The Last 7 Days of My Life: Nils Stylus Diary

A Hunter's Creed Part 1

It was a bit later in the evening. We had gotten little to eat at the festival since we tried to avoid all the suspicious eyes as much as possible.

Rowan and I had decided to go and catch some food. It was more likely that Rowan would have caught the food and l helped him to carry it back. Bella went to cook dinner since all our elders were still at the festival.

We parted our way through the bushes that separated our village and this savannah that we now stepped into. It was less even and had mounds of shrubs lounging around on our way to a wide clearing.

Dragonflies buzzed and flew in wide arcs around us. The wind crushed into me more, pulling me with each step, for no big trees laid in its way to prevent the force of its wind.

I had no love for hunting, but I wanted to spend time with my friends. Trying hunting again was at least the best way for me to express what was left of my chance to become a man.

Me and nature always felt at odds. It was a weird fit, but in time for me and the rustling of the trees, the crunch of the leaves, the trickle of the nearby water will be one when I hike that mountain.

The thought never occurred to me all the way back then, but I knew clearly that I had to hike that mountain in the coming days.

My eyes flicked in that direction. A tall beast of a rock rose high in the sky. A mass of greenery spread across the uneven peaks, jagged valleys and curving dips in the humongous mountain.

Pure white smoke raised out of spots in the mountain as if it was pumping into the sky the clouds that canvassed over our minute frames.

Was I really going to climb this thing? I barely saw the top. It just faded into the smoke of the lower sky. Cruelty, I was sure about the evil I placed myself under with my decisions.

I crushed my fingers inward, for I was still going to do it. But boy, was it going to be difficult.

"So, what will we be catching for dinner?" I asked Rowan, really showing my naivete.

He shrugged. "Whatever we see first."

"You can go ahead." I said, not wanting to slow him down.

We advanced across and reached a line of tall shrubs, but these seemed more of the swamp kind. I was learning little by little. Their leaves had a yellowish tint to them and the whistling wind passed through them with a certain beat to their rustling that unsettled me.

"Nah, that's okay. I'll walk with you."

"Rowan, if we walk at my pace, we'll never get back before sundown and I'm starving, aren't you starving?"

Rowan opened his mouth to argue with me, and suddenly we heard scurrying in the bushes.

"Shh!" He said instead.

We both stood as still as a tree. Well, I was basically an actual tree anyway, so that wasn't too difficult for me. We went dead silent and only put our ears to work.

The sounds of crushed grass were coming from the left of us. I stiffened, while Rowan quickly pulled out his bow and arrow. They were in his arms quicker than the blink of an eye.

He started creeping up to the trees that formed some kind of wall. What laid beyond the wall we were not sure, but I was not going to run? Rowan moved forward, while I stepped in close behind.

His eyes blinked, then it narrowed once it focused on something. Rowan's head turned, and I knew he found his target.

Once Rowan spotted his prey, he motioned for me to come over, his finger over his lips warning me to keep quiet so as not to spook their dinner.

I shuffled up next to him, trying to be as quiet as I could with these awkward tree legs. Luckily for me, I didn't spook them. Then I saw them, the most beautiful set of deer.

They hung by a lone shrub tree; it was taller than the rest and had dark blue berries growing from its stem.

My tummy started talking immediately. I tried to quiet my tummy, not wanting it to be the reason we didn't eat.

I looked at Rowan apologetically, but he was focused. Nothing disturbed him from his glare down the stretch towards the future meal.

His arrow notched and pulling back, ready to pierce the moist air.

I grabbed my bow and arrow too, just in case, even though with Rowan's skills, I was confident that we would be having venison steaks tonight.

Whoosh, off the arrow went, and he missed. They had darted out of the way. The deer seemed to have picked up on our presence. Their ears stood up, and they started looking around. Not seeing us, they soon settled down again and went back to eating the plants.

Rowan took a deep breath and produced his second arrow, firing at the deer a second time, missing again.

I panicked. I didn't want them to run off; we were so close. I could already taste the venison seasoned with Bella's herbs from her garden.

Before I could think myself out of it, I fired off my arrow impulsively and, before my eyes; I saw the deer fall.

Rowan dropped his arms as his face morphed into obvious shock. The other deer ran off. Rowan's lips quivered in disbelief. Me, I just stared. Had I really hit that deer?

Cannot be. I was terrible at this, yet I had done it. It was down and dead right before our eyes.

Rowan said, "Yes! You hit the heart!"

I burst out laughing, then held it down within seconds. My resolve, it was brief, but that instinct made me achieve my goal in miraculous fashion and it still had not felt real.

This exhilaration probably never would have coursed through my veins any less than it was now. I had never succeeded in being able to bring home any game, because I never was able to kill any.

The closest I got was shooting an animal in the leg. I didn't expect myself to feel as proud as I had right now, knowing that I was responsible for bringing home dinner tonight. Clumsy fingers and all, I did it!

I understood the appeal of it. Why Joel enjoyed this, so this was what this felt like.

As soon as the deer fell, the other deer had taken off running in many directions which left it out in the open for us to grab.

Rowan ran out excitedly toward it. Excitement made my steps a little quicker, though still not as fast as his. I caught up to the deer.

Rowan looked at me. "Can you carry it?"

He needed help, of course, and I was more of a liability. We tried lifting it up, but Rowan was doing more of the heavy lifting.