deep inside the beasts' forest, the sun was moments away from rising. tumblehunter's group was resting on the ground beside the bonfire after eating a small deer, the last day was uneventful as they couldn't find the bear's cave nevermind the bear himself, though they caught four or five deers and seven badgers, their hunt couldn't be compared to the others, their leader's full attention on the cave bear made them worry about their position on the hunting list.
they did not only seek for food but they also sought fame, and the hunting list would grant it all.
this special list was made a long time ago by the former chief, every year it records each hunting group with its respective members, their hunting time, and their game. its only purpose was to stimulate the hunters of the tribe to catch more beasts and animals. this way, the tribe would gain more food and in return, by the end of the year, the groups on the top of the list will become the talk of the tribe as they earned various prizes like rare herbs, much sufficient blood, the most nutrient food, and most importantly diverse fine bone weapons made by the most proficient master "Eltedr". this unusual old man, inside the tribe, was remembered for two things.
the first being his capability to produce the best bone weapons and stone tools. even back then numerous masters asked him for his teachings, but to no avail. he was a prideful old man that even refused the position of an elder for the stormsong once before. that event caused many people to become angry as it was an act of disdaining the tribe.
the second thing was the rumors surrounding him being a man whose origins were unknown, several tribesmen observing him in major events claimed he looked different from them. neither in appearance nor in attitude did he resemble any of theirs' or the other tribes', they couldn't explain why, he just looked different, and even his name "Eltedr" sounded too foreign. but the most outrageous rumor of all was about him not having a double moon pattern on any of his shoulders.
while the six others of the group were resting, rumbleback was sitting on a round stone, throwing sticks on the bonfire.
it was his turn to keep watch and keep the fire lit, the sun had yet to rise. though he was nearest to the flame he still felt a little cold as he covered himself with some animal fur.
these days the only thing on his mind was how to find the boy and the silver wolf his wife had seen, and so he was more distracted in recent hunts. however, he was determined to locate them and kill them both, all for his daughter's dignity and his wife's safety.
a cold breeze passed by, he felt a chill as his body quivered, the cold made him believe his bladder bursting.
"anymore and I'll explode"
he sighed as he calmly stood heading for the trees to relieve himself.
as his figure gradually left the campfire, one of the hunters sleeping hurriedly aroused without alerting the others as he shadowed rumbleback.
the shadow was huge but swift enough to stealthily pursue the sharpest of beasts, his legs kept kicking the ground in a strange pattern as he moved forward at a fast pace.
rumbleback repeatedly sighed as he kept emptying urine out of his body, he wrinkled his forehead as he uttered his last exhalation"dusknose, I know you're here, why so stealthy?" the man that followed him was, in fact, dusknose, the man cloudeye stole.
walking out of the shadows of a big three, dusknose's ugly face shined as the brilliance of the sun's first rays slowly intensified. night had passed.
"I do not care about any other thing that you took out of my hut" dusknose held his anger as he forced these words out of his gnashing teeth " just return the wolf's skin" his eyes grew cold.
rumbleback's forehead had more wrinkles on them, he didn't understand what this muscled idiot was talking about, me? wolf skin? huh? maybe...someone took them?! his eyes widened at the revelation.
'sigh, how do I explain....' his head started hurting.
'but....if he suspected me why didn't he go for the shaman.' he pondered.
in the last thousands of years, no tribesmen worried about his things being stolen, and no one ever thought of committing any crime let alone stealing. because the shaman of a tribe had the ability to know if or not a certain person was telling the truth, the ability to see through the mind, and to read a person's thoughts terrified and awed the people.
that's why cloudeye wasn't the least concerned about prior matters if they succeeded in joining the tribe, after all, they were foreign orphans. no one would suspect him or his sister for anything previously committed, the abilities used by the shaman could only work if he was suspected then questioned.
"SO IT IS YOU!!"
seeing the quiet rumbleback, dusknose roared as he let out a burst of enraged laughter toward the sky, he bent his knees, ready to strike.
"no, stop..." rumbleback tried to stop this madness, but before he could even organize his words, a loud screech of child stopped them both on their tracks.
"heeeeeeeeeeelp, helhmm *cough* help me..."
the child was obviously hue, she ran the whole journey from the cave to the campfire. when she was close she chocked her own throat, then screamed with the loudest and most irritating sound she could muster.
'maybe I overdid it....' she thought
the hunters beside the fire jumped in shock from their sleeping position, they almost thought it was a monster nearby as they picked their weapon ready to charge.
but they soon relaxed their muscles as a silhouette of a short child appeared far away in the distance.
yet they were extremely puzzled at this occurring random event, the child's face looked a mess, her clothes looked tattered and dirty, her eyes swollen from continuos crying as she kept yelling for help.
just after she reached their proximity she fell on her knees, only now did they notice her lack of shoes and her bloody feet.
"huh, huh..." she took deep breaths to calm her self, but her heart kept beating rapidly not because she was tired but because she was scared they would see through her act " please, I beg your help, my brother is dying..." her eyes became moist as she raised her head.
'so cute' the perverted hunters all had the same thought.
"State your name and your tribe's.." but this performance couldn't soften the heart of tumblehunter, he looked at her unfamiliar face "you're not of stormsong, what's your business on our grounds." he was stern with everyone, even with children.
"easy on the girl leader, can't you see how cu...how afraid she looks" one of the oldest hunters on their group spoke, he saw the figures of rumbleback and dusknose as he shouted" hey you guys, come and talk some sense into our leader, he's scaring children" all the hunters laughed.
the stormsong tribe so much doted on children as they've pretty much few kids on their tribe now, the reason for that was the white wolves going extinct from the region for more than two decades, parents were scared of giving birth to a female now, if they had a boy it was okay, but if it was a girl they would have to search everywhere for a white wolf, If they couldn't afford it their girl would be shamed.
rumbleback had a much gentler voice as he crouched facing her"can you tell us where you came from"
"i_i came from the north where the savages live." at the mention of the savages, everyone faces turned solemn even blubberthongue had a strange look on his face.
the savages are a bunch of bloodthirsty cannibals who would eat their own kin without flinching, no tribe wanted to face them, because if you viewed them as enemies, they saw you as food.
"Please, go help my brother. we escaped together, but he was harmed on the route..." wearing a gloomy face she explained thoroughly just as cloudeye taught her, she told them how they were captured at a young age, not knowing their original tribe they were captured by savages, locked on cages fed to be eaten for the future, no pattern was engraved on them back then, as they were too fresh, and so they didn't know which village they belonged to.
"sigh, guys. should we take them in? no let's go save her brother first we should....." blubberthongue was the most affected by the false story as he kept lamenting for their 'misfortune'.
"let us not hurry to make a decision, oh swiftleg you and dusknose go bring her brother here, she stays with us..."tumblehunter's tone softened a little knowing they were savages captures, but he was obviously still skeptical " but how did you find us?" he asked.
'is he dumb?' the little girl thought before hurriedly responding" I followed the smoke's trail."
all the remaining hunters turned their gaze to the burning fire as they nodded their heads in understanding.
"good job, swiftleg go find her brother, dusknose will go with you, and someone bandages her wounds, though they're not serious she could get sick...."
dusknose gave rumbleback a fierce look with his eyes before he left, the others were glad to have a cute little companion on the woods as they kept chatting with the little girl.
as for rumbleback, he kept a little distance from them, he continued rubbing the wrinkles on his forehead while in deep thought, her brother? could it be him? if it's TRUE? then...
'there might be a silver wolf in the vicinity' his eyes glowed.
'if it's really him, then he must die...' his eyes turned vicious.