Prologue Previous Chapter

Kito

Kito’s howl started low, and muted, before rising into a series of yips and barks. Lam’s response was simpler and shorter. Tohm just laughed. “You don’t sound like wolves to me. Either one of you.”

Growling, Kito crept to his right, while Lam crept to his left, trying to circle Tohm. The rules to Hunter and the Wolves were simple. Tohm, as the hunter, had a short stick, that he could use any way he wanted, as long as his feet did not leave the ground.. Kito and Lam had to crawl on their hands and feet, and couldn’t use any weapon at all.

Tohm whipped his weapon through the air, back and forth in a dizzying circle . “Be gone, wolves. Or I’ll stab you with my spear!” He poked one dull end of the stick at Kito. Kito shied back, howling in response, and Lam took rushed forward to leap on his prey.

But Tohm was no fool, and crouched low, swinging his stick around to give Lam a sharp whack in the ribs as he danced out of the way. Kito lunged forward as well, but Tohm was expecting this too, and laid a stinging blow across his ear.

“Ow! Ow! Ow!” Kito hissed in a very unwolflike manner. Still, this was all part of the game, and he had to get up and try some more. Again, and again, the two tried to coordinate their attacks, but Tohm was quick, and laid blow after blow against their backs and arms.

Kito glanced over at Lam. His friend was bleeding from a nasty scrape across his jaw, and had a defeated look in his eyes. “One more,” Kito mouthed, and started shifting to his right again. Tohm shifted to keep the two wolves in view. Again, Lam charged, and was met with a strong blow. And again Kito charged, but instead of leaping up, he dove downwards, and rolled across the ground towards Tohm’s feet. Expecting a leaping attack, Tohm’s stick barely grazed Kito’s shoulder as he wrapped himself around the boy’s left leg. Screaming a war cry, Tohm smashed his stick into Kito’s back and side. But he had forgotten about Lam, and after seeing his struggle, he leapt at Tohm’s back, sending him toppling over Kito to the ground.

Tohm rolled over and grabbed at his ankle. “Ow!”

“I feel no pity for you!” Kito laughed. His back stung, his head ached and his ears burned. “Wolves win.”

“Bah!” Tohm shouted back. “Wolves don’t roll across the ground like that.”

Lam snorted. “Well if they ever do, maybe you will remember how to keep them from taking you down.”

The three boys rested for a few moments, panting in the sunshine. “What shall we do now?” Kito asked.

Neither answered, and so they continued to bask in the day’s warmth. A hawk circled lazily overhead for a while before gliding off to the southeast towards Guardian mountain. Kito looked at for a moment, considering the coming journey up to the top. It sat alone in the middle of an otherwise mostly flat plain of grass, a huge teardrop of solid stone. They would be traveling up the western side, the only easy ascent, covered with grass that stretched almost halfway to the top. And after that, stone, stone and more stone, pockmarked with pits and crevices. The wind always blew across the bald head of the mountain, ever eastwards except in the mightiest of storms. But the sky was clear, the day warm for early spring. There would be no storm tonight.

Starfall. A boring word for a boring ceremony, full of singing and painting and dancing and chanting. Every year they drug the whole clan up the hillside, and down again the next morning. And every year it was the same routine. Not this year, though.

“Are you excited about tonight?” There was no need to specify the target of his question.

“Yeah” Tohm replied. “I keep looking up at the sun, hoping it will be close to setting. Today is taking forever.”

Lam laughed. “It always seems like forever when we have to hang out with you.”

In response, Tohm sent a rock spinning through the air towards Lam. “Hey!” Lam laughed, flinching. “I’m sorry the truth hurts.”

Kito sat up. “Let’s go climb a tree.” A small copse of pines sat like an island in a huge lake of grass just a few spear throws to the east. He started running towards the wood at top speed. “Race you!” he called back, and in a heartbeat the other two boys had rolled to their feet and were chasing him across the grass. He was going to lose – he always lost – Tohm was much taller, and faster. Still, he wasn’t going to give up – someday he was going to win. He nearly flew across the prairie, startling mice and rabbits back into their holes. A sudden burst of crows flew into the air, and then suddenly before him in the grass was a bloody, mutilated body.

Twisting and yelping in disgust, he tried to keep from stepping on the corpse, but blood was everywhere, and he stepped in a squelching pile of goo before falling to the ground. Frantically he wiped his foot off on the grass, leaving a bloodstained pile of maggots dripping from the yellowing blades.

The other two boys were there in a moment. “Ugh!” Lam cried. “It smells awful.”

“What is it!?” Kito nearly screamed. “Who is it?” The smell hadn’t even registered with him yet.

Tohm leaned down. “I think it was Lara.”

Kito’s heart stopped. “What!? Lara!” He sat bolt upright in the grass, staring at the mutilated body of his sister. In the mix of blood and offal, he could see a deer’s head. And brown fur. Tohm and Lam were laughing at him. “You liars! It’s just a deer.”

Lam nearly fell over. “Yeah, but you should have seen your face.” Tears were streaming down his cheeks.

Kito waited for a moment, letting the panic slowly drain away. And then he was off, running towards the trees again. The other two tried to keep up, but they couldn’t stop laughing, and he easily beat them to the base of the first tree, a stunted beast that was only the height of three men. Low branches beckoned, and he leapt up into the tree, scaling several branches and finding a good sitting spot before the other two boys had even stumbled to the base. “I won!” he said proudly, breathing hard. It may not have been the prettiest win ever, but it was still special.

