0 comments/ 8321 views/ 1 favorites Jaguar Claw Ch. 01 By: Blakagh In the year that Lord Twelve Serpents sacrificed his nine virgin daughters to make the rain fall from the sky again was born into the world a child. And at his first cry his mother rolled up her eyes into her head and chanted: He shall be called Jaguar Claw He shall eat up his enemies And sacrifice their daughters Their blood shall rise to heaven And praise his name for ever Crying: We are here in heaven And it was Jaguar Claw that sent us. He shall be as a temple on a mountain While the world sinks beneath the sea. Great is the day of the birth of my son Jaguar Claw. So said his mother and then she convulsed and fell back onto her soft birthing mats and shuddered out one last breath, then died. She was taken to her family tomb and buried with honor as a prophetess with paintings made on the walls of Jaguar Claw biting the throat out of a feathered king. The father of Jaguar Claw bought a woman from the north who's child was given to the god of suffering and she had her tongue removed so she could not breathe evil words while she gave him milk from her breasts. Time passed and the days were counted and when Jaguar Claw reached the age of accountability he was taken by his father before the lords or the city and there he offered the blood of First Penance by thrusting a sting ray spine through the foreskin of his penis. The blood ran down and dripped onto parchment which was carefully folded then burned, and while the smoke rose up to heaven Jaguar Claw prayed that he would be a great warrior as his mother prophesied he would be. And then after his performance of First Penance he was human and was his fathers heir, and the woman from the north that was his wet nurse was sent to the priests for sacrifice. These were the last days of peace for Jaguar Claw. It was his younger sister from his father's lesser wife that first called attention to things when she asked her father, "Why are Jaguar Claw's fingers so small?" "In what way do you mean small, my daughter?" "He has stubby little fingers. Smaller than mine, and I am three months and five days younger than him." Father nodded wisely and said, "Boys will often grow more slowly than girls. Perhaps this is the case with him." "Perhaps, Father, but his fingers look funny to me." And so when it was time for the evening meal, Jaguar Claw's father took his sons hand in his own and looked down at the fingers. He gasped, and a look of fear came into his eyes. "Tell me son. Explain to me about your fingers. Why are they so small? And now that I look at you, I see your arms are short as well. Explain this to me!" Jaguar Claw frowned. He hung his head. A great salty drop slipped from his eye, fell down his nose, and dripped down onto his toes. His toes were small too. And so were his feet. "I don't grow, Father," he said. "What? What do you mean, you don't grow?" "Since First Penance, Father, my fingers have not grown. My hair has grown, my face has grown, even my penis has grown, Father, but my arms and legs and fingers and toes do not grow." His father fell back on his mat with a look of astonishment on his face. "Never have I heard of such a thing," he said. "How can I be a great warrior if I don't grow, Father?" wailed Jaguar Claw, crying freely now as small boys are want to do from time to time when their world collapses and their fathers show fear. His father thought for a long while with a stern look on his face, his bottom lip jutted far out and his brow heavy. Finally he announced, "We will take you to the priests. Perhaps they can cure you, or perhaps they will sacrifice you. I don't know what else to do. We will let them decide." Jaguar Claw wailed loudly then and his sister joined him as did the servants and his fathers lesser wife and even the dog howled, and there was no peace in Jaguar Claw's father's house that night until far after the gods let the golden sun fall beneath the sea. When the moon rose, his father lifted himself from his sleeping mat and walked out to the courtyard and looked up to the stars and prayed: On the night that you died You gave me a son Jaguar Claw is his name And a good son he is. But he is not formed As you or I. What am I to do? The moon smiled down at him, and the stars danced, but no answer came. He considered, and then thought, "Perhaps the god of suffering is visiting us, or perhaps not. Tomorrow we shall see." And he went back to his mat and slept. When morning came the servants could not get Jaguar Claw to leave his sleeping mat. He rolled himself up in it and cried saying that he did not want to go to the priests. What an honor, they said, to go to the priests. What an honor to be choses for sacrifice! Perhaps they will ask you to send a message to the great Feathered Serpent when they cut out your beating heart. This was no comfort. Finally his father came, clapping his hands, and announced that there was no longer time enough for the morning meal and if Jaguar Claw did not rise himself, then he, his father would offer him as a sacrifice