The mere sight of a Town was initially a reprieve but for a while it had only seemed like a fantasy. Looking around Zao Zhan could only see misery and misfortune, everyone was dirty. He felt so out of place while griping to himself about some light hunger when he could see peoples sunken faces. A broken down cart down the way had a few loose arrows sticking from it, picking them out of the wood, he went to the Fletcher.
He needed a bowstring, his father had given him 2 weapons, a Dagger and a Bow but he had not given him any money. The Fletcher was nice enough to exchange the bowstring was exchanged for the dagger, with the promise that Zhan would buy it back in a few days. The Fletcher wanted money for food, so it wouldn't matter either way, no one came to the town and selling the dagger would take at least a week.
Sighing within and gambling on his future, Zao Zhan went into the forest.
It took him about an hour till he finally tracked down a few small wild cattle. He didn't have a crawler, so his best bet was to make a skid for the meat. His father and him had gone on a few trips before Zao Wu Hai had come to the age for him to follow along them. The Crawlers had run off during a storm and they had just finished the hunt. If not for the skid, they meat would have gone to waste. Now, he was doing the same. He found a smaller Adult, it had no horn and its fur was packed thick with mud, but the most important part of all of it was that he needed food.
Stringing his bow and notching the arrow he had recovered, Zao Zhan gripped tightly and then pulled the bowstring back. He knew how to shoot but never had much practice. He let go and the string vibrated, 'damned arrow!' It flopped down beside him, narrowly missing his leg. He tried again and this time it went a lot further and started the Earth-Ox, it ran away with the herd alongside it.
Zao Zhan regretted the miss but it was too late.
It took some work to make a skid and drag it along while he followed the herd. He followed them until they calmed down and he could try his luck again. The morning was swiftly fading into the afternoon. With both Suns high above in the Sky, none of the Earth-Ox were interested in the heat. Seeking shelter near the river many of them lay down on the ground under a tree.
With no better chances, Zao Zhan got himself into position and came to the rear of the herd, pinning them closer to the river. If they did decided to run, the cattle had few choices. Tracking them again if he missed would be less difficult but there were certainly risks. With two arrows left, he notched the first and pulled it until he had finished exhaling.
Then Zhan released the arrow. Holding his breath, he looked flight path of the poorly repaired arrow and saw it hit the neck of a calf. The calf made a bunch of gurgling noises, panicked and fell into the river before being taken away with the current. It's struggle was wrenching to watch, Zhan only had the one chance with his last arrow. If he missed, he'd lose his choices and fast.
Setting himself up for the kill, Zao Zhan eyed his target. It was the same female he aimed at before but had startled. He took aim and spared no efforts. With his full concentration on the Earth-Ox he let loose the arrow, the shot was true. He watched as the arrow didn't even wobble. Within an Instant, the Earth-Ox had fallen to the ground. The Earth-Ox didn't make a lot of noise when it died but its dying throes had spooked the herd. Having lost a calf to the river and another to a predator, they scattered into the distance.
Zao Zhan had not considered what would have happened if he couldn't eat today. He just knew he had to find food or else. Placing the carcass on the skid took a lot of effort, the Earth-Ox was big. The Skid creaked when he placed it on top of it but it wasn't his first skid and the problem was an easy fix.
Tightening some ropes down helped to drag the crude skid to Herl. The Villagers watched him drag food through the streets, it made a lot of people cringe. They were starving, their children were starving. Zao Zhan walked up to the Cart he had taken the used arrows from and stood atop it looking at the people he was getting dirty looks from. He spoke calmly. "Find some wood and build a fire, this Meat is for all of you."
People were salivating, food was one thing but this was Meat. There was little hesitation from a few onlookers, they quickly scattered to grab wood. There was a fat man in the background who didn't seem too pleased by the idea who quickly left, he jiggled as he walked.
A few minutes later a pile of firewood was set ablaze by the Townsfolk. They sat close-by since winter was close and many had lost their homes. Hanging the Earth-Ox by the hooves in a tree, the meat was cleaned and skinned. The Earth-Ox had excellent cold resistance, so he made efforts to preserve its hide. When the meat was finally atop the fire, most of the people that were attending finally started to relax and show some civility. Many thanked him for his deed, many looked at him with envy. He didn't care, and watched the meat cook. Zhan didn't ask for anything except a piece of the meat, while it was roasting he did his best to clean up the hide.
The Fur of the Earth-Ox was covered in mud. Not even Zao Zhan had noticed that the Earth Ox he had killed was rare indeed. This Earth Ox was in fact a Sky Mountain Ox. It's been said that a Sky-Mountain Ox has the ability to blend into its surroundings. With its natural hide being white, it was easy to identify. However, this Ox was covered in mud. If the Sky Mountain Ox had been clean, not even the best hunters in the Kingdom could have spotted it in the open. Zhan was thanking his lucky star that he was found something valuable, so he rolled it up and placed in on his pack.
The Meat was nearly done. Some of the smaller children couldn't help themselves but ask if it was really okay for them to eat the meat. To Zhan it seemed strange that they were trying to shy away from the anticipated meal but given the circumstances they were in, not many of them would survive if they didn't.
