The First Jumper (first draft version)

The First Jumper 41: War

"I have an idea," Little Bear said.  After he outlined his idea, they began working it into a plan.

Then Tiger, Little Bear, Gopher, and Dire Wolf began creeping along the stream that was at the bottom of the hill from the hammock.  The stream was partially frozen over, and flooded.  By following the trees at the top of the bank, they were able to stay out of sight from the hammock.   It was too far for even a throwing stick, but it let them get across to the other side from where the rest of the Long Spear warriors were.

As they passed directly downwind of the hammock, they stopped for several minutes, to take the wind of the group above them.

"Many warriors," said Tiger.

"Many women, too," said Gopher, "but I think more warriors."

They continued across and took the right branch of the stream, which led them up to within throwing stick range of the hammock.

Little Bear had identified that there were two sentries, looking to the downwind side of the hammock.  They were not where they could see each other, which meant that only one man was looking in their direction.  The rest were well back into the hammock from where the sentries were.

When they got close enough, all three launched spears together at the one sentry.  He might have seen movement in their direction, as he stopped and stared at them after they threw.  He looked back over his shoulder in the direction of the other sentry, but was hit by three spears together, before he could say anything.  He collapsed onto the ground with a loud groan, as the three raced up the hill.

"Shasha?" called the other sentry, just as the three got to where the first sentry lay.  They had agreed that Little Bear should take this part, as he could actually throw at someone without seeing him.

The other sentry, however, did not seem to wonder why the first sentry wasn't answering him.  By the time Dire Wolf had dispatched the dying first sentry and retrieved their spears and the two the sentry had, the second sentry appeared to have gone back to sleepy watchfulness.

Little Bear was staring, frozen, at the man Dire Wolf had just stabbed in the chest, holding his hand over the man’s mouth.  What am I doing here? Little Bear wondered.  Tiger had to shake him to get his attention, before the moved toward the other sentry.

This time, they approached under cover of the trees, until they were close enough to be certain of good hits.  Tiger, as the best shot, always tried for the throat or neck.  Little Bear tried to hit the center of the chest, and Dire Wolf went for the belly.  With no throwing stick, Gopher just watched.

Again, they released together, but this time, their spears all passed completely through the man, and he fell with a hiss, much more quietly than the first.

As they moved over to him, Little Bear could hear the sound of the blood roaring through his veins.

Not being competitive for mates, Gerleesh's people could not comprehend why any sentient being would kill offspring like this tribe had done.

Little Bear did not understand it, either, but he was horrified.  When his Tarshen side had grasped what had happened, it had caused him to be violently ill.  Now, he knew at the core of his being that this tribe needed to be exterminated.

Even so, he was not prepared for the visceral shock of seeing Dire Wolf efficiently plunge his stone knife into the man’s chest, as the man was gasping for air.  

Little Bear had been hunting since a very young age, and he had killed many animals.  He had also seen people die, from animals, from infections, and once from a raid.  This was the first time he had killed other people, and it was not what he thought it would be, when he had played warrior games with Tiger and Camel.