personally. Even if he was still wrapped in his sleeping mat! And so Jaguar Claw, with eyes red rimmed, shoulders hunched, body shivering came to the temple following his father, and when his father prostrated himself before the great high priest clothed all in feathers, Jaguar Claw was left standing alone because he had his eyes screwed shut so tightly. "Ahem..." said the high priest. Everything was silent except for a small sniffle from Jaguar Claw. The high priest tapped his foot. Jaguar Claw's father lifted an eye, then peered sideways at his son and saw him still standing in the presence of the high priest. He gasped, mortified, and hissed, "By the gods, son, prostrate yourself!" Jaguar Claw opened his eyes and saw the man, his white hair colored red with blood, his body covered in feathers towering over him. His eyes grew large in his head, he screamed once, then fell down on his face. The high priest sighed and then said in a clipped voice, "Yes, yes. Right. No harm done. Happens all the time. It's the all feathers, you know. Gets the little ones every time. Not to mention the threat of sacrifice." He lifted his hand and waved it over their heads and mumbled a prayer over them and then he leaned over Jaguar Claw and said in a loud voice, "Do not fear, young man, today is not a day of sacrifice." Jaguar Claw trembled and didn't look convinced. The high priest tapped his father on the head and asked, "What is the reason that you bring yourself prostrate before me?" His father gulped, and then said, "Oh great high priest we come to you because it is found that my son does not grow." "Does not ... grow?" "Exactly so, great lord, he does not grow." "Does not grow what?" asked the high priest. "He does not grow taller, great lord. His hair grows, his face grows, and even his penis grows, but his arms and legs do not grow, and his fingers and toes remain small." The high priest was quiet for a moment, and then he whispered, "Can it be so?" Then in a louder voice he commanded Jaguar Claw, "Stand, boy. Stand up and let me see your hands!" Trembling, Jaguar Claw lifted himself up from the ground and stood in the presence of the high priest. The old man grasped his hand and examined the fingers, each one separately, and then did the same for the other hand. He took a long time, peering down his long nose as he turned each hand over and then back again, and finally he whispered, "By all the gods in heaven and even the Great Maize God himself, the boy is a dwarf. Not in seven generations has there been a dwarf born to our people. A dwarf! And I have lived long and yet I still live to see this." Jaguar Claw's father lifted his head in surprise, "A what?" "A dwarf!" shouted the high priest. "A dwarf has come to our people!" The priest had met them in a small receiving room, and his shout echoed against the walls and out the door and down the hallway where it was heard by a guard who came running with his war club out and ready for a fight. He looked at the boy standing in the presence of the high priest and rushed forward to attack. "No, you fool!" shouted the priest and stepped in front of the boy. The guard hesitated and slowly lowered his club. "Quickly! Summon the priests and the lords. Tell them that this is an exceptional day. Tell them a dwarf has come to our people!" Jaguar Claw Ch. 02 As Jaguar Claw was led quickly down the hallway his father called to him saying, "Be good Jaguar Claw, I will see you soon!" He tried to see his father, but the priest's robe swirled around him blocking his view. The high priest was very excited. He walked forward briskly, briefly pausing only once to stare down at the boy and breathe, "Exceptional." He brought Jaguar Claw to a large hall with pictures of the gods painted on the walls. It would have looked like a tomb except for the high windows that allowed beams of light to cut through the smoky air. At the far end of the hall was a stone seat upon which sat the king surrounded by his court and the twenty seven other high priests. Jaguar Claw was lead before them and told to prostrate himself. He gladly flung himself down onto the stone floor and closed his eyes once more. The high priest raised his right hand and chanted: Great Lord Twelve Serpents King of our people He who brings light in the morning And rain in its season And life to our land I bring you a gift. There was silence for a moment, and then the king said, "It looks like a boy." "Indeed you are correct, great lord." The king moved uncomfortably on his seat, then nervously looked sideways to one of his advisors. He cleared his throat once, then said, "I thank you for your gift, priest, but I am unsure of your meaning in giving me a boy. Boys I have, and girls as well, and men and women have I many. Sons and daughters and wives and concubines and many slaves." "Yes, great lord, it is true that many people call you master, even our whole city, and so I give you this boy which is more than just a boy. Great lord, this boy is a dwarf. For seven generations our people have not had a dwarf among us, and now one