Chapter 8 The Survival Lessons

I remembered air. I began to swim up. Even if I may not need air. It still hurts without air so I think I'll try to avoid a lack of it.

I burst through the surface of the water and took in as much air as my lungs would allow. My legs were almost fully healed at this point so swimming back to shore was much easier.

"Master!"

I heard Atouk at the shore.

"Master! Over here! I thought you were dead. I couldn't see you!"

I managed to finally get to shore.

"What happened, Master? How did we get to the south shore? Are you hurt?"

I walked inland just far enough to be out of range of the washing waves. I sat down and laid on my back. I huffed for a minute while catching my breath. Atouk was pacing by me.

"There was another giant hiding in the tree line. You got hit by the one we were fighting and I protected your body before the other giant could get to you. Though, it did send us both flying all the way over here."

"Master. You protected me. I can't ever make it up to you with how much you have done."

He bowed to me as much as he could with his wounded foot.

"Sorry."

"Master?"

"When we first met, I... my words were short with you. I was in a bad mood. And that older panther that was with you. The one I killed. Was she a friend?"

"That was Obani. She was an old crone. She was only my partner for the mission we were on. She followed her duties but, she liked no one. Humans especially. Her grandfather was hunted by humans when she was young. That may be why she did not give you a chance to speak."

"I see. I feel bad that I killed her."

"To be honest, I don't think she will be missed. She has no family to speak of. Her friends have all died of old age. This was to be her last mission. One way or another."

"That doesn't make it okay."

I sat up and looked at my feet. They were back to normal now. I leaned to my right to start standing up when, I felt something in my pocket. I reached in and grabbed my long-dead cell phone. It was cracked and waterlogged now too.

"What is that Master?"

I threw it into the ocean.

"Nothing now. Don't worry about it. Atouk, will you do something for me?"

"Anything for you. You need only ask."

I began walking up the beach away from the water. Atouk followed.

"Do me couple favors then. First, stop calling me Master. My name is Lake."

"As you wish Mas... Lake. What is the other favor?"

"I would like you to forget any life debts you think you have to me."

He stopped walking behind me.

"But, Master!"

I looked back at him with an annoyed look on my face.

"Eh... Lake... Did I do something wrong? Why do you say this?"

I turned back around and continued walking as I talked.

"Because Atouk, you are an individual. You help me and I'll help you. We can be equals. We can be friends. I'd rather have a friend at my side than someone with a life debt tagging along behind me."

I stopped but I didn't look back. He walked up next to me. It looked like he was brimming with happiness or pride. Maybe both, I can't tell with these cat faces. We began walking side by side at the same time.

At the edge of the soft sanded beach, we were met with a hard dirt road path. Atouk spoke up.

"To the left is the elf city. To the right is the main path toward other parts of this small continent. My tribe's homeland included. Will you go back to the elves?"

I gazed in the direction of the elf populated area.

"Maybe someday, but for now, let's get you back home. Maybe Princess Mery is there already."

"What of that last giant?"

"The elves took down their own giants. They are not helpless without me and they will take the last one down before I get back."

I looked out in all directions. I was just taking in the sights. A more open forest of almost evenly spaced trees towards the elven city. The cliffs and beach, leading to the ocean behind me. Lastly the Dense unkempt forest before me and to my right.

"Do you know how this continent is shaped? Like, can you draw the shape in the sand here and show me main cities, where we are and such?"

He did not hesitate. He poked out a single claw and began to trace shapes in the sand.

"How do you not know this? Are humans always so uninformed?"

He did not slow his tracing one bit as he talked.

"Ah, well I'm really not from around here, I know almost nothing of where I am."

"What do you know?"

"I know this world is called Eyse."

He ended up drawing a circle with three long triangular shapes on the upper left and three long triangular shapes on the lower right. Like an eight-sided star, missing the points in the upper right and the lower left. He marked certain points. He first pointed to the very center.

"This entire landmass is called 'The Missing Star.' This point is north."

He pointed at the very top triangle of his drawing.

"We are around here and the elven city is here."

He pointed to the lower base of the westernmost triangle and then to the very tip of that same triangle.

He then pointed to the circle just south of the northern point.

"This is my home."

"So if we head to ... Uh, what is your city called? For that matter, what are your people called?"

"Our city is called Lak'Tambu. It is named for the first of our Kings. As for our people, we have a name. That name is hidden from the outside world. Only the King can deem an outsider worthy of knowing the name. You can call us whatever you think is proper. Most just call us cats, black cats or panthers."

"I see."

"Back to the map then."

Atouk pointed to the northwestern point.

"This is the troll's main encampment. You may survive if you go there, but I would be unwelcomed, to say the least."

I pointed to the same spot he did.

"Is this Juiyo?"

"No, the main encampment is called Skara Magna. That is the only troll city I know of."

"I need to find a place called Juiyo. There is someone there I need to find. Would anyone in LachTa... uh."

Atouk took his time sounding out the name.

"Laaak Taaam booo"

"Laaktambu? Sorry, I'm sometimes bad with the names of places. Would someone in Lak'Tumbu know where Juiyo is?"

"Most likely. There are trolls there, neutral traders. They should know their home better than I. Right now, you should have nothing to do with these southeastern peninsulas. They are too dangerous."

"Is the entire northern point, part of your people's land?"

