The next day during the afternoon, Phil, Winston, and the four child soldiers were tasked to do the second and final trial to see if they are officially part of the Fox tribe.
The trial is that they have to survive one night alone in the deep dark area of the forest. The trial is considered the final test to see if they have confidence and teamwork as it is the key to survival of the night. Lilith thought the trial was dangerous since they are all too young to do it, excluding Phil. But her father Sean thinks they can do it since it's tradition that any fox or human with any age can do the final trial.
Phil and his friends were given a spear, a bow, and 15 arrows each for the trial, they had to find food themselves and had to set their own camp that is far away from the village. They can't take anything from the village except their clothes on their back, and the weapons that they are given. All other provisions have to be found outside in the forest for the night.
"I'm not going to like this." Craig says as he gets ready.
"Yeah, who knows what dangerous creatures are in that dark part of the forest." Reyes added.
"It won't be that bad." Winston says with confidence.
"Easy for you to say. You and Phil have been out of the base longer than us." Marcus says as he sharpens his spear.
"Guys, come on. I know it sounds bad that we have to go into the wilderness for the night, but it's better than being treated like objects in the military right?" Phil asked.
"True, but they will find us for desertion. And I can't believe you two killed Captain Rick. You really pissed off General Vince." Tyler says while surprised.
"It was an accident, besides he deserved it for mistreating us anyway." Winston says.
"It's true, many of us hated him anyway." Marcus added.
"Alright. It's time for the trial. You six follow me and stay together till we reach the destination in the forest." A male fox says as he and a few members escorted them out of the village.
"Time to do this." Winston says nervously as he and everyone start following.
As Phil was about to leave, Lilith stopped him for a sec and said, "Don't worry, we will keep an eye on you guys during the trial."
"Thank you. I should get going." He says as he heads out of the village.
The trek lasted about two hours now as the six kept walking down the path with the fox anthros escorting them through the forest. Winston was taking some pictures from his camera to get rid of the boredom.
"My feet are killing me, how much farther?" Marcus asked.
"Not far. Just a few more miles." A female fox says as she leads them.
"Okay humans. We are entering a foggy area of the forest, stay close and don't wander off." A male fox says as he moves some vines out of the way.
Marcus made sure that Craig would stay close as they kept walking down the foggy path, Phil did the same thing with Winston as they could barely see anything by the thick fog that was starting to build up a little.
Phil started hearing animal sounds around the area, and was hoping that a dangerous creature is not close to where they are.
"Did you guys hear that?" He asked.
"Kind of." Reyes says as he looks around.
"Don't worry. There will be some creatures passing by, but we know the ones you are hearing aren't predators." The female fox explained as she kept walking down the path.
"I hope you are right." Tyler says as he stays confident.
As the sun started to dip down into the horizon, they arrived at their destination into the dark area of the forest. The Fox anthros helped them set up their campsite and instructed them on some tips of how to survive the night out into the wilderness.
"It will be nightfall in a couple of hours. Good luck passing the trial, we will arrive back in the morning." The male fox says before him and his friends headed back to the village.
"I'll set up the campfire. Winston, do you have any flint?" Phil asked.
"Yep." Winston says as he tossed him some.
"Craig and I will find some food." Marcus says as they leave the campsite for a moment.
"And Tyler and I will set up our tent." Reyes says as they went to find something useful.
"Great. At least we are working together." Phil says as he starts striking the flint.
"What do you want me to do?" Winston asked.
"How about you go get us some fresh water? They said a spring is just west of that path." Phil says while trying to light the campfire.
"Sure." Winston says as he went to the spring.
As it was night time, they were able to finish setting up the camp, but it was barely pitch black and it was terrifying not knowing what could be dangerous.
They started cooking some fish that they were able to catch thanks to their basic training. Phil started turning the fish while they were starting to turn brown. Marcus lit some torches around the camp for some light.
"This isn't so bad." Reyes says as he starts cutting the cooked fish.
"Yeah, but who has to stay up to keep watch while the rest sleeps for the night?" Craig asked.
"I'll do it, since I'm the oldest." Phil says.
"Are you sure? I can do it." Winston suggested.
"No, Winston. You need sleep. You have been having trouble staying awake today." Phil disagrees as he was persistent.
"Okay." Winston says.
As time passed, everyone was asleep in the leaf made tent while Phil tried to stay awake with a spear in his hand. He dozed off a couple times, but he jolted back awake as he wanted to protect his friends from being eaten.
"Just stay awake, just stay awake..." He says to himself.
He heard a few brushing from the bushes and he immediately got his spear and he jumped and was about to attack, but noticed it was only Lilith.
"Whoa! Whoa! Chill out!" Lilith shouted as he grabbed her spear in time.
"Lilith? What are you doing here?" He asked.
"I just wanted to help you and your friends succeed on this trial. I can't let you do this alone, especially that you are protecting kids that are too young for this. Don't worry, my dad doesn't know that I'm here." She explains.
"Well, he will be upset that you helped us do the trial." Phil says otherwise.
"He won't know, but he never understands that you're all only kids trying to find a home, trust me. I'll keep watching, and besides there is some heavy rain coming in an hour." Lilith explains as she helps out by grabbing some giant leaves that are helpful as tarps to help expand the tent a little bit to keep everyone dry.
Phil was impressed as he helped her finish as they heard thunder and rain starting to pour down. Lilith and Phil went under the upgraded tent to keep dry.
"Since it's raining, the creatures won't be a bother. Go ahead and rest Phil." Lilith suggested as she kept watch.
"Alright." Phil says as he lays down on the grass and rests.
Lilith smiled as she kept watch for the night as she wanted to find a way to confess his feelings towards Phil.
"Someday..." she said as she watched the heavy rain.
YOU ARE READING
The Tribe
FantasyPhil, a fifthteen year old human male that was drafted into the military and went to a another livable planet called Xena. The military encounterd a Furry Fox tribe and made a sharing agreement with them but the humans took advantage of it. Later Ph...
