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Stories from the Verse
Con Version
Chapter 79: Takano 109
Table of Contents
Previous chapter: Cooper 25
The crust of ice cracked as Tomiko slow-stepped up the slight slope, trying not to slip and fall. An arm caught her elbow, and stabilized her. She hated needing it, but at the same time she just was not as skilled. A few more yards and the snow changed to easier powder under the out-splaying stems of a tall bush. Stems with tiny branches pushed against her cold face, but the relief to her legs as she walked on flat land without an ice crust was palpable. Pushing her stiff face into a smile, she followed behind Torin slowly and as silently as she could.
Two more dozen yards, with wearying dips and rises in the path, and Torin froze in position. He waved a hand--just the hand, not the arm--for Tomiko to come up beside him. She pushed through the stems, and saw a pair of does with fawns, all huddled together in a shallow they had burrowed into the snow. The deer shivered, and otherwise huddled close to each other, trying to conserve energy in the cold morning.
Carefully, Tomiko drew an arrow, and began to pull back for the very easy shot at only ten feet. But then she paused. Seeing her not moving, Torin reached for his own arrow, but Tomiko put her hand on his arm. He startled, which was enough noise for the sensitive deer, and awkwardly they rose, and gracefully they fled.
Staring at her, visibly annoyed, Torin stepped back, and the rest of the hunting group pushed forward. They asked what happened.
“Tomiko froze, which is understandable, but then she stopped me from taking a shot.” He turned and began to hike away. “We’re going back to the camp.” Unsaid was that they were going back to the camp to dump their useless hunter. Tomiko shouted, not loud, trying not to startle any other deer in the area, but loud enough to cause Torin to stop and turn back around from the far side of the hunting group who were all huddled together against the cold.
“Torin, I recalled something. If we hunt the does and the fawns, we will have fewer deer next year.”
Torin’s angered face paused, and then his anger subsided to be replaced by sober fear.
“But the does are the easiest to hunt,” Chetik said. “We take two does for every buck most days.” Hearing this, Tomiko felt her soul chill. Torin and the others looked at her, and then at each other. One spoke.
“What if she’s wrong?”
“The Adviser is not wrong. We just didn’t think about it. It makes sense,” Torin said, and Tomiko noted she had been re-promoted to Adviser again after being almost yelled at as Tomiko.
“I was just hoping--” The same voice defended himself.
“I know Roc. It's one of the reasons you’re with us. You always check the opposite side of things.” He looked pleased to have Torin reaffirm his value. Another voice spoke, the thick one with gunk in his throat.
“This is a serious problem.” He spat out on the snow a great yellow glob of snot, and then cleared his throat. It was beyond gross, Tomiko thought, but he was not wrong. This was a very serious problem, and one she was not sure she knew how to fix. Already food was scarce. If most of the venison they were eating was doe and fawn meat, then next winter would be far, far worse. But if they stuck with the bucks, which were faster and stronger, they might run into actual starvation this winter.
“Tonight, we will talk with the Ruling Council, and Davey, and the Adviser, and pray. But right now, let’s hunt--just for buck, to be on the safe side.” Torin announced, and the men all nodded, and Tommy joined in. Torin led the way, and this time, there was no concern for her ‘getting blooded.’ Now it was a hunt for survival.
There is a behind-the-writings look at the thoughts, influences, and ideas of this chapter, along with eleven other sequential chapters of this novel, in mark Joseph "young" web log entry #509: Character Challenges. Given a moment, this link should take you directly to the section relevant to this chapter. It may contain spoilers of upcoming chapters.
As to the old stories that have long been here:
