Chapter 3 THE SPLIT #15

The female Lorda, looks up at Goff who stands up strong facing the other young males. Usually at Lorda's young age, the older females would protect the young females like Lorda from  aroused males that would like to take shot at a unprotected female. As Goff has not made his first kill , he is not among Booka's warriors and young males do not dare  try to mate with one of their claimed females. But Goff did not have that protection which Lorda was aware and wanted to go back to the protection of the older females but Goff grabs her hand and holds on to her.

Goff stands there with Lorda who is shivering with fear.The other young males, sensing an opportunity, move closer to the pair and one young male, Sling, grabs hold of Lorda's arm. Lorda struggles as Sling tries to drag her away Lorda screams for Goff who is growling at the other young males that are closing in. Goff,turns and sees Sling dragging off Lorda, charges toward Sling who lets go of Lorda to face Goff.

As Goff and Sling struggle, other young males, seeing Lorda unprotected, surround her and begin groping and grabbing. Lorda screams and Goff, who is on the back of Sling, choking him from behind. Goff feels the life going out of Sling but Lorda's screams make him drop Sling and charge to Lorda's defense. The young males back off Lorda when Goff approaches but he is jumped from behind by the recovered Sling. Some of the young males help Sling in the fight while others go after Lorda who screams with all the energy she has left in her.

Just then Sophia, in a rage ,grabs Sling and claws at his eyes.who turns and grabs Sophia by the throat but a grunt from Booka, who has calmly watched the drama,reminds Sling of the high rank Sophia has within the clan and the clever Sling does not want to anger Booka yet.

to be continued

Chapter 3, The Split. #14

Booka walks toward the clan and the  crippled male, that Goff threw to the ground,  motions toward Goff and the young female he helped. He had broken an old law of the clan, only Booka and his warriors were allowed and capable of having a female for themselves. Booka realized he must take some action or he would be perceived as weak. Booka hesitated, Goff would make a good warrior someday and maybe even lead the clan, if needed.

The female, on the other hand was weak, her children would be weak, so instead of killing her ,Booka decided to banish her from the clan. Booka made a motion for her to leave but she refused and sat stubbornly, waiting for the death blow from Booka. He raised his hand ax but Goff stood defiantly blocking Booka. This disturbed Booka, he did not want to kill Goff but yet there must be some punishment to teach Goff and any other young ones that think they deserve a female, without making a kill on the hunt first.

So, thought Booka, this little upstart thinks he can handle a female, then I will give her to him. He pushes the female over to Goff, indicating that she was his and the entire clan stomped their feet and hollered. No one in the clan could remember this having been done before now. Never was a male, as young as Goff, strong enough to keep a female without a older stronger warrior taking her away. Booka thought, let see if you are truly worthy, not only will he have to fight off the other males but provide for her as well.

to be continued

Chapter 3: The Split, #13

With the 2 deer nearby, Booka signals and his best warriors crawl toward the water stealthly to get the jump on the deer. As they come closer, they can smell the deer drinking. Drooling and stifling the growling sounds in their throats, they creep closer. The warriors encircle the deer ready to spring the trap. When the 2 deer approach, Booka and his warriors rush out of their hiding places and club at the 2 deer's feet. One of the deer goes down and the warriors move in and club it to death. Booka and his warriors chase after the deer that got away but was wounded and limping.

Without Booka and his warriors present to organize the feeding, the remaining part of the clan, including Goff, commence ripping out pieces of meat as the whole clan jumps into the fray. They push each other out of the way to get in a better position to get some meat. The younger and older disabled, stay on the outside trying to grab any flesh that may have been inadvertently flung to the back. If a young one grabs a piece of meat, an older stronger member would steal it right out of it's mouth. With blood and guts flying everywhere, the ones closer to the kill swallow their meat and run to the water to wash it down. this gives a chance for the weaker ones to move closer to the kill.

