A Different Island

Chapter 9: The Arctic Hunt (Part 2)

I decided to swim over to see what the figurines were, and I was quite surprised to find out that they were actually a large group of weird creatures that were giving me strong vibes of a penguin.

The weird parts were that they had beaks on top of their heads and they also had four eyes. I did try and befriend some of the smaller penguin creatures who I assumed were the kids, but as soon as I touched one, literally every single one of the adults started to attack me. They were pecking and honking at me as if they were saying "GET OFF OUR LAWN."

It was then I tried Plan B. I swam down to the bottom of the water and grabbed some plants and decided to feed them to some of the penguin creatures. Thankfully, they started to calm down and no longer began to attack me.

"So I see you like gaining creature's trust." Said Gray. I then turned around to see him at the surface of the water looking at me. "Well yeah, I'm a big fan of penguins." I said. Gray then looked confused. "What are penguins?" He asked.

"Well, they look a lot like these little guys, just with a beak in the center of the face and without the two extra eyes." I answered. "Interesting. Anyways, we're staring to cut up some of the plants down at the bottom which we're gonna cook when we get back and I just thought I'd take you off your detour so you can join us in hunting down our next target." He said.

"What would that next target be?" I asked nervously. "I'll say nothing about the next animal, but there is another creature in the same part of this area and I'll say it's gonna get on your nerves quick. But you'll likely see soon enough." Said Gray. "Yeah right, I'm sure I can handle it." I said. If only I actually took him more seriously, I would be prepared for what we would be hunting next.

Anyways, we would spent a couple more minutes swimming through the water and we eventually reached the shore. While getting ready before entering the next part of the area, some of the other hunters were asking Tommy about something that they found near the shore. I was also called over to check it out and it turned out to be a white tent flipped over with a strange company logo on it that read Metaphysical Society.

Even after Tommy said he had no idea about who or what Metaphysical Society was, the others simply dismissed it and didn't pay more closer mind to it afterwards. However, this got my head turning. Was there a secret organization going on around here? Were these Metaphysical Society people curious in this island or even me for that matter? While I had to keep up with the pack, I still had plenty of thoughts related to this A-Sync tent, but I decided to drop it for now and focus on finding our next prey.

As we continued walking along the landscape, we found ourselves going through a part of the area that hadn't been explored. And while doing so we all ended up getting chased by a large white bear like predator. I luckily was able to pet its pups without being attacked by the mother while she wasn't looking.

After that crazy experience, we found ourselves at another lake where I was told that this is where our next target is often found. Tommy and I were tasked with two others to keep a lookout on land while the rest go down into the water to find some.

While the rest of the hunters were down under the water, I couldn't help but feel as if something was sneaking up on me. In an instant, I spun around to see a small gray creature that had two upper arms and a tail that allowed it to slither around like a snake. I was quite interested by the sight of this thing, but that turned out to be my big downfall.

All of a sudden, it grabbed my bow and ran off without hesitation. I was utterly dumbfounded by this, but luckily, the other hunters were chasing after the thing in an instant. When I ran up on the sight, I saw that they had dumped the green substance all over the ground which turned out to be the same sticky substance that Shelly and I were tied up with. And afterwards, I was able to get my bow back. It was then I started being a lot more cautious towards whatever came my way.

But thankfully, we didn't run into any more issues for the rest of the time and we were able to manage the rest of our time with ease.

Anyways, it turns out the creature we were hunting was a medium size black salamander. I didn't really feel right about killing this thing. But Gray said that there were so many of them in the area and that we needed to keep the population balanced.

At this point, we had been hunting salamanders for what felt like at least 2 hours, and we would eventually have to return back to the rest of the tribe. But I didn't want to go until I get at least a single kill and add it to our big bag that we already had. And I eventually would.

It was around a bit past noon, and I was quite exhausted. But then I spotted a salamander creature near the top of a small mountain. It may have quickly slinked away, but I managed to notice it. And because I wanted this kill for myself, I didn't tell the other while I sneaked off to hunt the creature down.

I grabbed my jar of the sticky substance and set a trap with it. I then proceeded to track the thing down in the area and when it sensed my presence, it ran off and I chased after it. I already knew that it was faster than me, but that didn't mean that I wasn't smarter than it. I was worn out by that point, but I still heard the salamander's yelp when it had gotten itself stuck in my trap as if it were a fly in a web.

When I finally reached it, its front legs and one of the back legs was jammed into the sticky substance and I immediately stopped it in the head without hesitation. I did feel bad for the thing, but I did have to impress the other hunters somehow and I didn't want this opportunity to go to waste.

But it was when I tried pulling it out of the substance that I realized I had made a dumb mistake as the substance was so sticky that it was like the creature was literally super glued to the ground.

I eventually had to get help from the others to get the creature unstuck and when I told them that, they were quite surprised. But nonetheless, it was nothing, especially compared to the amount of salamanders that the others caught.

We would spend the next hour making our way back to camp and then the next 5 cooking and preparing the food into a nice salsa for the entire tribe to enjoy in a big feast that night. It was also followed by a ritual called "The Salamander Proposal." The basics of the ritual were to take the skull of a salamander creature and set it on fire which would be followed of a prayer where the major ranking individuals would apologize to the gods for killing an animal.

Frankly, it was quite interesting to be part of the event. And if there wasn't any way back home and I would have to serve these guys for the rest of my days, I would honestly keep doing it.

And this would only be the first of several hunting experiences.