The Hunt (3/5)

Lee burst into his brother’s room, waking Kroe from a deep slumber. “Let’s go, everyone’s waiting for you at the north edge of the village.”

Kroe further squinted his already small eyes and opened his gaping mouth with a yawn before shooting straight up in realization. How had he let himself fall asleep?

As he gathered his things, he noticed something draped over the end of his bed. It was an overcoat made out of the hide of the Howlrunner pack leader he had slain yesterday. His mother and some of the other village women must have stayed up all night heat-drying the skin and fur and sewing it together. They probably believed this would help him become one with the forest, and he thought it would be fitting to wear the hide of yesterday’s kill, so he secured it over his back and head as he grabbed his things.

Kroe dashed out of the yurt and through the empty village, rotating his bandaged arm and trying to get a sense of how functional it will be. He was sure it didn’t look pretty underneath all of the dressing, but it definitely felt good as new. Lee wanted to become a medman when he got older, and Kroe knew it would be incredibly handy to have his own personal doctor on call around the clock if they could do perform miraculous feats such as this.

As he neared the edge of the village, he saw everyone was already gathered. His father was dressed in ornate robes, and Ktum was wearing some sort of skull and holding a chain necklace made of the bones of past chieftain kills, as well as being adorned in varied plasteel plating stolen from dead Imperial troopers. Kroe knew he needed to get himself a suit, even if it clearly wasn’t the most effective bodily protection.

There were also six other members of his party, who appeared packed and ready to begin their journey towards the mountains. Of the group, he saw the elder hunter Obo, as well as the brash Kanto, “Gree the Strong,” and his little brother Lee, and two other hunters he did not know incredibly well.

When he approached the group, everyone began to cheer. “Your future chieftain has arrived,” his father exclaimed in a very loud but formal tone. “He will honor us today, proving his worth by slaying the great and mighty Gundark.”

The village started singing as medman, draped the bone necklace around Kroe’s neck. “Go, and lead in fierceness today, so that you may lead in peace tomorrow.”

Tetch pulled Kroe aside as the ceremonial hunting party began to head into the forest, “make us proud. I await your return, my chieftain.”

The young Drabatan smiled at his father as he ran to catch up with the others. It would take three long hours to reach the northern mountainside, however, he was sure it would feel much quicker on the way back home as he reveled in his success. He would leave the village a son of Pipada and return the most powerful man in all the region.

The journey did indeed last for quite some time, and most of it was filled with incessant chatter from Lee. Kroe half heartedly listened to Obo and Kanto as they discussed galactic politics, military tactics, and brought up all of the Drabatans who had left Pipida to join the so-called “Rebel Alliance” in their war effort. Obo called them fools, but Kroe envied their freedom and ability to kill as many of the Imperial scum as they wanted.

The Empire had come and taken over most of Kroe’s homeworld years ago. Pipada was, for centuries, a galactic hunting preserve that was operated by individuals slightly more respectful of the Drabatan’s holy marshes and mountains. Now, the tyrannical regime had forced his people onto the newly formed “Designated Regions of Pipada” and banned them from accessing areas on their own planet for fear of being arrested or even shot. All after a short but bloody conflict where they established their dominance over Pipada’s previous population.

While they didn’t govern the world too incredibly harshly, and usually just left the citizens to their own devices outside of a few Imperial colonies or staging areas, many Drabatans were still vehemently opposed to the new arrangement, and in Kroe’s opinion, rightfully so

Kroe also believed that they had insured that the general population would advance much slower than the rest of the galaxy, even removing them from the Republic-turned-Imperial Senate which they had only joined about three decades prior.

Of course, they had offered the Drabatan people a few new technologies, and most importantly a plethora hunting weapons, as a sign of “good will.” So Kroe supposed they may still have had some investment in winning over many of the Drabatan people.

Still, Kroe would have no qualms shooting one of the white clad bucketheads if the opportunity ever presented itself.

At this point, he could no longer take Lee’s constant ramblings, and sprinted forward to catch up with Obo. “We’re really going a ways out from the village, aren’t we?”

The older hunter nodded, “if the map is correct, we will be right on the edge of the reservation borders. That is where we will find ourselves a Gundark nest.”

