Hunt and Strangers

Fay quickly finished sharpening the tip of the makeshift spear.

He did not spend much time on it—ten minutes at most—but that was all he could spare.

He needed to hunt, and quickly.

He could already feel how his body had begun to eat at his remaining reserves.

Only the idea of catching one of the deer-like creatures kept him going.

There were far too many of them—he would be able to enjoy himself for at least two days.

He would smoke the meat he could.

He at least hoped the predators were like those back on Earth and would run away from fire.

After finishing the finial touches to his weapon, he stood and waved to his sister, who did the same in response.

He needed to be quick with his hunt.

He didn't want to leave her there alone for too long.

He also wouldn't go far—the watering hole was nearby, and that's where most of the creatures stood.

They were busy drinking water without a care.

The only solace he had was the long grass around the body of water.

It was tall enough to easily hide him.

He crept ever closer, doing his best to stay out of view.

That's when he noticed a new creature—one he hadn't seen before.

This one looked more like a pig.

It was at least half a meter tall, grey, and also drinking from the same watering hole.

The four tusks made it a dangerous creature, though.

He wouldn't attempt to kill this one—not yet.

He needed something weak, not something that would fight back.

He got closer to the gazelles, keeping his distance and waiting for one of them to enter his area.

He was not good at throwing spears.

Fay just didn't have the strength for it.

It needed to be close—at least three meters away at most—so he could hit with a deadly strike.

The boy waited.

At times, his stomach grumbled so loudly he thought the creatures would run away.

After half an hour, most likely, one of them got closer to feed on the grass around Fay.

It was a stroke of luck.

It was closing in—almost two meters in front of him.

He could have sworn he could smell the fur of the beast.

But he didn't have time for such things.

Fay threw the spear right at its torso.

The animal cried out as it was caught off guard.

It was pierced, but it struggled, trying to run.

The spear, though, only dug in deeper with each frantic movement.

Two minutes later, it finally collapsed.

Fay sighed.

He whispered a short prayer, then moved closer to finish the job.

He needed to hurry.

They were now the only two near the watering hole—the gazelle's pained calls had scared most of the other creatures away.

Fay also noticed the water itself held danger.

He didn't want to stick around to find out what might come from it.

He pulled out the spear and stabbed the animal once more in the throat.

It was both to end the suffering and to drain the blood.

Then he quickly got to work.

He dragged the deer into the tall grass.

Fay struggled a bit—the beast was at least twenty kilos of what he hoped would be delicious meat.

He had to move fast.

He took out his small saw, the blade sharpened on stone, and tore through the hide and into the belly fat.

He had made sure it was ready for this.

After taking the best cuts he could find, he left the rest behind and rushed back, bloodied.

Not the best way to show up in front of his young sister, but it would have to do.

He still had to gather firewood and start a fire.

Thankfully, he had three lighters that could still make sparks.

There was plenty of grass and dry branches, too.

It wouldn't be hard to gather enough for a quick bonfire.

An hour later, he was finally grilling meat.

His sister, Mira, had been told to stay near the tree.

Fay knew the smell could attract beasts, so he had to keep her far away for now.

Another twenty minutes passed, and the first small slices were ready.

He looked around before approaching the fire and pulled out four pieces of meat.

They were cooking on flat rocks—he had no metal to make proper skewers.

Still, the stones worked wonders.

The meat was a little burnt, but it would still taste heavenly.

Fay returned to his sister and handed her one of the pieces, skewered with a stick.

The girl gulped loudly before taking a bite.

Fay did the same.

He'd been waiting for her reaction, but he couldn't hold back any longer.

She had at least managed to eat something the day before.

But today, they would pig out.

There was so much meat left, and he would eat his fill.

Tomorrow would be another day.

"Was it good, Mira? Do you want more?" Fay asked.

He was about to jump back down when he noticed the grass beginning to move.

"Damn it, not again. When will I have my fill?"

Fay still had the bloodied spear nearby.

He grabbed it and got ready to fight.

But what came out of the grass made him nearly drop it.

He spotted at least six individuals.

They were mostly human… mostly.

Leading them was a man—if you could call him that.

His ears sat higher on his head than they should have.

And they looked more like cat ears.

That was probably the most striking difference.

They were human in the way they walked… only that their face was a mix between human and feline.

They even spoke with each other in some strange language.

The group got close to his bonfire.

Fay wanted to call out, he even wanted to toss his spear at them, but stopped himself.

He was not going to get in a fight just for meat; he needed to know what they wanted.

Suddenly, one of the strange humans looked up at him.

Fay tensed, not knowing what was going to happen.