Keeia watched from the bushes, panting slightly, her tribal markings blending into the foliage around her. Her prey was standing in front of her, completely unaware of her presence. The familiar surge of excitement coursed through her like an electric current. Hands trembling ever so slightly, Keeia drew back the bow, ready to pounce. One, two... three.
Keeia was coming down from the high, the pre-kill high, as her grandfather called it. Her game bag was full enough, her legs were aching, and she was not far from home. The lights from her tree-top home illuminated the dense jungle like a second sun. Keeia stumbled slightly towards the clearing, clutching at her heavy game bag. "Where have you been, Keeia?" demanded her brother, Dyiemet, as he slipped down from a low branch. "Hunting, genius!" Keeia said teasingly, whilst brandishing her bag. "Besides, it's only Half First Moon! I didn't have to be back until Second Moon!" Even as she said this, she was wondering. "All the other hunters were back at Last Sun. Didn't anyone tell you? Today was Announcement Day! Ptios is champion, by the way. You missed it, genius." Dyiemet's slender frame disappeared as he leaped up onto a branch far above, and then onto the closest platform, his laugh echoing to the jungle floor below.
By the time Keeia handed the contents of her game bag to the Game Master, Choosing ceremonies were pretty much over, and it was almost Third Moon. She slung herself onto one of the highest platforms, the sleeping platform, then retrieved her cover from a branch next to her head. As silently as she could, Keeia found her corner, and sank onto the coarsely woven hammock with a sigh. She began arranging her cover, so as to get as much privacy as possible, before rolling on her side. The view was breathtaking; from here you could see all the villages, even the deserted September village. And, obviously, the Great Oak. The Great Oak was the tallest tree in the jungle by far, big enough to hold a whole tribe. Which, of course, it did. Keeia turned to her other side, and surveyed the scene below her. Her 16 younger siblings were scattered below, ensnared in the web of hammocks, which were strung in a vague spiral arrangement. Only the branch to her left was empty. Her older siblings, Dyiemet and Alioesa, slept in the second tree. The music of the night birds finally persuaded Keeia to give in to the temptations of sleep.
YOU ARE READING
Finding Kiara
FantasyKeeia's twin sister, Kiara, died when they were barely a year old. Now Keeia is seventeen and in a year will be an adult in her tribes's eyes. Then the Sky Gods decide to hold a competition. The winning tribe will become the rulers of the jungle, bu...
