"? Since we are no longer hunter-gatherers we can let someone else slaughter the animal and we don't have to see it. I'm a vegetarian. I have no desire to see an animal be killed by a human or any other creature, but I realize that many species are carnivores. Humans, bears and a few others are omnivores. We don't really need to kill another animal to eat and survive. The mountain lion is not an omnivore.  If this lion were to lose this stand-off he would go away hungry. That could mean his death.  As much as I hate seeing either of these two marvelous creatures die, I realize that we must stay out of it and stop trying to improve on or manipulate nature.

As more and more of the human on-lookers began to wonder away the mountain lion was also becoming tired of the stand-off and decided that he had to make a move. The lion stood up.  The mountain goat looked over its shoulder at the lion but didn't move. The lion took a couple of steps toward the goat. The human audience gasped and all binoculars were lifted to their eyes.  The goat didn't seem bothered.  The lion took another step.  The goat rose to its feet and lowered its deadly horns toward the lion. The lion took a step back to re-evaluate his approach.  A murmur went through the on-lookers across the valley.

Suddenly the mountain goat leaped off the ledge.  Oh, my gosh, it was going to leap to its death rather than be mauled by the lion.  Naw!  That's a human thing. If it was going to die, the mountain goat was going to go out fighting.

With an indescribable grace and beauty the goat leaped into the air, landed briefly on a ledge many feet below, paused only a moment and leaped once again.  The billy did this no less than five times. Before the mountain lion could get to the edge of the ledge from which the billy had first leaped the mountain goat was running up the side of the opposite mountain several hundred yards from the lion.

A sheepish, hungry lion was left standing on an isolated ledge looking longingly at the goat who now stood on the opposite mountain looking back.  I must admit that I was happy for the mountain goat. At the same time you have to feel sorry for the mountain lion who may well go to bed hungry unless he finds an animal less crafty.


FOOTNOTE:

(1) Chadwick, Douglas H. (1983). A beast the color of winter. Sierra Club Books. San Francisco.      ISBN  0-8032-6421-6

Mt Cannon 

Ryuhiko -12

“Oh, excuse me!” said a very embarrassed Catherine. Each day after Shinmasa left she would go into his room and gather the inevitable dirty dishes and laundry. This morning she had assumed that he had left early because he was always gone by 8 am so she had done her usual perfunctory tap on the door and walked in. Unaccustomed as she was to human modesty, Moru just sat up in surprise while Shinmasa grabbed for a nearby corner of sheet. “I am so very, very sorry!” Catherine backed out of the room.

Moru and Shinmasa looked at each other. Then one of them began to snicker. That was all it took. They found themselves embracing as they laughed hysterically.

As Moru and Shinmasa's laughing and giggling turned into foreplay, a dark figure sat on the summit of Mt George a few miles away looking toward the lair. Bafu Nama had witnessed the defeat of Mmolai Botle and had followed Ryuhiko back to his lair. As he sat and watched Ryuhiko's lair he made a very deadly mistake. He decided that he wouldn't tell his master, Lefu Sefefo, about the lair but would forever be in his master's good graces because he would kill the akai ryu. Now he was sitting there thinking about how he was going to accomplish such a feat.

That evening, as Shinmasa was practicing his jo skills on the ledge, Bafu Nama decides to make his move. He felt that he had the advantage. After all, Ryuhiko was in his human form and standing totally open to attack. He flew as fast as he could toward the solitary figure.

Shinmasa was caught off guard. As Bafu rapidly approached Shinmasa caught a sniff of putrescine and cadaverine. Shinmasa knew that smell but before he could react Bafu hit him, knocking him down but not off the ledge. Moru had been watching Shinmasa practice from just inside the lair. She too had smelled the foul odor of putrescine and cadaverine and looked up to see Shinmasa fall just as he was struck by Bafu. She jumped up and started to run to his aid but before she could arrive he had transformed into Ryuhiko. All of the practice had paid off. He was standing on the ledge watching Bafu. He appeared completely relaxed which belied the taut, well-trained muscles waiting for his adversary's attack. Still grasped in his left claw was his jo. But it no longer looked like the four foot jo with which Shinmasa had practiced so much. It was as tall as Ryuhiko and shown a brilliant white like the white of the hottest flame. Ryuhiko looked at the jo and held it up for Moru to see. It was his Father's jo through which he would learn to focus the power.

Bafu paused for a moment as he turn around for another pass. Ryuhiko had never seen Bafu Nama and was repulsed by the creature who was heading toward him. Putrescine and cadaverine were actually quite descriptive of what he saw. Bafu appeared to be nothing more than an extremely large blob of rotting flesh. Ryuhiko could not make out a face, appendages or weapon. How was this creature planning to kill him?

“Watch out,” cried Moru. “He can spit a caustic acid.”

“Oh, that's nice,” Ryuhiko replied sarcastically. “Anything else you'd like to share?”

“He is very toxic,” responded Moru. “He's not really very good at direct combat. His forte is smothering you in your sleep.”

