Chapter 5

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“Elder, I have decided on my son’s name.” spoke a well-built man.

“I will hear his name and pass it on to him at the suitable time, what shall he be called?” the Elder asked.

“Call him De-lah, it means to worship the earth.” The main said.

“That is a very good name Nol-kaan, it shall be so, De-lah, to worship the earth. You, Lahk-teh, you haven’t named your son though many messengers have crossed the skies, what better time than now to finally give him a name?” The elder asked.

“Elder…” Lahk-teh responded,

“A name is what one must carry forever. My father gave me the name, to water plants, surely it is a name with no strength and no meaning. For my son I will choose only the best name. I have spent many moons praying to Aki, and the names I have imagined are more than both my hands and feet. When the right name comes to me, then, I will name my son. For now, we will continue to call him Pino, he who survives.” Lahk-teh said as he hugged Pino and his Chosen.

The elder sighed having many things to say, yet not knowing how to say them. The reason everyone was naming their sons and daughters, even before they left their mothers wombs, was because they would soon set out to slay the bantila. No one spoke it, but everyone knew, many of them would not return. If they did not name their children now, they may never get the chance.

“Father please! Please don’t go! We need you; mother needs you. Aki has laid another spark within her, soon there will be another tribesman. Please don’t go.” A young Si-ah, barely at the age of 12 cried.

“Si-ah…” Lami-nii said softly, “You won’t understand, maybe until many messengers have crossed the skies or until you have a chosen and small spark of your own. This is something we must do so that you all can feel the warmth of Aki when he lifts the Great Fire from the deep darkness.” He kissed Si-ah’s head before turning to the hand of hunters.

“HUNTERS!” Lami-nii, the leader of the hunting group yelled.

The hand of men responded in kind, yelling out and singing a strange melody that appeared to be a battle cry. Once they responded Lami-nii made no effort to speak further, there was no need for a speech. Everything they were fighting for stood to their backs within that cave. The hand of men stood tall, bone spears, and wooden clubs held tightly. They marched forwards, to slay a bantila.

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Judging from the number of marks I’ve left in this tree; I’ve been in this forest for about a month. I don’t know whether the bodies of people here are naturally stronger or better at healing, but after I straightened my leg, it begun to heal rapidly. It is still very sore, and I still lean heavily on the walking stick, but I can put a bit of weight on my leg and move a lot faster than I used to.

Over this last month there have been many run ins with danger, and I’ve learned much. For one, overing my skin with mud and certain herbs and grasses to avoid the detection of predators. There is a small bright green berry that is apparently repulsive to lokin and insects alike. By mixing the juice of the berry with dirt, I've made a decent insect and lokin repelent! I've also learned what are the safest locations to sleep, and slowly but surely, I’ve begun to understand the territories of the predators and the layout of this forest.

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The area that I’m currently in is the bear’s territory, it spans from the mountain where it lives, all the way to what I believe to be to the tree I am at now. Its territory is roughly in the shape of a circle, and I’ve determined it to be the safest location so far. The reason being that the bear isn’t as active as some of the other predators. It stays relatively close to its den, only goes out when its hungry or very bored, and even when it does wander, I can spot the tell-tale signs and hide in a tree or bush until it passes.

The territory adjacent to the bear’s is the wolves, that was where I woke up. Luckily, I’d dragged myself enough 'herds' away tha- that I somehow reached the bears territory, and the rest is history. There is all manner of wildlife in this forest that I’ve observed, snakes, hares, wolves, bears foxes. All manners of trees and fruits that neither myself or ‘other mind’ can identify, and of course bugs. An insane number of insects, I count myself as blessed by Ak… God that with the help of the insect repellent I haven’t gotten sick yet.

This… has also become a problem, I’ve found myself slowly becoming one with ‘other mind’ . From saying words like 'herd' to measure 10 km, saying a 'hand' to represent the number 5... down to the way I've replaced God with 'Aki'! I don’t see myself as the 20-year-old waste that I used to be. No, I can’t even remember what the New York skyline looks like. I’m not Carter or Pino, now I am a bit of both. Whenever I sleep, I experience this other side of me, this other life and I don’t know how to feel about it. There isn’t much I can do regardless, so I will just let it happen and hope for the best. After all there are bigger problems.

“Now… what the fuck am I going to do about this.” I asked the air.

The reliable hide and fur bedding that I’ve been using is beginning to rot. It makes sense, since I’ve been here, I haven’t started a fire once, scared of what it might attract. I think that fire, or at least smoke, is necessary to properly cure hide. Not to mention the fur, enough water and not enough sunlight will cause anything to rot and mold.

Which brings me to my current predicament, now, what the hell am I going to do. I need furs and hides; they’ve been essential to my survival so far. They can be used to store food and water as well as bedding and protection against the elements. I don’t think I’ll be lucky enough to chance upon another battle between apex predators, so the only thing I can do is begin to hunt for myself.

I have mixed emotions about this, the modern side of my brain is queasy and scared to take the life away from another living being. While the primal side of my brain is excited, anticipating finally being able to hunt again.

I settle my emotions and look at things objectively, without hide and fur I won’t survive. Moreover, the weather has been getting colder which implies winter is close, without the necessary materials… I won’t survive. If I don’t make a move now, it may be over for me.

Finally steeling myself in pursuit of the task ahead, I start the first and most essential step of my plan, finding some good sticks.

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Two unnatural birds cry back and forth, filling the tall grass with a strange noise. This is the unique language, only know to hunters that allow them to communicate while blending in with the environment.

Si-ah: ‘There are not many dambi out today, we should just turn around and help the women forage for berries, it would be a better use of the Great Fire before Aki places it into the darkness.’

Pino heard this and with exasperation twittered back,

Pino: ‘We haven’t had meat in two hands worth of Fires, the Elders need meat to stay strong, and the young ones need meat to grow strong. We should search for at least half a hand of Fire more, before we decide to go back.’

Si-ah responded with anger,

Si-ah: ‘We have been out here since before the Great Fire breached the darkness, how much longer should we- ‘

Pino: ‘Shush!’

Si-ah: ‘No! This time you must listen, I have hunted with you for almost two messenger crossings and yet- ‘

Pino: ‘Do you hear that?’

Si-ah: ‘Hear what?’

Si-ah strained his ears to hear what Pino was hearing. It didn’t take long before he could hear the huffs and shuffle of the animal not too far in front of them.

Si-ah: ‘A bufan?’

Pino: ‘A bufan!’