There is no doubt that the fracture changed life as we know it. The collapse of governments, the destruction of buildings in the explosions, and the sickness and famine it spread across the land are easy enough to see, but its touch befouled much more than that. In their quest to rewrite the very rules of nature, people upset the balance of the world and offended the land, air, and sea. Freak storms, rumblings in the ground, and king tides that sweep miles inland are now common, but they are not the most feared consequence of our folly. There are other aspects of the world that are not so easily seen. They have their own guardians and protectors who are not so easily dealt with. People have offended the defenders of order and balance with their meddling. They have offended the Night Marchers and they will not rest until order has been restored.
We Kanaka believe that the world is more than just the ground, ocean, and all that you can see. The world is made of many other dimensions: love, thought, light, wind, rain, time, geometric shapes and patterns, all are important parts of the whole. The great fracture disturbed and damaged these parts as well. It is these imbalances in the natural patterns and systems that the Night Marchers now seek to right. Their role as protectors of great chiefs has changed to protectors of nature and order.
Tales of the Night Marchers are as old as the islands and the people themselves. The first documented story of the Night Marchers dates back to the time of Captain Cook’s arrival to the islands. Those explorers brought back tales of the beating of distant drums, horn blowing, ghostly chanting, and strange lights seen at night. The Night Marchers were said to be the spirits of ancient Hawaiian warriors. They would begin their journeys at sunset and would only stop just before sunrise. Their job was not to terrify or punish people. Their purpose was simply to protect high-ranking chiefs from harm and the ensure that the most sacred places stayed honored and remembered. Since the fracture, their roles have changed to protecting the balance of the world and punishing those who would try to travel through the veil.
The Night Marchers have always been tied to natural events. It was said that they would appear with much greater frequency during the final moon phase of the month, heavy rains, or high surf, and so it is today. In this new world the king tides are greatly feared. During the spring, the sea will often sweep miles inland seeking to clean the taint from the land. It is during this time that the Night Marchers are particularly active. Filled with the power of the waters, the Night Marchers reach where the waves are unable, seeking to restore harmony and eradicate those who would upset the Earth.
There are a number of stories about how to protect yourself from the Night Marchers. Our ancestors believed that ti plants would offer some limited protection or that having a deceased relative among the marchers would save you. However, looking one of the warriors in the face meant certain death no matter what precautions you took.
There is a story about a young Kanaka boy who went hunting with his father during the king tides, despite warnings from the village elders. Planning on being back well before dark, the father was unconcerned about their counsel and headed out to kill some deer. The hunting was excellent. It was so good that he and the boy lost track of time and soon found themselves far from home with only a few hours of light left. As they were heading back, disaster struck. A pack of wolves had picked up the scent of the fresh kills and was heading their way from the direction of the village. The man and his son tried to take an angle towards the beach in order to avoid the hungry wolves and still get back before dark.
It quickly became apparent to the pair that the wolves would catch them before they made it. The howls were close and the sun was slowly dipping into the ocean when the broke through the tree line. Their feet pounded into the sand as they ran towards the village. A few hundred yards behind, the first of the wolves appeared and howled his excitement at seeing the running Kanaka. Soon, almost a dozen of the beasts were giving chase. Just when he was about to give up hope, the father saw a group ahead, walking in a line at the bottom of a gully. He yelled over his shoulder for his son to hurry. As they started running down the steep sides of the ravine the father stopped in his tracks and his son ran into him.
The boy could not see beyond his father but he could see the terror in his eyes. “Remember everything I’ve taught you, lay on your belly, and no matter what you hear do not look up,” his father told him. Confused and scared the boy did as he was told. Behind him he could hear the wolves’ paws and their slathering jaws, but another sound soon drowned them out. He heard unearthly screams, the rending of flesh, and the breaking of bones. Almost as soon as it began the sounds stopped. He could still hear walking around him and could not resist opening one eye. He saw blood covered feet and the strangely colored skin of a Night Marcher and let out a gasp. One of the feet stopped by his head and he closed his eyes tightly again. Eventually, the boy stood up and looked around. What was left of the wolves lay scattered around him but there was no sign of the Night Marchers or his father. He told me near his own death that he saw his father again in the same copse of koa trees, with a coterie of Marchers, defending him and the Kanaka from harm. He never knew if his father was taken or simply joined to save him and the village. But since that time, we’ve not had a single death from the viscous boar that root through the forest and the nene cry every morning, waking the Thrivers early and warning them to take heed and change their ways.
Lying still and not looking a Night Marcher in the face in not a foolproof plan however. Agitated by the fractures effect on all 9 dimensions, the Kanaka believe they now consider all people a danger to the world itself. They no longer seek to guard the great chiefs and protect only the sacred places. Their role now is to secure the future of the planet from those that would, filled with hubris, make tenuous the veil between realities. Until the scales have been balanced once again, the Night Marchers will keep marching.
