[COLOR=darkgray][i] Mamili and Banjo walked, their path lit well by the full moon onanother spectacularly clear Darwin night. [color=darkgoldenrod]"So, tell me about this guy."[/color] Banjo broke the silence, as he was ever wont to do. [color=brown]"Uncle..? He's just-- Uncle."[/color] Mamili replied. Circumspect with his words. [color=darkgoldenrod]"You're not tellin' me somethin'."[/color] Mamili sighed. [color=brown]"Yeah, cos you're gonna gimme shit for it."[/color] [color=darkgoldenrod]"I'm not. You never give me a bloody chance. You keep assumin' I'm gonna think the worst of you or spin racist or somethin'. Dunno what I've ever done to suggest that [b]I[/b] would do that-- besides the colour of my ski--"[/color] [color=brown]"Alright. Alright. Fine. He's the cleverman. Y'know, the medicine man. OK? Gonna act like we're all backwards now, or someth--"[/color] [color=darkgoldenrod]"Okay. It's a legitimate tribal role. Respected too. What's the big deal? Western kings claim to have had their position bestowed upon them and their entire bloodline by God. And people accept their rule nonetheless. Get over it. I have. You're always defensive around me. You need to drink down a cold glass of harden-the-fuck-up."[/color] Mamili stopped and considered what he said, before giving a chuckle, and continuing to walk. [color=brown]"Damn."[/color] Mamili shook his head to himself. [color=darkgoldenrod]"What? Was I wro--"[/color] [color=brown]"Nah. I mean 'Damn. Uncle's gonna love ya.'."[/color] They pushed through some brush and scrub, and came to a clearing, where an older man stood. [color=darkgoldenrod]"That's him, right?"[/color] Banjo asked. [color=brown]"Unless you see any other elder lookin' types 'round."[/color] His face deigning to crack a smirk, from its usual stoic demeanour. To his credit, 'Uncle' didn't have to ask the same thing about Banjo. [color=brown]"This is him."[/color] But Mamili told him all the same, gesturing at Banjo with a hook of the thumb. [color=sienna]"G'day. Mamili told me that you've been touched by the Dreaming as well."[/color] Banjo thought for a while. A shower of High-energy particles at a period of shelter behind a total lunar eclipse, bestowing strange powers to the few... Spirits tearing a hole in the Dreaming to alter a few and their paths. A few with a mythology and legends where this had happened innumerous times to their own tribes and others. Made a lot of sense for it to be translated that way, culturally. [color=darkgoldenrod]"Somethin' like that."[/color] He replied. [color=darkgoldenrod]"G'day. Banjo."[/color] He extended a hand to the older man. The older man enveloping the younger boy's hand with his own. Uncle smiled at Banjo's reply. [color=sienna]"Let me guess, you don't agree with that description of how we have come to pass?"[/color] [color=darkgoldenrod]"Is your whole bloody family this defensive? I'd figured it was just a 'you' thing."[/color] He first turned to Mamili. [color=darkgoldenrod]"I think we both have ways of interpreting what happened to us, within our own cultural understanding."[/color] Uncle's smile widened, showing his teeth in stark contrast of the night's sky. [color=sienna]"You two argue a bit, eh? I'm gonna tell you a story..."[/color] Uncle turned and cast a hand to the night's sky. The stars swirled, coalesced and re-formed to his whim. Creating a storyboard of light in the night's sky, portraying the tale he weaved. [color=darkgoldenrod]"The cleverman, eh..? Reckon I can see how that position came to be..."[/color] [color=brown]"Shhh!"[/color] With a turn of his fingers, a small group of stars moved and took the shape of a man and some children. [color=sienna]"This is a story about a man called Gandji and his children..."[/color] Another turn, another small cluster of stars swirled into a second man, and children. [color=sienna]"...and another called Wurrpan, and his children. These two men. They were like brothers, but not of blood."[/color] [color=brown]"They're brother-in-laws."[/color] Said Mamili. He'd heard the story before. Uncle silenced him with a look. [color=brown]"Yeah, sorry Uncle."[/color] Stepping on the cleverman's role. It wasn't his place. [color=sienna]"Gandji and his children had been fishing for stingray--"[/color] A collection of stars took the form of a stingray, and changed color, shifting to a bright blue, as the stingray swirled, turned and swam across the night's sky. Banjo marvelled at his power. Mamili had seen it all before. [color=sienna]"With the water so clear, they speared many stingray. They then cooked it over fire, to separate the meat from the fat. Wrapped it in bark and took it back to the camp where Wurrpan and his family were..."[/color] He had perfect control of the imagery for every story beat, the Gandji and his star family carried the object to Wurrpan's star family. A small star figure took the object, and ran it to the larger figure and the others. [color=sienna]"One of Wurrpan's children brought the stingray to father... Who checked the stingray. The family divided it, and ate it."