The Quest
He was awoken early in the morning by one of the village elders. They were all
marched out into the woods. They were given a list of items they must collect on their journey
and told that they must each take their own path and work alone. They were not to return
until the list was fulfilled or until the full moon, whichever came first.
Dready walked down the path half asleep, unhappy and upset. He dragged his feet and
wandered aimlessly into the woods with an empty stomach and a feeling of distress. He did not
know if he was fully prepared to survive on his own in this vast jungle. He had never left his
home and this journey into the unknown was all too new to him. At the moment he could only
see but a few feet in front of him because of the dense fog that was enveloping the forest. The
moisture made his skin feel cool and wet. He only traveled a few yards before he decided to lie
down and rest against a log until the sun had risen and warmed the earth.
Several hours had passed when he was suddenly awoken by a loud screech from a group
of large parrots. At first he was startled, he felt his heart jump. Upon realizing that the sound
was just some birds, he gazed out in front of him to a site unlike any he had ever experienced.
There was a small pond fed by a stream of water that slowly trickled down the rocks. There
were lily pads bigger than his entire body. Frogs were croaking, fish were splashing and
dragonflies were buzzing. The scenery was so surreal he wasn't sure if he was awake or just
dreaming. Then, as if to prove to himself that it was real, he walked right into the water. He
floated there for a minute, just enjoying himself. Then he jumped up and began to wash
himself. He knew this was the beginning, he knew he was all alone, he knew he had to survive.
The young candidates were not supposed to bring any food with them on their quest
but Dready did not always follow the rules, nor did he care much for traditions like this one. He
pulled out a nap sack filled with snacks that he had packed the day before. He brought along
nuts, berries, apples and oranges. He began to peel one of the oranges and tossed the peels
into the water. He was about to take a bite when he noticed something eating the peels. It was a giant catfish. He crept closer for a better look, but just when he had reached the water's
edge, the enormous fish, with a sweep of its tail was gone. He was amazed by the gracefulness
of the fish, but he decided it was time to move on. He quickly grabbed his canteen, filled it, and
set forth on his journey uphill.
While he climbed, he realized why they had trained so hard. Walking uphill was not an
easy task. He slipped in the mud and had to hold himself upright by holding onto the trees. As
he climbed rodents scattered, birds squawked and reptiles rustled through the leaves. Dready
was exhausted. He thought back now on his training. He wished he had taken it more
seriously. He wished he had paid more attention. He wished he had listened. When he finally
reached the top he sat down and rested against a tree. He looked down and was stunned by
how far he had traveled. He could see for miles. He could even see Inca off in the distance, just
above the canopy of the lower forest. He knew he still had much more ground to cover to
complete his quest, but he was happy with his progress for the day and decided to take a nap.
He awoke in the dead of night. He had been told that no one was to ever sleep on the
ground when it is dark. This is the hour of the predator. Big cats, snakes and crocs are on the
prowl. Dready immediately climbs up the tree he had been napping under. His people like the
monkey have always found shelter in the trees. Dready had never left the village before
though, so he had never climbed a real tree. These trees were huge. He climbed one limb after
another, throwing a rope up over the one above as he had been taught. If not one small slip
could end his life. He stopped midway up the tree on a huge branch wider than ten men. He
decided he would sleep the rest of the night there.
He began his day very early that morning. The sun has just risen and he realized how
high up he had climbed. It frightened him at first. Then he began to think about how he would
climb down. While planning his route to the ground he realized that the branch he was
standing on rested on a branch of the tree next to it. He crossed this bridge and realized that it
connected to the next tree and the tree after that. This bridge way up in the canopy stretched
for miles. He had heard stories of such a phenomenon but thought of it to be nothing more
than a myth. Seeing it with his own eyes, he was amazed. He ran from tree to tree covering
miles of land, which would have taken him hours but was now only taking him minutes.
Although he had thought he was far behind the other young men, he now felt that he had the
upper hand. Dready had not collected any of the items on his list yet however. He decided he
would first collect the feather of the golden eagle. This was the most difficult item to attain on
the list, and the most important. The eagle could only be found on top of the Great Volcano.
