Roots | ONC 2024

IV : Whispers

Bnirin latches the gate of the pulley cabin closed after Umirin and Shani have stepped inside, prepared to descend. Umirin glances at the sky, the sun is high in the afternoon. They will hopefully, Divine Beast permitting, return before dark.

"Blessings with you," Bnirin nods, and then grabs the lever and begins to crank it.

Umirin grips his spear tighter as the pulley begins to descend, his home up high disappearing as they are lowered further and further away from it.

For a few moments, everything becomes blissfully dark as the pulley descends through the massive hollowed out tree trunk at the top of which it's been built. Umirin takes a deep breath in the darkness and pretends he is in bed with Shani, burrowed so tightly against his chest he can see nothing else.

"We don't need to travel far to reach our spot, this won't take long," Shani smiles at him, yet again so assured.

Umirin nods, "I hope so too," he agrees.

Moments later, the pulley thumps softly against solid ground, and a shudder passes through Umirin's body. A deep sense of wrongness blooms in the hollow of his chest every time he is down here.

This Forest doesn't belong to them anymore after all, and its new keepers don't take kindly to intruders.

Shani unlatches the gate and pulls it open, stepping out into the dim entrance to the tree trunk, shadowed by a curtain of vines and hanging ivy. Umirin follows mutely, the soil beneath his boots feeling strange when he steps off from the elevator.

So used to walking across hard, sanded wooden planks and slats, the soft mush of the dirt is an unwelcome difference. With each step it feels like his feet sink ever so slightly into the ground, as if the Forest wishes to suck him deep into its bowels and digest his bones.

Umirin shakes his head to discard that mental image. If their Forest has become their enemy, that is their own fault. Humans are foolish, and far too rash. And unfortunately for that accursed hunting party generations ago, and everyone else since them, one misstep is all it took.

Shani sweeps aside the leafy curtain and steps out into the day beyond. Umirin squints momentarily as he walks behind him, glancing around as soon as he can. The underbrush is still. He can hear birds chirping from branches above them. Hopefully, that should mean relative safety. Living things know better than to announce their presence if a Soulbiter is nearby.

"We should, uhm...head south," Shani says slowly once he gets his bearings. It is not the easiest to orient one's self from ground level, with so many obstacles in the way of view, "I...think?" he meekly finishes his sentence, very unsure.

Umirin cannot help but smile at his husband's adorable attempt at figuring out where to go relative from where they are. He had never been the best at that, "Our gathering spot is by the pond we often hunt at," Umirin explains, "so that would be northwest from where we are," he turns as he speaks and estimates the direction, then points his arm along it to show Shani. He had spent many hours studying maps and learning orientation with his mentor as a trainee. She had drilled proper bearings into him relentlessly until he'd become skilled enough to tell where to go no matter where he found himself starting from.

Shani nods, "I don't know why I keep trying," he jokes, chuckling lightly, "I can just never get directions right like you," he shakes his head.

Umirin feels himself melt a bit as he takes Shani's hand and brings it up to his lips to kiss the back of it, "Oh love, don't fret over it for a moment. I shall find our way every time," he smiles.

Shani's eyes round off, full of fondness. He squeezes Umirin's hand, smiling, "Thank you, I'd get so lost without you."

They set off northwest, following Umirin's going. The pond isn't far, but the foliage is dense and slow to push through. Perhaps they could slice their way past the brush with their spears, but that would feel wrong. Senseless destruction and killing is against Wezrin Sah beliefs. They only kill when they must, for food. And Umirin's people do their best not to waste any part of their hunts. They use everything in some way, but for the heart of the animal. That is never to be consumed or damaged. The heart is holy, it holds the spirit. And so they bury it instead, return the life to the Forest from whence it came.