"No, my people are close to it but, we do not trespass there. The fairies and pixies live there. They are not hostile like the elves, trolls and humans. That is why my people are safer near them. However, they are not fond of guests. It is usually traders and those that are well respected, who are welcome there."

"Well, at this point, it's probably in my best interest to go with you to ... lach... Lat ... Lak'Tambu."

"You still need to practice that more, but I will help you if you need. We should follow the path to the east. This will be our safest route but, It will take about fourteen or fifteen days to get there on foot. We can find shelter at night off the trail to avoid being found by bandits and wanderers following the trails."

That's a long walk. Though, I would probably get lost without some kind of guide if, I tried to go straight to the trolls. I remembered Atouk's wounded leg.

"Will you be okay with that leg?"

He looked at his right hind leg and shook it a bit.

"It is sore. If I am gentle and let it rest at night, It should be better long before we arrive."

"Shall we go then?"

We both began our journey together, side by side.

We were scrounging for easy foods off of bushes and trees over the next few days. On the third day, after a few hours of walking on the wide and hard dirt path, we came to a fork in the road. One path continued along the coast and one went into the jungle.

"Mas... Er, Lake. I would like to hunt for food If you don't mind. Something a bit more substantial."

"Oh! I'm sorry. I totally didn't even think about that. I haven't had much to eat in prison so my body is used to not eating much. Yeah, let's try to find some food."

He sat down and looked at me as if I was some sort of oddity.

"Your speech... it sounds a bit... Different."

"It does? I guess I feel a bit more relaxed around you so I'm not trying to talk more properly."

He leaned to the side looking past me.

"There!"

He hid behind a nearby rock formation.

"Come, hide!"

I followed behind and saw what he was looking at. A giant crab. This thing was huge. It could cut a man in half with its claws.

"Atouk, would that be a good food source?"

I asked in a whisper.

"Its shell is stronger than most things in this world. If you can crack it like you did that giant's skull, we could be eating well for the next few days."

"I'm going for it."

I stepped out in confidence. I began walking towards it. I was now back onto soft sand. I was maybe 30 feet from it before it saw me. I began running at it.

When I got close enough, it used its large left claw to lunge at my midsection. I leaned back and slid on the sand avoiding the massive claw. I was quick to stand and leap from my low state. Before I would touch the ground with my feet again, my right fist pulled back and launched downward onto the top of the crab's shell.

*CRACK*

The sound seemed to echo. We, two combatants, stood still for a moment before I realized what happened.

My hand is broken. His shell was un-phased.

Before I could pull away, the large crustacean made a lightning-fast move with its smaller right claw. My right arm was severed between the shoulder and elbow. I went wide-eyed.

"Oh shit!"

I jumped back as fast as I could and ran back to the path towards the forest entrance.

Atouk saw me running for what he thought was dear life and ran ahead of me as fast as he could on three feet. The crab did not follow very far. I supposed my arm was food for it so it doesn't need the rest of me.

"Lake! Your arm! We must bind it and..."

I raised my stump up to show him the repairing flesh.

"I'm good. It'll be done in a matter of minutes. Don't you recall my hand after I hit the giant's head?"

He looked a bit disturbed.

"What are you?"

"Did you think I was kidding when I told those elf guards blocking us, that I had taken the potion of Rage into my body?"

"It is true?! I thought you were just trying to scare them! And the part where you asked me if I thought differently of you for it, I thought maybe you were a little crazy. Yes you were strong, but I have seen stranger things while the potion was still in the hands of the elves. This is a bit worrisome. I am leading you to my tribe."

He began pacing back and forth.

"What do I tell the King and Queen. That I happily lead the most dangerous individual in Eyse, right to my tribe?"

He was mumbling to himself at this point. He stopped and looked up at me.

"Your power, you hit that creature on the shore. It had no effect. Is the power of the potion receding? How long have you had that power? Can you control it?"

He closed the distance between us as he asked his barrage of questions.

"I don't know how this power works. I think its been over five months now since I got the power of the potion of Rage. Listen. I don't want to hurt good people. I also don't want to stress anyone out. If you think I shouldn't stay in your city longer than I need, then I'd like to get the location of Juiyo and just be on my way. Even then, If you really don't want to take me there, I won't force you."

Atouk backed down. He was lost in thought. I felt my fingers move again. I brought my right hand up to my face, almost to double-check that they grew back right.

"I... I will take you there. I have been around you long enough to see you are a good person. But, if I see something that I find disturbing from you, I may change my mind."

He let out a sigh.

"When we meet others of my kind, please keep this fact to yourself. If it gets out, you may cause panic."

"I promise. I'll do my best to keep it hidden."

He sat down again and brought a paw to his stomach.

"All of this worrying has made me hungrier. Come, I know of some vegetation that we should be able to find around the forest here."

He turned around and began walking into the forest, off of the path. I followed and he showed me various vegetables, fruits and mushrooms that were safe to eat. I was also shown several kinds of poisonous vegetation to avoid. We had our fill and made it back to the path so we could continue on.

As it got darker out, Atouk showed me a kind of tree that generally has roots above ground that was perfect for hiding in at night. We stayed there for the night sleeping back to back for some warmth, though it never really got cold. I slept well.

He woke me up before the sun could share its warmth. We got an early start to cover more distance. Over the next week and a half, I learned a great many things for survival in the forest.

Maybe not my own survival but, vital information that could help me save the life of another.