“Nice guy,” said Ryuhiko as he watched the approaching creature.

Bafu's idea was to knock Shinmasa off the ledge and then smother him as he lay broken at the bottom of the cliff. It wasn't going nearly as well as Bafu had imagined it. Now he was face to face with a dragon. He decided that his only chance of success was to fly right into the dragon's face and attempt to smother him as he stood there. As he drew near he saw the jo. It was too late to pull up and run.

As he approached, Bafu opened up his body to make the largest area possible to engulf Ryuhiko's head. When Bafu was just feet away Ryuhiko rose up and backhanded the creature with a mighty claw. Bafu was stunned, spinning and bouncing across the ledge and finally falling into the valley below.

Ryuhiko rose in the air, bent at the waist and went head first into the valley after Bafu. Bafu was far from intelligent but he knew when to give up and run. He tried desperately to pull himself together and headed down the valley away from the lair. If he could only survive he would tell his master. Lefu would know what to do with this dragon.

Vance Mountain was one of the higher mountains in the area. It had been created by three glaciers. One created the valley on it's west side with two cirques on the northeast and southeast. From above it presented as an upside down Y with knife edged ridges. Bafu was lifting up over the western ridge when he was hit by Ryuhiko and fell to the ground near the mountain's summit.

Bafu Nama stood up. He was dazed and confused. He looked around and saw Ryuhiko setting down a few yards away. Bafu knew that he was defeated. He couldn't out run or out fight this dragon.

“Go tell your master that I'm coming for him,” said Ryuhiko.

Bafu Nama knew that his master would be extremely angry and may, in his anger, destroy Bafu. He believed that he had no other choice than to attempt to finish what he had come to accomplish. Bafu threw himself at Ryuhiko.

Ryuhiko thrust with his jo. When the jo entered Bafu Nama's body Bafu immediately began to turn a bright white until, being totally a brillant white, he exploded.

Ryuhiko stood for a moment and said quietly, “or don't.”

Moru was standing on the ledge waiting for Ryuhiko. She had seen the explosion and believed that he had prevailed against Bafu, but she still stood anxiously waiting. This, she thought, is how humans feel so often. She was frightened. Frightened like a human. It was more than mere worry. It was painful. It was a pain she couldn't describe coming from her very core. When Ryuhiko could be seen approaching the sense of relief, joy, love was like a wave of comforting balm. 'How do animals function with all of these emotions?' She thought.

Ryuhiko transformed into Shinmasa immediately upon landing on the ledge and the two embraced. Shinmasa explained what had happened.

“It's the jo!” Shinmasa concluded his account.

“The jo?”

“Yes, this is my father's jo,” Shinmasa explained. “It carries the power. I've had it with me all along.”

Moru felt skeptical, but smiled as Shinmasa spoke. She had seen his father fight many times and, while he did carry the jo, it didn't seem to be the source of his great power.

“And I know how Lefu is going to try to destroy North America.”

“You do?” Moru was excited. She forgot about the jo.

“Yes,” Shinmasa was exuberant. “He's going to try to poison the Triple Divide.”

As Bafu Nama made his ill fated attack Lefu was half way around the world watching the carnage of war in the Middle East and drawing strength from the anger and hatred. He was enjoying himself. He had flamed the fires of distrust and religious difference into anger and hatred and was gleefully cheering both sides as two groups of Muslims were butchering each other in the name of the same god. Lefu could feel the power surge through his body as the battle became more violent and more gruesome.

Lefu's pleasure was interrupted by a strong sense of sudden loss. 'Bafu!' Lefu thought. 'That idiot has done something stupid. He's dead.' Ryuhiko was getting stronger faster than Lefu had anticipated. Then, Lefu thought, there was the possibility that the dragon prince had figured out his plan. That didn't matter as much as the timing. Actually he wanted Ryuhiko to figure it out in time to be there when Lefu brought about the beginning of the end of life in North America. He wanted to torture the young prince and make him suffer. That would give him great strength and it would torture his family, especially his sister, Moru. He wouldn't have to physically defeat the young dragon. The pain, the sorrow, the failure would destroy him. It made Lefu smile.

Lefu decided that he must act quickly. He sat looking at the gore and a smile came to his face. He needed distractions to keep Ryuhiko busy until he was ready for him. He looked around the world. There was so much angry and hatred. There was so much distrust, blame, self-centeredness. Lefu was so happy with his handiwork. It gave him many options.

There. Lefu saw a police officer approaching a young black man in Birmingham, Alabama. Lefu had been feeding off this type of situation for years so it took little to instigate a confrontation that left the young black man lying dead. Soon a riot ensued.

Oh, yes, thought Lefu. There are refugees trying to get their families to someplace safe. 'Sorry,' Lefu said out loud. 'Not today.' He grinned as he stirred hatred, suspicion and anger among some locals. The police and military are losing their tempers because they are trying to keep the refugees out while not allowing the locals to hurt the refugees and they're getting totally disgusted with the entire situation.

