Meeting Someone From A Long Ear Tribe.

It was another day in the life of Nūh and his siblings. They played about amongst the fallen leaves uncaring and free. Sometimes they would 'kill' some leaves and other times some sticks. The crunching sounds of crispy leaves filled them with satisfaction.

It made for great hunting practice to play with such 'toys'.

Nūh had the best 'toy' amongst them all. His siblings were jealous of the very special wooden branch he kept safely and out of their reach. None of them could find a stick as fine as the one he owned.

Straight, sturdy and smooth with the leaves and pointy nodes scraped off; perfect in every way to 'kill', it was the ultimate stick.

He would share it with them at times since he found them so cute when they wheedled and begged to share and of course, also established his seniority with them in the process.

One of their favourite games was when he would fling his branch far away and wait for them to fetch it. It was always a race amongst the five of them.

Come mealtimes, they would crowd around a wolf to eat the meat it regurgitated. The first time Nūh saw that, he was utterly disgusted but hunger took precedence so he just imagined himself to be a baby bird being fed by their parents. Much to his surprise, it was actually tasty and they ate with relish.

They were soon about to complete their third fortnight after their birth. Nūh was excited. That meant that they would be able to leave the vicinity of the den and go on their very first trip in the forest.

Their father, Ad, whom Nūh found was actually the largest and most majestic wolf in the pack, assigned his second-in-command to escort them.

Jo, the nice, easy going uncle of theirs was more than happy to get a break. And babysitting was amongst the top, most popular jobs of the pack since it was easy and they got to play with the cute furballs who knew nothing of the world.

The five younglings were awed and hyper to get to follow Jo.

As they set out, Umma Yusra saw them off with worry. It was, after all, the first time they would leave her for so long. Abba Ad barely managed to stop her from carrying them all back to the den.

Using echoes, the tots bade her farewell as if they would be gone for years to a far away place leaving to find their destiny.

This only managed to provoke Umma Yusra further so Jo made a hurried escape with the cubs.

Nūh found the trip to be uneventful but it could not be said for his siblings. If it wasn't for Jo, Bin, short for Binyamin, and Sarah would have already dashed off chasing the butterflies.

Yahya and Ana, whose true name was Saffana, were more obedient and took big steps to keep up with Jo.

Only Halima was lagging behind. She was the tiniest of them all and the most timid. Nūh would sometimes turn around and encourage her.

Nūh found it pleasant and refreshing to walk through the forest. There weren't any dangers as it was frequently patrolled by the pack guard. The giant, swaying trees, the babbling brook nearby and the various birdcalls deeply made him feel the stark contrast of his previous polluted world.

There were no tall buildings with sleekly designed windows reflecting the sun rays and blinding the passerbys. Nor were there any fluorescent signboards telling you where to go.

The small procession followed the trail a mile out. The cubs were as quiet as they could be. Imagining themselves as a part of the glorious hunting group, they sneakily looked around for 'prey'.

Sarah saw a long leaf fluttering and pounced on it, earning the admiring gaze of Halima who got spooked instead. She effectively 'killed' it and showed off her prize.

They all seriously played about with Jo occasionally showing them some effective tricks and teaching them about some important plants to look out for. As he warned them about a brightly coloured red herb, he suddenly turned to an inconspicuous undergrowth and vigorously began digging.

The cubs went bonkers, howling and yipping with their immature barks and even Nūh jumped about. Soon, Jo emerged with a rabbit in his maws, wildly kicking and trashing about in a desperate attempt to free himself.

It took no more than a minute for it to bleed out and cease moving. The tots cheered with howls and dashed about around him; fanatic and crazy like celebrity chasers chasing after their favourite idol.

The way back home was much more interesting with the cubs repeatedly investigating the dead rabbit.

They were almost halfway home when Jo abruptly stopped. He put the rabbit down and stared into the trees. There was something staring back at them.

"Taking the younglings out for a walk, Jo?"

Nūh was startled. There was a human in the tree! Lightly swinging his legs, and munching on a juicy, yellow fruit, he kindly observed the recently birthed cubs.

Jo displayed no sign of aggression. They were like long time friends. Picking out a few more ripened fruits, the newcomer leapt off the tree.

Now in full view, Nūh was shocked. He wasn't human but he looked very similar to those illustrations of elves in the games he played.

Standing at a height of five feet and eleven inches, he looked young. But Nūh was sure he was much older than what was displayed.

The elf did not have an otherworldly beauty like they depicted in the various media. Instead, he had a certain charm. He was handsome with light freckles adorning his cheeks, a straight nose that suited him finely, glimmering, green eyes filled with mischief and thin lips stained with orange.

Nūh then came to another random realisation that he could see many more colours than canines were known to be able to see.

Wrapped in coarse weaves, buckles and feather decorations with stone beads, he could make any young human maiden enchanted.

He grinned, showing off his teeth that were dyed orange and came forward to hug Jo in greeting.

As they both caught up with each other, Nūh just stared at them with amazement.

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Unedited Chapter. Please ignore errors.

A guide to pronouncing names

(Will also be posted in Glossary):

• Father (Abba) Ad (Uhd)

• Mother (Umma) Yusra (yous-rah)

• Nūh(Nooh) Male

• Jo (Joe) Male

• Bin/ Binyamin (Bin-ya-min) Male

• Sarah (Sah-rah) Female

• Yahya (Yah-yaa) (the yah is similar to the "Hiyah!" the thing some people shout while fighting) Male

• Ana (Anna)/ Saffana ( Suf-faa-na) Female

•Halima (Huh-lee-mah) (Huh like in the word Hulk) Female