Chapter 29

RECAP:

Pino and his sworn brother Attila decided to leave the safety of the forest on a mission to create a world free of needless death and anguish. Many days journey on their way to a river cause their resources to deplete rapidly. As they set up camp one night a sound awakens the duo and they realize that they're food has been stolen! Tracking down the thieves, they happen upon a small tribe. One of the members of this tribe is a person from Pino's past, De-lah. The story unfolds from this point.

Pino POV:

My mouth was dry. No amount of saliva could quench the gravel that my throat had become.

“De-lah… from the Lami tribe? That Delah?” I asked, my voice barely a whisper.

His face shifted from one of terror, to one of shock, then scrutiny, finally surprise overtook him as he asked in disbelief, “...Pino?”

My knees trembled before promptly giving out on me. I hit the ground before swiftly scrambling forward, barely managing to rise to my feet as I shoved Attila’s spear from the boy.

I embraced him tightly, not wanting to let him go, any words that I could possibly say, all the questions that I had, were stuck in the back of my throat. I ugly sobbed as my mind tried to grasp the three emotional states I was feeling. The slightly detached, modern man that I am, able to appreciate the unfolding scene, but feeling slightly separated from it. The Pino of this world, who’d lost his family, was left to die in a forest, and ended up “melded” with this other… foreign part of himself. Finally there was the person that I was becoming, not Pino, not Carter, someone in the middle. He wasn’t only jubilant, but also sad that he would never be either person individually again.

“How? How are you alive?” De-lah asked, his tone showing true bewilderment. “You died in the forest… YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO BE DEAD!” He screamed.

The sudden change in atmosphere startled me, my face a reflection of that. This was supposed to be a happy reunion, why was he so furious? Why did he seem so deeply aggrieved at the fact that I still existed?

Before I knew it, De-lah had wrestled free of my grasp and had me in one of his own. He was no longer the small kid I remembered, and he showcased that by swiftly wrestling me to the ground. I was still in shock and barely managed to lift my arms in defence as his fists rained down.

Attila, who’d been silently observing in a confused stupor, jumped to action. He landed a well placed foot on De-lah’s rib, kicking him off of me. He followed up by quickly stepping over me and pointing the tip of his spear at De-lah. “How dare you touch my brother?!” He roared in fury. “I don’t care who you are, if you even attempt to lay another hand on him…” He said menacingly as he loomed over De-lah, jabbing the spearpoint on his throat, and pressing just hard enough to draw blood. “I’ll kill you.”

“Stop!” I eked out coarsely, pushing myself to my feet despite the aching in my arms. “What…” I said as I wearily made my way to De-lah. “The hell was that?” I questioned, a mix of confusion and rising anger.

His words barely gurgling from his throat in a mixture of hate, rage, and fear roared, “It’s your fault! It’s all your fault! Because of you my mother… MY TRIBE!” Despite Attila’s warning, De-lah once again pushed himself forward viciously, in an attempt to reach me.

Attila POV:

The night was calm… not the calm that portrayed the peaceful symphony of nature as the world rested. No. This was a peace charged with tension, the calm before the storm, the moment of silence before a predator leaped from its place of ambush.

A branch in the fire cracked, sending small sparks flying into the air. Pino traced these sparks with an intense and feigned interest. Doing anything, I’m sure, to avoid the gaze of the boy… De-lah? I think it was his name. The women and other children sat silently, waiting for whatever the outcome of this… whatever this was, would be.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

Finally, losing my patience, I let out a cough before asking, “So… De-lah, you said it was bro- Pino’s fault… something about your tribe?”

De-lah looked at me, teeth gritted in frustration, his eyes flashing with a tinge of sorrow. “Our tribe, the Lami, we’d come across hard times since the fight against the bantila…” He began. As he spoke, Pino nodded his head in agreement. “Although we still struggled, we were happy, and relatively safe. There were many times when meat was scarce, but we never went hungry as there were many herbs and mushrooms on the mountains and in the caves we resided in.” He continued, his gaze slowly turning venomous. “That is until he, HE HAD TO BE SELFISH, HE- he… he damned us all. Just to prove, what? When he was injured by the buffan, the tribe sacrificed for him! We all ate less, in the hope that our best hunter, the ‘Great Pino’ son of the Bantila Slayer, would heal quickly.” His emotions were clearly alight, but he reeled himself in enough to push on, “As time wore on, it became clear that he,” De-lah spit, “Wouldn't be able to return to his former glory. Even still, the E- the elder…” He said, voice cracking, “Still gave up his portion, as did Si-ah, to this… ungrateful wretch!” De-lah cried. “If that wasn’t enough, you.” He said, pointing a trembling finger at Pino, “You! Decided to return to the wilds. We had to give even more food so that you could journey deep enough into the forest to join the ancestors… and Si-ah… he never returned.” Tears began to stream from De-lah’s face.

