Kezme Stories

«Mom, can we go to the sun? I wanna see what’s up there!»

«Haha well I don’t know if that’s possible little Kez, but if there’s a way I’m sure you’ll find it. You just have to look for the light and reach out to it.»

_____

It’s been a couple years since I was home. When I left to find the spirit of the river, I was sure to return with good news instead of a heavy heart.

I wasn’t able to defeat the evil, but took it with me instead. After I escaped the mythical swamp, the voice of the stag kept echoing through my mind for days so I was too afraid to go back to my family. The last couple months I spent alone, wandering around Ibea and trying to avoid any other Saliko, though I worried if my parents would think I’m dead. I became cold and distant, which was so unlike me that it felt like a sickness that I took with me from the horrible experience I made and I could not find a cure.

Lately I’m walking towards home every day, even if I don’t consciously plan to do so. My feet just seem to pull me back to where I came from. Travelling the land certainly has made me a better hunter and also improved my other skills like climbing and swimming though, so it wasn’t all bad. Catching Saw Beaks, Screech Owls or Tropical Crown Eagles has turned from a way to survive into a hobby and is now more exciting than tiring for me. I have also climbed the highest trees I could find and learned to dive deeper than most common fish do. But the stag kept calling me every time I bared my teeth. I noticed that it really did seem to give me powers from time to time and practiced hunting with this skill to be able to use it whenever I felt like it.

Finally, after all this time, I’m standing at the edge of the icy bridge that marked the beginning of my journey and therefore my first trial in the real world. The sky was grey but unlike last time there were no birds flying above and no wind tearing at me. Confidently I walked over the bridge and quickly reached the other side. I was so close now. What would everyone say? Did they even miss me? What If they’re not there? I hesitated for a moment but decided that I came all this way and could not go back now. And where to anyway? I reached the edge of the clearing where I used to play as a whelp and smelled a couple familiar scents around, but could not tell whom they belonged to anymore.

«Hello? Is anyone here?» I call into the empty tribe and soon enough I am able to see eyes glowing at me from holes in trees and well hidden Kobels. A couple Salikos come towards me, looking confused and alert, unaware of who I am.

«What do you want?», a beautiful, leaf-colored female with cloud spots asks and looks at me with her head tilted. I know her but cannot tell her name, though her smell reminds me of my parents somehow.

«I…I’m back. It’s me, Kezme. Don’t you remember?»

My voice was shaking. Would they chase me off?

«Kezme? Wait a minute… YOU’RE Kez?! Oh it’s been so long! How have you been? You’ve grown into quite a handsome male I gotta say.»

More and more tribemembers gather around us and start chattering in wild disorder.

«It’s Kezme!»

«He’s back!»

«Where has he been so long?»

The female smiles at me with sparkling eyes and nuzzles my head.

«We’ve missed you, especially your parents. I’m gonna go get them.»

«Novalee, what’s going on?» a voice from behind the crowd cried out.

«Oh there they are. I’m here son, you gotta see this!»

A mostly white male and a caramel-colored female fight their way through to us and after a split second, they recognise me and almost throw me to the ground with hugs and nuzzles.

«Oh you’re back Kez, I wasn’t sure what had happened to you! Are you alright?»

«Yeah dad, I’m fine» I say, smiling at them and feeling like a little whelp again.

It takes me quite a while to catch up and talk to everyone who’s excited to welcome me back, and only late at night, after most Salikos went to sleep already, I notice how tired I am.

My parents said they can make me a little room in their Kobel, though it’s not large enough to stay there for an extended amount of time. We climb up a gnarled but healthy tree with thick foliage, higher and higher until we reach a big branch to stand on and enter the Kobel I grew up in. The smell of my kin is overwhelming and lulls me to sleep very quickly. I haven’t slept that good in forever either.

The next couple days I work on finding my own den and spend some time with my tribemates. Everyone is so nice but I still feel so distant. Though I assumed everything would be fine as long as I get accepted back, I’m restless and become more curt every day.

It’s early at morning when my mom wakes me up and asks me to go fishing with her. We walk silently alongside each other towards the river where we used to play. We lie down on the sun-warmed rocks and stare into the bright blue water. My mom is better at fishing than me and easily catches three big fish while I only get one small Cornshrimp.

«I’ve been wondering…is there something on your mind, Kez? You don’t seem happy.»

«Oh…I don’t know mom. I should be but I’m not and cannot tell why.»

«You’ve been away for a long time. Have you maybe found a mate or some friends somehwere else?» She nudges me in the side and winks.

«No, I haven’t really met anyone to be honest. I was walking around and exploring Ibea on my own, you know?»

«I see. You were always a fidgeter, always looking for new adventures. I remember when you asked me to go to the sun haha. Maybe the calm and secure life here, where everything’s the same every day is just not right for you. You could try to explore the sun now, can’t you? You’re old enough for sure.»

I sigh at her: «It’s impossible to go to the sun, don’t treat my like a whelp».

«It’s a metaphor sweetheart.»

I’m thinking about what Camel said all day and night and get to the conclusion that I don’t know what I need but it’s definitely not here. I have to leave and find something new, something exciting.

The next day I say my goodbyes and promise to visit again someday.

I walk all over the Jungle, across the ice-bridge again and again until I can’t remember which side of it I’m on. I explore the jungle and meet a couple loner Salikos, but always try to move on as fast as possible. Alone again.

