Rise Of The Hunters - Chapter 4

Xun scratched his head at the words in the letter. There was a small map drawn at the bottom of the page, and he wondered where he might be in relation to the city mentioned in the letter. Joining a gang that was good at hunting would be a great thing for him. What could the person mean when he said the teachers wanted too much in return? After studying the letter for several more minutes, he finally put it up and finished his food. Banking the fire, and clutching his axe close, Xun finally settled down to sleep. Despite the excitement of possibly having a place to head towards, he was exhausted and quickly fell asleep.

Snarling and growls woke him before dawn. Several monsters were outside his door, fighting over scraps of something. Peeking out a small hole, he saw they were medium sized wolves fighting over what looked like a hand. Swallowing and backing away from the door quietly, he waited with his axe held tightly. As the sun’s rays began to warm the chill in the air, the wolves ran off, taking their treat with them. He didn’t want to have to fight them if he didn’t have to.

Xun made his way out of his abode, cautious of any wolves or other monsters that might be in the area, but the area seemed clear. Knowing that the hide he had would start to draw flies, he decided to make that a priority. Stripping some sturdy branches off a tree, he proceeded to build a large hoop to tie the hide up with. When he arrived at the scene of the fight from the previous day, the bodies had been torn into and scattered in pieces. There were still enough rags left from the men’s clothing.

Cutting small slits in the hide, all around the edges, Xun began to tie the hide to the hoop. Making sure it was tight enough, he finally leaned it up against the wall and began to scrape it carefully with his axe to get all the meat and fat off.

The old man he had watched tan a hide, had used fresh brains from the monster the hide came from, but he hadn’t saved the head of the cougar. Returning to the bodies a second time, he collected what brains he could from all three of the bodies and headed back. Then using the liquefied brains, he wiped every last bit of the hide down with it.

After studying his handywork for several minutes, he finally decided it would have to do. He left the hide leaning up against the wall and went in search of a source of water to wash in. He had found a small stream the day before and finally decided after looking for an hour that it would have to do. Keeping an eye out for anything that may try to sneak up on him, he cleaned himself and then decided, after looking down, that his clothes and the rest of his body probably needed to be washed too.

Wiping water out of his eyes, Xun saw a young girl, older then him by maybe a couple years, perched on a rock watching him. He almost fell over backwards lunging for his axe, then crouched, buŧŧ nȧkėd, with his axe ready. The sight must have been funny, because the girl began to laugh.

“You should get some clothes on before anyone else sees you!” she said through her laughter.

Xun glanced around, but saw no one else. He didn’t care if she saw him nȧkėd, and he didn’t know why she thought he looked funny. Becoming a little annoyed, he slowly lowered the axe and stood up straight.

“Do you live around here with others?” She seemed to think someone else would see him, so he could only ȧssume she didn’t live alone or wasn’t traveling alone at least.

“The Hunter’s Vale is just over the ridge. I would really feel better if you would put some clothes on.” She turned her head away from him, finally able to stop laughing, but with a smile still on her face.

Xun watched her for a moment, wondering why it was so important to her. Every group of people he had lived with had known that nȧkėdness happened, that it wasn’t a big social problem if someone wasn’t fully clothed. Many people he had known didn’t own many clothes and often went nȧkėd when it was washing day. But it obviously bothered her, so he put on his freshly washed clothes.

Trying to ignore the uncomfortable feeling of the wet leather he turned to look at her. Her clothes looked much nicer than his, nicer even then anyone’s he had seen before. He tried to remember what the men who died yesterday had been wearing, but wasn’t sure if they had been as nice as her clothes were. He wondered if they had come from her compound.

“I’ve heard there was a place that had teachers who taught people how to hunt, is that where you’re from?” he asked as he laced up his boots.

“Yes, that’s the Hunter’s Vale. You’ve heard of it?” She was looking at him again. She seemed surprised, as if the information shouldn’t be well known.

“Only that it might be a place I could go to. What’s it like?” he said, choosing his words carefully. He wasn’t sure if the compound wanted outsiders to know about it. He picked up his backpack and put it on, despite his wet clothes. If he had to flee, he didn’t want to leave it behind.

“It’s a great place! Come sit up here with me and I’ll tell you about it.” She patted the rock next to her, and Xun ċȯċked his head to the side to think about it.

The rock would give him a great vantage place to keep an eye out for anything that might try to sneak up on him, but it would put him very close to her. If she tried to attack him, he would be hard pressed to fight her off. She had obviously eaten better than him, and outweighed him by a considerable amount. However, if she really wanted to hurt him, she probably could have snuck up on him while he was washing. With a slight nod, he jumped over the stream and made his way up to the rock.