Fid must prove to her clan that she’s focused enough to be a hunter
I sniffed the air. The fresh stench of prey filled my nose. I could identify it as a tiny mouse. Suddenly, I heard a little squeak. My eyes shot toward my target. I cautiously aimed my bow and . . .
“Fid!” my father said. I sighed. That was my name. In my clan, “fid” means “fight.” I earned my name because I kicked at my mother’s stomach until I came out. Most people would describe me as a brown-haired, brown-eyed twelve- cycles-old who is always getting in trouble. I didn’t fit in with the other village girls. Unlike most of them, I didn’t like gathering berries. I wanted to hunt. “What are you doing with your brother’s bow?!” My brother was Oz—a headstrong thirteen-cycles-old who for some reason got to hunt in the Woods of Sedina. He was my opposite. He was blond haired, blue eyed, and loved the job that was given to him: hunting.
“I—uh—I—saw a mouse and had to hunt it!” I yelled. “Okay, okay. Settle down and explain.”
“It is not fair!” I was in full anger mode. “You know that we are going through a famine!” I cried. “Why do you think they recruited Oz to hunt!” Tears were now streaming down my face. “You know I am too distracted to gather. Hunting is the only thing I am good at!” Then there was silence. Silence is a funny thing. It is a stabbing pain in your chest. It is when you finally decide to let go and give up.
“Fid, come here.” I slowly walked forward. “What is the number one rule in our clan?”
“Listen to your elders.” I rolled my eyes.
“So listen to me when I say you are not hunting.” He then reached out to take the bow. I stomped back to my hut, tears still stinging my eyes. Only the best of the clan gets to hunt. The elders had said that I was too distracted to hunt. The thing is that hunting is the only thing that I am not too distracted to do. After what seemed like forever gathering berries, I headed back. I heard Kin, the clan leader, calling all the elders to a meeting. Suddenly, a rush of adrenaline came through me as my hunting instincts kicked in. Carefully, I followed them, making sure not to make a sound. My heartbeat raced as I stealthily ran through the woods. Snap! A twig cracked under my feet. I froze like a small child, only four cycles old, who got caught playing with the sharp stones.
I looked back and saw my clan in the distance. It was then that I knew that there was no turning back.
“What was that?” Kin said.
“Shh. Listen,” the chief gatherer, Hib, responded. I hide behind a huge rock. “Come on, we have work to do.” I exhaled a breath. For now, our uninvited
guest was safe. I continued my eavesdropping.
“We are running out of food,” Kin began. I could tell Kin sounded a bit panicked. Suddenly, a wave of terror washed over me. I wasn’t supposed to be here. “We need to move.”
“We can’t! There are too many sick,” Hei, the lead shaman, responded.
Dig, the nosy griot, said, “I am going to tell this to the other clans!” It took all I could not to scream Don’t! If the other clans heard about this, they would surely take advantage of our poor situation.
“I don’t think that would be the wisest move,” Kin cautioned. Not the wisest move! What was he saying?! A lump formed in my throat. Then, that lump formed into hope.
“There is a saber-tooth cat’s den nearby to here,” Hei started. “If someone could hunt it, we would have enough food to last until the sick get better.”
That hope suddenly disappeared. The saber-tooth cat is one of the most dangerous animals. Despite my fear, I knew I had to do it. I carefully crept away and headed toward the den. The sky was slowly turning pink. That meant that the sky would soon turn black. I looked back and saw my clan in the distance. It was then that I knew that there was no turning back.
First, I had to build a shelter for the night. I took the biggest leaf I could find and attached it to a stick. I then planted the stick into the dirt. I took some moss and covered my tent. I looked for a faint glowing orb just before my eyes closed and the world vanished. The orbs have always given me comfort. Then a miracle happened. Just for one second, I believed that everything would be okay. Soon, everything was gone. I woke up to my name.
“Fid!” It was Oz, my brother. I quickly camouflaged myself in moss. “Fid, I know you are there.”
I sighed. It was useless trying to hide. My brother could sniff me out from miles away.
“What do you want?” I said groggily. “Do the others know?” “I want to come with you,” he said.
“It’s too dangerous—wait. How do you know I was going to fight a saber-tooth cat?”
He laughed.
“Oh,” I said. He always had a way of finding information from me. “Now I definitely want to come with you.”
So, that was that. I took a long stick and weaved a leaf through it to make a bow. Oz, who as the firstborn already had a bow, watched my progress. Next, I chipped a small rock to make an arrow point. I then tied the arrow point to a sharp stick.