Lefu was having great fun and he was only starting. He would be having the heir to the dragon king's throne so busy trying to bring calm that he wouldn't notice what Lefu was doing until it was too late. That's when Lefu wanted Ryuhiko to show up . . . when it was too late.

In the lair Shinmasa suddenly sat up in bed with a gasp.

“What is it?” Moru said rolling over and looking up at Shinmasa.

“It's starting,” Shinmasa said looking around as thought he expected to see something or find something.

“Lefu?”

“Yes. He's starting trouble,” said Shinmasa.

“You know he always does that,” said Moru sitting up and putting her hand on Shinmasa's shoulder.

“No this is different,” Shinmasa shook his head. “He's ready.”

“How can you be sure?”

“I can feel it. These situations aren't for his entertainment or to gain power. They are to draw me away so that he can make his attack.”

Moru knew that as Ryuhiko grew in power, he was more and more attuned to what Lefu was doing. He seemed to always know where Lefu was at any time. He would feel . . . he could sense Lefru. It was as though Ryuhiko being Lefu's opposite created a common link. The two of them had almost become like yin and yang. This worried Moru. Could Ryuhiko survive destroying Lefu? Even worse, could it be that the destruction of Ryuhiko was what was necessary to bring about the destruction of Lefu? Moru didn't want to consider such possibilities but they haunted her.

“These are distractions,” Shinmasa said turning to Moru. “I'll bet anything if I head toward one of these trouble spots there will be a unbelievably severe store go across the Triple Divide.” Shinmasa paused and looked away in thought. “He wants me to realize what he's doing but be so far away that the deed is done by the time I arrive.”

“Metsia!” Moru suddenly exclaimed.

“Who?” Shinmasa asked.

“My sister, Metsia, is the spirit of the ocean,” Moru smiled broadly while Shinmasa looked totally lost. “To force Lefu to make his move while you're still close enough to stop him, we have to make him think his distractions worked. You can start toward Birmingham. You both seem to be able to sense the other. We'll have Metsia send a heavy tropical storm in from the Gulf to dampen things in Birmingham. Hopefully Lefu will think that you have been distracted and start his attack. You will actually close enough to be there when he arrives at the Triple Divide.”

Shinmasa pondered the idea for a few moments. It could work. He certainly didn't have any ideas. Moru left immediately to contact her sister while Shinmasa went out on the ledge to meditate before his great battle with Lefu Sefefo, the greatest evil the world had ever known. As he moved deeper and deeper into his meditative trance his body began to glow until he was a brilliant white.

Ryuhiko stood on the Triple Divide Peak looking down the long valley of Hudson Bay Creek toward Red Eagle lake. He was well above the tree-line. The trees created a cushion of green far below him. A palette of greens and browns topped by the stark vertical linear lines of massive Mount James and Norris Mountain on each side of him. At the end of the valley was Red Eagle Mountain standing like a giant fortress with a rainbow crossing it like a sash. In the distance he could see the approaching storm. It was time. He looked down at his hand. It was just a jo decorated with runes. How had he come to this? Sunyata. In Sunyata he had seen the oneness. He now understood.

Ryuhiko looked at the approaching storm. Lefu Sefefo was manifest in the storm. Ryuhiko had seen this face before. It was many times worse than the one he had experienced with Moru when he first learned that he was Ryuhiko. That seemed like so long ago. It was a terrifying storm but now 'Ryuhiko was strong and prepared.

“I know who you really are and how you plan to kill North America,” Ryuhiko called to the storm. “You plan to poison the Triple Divide. That will poison the water in all of North America. It won't be fast but eventually the land and all living things will die.”

Lefu laughed. It was a hideous laugh. It was a laugh that defined hatred and evil. Time and again what appears as lightening flashes toward Ryuhiko but each time he reflects it with his jo. In a rage Lefu sent multiple attacks at one time hitting and striking Ryuhiko. Time and again Ryuhiko is pushed from the top of the Triple Divide into the deep valley south of the peak. Each time he returns the storm is closer and each time he is greeted by Lefu's terrifying laugh.

“You are no match for me, little prince,” Lefu taunted. “You will stand there pathetically fighting my storm as I destroy your precious earth.”

Ryuhiko paid no attention to Lefu's taunt but it did make him realize that standing right on the Triple Divide wasn't good strategy. He must fight from someplace where Lefu must get past him. Ryuhiko moved to the peak of Split Mountain. Now Lefu must literally get past Ryuhiko.

Ryuhiko's jo was brighter than he'd ever seen and the glow was moving through Ryuhiko's claws into his body. Ryuhiko's body was the light. Not the jo.

“I know now,” said Ryuhiko, “the source of the light. Lefu's face grew dark. “Yes, you know it too and you were hoping that I'd not figure it out. The brilliant light is the manifestation of the total of all hope, love, compassion and goodness in existence. Like the law of conservation of energy, these elements go from reality to potential. The potential for them is always there. This is the oneness which you have attempted to pervert. I'm the yang to your yin. I'm the dragon standing on a mountain filled with light and life. But you want the duality to continue. If people were to understand the oneness of the universe you would cease to control them.”