Goff , rips his way to the front, grabbing as many small pieces he can get, even out of the mouths of others before they can even take a bite. A young female next to him, who has been pushed around by the mob, grabs a piece of meat that had fallen right in front of her. Just as she is ready to bite down , Goff rips it out of her mouth. The young female cries out and lays down in a fetal position. As Goff wolfs down this small piece of meat, he looks down at the female. he has noticed her before and if he would have noticed her when he stole the meat from her, he would not have done so.

He goes to the bones and fights for another piece of meat and brings it to her and motions for her to take it. She looks up in surprise but grabs the meat, eating it quickly as her eyes dart about. An older crippled warrior tries to take the meat from her but Goff throws him to the ground. The older male, one of Booka's best warriors before he was crippled in a hunt, rises to his feet and shrieks to Goff. He moves to slow to be of any threat to Goff but vigorously stamps his one good foot as he shrieks and howls.

Suddenly, the clan stops in mid motion, as Booka and his warriors return, carrying the other deer that almost got away. The crippled male, that Goff threw to the ground, runs to Booka and points toward Goff and the female, in a frantic manner.

to be continued

Chapter 3, The Split, #12

The clan followed the herd which moved continuously, occasionally stopping for a couple of days while they consume all vegetation in the area and move on again.This was a faster pace then the clan was used to and no one could remember when the herd traveled such long distances without a prolonged stop occasionally. The clan has thinned out as the old and lame could not keep up this pace.

The herd travels over a desert and steers toward a mountainous area and picks up speed The clan hungry and thirsty follow up the trail left by the herd as it goes over the crest of the hill and thunders on. Booka and his warriors climb to the top of the mountain and just as they get there, a smell of lush green fills their nostrils and as they ascend to the top , they look down at a huge landscape of forests ,rivers and different herds then the one they have been chasing, grazing in the huge grassland.

When the rest of the clan caught up to Booka's warriors and looked out at what must have seemed heavenly to them, they hooted and hollered in joy. seeing some deer grazing not far from them. Booka commanded the clan to hide, while the warriors went on the attack.

Goff knew, that as hungry and thirsty the clan was, meant he would only get scraps, not enough to end that gnawing feeling in his stomach. The deer grazed down at the bottom of the valley, with lush vegetation fueled by a stream coming down from the mountain. upon sight of the water, some of the clan, the thirst in their throat feeling like sandpaper, rush out but a growl from Booka sets them back into formation.

Goff thought, why has Booka halted us when water is right there?  He didn't care, he would jump at first and feel that cool water down his throat. Out he jumps toward the water and a few, out of instinct, jump out with him. Suddenly a young male, running along side of Goff, is smashed to the ground by Booka's hand club. Goff immediately slides to a stop.

Booka, with his club stained with blood, looks down at Goff, ready to kill him as he has killed many before for such insubordination. He hesitates, not wanting to kill one of his sons that may share his secret. Instead he smashes Goff with his fist who rolls over bloody but still alive

to be continued

Chapter 3., The Split. #11

The years past and Booka's has ruled  ruthlessly but wisely He could see problems developing before they would occur, which gave him an advantage over the rest of the clan and any brave warrior that thought he could overthrow Booka's authority. Under his guidance, the clan grew larger, which increased the need for more successful hunts as starvation, as always, was just a day away.

Soofa gave birth to Goff, her youngest, and whose  father is Booka. As Goff grows older, Booka notices something in him that is not common in the rest of the clan. Goff can see what others cannot, except for Booka and sometimes with Soofa. He can see what is not taught, he can see the future.

When Goff was young, barely old enough to climb the branches, the warriors were going on a hunting trip led by Booka. Before the trip,Booka walked among the clan, picking the younger males to go along and observe the hunt, so they could learn. Goff was one of the youngest but Booka picked him. Goff was different from the rest of his progeny .They never communicated directly, just making eye contact with each other was a form of communication they had with each other that was not shared with the rest of the clan.

