• Chapter 1 Winter

    I was running through the forest, it was winter, and snow had fallen the night before. The snow was cold on my feet, but I kept running. Kumo is along beside me, I hope that we will be able to find food, we are usually not prosperous in the winter, eating anything we can find is how we survive during the harsh winter months. Kumo was leading me, I was very tired so it was almost hard to keep up. I ran my fastest, sometimes having to jump to avoid obstacles. I became very far behind Kumo, more distance between us than I was comfortable with, so I tried to speed up. I was gaining on Kumo but I was not watching, I stepped on something sharp, and fell. Kumo stopped, smelling blood and came running back towards me. I held my foot wincing with pain, the pure white snow I had landed in, had been stained with a few drops of blood. I stared at my bleeding foot for a minute wondering if it was really my own blood coming from my foot, being unfamiliar with my own bleeding and pain. Kumo stared at me, as my grandmother would when I was younger, wondering if I was okay. I reassured him by standing up. “See Kumo, I’m alright.” I said, now wondering what I had cut my foot on. I looked back but saw nothing. I turned back to Kumo, “Ready to continue our hunt?” He let out a short howl to confirm he was. I started to run, he followed behind at first, watching me closely, then gradually sped up. By the time he had started running beside me we had reached a clearing, he stopped and growled. I knew exactly what that growl meant; our little friends from ichimon were nearby. I grabbed my bow and an arrow off my back. I clenched my bow tightly, and looked around. “Where are they, Kumo?” I whispered to him. Kumo turned his head slightly and sniffed, he turned and faced some bushes to my right and growled. I put my arrow on my bow and pulled back slightly as I walked towards the bushes, not yet letting go of my arrow. I got closer and closer to the bushes, I heard cries of pain from a man. I peered behind the bushes, the cries got louder, my eyes went down, trying to find where that sound came from. I saw a man, bleeding from the mouth, barely alive but in so much pain. His clothes were torn; he looked like a trader that I had seen before. It was hard to tell there were so many cuts across his chest, arms, legs, and face. One of his fists was clenched tightly. His cuts all oozed blood; the snow beneath him was almost entirely blood red. I leaped over the bushes to see him. “How did this happen?” I asked in a soothing but concerned tone. “Th-th-they attacked me, they stole my things, all but one, please take this.” He struggled to say this, and weakly opened his palm revealing a small blue gem on a silver chain; he placed this in my palm. “Keep this safe, protect it, it will give you luck. Thank you for leading me through the forest five years ago. I would have died in that forest if you had not led me through. You may have refused it then, but please take it now. It is a request from a dying man.” My eyes started welling up with tears, my fist closed around the necklace.
    “I’ll take it, I’m sorry this happened to you.” He did not hear me, his pulse had gone, and his eyes were closed. I cried for a few minutes, hot tears streamed down my face. Kumo had come to me and rested his head upon my lap. I wiped away my tears and smiled gently at Kumo.
    After hours of hunting, Kumo finally located a small deer. I took my bow and quietly loaded it with an arrow, one sound the deer would run, and Kumo and I would starve. I pulled back my arrow, and aimed. I let the arrow fly, it pierced the deer swiftly, and it fell. I ran towards the deer I had killed. I pulled the arrow from inside the deer’s hide, it was covered in blood. I placed my arrow back in the quiver. Kumo looked at me with starvation in his eyes, wanting to eat the deer quickly. Unfortunately I have not grown accustomed to the taste of raw meat, as he had. “Kumo I need to skin it and cook it first, its hide could come in handy later.” He gave me a look of disappointment but understanding. Even living most of my life in this forest didn’t make me any less picky about having things cooked. Natural human and female instincts I suppose. I took out my knife, it was concealed in my quiver along with my arrows, and I started to skin the deer. As I skinned the deer I began to think, I began to remember my mother, and how she would always make such wonderful meals. I remembered my brother, he sometimes took me along, but when he didn’t he would always say “The forest is no place for a girl to go.” My brother was not mean, at least not that I can remember. My grandmother, oh how I loved my grandmother and her stories. I can’t remember any of the stories only that I loved them. I miss those times. I smiled to myself, not paying attention to my knife, I accidentally cut my thumb. I immediately dropped my knife and brought my thumb to my mouth, and sucked on the wound. “I’m clumsy today, aren’t I Kumo.” I said with my thumb still in my mouth. I removed my thumb from my mouth and began to skin the deer again.
    When I had finished skinning the deer, I started a fire. “Do you want yours cooked or raw, Kumo?” I asked the wolf. He let out a small whimper. “Okay boy,” I cut through the raw meat, giving Kumo a huge portion. “I hope you’re hungry.” I smiled. Kumo tore through the meat with such hunger, such savage instincts. Most people would be horrified at the sight, but I had lived through a lot of my years watching Kumo eat. I remember Kumo’s mother, such a sweet animal. My first years in the forest, I only gained experience from hunting with her. If it weren’t for her, I would more than likely be dead. Of course once she had cubs, she had less time to help me, so I helped take care of her cubs a lot. Kumo, as a cub always came to me instead of his mother. Kumo only ate if I told him to eat, he waited for me. His brothers and sisters went as a pack; they ran wild, Kumo waited for me. Kumo did not follow his mother, his brothers, sisters, not any pack, or wolf, Kumo followed me. Kumo is loyal and strong. I realized my thoughts were on memories of the past again, I quickly snapped out of my trance. I had to cook the meat before my fire died. I grabbed a stick and stuck my meat onto it. I slowly cooked the meat over the fire as Kumo ate.
    When the meat had finished it’s cooking, I pulled up the stick and stuck the meat close to my face. I tore away at the flesh of the deer as if I hadn’t eaten in months. The delicious taste of the nourishing deer meat, my eating gradually became more barbaric. I couldn’t help myself, the meat was so good! “What a feast!” I laughed swallowing the last of my meal. “Kumo we need to go back before the sun sets.” I put out the fire, by dropping fistfuls of snow on it. I grabbed my deer skin, and then we headed back the way we had come. After a few minutes of walking, we came upon the two tall trees which my hammock was attached to. Kumo waited a minute watching to see if I got up safely. After I made it to my hammock, Kumo left, he needed to make it back to his den before sunset. It wasn’t a far trip from my trees to his den, it was very convenient. I laid the deer skin across myself, the hide was warm. I soon fell soundly asleep.