The flat plains of Savannah are sun-bleached and dry. The hot wind blows the topsoil, so barren and lifeless that it creates clouds of yellow dust. Small sand shards flicked across the desolate land by something running, something with a hoof and a hind. It resembles the shape of an Antelope, galloping across the plains with agility. It looks back and continues its jog. Something is chasing it, but unlike any other chaser, this creature doesn't have the speed to keep up. The leader is leaving behind the chaser further and further with each stride. The noon sun is blazing across the field, the warm air rising, making it hard to breathe. The leader has made quite a distance from its chaser, it stops to pant. It's difficult to see this with a bright sky as a background, but the silhouette of the chaser appears. The leader sees this and tries to run, but its legs are shaking. The silhouette is getting bigger, and there is more than one now. With all its might, the prey starts running. The distance grows once again between them, but not as much as before. The shadowy figures spread parallel to each other, engulfing the scuffling animal like a net. The legs of the prey collapse, unable to hold its weight. It pants heavily, trying to regain its energy. The prey looks up to see the silhouette of the hunters towering over it. They are close enough for it to see, dark-skinned figures almost as black as the night sky, yet its eyes are distinctly white. The details are drowned out by the light, long appendages and legs. It's only tall, not wide. The hunters look at each other, and the taller of the duo approaches the tired animal with caution. The creature has something in its possession, a stick perhaps. The fear in the eyes of the prey is clear. It knows the end is near, that this is its final sight, two-legged, dark-skinned reapers. The creature is tilting its head, observing the prey. It attacks the fallen prey with its stick; it has a sharp, pointy rock at its end, and it penetrates the thick hide. Pain makes it wince, galloping around and collapsing on its side. It pants, the life from its eyes fading away. The tall one inspects the corpse poking it from a distance. The tall one faces the light; his face glistens ‘cause of the sweat. The shorter one isn’t paying attention; he has eyes locked on the clouds far away.

“AHAHAHAH,” the older one grunts, trying to get the young one to focus.

The young one snaps back from his trance towards the older one, who smacks him on his head to pay attention. The young one, apologetic, followed suit; the older one was wearing a loincloth made of hide, and he carried dried tree vines. He throws half of it to the young one, and the both of them tie the legs of the animal. Putting the spear through the gaps of its legs, the two hunters march through the plains. The young one starts humming a tune, much to the annoyance of the older one. They walk towards the greenery, the older one looking around, eyes sharp and focused. The jungle terrain was quite different; the tall trees blocked the sunlight, and it was already getting late. They needed to arrive at their destination before the dangerous jungle drowned them.

“AUGH AUGH,” a distinct scream echoes through the jungle.

The older one's ear perks up to the noise it screams, he looks at the young one.

“AUGH AUGH,” they both scream back, their voices of them were distinct enough to realise that there were two of them.

The distant screams become louder, and they both rush towards the reverberation.

The trees clear to a campfire lit with others like them standing around the clearing. Complete silence with the only enunciation of the smouldering flame. All eyes were on them, the older one gesturing to the young one to move forward. Gasp and exclamation from the crowd.

“HAHAHAHA,” the older one yells with his chest full of pride.

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“UGUGUGUG,” the others roared in unison. They were delighted at the sight of food. The duo props up the dead animal on the hanger stand built with sturdier wood as a couple of females with sharp bone knives attend to it. The males were quick to surround the older ones and show off their catches. Some showed rabbits, some showed fishes, but he is going somewhere in urgency. Pushing them aside, the man trails off. The males surround the young one now, not letting him leave with the older one. The man slows down in front of a hut. A sweet voice was humming a familiar tune. The man peeps in to see a female with long nappy hair breastfeeding a baby sitting in the dark room. She notices him, and her face forms a smile. he grins and covers the entrance with a straw sheet. He kneels down towards her, she gestures to be quiet. He kisses her on the forehead and grunts in a soft tone. With the baby in one hand, she touches his strong arms with the other as their eyes meet.

Screams come from outside the hut, the sounds of people running.

“Eheheh,” the baby wakes up from the commotion, and the woman tries to console it. 

The man rises to see what's going on, only for the woman to grasp his wrist as tight as she can. But he preys her grip and strokes her fingers gently. He opens the hut door, closes it behind him and rushes towards the people. A leopard right between the panicked group looked hungry, and its colours were faded. It must have followed the scent of the carcass, his thoughts confirm as the leopard heads towards the antelope. The young one blocks the leopard by standing in front of it. He is afraid, and his legs are shaking. The older one yells from the sides, unable to reach the young one’s ears. The kid throws a rock at the leopard which only pisses it off it pounces on him. The older one leaps and grabs the frozen kid, rolling towards the edge of the clearing surrounded by trees.

“Aegh,” the older one’s tone was of anger and disappointment. h\e pointed at the kid to run far away.

As the leopard turns towards them, the older one grabs a handful of sand and throws it in its eyes, allowing the younger one to run. The leopard looks towards the running child, ready to follow it.

“AAAAAA,” screams the father, trying to sway its attention. He throws sticks at it.

He has its attention now. Its eyes scream desperation, and it pounces towards him, leaving him no chance to escape. He balls up and tucks his chin as the animal claws slice through his skin like a knife on a hide. He wants to scream but for some reason doesn’t. He sees his son far away, trying to get something. His vision is blurry from blood dripping from his forehead and his consciousness fading in and out. Then the pain went away, he saw his woman and baby so close to him, their screams now audible. The light in his eyes starts to fade as his bloody arm is raised towards the leopard's neck. The leopard seems hesitant as it sees a predator looking back. As the man opens the man grips the leopard’s neck, trying to choke it, the leopard slashes the man’s face, gouging his eye out, but his grip becomes tighter and his face more determined. The people looking on in horror, some were crying, and some were looking at the ground ashamed of themselves.

“ABBA,” the young one screams, his hands grasping a spear, eyes filled with tears.

His woman is holding the kid back, her face more determined than sad.

This sight gave him some more strength; his hands were ripping into the leopard’s throat. He pulls out the tube, squirting blood all over his face. The leopard collapsed on top of him, his strength now fading.

“Ahahahaha,” he roars with a grith, gurgling spit and blood making it deeper and raspier.

The young one and the woman holding his baby comes to him, and she places her hand on his face. The baby started crying, and he tried to console it with his bloody hands. He looks at his young one and smiles and breathes his last breath.