Beginnings

Chop… Chop… Chop… The reverberations of the axe echoed distantly away from the woods where the child was born. Deep in the Brazilian Amazon near the river, the year, 2014, deep in the Amazon Rainforest, a screaming mother’s eyes feast apon a newborn treasure. She firmly believes she held this one much longer than her last two, but in this land time is very hard to measure, there is only night and day. “He is very thin…” says his father, “and why are his ears like that?” he was different indeed.

Chop… Chop… Chop… “What is that noise?” his mother asks. “It is a beat he shall follow, that will be his name, Toq,” the noise grew closer throughout the night and even closer in the day. Some of the hunters went to explore it, they never returned. That following night nearly his entire tribe was slain in a dispute by illegal lumber harvesters, only he and the village elder survived.

His following nine years were spent learning of the ways of the wood, listening, observing, and sensing the nature around him, and following the guidance of his beloved guardian. It was at nine when his mentor’s failing health became apparent. Within a month he passed on. Alone now, deep within the hostile jungle, alone… Toq was helpless, at that moment he realized he would not be able to survive. All the child wanted to do was cry, and he did.

The First Hunt

“Why do you cry cub?” said a quiet voice from behind him, and from the brush steps out a panther. Terrified, Toq freezes, knowing full and well that panthers were bad news, and his survivability at this moment was reduced to zero.

“Fear me not cub, long I have watched you.”

“You aren’t going to eat me?”

“No.”

“Who are you?”

“I am Nema, the Watcher, long have I awaited your coming, The Cat welcomes you”

“Cat?”

“Yes, the ultimate hunter, their spirits run through your blood, you have special rite of destiny, your fate is to serve, and in return, I shall grant you two blessings.”

“Blessings?”

“Yes, Blessings, your first blessing shall be to live, and the next is the power to be a great hunter.” The great cat then bowed its head, then turned as a gesture to follow, and follow Toq did.

Deeper and Deeper into the jungle, away from the river, away from any feeling of familiarity the cat guided him through the unimaginable foliage silently, so silently that Toq’s footsteps seemed like the crashing of a wild boar.

“Shh!” Nema hissed “if you want to be prey, then continue to walk like prey, but if you want to be a hunter, then your steps must match mine,” after a moment Toq’s feet became softer, Nema nodded in approval.

“Are you hungry cub?”

Toq nods, he hadn’t really had anything substantial to eat in days.

“Then you must hunt for food, your hands, although useful, lack a weapon, but no worries, I have this for you” the big cat walks to a nearby rock and bats it, hard. Under it laid a blade, of some kind of shiny material, it looked very sharp.

“Use this to get something to eat, further up is prey, he is strong enough to prove your own worth,” and with that said, the Great Cat, Nema vansished.

Up ahead was a ravine, carved out by a now dried stream. Slightly down the way was a cave, partially concealed by brush. The squeals of young boars echoed quietly. Excited to have found such a gift Toq slid down into the ravine and ran towards the cave. He drew his knife, awaiting the feast he was going to have. As he drew closer to the cave the squeals grew loud, but he heard something behind him.

Quickly the boy turned to see a boar much larger than he charging him, razor-like tusks bearing down at him. Screaming Toq looks around to find an escape from this beast, the only way to go is the cave, for that’s where the stream cut. He turns and runs towards the cave only, to his horror, to find another large boar charging him from the other direction. Nowhere to run, trapped in the ravine, Toq knew this was the end, his fear whelming inside him.

“NO!” he yelled, both boars staring at him, locked on, seconds away from colliding into him from both sides full force with their mighty blades jutting from those disgusting mouths. He felt something, something inside of him. Almost like an understanding of something, within an instant Toq dives out of the way, but something was strange, it was their eyes. The boars both lost track of him, as if they lost sight of him. They charged past each other, and very closely by the petrified child. Confused, the boars ran back into the cave.

They still sensed his presence, they know he is there, but they could not see him. Toq looks at his hands and gasps, there was nothing! Quickly, he gets up and climbs out of the ravine, his hunger heavily outweighed by fear. He runs back to where he was given the knife. There, Nema stood.

“Foolish cub!” he roared. “You were almost killed! The Cat has been good to you today, they have granted you a second chance, and I see they have awakened your soul as well. Trust me when I say, they will not help you like this again”

“I could not see myself! How?!” Toq cried out.

After some silence, Nema laughed, “You are shaman now, you owe that to The Cat, you serve him now, he must think highly of you, either that or he pities you after watching that poor excuse of a hunt. As shaman you have the gift of The Cat’s blessing, through him you can grant yourself the ability of being unseen. The Cat is hard to sense, so YOU are hard to sense. But in order to use his blessings you need to focus, now, try it again”

Toq closes his eyes, takes a breath, and tries to remember the feeling, the understanding of nature, the fear, everything that he felt during his near death hunt, soon he realizes that he can see although his eyes are closed, he did it.

“Now go back and finish what you started” Nema said and vanishes again.

Knife drawn again, Toq slides back into the ravine, constantly checking to see if he is still unable to be seen. Slowly he approaches the cave, terrified, but much quieter this time. He sees both boars peeking out of the brush concealing the cave, fear growing deep inside him. If only he could distract one. His mind was a bit foggy from summoning his newly found power, but he was still sharp. Slowly he crept, quietly, all the way up to the brush that held his test, he is now almost within reach of them. They grunt, they know he is there, and are keeping an eye out, they smell him, they know, but at the same time, they don’t, Toq knows this.

Newly found confidence is within him, he looks at the closest boar’s leg and knows where to strike, In the blink of an eye, the boy slashes at the boar’s front tendon, and succeeds, dropping it helplessly to the ground. It squeals in pain and the second boar is absolutely confused, the boy jumps on the second boar head on. He clears its head, and latches on to its back, slashing at its flank. It takes off, squealing in pain, and fear. Holding on for dear life, the beast takes the boy for a ride, but only for a moment, soon the knife slides across its rear hamstring before it can shake him off.

The beast collapses, hind first forcing Toq to roll off. This breaks his concentration, he is visible, but its too late. As quickly as he fell off, he gets up, blade in hand, The hunter chases his crippled and now slow prey, pounces its back, and slashes its throat. “One down, now to finish the other off” he thinks to himself excitedly. He runs full pace back towards the cave, only to see a trail of blood leading deeper into the cave.

Toq always had sharp eyes in the darkness, and saw the cave went in about five feet and turned slightly right. There he could here the snorts of this once terrifying animal. He crept into the cave, and peered around the corner, only to feel heartbreak, there he saw piglets, feeding off of a wounded mother.

“I’ve taken more than I need, I shall leave you to rest” and from there, Toq left the cave to claim his spoils.

There was a boar alright, it was huge! So huge in fact that he didn’t know how to manage it.

“I underestimated you cub,” Toq jumped, from behind him Nema approached, and with him, was a pack of his kind. “The Cat is pleased! Now, share your abundance and we shall feast in your name!” and feast they did.

Artwork by Tim Keller