"He is alive. But he has not woken up," Tyler replied. "We are preparing to bury the dead."
Joseph stayed silent for a while and asked, "Can you guys leave me alone for a bit?"
Tyler, Liliya, and Argus looked at each other and nodded. Tyler signaled Liliya come out of the tent with them and she did so. As soon as they stepped out, they heard Joseph's loud cries. "Aaaa…" Liliya wanted to step in but Tyler grabbed her arm and stopped her. He shook his head sideways to tell her not to go. "Don't go in. Let him cry for a while. He would feel better."
Argus sighed, tapped Tyler's shoulder, and walked away before he said, "Take care of him."
After a while, the cries stopped. They went inside again to find Joseph staring at the ceiling with his eyes opened wide. They had a silent rage to them.
"Take me to their funeral," Joseph said. Tyler never meant to not take him but he still showed that he agreed.
Joseph joined the funeral. He stood there with Tyler's support and watched the bodies getting swallowed by the Earth. The fire of revenge grew stronger with each body getting buried.
He stepped up with Tyler's help to look at the faces of George and Zenda one last time. When they covered them with soil, Joseph felt like they buried a part of himself with them.
Days passed by. Everyone prepared for the migration. Argus had taken the charge of the tribe temporarily. Joseph had almost healed now, but he did not much engage with people since the funeral. He spent most of the time alone in his tent or by the brook. He did not join the hunting as well.
Only Argus, Tyler, and Liliya could approach him but he did not converse with them as well. He was just lost in thoughts and ignored whatever they said.
One night, he suddenly stood up and marched to the tribe after sitting for an hour near the brook. Argus, Tyler, and Kyther sat around a bonfire in the tribe, and were having a chat with each other.
"We have to move soon. The harsh winter is coming," Argus mentioned while he warmed his hands in the fire.
"You are right. It all happened so fast we didn't have the time to think about the well-being of our tribe," Tyler responded while staring into the fire.
"We have handled worse days. We will get out of this pain as well. Just give it some time," Argus said. Tyler nodded. "I and George were childhood friends. We used to train and hunt together." He took a deep breath. "You do not know how much I miss him. And Zenda too. She was an orphan, but fate made her the wife of the leader. Never thought her life was about to end like that."
"You are right," Tyler said. "Joseph is in pain. I can see it in his eyes. He wants revenge."
"We all are in pain, son," Argus mentioned. "I agree they were like parents to Joseph. But what happened has happened now. We have to look forward to making the tribe a better place for upcoming generations. Revenge will get us nothing. It will only bring more grief and pain."
Kyther was listening to their conversation silently, but he had to break his silence at this point. "Can we talk about something else? I want to forget all that." Argus and Tyler looked at each other and nodded in agreement.
Suddenly, they heard a voice. "Hey, guys, I have something important to tell you." The voice came from behind Argus. They were surprised that it was Joseph. He had come to talk about something important.
"Joseph?" Argus and Tyler stood up, but Kyther remained seated. He did not even look at Joseph's face.
"Yes, have a seat." Tyler shifted a little and made some space for Joseph to sit.
"Come on, tell us. What is it?" Argus said. He was curious as Joseph had decided to talk about something important after remaining mute for a long time.
"We have to search for Mogu," Joseph said. They all looked at each other in confusion.
"Who is Mogu?" Tyler asked.
"The White Ball those masked men took from me."
At this, Kyther snapped. "Don't shit with us! All of this happened because you took that white ball from them. Now that we are in peace, you still want to go and search for that thing. I don't know what it is, but whatever it is, let it be. Do you want to annihilate us all? I don't want them to attack us again." He unloaded whatever he had in his mind.
"You are right. I might be the one who brought this to our tribe." He stared into the fire with a sad face. "But I can't live in peace until I go into root of the issue. I can't live in peace until I take their revenge." He clenched his fist and glared at Kyther.
"The revenge shit, huh?" Kyther mouthed. "So, you are okay to let more people die because of your so-called revenge?"
Argus intervened as he sensed they might get into a fight again. "What was it you wanted to talk about?" He asked Joseph. "Do you know something about that strange ball?"
"Yes," Joseph replied. "That ball was no ordinary sphere. It seemed like it had a life. It talked to me. It even had a name - Mogu."
There was a silence for a few seconds before Kyther spoke. "Perhaps they hit your head too hard. You are talking shit now."
"I am not kidding, Kyther. It only talked to me."
Argus had a feeling that Joseph told the truth. He had noticed him behaving strangely after he found the ball. He remembered the instance when he fell from the horse and talked to himself like a crazy person. It all made sense if what Joseph told was true.
Joseph then told them about everything except his dreams and the part of him having a vision when he first touched the sphere.