I turned towards my brother. He had already finished his stack of arrows. “How?” I asked, jealousy forming in the pit of my stomach.
“Experience.”
“You are only older than me by one cycle.”
“One-and-a-half cycles to be exact.” I kicked the dirt. My brother always had a way of getting on my nerves. My hands clenched. I could feel myself starting to get angry.
“Why do you even care!!!” I yelled. “I’m leaving.”
I sprinted away, leaving Oz with a look of fear and betrayal. I didn’t care. I could do this on my own. Soon, I realized the weight of my actions. I had left my brother. With him was my only hope. I knew I couldn’t go back. I would just be one very stubborn mouth to feed. I decided that I would build a shelter and live in the woods on my own.
I took two smooth, polished stones and added nearby lush, green vines to tie them together. I took those stones to the mouth of a nearby cave to cover the entrance. I laid out some moss to provide a sleeping zone. This should do for a couple of days, I thought. Then I fell asleep. This sleep wasn’t as good as the last.
When I fell asleep, I dreamed I was with Oz. “Oz, I’m sorry,” I said, regret deep in my throat. “Fid,” Dream Oz said.
“I’m really sorry.”
“Fid!” He said with more urgency. “I shouldn’t have left you.”
“Fid!!!” “Oz?”
“Stop being sorry for yourself and do what is right.” I hung my head. Everything had been about me. I realized that my selfishness had put me in this situation.
“Oz–” I started, but Dream Oz was disappearing.
“I trust you will do what is right.” Then, he disappeared completely. A tear fell on my face as sadness enveloped me. Now, Oz was gone, I was alone, and the clan was starving.
When I woke up, I knew exactly what I had to do. I remade my bow and arrows, made a spear, and was on my way to do some saber-tooth cat hunting. But first, there was something I needed to do. As I made my way back to my clan, things looked terrible. People were clutching their stomachs out of starvation.
“Fid. You’re back,” Oz said. He sounded disappointed. “Oz, I need your help.”
“You, need me?” He sounded surprised. I had never said that before. “Oz, look at everybody. I don’t just need you. The clan does.”
“Sure, the clan needs me so that you can become a hero.”
“Oz, I’m sorry for everything. I know that I have been selfish. You need to save the clan.”
“Okay,” he said reluctantly. “Meet me at pink sky.”
At pink sky, we met at our favorite spot. The clearing in the woods was so clear that you could see thousands of glowing orbs. Suddenly, all of the clan members came into view.
“If we fight, we fight together,” they said. There were small children, elders, and adults, all ready to fight.
As we marched into the den, we snuck up to the cat. Kin jabbed his spear into it, and the battle started. The clan members yelled a battle cry and shot arrows at the cat. When it seemed like the cat was almost beaten, I jabbed my spear into it, striking what I thought was the final blow. It was a blow, but the blow was not final. The cat pounced on me, and just before it hit me Oz jabbed his spear into it, striking the real final blow. The whole clan cheered and chanted Oz’s name. I looked at him gratefully. For once, I wasn’t jealous.
When I got back to the clan, Oz and I were sitting in the clearing, taking in our surroundings. The birds chirped peacefully like nothing had happened. The meat had already been loaded to cook, as the firekeeper started the fire. Kin came up to us.
He spoke directly to Oz. “Thank you. Without your help, we all would have starved.” Anger boiled inside me. What about me? I took a couple of deep breaths and turned that anger into gratitude.
“Thank you for helping me, Oz,” I said. I smiled at myself. I had controlled my anger. Then, Oz did the unthinkable.
“Stop it!” he yelled. “We all know Fid should hunt! She was dedicated enough to go out on her own, and this is how you repay her?!”
“It’s okay,” I said, trying to hide my disappointment. “Maybe I am not good enough to hunt.”
“Hmmm,” Kin said, studying me carefully. “Fid, everyone knows you are not too distracted to hunt. You are at your best when hunting.” I looked at him confused.
“Then why didn’t you let me hunt?”
“Because of your temper, Fid,” he responded. “In the past, you have never been able to control your temper, let alone let others take the spotlight,” he continued. “Me only talking to your brother was your final test. You are now a hunter.” I stood there starstruck as he handed me a bow made out of the finest wood. I could almost see it glimmer in the light.
“Thank you,” I said, at a loss for words. Kin just smiled and walked away.
As I sat under the glowing orbs with my brother Oz ready to begin the journey out of the woods and into the blackness, I knew that just for one moment, everything would work out in the end.