comes again. The gods are pleased with us!" The king sat back in his seat, eyes wide in surprise. "A dwarf?" "Yes, great lord, a dwarf." "Well then, that's different. A dwarf. Very good. I am quite pleased with your gift. Thank you. A dwarf. Extraordinary." The king frowned, "What exactly, high priest, are dwarfs good for?" The high priest shuffled a bit and squinted, then said, "Dwarfs are ... pleasing to the gods. They are a gift from the gods." He shrugged a bit. "It's been seven generations, great lord, since we had a dwarf among us. Perhaps we should observe it and we shall learn how our people will be blessed given some time. The boy only recently performed First Penance and while he is now human, perhaps he has not yet come into his full powers as a dwarf." The king fingered his chin then asked, "What should I do with it while I wait? Wouldn't it be easier to just send it back to the gods? Or perhaps give it back to its family." "I think that we shouldn't be too hasty to return to the gods what the gods have only just recently given us," said the high priest, "and the boy's father is nothing more than a merchant of cloth and will be unable to provide the care needed to raise him as he should be." "Well then, high priest, I will give my dwarf to you for safe keeping. You shall train him and watch over him and observe him, and you will report back to me when his dwarfish powers appear." "Yes, great lord. Thank you, great lord. But perhaps ... You see ... great lord, I am very old. Perhaps..." "Nonsense, you are quite healthy. You take the dwarf and do as I have commanded." "Yes, great lord." The high priest led Jaguar Claw out of the hall, through a maze of passage ways and out into the bright sunshine. Jaguar Claw's life had changed completely, and it was still not yet time for the mid day meal. The priest led him across a great field that lay at the foot of the temple of the sun and into the priestly housing district. The houses were similar to his father's house. His father may have been just a merchant of cloth, but the cloth he dealt in was very fine cloth and expensive. His was a wealthy family. The high priest had a large house with many servants, and he caused them to prepare a room for Jaguar Claw and a meal. They sat together on cushions, and the high priest said, "Well boy, here we are. You are the kings own now, and mine to teach. I am called Turtle Head. We might as well become familiar. You may call me by my name, and perhaps I'll call you boy or son, though my grand son has a son your age, or maybe I'll just call you by your name. You do have one don't you?" Jaguar Claw nodded, unable to speak. The servants brought in food then and set the bowls and plates at their feet. Turtle Head smiled and said, "Perhaps after we eat you will tell me your name." He waved a hand at the food and began to eat. Jaguar Claw found himself suddenly famished. He reached for a piece of meat tentatively, unsure that he was in fact welcome to eat with the great high priest. "Go ahead, dear boy. You may eat." The meat was very good. Spiced perfectly with just a hint of sweetness. "Jaguar Claw." said the boy. "Eh? No this is not jaguar we are eating. Something else. Llama I believe." "My name is Jaguar Claw." "A fine name. Good name for a warrior, though perhaps a bit pretentious for one who will never grow taller than my chest." "I can still be a warrior." "Maybe so," said Turtle Head, "Maybe so. But I would guess that your life will not have much war in it unless the way wars are fought change in a very big ... er ... drastic way." After his meal Jaguar Claw was sent to his room and told to rest before he attended his evening lessons. The lessons were unlike anything he had ever experienced before. His father taught him to read some of the symbols on the walls of the temples and on the great staircase, but he never imagined that there was an easier way. Turtle Head met him in the dining area and announced that since he was a priest and had been given charge of teaching the king's dwarf, he would train him in all the ways of the priesthood. He set a small table on Jaguar Claw's lap and placed a sheet of paper on it. By his knee he set a pot of black paint and into his hand he thrust a fine brush. "These are the weapons of the priesthood, Jaguar Claw, and I will teach you to wield them with truth and honor. You will learn the language of the priesthood, the writing of the priesthood, and the history of the priesthood. I shall teach you mathematics and astronomy as well, for these are all things that I know. First, you will learn the secrets of our writing. I will show you how to write your name." Jaguar Claw frowned, "My father taught me to write my name. I can do so now if you wish." Turtle Head smiled and nodded, but said, "Not all things are as you understand them to be. Even so, you may write your name." The boy dipped his brush in the paint and slowly drew the pictures that said, "Jaguar Claw" "Very good," said the priest. "That does say Jaguar Claw. You have a very good hand. But let me now take the