A World With No Name

Chapter 1: A Day's Hunt

Antelope. The lower kind of animal. Fine, lean, almost, dare I say, sweet. A far better taste than boar. A much harder hunt but the meal is worth it and , thanks to its rarity, it's also some of the best meat to trade. I've been stalking this particular meal for the past few miles. It still hasn't seen me. Good. My fur blends in well with the desert plains around me, it's good for stalking. I can't kill my prey too early and risk the meat spoiling before I get to the village. As much as I'd love to, I know I can't eat it all. So I wait and follow. I noticed my dinner has been wandering in this direction for hours. He's almost within killing range of the village.

Almost there....

Just a bit closer....

Got you.

Within a breath, my dinner's neck was between my jaws. With a strong bite and a particularly loud snap, the antelope moved no longer. I used my claws to carve out a thick chunk of its thigh.

Dinner was served.

After dinner was finished, I used my Nafsi, my spirit energy, to change into a form more suitable for traveling, my Walking form. The other form is more akin to the gods. It's similar to that which I hunt, thus we call it a Beast form. I chop up the remaining meat into slices easier to carry in my pouch. With everything loaded in my pouch, I made my way toward Payewa.

Payewa is a village on the outskirts of the plains and the desert. One of the few trading villages before you reach the jungle. I was about another day worth of travel away. Luckily, the meat wouldn't spoil until the day after tomorrow. More than enough time for me to sell it and for the seller to turn a profit. So I walked. I walked and walked and pondered and pondered some more. I spent a lot of time to myself. Thinking. How long had I been out in these plains, this land between territories, these outer wilds, by myself? Has it been 6 years now? Yeah. 6 years. That sounds right. 6 years have I walked this nameless land. I've been through the jungle of the monkeys and wolves, to the mountains and the bear villages, and to the plains where the hippos roam. There are only 2 places I try to stay away from, the fields with the kingdom of dragons, and the Proud Desert, the home of the lions. At one point, I called it home too......

"Kestejoo, how long does it take to prepare meat?" shouted StealHeart, the crown princess of the Adanna Pride. At least she used to be. Now we are left to fend for ourselves. Correction, I fended for the both of us. I did everything for my mother, ever since we had everything taken from us. I remember the days of begging her to stay in my father's home. She would say, "You're father's the reason we're in this mess is the first place. Do you truly think he gave a damn? If he did, we wouldn't have been here in the first place."

She wasn't entirely incorrect. I know that there are things that he could've done to help. But something my mom forgets, or purposefully doesn't mention, is that I heard a lot of their arguments. I know that my mom truly and honestly started it. She could blame my dad but I know... her own actions made us lose everything.

I feel as though deep inside her, she knew. I believed she knew because she would take it out on me. I was to be the "New Mane" and I was treated accordingly. Though she called me her son, I was more of her servant. The gods know how much I hated being both of those things. But I learned early in life it was easier to play a role, to pretend, then to defy her. So I pretended to be happy, I played the good servant, I pretended to be the boy she wanted and not...

And not what I was...

Nevertheless I did as told. Being belittled the entire way. Everything done under the excuse of "It'll help in the future." Or "Things will get better"

.....they never got better.

I thought about my mother until I couldn't handle the thoughts anymore. By the time I had taken back control of my thoughts, the sun had set far below the horizon. I sat down and reached into my pouch and took out another slab of meat to eat. A late night snack. I tried to lead my thoughts away from my mother. This wasn't abnormal. I focused on my Nafsi and deep within the energy of my spirit I spoke my truth. The truth that has gotten me by for the past 6 years. 

I am QuietPaw, the wanderer of the outer wilds. Nothing more.....