Phan stories

Roasted

His feet rarely touched the ground as he leapt over the deep burrows and jagged branches that littered the Forrest floor. He had to find the boy before they caught up to him but finding a black haired boy in the darkness of the Forrest wasn't going to be easy.

They were out there,

watching,

waiting,

listening,

stalking.

And it was only a matter of time before Dan joined the fate that the rest of his tribe had so brutally endured. Men, woman, children, all slaughtered because of their greed, because of their need to have everything wanted. Like a toddler throwing a tantrum because they were denied of something they wanted.

Phil's bright blue eyes could've lit the way for them, just like the moon would've if the trees didn't block it out. But Phil had escaped while he had the chance not even bothering to save anyone or even try and Dan hated him for that yet he had to find him.

As a hunter Dan should've been fit enough to run such long distances and vigilant enough to avoid the burrows and ditches that lurked in the darkness but he wasn't focusing enough. In what felt like seconds he found himself in a heap at the bottom of a muddy and wet ditch that had already started to absorb him. As he fell he felt something sharp pierce the skin of his thigh, going effortlessly through the skin and tearing at the muscle, this was one of their traps. He couldn't shout for help because that would risk being caught and quite possibly killed, so he bit down on his lip hard to contain is cry of pain.

But as the cold of the air and dampness of the mud got to him he wondered if it would've been better to have just been killed right then and there as he had nothing to go back to, no family, no friends, no dogs, no food, no home. It had all been destroyed and taken from him by the greed of the new and much bigger tribe that was slowly taking over the Forrest, their territory, their country.

Dan was equipped with a bow and 10 arrows, this was all he had left. He should've taken more but he didn't expect to have survived and therefore hadn't grabbed anything else from the dead members of his tribe before leaving. Phil on the other hand hadn't taken anything which made Dan fear for him more as he had nothing and no one to defend him from the evil grasp of the murderous tribe.

Suddenly the sound of a twig snapping above him tore him away from his thoughts. He didn't dare look up, didn't dare move, one wrong move and he could potentially be killed or tortured, or make the spear inflict more damage. But after the snap he heard muffled voices from the distance,
did he dare look?

Slowly and as silently as possible he peered out of the ditch, holding in the pain that came with pulling the spear out of his leg, brown sparkling eyes scanning the ground above, his brown curly hair that was layered in mud was hidden in the dark of night. Only three. Three small thin males, boys, they hardly looked over the age of twelve, but there they were standing discussing something in the middle of a forest in the dark of night. Dan didn't have the heart to shoot at them, to watch them die one by one in front of him, not after he had witnessed that happening to the young of his tribe, he was only young himself. But the sight of the young made him understand one thing as many tribes worked the same. Send the young to build a camp and soon the chief will follow.

He had to find Phil.

And fast.

~~~

Phil could hear the screams of pain and the pleas for mercy but he didn't stay long enough so see how it all ended. No.

The one person he would of waited for was Dan and he had lost him in the panic and the chaos of everything, he was dead.

Phil was sure Dan was dead because there was no way a boy like Dan could kill a human, he was too kind, too soft, too beautiful to do that. And that's what Phil admired most about him, his ability to see the good in people even when they had done horrible things or maybe it was the huge amount of guilt he had felt after killing a member of another tribe by accident.

He had gone another way to escape, climbed the rocks instead of trying to run on foot as, as a spy he wasn't needed for speed he was needed for quick thinking and stealth but also the ability to hear things clearly.

But his ability to hear things clearly had failed him as now he lay in a cold dark cave with his arms and legs tied tightly together and was told that if he were to speak one word he would be tortured. He lay there with his pale skin resting against the cold damp rock on the ground, shivering in the cold as he had been left in without light and without a fire. A small puddle had formed around his face from where he had let the tears fall, tears of pain and loss, tears of suffering. This was seen as being weak to this tribe and although he didn't belong with them he still suffered the consequences, he was beaten. A branch of thick wood was used to repeatedly beat him with until he could no longer see and his body felt like a dead weight, then with one last strike everything went even darker.

~~~

Dan had watched the young boys as they set up a camp and then proceeded to light a rather large fire, considering they were in a forest, almost as though there was a feast planned. Next was the small tent like frames they set up using old cloth as a cover and fallen leaves for the inside. And then just as dan had presumed they set up a stand on either side of the fire as though they were preparing for a meal.

He must've dosed off or got caught in his thoughts as when he snapped back into reality it was the sound of shouting and singing that got his attention back. But what he saw next was something that would haunt him forever.

Phil.

His Phil.

There he was tied to a branch, his body hanging almost lifelessly from it by his arms and legs. Dan almost screamed out when he saw him, tears welling in his eyes as he realised what was about to happen, what was going to happen.

Phil was then hung over the continuously growing fire while he was unconscious as Dan looked on. He couldn't take on a whole tribe alone he would've needed someone else to help him, Phil. Now he was forced to watch as his best friend was cruelly murdered in front of him.

Phil's blue eyes opened after the flames had reached his black hair and had began eating away at each strand, the fear that was painted so clearly in his eyes was something Dan would never un-see. The screams that followed would ring in Dan's ear with every bad thought he had. The screams of shear terror and panic as the other tribe sliced him with spears and watched and laughed as he slowly bled and burned. And then his eyes met Dan's almost as though he knew he was there. A lot can be said from just looking at one another but this was kept simple,

'Goodbye'

'I'm sorry'

Dan watched on as his friend slowly left him until his breathing stopped and his beautiful eyes closed. He couldn't watch what happened to him next.

His best friend, roasted.

This was taken from my October writing challenge selection of stories but I gave up on that so added more to it and put it in amongst these ones!.