Walking through the forest with my group, further than we have ever gone before without guidance, I can't help but think the reason why we are out here.

The older hunters told us not to go too far from camp, but I've seen how low our food storage is getting, how some of the older ones don't eat as much as they used too. The worried discussion they have, when they don't think I'm around.

Every time I tried to bring it up, they would deny it, and our food storage kept on getting lower. We need to find better hunting grounds, to improve our situation and that means we have to go further than our usual spots. 

This is not the first time I lead a group, but it is the first time I do it against the older hunters orders. But the trail that Zari found was the first one we had seen in days, and we couldn't go back, even if the trail has led us far away from our usual hunting ground.

We went out at sunrise, and by now the sun has almost reached its zenith. If we don't find the reindeer soon we will have to go back to camp. As apprentices, we aren't allowed to camp outside at night and returning late would mean punishment.

As I think about our difficult situation at home, Krutz decides to air out some of his own worries.

"Otzi, I think we should go back." He says, surprising me with how uneasy he sounds.

"Krutz I thought you were okay with this, you didn't have any objections when we left." I was actually asking Zari first, but Krutz overheard us and was onboard before he even heard half of it. I would have been hesitant to bring him if it wasn't for his skills when it comes to a weapon. 

Zari agreed right after that if it was because she felt challenged or she actually wanted to, I have no idea. I don't know her that well, but I knew that when it comes to tracking that she is one of the better ones.

"When I heard you asking Zari, I thought we would hunt something big like a mammoth and the bragging rights that come with it. Breaking the rules for that, I would have no problem with." He started glaring at me. "Breaking the rules for one tiny reindeer is not what I signed up for."

I stop at that remark, though I give Zari the signal to go further and can't help but feel angry at what he's saying.

"Signed up for?" I almost shout before remembering where we are and continue in a lower volume. "You were the one that didn't even ask what we're going to do, thinking it would be easy. If you want to go back then go, I won't stop you. Zari and I will make sure our tribe doesn't starve without your help."

Krutz looked bewildered when I suddenly shouted, but the confusion quickly morphed into anger as I kept talking. I was preparing myself for a fight by the time I reached the end. This wouldn't be the first fight between us, but it would be the first where we had deadly weapons close by.

The anger on his face disappeared at my last word though, replaced with a puzzled expression and I internally wince at that. Remembering that I didn't tell them about the real reason we went out, and instead told them it was to test ourselves. Zari made it sound like she knew the real reason, but Krutz didn't look too far into it and just accepted the fake reason.

Until now that is since I just blurted it out like an idiot.

He looked at me with a scrunched up face. "What do you mean by our tribe starving, last time I checked, we had plenty of reserves. And the older hunters have told us that there is plenty more out there." 

His whole face suddenly lit up. "Are you trying to be like one of the great heroes in the songs again, since I'm pretty sure that they were going after greater prey than a deer." He started laughing now.

Knowing that he would definitely spread such an embarrassing story when we return, I wanted to explain to him the real reason we are here.

That's when I saw Zari walking towards us with an expression I don't see often on her face, fear. It was so unusual that it even brought Krutz out of his laughter.

She went past us and sat down next to a tree not far from us, not responding when we called out to her.

I walked to her to ask what was wrong, shaking her for attention, and there was still no response. I could feel her body shaking when I tried to raise her up.

I tried getting a response again, but the shakings seem to be getting worse as I held her. I was trying to find some way to calm her down when Krutz came to us and slowly took my hands away from Zari. He looked sad as he started speaking.

"I think she is in a fight, you remember which one right, the one that you can't use your body to fight against." And him saying that made me finally recognize the signs and hope that I didn't worsen it. 

Stepping back, I let Krutz handle this fight, while I figured out what caused it in the first place. Going to where Zari came from, I looked back to see him already giving her some space and whispering assurances to her.

Knowing that she will be in good hands at least, I started following the trail.

The trail didn't go far before it started becoming irregular, almost like the reindeer was wounded. The blood that I could see further up the trail confirmed that theory. 

But it can't be the blood that scared Zari, she wouldn't be a hunter if some blood was enough to frighten her. It was only a few stones throws away that I found what we had been hunting for this entire time, the reindeer.

Though we were too late as the reindeer I find is nothing but a few bits of bone and scraps of meat, with only the antlers letting me know what it once was. 

I feel disappointed now, we go through all this trouble and we don't even get some food to make up for it.

Observing the site, I notice something that doesn't quite look like a bone not far from it. Picking it up, I notice the carvings on it and remember the last place I saw this.

I see it every time my father wants to tell about the raid against a tribe of Wanderers. The story he tells always gets a little more embellished as the years go on, but he always ends it with the same warning. 

If you see signs of one Wanderer, be prepared for a fight because they rarely come in few numbers.

Remembering that, I run back to Krutz and Zari. 

When I see them, it looks like Zari has calmed down, but her expression still shows fear when I look at her. Krutz is the calmest out of all of us and turns to me with a questioning look when I near them.

"Zari are you good to go?" I ask her, we would usually give someone more time to recover, but we need to go back as fast as possible. 

She is about to nod before she stops herself. "I still feel tired, but if one Wanderer is here..." the rest is left unsaid.

"What about you Krutz, we will have to hurry if we want to make it in time."

Krutz looked shaken too, he might not have heard the same stories as we have, but he has heard the rumours. Krutz nods eventually and we start on our journey back home.

The pace we start at is much faster than the one we used on our way here, but we will need to go much faster eventually. 

The tribe needs to be warned of the threat.