"Of course, I went to get this food for the children." Zao Zhan was brimming with pride, he smiled at the kids and went back to work.
He reached to his belt for his dagger and noted that it was missing. Zhan saw the Fletcher and tried to convince him to let him have the dagger back. 3 of the children in line to eat the meat were of course, the Fletcher's children. Reluctantly he returned the dagger.
The Fletcher was not a very good hunter, he grew up being forced to stay in the back. He was taught to make arrows young and had been doing it for some time. It wasn't until the Army took all incoming metals that his shop finally couldn't support him and his family.
"Tell me your name, I am Zao Zhan." Zao Zhan looked at the Fletcher with a somewhat serious face.
"People just call me Fletch, my parents named me Fred. I prefer Fletch, it rolls off the tongue better. If my wife had not died, I would have long since moved away." Fletch said with saddened eyes as he watched his children grab large chunks of meat and nibble on them.
The Fat Man finally made his way to the front of the line, he had been missing for a few minutes and finally returned. He was not in the mood to watch others eat in front of him and reached for the food in one of Fletch's children's hands.
Fletch saw the fat man and started cursing under his breath.
"WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU THINK YOUR DOING!!" The fat man yelled while he was snatching the food from the child. He took a huge bite from it.
Before he could swallow a crash came into contact with his belly, Zao Zhan had hit him pretty hard. The ripple of effect of the fat on the fat man dissipated after a moment but the fat man just looked own at Zao Zhan and said "What? you want to die?"
Swinging his arms downward Zao Zhan stepped to the side.
He looked back to the fat man and drew his dagger while rolling forward. The Fat Man was big, but Zao Zhan was small. He used the blade of his dagger to cut the back of the Fat Man's knee and the Fat Man fell helplessly to the ground. Blood poured from the wound and he started to choke on the meat that was still in his mouth. The food he'd stolen from the child now lay in the dirt, covered in dust and filth.
Spitting the food out, the Fat Man yelled out "Hey! Hey! Hey!, Get this Fucking Bastard!" He screamed and grabbed his leg.
The Fat Man couldn't stand up but pulled himself to the side while four others appeared, they didn't seem stronger than the Fat Man. Each of them looked closer to the size of his little brother with an obvious lack of meat on their bones. 'The Fat Man probably took all the food for himself.' Zao Zhan didn't have much but he still had the arrow from earlier that took down the Sky-Mountain Ox and he only had the one.
With his dagger in hand Zao Zhan stood in between the three children and thugs. Lunging at the closest to him, his dagger caught the man's forearm while he spun to attempt an attack at the second. However, the third and fourth Henchmen went straight for the Children. Fletch grabbed the closest child to him and tried to defend himself.
Two of his children were caught by the men and started crying. Fletch backed up while Zao Zhan was still fighting with the other two.
"Give up obediently or watch these children die in front of you" One of the Thugs had his knife to the child's throat while the other had his hands on the daughter's throat, holding her in the air. Everyone could see that she was having trouble breathing.
Fletch pleaded "Let them go, you can have whatever you like.. I'll surrender, let my children go!"
Zao Zhan had killed one of the four thugs with his spinning technique and at the same time disabling the arm of the other. When turning around he noticed the two children in the hands of others. There were no options, they would never allow him to live after standing up for himself.
Without considering any consequences, he released his dagger and drew his bow. His dagger flew to the Man with the young girl's throat in his hands, his hands were full so he could not defend himself.
The Dagger went right into the mans chest and he fell. The girl gasped for air and struggled to get to her Father. The last thug still had his knife to the child's throat. Looking around for a moment, the thug saw his group lying on the floor. They were either dead or injured and he started to back away.
The Fletch's son knew he was in danger and took the risk. He kicked the man in his foot and moved away just in time. Zao Zhan released the used and still bloody arrow, he watched it exit the back of the Thugs head and pin his corpse to the wall behind him.
The Children ran to their father and all the Towns people went up to the fat man who was still writhing on the ground while trying not to bleed out like a stuck pig. They started kicking him until he was dead. The henchmen who had cut his arm had run away long ago, Zao Zhan thought that he might have been the one smart one from the bunch.
"Well, that was fun. Can I Not have so much happen to me in such a short period of time, Thanks." Zhan wondered if it would be a regular problem but he had survived the day. One of the townsmen walked up and handed Zao Zhan bucket of water to clean up himself. The children also took this time to wash up.
Zhan was looking at the young girl, her throat and neck were bruised. "We should take her with us."
Zao Zhan looked at Fletch. "Fletch, you know beyond the shadow of a doubt that more trouble is coming. I don't know where I'm headed, but you can come with me. I need Arrows, and you aren't safe here." He didn't seem to be joking.
"You can't be serious" Fletch seemed confused about why such a young boy would do a thing. "This town, these people.. they are my family." He was also serious, he didn't want to abandon everything he knew. Fletch watched as people were loading themselves into the Cart, hesitant.
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