I glanced at Pino, whose face was a mix of shock, confusion, pain, guilt, and regret. I knew that feeling all too well, the amalgamation of emotions, all firing off at the same time. Refusing to allow myself to sink into a depressing reverie, I pushed the conversation towards its finale. “That still doesn’t explain how you ended up here, it doesn’t explain where the rest of your people are. This seems like too… mixed of a group to be the remnants of a tribe.” I said honestly. There were far too many skin tones and a wide disparity in ages of people for this to be a singular tribe.

Pino didn’t say anything, but it was clear by the yearning for answers in his eyes, that I’d asked the right question. I turned to De-lah, waiting for a response. He looked at me, before slowly and meaningfully holding eye contact with Pino for a minute, a minute that felt like an eternity. Then he said slowly, “With the only two hunters in our tribe gone, the Elder took up that responsibility. The boys who’d seen more moons were also made to hunt earlier than they usually would. This led to many injuries and eventual casualties. Because of this, the elder aged faster than a hare, and was taken by Aki in his sleep one night.” De-lah, his throat hoarse and face a mess of snot and tears continued to retell the tragedy of the Lami tribe. “It got to the point where the women took up both the hunting as well as the home making role. Every day was hard, and we’d be lucky if there was anything to eat at night. The women of Lami finally… finally decided the only way that we’d survive the coming winter was to venture out in search of a tribe to merge with.” He sighed.

Once he’d made that statement, an uncomfortable silence blanketed the surroundings yet again. Just as I was going to nudge the conversation forward yet again, Pino, surprisingly, broke the silence with his broken query, “...then what?”

“Then!” De-lah snapped, “Everything went to hell, and the root of all this is you Pino! You, and your pride, and selfishness.” De-lah stared death at Pino before spitting and saying, “When I thought you were dead, I could only forgive you. I wouldn’t dare to curse the ancestors, but since you’re alive, I finally have somewhere to vent my hatred. My mother, my elder, my tribe… they’re all gone, and you’re at fault. I hate you, I’ll never forgive you.” He spat

Pino looked broken, the ragtag tribe of women and children looked nervous, and I… I slowly tensed my body, while tightening my grip on my spear. If the situation changed for the worse, Pino was in no condition to fight, he might not even want to. With the element of surprise lost, we had little to no chance of overpowering everyone here. In an extreme scenario, I’ll have to fight our way out.

One of the women uttered in a small and frightened voice, “Sorry, but we truly haven’t eaten much in many akigi. If we- if the children could have a portion of the meat, we’d be ever grateful.” She said, her voice slowly turning to a whisper as everyone turned their attention to her.

Just as I was prepared to rebuke her and tell them to fuck themselves, Pino answered first saying, “You can all take a portion, women, children, any sick or injured, then the men.” When I looked at him, there was a steel in his eyes, the same glint that he’d had when he told me we’d leave the forest and change the world. I grinned, I don’t know what he’s thinking, but at least for now, he was back.

Pino looked at De-lah and sighed, “I can’t change the past, I can only tell you I’m truly and deeply sorry.” His face, although originally downcast, hardened, as he clenched his fist and said, “However, in regards to the future, I’ll do everything to provide for you… and your new family, if you so choose. Instead of mere words, I’ll use my actions to repent, for all the misery I’ve caused.” As he spoke, he met the eyes of every woman and child, finally finishing his statement by holding eye contact with De-lah.

“WHAT!” De-lah roared, leaping from his seated position in-front of the fire. “DO YOU THINK YOU CAN JUST WALK IN HERE, THREATEN US, GIVE A LITTLE FOOD, THEN BECOME THE CHIEF?!?!” He yelled with indignation. “WE-” He said, whilst looking around. “We…” He continued his voice dying off. I don’t know what might’ve been going through his mind, but what I saw was a lot of starving and desperate women and children, two boys who didn’t know the first thing about hunting, and more than likely the only real hunter was in that tent, either too sick or too injured to benefit the tribe. Right now this, we, were their best chance at surviving to see the moon be eaten.

“We… have to discuss this amongst ourselves first.” He choked out with disgust. Pino nodded his head in understanding as he said, “I understand, we will go back to our camp and return tomorrow. If you decide to carry on without us, we will accept that decision. However, if you want to move past the simple and arduous struggle to survive… I’ll lead you there.” With that he stood, stretched a bit, then began to walk away. I silently fell in step behind him, no matter what sins he’s accused of, this is my brother. The man who pulled me from the jaws of death in the middle of the winter. Nurtured me to health, taught me how to survive, and gave me knowledge that sounds almost like a fireside tale. Even if he is marching into the darkness, I’ll march with him, ready to face any adversary along the way. I steeled my resolve, gripping my spear tightly.

And just like that, we sunk into the shadows of the surrounding trees, and disappeared into the night.