Chapter 48

Chapter 48

Stalking my prey in the darkness, I move slowly through the dense forest, silently, too afraid to breathe. Step by step I inch closer, my heart hammering away in my chest and ears, the sound so loud it's a wonder it hasn't scared away my prey. I flex my hand, held close over Peace, ready to draw at a moments notice. Failure is not an option. With one more step, my prey finally enters my range. Drawing my weapon, I move, Balance on Windy Leaf, which turns into Swiping the Rushes, and my prey falls dead, silently, unable to even react at my charge. With a flick of my wrist, the blood flies off Peace and I return it to my scabbard. Fatality. I chuckle to myself, unsure of what the joke is. Whatever, it makes me smile. Who cares why.

Grabbing my hunting knife, I kneel down over the rabbit I just killed. This dumb fat bastard will make for delicious breakfast. I can already taste the greasy skewers of tender meat. Working quickly, I bleed and skin the rabbit, packaging it with the other two rabbits, while Sumila and Mei Lin wait patiently nearby. This is the most use I've been all day, besides stitching up Huushal's legs. He's going to need to eat to heal, he got torn up pretty well by the mountain cat, but nothing life threatening. If the cat had clawed just 5 centimeters higher though, he would have become at least half a eunuch though. Shuddering at the thought, I say a small prayer of thanks to the Mother. That would be a terrible thing to regrow. My arm and foot felt like they were submerged in broken glass and then rubbed with it. Hey... I wonder if I can regrow it bigger? Hmm... I should find out. Not by asking Taduk though, he'll tell everyone he knows, a real Chatty Cathy. Not sure if it'd be worth the pain either.

Even though it's a new moon, the stars are bright enough to see by. It's not bright enough to be able to read, but with the State of Enlightenment, I can make out enough of the surroundings to get by easily. I can't keep it up forever, but for more than enough time to skin a rabbit. It's really all I can do, honestly, having been largely useless the whole time. Sumila and Adujan have dismantled most of our competitors, while I just look on with nothing to do. I'm literally their baggage boy, first carrying Mei Lin, then Huushal. I was totally right about being sent as bait. They could win this thing with just the two of them, it's completely unfair how strong they are. At least Huushal is in the same boat as me, just as useless. That really shouldn't make me feel better, but it does. Misery loves company.

Finishing up, I signal them quietly and we move out, returning to our base camp. Sumila and Mei Lin both look adorable, each with a Lunar Awakening Rose in their hair, and Mei Lin carries a bundle in her arms. I have one in my lapel. The instructions were only for one flower, but no harm in being safe, and I can sell them for some coin. It's a rarity, and the roots are still attached to most of them, so maybe someone can grow them at home.

Shaking my head, I refocus my attentions on my surroundings. Leading the way back to our cave, I keep my eyes and ears open, searching for danger in every shadow. If it wasn't for these dumb flowers, I wouldn't even be traveling in the dark. I can't shake the feeling that something is off right now, odd, but I can't quite place it. We enter a small batch of trees, and I hold my fist up, Sumila and Mei Lin freezing in place immediately, on full alert. Better safe than sorry, and something is gnawing at my brain, trying to tell me that things aren't right. I just can't quite figure out what.

Standing in place, hidden, we wait as the minutes pass by, with nothing but low forest sounds to fill the night. Slow, agonizing, minutes, filled with fear and anticipation as I ready myself for flight or fight. In a moment of clarity, I realize the problem. It's the sounds. The bugs and frogs are still around, buzzing and croaking, but there are no birds hooting or animals scurrying. Something has scared them off. I take my bow in hand, drawing an arrow from my hip quiver, and wait. Patience.

That's what 90% of hunting is, patience. You just need to wait in the right place, and good things will come. I glance back, and Mei Lin has her bow out as well, perpendicular to me, covering my angles. Sumila has her spear in hand, ready to launch. I hope they don't fire off into the dark without confirmation. I don't want them to accidentally kill someone because of my nerves. We all stand stock still, both of them trusting me, or having noticed the problem as well. Something that scares the birds and mammals, but bugs and small reptiles don't give a fuck about. Most likely a large carnivore or some sort, but in this world, it can be anything. I can see the campfire we lit, just up the cliff in the distance, a short minutes walk away. We didn't bother hiding it, since there shouldn't be anyone stupid enough to launch a night attack in this darkness.

I reach for Enlightenment once more, and the sensations rush into me. My breathing slows, heartbeat receding, as I parse through the multitude of new information, my brain adapting and filtering out whatever is unnecessary. Just the faintest of sounds, but I can hear it. A click on hard dirt. Faint, but there, a talon or claw. An abrasive sound, something rubbing against stone. A short, chesty exhale, from a large animal, shuddering out of its mouth, moving about in the darkness. A cloud passes overhead, blocking out the starlight, plunging us into even darker shadow. Looking straight ahead into the darkness, I feel uneasy once again, fear of the unknown drying my mouth. Something is out there, but where? I steady my breathing, trying not to pant, giving away my location.

The clouds part and I realize I can pant all I want. They know where I am already, and have already surrounded us. Sleek, black-and-white bear-cat-weasel looking animals, maybe 500 kg in weight, and easily 3 meters long. There are at least two that I can see on the ground, but I can hear more of them in the trees above. They're sniffing the air, staring directly at all of us, seeming docile. They can't be that bad, they're sort of cute, with long whiskers and eyelashes, little bandit-like markings around their eyes. I wouldn't mind one as a pet, if it were smaller. Unless I can ride one, but roosequins seem the superior mount. One bear-cat-weasel thing directly in front of me, arches it's back, yowling at us loudly, revealing a mouth full of massive fangs, the sound sending shivers down my spine. Fuck, nothing can just be cute and harmless. Speaking out of the side of my mouth, I try not to alarm the giant cuddly monsters. Sumila, kill it quickly. Please.