As Ryuhiko spoke Lefu's face grew darker until it was almost featureless. “You are but a collection of negative energy gleaned from the fears, angers, and hatred of people. But we are all connected. We are all one. So technically, I must accept these negative emotions. But what if I have made friends with my emotions – positive and negative? What if I can give that hope to a handful of others who pass it along, and so forth? Would this little spot here turn clear and beautiful?”

As he spoke Ryuhiko pointed his hand at the edge of Lefu's terrible storm and a small area turned white. Lefu's rage grew but made no difference to Ryuhiko. “Would that not grow expotentially? How long until your storm of hate and fear became like a gentle summer shower or a fresh winter's snowfall?” Ryuhiko pointed and the white area began to grow.

“This can't be happening,” shouted Lefu.

“Of course it can,” replied Ryuhiko. “Is this your reality or mine?”

Ryuhiko spreads his wings and flew directly into the heart of the storm as Lefu Sefefo screamed “no” and attempted to back away. But the storm could not move fast enough. All goes black.

Shinmasa awakened to see his Father sitting next to him. He was on top of the mountain but, looking down, he could see Ryuhiko lying at the foot of Split Mountain.

“Am I dead?” he asked his father.

“You could be,” his father answered.

“What do you mean by that?”

“You have a choice. You can be dead and be free from the endless battle with Lefu or you can accept the Bodhisattva way. You know that humans are not strong enough to deal with him on their own. You stopped him today but, if you accept death, they will die tomorrow.”

Shinmasa thought of the Buddhist Bodhisattva prayer he had recited so many times.

May I be a guard for those who need protection
A guide for those on the path
A boat, a raft, a bridge for those who wish to cross the flood
May I be a lamp in the darkness
A resting place for the weary
A healing medicine for all who are sick
A vase of plenty, a tree of miracles
And for the boundless multitudes of living beings
May I bring sustenance and awakening
Enduring like the earth and sky
Until all beings are freed from sorrow
And all are awakened

Shinmasa realized that he was on the bodhisattva way. He and his father stood facing each other.

“I am proud of you, my son.” said the dragon king. “You have won a great victory and learn a greater lesson. But you know you have not stopped Lefu but for a moment. He will continue to spread his cloud of anger and hatred, bigotry and discrimination, and all things foul and demeaning to humanity. He will continue until humanity understands the oneness of all things.”

The two men embraced. As Ryutada faded from view, Shinmasa looked down at Ryuhiko lying at the bottom of the mountain. There was a figure kneeling next to the dragon. It was Moru. She was weeping. 'There was another good reason to return,' thought Shinmasa. He closed his eyes. When he opened them he was Ryuhiko lying on the ground. Moru cried and hugged and kissed him. He hurt all over. He didn't want to get up. But he did. He had chosen the bodhisattva way and he had the Spirit of the Forest to walk it with him. 

Ryuhiko looked up at the majestic barren mountain that was the Triple Divide. As the sun was setting the mountain was awash in a scarlet sky.  Then he turned to Moru. "the mountain is safe and we survived."  Moru hugged and kissed him again.  Holding tightly to each other they kiss as they rose into the clouds above the mountains. 

Brother Kiááyo

 Kiááyo

The storm had stopped. The scene, as I looked at the steep, rocky side of Mt Stimson, was snow, massive out-cropping of grey rock with an occasional cluster of lodge pole pines. The valley was buried under a sea of snow the edge of which was lapping at the entrance to the cave where I had taken shelter.

It was a beautiful scene but I wasn't enjoying it. My leg hurt and I had no idea how I was going to get back down the mountain to the trail-head, road and help. I checked on my ResQLink. It was still transmitting. I had put it in a protective bag and left it outside the cave so that the signal would hopefully be received. I was almost eight and a half miles from the trail-head, an injured leg and no idea of whether or not help was coming. Perhaps once the storm had passed and the skies cleared the ResQLink would be able to make a satellite connection.

As I sat contemplating my next move I heard the sound of the helicopter. It moved slowly up the valley between the two mountains. Spotting me, the helicopter hovered and the pilot waved. There was no place for it to land. They had undoubtedly anticipated that. A man on the passenger side leaned out and dropped a large parcel. It was filled with supplies and a radio so that I could communicate with the rescue team as they made their way to my location.

I waved at the helicopter as it pulled away. Looking across the valley to the side of Mt Stimson I saw him. We stood and looked at each other for a long time. “Thank you, brother Kiááyo” (brother bear). I called to him as I waved. With that the great animal turned and ambled down the valley.

It had all started as a quick overnight excursion to the Upper Nyach Campground. I had followed the Pinchot Creek from the highway. I was at the overlook between Mt. Stimson and Mt Pinchot about nine and a half miles from the trailhead. It was just after noon. I had figured that, if I made good time, I would would go to the top of Mt Pinchot. I had made good time but the weather was threatening. I had anticipated rain but the temperature was dropping fast.

