Tato-Chapter 1: "The Jungle"

Tato knew it was foolish to hunt alone, but he did not want to make this journey in the company of other people. Shing would no doubt scold him for being foolhardy when he returned, but what did she know about the hunt? Every so often, a tribesman would get the “blood-urge”, that is to say, a feeling “in the blood” that a thing must be done. If you were bent on doing something, no matter how outlandish or impractical and with no reasonable explanation, you were said to have “felt something in your blood”. Zaboo, the elephant, snorted awake suddenly when he felt a saddle being thrown on his back. No doubt, he was wondering why he must be up and about at this absurdly late hour. Tato patted Zaboo’s face and then hopped on the saddle. With a quick tug to the right on the saddle hold, they were off. They marched silently past all the other sleeping villagers; they went unnoticed for the most part, unless you count one perturbed caterpillar that was almost stepped on, and a curious, young he-bear on the opposite side of the woods who had decided to follow his nose. On and on they rode, through day and night, cold and hot, harsh desert terrain and lush, open gardens. One day, they came to the beginning of a very large wood in a very green field. The sun was low and the sky was a watercolor of pinks and yellows. Tato wasn’t sure if he’d seen this wood in a dream before, but he felt as if he should explore it. If he did not come back home with meat after so long an absence, his household would go hungry for the next two months. These woods signified life. But somehow, he felt less of an urge to kill and more to discover. Zaboo came to a halt a few feet before the trees began and Tato climbed off. He pulled a bow and quiver from the large pack and slung them across his back. He took a large knife and a sack that contained berries, and an engraved Godslight that Shing had made for him. He started to make his way for the woods, when he noticed that slowly, ever so slowly, a tiger was walking towards them. He seemed timid and afraid to step out of the trees. Tato was not afraid for himself as much as he was for Zaboo. Surprisingly, Zaboo and the tiger remained calm. They shared a glance, perhaps one of mutual admiration. The tiger was paying respect to the mighty man-hunters though, and without Tato, there would probably have been a fight between the beasts. But the tiger knew that to harm the elephant was to harm the man-hunter. The elephant knew that his life was respected by the tiger because of Tato. It was a beautiful thing to see such mortal enemies choose to respect one another for a few moments. Many times, the Tiger had stolen life from the Elephant, killing its young in the night. The Elephants had shed many tears because of the Tiger, and their grief had grown into rage. The Tiger, of course, did not kill out of spite, but only out of instinct. When the Elephants had decided to wage war upon them years ago after the first Blood-shedding of the Young, they had crushed many Cubs beneath their heavy feet before they were torn apart. Now, in this moment, none of that mattered. All was balanced. Tato was the balance. The tiger slowly paced away, further down and to their left and entered the forest again. Zaboo did not look away for some time, making sure the cat was gone. Tato knew that the woods would be rough for the Elephant, so he decided to leave Zaboo here at the edge. The Tigers and other carnivorous creatures who called the forest home would perhaps not be as kindly to intruders as the one they had already met. Besides, Tato had Godslight stones to protect the Elephant while he was away. He took the engraved, metal tube that housed the stones from his pack and pulled the intricate, glass bulb off. There were eight smooth, blue stones inside. He would leave four inside for himself and place four around Zaboo. He asked the Elephant to sit, and he did. Carefully, Tato placed the four stones in an oval around Zaboo large enough for him to walk around in comfortably. The Elephant was not exceedingly fast, so it was best that he not stray too far from the stones. If the Tiger returned, Zaboo would simply blow his horn and the stones would ignite in blue flame, connecting to one another to form a ring of protective fire; but that hopefully would not happen. It was merely a precaution. A simple incantation from Tato would set the ones inside the Godslight tube aflame and channel their light through the glass bulb to make a torch. Tato kissed Zaboo on the head and turned to face the trees. The sun was setting and painted golden light on the leaves and pierced the forest with bright streams of light. There was nothing for it: he took his first steps into the jungle terrain. At first, it was pleasant and earthy like the forests of the Western Lands and there were no obstacles except for a few fallen trees and small marsh pits. But as the light of day faded completely and Tato made his way deeper inside, there were more vines and and the landscape evolved into a more rainforest-like atmosphere. Tato muttered a spell that the village He-Witch had taught him and suddenly the Godslight came to life and cast a brilliant, sapphire light upon the foliage. He heard the faint sound of rustling as he walked, and touched his bow as if to make sure it was still on his back. Just then, a regal looking Macaw with brilliant Red, yellow, and blue plumage burst forth from its hiding place in the branches and began circling him. The surprise knocked Tato on his arse and had him notching an arrow into his bow. When he saw that it was the friendly Parrot, he breathed a sigh of relief. The Godslight had fallen from his hand and lit up the ground like a field of blue glow-grass for the bird to cast eerie shadows upon. He put the arrow back into his quiver and picked up the torch. The bird squawked twice and continued to circle him as if he had some important news to share with the hunter, and then he flew northeast, cawing all the way. At first, Tato did not know which way he should continue walking, but when the Macaw returned squawking, he decided to follow him. Parrots were magical and trustworthy, that much he knew from his rudimentary training in basic Witchcraft, and blessed with a coat of many colors like kings of the jungle. He followed the bird at a steady pace, and if he fell behind, he listened for a reassuring “caw!” from his new guide and headed in the direction of the sound. After what seemed to be an hour or more, Tato stopped at a clearing. At the crest of the clearing there stood a giant Hardwood tree with a trunk at least the size of of ten of his village’s tepees in diameter, and he could not even see the top of the thing. The trees around the clearing made a large, empty circle with only grass inside. The Macaw hovered and landed on a gnarled bit of trunk directly above a great, cave-like opening in the Hardwood and gave one final “caw!” of reassurance.

‘Do not lead me in there, bird’, thought Tato. 'What horrors await me in there? Giant snakes? The lair of an angry Gorilla-bear?’ Those were genuine concerns, but again he reminded himself that the Parrot is trustworthy and brings blessing. He grasped his torch more tightly, and took the knife from his pack, trusting in his faith. He walked down a rough stair made from rocks stuck in the ground. The walls were close, and his shoulders brushed against the dirt sending worms slithering in all directions. Down, down, down he went until he reached a burrow within the massive root system illuminated with giant glowing mushrooms and fungi of all size. He no longer needed the Godslight for the mushrooms, so he mouthed a disillumination spell and the blue light snuffed out. He cautiously stepped forward and basked in the beautiful purple and teal glow. There was no sign of the parrot now, he could no longer hear any “caws.”