brush and paper and I will write something and see if you can read it." Turtle head dipped the brush in the paint then quickly formed a few squiggles on the paper below the boys large pictographs. It took him only a few seconds, and then he handed the paper back to the boy. "There. What do you think of that?" Jaguar Claw stared at the paper. The squiggles didn't mean anything. There were no pictures. There was nothing to read at all. He shrugged and handed the paper back. "Where are the words?" "These are, boy, the marks below your name. Many thousands of generations ago when the two sons of the sky created the earth and the plants and all of the animals and the people, they asked their children, our first parents, to help them in the creation of all things. They wrote their instructions for their children and taught them to read their words. This writing is not the same. Too much time has passed and our language has changed, but it is very similar. It is small, as you can see. Much smaller than your writing, and it is written more quickly. This thing I have written here uses only a few marks on the paper, yet it says many words" "What does it say?" asked Jaguar Claw. "It says, I am Turtle Head and I am very pleased to be your teacher." Turtle Head taught him how to write his name that evening and he taught a little string math and they talked a little about history and about the gods and they had a very nice time, for which both of them were surprised. Jaguar Claw never expected the high priest, a great lord of the city, the man who officiated at many of the sacrifices, to be such a nice person. And Turtle Head, who was in truth of a very great age, found that he enjoyed teaching the small boy. When they were done and Jaguar Claw was sent off to his sleeping mats, Turtle Head sat for a long time reading an old, old book that told of ships and many waters and great warriors. It had been a long time since he took such joy in reading the old words. "Perhaps," he mused, "this little dwarf will teach me a thing or two as well." Jaguar Claw Ch. 03 On the sixth day of his new life with Turtle Head, Jaguar Claw woke in the middle of the night. It was dark, and a soft rain was falling outside. His bladder was full, clamoring for relief, so he quietly rose and slipped from his chamber. He ran quickly to the courtyard, out into the rain, and relieved himself on a bush with a sigh. The rain was soft but steady, and quickly plastered his hair to his head and made his skin slippery, but it felt good, and would be good for the maize, beans, and potatoes growing out in the fields surrounding the city. The great drought appeared to have ended and prosperity was returning. "And maybe I'm part of that." he said to himself. "Am I like the rain? Have the gods caused me to fall from heaven? What good am I to my people?" He whispered out a prayer: You went to the world beneath the ground And left me alone. You said I would be a great warrior And I am not. The great cycle of time spins near me And time moves on around and around But it does not touch me. Why is it so? He waited a moment for an answer, but only rain fell down from the gods. He sighed and turned to go back inside, but a movement caught his eye. There was a person in the doorway. No, it was two people. Jaguar Claw moved behind his bush and watched, curious as to what might happen. In the doorway was a young girl, one of the servants, and behind her an older boy, the one who ran messages for Turtle Head. "Come," whispered the girl. "The rain is warm. All in the house are asleep. Come." The boy hesitated, then shrugged, and together they moved out to the center of the courtyard to the fountain. Jaguar Claw watched as the girl knelt in front of the boy and removed his covering. The boy was naked then, with the girl's face only inches from his penis. She moved her head forward and caught the boy in her mouth. The penis grew rigid as she sucked on him, smacking her lips and slurping the rain water. The boy arched his head back and breathed out, "Ahh." "What is this?" whispered Jaguar Claw to himself. "What are they doing?" The girl pumped her head up and down a few times while the boy writhed around her, sighing and gasping, as if he were being tortured but not with pain. The girl moved her mouth off the penis and whispered, "Not yet. I want some too." She stood then and removed her clothing. Her skin was light, and glistened in the rain water. Her breasts were still growing, but could no longer be called new buds. Each was capped with a small brown nipple that pointed up toward the sky at an angle. The boy wrapped his arms around the girl, his hard penis trapped between their bodies, and kissed her, licking the rain water from her skin. He moved his mouth down then, and attacked her nipples, sucking and chewing on them. Her chest heaved, she sighed and gasped, and Jaguar Claw's mind was in a dizzy whirl. The boy moved an arm under one of the girl's knees then, lifting it up while she placed the tip of his penis at the entrance of her vagina. He thrust forward