[/color] The star family were gathered around a sparkling red and orange star fire. [color=sienna]"Unhappy with how the stingray had looked, and it's taste, Wurrpan stood up and accused Gandji and his family of giving him old stingray and lesser meat, whilst keeping their fresh catch for themselves."[/color] The star family swirls and chaos changes, specks of red encircle the raging father, capturing his wrath. [color=sienna]"'You should have gone stingray fishing for yourselves!' replied Gandji."[/color] Red specks now encircled the growing larger star man of the other group. [color=sienna]"The two men's argument grew more spirited and violent in nature, until Gandji, growing fearful of what Wurrpan might do to him in his rage, grabbed a handful of hot coals from the fire and threw them at Wurrpan. Striking him right in the chest."[/color] A bright explosion of red stars was hurled from the larger man of one side into the mid-section of the larger figure on the other, where it erupted into another red starburst, in stark contrast of the other stars which dimmed. [color=sienna]"Gandji, realizing what he had just done in anger started jumping around in fear of what Wurrpan might do to him in retaliation. From jumping awkwardly he began flying, slowly getting higher and higher. As he flew he began to change form."[/color] The figure grew much larger, and Gandji's legs grew longer and more spindly, as his arms began to round and change shape. As did his children's forms. [color=sienna]"Seeing Gandji was getting away, Wurrpan called out to his children to bring him his spear. Pointing it to the sky, he noticed it was too long for this use, because it was bending back. So he had his children cut it shorter with a sharp rock."[/color] The large Gandji figure and his children were now far above the dimly lit Wurrpan and his own children. [color=sienna]"Wurrpan took aim, and said to his spear 'Please don't let me miss'. Then, hurling his spear, it struck true. The spear driving right through Gandji, from his behind right through his face, where it poked out the other side."[/color] The spear completed Gandji's form change, making a long beak, as he took the shape of a jabiru. As he and his children fell to earth. [color=sienna]"Wurrpan, realising what he had done, said to his children 'Let's get out of here, while we still live!' and they began running. The blacks coals turning them a dusty grey, and their own legs getting longer so as to run better. They all had a bump on the front, growing from where the coals had hit."[/color] Wurrpan, and his dimly lit star family, began to change their own forms, taking the shape of emus as they fled. Uncle brought the two figures to center focus in the night's sky, first the jabiru, and then closing with the shape of the emu. [center][img]https://www.artyfactory.com/aboriginal-art/aboriginal-art-images/emu-in-the-sky-9.jpg[/img][/center] With a twist of his hand, Uncle powered down, and the brightened light stars of the emu reverted to the night's sky as it was. [center][img]https://www.abc.net.au/reslib/200907/r409503_1933834.jpg[/img][/center] [color=darkgoldenrod]"Okay... Nice story. Message."[/color] [color=brown]"Yeah. Always take care of your family, like you would yourself."[/color] [color=darkgoldenrod]"Eh?"[/color] [color=brown]"Well, yeah. You know. If Gandji gave equal parts to Wurrpan's family..."[/color] [color=darkgoldenrod]"The story never said he didn't."[/color] Banjo replied. [color=brown]"Sure it did. Wurrpan checked the stingray--"[/color] [color=darkgoldenrod]"And he wasn't happy with what his family got given. Doesn't mean that wasn't equal meat. just that he wasn't happy with it."[/color] [color=brown]"Then why'd he get defensive and say he should get his own meat, if he's not happy with how it was divided?"[/color] [color=darkgoldenrod]"That's purely speculative in intent."[/color] The inner lawyer in Banjo poked his head out. [color=darkgoldenrod]"How would you respond to ingratitude after you did the work to catch the stingray?"[/color] A smile creased across Uncle's face. [color=darkgoldenrod]"I think, the point is, that it's meant to be vague and hard to determine who was at fault, for the sake of the message. I suspect the message is about the fraught perils of needless arguments. The potential costs of war over small things. Was this legend told to tribal leaders?"[/color] Uncle's smile broadened. [color=brown]"Shit..."[/color] Said Mamili. [color=brown]"I knew Uncle was gunna love ya..."