The Hunt

The tribe still sleeps in the cave while their leader is comfortably lying next to his woman; the warmth of her body huddles him. His eyes lost beyond the cave’s ceiling while his mind goes through the preparations; today he will be leading the hunt to the northern foothills’ forest. Only two other men will join him while the rest of the tribe stays safe near the cave.

The leader gathers his strength in an effort to stand but his body challenges him. He turns toward his woman and softly hugs her soft naked body; she always wakes up with a smile painted on her face. The sweet perfume of her body takes his mind to an abyss, lost for an instant that feels eternal, away from everything that has been going on. He abruptly uncovers his body letting the heavy leather quilt fall over her; she turns to face him and softly grabs his hand; looking at her ravishing eyes he let’s go of her in a gesture that says goodbye. Now turning away from her, he gets out of bed.

Meanwhile at the other end of the cave one of his companions for the hunt is grabbing his leather apparel. He feels the cold morning breeze through the cave as he tries to get dress, while struggling with a large piece of leather over his head a woman’s soft hands travel from his waist to naked shoulders. He turns to face her mysterious eyes; she grabs the leather of his hands and motion him to turn. Her small body’s assistance is all the giant needs to get ready. Once done he grabs and lifts her. A glimpse of a smile is shown on the man’s face while staring at her helpless body rising over his shoulders. He places her on the ground and starts walking toward the cave’s mouth.

The other men anxiously waits outside, leaning against a tall tree. He holds his spear with his one hand and smoothly throws it to the other; the spear spins as it travels through the cold morning breeze. He has prepared for the hunt, nothing got him as excited as chasing a prey. He wears light leather and a hood that covers his head; it’s clear he has slowly checks every aspect of his apparel. There wasn’t a piece of cloth that could slow his swift motions. His leather’s covers his own to help him become a ghost in the forest.

Three hunters meet at the extinguished campfire, the bitter smell of the dark wood comfort them as their fierce faces glance from one to the other. They start to check their weapons. The smallest of the three lifts one of his bone daggers toward his face, this is an old weapon that have been with him through many hunting days. It’s handle, wrapped with leather, fits his hand flawlessly as he takes it back to his waist. The slow giant holds his wooden spear with both hands studying the tied rawhide strap that holds a sharp stone at its end. Their leader knows his weapons’ condition, he grabs a pouch of dry meat looking forward at a long hunting day.

The land sobs under the whiteness that blocks the rays from the Sun. The mountain is lost under a veil of electrified clouds; at her foothill trees dance to the cold morning breeze. The strong winds of the field fight against the falling veil of the mount. A dull hazy fragrance descend from the sky as the elements collapse.

Their expedition begins with their leader’s first step toward the foothills; looking determined with every step he takes. Spears in hand, swinging with the motion of their bodies, eyes lost at the distant foothills. Their leader senses are sharper than his father’s dagger hanging from his hip. Watchful he walks through their future path over his head, while he inhales the sweet scent of the breeze that runs through nearby trees. Each step takes them closer to their destiny, and the encounter that will change the tribe’s ways.

They cautiously walk with spears; one of them even has his right arm tangled around the spear. Their leathers apparel dance toward the foothills thank to the stream of air that blows from behind. The giant’s firm steps and almost motionless heavy apparel makes him look menacing; his spear grabbed by a hand and now used as a cane. Their leader continues leading them with his spear still hanging of his arm. The journey seems endless for the anxious hunters as they cross the fields.

After a long walk the forest is finally within reach, barely a hundred steps while the group effortlessly walk with their guard slightly down. The weather worsens as clouds crash against the foothills. Scarce steps before reaching the green wall of nature’s protecting the forest they notice a light fog escaping out of it. Somehow the fog turned the forest dark and mystical; their weapons at hand as their postures change to a slight crouch, taking slow and soft steps, they get lost in the forest.

Their leader steady steps lead the group deep within the forest as his sharp senses searches for a prey. The forest feels humid with the overwhelming scent of the morning dew. There are thousands of tracks that could easily deceive a tracker but he is an expert. They follow the fresh footprints of a lonely deer; cautiously walking toward it, knowing they aren’t the only predators of the forest

Finally able to hunt the light body of this hunter allows him to swiftly move like a shadow through the forest; his duty has always been searching for distant dangers, the forest should not be taken lightly. He has sensed a predator’s presence at a far distance and made his leader aware of it. They hide their tracks and scent the best they can while taking steps into unknown territory; in normal circumstances he has been known for being able to sense a tiger within a hundred strides.

The giant follows his leader a few steps behind; his large body and heavy steps were hard to hide; his presence required the thorough conglomeration of his senses. He’s an expert at it but simultaneously finding a prey or foe was almost impossible. His spear arm always ready to attack if necessary.

The deer is finally spotted at a short distance while it licks the dew of a tree branch; their leader signals, they crouch behind a fruit bush with a sweet dark scent while getting ready for the throw but something stops them, there was a strange sensation within the fog that clouded their senses. They had to get closer and make sure it’s safe.

This strange sensation was also felt by the other hunter, he surrounds his companions on a larger area than conventional in search of predators. He didn’t feel secure with the mist clouding his senses; he had to move like a ghost and make sure they were not being chased.

The stalking continues after the leader signal the giant to ambush the deer. Having the senses lowered by the mist made the leader feel weary. The giant undetected creeps toward the deer until he reaches killing distance.

The deer’s head abruptly moves up and for an instant the giant regrets his lack of concentration to hide his presence, until he notices the deer’s head facing the opposite direction. There no time to lose, he takes advantage of the animal’s mistake; raising his body out of the shadows. He stands sideways with his right hand stretched backward and throws his sharp spear in a swift motion. The spear moves through air helplessly, it follows a perfect path towards a tall tree; the deer has disappeared. The giant has no time to alert his companions, something frighten the prey.

Away from his comrade he sees the deer passing by and without analyzing the situation starts the chase. His senses tuned, attentively examines every step the animal makes and foresees his path. Spear at hand he runs dodging branches and gets closer to his prey, he moves swiftly as a feline while looking for an opening. Noticing a dead-end at the distance he predicts a dreadful right turn, he risks choosing a shortcut; a risky move, no time to reconsider. The deer jumping toward the trap as he prepares the ambush, a least mistake meant life or death. His assumptions were correct; the deer stumbles and makes the predicted right turn. He has a clear shot and prepares the throw as he continues dodging the irregular vegetation. Holding his left hand toward the predicted path while his stretched backward spear. He jumps over a large root; the perfect timing comes as he flies in midair; the strong move of his right arm gets him out of balance, while the spear soars in search of its target. His body spins before his foot touches the ground, he lands smoothly and slowly regains balances. The spear and deer fly toward each other when abruptly the deer’s front legs stop, making him slip while his rear body loses footing. The deer jumps left and hit a tree with its hip, almost falling, it regains footing and continues to flee.

The leader sees the deer smashing sideways against a tree; his mind goes through a scenario where his companion could fail but can’t imagine one, “the deer must have seen him”, he thinks. He runs after it and notices the crash has injured the deer, whose speed has notably diminished. The deer’s desperate need for survival takes it running toward an exit out of the forest; less than a hundred steps between it and the dark light of this cloudy day. The leader knows it’s the end of the path for an injured deer; he increases his speed as they reach the end of the forest. The deer jumps out in a frantic reach of freedom and starts to run toward a high stone cliff, as soon as the deer reaches the cliff start to jump up from stone to stone. The leader’s body comes out of the forest with his spear on his stretched backward hand and throws it with all his might. Life flees the deer’s body as the spear hurdle through it.

The hunt has ended?