once, burying himself in her depths. They both cried out then, softly, in emotion filled ecstasy. He thrust again, bouncing her body against his, and she thrust herself back, blissfully impaling herself on the boy. "Ah," she cried. "So good." "Yes." he grunted. Their bodies moved together, sliding and slipping, soaked with the warm, heavenly rain. And Jaguar Claw watched, transfixed, astonished at what he was seeing. "Wonderful," he whispered. They did not last long. The boy's movements became jerky and rough while the girl's hands fluttered up and down his back. Then she was mewling and almost crying, and he was gasping, grunting as he spurted his life into her. The were still for a moment, and then she giggled and danced away from the boy, twirling her arms around her, spinning around on the flag stones of the courtyard with her face tilted back, up into the rain. He moved slowly, gingerly leaning down and retrieving their clothing. "Come," he hissed, "We should go back inside before we are found." She danced back to him, wrapped her arms around him and kissed him fiercely, then said, "Yes, I guess so." They wrapped themselves up again, and together they slipped back through the doorway leaving Jaguar Claw alone with his bush. "This is a thing I would like to see again," he whispered to himself. He counted to eighty twice and then went back inside, fearful of being caught. He lay on his sleeping mat for a long time before sleep finally came. What were they doing? Was it a game of some kind they were playing? They certainly looked like they were having fun. He looked down at his penis. It was not dwarfish like his arms and legs, but it was still very much smaller than the other boy's penis. Perhaps when he grew older, as old perhaps as the messenger boy was, then a girl would desire to play that game with him. He slept finally, falling deeply into the land of dreams which were filled with naked breasts and buttocks and laughing girls. Morning came early, with the servants shaking him awake. "Up, young master, arise from your slumber. We worship at the temple today!" They washed his hair and trimmed it, then folded it up into a knot. They dressed him then in fine clothing, white with a red stripe around the border. They then pressed a small cake of corn meal into his hands and bade him chew faster than the lightning gods. "Hurry, young master, for our master the high priest officiates today and we must be early." They were out the door then, as a procession, with Turtle Head and Jaguar Claw at the front. They met the other twenty seven high priests at the base of the temple, and the king was there and his first wife. "Good morning Turtle Head," said the king with a smile. "And how is my dwarf getting along?" "Well, great lord, very well. I find myself very much enjoying my time with him. I'm training him in the priesthood." "Eh, is that so," said the king. "He'll be a dwarf and a priest too. The world will fall at his feet." "Perhaps so, great lord, and if so, may our city prosper." The king smiled and patted Jaguar Claw's head. "Time will show us the way." He looked up at the temple then and intoned, "We move through the great cycle of life. We are born, we live, we die. Our city has risen up from the plain, under the mountains, and it will fall again, and another will take our place. Thus is all of history and all future like a great round and at the center stands the tree. Let us climb up and thank the gods." He clapped his hands once then, loudly, and the temple echo chirruped back at them. May the gods bless us this day And look down upon us with happiness. May our messengers find them quickly And remember the words they should say. The climb was difficult for Jaguar Claw. His small legs did not do well on the steps, but Turtle Head stayed with him and eventually they made it. At the top, the brazier was already burning, and three boys and a girl stood naked to one side, waiting for the honor of their death. A priest chanted: Life and death are beautiful Joy and suffering are beautiful Without the one The other can not be. Horns were blown, and pipes and whistles, and a choir sang. The queen disrobed and made an offering by piercing her labia with a thorn tied to a string. The blood dripped down onto paper which was folded and placed into the brazier and burned. She prayed: Thank you for the rain Thank you for accepting my daughters. They have brought our message up to you And you have heard them. We shall live now. Our city shall prosper. The drought is broken. Thank you for the rain. The boys were brought then, and their lives were ended throwing them down the steps of the temple, their blood washing it a bright red. And then the girl stepped forward and sang: The smoke flies north The smoke flies east The smoke flies south The smoke flies west. My life began with the flowing of water My life ends with the flying of smoke. And then she was tied and lowered over the brazier and burned until she died. Jaguar Claw watched all of this, the smoke stinging his eyes, drawing out the tears, and he wept.