The hunters have been rotating in nighttime hunts lately. It’s actually not because the days are getting shorter, as I originally thought (which was stupid, really, because we’ve only lost perhaps an hour, tops); it’s actually that the slow winding into a new season has triggered some species to migrate. The uku that were mentioned in some of the stories have been making their way across D’Keda territory, and the hunters are taking advantage.
The problem is the uku are nocturnal. So the hunters have begun striking out a short while before sunset so they can locate the herd and get into place before it’s fully dark.
The hunters seem somewhat nervous during the day before they go out. Many spend a great deal of time honing their arrow heads, practicing shooting targets, or simply poking their noses into everyone else’s work and making pests of themselves. But when it’s time to head out, there’s a great deal of singing and boasting. I wonder if perhaps they’re trying to psych themselves up. The plains at night can be creepy. Redeka and other predators could be hiding anywhere, and the uku themselves are known for becoming very aggressive. So everyone inflates themselves with bluster and tough talk, and head out to do their best.
I find it oddly touching, somehow. They almost feel like they’re going out to battle, and there’s an aching undertone that some of them may not come back.
Anyway, last night was particularly dark; the larger moon Arachne was a thin waxing crescent, and Tiresias (the smaller moon) was in its new phase, and was only a faint circle hovering above the ecliptic.
The clan would never let me go anywhere away from camp at night. They all seem certain I’d be eaten by something. I don’t disagree, mind. But I was dying with curiosity, and I harassed Kohric all day to find a way to let me watch somehow.
Sometimes it pays off to live in a tribe of insatiably curious creatures.
Kohric took me up to the top of the cliff and walked me along it to a high point where I could see across several kilometers. My binoculars don’t have the best night vision, and the whole thing looked like a few greenish lumps moving around bigger greenish lumps, but I did get to see their eye patchs in action.
I’d begun to take the patch under the Azu-nah’s eyes for granted. I’d read they have bioluminescent properties, but I’d never seen them. Out of sight, out of mind, and all that. But last night I got to watch the tiny flashes out across the plains as the pieces of the hunting party kept track of each other.
They looked like little stars in the grass. It was very cool.
This week's cameos are (in order of appearance) Akum, by HerbalDrink; Avak, by Syrus-chan; and Trixa, by Dani. Thank you all for submitting!
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