About that time I heard a rumble. Before I could decide whether or not it was thunder I was being pelted by rocks. It was a rock slide. Instinctively I headed toward cover behind a giant bolder that had undoubtedly fallen in another slide. Sadly I didn't make it. Ducking a bolder that was bigger than me I ran right into the path of a slightly smaller piece of Mt Pinchot. The pain in my left leg was excruciating. I fought to keep my balance and remain conscious. I lost both battles ending up in a heap a few yards below the point of impact.

I began to regain consciousness about an hour later. My head was cold. I opened my eyes. The ground was already white and my body was covered with a thin layer of snow. It wasn't easy to sit up. Next to me was my trusty Tilly hat – a felt fedora mountain hat with ear flaps tucked up inside. I pulled out the ear flaps and felt the warmth as my ears were protected from the bite of the wind. I couldn't help but chuckle to myself thinking about how many time Indiana Jones' fedora came bouncing back to him.

It was then that I was reminded why I was lying on the ground covered with snow. Without thinking I tried to move my legs. My left leg was going to have nothing to do with it and complained loudly. Well, I yelled loudly.

My trousers were ripped open from just above my gaiters to close to my hip. There was lots of blood but it looked more like an abrasion than a cut. There were no bones protruding. That was a good sign.

I pulled myself up into a sitting positing propped up against the giant bolder to which I had been running for cover and pulled off my backpack. There were lots of marks, scratches and tears on the pack. It had taken a lot of the impact for me and might have saved my life. I opened up the large front compartment. That's where I always keep the first aid kit. I had been carrying this backpack with all of the emergency, survival and first aide equipment every time I set foot on a trail for almost ten years. I had always explained that you don't have to been 20 miles into the wilderness to need emergency and survival gear.

After cleaning up my leg I tried to stand. It didn't work. I found one of my poles nearby but the other had been mangled. It too had probably played a part in protecting my leg from more serious damage. The one pole gave a little bit of support but movement was exceptionally slow, painful and shaky. It didn't take me long to figure out that I wasn't going to make the 9 mile walk out. It was snowing even harder. I needed serious help.

Some years before my family bought me a ResQLink for Christmas. It was one of those gifts, like insurance, you hope never to need. The ResQLink not only had the traditional distress signal but it had a satellite link that was monitored by 200 countries around the world. Everything I had read said that if you are injured in the wilderness of North America they can pinpoint your location in twenty minutes. I looked up at the snow. I sure wasn't going to find out if that was right. No hope of a satellite signal in a snow storm. My ResQLink occupied a mesh pocket in the front zipper compartment so that it would be easy to access.

I sat there looking at the small device. When I had registered it with the government there had been stern instructions that it is only to be activated in a life-or-death emergency. I looked up into the snow storm. What little I could see of the mountain in front of me, the pain in my leg, and the nine miles to the road convinced me that this was just such an occasion. I pushed the lever which released the antenna and pushed the button. The ResQLink began to tell the world that I needed help.

Leaning back against the bolder I tried to ignore the pain and think about what I needed to do next. Of course I knew that shelter had to be my top priority. Looking around I decided that this spot wasn't going to provide the shelter I would need. If I could work my way back toward the road, the tree-line was about a mile south. It was still early afternoon. Despite the darkness created by the storm it was still daylight and would be for several hours. I felt I had a much better chance of finding a good place to hold up if I could get to the tree-line.

It was extremely slow going. I spent more time dragging myself than anything even related to walking. As I moved along I scoured the area for anyplace where I might make a shelter. I was getting cold and tired.

I had gone about half way to the tree-line and was trying to get out of the biting cold wind by sitting under an overhang. By this time I knew what explorers and survivors meant when they said they 'reached down inside' for every ounce of strength and courage.

My mind turned toward an old indigenous people's prayer.

Send your strength

oh mighty Kiááyo.

At my time of need

Teach me to understand

that I possess all

the resources necessary

to survive.

Guide me toward strength,

brother Kiááyo.

I decided that I had to make my stand right there. Mustering up all the strength I could find and repeating the prayer, I pulled out a tarp. I struggled for quite some time to fasten it in such a way that it would afford me some protection from the driving wind that now made the snow feel like needles against any exposed skin.

That's when I saw him. The mighty Kiááyo – a large multicolored Grizzly bear - walking toward me. I reached to my hip where I always carried my bear spray. The can had been crushed. Kiááyo kept coming seeming almost oblivious to the storm that was getting more fierce by the minute. All I could do was sit and watch him get closer.

The bear stopped some few yards away. He was close enough that I could see his eyes. In bear school they teach you not to look them directly in the eyes because that can be interpreted as threat or challenge. But I couldn't help it. The giant grizzly, his hair standing straight out to his side from the force of the wind, stood looking at me. The face, the eyes, showed compassion.

Humans like to think we're the only animals who have feelings. I've know for a very long time that isn't true. I really didn't need the scientific evidence from such scientists as Dr. Carl Safina but he did show that we actually inherited our ability to have feelings from animals who have been on this planet a much longer time.

