The forest was silent save for the song of birds flyng through the air. Habagat sat on a branch with nothing but his bow, quiver and his friend Amihan. The large, green forest mirrored the abundance of creatures in it that some might say some kapres are tending the forest. The green foliage is so thick that it filters the light from the azure sky.
Habagat could've stayed this way forever, climbing trees and lazying around if only food weren't a necessity. Ever since he turned fourteen, he was no longer treated as the young fledgling that he was, he’s now treated as man and must hunt for food lest he’d starve.
“Amihan, I’m hungry, go find some food” Habagat's friend darted away at his signal.
Amihan was Habagat’s closest friend. They met in the same forest while he was climbing trees. Eagles in this forest were deemed extremely deadly, but there was no use to fear back then when he saw her. He found Amihan’s mother lying dead on the forest floor being eaten by ants. Must have died the night before, the body was too bloody to determine what killed it. He climbed a tree nearby to eat his lunch but then he found a chick, figuring out that it might not have eaten since the day before he gave it his lunch. He starved till dawn that day but he gained a friend who’d last forever.
People in the balanggay told him he was lucky, eagles were said to be untameable unless it was a chick but obtaining one was far more dangerous, eagle mothers were extremely ferocious. Lucky he was indeed, he’d have someone to fetch him food whenever he’s hungry. But Habagat knows, whatever Amihan brings back would never be enough for the both of them so he climbed down to find his own. Not even an hour has passed when he found his target, a young deer. He immediately did what he was taught. He crouched down, grabbed a handful of crisp brown leaves, crunched it and let it fly with the wind. The leaves flew behind him, his positioning was good, and the prey won’t smell him.
Slowly he grabbed and arrow and loaded his bow. He aimed carefully, drew the arrow slowly, and released letting the arrow fly smoothly through the wind, and found its mark on a tree bark. The deer of course was gone; he didn’t even notice where it went.
“Damn it! Why can’t I even shoot properly? I already had the basics down.” Habagat fetched the arrow from the tree “At this rate even fruits are gonna run away from me, can’t even hit a still target.”
Habagat set out to find another prey, maybe he’ll get lucky soon. No matter how bad his aim was he always manage to catch something. Once he was able to shoot two sparrows in one shot, they were even in flight. Sometimes he thinks that he should resort making traps, he’ll just set one and wait around all day, but he just couldn’t wait that long. It was already sunset when he heard Amihan coming. The day’s hunt he manages to catch two rabbits and three fowls. He felt proud when Amihan came with only two rats in her beak, until he realized that she was leading him to her catch along the river. A sizeable pile of fish and the deer he found and escaped him.
Habagat laughed “Just as always Amihan, you always get the better of me.” Habagat said while petting Amihan. He found it funny that he didn’t have to reach down to pet her head. Had she grown this big already? She was even strong enough to catch a deer.
Habagat remembered how he fed Amihan when they were young while cooking their dinner. Now she was the one feeding him. She grew up so fast, it was only a year ago when she was always resting on his shoulders like kapre protecting a tree but now she was almost as tall as him. Habagat knows that Amihan could already fend for her own but she just never leaves. He knows that the day will come that Amihan will look for a mate and nestle her own young. He always thought that it would be the day he starves, unless he improves on his archery.
The sun has already set when they decided to go home. There are creatures far worse than eagles that lurk in the night. It is not wise to stay any longer. Upon returning to the balangay, he was greeted by Malayon.
