Eritopia

A Forced Decision

'What does that mean?'

'Sorry, it means they controlled events. The Occasion was part of it. For instance, the bear said you would get a name and you didn't. Then you were hungry and there was no food. They wanted you to leave.'

'So it wasn't Bear's fault?'

'Not at all. The Elders are behind it, mark my words.'

'But why would they want me to leave?'

Jod stared into his eyes as if studying his mind. Not-Bear looked away. For the first time in Jod's company he felt uncomfortable. 

'That I don't know,' Jod said. He led the way as they entered the trees again.

'Aren't you scared living out here in the Forest?' Not-Bear asked.

'No more than anywhere else.'

'Bear says everything in the Forest is dangerous. And the Outside even more so.'

'Your friend would be scared of his own shadow if it moved too quickly.'

'Oh no,' Not-Bear said. 'Bear isn't scared like that, he's just careful.'

'There's also the possibility he may have known exactly what was going on.'

'I can't believe that.'

'Why not? From what you say the Elders built him a nice home, and he used to report to them all the time.'

'He's loyal. He believes in the Rules and the Secrets and all the things that keep the Inside together. That's all.'

'But you don't.'

'I don't know what I believe anymore.' Not Bear said.

'Keep an open mind. You will need it if you make it to the Outside.'

The truth was, he saw something in the wolf of himself, and in his company his spirits rose. Long-forgotten memories surfaced; most, but not all, of them pleasant. From the happy ones, he remembered he loved life. But there were also dark incidents in his past he had to deal with too.

'Something is wrong,' Not-Bear said as they emerged from the trees. 

Jod looked first to him, then across the clearing to the wooden lid laying ten feet from the entrance to his home. He dropped the handle of the cart and ran forward. Not-Bear loped past and was looking down into the burrow as Jod arrived.

'Be careful!' Jod said.

Not-Bear was already down the steps and into the burrow. Jod followed. Wood from the fire was scattered across the hearth and on to the floor. Food was spilt from the broken fire pot and had been trampled over. Holes had been gouged and dug out of the earth. 

Jod wandered through the rooms; not an inch of the place was undisturbed. Worse still was the acrid smell of excrement left by the creatures that had been there.

Jod pressed his sleeve against his nose. There were fragments of clothing and bits of broken furniture everywhere. Jod walked around, righting a pot here and a lamp there. But there was nothing untouched, nothing whole. Eventually he turned, motioned to Not Bear and they made their way out.

'Hyenas,' Jod said as he crouched outside. 

This was a new word for Not-Bear, and Jod had to explain it to him.

'Hyenas are filth, disgusting, there's nothing good about them,' he began. 'They are cowards, hunt in packs, use the spirit of the Occasion to look for sick or tired animals to torture and eat. They skulk in the trees. They stink, they are...'

'Yes?'

'...bad animals.' Jod walked across the clearing, picked up the handle of his cart and trundled it back. 'Not much use for these roots now,' he said. 'They've destroyed the fireplace. It will take ages to rebuild. And that smell...'

'We can find another burrow,' Not-Bear said. He ran over to the edge of the trees. 'You must know where there is one. I'll help you enlarge it, make it habitable.' 

Jod stared at the ground. 'Something's not quite right,' he said. 'Hyenas aren't impetuous, they don't do organised things.'

'But how did they find it? What were they looking for?'

'That's obvious,' Jod said, as he picked up a pine cone and threw it with a direct hit against the a tree stump. 'They must have followed our trail from the Circle.'

'Yes, but why?' asked Not-Bear.

'Why, looking for you, of course.'

'Me? What would they know about me?' To think he had caused the destruction of Jod's home made him feel sick.

'I can go after them,' he said. 'I'll track them down, they can't be far.'

'And what then? Anyway it's too late, too late for a lot of things. There's nothing else to do now, we have to leave.'

'Where to?'

'The Outside,' Jod said. 'I'll come with you.'

'But you can't mean, go to the Outside. Together?'

'Well you haven't stopped going on about it. And there's nothing left here for me.'

'But you can find another burrow.'

'Yes, but not another home. It will take years to make that. Beside, there's something an old friend once said to me, about one last opportunity.'

'Was that on the Inside?'

'No, it was a long way from there, in fact, a long way from anywhere.'

'So you really do know the Outside?'

'Yes.'

'And you've been there?'

'Yes.'

'And you're willing to take me there?'

Jod looked at the wolf. 'If you keep talking I might change my mind. It's a bad enough thing to try and do, don't give me an excuse not to do it.'

They went down once more into the ruined burrow and tried to make the best of what was there. One of the rooms had escaped great damage, so they stored as much in there as possible. Jod hurried about, picking up objects, turning them over in his hand. Not-Bear grabbed hold of things with his teeth, and dragged them to Jod. He either nodded, shook his head, sighed, or did all those things, so Not Bear knew what to do with each object.

Jod then got a small fire going in the middle of the most damaged room and they had a lukewarm meal of vegetables. The fire cheered the place and hid the smell, but it was heartbreaking to see great gouges in the floor and walls.

'It will never be the same again,' Jod said.

Not Bear vowed then and there, that if he ever came back from his adventure, he would help Jod look for a new home. They would build it so it was bigger, brighter and better than the one he had lost. He also vowed, in his mind, to find the hyenas that had done this senseless thing and make them pay for it.

'Are you ready then?' Jod asked, when he had packed his bag with things they needed. He checked the fire was out and they emerged from the burrow, sealing and covering the entrance once more.

 'Let's hope the smell has gone by the time I return.'