For some reason I wasn't terrified. Strictly speaking he would have been very much in his right to have had me for dinner. It was survival in the wilderness. But I couldn't take my eyes off his face.

Kiááyo stood and looked at me for a short while. Then he started around the overhang under which I was hiding. He started toward the almost vertical wall of Mt Pinchot. Every once and a while he would stop and turn to look at me. Then he would turn his head toward the mountain, back toward me and start moving again. He seemed to want me to follow, and when I did, he moved quickly up the mountain.

Not twenty yards from where we had started he stopped at the base of a sheer wall. He looked at the wall and then at me. He did this several times. Finally I raised my hand in reply. I don't know why except I felt that was what I should do. I needed to let him know that I knew he wanted me to look at that wall. I don't know if it meant anything but he seemed to drop his head and then moved off parallel to the wall heading toward the tree-line.

As I dragged myself toward the mountain face I struggled to see through the blowing snow. But then there it was. At first it was just a dark spot in the side of the mountain, but as I drew closer I could see. It was a cave.

It wasn't the Waldorf. It wasn't even a Motel 6. It was better. It was shelter which meant survival. It meant that I could go back into the cave where I was away from the wind and the snow, crack open a couple of the chemical heat packets in my survival kit, crawl into my -20 degree sleeping bag and get some rest.

Yes, I thought about this being the bear's den, but there was no sign of den material – grasses, branches, etc., to make a place to hibernate. Besides this was a lot larger than any bear den I had know about. I think maybe it was too big for conservation of energy. In any case, my options were to risk this place of refuge and take my chances that I'd end up dinner, or try to survive outside with very poor odds. Before I burrowed back further into the cave I put my ResQLink in a weather-proof case and set it outside in a somewhat protected spot so that it could continue to transmit my distress signal.

I rolled out my sleeping bag, took a couple more pain killers from my first aide kit, cracked a chemical heat pack, and lay down to rest. That was the first time I really felt that I was going to survive. “Thank you, brother Kiááyo,” I said as I closed my eyes.

I pushed the mike button on the old radio they had dropped with the supplies.

“Dispatch, this is the hiker is distress.”

“Hiker, Dispatch” came the reply, “what is your status?”

“I was injured in a rock slide,” I replied. “I'm stable but I can't walk. Afraid I'm going to have to wait for help.”

“A rescue team is on the way. It should only be a few hours.”

“That's wonderful” I said.

I sat looking out over the valley between Mt Stimson and Mt Pinchot. It was a postcard wonderland. Despite the throbbing in my leg I could appreciate the majesty of the mountain before me and the beauty of the new fallen snow.  But most of all I wanted to see Kiááyo again.  I wanted to thank him for saving my life.  I searched the side of the mountain with my binoculars but he was not to be seen. 

Ryuhiko - 11

After returning from dealing with Mmolai Botle, Shinmasa worked even harder at preparing for his inevitable conflict with Lefu Sefefo. But as he practiced and prepared he kept thinking about the white light which came from his father when he destroyed one of the evil creatures. He had asked Moru. She knew only that it seemed to be unique to Ryutada. Shinmasa had noticed that, when Ryuhiko touched Mmolai, Mmolai received what seemed like an electrical shock and when he struck the evil spirit hard there was the release of tremendous force, but no white light and definitely not lethal. His father had told him that it would be there when he needed and that he would learn how to focus it. His father had specifically said “you will learn how to focus it through ….” but never finished his sentence.

Shinmasa continued to meditate late into the night often visiting the space between the frames of time where he was so close to sunyata. Most meditators go there to find sunyata. Shinmasa went there in the hopes that he again would encounter his father. He still had many questions. The problem was that as soon as he brought his mind to focus on the questions he wanted to ask his father he interrupted his meditation.

Shinmasa and Moru spent many evenings sitting on the ledge talking about their dreams and hopes as they admired the vista before them. Shin had been thinking a lot about Moru, and not in a fellow colleague or spirit of nature way. Many times he had caught himself thinking 'what if I were just to . . . ?' and then would scrap the thought. He worried that she would get angry. Even though he knew that she cared deeply about him as the akai ryu, she had given him no indicators of any other interest apart from scientific enquiry. What did she think of him as a human? What did she think of Shinmasa? He worried about rejection. He had only ever had one serious girl friend. She got tired of the trips to the mountains and left him. He hadn't taken rejection well. This time, however, there was no such thinking. Shin just turned without warning, took Moru in his arms and kissed her full upon the lips.

As he held her tight with his lips pressed against hers there was a terrifying moment of rigidity. She didn't move. It was as though she was instantly frozen. She didn't push him away nor did she return the kiss. He didn't dare pull away to see what was happening. Finally Moru put her arms around his neck and returned his kiss. For an untold glorious time the two embraced and kissed passionately. Shinmasa's brain was on overload. All he could think about was expressing his pent-up compassion in this one kiss.

Suddenly Moru pulled away. “I can't,” she cried.