Kroe could barely contain his excitement. He would not let the mistakes of yesterday happen again today. He would rely on his training over his instincts. And he would kill the creature faster than his father could have ever dreamed. He had felt no need to prepare himself any further, because if he could take out an adult Howlrunner, he knew could handle pretty much anything.

Obo lifted his fist and the group stopped. “We’re almost there. You will travel the rest of the way alone. And remember, we are simply ceremonial overseers. We are not equipped with weapons, and we cannot under any circumstances help you in this fight.” He looked directly at Lee, “got it?”

Both brothers nodded.

“Good.”

He handed Kroe a few pouches of the acia berry mix. “We will be watching from all around, just to make sure you don’t break any of the ceremonial rules.”

“Don’t worry,” Kroe said sarcastically, brandishing his spear, “I will only use my hands, this spear, or the environment around me. No guns, no fires, and absolutely no outside help.”

Obo nodded, “do good, son.” And with that, he scurried off back into the trees.

Kroe looked forward and realized why the practice hunt yesterday had been so crucial. The environment and terrain here were very similar to where he had fought the Howlrunner. There was a small clearing ahead of him, but instead of a broken monument, this time there was a cave stretching it’s way into the rocky mountain side.

Kroe took a deep breath and stepped out into the clearing, noting that most of the trees in the area had just recently been splintered or completely torn from their roots by some incredible force.

The mouth of the cave was abnormally large, and as Kroe approached it, he began to liberally smear the acia mix onto his face and hands. There was a damp draft emanating from the cave, and it smelled like wet fur. It was definitely a Gundark nest. But the real question was, “was it home?”

Kroe walked up to the cave entrance and took another deep breath. He then let out an incredibly loud war bark. It echoed throughout the cave for a few seconds, and then everything grew quiet once again.

Kroe waited for what felt like an eternity, but there was no sound in response to his call. “I guess no one’s home, Obo,” he said aloud, “looks like we’ll have to find another cave.”

Before he could receive a response from the elder hunter, however, the ground began to quiver and Kroe took a few hurried steps away from the cave entrance. Out of the darkness, he saw a large head emerge. Attached to that head was the body of a massive mother Gundark.

It’s fur was a maroon red, it’s breath was seen visibly steaming from its nose, and it took turns balancing on its six massive, muscular appendages. Kroe speculated it had to be over ten feet tall and weighed at least a thousand pounds. It looked down at him with eyes that seemed curious, afraid, and perturbed all at the same time. And Kroe froze.

He could not force himself to make a sound for fear of agitating the beast, and his body simply would not move. He waited for the adrenaline from the acia to kick in, but nothing continued to happened.

It was the perfect opportunity to strike the beast. It did not seem incredibly aggressive, and all of its weak areas were exposed. Yet Kroe could do nothing. He was petrified. And he didn’t know why. Was he scared? Did he subconsciously feel bad for the beast? Maybe he just wasn’t ready to lead the tribe.

Whatever it was, he needed to think of something fast. It was starting to approach him faster than he could step back. It leaned in close to sniff the young Drabatn hunter, and it had almost come nose to nose with him when he heard a desperate cry from off to his right.

“Kroe, kill it!”

It was Lee’s voice…

The enormous Gundark whipped it’s head up and sniffed the air. That was when Kroe realized it could tell there were more of them, and it must’ve thought that this was some sort of trap.

It panicked and let out a deafening roar that left Kroe disoriented. His ears were ringing and his vision was blurry as he saw the massive creature bring two of its arms up to crush him. And that’s when he felt someone tackle him out of the way.

“Don’t worry, brother, I’ve got you. Screw the traditions,” Lee said as they tumbled to the ground.

Kroe could hear some of the other overseers start to yell from behind him, and in an instant, the Gundark had picked up Lee with two of its giant hands.

He watched helplessly as the enraged beast tore his little brother in half.

Kroe stared in horror as Lee’s upper torso landed to his left, while his waist and legs splattered to the right. The impact sent viscera flying in every direction. Time seemed to slow as his entire life flashed before him, his brother’s lifeless eyes staring at him, mouth still agape in shock and pain.

“What just happened? Why didn’t I- what have I done…?” ‘Kroe muttered, still laying on the ground and watching the carnage slowly play out around him. The other hunters had now emerged from the trees and were trying their best to tackle the creature, to no avail.

Gree was suddenly thrown directly at Kroe, who was unable to move out of the way. He heard a snapping noise and everything went dark.