As they walked several days north, they noticed a shadow following them, and as Big-chest hid behind some rocks with Pekingg-girl, he jumped out of the bushes to attack the stranger, only to find it was Stern-toes. Thus, standing there for moment, they both stared at one another; like Big-chest Stern-toes knew there was nothing left for him either, that if he stayed, he'd also meet his fate, which was death. Again, they both stared at each other"a moment longer, to study one another, like two bears: for Stern-toes, he wasn't sure if he could trust Big-chest, for he did a lot of malice throughout the years to the Horde, in stealing their wives and so forth, but on the other hand, he was trusting in him at this moment, which meant, he'd have to sleep at night, and he could kill him just as well as anyone could kill the other. Matter of fact, Big-chest could kill him right this minute if he wished to, although Stern-toes was build solid, and for his kind was strong, he was not the equal to Big-chest, not over eight feet tall, nor 400-pounds, not a monster as often he was called: hands as big as his head, his neck as thick as his thigh. At one time, Big-chest would have killed anyone following him"not even think twice about it, but life changed, he had few friends, and the few he had he was walking away from, they were already dead. And what he really needed as he stood there looking, thinking, deliberating, was just that, a good friend, a comrade, another person who could share this endless journey with. Big-chest nodded his head, up and down, up and down, indicating it was all right (with a little perky smile to boot), then beat his chest several times to show he was the boss, and Stern-toes said in his limited language: "yes, si, yes, si..." and got the message across that he was, or could be the leader for the time being. Had Stern-toes stayed back in the Valley on the Cliff, at his age, or possibly at any age, for he was the last of his kind"and surely the Stone-builders would have sought him out eventually"it would have been his last fall and winter and he knew it. Climbing up and down those cliffs to get fish and water every other day was too much. And somewhere along the line he'd end up being someone's meal (probably the dogs or the pigs or the Manticores). Jaguar-Eyes They now walked past the old campsite where the People of the Fire used to live, and were heading on up towards the ice-sheets [the beginning of the glaciers]. Stern-toes was much wiser than Big-chest, being a level higher in the evolutionary line than the Branch-People, whom were the descendents of Big-chest, actually; to set the recorded straight, it was rumored Big-chest had a father from the Horde, and a mother from the Branch-people, and so it is feasible he was a mixture of both divisions of evolution. And Stern-toes, was one-hundred percent from the Horde faction. As they settled in, within the beginnings of a forest not far from where the People of the Fire once lived, covering themselves with leaves, eating some acorns, Stern-toes notice a fire going, burning, it was deeper within the forest. He could smell the burnt logs: hear the crackling of the fire, see the smoke seeping down and around the trees and branches, almost feel its warmth. He made a sound to Big-chest, and pointed, Big-chest jumped up as if to run in that direction and attack, but Stern-toes signaled him to stand-down"and they both started to creep within the thick of the forest, while Pekingg-girl remained hidden under the leaves where they had started to nest for the evening. When they got close to the fire, no one was there; then all of a sudden, Big-chest seen a movement by some trees and started to walk toward that direction, he was at times over confident in his ability, yet no one had ever seen him get beat in a fight. He spotted the figure of a man, he had seen this person before, it was Jaguar-eyes, the younger son of the chief of the People of the Fire, known as The Begetter, and he was now dead, killed by the Stone-Builders, a decade earlier. As Big-chest got closer to the person, Jaguar-eyes did not run, he was tired of running, and where would he run, in the direction of what (?) He had heard of Big-chest, the whole known world had heard of him; but he took his chances after seeing Stern-toes befriended by this monster like figure approaching him. When Big-chest"and now Stern-toes, had somewhat cornered him, it was obvious, he was feelings like them, that being: left out in the cold: no place to go, no family, no anything; plus, Big-chest knew he was not afraid to die, he could read a man if anything, and Big-chest did not have the will to kill, like he used to, nor did he find pleasure in it for his insecure ego any longer, for unneeded profit. Single-tooth Jaguar-eyes moved a little