Rain, don't fight. Sumila speaks slowly and softly. There are three more that you can't see. They want the meat, so just toss the rabbits away. Far away. I can hear the quiver in her voice, which turns my legs almost to jelly. If Sumila is scared, I should be terrified.

Reaching back slowly, I unhook the twine carrying my catch, before carefully lobbing the rabbits away, arcing through the air, landing somewhere in the darkness with a thump. The bear-cats sniff the air, noses following the meat, before they amble off after their easy meal. As soon as they shuffle off, the three of us slowly step away, trying to make as little noise as possible. By the time we reach the cliff side, my breath is coming in shudders, nerves frayed.

This fucking contest is shit, sending us out into the night to pick flowers, while massive apex predators roam the forest. How is that even remotely safe? At least the animals were lazy. I'm just going to carry Huushal away in the morning, so we can get out of this forest of death. Walking slowly up the slopes, knees shaking, I shamble into the cave and stop, staring down the length of an arrow. Adujan holds it at me for five, very long, tense, breaths, before lowering her bow. I guess she's still mad about the whole 'thought she was a he' thing. That was like... yesterday, just let it go. Afraid to unclench my asshole for worry of shitting myself, I curl up on my laid out bedroll, and close my eyes. I wonder if this counts as a near death experience? Why am I even here? They didn't even announce the prizes in advanced. It'd be nice to know what I'm out here for.

Hey, shit-stain. I did not shit my pants. Right? I try to check as inconspicuously as possible as she continues. You didn't bring anything back to eat? Fucking useless. I liked it better when Adujan was cold and silent. Now she's loud and rude. The woman has the most foul mouth I have ever encountered, it's no wonder she kept silent for the entire trip. Akanai would have literally washed her mouth out with soap, it's something she and Baatar do. It's highly unpleasant.

Sorry, Yan-Yan, we ran into some Binturongs. So scary! We almost died. Mei Lin launches into an exaggerated re-telling of our adventures, while Sumila sits down beside the fire, exhaustion and worry etched on her face. Poor girl, between her mom and dad riding away into danger and the stress of managing our team, she looks like she's been burning the candle at both ends. Sitting back up, I give her a small smile, and start boiling some water to make some herbal tea. Fresh picked bissap, soothing and relaxing. While the water boils, I check on Huu, making sure everything is copacetic. He looks scarier now, with the addition of some facial scars, and having lost an ear like a grizzled veteran, rather than a fresh-faced kid. Hopefully the healers are good enough to fix him completely. His healing skills are decent, but I doubt he can regrow an ear on his own, at least not in a few days. He mumbles a bit in his sleep while I poke around his cuts, but everything seems fine.

Handing out tea as I pour it, I take my turn at watch while everyone else sleeps. Keeping myself in the darkness, with the fire behind me, I scan the area, waiting for my night vision to return, while my stomach rumbles. We ate the jungle cat already, but it was stringy, without much meat, with a sour taste to it. Not a fan of cat meat. Those rabbits would have been delicious, and we could have eaten, then headed back to the starting area in the morning. I swear I eat too much, but I'm still always hungry. I hope I have more growing ahead of me, I hate being shorter than everyone else. They're just all too damn tall.

It'll take us at least half the day to return, since we travelled quite some distance to find those stupid flowers. They only grow in ravines or other dark, damp locations, and Mei Lin could only spot one area, at the other end of the forest. On the plus side, there aren't that many other groups around here. Earlier, every group we ran into acted like crazed bloodthristy animals, pointing at us and attacking without provocation at first sight. I don't understand the reasoning, it's not like we advertise that we have a token or anything. Just thinning out the competition, I guess. Kids and their bloodthirsty games.

Clasping my hands and bowing, we leave the Situ idiots behind with him, strolling away as I carry Huushal. He grumbles a lot about it, but tough shit. What does he expect, Sumila to carry him? Actually that might not be a bad idea. He's heavy as hell, and Sumila is stronger than me. I open my mouth to suggest it, but before I can speak, someone interrupts me.

You scoundrels! Stop right there! You have guts, assaulting my cousins and clansmen like that. Putting Huushal down gently, I turn around to meet with the next band of idiots. Probably the remaining three we missed. Might as well pick up the spare. I'm greeted instead by at least fifteen angry-looking youths, brandishing some very heavy-looking clubs as they rush forward to surround us.

God damn it.

Author's Note: Some picture references, just in case I didn't do a very good job describing them. Also, they're adorable. I just grabbed them off google images, if anyone has issue with me using them, leave a comment or email me.

My inspiration, Binturongs, or the Asian Bearcat. Genus name Arctictis which is greek for Bear-Weasel. Yeah, not super imaginative naming, on anyone's part.



Look at how cute he is, waving his little paw.





The Binturongs in my story have more teeth.

Another thing to add, Savage Divinity gained many new readers and reviews over the weekend. I'm pretty estatic about that, it feels incredible. Thanks for taking the time to read my work, for the reviews, the thumb-ups, for everything.

I'd just like to once again plead, if you find a spelling, or grammer, or whatever error, note it in the comments, please please please. Thanks for reading, and I hope you keep doing so.

-RuffWrite