"Hmm… So that man told you to protect the sphere before dying," Argus said with a quizzical expression. "The sphere changed its colour after he died. It started to talk to you and only you could hear its voice. It feared some danger might befall to the world if that woman got her hands on it." Joseph nodded at his understanding.
"What nonsense. I am out." Kyther stood up with a sour face and turned to leave, but Joseph stopped him at the very moment.
"Stop, Kyther."
Kyther halted his steps and turned. "What? Do you have another fairy tale to tell us?"
"I know it is hard for you to believe, but I am not lying. I would have escaped from the tribe in the night and tried to uncover everything on my own. But I know…" He stood up. "… I can't do it alone. I need allies. I need my friends to help me, so please…" He fell on his knees. It was as if he was begging. "… help me find Mogu. He is definitely at the center of all this."
Kyther had never seen Joseph in such a pathetic state. Something moved in his heart but he did not want to admit it. "Tch." He clicked his tongue.
Argus, at the very moment, said, "I believe you, Joseph. It perfectly makes sense to me." Joseph smiled at him in relief. There was someone who believed him.
"I too believe in you. It perfectly makes sense to me as well," Tyler said.
"Thank you, guys." Joseph was happy as both of them believed in him.
Kyther was still being stubborn. "You guys are not being serious, right? Are you seriously believing his nonsense?"
"Yeah, think about it," Tyler mentioned. "Why would they try to annihilate a whole tribe just for a useless ball? It shows that the ball contains some unimaginable secret which could make people massacre families."
Tyler was always the smart one. He was not a prodigy like Joseph nor he had brute strength like Kyther. But he had the intellect to win against the enemy even if the odds did not favour him.
"What rubbish," Kyther mouthed and left with rapid steps.
"Let him be," Argus suggested. "Now, tell me. What are you planning to do?" He turned to Joseph.
"I don't know, but I can't stay in the tribe anymore. I won't force any of you to come with me, but even if I have to go alone in the end, I will go," Joseph answered.
"But where would you go? Do you have any clue?" Argus inquired.
"No, but I will find something, eventually."
"You are not alone, Joseph. I will come along," Tyler said which made Joseph's face shine with hope. "But do not get the wrong idea, I will not accompany you for revenge. I want to get to the truth. I want to dig deeper into the mysteries surrounding that talking ball."
"That's fine with me."
"As you know I have some responsibilities here, so I cannot accompany you. I wanted it though," Argus mentioned.
"I know, uncle," Joseph said. "It is better for you to stay and carry on the master's legacy. At least for a while."
Argus nodded with a smile and stood up. "I am feeling dizzy now." He yawned. "We will talk about this later."
"I will leave tomorrow," Joseph said as Argus was about to head to his tent.
"What? Tomorrow?" Argus was surprised. It was too sudden.
"I can't afford to stay here longer. Every moment that passes by makes me feel miserable." Joseph stared the ground and clenched his fist.
"I have no issues." Tyler stood up. "If you want to leave tomorrow, that's fine with me."
"Wait, do not take such decisions without me," Argus mentioned as he was the leader. "What would I tell the others?"
"I know you can handle it, uncle." Joseph looked right into his eyes and put his hand on his uncle's shoulder. "Just don't tell anyone about Mogu until we return."
Argus had to agree before they left to their tent. Tyler told Joseph that he would do the preparations for leaving and tell his family about it. While Joseph was on the way to his tent, he found Liliya blocking his way.
"So, you would leave tomorrow." She looked troubled.
"Were you listening?"
"Just a little."
"Yeah, I have to leave." He scratched his head.
"I understand. I am not here to stop you. I just wanted to give something to you." She stepped closer and took out the necklace she was wearing. It was just a black thread with a purple gem attached to it. "Remember, when we were kids, you had found this gem when we were playing near the river. You gifted me this." She gave it to him. "I had always kept it close to my heart."
"Yeah, I remember." He took a good look at the necklace on his palm before closing his fist.
"I want you to keep it," She said. "You can return it to me after you come back."
Joseph said nothing and moved ahead. He walked until she spoke again. "I have always loved you." His steps halted after hearing this but he did not turn to look at her.
"I know that you know how I feel, but you always pretended to not be aware of it. I don't know if you would return from where you are going, so I wanted to lighten the burden from my chest. I just want to know your feelings," She continued. They had their backs against each other and neither of them wanted to look the other in their eyes.
"I don't want to hurt you, Liliya." Joseph's grip got tighter around the necklace when he said it.
"That's fine." She smiled, although her eyes had tears. "At least now I know how you feel about me."
"I am sorry, Liliya. I have to go now…" Joseph said in a low tone as if he did not want to say it and moved his steps ahead.
"Just promise me you will keep it with you, always," Liliya said before he entered his tent.
"I promise." He entered the tent with slow steps. Liliya turned and looked at his tent with teary eyes and finally went away.
The sun was up and so was Joseph. He was ready to go on a journey.