Jabari's Pride

The Hunt Pt: 2

Chapter 2:

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'This was my chance to prove myself! And with that the Horn was blown.'

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"Went the drums, signaling our departure from our safe home into the unknown wilderness.It was as if a big stampede of animals had been released. But instead of the sound of animals it was the thrilling war cry that we all made. Everyone including me ran towards the thick massive jungle with weapons raised, making birds fly out from the trees and small animals burrow into the ground.

As soon as we were in the heavily populated jungle, we had all been spread out and all was silent besides the usual sounds of bugs and birds. I looked around and all I saw was huge massive trees, it was as though all the animals had known about the hunt and fled. It was empty but that was to be expected.

I scanned the area and found footprints but it was that of an Okere (Squirrel) so I went the opposite direction, towards the sound of the distant stream that should be nearby. I hoped to spot an elephant or any other large thirsty animal that I may kill.

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It seemed as though I had been walking forever, the trees were slowly diminishing and spreading out. The sun was coming down as night slowly took over and my excitement had dissipated.

But yet I could never find the stream, if anything it made me question if I was maybe hallucinating. As I looked around I still couldn't find any of the animal I was looking for. The most I've seen was a deer but it had been claimed by another female hunter.

The more intimidating animals were very cunning and dangerous so most hunters tend to leave them alone, but my thoughts were the complete opposite. 'To hunt an animal, you have to think like one' Fahim's words flashed in my head. Whatever that meant however, wasn't my first thought. Food was my main focus at this point as my stomach growled. Deciding not to waste any energy on killing for food, I settled for fruits.

The jungle held many tropical and exotic fruits that could be deadly. But luckily Kwame had shown me the ones that were edible and the ones that should not be touched. The juicy and edible fruits grew on certain trees and were hard to locate in the forest.

I scouted around and found berries on bushes, mangoes and bananas. I met some monkeys as I was taking the bananas and allthough the monkeys weren't too happy at me taking their food, they were grateful they weren't the ones being eaten.

Putting my spear beside me, I sat down on a stump in a small clearing and began eating the few amount of food I had. As I finished, I thought about how I was going to find a lion or anything worth taking home to be honest, after all I haven't even killed a single thing.

No other person was in sight which made me very anxious because I was used to many people surrounding and serving me. I had to hurry to find my way back to civilization.

I heard a far and distant "Boom!" that meant one person had finished hunting, this only made me annoyed with myself. Quickly I got up and grabbed my spear.

Pushing through a veil of thick branches of leaves, I made my way cautiously and silently. I decided it would be best to get a bird's eye view of my surroundings which meant getting as high as possible. As I looked around, I spotted a wide, tall and heavily branched tree. Perfect!

Taking everything in account, I decided it's worth spending my energy on. So up I went, the sky became wider and wider the more I climbed. Gentle breeze flowed, making my hair beads and feathers dance. Colorful birds flew in fear as I got to the green top of the tree.