Wind-in-the-Leaves

Character History

Wind-in-the-Leaves is an Algonkin Indian living in Canada 300 years ago. We first meet her at the age of seven, when she lived a care-free life playing endlessly with her best friend, Dream-Picker.

Later, Dream-Picker begins to have troublesome dreams, seeing the death of everyone in the village. She laughs these dreams off and tries to keep him light-hearted. They are often frustrated by the actions of the tribe's incompetent shaman, Dog Leg, and his bullying apprentice, Eagle Scratch. Still, she and Dream-Picker enjoy life together as friends.

Then Dream-Picker goes out to find his spirit animal, but instead meets Maslun, the wolf spirit of death. He is greatly weakened and barley makes it back to the tribe. While he is in a near-coma, Dog Leg and Eagle Scratch want to bleed him in order to cure him, but Wind-in-the-Leavesstops them, knowing that it would do more harm than good.

Dream-Picker eventually revives through Wind-in-the-Leaves' constant nursing, but he is banished because other members of the tribe sickened after he came back from his spirit journey. Dog Leg does bleed these others, and they die. Wind-in-the-Leaves stays with the tribe after Dream-Picker leaves.

The tribe has a horrible winter and many die. Dream-Picker longs for Wind-in-the-Leaves to come visit him, but she never does. Then Dog Leg says that Maslun can only be appeased by a virgin sacrifice and chooses Wind-in-the-Leaves, angry with her for stopping him from bleeding Dream-Picker earlier. Wind-in-the-Leaves runs away to Dream-Picker. Dream-Picker, furious about what the tribe wants to do, cries out in the night, wishing he had the power to stop them. Wind-in-the-Leaves thinks it is hopeless, and instead seduces him. They make love and fall asleep. The tribe comes for them in the night and captures them.

They gorily sacrifice Wind-in-the-Leaves, but Dream-Picker is possessed by Maslun, and becomes Argent, the Wolf. He slaughters the entire tribe in retribution and continues living as a tool of Maslun for hundreds of years. He is haunted by the spirits of those he killed, but the spirit of Wind-in-the-Leaves has left the mortal plane, and he never sees her again. Indeed, the other spirits of the dead tell him that if he did, he would have to kill her, or she would kill him, and that the only way they would be together is if they died together. Since Argent died fighting Christine Spar, it seems that he and Wind-in-the-Leaves will never be reunited.

Other Versions

In the original version of this story (Grendel, vol. 1, #2, which has fallen somewhat out of canon as its stories have been retold in different versions), Wind-in-the-Leaves is chosen as a sacrifice and runs away to Dream-Picker. But instead of being caught and killed by the tribe, she is brought directly into the shadow-realms by Maslun himself. Dream-Picker is then turned into Argent as a punishment, not as a response to his own request.