TLADI

Chapter 3

They had been crouched low in the bushes in the 'V' formation. The widest ends of the 'V' were where the weakest of the best team of hunters in the village stood. These were Tladi and Stima's positions, each on either side. The strongest hunter was always positioned at the apex; this was the Khoisan's position. The small yellow man would give the signal. The hunters at the edges of the 'V' would be the first to shoot, scattering the herd in opposite directions as a diversion. The hunter at the apex had to be exceptionally talented because a stampede of wild beasts would come his way. He had to be swift and sure. Hesitation would result in death. It was dangerous but it was also the best way to hunt down a large number of animals in a short time. However, something had gone wrong. The signal had been given. Just as Stima loosed his arrow into the thick of the herd, a flock of birds had suddenly flown up, right before his face. They had startled him and destroyed his aim. The fleeing birds had alerted the herds in the clearing. They scattered slightly, just out of the arrow's path. That's when Stima had suddenly seen and realised that the arrow was heading straight for Tladi's left eye, her only eye. Lightning fast, Tladi grabbed hold of the arrow. She leaned back swiftly to avoid the sharp point. It had been just millimetres away from her eye. As a result, she had accidentally let loose her arrow in a desperate attempt to save her own life.

By this time, Stima had stood up from his cover, of tall green grass and trees. He had been rushing dangerously through the panicked animals to see how Tladi had fared. Her loosed arrow had nicked the side of his stomach. It had left a bleeding skin wound. The smell of blood leeched into the air. This, combined with Stima's sudden appearance among the herds, terrified
the animals. They began to run in all directions away from him, towards Tladi. Tladi had to move fast. She stood up abruptly. She shot arrows into the herds at a speed that only fear could produce. The stampede slowly began to change direction, just a few meters in front of Tladi. Then, a raging bull in one of the herds saw Tladi. Instead of inspiring fear within it, Tladi inspired rage. It charged towards her with its curved horns lowered. Tladi loosed arrows at the speed of light towards the charging bull. Some of them missed. Some of them struck home, but the beast continued to charge furiously. Its pace only slowed slightly. This enabled Stima to begin catching up with it.
Tladi continued to shoot arrows furiously. The distant sky rumbled ominously, echoing her fear. Having heard the rumbling sky, Tladi killed her fear and turned it into focus. More of Tladi's arrows struck home. The beast slowed further. Stima finally caught up with it. It was about to impale Tladi on its sharp horns. Stima jumped onto its side with all his might and weight. It fell on its side, unbalanced. Tladi's life was saved. Then Stima was thrown into the path of the bull's deadly hooves. It angrily struggled beneath him. He suddenly looked to his left, in Tladi's direction. All he saw was one sure, sharp, large hoof. It was advancing with great speed towards his head. It was going to shatter his skull. He wondered why his life was not flashing before his eyes. The hoof was right before his eyes. Then it suddenly changed direction. It jerked upwards and stopped. A strong unkind grip had pulled him up from the belly of the largest wildebeest he had ever seen. He realized that it had not been his fear that made it seem so huge. He noticed an arrow buried deeply into the beast's eye, having penetrated the brain. Tladi had killed it instantly and saved his life, just after he had saved hers. That made them both forever indebted to each other. This fact thoroughly infuriated them both. A sudden strong wind blew. Tladi suppressed her emotions. She noticed that it was that man, Unaletastima, and only that man who had the power to make her loose her cool; that was how deep her hatred for him ran.

"Now that was one of the best diversions I've ever seen!" The village idiot and greatest hunter, the yellowy Khoisan, said. Stima's enraged stare alighted upon the small man's laughing face, sobering him. Tladi's one-eyed cold indigo stare had followed, scaring him. He turned away and began the tedious task of culling the meat and taking it back to the village.

Having recollected the memories of that morning Stima's anger knew no bounds. It no longer
mattered that it had not been Tladi who had purposely mistold the events of the morning. All that mattered was that she had been involved, his archenemy from childhood. The old emotions had combined with the new and as they heaved through him, they heaved him into action. He did not think, before launching into attack. He did not think. That was the problem right there! He did not think. Had he thought, he would have realized the stupidity of it all. Had he thought, he would have walked away from Tladi. Instead, he was forced to walk beside her, into the wasted beauty of the heavenly African sunset.
Watching the sunset Tladi remembered how she had known that Stima would attack her. She
had known this before he had even stood up...