The Ancients A Tale of Survival

Hunting

The weird babbit hopped through the brush.  It had once been a rabbit, but because of radiation it had developed batlike wings and could move across the ground faster than a wolf could run.  They were hard to catch, but their meat was super tender.  The babbit hopped from prickly fern to prickly fern, eating the choicest shoots from the bottom of the plant.  Every so often it would stop and raise up on it's back legs to sniff at the air.  It's eyes were red and it moved around by listening to the way that the wavelengths bounce off of the trees.

Mỷrἇ snuck stealthily through the underbrush.  She was extra careful to not make any noise to tip off the babbit to her presence.  Her bow was drawn and an arrow was knocked and waiting to fly.  She had been tracking this particular babbit all morning.  It was the size of a werecat and it easily outweighed her.  Mỷrἇ knew that she could have hunted something easier, but they needed the food.

Mỷrἇ crouched down and waited with baited breath as the babbit went back to eating.  She snuck forward till she was within twenty feet of the babbit which was the closest that you could get.  Mỷrἇ stood up and took aim.  She released the arrow just as the babbit took off. The babbit roared as the arrow found it's mark.  Mỷrἇ stayed back out of the way of it's death throws.  Mỷrἇ approached once the babbit had stopped moving.  She nudged the animal with her foot.  It was hard to believe that the babbit used to be an innocent rabbit that did nothing but eat grass and procreate.

Mỷrἇ bent and went to work on gutting the babbit.  It took her over an hour to get it ready to carry back to camp.  Mỷrἇ wiped sweat off of her forehead before she heaved the babbit to her shoulder.  She stumbled off in the direction of camp.  Mỷrἇ backtracked towards the camp that she shared with Ştårbrîghţ and Jåcóbӱ.  Mỷrἇ had been put in charge of finding food for the week.  Their chores changed.  Just last week Mỷrἇ had been in charge of getting fresh water for the camp and washing clothes.  Next week she'd be in charge of repairing any of the traps that were broke and reweaving their hammocks.

Mỷrἇ's mind wandered as she made her way back towards camp.  It had been four years since she followed Jåcóbӱ as they fled from a life that was stifling.  Jåcóbӱ was 19 and if they had stayed in their village he would have already been mated to someone.  For that matter, at 15 Mỷrἇ should be bonded and already have a child.  Mỷrἇ had changed since the night they'd ran away.  Her red hair was curlier than ever and fell in spirals to her knees.  She liked to wear it loose or even bound back in a braid.  Mỷrἇ's skin had darkened further from the sun which made her green eyes pop.  Her features had morphed into a gentler version of her father.  Jåcóbӱ looked exactly like their father except for his eyes.  They had become greener over the years and it reminded Mỷrἇ strongly of their mother.

Mỷrἇ paused as she heard a sound that seemed out of place.  It was the call of a bird that rarely made any noise.  Mỷrἇ cocked her head and listened carefully to the call that echoed ahead of her.  Mỷrἇ listened and felt a nagging feeling in the back of her mind.  Mỷrἇ followed her intuition and turned left.  She knew the forest well and could get back to camp in a dozen different ways.  Mỷrἇ picked up her pace as she moved soundlessly through the forest. 

She breathed a sigh of relief as she spotted the first set of traps that Ştårbrîghţ had set up.  Ştårbrîghţ looked up as Mỷrἇ let the babbit slide off of her shoulder.  She shifted and rotated her neck and shoulders.  Ştårbrîghţ watched her as he chewed on some herbs.  He motioned to the babbit.

 "I see that you had good luck."

Mỷrἇ gave him a pleased smile.  "I followed this particular one for many hours till I was finally able to get close."  Mỷrἇ frowned as she looked around camp.  "Where's Jåcóbӱ?"

Ştårbrîghţ motioned to the surrounding forest.  "He's busy setting some new traps.  There are strangers in the forest."

Mỷrἇ nodded.  "That makes sense.  As I was on my way back I heard a warbbler call out.  I took the long way back to camp."

"Then we must be extra careful.  We are not ready for you and your brother to be discovered."  Ştårbrîghţ stood and stretched.  "I will go help Jåcóbӱ set the traps."

Mỷrἇ watched as  Ştårbrîghţ disappeared into the forest.  He vanished within seconds.  Mỷrἇ studied the forest carefully before she got to work on tending to the babbit meat.  If there were people in the forest, then she couldn't smoke it.  Instead, Mỷrἇ planned on rubbing herbs into it and letting the sun cure it.  It would take twice as long as smoking, but it would keep strangers from finding their camp.  

Mỷrἇ hummed quietly along to the birds as she got to work.  Even though she hummed, Mỷrἇ kept her ears tuned into the surrounding forest.  Her eyes regularly darted to the forest and kept watch as she worked.  No way would anyone be sneaking up on her tonight.