Shinmasa staggered backwards. His mouth gaped open. He had almost expected to be rejected but that didn't help the shock and devastation. “What?” he stammered. “Why?” He stood there trying to find words as Moru turned away and cried. Shinmasa stepped up behind her and put his hand on her shoulder in an attempt to comfort and understand but she only cried harder at his touch.

“I purposely found you at the White Valley Mountain camp,” Moru blubbered. She took a few moments attempting to compose herself and continue her story. “I purposely found you and I took on this form so that it would be pleasing to you.” She hung her head as she softly said, “I guess I seduced you.”

“Seduced me?” The idea was foreign to Shinmasa. Beautiful women didn't seduce him. “Didn't you feel anything?”

“Of course I did! I was very moved by your dedication to the mountains and your work,” Moru tried to smile. “I wanted so much to tell you who I was when you started talking about the mountains being alive.” A timid smile appeared. “And I did think you were awfully cute.”

“I didn't fall for your looks,” insisted Shinmasa. “Yes, you're beautiful but I'm so accustomed to beautiful women looking right past me that I never thought of being with you until you spoke. I fell in love with the beautiful woman who was so passionate about nature and had such a pure and loving heart. Did you fake that?”

“Of course not!” Moru started to cry again and Shinmasa apologized in the hopes it would stop the crying. “That is who I really am. And I loved being with you and watching you. And I loved kissing you just now.” There was a pause. “Did you know that in millions of years I've never been kissed like that?” Another pause. “Did you know that I sneaked into your tent every night and sat next to you?”

Shinmasa looked surprised.

“I was supposed to protect you and find out if you knew that you are Ryuhiko. I didn't have to sit in your tent to protect you, but I did. I did because I liked being near you. I hated forcing you to know that you are a dragon by jumping off that mountain but I had to after you found evidence that Bafu Nama was hanging around.”

“Was there ever anything more than business?”

“YES!” Moru almost screamed through her tears. “Why the hell do you think I'm crying? Why the hell do you think I always leave your lair at night? I've been around as long as there have been flowers and trees. I knew love but I never knew personal love. There was never any one person who made me feel like this. You made me love you and I don't know what to do!”

“What's wrong with that? I love you too. Doesn't that make it okay?”

“If we were two humans it would.” Moru paused in another attempt to regain her composure. “I'm a spirit and you're a kawizati dragon. How can I do what I'm supposed to do if all I can think about is you? Would my Mother approve? Would our union cause some inconceivable disaster? I just don't know.”

“I don't love my work and the nature I'm determined to protect any less because I love you,” Shinmasa said quietly. “My parents had five children. They loved all five of us with the same intensiveness and never loved each other any less. They always said that there is always enough love to go around.”

Moru turned and hugged Shinmasa tightly. “Please forgive me,” she whispered. “I'm frightened and confused. I'm not accustomed to either of those. I have to go think about this.”

Once Moru had left Shinmasa went back into the lair. It seemed so cavernous and lonely. He poured himself a couple of fingers of whiskey and walked into his bedroom. Without even taking a sip he put it on the table and crawled into bed.

Moru found herself sitting on Conical Rock, a promontory along the Oregon coast, crying for her sister, Metsia. Metsia was Moru's older sister and the spirit of water. Whenever she had a problem, Moru always knew that Metsia would help her. She could not think straight as she watched the ocean for any sign of her sister.

After a short while a water spout began to develop. It was Metsia. The two sisters embraced and, between the sobs and crying, Moru poured out her heart. She told Metsia how she had fallen in love with a kawizati dragon “in a human way.”

“Oh, my,” said the older sister squeezing Moru a little tighter. “I don't know much about things like that.” After pondering what she had just heard, “you mean you want to engage in . . .”

“yes,” interrupted Moru as though the word 'sex' was unspeakable. “Is this really bad? Is Mother going to be furious with me?”

“Mother might not be happy, but she's really quite forgiving,” Metsia smiled. “I don't know that it's really all that bad.”

“Then you do think that it's bad.”

“There seem to be two issues here,” Metsia was deep in thought as she spoke. “We have 'conservation of energy' but I've never heard of 'conservation of love'. There's no reason to think that you can't have a special love for Shinmasa without loving your forest any less.”

“That's basically what Shinmasa said,” Moru thought back to earlier that evening.

“Wise man,” Metsia smiled. “But there is something else that comes to my mind.” She paused to find the words she wanted. “Are you afraid for Shinmasa or for yourself?”

“What do you mean?”

“How old are you? As long as there are trees and flowers you are not going to die. On the other hand, Ryuhiko will eventually grow old and die. Even if Ryuhiko lives ten thousand years – about the longest any dragon has been known to live – that is a drop in the eternal bucket. Are you afraid that you won't be able to handle that?”

“I'm not sure I thought of that, but I guess that could be a part of my fear of a spirit-kawizati union. Or I might be using our differences so that I don't have to confront that reality.” Moru was now calm and sat pondering what her sister had said. Then she looked up. “I'm afraid. I've never really been hurt. I've been made very sad and angry with the way many humans treat my forest, but I've grown accustomed to that ever since they started building their concrete jungles. But I've never been directly hurt. To be rejected or to lose him would be a new experience for me that I'm really afraid of.”

