Yellow Eyes
With Beauty before me
I walk;
With Beauty behind me
I walk;
With Beauty beneath me
I walk;
With Beauty above me
I walk;
With Beauty all around me
I walk.
"The legends of Coyote the Trickster are many and widespread, and found wherever that animal makes it's home, from the southwestern desert to above the arctic circle. Almost always are his many traits commented upon- his intelligence, his stealth, and his eating habits- which usually leave something to be desired. Often he is considered a benefit to mankind, more then a hindrance. Sometimes he takes the form of a man, and lives among the tribe before departing once more. Like a more primitive Prometheus, he is often credited with bringing fire." --Page 257, Myths and Legends of the Plains
"They say the story goes like this. Long ago a man robbed a bank, and leaving his partners to the police, fled into the vast wilderness of the Navajo Nation. It's the biggest Indian Reservation in the states. He shot a hiker that was camping too close to where he hid. The man would have died, except a coyote dragged him to the road, and jumped on the hood of a local rancher's pickup. Tradition says a coyote is the messenger of the Holy People- so the rancher stopped his truck and looked to see what the coyote wanted him to find, and that is how he found the hiker.
This got the tribal police to search the area, and a Blue Policeman came found tracks from the hiker's camp going up into the canyons. There is no water up there, and the robber didn't know the area, which is why he probably came down. They followed the tracks, there was a gunfight, as the robber ambushed the policeman, and out of the rocks the coyote appeared, and leapt onto the robber.
With a scream he tumbled over the edge of the cliff. When the policeman got to the bottom of the canyon and found him, they found the robber, dead. His head was smashed open on the rocks. Beside him was the body of the coyote. He watched and the coyote became a human boy. Stark naked. The stories say Coyote cannot die, he is too powerful and comes back. So the police officer took the boy home and told everyone he was his nephew.
The police officer had a family, grew old and like all men, eventually died. The boy he found, never did. They say his name is Billy Nez, and that's who you got over there." --As told by Jim Begay, Streams Come Together
They say if a Coyote crosses your path, you should turn back. Something bad will happen to you if you continue traveling. You will have an accident, or be killed. --Navajo Taboo
"Coyote is always waiting, and Coyote, he is always hungry." --Navajo Saying
Billy Nez is the name he claims, mostly because people expected him to have a name. His secret War name is Áłtsé Hashké [First Scolder] given to him at his manhood ceremony by his "uncle" Charlie Nez. He claims his clans are Born to Sky and Born of Earth- neither of which are an actual Traditional clan. Billy looks about seventeen years old, with a slim build and long sensitive face, he is considered handsome by most. He's looked this age for decades.
He was found alone in the winding canyons of the Big Rez and as there were no missing person reports, none of the local Sheep Camps recognized him and no family ever arrived to claim him, he was adopted by the officer that found him. Charlie Nez treated him as a little brother/clan nephew, and he became one of the family, dispite his quirks, and the Skinwalker gossip that inevitably followed him.
He knows the entirety of the Coyote Way Chant, as well as several other rites, some of which are considered extinct by tribal elders [There is no one currently alive that can perform them, and the knowledge has been lost.] Is Billy a misguided Hataalii [a Navajo shaman] Some sort of strange canine-aligned metahuman, a delusional were-coyote...or is he a true manifestation of the Yeii Coyote? No one knows for sure, perhaps not even Billy himself.
As a Skinwalker, Billy Nez has certain powers considered taboo by traditional Navajos [or, okay, even just superstitious ones!] He can command other nearby canids [The Coyote Clan People] speak with them, and seem to communicate through them at a distance. He often wears canid traits- a tail, paws, claws, sharp teeth, etc. While he seems to wear a mostly-human form, that he may turn fully anthropomorphic is a possibility. Billy does indeed have his own coyote pelt, though he rarely is seen with it.
Many old stories have Skinwalkers changing not only into canine forms, but crows and owls as well, considered "unlucky" at best by the traditional Navajo and, at least for owls, the Angry Ghost of the dead, containing all that was evil in life. The true extent of his abilities remains unknown.
Unlike many 'ánti'įhnii Billy has never been seen to use the corpse powder [They are said to pour it down the smoke hole of the Hogan] or with any of the little bone beads that are said to be 'blown' into the victim of a yee naaldlooshii's curse. [In a traditional rite a cut on the chest above the heart is made by a Hand Trembler or Crystal gazer or other medicine man, and the bone is 'sucked' out of the curse victim, and given to them to shoot back into the skinwalker that cursed them and 'reverse' the witching.]
Perhaps it is the Navajo reluctance to discuss witches and taboos with non-Navajo, as what stories there are about skinwalkers have filled the internet and popular culture in strangely distorted ways!
"I gave the most to the cat girl, she was most grateful, and said something about making tarts..." "How many moles do you have in your pants. How many moles, you are people you know. LIBERATE THE MOLES. Freedom for those that dwell beneath the earth!" "...Three, I was going to bring them to BILLY, he has been very patient." --Billy & Devai
"See ya later fur ball." "May I walk you to your car?" "In other words can you bum a ride home.The answer is yes." "Heh" --Devai & Billy
It's like a glam-rock Navajo :D --U.S. Soul
Unfortunately the coyote is chasing a mutant roadrunner since the more normal ones... are not so fast. "Or so big!" And they don't go "MEEPMEEP!" "He is actually chasing an emu... those are just mean spirited to begin with." --Chevalier, Aiko, Albert E. Cat & Piffle
ACME is run by con men profiting from the foolishness of hungry coyotes. --Albert E. Cat
"I am Lord Barkybark, king of poodles." For all I know you are, and have godlike dog-themed powers. "Arf." --Billy & Knuckleball
"...I should give him a sheep suit over his dog face." --Billy, on BILLY's Halloween costume.
"You don't know what a nerd is, how old are you again." "...Uh," *He shifts a bit, reaching a blunt-clawed hand to scratch a shaggy ear.* "...Old Enough?" --Kierdan & Billy
"He is monster puppy." "A freak more like but sure, whaeva ya say." "HE is a freak." "But I am Cute." --Kierdan, Varashi & Billy
-Nodding.- "Explosive vodka fire fart dog." Varashi's eyes scrawl to the side, before looking on ahead. "I can see de headlines now." --Kierdan & Varashi
"And one day, they will tell stories of the coyote that farted fire." *Fangy grin back to Billy.* --Kierdan
"I mean, I'm just teasing he's a Coyote, they tend to be quite messy creatures." "Oh yeah. Had a buncha those back in parts of the Seattle area. Even a few of the lycanthrope variety. --Paladin & Victoria Salanova
"So, like, are you just a talkin' coyote or some kinda coyote-dude?" --Mutt
"Alright, is this someone's pet or am I going to have to kick it?" "Oh, I thought he was yours." --AU Proud Patriot & Katrina Mirinova
"...Get off you flea-ridden dumpster dog...!" --AU Proud Patriot
-Probably can't actually pet the coyote, but goes over to give that her best attempt.- --Bach Eaich B
