mojo
04-05-2010, 03:56 AM
Eoi sat alone.
From the ledge the forests beneath his feet dwindled away into the distance. He could just make out his People cresting a hill many miles to the south, none looked back. He peered at his leg and the gash that ran down its length, from thigh to ankle. Bone showed through in places, the red life giving liquid still seeped between the patches of leaves he'd stuffed in place within the deepest parts of the wound.
He looked around at where the People had left him, behind where he sat some large rocks would give him some shelter, a trickling mountain stream ran between some other rocks further away. Tall grasses and low lying shrubs lay in the other direction, winding down into the forest below.
He had his stones and his weapons as well as a thick shawl made from the skin of the beast that had slashed him open. It stunk now as it lay in the sun to dry, flies buzzed mercilessly about, thankfully they were drawn to the hide rather than his wound.
He dragged himself back towards the shelter of the rocks, grimacing in pain as he did so.
Eoi had led his people for many years and they had thrived, more so than at anytime before according to the elders. If it had not been so they would not have even left him with his weapons or the skin he thought, he himself had been forced to leave injured People behind before, usually with much less than he had been left. The Tribe meant more than a single persons life.
Morning came and Eoi woke with a start, he was sweating profusely and shivering in the chill morning air. His eye's were swollen and red, dizzily he surveyed his surroundings, he could not focus and his mind drifted.
Again Eoi woke, the sun was high in the sky, he had no idea how much time had passed. He was no longer within the shelter of the rocks, instead drag marks indicated that he had pulled himself away from safety in his disoriented state. He lay now within the tall grasses and shrubs he had noticed earlier.
He felt the ages pressing down upon him, death stalked him.
Hunger swept Eoi awake again, his leg throbbed with pain. His thoughts were jumbled, disassembled, the moon had replaced the sun in the sky.
The wound in his leg seeped puss and coagulated blood.
In a lucid moment he saw his fathers face.
From the corner of his eye he saw a shrub covered in bright red berries, and dragged himself towards them. He knew the danger, these berries had caused death amongst the People in generations past. Hunger overwhelmed him and he ate voraciously.
I am the life. I offer you this existence in exchange for freedom from the life of a beast.
Eoi looked wildly about. The voice seemed to resonate within and without. He lay beneath the shrub that contained the berries.
Why am i not dead he thought.
I give you life. Do you accept.
Between swollen lips Eoi replied, "I accept", not knowing to whom or what he spoke.
Eoi lay beneath the shrub for many day's, feasting on it's fruit. The sun and the moon scudded across the sky in what seemed like minutes. Beasts of prey passed by within feet of his supine form giving him barely a second glance. His leg throbbed intermittently but all the while the skin folded in upon itself, the poisons within subsided and stopped flowing.
Two swollen moons passed and the people had returned to the hunting grounds their previous leader had found for them. The women trudged with swollen bellies or carried on their backs small children wrapped in skins. The men walked on the outskirts, weapons ready.
Soon they came to the place where they had left Eoi many months past and made camp within the shelter of the rocks.
That night after feasting upon the carcass of a gazelle the People lay around a fire, replete.
The sound of a breaking twig bought them awake, the men reaching quickly for clubs and spears. From the edge of darkness a form appeared at the edge of the light.
Into the circle of light walked a man, the People growled and weapons were raised instinctively.
The man before them wore the hide of a sabretooth, apart from which he was naked, painted in resplendant colours. His face bright red, across his torso ran bars of brown and green, his legs black. One leg was slightly deformed, a deep scar running it's length.
A gasp ran through the People for standing before them was Eoi, their former leader, a man who should have been dead these many months.
Eoi sat beside the fire, his mud wracked hair hung raggedly across his face, light from the flames shone across his visage highlighting the red ochre caked upon his face. The People sat before him entranced as he recounted his tale.
"The ancestors spoke to me through the tree of life. I was offered my life in return for a promise. We must always respect our partners in life, both plant and animal. If we fail in our promise the land will not be ours. This truth must be passed on to our kin and for all eternity we can live in peace with our green brothers and sisters".
2012.
Ryan lay on his back, the sky above burnt with a fury never before seen in human existance. He didn't know it but he was the last of the species Homosapiens left alive on the planet.
Time slowed as the skin peeled from his body, he felt no pain. Perhaps the berries he had eaten only moments before had numbed the pain. a voice resonated within his mind.
Our contract is broken, your father Eoi laments your dishonesty.
The planet teemed with life, green and vociferious. The largest beasts were no more than bugs, symbiotic partners in the tree of life that had never revoked on their promise.