[/color] [/i][/color] [center][color=darkgoldenrod][sup]________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________[/sup][/COLOR][img]https://images5.fanpop.com/image/photos/27900000/Alex-alex-pettyfer-27913840-500-238.gif[/img][/CENTER][indent][sub][COLOR=darkgoldenrod][B]Location:[/B][/COLOR] [I]Haileybury Rendall School, Darwin - Past, The Southern Plateau, Dundas Islands, Pacific Ocean - Present[/I] [I][/I][/sub][sup][right][COLOR=darkgoldenrod][b]Welcome Home #1.094:[/b][/COLOR] [I]Dreaming While Awake[/I][/right][/sup][/indent][COLOR=darkgoldenrod][SUP][sub]____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________[/sub][/SUP][/COLOR][indent][sub][color=darkgoldenrod][B]Interaction(s):[/B][/COLOR] [I]Calliope - [@PatientBean][/I][/sub][SUP][RIGHT][COLOR=darkgoldenrod][b]Previously:[/b][/COLOR] [color=white][I]High Tensions with the Hypie from the Highveld (It's OUR word!)[/I][/color][/right][/SUP][/indent] [color=darkgray] Banjo continued his trot away from Katja, until he got back to the campsite. They were the last two to arrive, as others milled around sorting out food and talking. Banjo rubbed his hands together at the thought of the fodder at hand, catching a whiff of himself and his sweat covered clothes. Apparently he'd done a bit more work than he and Katja had thought. Ugh. He trotted over to the tent. Bursting through and rustling through his stuff. Hmm. Short-sighted. He had a change of clothes... but no towel. No soap. He poked his head out of the tent to check nobody was around, then went back in and stripped naked. He poked his head out once more, and satisfied nobody was around, he went back inside and went 'the full sun-shower cleanse'. [i]Just a quick one... I mean, you've been doing it all day, anyway...[/i] Breath halted and quickened, a jet black silhouette at the centre of the extravagant tent, the tent lit only by a small, dim corona due to the lack of light within the tent, which orbited his being. Flesh re-knitted and synapses flared. Born anew. He powered down, and gave himself another whiff, and smiled at the results. [color=darkgoldenrod]"Clean as a bloody whistle."[/color] He uttered, getting changed, and bagging his clothes. He bounced back out of the tent, brimming with energy and indefatigable confidence. He made eye contact with Calliope and gestured that he was just going to get himself some food from the set up. He stil couldn't quite see what it was yet, as he hurried over to see what was left. [i]Oh, hey. Tacos.[/i] Banjo thought back to a time years ago, when Calliope had rounded out his palate and introduced him to a better quality of 'actual' Mexican food. As he constructed his own from the dregs and detritus that Katja had presumedly left in her wake, he thought back to the look of horror that Calliope had been unable to keep from her face, when he explained his own limited experience back home with his schools' attempts at the cuisine, which had included pita bread and kraft cheese singles slices. [color=darkgoldenrod]"You look like you're about to call Child Protective Services..."[/color] He had replied to her horrified expression. [color=darkgoldenrod]"I assure you, the damage there is already well and truly done."[/color] It was little surprise though. Whilst she'd had a terrible experience with the actual family mealtimes, the food itself from back home was a pleasant memory for her, and she enjoyed introducing him to tastes and flavours from her childhood. He'd become quite enamoured with the idea of the breakfast burrito. And whilst he originally claimed in jest that the only difference between the different food types seemed to be how they were folded, he now knew his empanadas from his enchiladas. Happy with his plate's meagre holdings - truth was he'd been juicing all day and wasn't really hungry, intending to eat mainly for taste - he grabbed two bottles of Hyper-Aid and made his way over to where Calliope had kept a seat for him. He was pleased to see she hadn't completely finished her food, so he concluded he hadn't taken [b]too[/b] much time. And the pair sat next to each other hand in hand, working away at their plates' holdings. With a full mouth he missed the opportunity to tell Tad to shut up, but instead gestured to the full chorus of his teammates, who voiced his sentiment. He wouldn't miss the next. Jim-Bob's truck - because Jim-Bob could only drive a truck - brought good news, as he conveyed information that their degrees and accreditations would hold, after negotiations with the wolf at the door. Calliope squeezed his hand in equal parts excitement and relief, and a broad smile creased across his own face for her. His concerns for her eased. It asked more questions than it answered though. Negotiations meant terms had been met. What had they given up for this new status quo? And a truth he knew in himself... Whether it was Him and Tad, Him and Gil, Him and the freshmen at his Community Contribution, Him and any number of teachers and schools over the years, The Foundation and this school... It wouldn't be the end of things. Once one finds a tender spot to poke at and prod... they're not going to stop until something makes them. Which means this wouldn't be the end of things. And they'd found a weak point of the school was targeting his mob. So he'd still need to find out what he could about these people. [color=F796A9]"I'll be back soon."