TM - 82 - The first time I saw...
Jul. 14th, 2005 08:47 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
on_holy_groundWinter, 61 CE
The winter of Darius’ eleventh year had been a particularly harsh one, not only for the tribe, but also for all the creatures that lived in the foothills of the mountains. So much so in fact, that several of the tribes weak and sick, including a number of the children, had been lost to other predators. The warriors had gone out each morning, trying to kill or drive off the creatures, but something continued to stalk them.
One day, Darius snuck out of the camp, following the warriors in the hopes of catching a glimpse of the creature that the men told such fearsome stories about each night by the fire. They said it was truly a monster, with eyes that glowed in the night and a cry that would send shivers through the bravest of men. Darius however refused to be afraid. He was determined to face the demon, and to destroy it, proving himself to be a man in the eyes of the tribe.
Moving quietly through the trees, Darius stopped as he came upon a track in the snow. As he paused to study the track, he suddenly got the feeling that he wasn’t alone. He slowly lifted his head, and for the first time he caught a glimpse of the demon that hunted them. There was fierceness in the eyes that caught him in their gaze, and he felt a kind of kinship to the creature in that moment, and he became determined to become one with the animal. As it turned and loped into the trees, Darius got to his feet and chased after it, the hunted becoming the hunter.
That night, he entered the camp bloodied and torn, but with the skin of the gray wolf around his shoulders, and the heart consumed to give him it’s strength. He had left the tribe a boy, but had returned to it a man.
The winter of Darius’ eleventh year had been a particularly harsh one, not only for the tribe, but also for all the creatures that lived in the foothills of the mountains. So much so in fact, that several of the tribes weak and sick, including a number of the children, had been lost to other predators. The warriors had gone out each morning, trying to kill or drive off the creatures, but something continued to stalk them.
One day, Darius snuck out of the camp, following the warriors in the hopes of catching a glimpse of the creature that the men told such fearsome stories about each night by the fire. They said it was truly a monster, with eyes that glowed in the night and a cry that would send shivers through the bravest of men. Darius however refused to be afraid. He was determined to face the demon, and to destroy it, proving himself to be a man in the eyes of the tribe.
Moving quietly through the trees, Darius stopped as he came upon a track in the snow. As he paused to study the track, he suddenly got the feeling that he wasn’t alone. He slowly lifted his head, and for the first time he caught a glimpse of the demon that hunted them. There was fierceness in the eyes that caught him in their gaze, and he felt a kind of kinship to the creature in that moment, and he became determined to become one with the animal. As it turned and loped into the trees, Darius got to his feet and chased after it, the hunted becoming the hunter.
That night, he entered the camp bloodied and torn, but with the skin of the gray wolf around his shoulders, and the heart consumed to give him it’s strength. He had left the tribe a boy, but had returned to it a man.
