The Shadow of Una's Cradle
On the third night, K'eral sent her boys to the village, and made camp alone in the hills. She did not light a fire outside her tent, despite the cold, and worked by the light of a single beeswax candle. Around her she laid a ring of gifts: statues carved from whale bone, body and limbs imhumanly long and graceful.
The whale bones were invaluable, and thus proper tribute for the visitors. Her people would likely never return to the shores of their old home, having been driven inland by the invaders. The statues danced in the candle light, casting tall shadows that swayed back and forth. If the Shadows meant them harm, her people would soon know. If not, she hoped her tribute would earn their favor. The Kuun could scarcely afford any more enemies.
As the candle burned down, she hummed to herself and struggle to stay awake. The last thing she remembers is the darkness falling over the whole tent, blotting out all light. Who is to say what happened, did she fall to fatigue? Did the candle die out? Or did something else steal the light from both?
In the morning, K'eral woke to the sun, and the gifts were gone.
Summary
Long before the Kuun came to the cradle, back when Unas back had been whole and unscarred, the Sun hounded its Shadow through the sky. Around and around it went, trying to capture it, like a fox chasing its tail for play. The Sun, for all its light, was not bright. But chasing the Shadow was sport, a game to occupy it boredom of the neverending day it lived in.
To the Shadow, it was no game. It knew if the Sun caught it, the light would burn it and all its people from the sky. So it turned to Una, asking for sanctuary from the worldspirit.
"But Una" the shadow asked "If you take me in, the Sun will turn it's light on you and you will end"
"I am not like you, child" explained Una "The Sun is no great threat to me. Come, shelter on my back, I will deal with the Sun."
So the Shadow concealed itself beneath the furs on Unas back.
The Sun circled the sky many times to no avail. For, as was said, it is not a wise thing. The Shadow grew comfortable in the shelter of Unas furs, knowing its love and finding peace. But it knew the Sun would come some day, so in the furs it hid its children.
The Sun came to Una finally, full of anger and fury, and demanded to know where the Shadow had gone. Its fire scorched Una, but she refused to betray her new friend. The heat intensified, and the Shadow knew it could not ask any more.
"I am here, Sun, I am done running. Let this game be done" it cried out, the Suns light burning it as it showed itself.
"Aha" the Sun shouted. In its excitement, the flames lashed out, burning Unas furs and scarring her beautiful back. The Shadow did not cry out in pain as the flames burned it to ash, dying as silently as it lived. The Sun left without apology, and went back to chasing its tail in the sky.
Una did not cry from the pain of her wound, but for the loss of her friend.
In her burned fur she heard the wail of newborn. The Shadow had known the Sun would come, and hidden its children deep within the furs. The Shadow had sacrificed itself so its Children would never know the terror of the hunt as it had. Una took the Children, making them a cradle in the scar. She bathed them in her waters and blanketed them in her Earth. She hushed them so they slept when the Sun chased its tail in the sky.
When the Kuun came to the Cradle, Una did not know what to make of them. Mankind had done Una no favors, and were the least favorite of her children. Unas wrath was cold and harsh. She withheld the fish, the fruit, and fauns. They were already weak and few, and Una knew they would not last long.
But the Shadow's children felt kinship with the Kuun. They too had been chased from their home and had lost their parents. The Shadows snuck in the night, taking the form of animals and men to spy on the Kuun. The Kuun saw them too, not as enemies or prey, but as the small gods they were. The shadows cried to their mother to let them stay, for children need other children to play with.
"If I trust you" Una said as the softened "You must protect the Shadow's children as if they were your own, for they too are weak and have no home."
And so the Kuun and the Shadow's children become one people.
Historical Basis
When the Kuun arived in what they called Una's Cradle, they were beaten and starved, and left with only what they could carry on their backs. They were greeted with an especially long and harsh winter. Many of them died from ilness and starvation and those that survived,, began reporting strange figures stalking the night. Before winter had faded, they had learned to hunt this new land, fish the lake, and forage the caves for mushrooms. It is most likely this story was born as they formed a kinship with the land. As a people they were also dealing with the loss of their historical lands and sites, from which all their original mythos had spawned. This was a new story, one that gave their new life an anchor.
Variations & Mutation
When the Northern settlers came to the Rustbucket, they used the indigineous people's storys to scare their children. In this version, the Sun was the hero, Una a trickster, and the Shadows were greedy miscreants who secreted away a massive pearl.
She tricked the Shadow into giving her the pearl, and then betrayed them to the Sun. During the subsequent chaos, she stole the pearl and hid it deep in her furs. She assured the Sun that the pearl had been destroyed in his frenzy, and he left. The Shadows did not believe the lie, and still hunt the Unaspine mountains devouring any who stand between them and their treasure.
In Art
The Shadow's Children figure heavily in the murals and arts of the Kuun, many of have been recorded and preserved at the Museum of Kuun Heritage at TCU.
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