[/color] Speaking of Gil, Jim-Bob had called him and Calli forth, Banjo gave her a friendly reassuring smile that tried to offer more optimism in the light of their recent luck with the accreditations. As she left he looked around, he downed the rest of his first bottle of Hyper-Aid and surveyed the scene of the campsite. Earlier he'd caught Raw looking at him and Calli glumly, and then the empty seat beside her. It didn't take a genius for him to figure out what was going on there. Lorcán had taken the news badly and had stormed out of the stadium, hopefully that situation would now sort itself out with Jim's news, despite the fact her expression hadn't seemed to improve yet. Not terribly surprising though, Lorcán was hanging out and talking with Haven and Harper. Presumably Haven was looking for an in with people in Firebird, and remembered Lorcán had family there. Whatever the guy's name was... Sparky McGee. That bloke. It should resolve itself once they actually get the chance to talk and she gets a sense that his concerns are gone now. He made a mental note to check in later though if things hadn't changed, but it shouldn't be necessary. Besides, Baxter seemed to have picked up on it and had made a move with her self-important self anyway. To dubious effect, judging from Raw's expression now... but hey, Lorcán was on it now, at least. And that's what had captured his attention now. If he was reading the situation right, Haven had asked Lorcán to ease them into conversation about the Foundation with Firebird members whom he knew. So Banjo took his lead from his movements, and held his mental note for Raw's benefit for later, if needed. Lorcán got up and started making a move towards an area with more Firebird members. Haven seemed excited. Possibly confirmation bias, but Banjo suspected his assumption was correct. He took a moment to think to himself, before picking up the remaining bottle of Hyper-Aid and getting to his feet. Walking over to stake out a place for himself within earshot of the redheaded girl, her group and where Haven would likely sit, with a view overlooking the rest of the campsite and waiting. Eventually Haven made her way over and greeted the group - always affable sort Haven. Baxter joined her, doing likewise. They started talking, first small talk, then building. Then the transition. Banjo wanted to look at the girl's face, he suspected she'd turned over cold at the mention, but he couldn't bring himself to look for the same reason he'd kept his distance and remained silent. His presence cast suspicion. He wanted to ask his own questions, but from his lips people would assume an agenda, or at least question his motivations. Which, I mean, fair enough, I guess... But it put him in the frustrating position of basically sitting in on a deposition where he had to remain silent whilst others took the lead at their own discretion. Which was pretty much an unbearable scenario for him. He was poking around at the remains of his plate, shuffling them around the plate now. The situation had left him antsy, twitchy. 'Juicing' all day hadn't helped either, he had a surplus of energy. But he took what he could from the conversation. Towards the end he watched as Calliope walked across the campsite, alone. He smiled at the sight of her, but if she saw him, she didn't show it. He couldn't gauge her impression from the meeting she'd just had with Jim, either. Not from this distance. All he could do was watch her walk. It was a graceful walk. A graceful walk to their-- A graceful walk to their tent... His mind flashed back some years. To a not dissimilar night in this very place. His tongue dug deep in his cheek, and he considered how much information he was actually getting out of this conversation, how much more there was likely to be, and just how fast he could get to the tent. [i]Don't be stupid. She's been upset all day.[/i] He picked up the Hyper-Aid and took a gulp. [i]Upset because of the accreditations. Which have been restored.[/i] More poking at the food. Listening. [i]She's not going to go from distraught to red hot and raring in minutes though, surely. She's someone who prepares. With everything today, it's not like she'd have come here anticipating--[/i] He picked up the bottle. Haven and Harper wished them goodnight. He gulped everything down. [i]But she's not been upset with you. And you've been supportive. And she hasn't taken anything out on you. And as relief washes over her she might actually--[/i] He got to his feet and walked away for five metres, before breaking into a full on sprint to the tent. He slowed a few metres before, just to try not to seem overeager or as if he had any expectations. He could after all, have misread everything based on-- a walk..? And let's face it, a surplus of energy that he was experiencing..? [color=darkgoldenrod]"I saw y' head in here, hun. Everything alright?"[/color] With one look at her in her lace outfit, he could tell he'd read everything just perfect. [color=darkgoldenrod]"Whoa..."[/color] [/color]