He apparently was not alone in this idea though for when he reached the volcano, he
saw others already beginning to climb the volcano. Dready quickly climbed down from the
trees and ran over to the base of the volcano. He had to find an eagle before the others scared them all off. Dready began the treacherous climb. Rocks were crumbling under his feet and it
was difficult for him to keep his footing. The two boys ahead of him were kicking rocks down
onto his head. He had dust in his eyes and sand in his mouth. Then he saw it, a golden eagle. It
flew right by him. It was the biggest bird he had ever seen. He knew he was close.
When he finally reached the top he saw that the other two boys already had their
feathers. Dready was concerned though that there might not be any more birds around. Just
then he heard a squawk from the other side of the volcano. He ran over there to find three
eagles fighting over a large rodent. He got down low and started to crawl towards them. When
he was close enough he bent his legs and got ready to pounce on the one closest to him. Then,
all of a sudden a rock flew through the air and hit one of the birds. It let out a loud squawk and
they all flew away. He turned around to see the other two boys pointing and laughing at him.
He ran at them full of rage, but they both ran off. Dready was exhausted, angry and
disappointed. He waited the rest of the day for the birds to return, but they never came back.
Soon others began to reach the top of the mountain and Dready explained to them
what had happened. They were all very upset by the news. They only had one more day to
collect everything on the list and they knew they would have to head home now to be back by
the full moon. So, they all decided to climb down and hike back together. It was against the
rules to work as a team, but since the other two boys were obviously doing it, they decided that
they would too. Dready shared with his friends the secret of the canopy bridge. They all ran
about joyfully as this was a much easier path. They decided to rest in the trees and at least
collect the other items tomorrow.
They woke up early and climbed down from the trees. One boy had the emerald toad
and the other had the blue gecko so they decided to return to the same places that they had
found them. Within a couple of hours they had all collected these items and all they had left to
do was kill a boar and bring back its tail. Dready told them he had seen some boar rooting
around near the pond that he had found. They went over there and sure enough there was a
huge pack of boar. They all drew their bow and arrows and fired at the boars. None of them
had ever killed an animal before, but they had been taught how to shoot. They all made a
perfect kill. They cut off the tails and made a fire. They were very hungry, but it was also a sin
to kill something if it was not to be eaten or out of self-defense. They enjoyed their meal and
gave thanks to the Gods. It was a hot day and they had plenty of time before it would be dark
so they decided to enjoy themselves and go for a swim. They jumped from the top of the small
waterfall. They swung from the vines. They splashed and played for hours. Then they all
decided to take a nap before going home that night.
When they woke up the sun was already going down. So they grabbed their belongings
and hurried towards home. Although they felt ashamed that they did not attain the feathers of the golden eagle they had enjoyed the journey. They began talking about all that they had seen
and learned. They also talked about planning better for their next attempt. Then, they heard a
blood curdling scream. They knew it was a human so they ran to help. When they got there
they couldn't believe their eyes. A jaguar had cornered the two boys who had scared off the
eagles. Although Dready hated the boys he told his friends they must help them. First they
pulled out their bow and arrows and fired into the cat's hind legs. The cat growled and spun
around violently. Dready then drew back his sprear and before anyone else could react, he
made his throw. The spear hit the cat directly in the head and it died instantly. None of the
boys could believe it. Dready had killed a big cat. Only the best hunters were capable of this
feat and he had done it.
The boys who had been cornered by the beast thanked Dready for saving their lives.
They told them that they had just killed two boars and were cleaning them when it snuck up on
them. They didn't have their spears or bows on them just their knives and with such poor
defense they would have surely been killed. One of the boys then picked up his backpack and
pulled out the handful of eagle feathers. He gave Dready the feathers for he had realized it was
wrong of him to have scared off the eagles. Dready thanked the boy, took the feathers and
shared them amongst his friends. Then all the boys picked up the jaguar together and headed home.