Final CTD Masterpiece

A Boar's Struggle Part 1

 Okkoto wandered through the forest, listening to the birds twittering away in the treetops. This part of the forest could not be penetrated by the pollutions of man. Okkoto believed that the forest spirit would protect him and his people here.

He heard a heavy pattering and then smelled his brother, Nago. "Hello brother," said Okkoto. "What have you seen today?" Nago's hulking form shone in the sunlight. He was in prime condition as a boar and a fighter. Massive tusks protruded from his lower lip and his large snout twitched to the sudden appearance of particles of pollen.

"Much more than you have in your life," said Nago, in a light-hearted manner.

"Hey, now. It's not nice to make fun of the blind," responded Okkoto. He straightened his broad shoulders and raised his pale and shaggy head into an upright position, his white eyes staring into nothingness. "Seriously though, what did you see today?"

"Nothing new to me or you. I saw the humans trying once again to destroy our way of life." Nago's jaw tightened. "Damn them. Every last one. May they all die a long and painful death." Okkoto became rigid and tense.

"That is a lot of hate, brother. I suggest you dispense that before it gets the better of you." Okkoto said, sounding a little worried. "What are you going to do, brother."

"What? Me? Nothing. Nothing at all."

"Why do you always lie to me?" pleaded Okkoto in his confident and baritone voice. "It's plain to see when you are planning on doing something reckless. You are different somehow."

"Ah, it's no use trying to hide things from you." Nago sighed. "I guess it is your job to keep me safe. Well, I was planning on making an attack on the humans."

"All by yourself?" Okkoto spluttered. "That would virtually be suicide."

"Don't worry about me. Just make sure that our people don't get wiped out by this horrible onslaught of men." And with that, he began to stalk off to the rim of the clearing, his bushy black stripes snagging on thorns and twigs. Okkoto yelled after him, "Wait! Don't do anything rash. I wouldn't want to lose you yet." Nago locked eyes with him for a moment and then continued on his way out. He pushed aside tubers and branches with his thick tusks and then he disappeared. His rank stench lingered in the air for a moment then vanished along with him.

Okkoto turned back to the woods and walked over to where the lake stood. The rippling of the water sounded playful and warm so he laid down, slightly submerged. The mixture of sunlight and water made his body feel relaxed and sleepy. He began to notice the feeling of the wind on his thin ears, his thick and muscular shoulders. For several hours, he drifted in and out of sleep, while always feeling the water plants tickling his belly.

Okkoto's ears pricked up to the pitter-patter of water. He took in all of the smells around him. What is that? He thought to himself. He smelled the damp leaves on the forest floor, the distant scent of his tribe, and something sweet? It couldn't be! Okkoto's large jaw dropped open and he felt a warmth spread over him. Suddenly, the sensation of flowers appeared at his ankles, soft and tickling. It is! The Forest Spirit! He heard the soft sound of water grow nearer to him. Then he felt a touch right on the tip of his snout and a feeling of immense joy radiated through his body, and the sounds of water disappeared. Okkoto licked his nose to find an extremely irritating wart to have vanished. He had been told by his fathers who had been told by their fathers about the forest spirit's presence.

The forest spirit is regarded among the boars and other wildlife as a holder of life and death. He births and kills the forest so that balance is never wiped from the face of the earth. He looks like a deer, but with beautifully grown antlers, and it also possesses the face of a human. His appearance usually foretells a major event or happening that is going to occur soon. Most of the time, it tends to be bad. I must report this to my people, thought Okkoto to himself. Something must be happening. Rushing through a well-worn path that smelled of boar and droppings, Okkoto flew. He navigated his way through the forests using his sense of smell and instinct. Familiar leaves brushed past his hide to guide him on his way. Birds and other creatures called out to him, mixing their voices with the disturbance of leaves he created in his wake. He ran for a few minutes then began to slow.

Reaching the sounds and smells of his people, the boars, he picked up a different smell. A powerful and bloody smell. The air became thick with the different possible dangers of the scent. It wasn't all too tricky to figure out that a wolf remained nearby. He turned his head to where Moro, the god of wolves, stood. Her white fur remained clean, even though she had lived her whole life in a rather muddy forest. Her fangs were bared in a toothy grin. He heard her rustling in the leaves toward him. "Hello Moro. What brings you to my corner of the forest?"

"Normally, I would not disturb you," she began in her prideful voice. "But the forest may be in danger from what I have learned. My daughter has seen that Irontown has been designing more weapons that can even rival the gods' power." She turned to show a deep and bloody hole in her side. Okkoto heard her lay down in a pile of dry leaves. "They are going to try and invade the deep forest in a violent strike." Okkoto twitched and fell to the earth.

"Are you sure?" he asked in a hushed whisper. "Entirely certain of what you're telling me."

"Would I really have come all this way just to tell you that there might be an attack?" Okkoto thought for a moment.He then heard a thundering of hooves come close to him. An armada of boars had rushed closer to see why their leader had fallen.

"Lord Okkoto, what has happened?" asked an unfamiliar voice. Okkoto remained in shock for a moment. Then he responded to who he assumed to be one of his followers.

"I-I'm afraid that the humans of Irontown are planning on invading this part of the forest." Okkoto received gasps and sounds of surprise. "We are going to go to war."