A Sickness Growing

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Present day...

Tatł,now a young adult of the age 21,walked through a tundra. In fact this was the same tundra where 5 years ago he had encountered that beast. Though he had long forgotten that now,as he searched through the tundra,eyes sharp. Looking for any sign of movement. He then stiffened as he saw an arctic fox trot through the snow. His eyes widened as he suddenly got a flashback to him encountering the beast and its haunting roar.

He stumbled backwards and must have let out a scream of some kind because the fox looked at him fearfully and ran off. "D̶a̶m̶n̶ i̶t̶." He cursed under his breath. He shook his head,"Why had that fox spooked me so much?" A few years back certain things would trigger flashbacks,like the tundra itself. But that had been 5 years ago,he had been able to traverse through the tundra now. He shook his head again,there was no time to dawdle now. He regained his balance and continued through the tundra making sure he was silent.

By this point he had been walking a while, approximately 20 minutes or so and was about to give up. Then he saw it. The gold mine. There standing idle,was a caribou. Tatł simply stood in awe,he couldn't believe it.

His brother Yago had only caught a caribou once and he hadn't come back for many hours. This was his chance! Tatł slowly crept forward eyeing the caribou's movements with a watchful eye. Tatł had an advantage as most caribou travel in herds,however caribou were extremely fast. If Tatł triggered the slightest movement he'd have to come home empty handed.

Tatł was also alone so the only way to catch this beast was to use a sneaky approach. He studied the caribou closely,wasn't too big,must be a young buck. Which would mean it might not see a sneak attack coming from its young age,but also would be at its top speed. Tatł then frowned realizing an important detail. The only way to kill this beast in a single hit would be a slice to the throat,and there's no way he could get to its throat without it noticing.

He pondered hard on his next action,"S̶h̶o̶u̶l̶d̶a̶ c̶a̶u̶g̶h̶t̶ t̶h̶e̶ f̶o̶x̶." He mumbled. Then he had a crazy thought. He looked at a tree beside the caribou,and walking behind the tree he started to climb it. Making sure the caribou didn't see him he climbed until he was directly above the caribou. He grinned and then pounced out of the tree like a leopard.

He landed directly on the caribou and unable to stand his weight it's feet buckled beneath it. In a quick motion Tatł drew his hunting knife and slashed the beast's throat. It flailed for a few seconds its limbs kicking wildly. However Tatł still managed to pin it. Finally it lied motionless and Tatł hopped off the caribou and slung the buck over his shoulder. It took about two hours to get back because of the extra weight,but finally Tatł arrived to his destination .

He was happy to return back to his run-down home. At least compared to most of Atlas it was pretty run-down. The house was completely white so if someone had passed by it they probably wouldn't have noticed. The entrance was also completely surrounded by evergreens so that if someone tried to investigate they'd believe they just got themselves lost in the tundra. The house was even less interesting inside.

Inside it looked completely empty,there were snow,white,open rooms with nothing in them,except for the living room that is. It was still white but also had a dining table and two chairs. Tatł then walked to a dark corner of the house and opened a bottom latch which led him to the basement,where he and Yago resided. "Y̶a̶g̶o̶,l̶o̶o̶k̶ w̶h̶a̶t̶ I̶ g̶o̶t̶!" Tatł called out enthusiastically. Yago lied on the floor with a pillow and a blanket wrapped around him.

Yago slowly lifted his head and his dull eyes widened. Yago had recently fallen ill the previous week,so Tatł had to hunt by himself. "A caribou! Great job!" Yago exclaimed with the most enthusiasm he could muster with his sore throat. Tatł grinned and laid the caribou down sheathing his hunting knife. "Wait,let me help you." Yago pleaded but as he tried to get up he was swept into a bout of wet coughing.

Tatł looked at his brother sadly,he didn't know when Yago would get over his sickness in the cold winter of the tundra. "I̶t̶'s̶ a̶l̶r̶i̶g̶h̶t̶,I̶ c̶a̶n̶ h̶a̶n̶d̶l̶e̶ i̶t̶." Tatł reassured as he began skinning the caribou. Several minutes passed in silence,Yago fell asleep but Tatł had many thoughts running through his brain. "Why did that fox trigger a flashback?" "What does a fox have to do with the beast I met that night?" "Will Yago be okay?" Tatł glanced at his sibling and noticed his unsteady breathing.

He shook his head,he'll be fine. When 30 minutes had slowly passed he had successfully skinned the caribou. Tatł had just started removing the organs,when out of the corner of his eye he saw his brother twitching. Normally Yago was a calm sleeper but Tatł had just assumed the sickness made him restless. That was until he began to fidget and squirm and murmur under his breath.

Tatł dropped the caribou and inspected his brother,"Y̶a̶g̶o̶,y̶o̶u̶ o̶k̶a̶y̶?" He asked while prodding him. That proved ineffective as the movements continued;Tatł drew closer trying to hear his brother's murmers. "No....Tatł's a good person....he would never..." Tatł's face contracted into shock as he realized the content of his dream. He stayed in place,wanting to hear the rest. "No.... more day...can't leave..." The last part of the sentence was cut off as Yago suddenly jerked awake.

He inhaled heavily as if out of breath and clutched his chest. "Y̶a̶g̶o̶ a̶r̶e̶ y̶o̶u̶ o̶k̶a̶y̶!" Tatł exclaimed with concern and confusion. Yago took many breaths before he spoke,"Yeah,I think so." Yago then stood up and smiled at a sitting Tatł on the floor. "Come on,those organs won't remove themselves!" Then he strolled over to the caribou as if the sickness was but a faded memory. Tatł simply stood in stunned silence.

"What was that dream Yago just had?" "And why does it fill me with dread?" Like the many other questions,he didn't have answers. So he walked over to Yago and sat beside him. They both continued removing the organs. One a liar. The other prey.

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