A LEAD CROWN
CONTRIBUTION FOR KATE THE MARTEN

Listen well little Toby, this tale has been passed down by
The People since times long forgotten, listen to the story of
A-River-Between, the first of his Kind, the first to hear Their
Voice, and the first to share Their Wisdom. Long ago back when the
forest were still young and large, when life was abundant and Spirits
wandered the world, there were many tribes who constantly moved from
place to place, never staying too long in one place, for they feared
the many dangers that lurked around in the world, and above all they
feared the other tribes, for death awaited those that met them,
leaving behind only bones.

Among these tribes there was one, it wasn't particularly large,
but it had overcome many hardships and it had become strong. There
lived a young buck, one of the youngest and curious of his tribe, his
name was A-River-Between, but this young one was especial, for he
could hear what others took for granted, and so he listened to the
voices of the Spirits sharing their wisdom with him. Though
A-River-Between didn't tell his tribe about this, for his tribe was
always moved and had little time to listen their young ones.

It continued like this for quite a few years, with A-River-Between
growing stronger and wiser day-by-day, always keeping his heart open
to the Spirits and to his tribe. Soon came the time when
A-River-Between became a man, yet it didn't bring happiness to him,
for his little tribe had been suffering much, constants attacks from
different creatures had left them tired, wounded and desperate.
Seeing this tragedy A-River-Between tried to help, so he asked the
Spirits for help, and They gave him a vision, of a haven for his
People, not only his beloved tribe, but all those that were like him

So
begun A-River-Between's journey, as he left with tribe with a pained
heart looking to gather the other wandering tribes, and together
bring the to the haven the Spirits had shown him. Guided by the
Spirits he quickly found each tribe, and using his wisdom, he started
to bring them together in the search of a safe haven for them to
live.

It
was a hard and long journey for everyone, 7 times the moon changed
her dresses, their steps going far beyond anything they had ever
known, but in the end they reached the haven A-River-Between had
seen in its vision, and they called that place Home. Years passed
since them, and for the first time in forever the tribes decided to
stay at one place for more than a triad of days, A-River-Between
shared his wisdom with his People, guiding them as he best could like
the Spirits had once taught him, and so the Yew Tribe was born.

Yet
A-River-Between's story didn't end here, he guided his Tribe for
many years before tragedy struck again, this time harder than ever in
his life. It had been a bad month for the Yew Tribe as the food and
water had been scarce, the last rains had fallen long ago and there
were no signs of them returning, the tribe was at a lost, their
resources slowly dwindling and their desperation was the only thing
growing stronger.

It
was then that A-River-Between, the old shaman, moved by the need of
his people went deep into the forest all by himself, looking to ask
the Spirits for their help once again, he prayed hard for the well
being of his People, never once stopping to eat, drink nor sleep.
Seven times the sun rose and set, until at the 7^th day the
Spirits answered his prayers, bringing rain once again with them.
Once his task was done, A-River-Between laid down on the soft grass
and left this world, his soul joining the one of his ancestor.
However, when life began to grow again a new fern appeared, with a
clear resemblance to a A-River-Between's between image, it was the
Stag-head fern, a tribute from the Spirits to commemorate
A-River-Between's dedication in reaching them in behalf of his
people.

¨Mum, did that
really happen?¨ my little Toby asked me, curiosity blazing in his
little eyes.

¨Of course it
did my dear, but it happened so long ago that only a few remember¨

¨Then, why did
A-wiver-between had to die?¨

¨Well little
Toby, he died because he pushed himself too far and his body was old
and tired¨ I replied kindly.

¨But why did
he do it mum?¨

¨Because he
loved his tribe so much that he wanted to protect them even if it
cost him his life¨

¨So he was a
hewro?¨ he asked excitedly, with barely contained glee.

¨Yes my dear,
he was a hero, a great hero¨

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I was
moving around the dock, my hooves making soft noises on the wooden
floor while I looked for the treasure Toby had hidden, his little
voice happily saying ¨Colder¨or ¨Hotter¨ depending where I
moved. We had been at this for quiet a while now, and Toby was
winning, he was very good at hiding things around here, though I
never could figure out how he managed to find those hiding places. A
couples of minutes passed like this until I saw a small hole in one
of the walls of an old building, it was barely the size of my fist,
but knowing Toby he could fit the treasure inside. I quickly ran
towards it, sticking my hand inside as fast as I could, and feeling
around for the treasure. Soon I found something and wasted no time in
pulling it out. It was a small wooden box that we had found a few
weeks ago, it was old but we liked it nevertheless.

¨Found
it¨ I cried as I ran back towards Toby, who was happily staring at
the little box like it was made of gold. ¨ You really hid it well
Toby¨

¨But you
still found it brother¨ he replied, with a slightly disappointed face
because the game was over ¨ Can we play again? Pleaaasseee?

¨Nah,
you're way too good at this, besides, don't you want to play
something else Toby?¨

¨Like
tag or hide and seek?¨

¨No, I
was thinking of something else Toby.¨ I told him kindly ¨How about
we play Pretend and we go on an adventure?¨

¨Yay,
we're going on adventure!¨ he said as he practically jumped up at
down in place

¨So
Toby, what do you want to be? A mage? An adventurer? Or maybe a
pirate?¨

¨uhm...... I wanna be like A-River-Between, or like the warriors mom
always talk about.¨

¨Uh?
Why do you want to be like them Toby?¨ I asked him, I knew those
stories too but I didn't really have a favorite hero.

¨Because they're awesome and kind and good, they love their tribes
and their tribes love them¨ he replied excitedly, almost forgeting
to breath ¨They're great heroes too.¨

¨Hahahaha, I see, you really like them a lot, don't you budder?¨ I asked
him, receiving a vigorous nod in return from the little proghorn.

¨But
what do you want to be Rolf? ¨

¨Me?
I want to be a traveler, I want to be able to see things that no one
has ever seen before, I want to see the world.¨ I told him,
I really liked the idea of discovering new places, meeting different
people, and overall being free to roam the world, it was amazing .

¨Wow,
it sounds great budder! Can I be one too?¨

¨I
thought you wanted to be a hero?¨ I replied between laughs, it was
funny to see how quickly he changed his mind.

¨But
I could be both brother, I could be a hero and adventurer¨

¨Yeah,
you can Toby, if it's you, you can do it¨ I told him reassuringly, I
just couldn't say no to him, I loved my brother too much to see his
sad face.¨Come one Toby, let's go have an adventure, I'll be a
famous adventurer and you will be a great heroic explorer¨

With
that said I quickly ran off towards the docks, hearing Toby laughing
behind me as he tried to catch up with me, we still had some time
before we had to go home, so we could have a long and fun adventure
together, it would be amazing.