closer to the fire"he was some twenty yards from it, now he was twenty feet from it: as did the other two, just looking at everyone, each other; everyone trying to get acquainted, and familiar, and comfortable"if possible, not moving about too quickly, lest someone take it for a threat and a war start between them, and now Pekingg-girl joined them. Jaguar-eyes, was now holding his pet, a small Single-tooth Presiadapis. Over the fire was a huge body of meat, a huge body known as the Brooding-bird, with several eggs by the fire [Carnivorous in nature]. Said Jaguar-eyes with his own language of sounds and grunts, and a few words, actually he had more words than the other two for his group was even one level higher than Stern-toes in development, yet one level lower than the Stone-people: which Stern-toes understood slightly, "et, et dith mee," he said, and he and Stern-toes both looked at Big-chest, all knowing one another somewhat from the past: all smiled, and Big-chest for the second time in Stern-toes' life, Big-chest didn't kill anyone out of enmity. He actually smiled"thought Stern-toes"and was so hungry, and getting weak, he grabbed the leg of the monster-bird, and devoured it in a few minutes; while the others ate vigorously, but at a slight slower pace. Even though Big-chest seemed to be a new person inside to everyone, and his ferociousness was tamed compared to how it used to be, he demanded his girl be by him, he was not willing to share her: but then he normally didn't, I mean, he just never did, or never would, he had a double standard, and didn't think anything of it, as if it was supposed to be that way. But this was not of any consequence to the other two males; they always knew Big-chest had a passion, if not a lustful desire for all the sex he could get, even in his aging it never seemed to cut back. Broody-bird As the night lingered on, both Jaguar-eyes and Stern-toes drew pictures in the sand, and tried to communicated with one another, as well as with Big-chest, all trying desperately not to offend anyone, especially Big-chest, lest they die before they even touch the ice of the north; so they seemed to connect and all fell to sleep, happily for once; and to be blunt and for the first time in Big-chest's life, he shut both eyes and fell into a deadly sleep. He had never done this before, he had never dared to; he slept with one eye open always, and that was not an uncommon practice for any species of his environment. Sleep meant death in the past. "In the morning, when all awake, Big-chest again"somehow understanding, and hit his chest several times at Jaguar-eyes, and Jaguar-eyes knew his reputation, and nodded his head, almost bowing it, but short of that, in essence, saying he was the leader, or that he did not protest to his being the leader. Then Big-chest smiled, and started to eat another portion of the big-bird. It was the second time now either Big-chest or Stern-toes had eaten meat cooked, and the faces they were making showed it. Even Pekingg-girl, whom was swallowing the meat down whole, was surprised at its flavor. Stern-toes started to vomit it up at first, and then slowly he started chewing it with more vitality, like he did last night, found out it digested well that way. Chapter Two Notes: Ice Ages are often triggered by warmer climates by the poles (known as: polar warming)": this snow from the ice cap falls to lower latitudes; in essence, this is what was happening during Big-chest's life time. The Ice Sheet and the Cave The Cave And so it was, or seemed: a new group was born, or was being created, a good sample of everyone who existed in the old world environment seemed to be stepping into Big-chest's path (except for the Stone-builders), a little bit of this and that, that is to say, they not only had a good sample of the population, but a pet as well. At hand, were three groups now, the Branch-People, the last survivor of the Horde, and a royalty of the Fire-People? 'Had fate brought them to gather:' thought Pekingg-girl, as she looked at each and everyone within the group, as they all sat around the fire"watching it flicker about, warming up; that in itself was a new experience for all but Jaguar-eyes: still eating the big bird three days later, as they all sat around enjoying the evening; possibly it was fate yes, why not, mixed with necessity of course. Stern-toes had weapons of stone, and Jaguar-eyes of spears, and Big-chest, muscles to spare, and they had a pet that seemed to be able to sense any danger, incoming predators long"long before they could be seen: even when birds flew over head, or were about, Single-tooth would squeal with a high pitch: "eek...eek...eek," and all eyes would look where Single-tooth was looking"and sure enough, the birds would appear a minute or so flying over head |