Down at the base, Tohm and Lam were still trying to laugh and suck in air at the same time, nearly doubled over. “Fine.” Tohm gasped. “But it was worth it!”

A loud scraping noise ripped through the sky overhead. Yanking his head upwards, Kito nearly fell out of the tree as he saw a golden trail burning northwards across the sky. Too many branches were in the way, and he dropped out of the tree and rushed over to the grass to get a better look. “Wow!” He looked at the other two, who were scanning the sky for more. “If we get a few more of those, this is going to be an amazing Starfall.”

They watched for a while, hoping for another heavenly event, but nothing followed.

Kito tried to recall ever seeing anything like that before, but nothing came to him. And it didn’t seem like something you would forget. “Do you remember a trail like that before?”

Tohm and Lam shook their heads, and Lam replied. “No. But I think I remember Shaman telling us once that trails like that were signs of the spirit’s anger.”

I wonder who they’re angry at?

After a while, when it was clear that the fireball would not be repeated, they climbed back into the tree, and amused themselves by throwing pine cones at each other. Being the smallest had its advantages here, Kito could always maintain the high ground, and happily pelted the other two with cones every time they came near. As always, the bigger boys tired of this play much faster than Kito did.

“Let’s go hunt rabbits.” Tohm said, pointing. “I think I see a burrow to the east.” That sounded like fun, so they all climbed out of the tree and gathered piles of rocks into their pouches. Slowly, quietly they crept towards the mound. The wind was coming from the south, so they had to circle carefully to the north to keep downwind. Creeping over a final rise, peering through the grass they could see a family of rabbits.

Carefully, Tohm lifted his arm and sent a rock slicing through the air at one of the bucks, a big gray fellow who sat on top of a small rise, searching for danger. Unfortunately, lying down in the grass, his throw was awkward and the rock sailed harmlessly overhead. The buck barely twitched his ears.

“You boys couldn’t hit the side of a hill.”

Kito looked up, startled. It was Barak. He had crept up behind them, and was now crouching next to Kito, staring at the prey. Barak was not technically a man until tonight, but he had been acting like one for a very long time. Taller, stronger and more coordinated than all of the other children, he had bullied the rest of them for years. “Give me a rock.”

“Get your own rock.” Kito retorted, embarrassed that he hadn’t heard the older boy coming.

Barak snorted, and snatched a handful of rocks from Kito’s pouch. Standing quickly, he sent two rocks whistling through the air, one after the other. The big buck fell, and the other rabbits scattered, diving into hidden holes, until the plain was clear once more. Laughing, Barak got to his feet and walked towards his catch. “You see? That’s how it’s done.”

Tohm scowled. “So you threw two rocks and hit one rabbit. Big deal.”

Leaning over, Barak scooped up the lifeless buck by his ears. Then, bending over again, he scooped up a second, a brown and tan, smaller than the first. “Two rocks. Two rabbits.” He smirked.

He walked up to them. “Thanks for the snack, boys.” The others fell silent as he approached. Easily a head taller than Tohm and very well muscled, Barak was more intimidating than many of the adults in the Clan. He regularly pummeled any of the children who displeased him. Everyone had pretty much learned to stay out of his way and stay quiet when he was around. Still, Kito felt a surge of annoyance run through him, overriding his common sense. “You’re just lucky.”

He saw the fist coming at him, but couldn’t seem to move his body enough to get out of its way. It caught him under his eye, sending him spinning to the ground. As he fell, he saw Lam and Tohm charge, shrieking, before he spun away. Scrambling to get up again, it was already too late. Lam was sitting on the ground, blood streaming from his nose, while Tohm was doubled over, retching.

Barak sniffed. “I’m not lucky. You’re pathetic. But it doesn’t really matter. In a few weeks, I’ll be going off on a journey to find other tribes. You’ll all be stuck here making clothes with the women.”

Kito was the only one able to talk right now. “What are you talking about?” he asked, pressing his aching cheek with one hand. Don’t cry. Don’t cry.

“Shaman told me today. Chie f Roggo is going to send out a group of hunters to go find other tribes to trade women with. I’m going to be going with them.” He looked at Tohm. “He didn’t mention anything about you. You must not be worth bringing along.”

Kito winced for Tohm’s sake, which sent new waves of pain through his face. To send the one on the journey without the other was exceptionally humiliating.

Barak walked away, chuckling, the two rabbits slung over one shoulder.

“I’m sorry Tohm.” Kito looked over at his friend, who was just now recovering from the punch.

“I’m not. I’d rather not spend any more time with that jerk than I have to.” Standing up, he dusted himself off, and went to help Lam. Blood was dripping down his front, and he had pressed his pouch to his nose to try and slow down the flow. “Ow. This really hurts” he said nasally, turning to Tohm. “Promise me you won’t be like him tomorrow.”

Tohm laughed. “I won’t. I’ll be much worse.” He looked over at Kito. “You are going to have a huge black eye.”

He couldn’t see it, but he could feel the throbbing pain below his eye. His eye was already starting to swell shut. “Oh well.”

Tohm glanced up. “It’s time to go back.” Kito nodded carefully. It would take until sunset to get everything to the top of Guardian mountain for the Starfall celebration. As one of the oldest children, Kito was expected to help carry supplies to the top. He turned towards Red Cave hill. Barak was already a dot in the distance, running easily towards their home.

Next Chapter

Tuesday, February 14th, 2006 at 8:35 pm.
Filed under .
Subscribe to RSS 2.0.
Leave a comment or trackback.