Out on his first hunt , Goff came over a ridge starving and thirsty. At this point a strange thought came to him. If he died on this hunt as he had seen many die before, would that be the end of him? The thought distressed him. What happens to me/? What happens to me when my body is torn apart by scavengers, what happens to me? To not be, the thought kept his mind off his hunger.

Suddenly, the clan is aroused, their mouths salivating at the sight of a stray cow up ahead. Their reaction brings Goff out of his imagination and back to reality.If they could kill it, that would be enough to feed the whole clan for a couple of days.

Booka and his best warriors hide up wind of the cow. He signals Goff and the other young warriors, to go down wind and chase the cow toward Booka and his warriors. Goff and the other young warriors are shivering with fear, although just a cow, it is big and could kill. Booka leaves one of his best warriors with the young warriors to guide them. He signals for them to jump out after the cow. Goff and the young warriors jump out and the cow snorts and turns toward them, which makes some of the young warriors turn and run out of fear.

The cow sensing their fear , charges them at full speed. This leaves Goff and Booka's warrior exposed. The cow rips into Booka's warrior as Goff tries to distract the cow, but to no avail. Booka, seeing the debacle, charged out with his warriors but the cow fleas unharmed.

Booka, in a rage, executes on the spot, the young males that had deserted. All that energy spent without nourishment, drained any reserved they had in their lean hard bodies. but Booka was proud of his youngest son, who stood bravely while others fled.

to be continued

The Reign of Booka, Chapter 2, #10

The hunting party enters the clan compound dragging the bull, as the clan circles the feast with their mouths drooling in anticipation. Before the clan can tear into the bull, Booka's warriors hold them back as Booka enters, carrying Soofa in his arms. Booka puts Soofa down ,who is now able to stand on her own, and rips off a piece from the bull and hands it to Soofa, who immediately wolfs it down.

The clan lurches forward but Soofa holds her hand up, but the clan ignores her and pushes forward.  Booka growls at the clan to wait until told to feast. Soofa goes and gets her aged mother and Booka's mother and brings them over to the bull and slices off a piece for both of them.. No one in the clan objects to this because they  sense that now Booka is their true leader and they must obey. After Booka, Soofa and their mothers had eaten their fill, the warriors tare into the bull followed by the rest of the clan.

After a couple of days and much feasting and mating , the entire clan has had their fill. Soofa wakes up and notices the lack of noise coming from the herd. She walks out of the compound and sees an open and scorched land that was consumed of all vegetation by the herd, which has moved on at night in search of other vegetation to consume.

Soofa wakes Booka to see that the herd has finally gone on the march and now he must get the clan ready to follow. Up and ready quickly ,as the clan members know, they must keep up or be left behind to either starve or be eaten by the many predators.

The clan moves out with Booka at front with his warriors flanking on both sides to protect the pregnant, young and old in the middle, and with Soofa and her warriors protecting the rear.

to be continued

The Reign Of Booka , Chapter 2 #9

Booka jumps out from the bush and howls to get the bull's  attention. The bull turns away from Soofa and charges toward Booka, which it perceives as the greatest threat. As the bull turns away from her, Soofa, seeing Booka risk his life to save her, throws her body in front of the bull's back legs like a cross block. The bull stumbles which gives Booka the opportunity to jump on the bull's back. The bull bucks hard to try to throw Booka off it's back. Booka holds tight to the bull's horns and inches up to be able to reach around the bull's horns and bring his hand ax down hard on the unprotected area between the bull's eyes. The blow brings the bull down and now the rest of the warriors move in to finish the bull off and drag it away before predators nearby cannot steal their kill.

Booka, instead of going with his warriors and the kill, walks over to where Soofa lays battered and bruised but alive. Booka picks up Soofa in his arms and begins to lick her wounds. A bond is formed between these two, who risked their lives to save the other. Booka had never felt this way toward anyone not even his mother and to lick the wounds of another warrior would be impossible for him but with this female he felt something strange but enjoyable.

Going back to the clan, the warriors entered first carrying the dead bull followed by Booka carrying Sophia.

to be continued