“You think about that,” Metsia concluded. “and ask yourself if he is worth the pain you know you will someday suffer. It's just not in your nature to give anything less than 100% to your forest. Besides, that literally IS your life. So I'm not worried about that. I'll run interference with Mother if that becomes necessary but I think she'll just smile and shake her head. You know the reason that she asked you to try to find Ryuhiko is because you have such a way with humans.” They both laughed.

Metsia and Moru sat together for a long time. Being the oldest they had seen so much happen in their lives. Metsia was pushing five billion years. She had been around a long time before Moru who was a mere 700 million years old. They had watched the development of the animal genus homo become the homo sapiens idaltu and the homo sapiens sapiens which left their native Africa and headed to all points on the planet. Me Talhaho had been concerned about that. As long as they were an insignificant species minding their own business in Africa everything was okay. The only reason that they hadn't become extinct from predators is that they learned to cooperate in large groups. That was also a problem. At least it was a problem for the rest of the world. The homo genus quickly started crediting good and bad fortune to deities and in less than 190,000 years from leaving Africa the homo sapiens started coming up with gods who liked one group better than another and humans being gods or the offspring of gods. This was a bad turn of events. As they separated themselves from the rest of nature – moving away from being hunter/gatherers and farmers – they began to more and more attempt to subjugate each other and everything else in the world. Now they were destroying more of the earth in a year than previous homo sapiens had done in a millennium or more. That's when Metsia, Moru and their sisters' jobs really turned tough. Now it was a fight for survival.

“You know, Metsia,” Moru said sadly, “there's a good chance that Ryuhiko will outlive me.” She paused and looked at her sister. “Sometimes I think we're fighting a losing battle. Look at your poor oceans and rivers and streams. Where can you find pure water? And my poor forest. I'm losing several thousands of acres a day. No, I don't think I have to worry about outliving Ryuhiko.”

Metsia sat silently. She couldn't bring herself to argue her sister's point. She couldn't because she had no evidence to the contrary and she couldn't because she too believed as her sister. “I wonder,” she said softly, “Is there a point at which there is no recovery?”

They tried to change the subject to things less depressing but it was hard. They talked about their sisters. Moru told Metsia about the lair Thabeng had made for Ryuhiko and some of her outlandish costumes and behavior. They laughed because they both loved it when Thabeng was outlandish. Moru also told Metsia about Shinmasa.

“I'd better go back and talk to Shinmasa,” Moru concluded.

“Sounds like a good idea to me,” Metsia agreed. “Tell him your sister admires him.”

Shinmasa couldn't sleep. All he could do was lay there and think about Moru. The glass of whiskey still sat, untasted, on the table. Perhaps, he thought, what made it worse was that she had said she was in love with him. Was he being unreasonable or selfish to want a spirit to love him in a way beyond her love for nature? He had fallen in love with her long before he knew her real identity. Was there some devastating fate that would befall them if they were to be mates?

Hour after hour he lay there and thought. Question after question with no answers. Not even a good idea. Then he started worrying about how he was going to deal with being around her and working with her knowing that they had to bury their true feelings. 'It would have hurt a lot more but it would have been so much easier in the long run if she had just said she wasn't interested,' thought Shinmasa.

There was almost no light in Shinmasa's bedroom. He hadn't turned on any lights when he went in. There didn't seem to be any reason for lights. He didn't hear Moru enter. She walked quietly to the side of the bed before she realized that Shinmasa was not asleep.

“May I come in?” she asked softly.

“Of course,” said Shinmasa. He tried to see her in the darkened room. She was standing with her back to what little light there was so all he could see was a silhouette. It didn't strike him that she was wearing a long flowing gown. All that mattered to him was that she had come back. Even if she would not be his lover, he would at least have her near.

“I'm sorry if I upset you,” Moru spoke in almost a whisper. “I didn't mean to. I don't want to. I mean . . . .” There was a long pause as Moru struggled for words.

“It's okay,” said Shinmasa. “I understand. You're a spirit. I'm just a guy.”

“You're not just 'a guy',” Moru voice was a bit stronger. “You're a warm compassionate kawizati and I do love you. I love you in . . . in . . . well, I love you in 'that' way.”

“Are you a prude?” Shinmasa found himself giggling.

“A what?”

“A prude,” Shinmasa repeated. “You can't say 'lover' or 'sex'”

“Do you really want me?” The fear in Moru's voice was evident. By this time Shinmasa was standing toe-to-toe with her.

“Yes. Most definitely. I fell in love with who you are, not what you are. Whether you're an underpaid, powerless scientist or a powerful spirit doesn't matter. You're the same woman I fell in love with on that mountain.”

“Please understand,” said Moru lower her head. “No matter how long I've been around, I know nothing of these matters.” With that said her gown dropped to the floor and the two embraced.