From the ledge the forests beneath his feet dwindled away into the distance. He could just make out his People cresting a hill many miles to the south, none looked back. He peered at his leg and the gash that ran down its length, from thigh to ankle. Bone showed through in places, the red life giving liquid still seeped between the patches of leaves he'd stuffed in place within the deepest parts of the wound.
He looked around at where the People had left him, behind where he sat some large rocks would give him some shelter, a trickling mountain stream ran between some other rocks further away. Tall grasses and low lying shrubs lay in the other direction, winding down into the forest below.
He had his stones and his weapons as well as a thick shawl made from the skin of the beast that had slashed him open. It stunk now as it lay in the sun to dry, flies buzzed mercilessly about, thankfully they were drawn to the hide rather than his wound.
He dragged himself back towards the shelter of the rocks, grimacing in pain as he did so.
Eoi had led his people for many years and they had thrived, more so than at anytime before according to the elders. If it had not been so they would not have even left him with his weapons or the skin he thought, he himself had been forced to leave injured People behind before, usually with much less than he had been left. The Tribe meant more than a single persons life.
Morning came and Eoi woke with a start, he was sweating profusely and shivering in the chill morning air. His eye's were swollen and red, dizzily he surveyed his surroundings, he could not focus and his mind drifted.
Again Eoi woke, the sun was high in the sky, he had no idea how much time had passed. He was no longer within the shelter of the rocks, instead drag marks indicated that he had pulled himself away from safety in his disoriented state. He lay now within the tall grasses and shrubs he had noticed earlier.
He felt the ages pressing down upon him, death stalked him.
Hunger swept Eoi awake again, his leg throbbed with pain. His thoughts were jumbled, disassembled, the moon had replaced the sun in the sky.
The wound in his leg seeped puss and coagulated blood.
In a lucid moment he saw his fathers face.
From the corner of his eye he saw a shrub covered in bright red berries, and dragged himself towards them. He knew the danger, these berries had caused death amongst the People in generations past. Hunger overwhelmed him and he ate voraciously.
I am the life. I offer you this existence in exchange for freedom from the life of a beast.
Eoi looked wildly about. The voice seemed to resonate within and without. He lay beneath the shrub that contained the berries.
Why am i not dead he thought.
I give you life. Do you accept.
Between swollen lips Eoi replied, "I accept", not knowing to whom or what he spoke.
Eoi lay beneath the shrub for many day's, feasting on it's fruit. The sun and the moon scudded across the sky in what seemed like minutes. Beasts of prey passed by within feet of his supine form giving him barely a second glance. His leg throbbed intermittently but all the while the skin folded in upon itself, the poisons within subsided and stopped flowing.
Two swollen moons passed and the people had returned to the hunting grounds their previous leader had found for them. The women trudged with swollen bellies or carried on their backs small children wrapped in skins. The men walked on the outskirts, weapons ready.
Soon they came to the place where they had left Eoi many months past and made camp within the shelter of the rocks.
That night after feasting upon the carcass of a gazelle the People lay around a fire, replete.
The sound of a breaking twig bought them awake, the men reaching quickly for clubs and spears. From the edge of darkness a form appeared at the edge of the light.
Into the circle of light walked a man, the People growled and weapons were raised instinctively.
The man before them wore the hide of a sabretooth, apart from which he was naked, painted in resplendant colours. His face bright red, across his torso ran bars of brown and green, his legs black. One leg was slightly deformed, a deep scar running it's length.
A gasp ran through the People for standing before them was Eoi, their former leader, a man who should have been dead these many months.
Eoi sat beside the fire, his mud wracked hair hung raggedly across his face, light from the flames shone across his visage highlighting the red ochre caked upon his face. The People sat before him entranced as he recounted his tale.
"The ancestors spoke to me through the tree of life. I was offered my life in return for a promise. We must always respect our partners in life, both plant and animal. If we fail in our promise the land will not be ours. This truth must be passed on to our kin and for all eternity we can live in peace with our green brothers and sisters".
2012.
Ryan lay on his back, the sky above burnt with a fury never before seen in human existance. He didn't know it but he was the last of the species Homosapiens left alive on the planet.
Time slowed as the skin peeled from his body, he felt no pain. Perhaps the berries he had eaten only moments before had numbed the pain. a voice resonated within his mind.
Our contract is broken, your father Eoi laments your dishonesty.
The planet teemed with life, green and vociferious. The largest beasts were no more than bugs, symbiotic partners in the tree of life that had never revoked on their promise.