Bored I stumble through the woods for the fourth or fifth day in a row. I’m getting a little hungry again and decide to hunt me a nice Tropical Crown Eagle. Quietly I stalk through the bushes and sniff out my prey. In the distance I hear the call of an eagle and make my way towards it. I smell the scent marking of a stranger, but could not care less. As I see the eagle I decide to practice the power again and concentrate on the bird that’s sitting on a large rock, looking somewhere else. I growl and feel a shiver in my veins as I take over control of the creature and make it fly towards me. A couple times I’ve been wondering if my prey can still think while I’m controlling it and I have come to the conclusion that I’ll never know for sure, but it’s better to believe they’re unconscious. Carefully, still concentrating, I walk towards the bird and open my mouth, ready to make the finishing bite. The eyes of the bird shine in demonic red and the pupil completely disappeared. We look at each other until I close my jaw around it’s neck and it cracks soundly. I don’t feel comfortable doing this, but one day I might need it and so I try to make the best of what the stag left me, be it a blessing or a curse.

Suddenly I hear rustling behind me and two Salikos I haven’t seen before show up in front of me. I’m still carrying the eagle in my mouth and look at them with wide eyes. They saw everything.

«What was that? Why did that eagle fly down and not move or attack you, stranger? And who do you think you are, hunting in our territory?!»

A male with leaf fur slowly walks towards me, visibly enraged and making himself larger, but he also seems a little uneasy after what just happened. I drop the bird, but put my paw on it so no one can steal it from me, then I answer:

«I’m sorry, I didn’t notice I entered someone’s territory. Just let me leave with my kill and you won’t see me again.»

«I don’t think so, weirdo. You leave that eagle to us and tell me what just happened or I’ll skin you alive. We don’t take too kindly to thieves.»

The Mayur next to the male, a shamrock female with filled spots, nervously sways left and right, unsure of what to do but unhappy with how the situation was developing.

«Come on Viper, that’s not necessary, is it? Let him go.»

«No Freya, I will not tolerate this rude trespassing!»

«Then bring him to Maylin and let her decide what to do.»

The male growls, nods and tries to grab my prey again, but I dig my claws deeper into the feathered body and snarl back: «Over my dead body.»

His eyes fiercely pierce into mine but I hold his gaze confidently and follow the female.

After walking for a while we reach a gigantic tree, seeming to reach endlessly into the heavens. This was a place every Mayur would love to live at.

Viper harshly shoves me towards the tree and leads me up towards the top.

«Wait here and don’t you dare do anything stupid.»

He climbs higher and disappears into a curtain of leaves. My stomach growls and I think about munching on the eagle, but then he comes back again and tells me to go further up, himself staying outside.

I reluctantly follow his order and enter the den in the crown of the tree. Sunlight softly trickles through the leaves and makes the fur of the Saliko sitting in the middle of the den shine brightly. The lime-female sits with her back towards me and looks out of the leafy veil, down to the other Salikos.

«I heard you shamelessly entered our land and stole food from us. How do you justify this bold and stupid action, stranger?»

I stood proudly and confidently a second ago, but when I heard the voice of the female, harsh and cold, I immediately felt insecure.

«I…I’m sorry, I didn’t know it was yours.»

«Didn’t know?! Do you not know how to read the scent markings around the border of our territory either?! How stupid must one be.»

«It won’t happen again, I’ll leave. Just…take this Crown Eagle as my apology.»

Slowly I shove the bird towards the Mayur. She turns around, staring at me with steel-cold eyes that seem to cut into my skin. Suddenly she realises what she sees and looks astonished for a second. Then, she shakes the expression off and seems stern again.

«You don’t even look half as bad as I thought, I gotta admit.»

Her gaze shifts towards the bird. I didn’t get to look at it very closely before, but it’s actually very pretty with large, soft feathers and a shiny, golden-brown color.

«Why, I think I may forgive you for being so crude, now that you offer me such a nice gift. What’s your name, stranger?»

«I’m Kezme. And with whom do I have the pleasure?»

«Maylin, the leader of this tribe, obviously.»

«What I beautiful name for a Queen» I say charmingly, the female seemingly impressed.

«Maybe I was too quick to judge you. What brings you towards our beautiful land?»

«I’ve left my tribe to find a new place and just came through here. I don’t mean to bother you or anyone else.»

«A loner then, huh? Well Kezme, would you like to stay with us?»

Surprised and confused I look at the leader, then without thinking about it I nod and say «I’d be honored.»

«Good. But first of all you have to show me you deserve to be part of us. Let’s see if you can repeat this lucky hunt and catch me a pretty Saw Beak, will you?»

«Of course.»

«Then go with Viper, he’ll show you where you’ll be able to find them.»

I leave and find the male sitting right outside the den. He was curiously eavesdropping our every word and now seemed grumpy to play my babysitter.

We walk through the jungle for about half an hour, not talking a word to each other, which I’m quite glad about. Then we finally reach a pool of turquoise water and trees hanging over it. As I look around I see there’s not just one or two Saw Beaks at this oasis, but about a dozen of them. It’s already difficult to hunt one, but if they all start attacking me, it might be very dangerous, if not deadly.

Naturally I start to wonder: was this all an intentionally difficult task that Maylin gave me? Or did Viper grudgefully lead me to the worst hunting place?

I try to make a plan how to catch one without alerting the others and try to find the prettiest bird, as I want to impress Maylin. Unsure if I should use my power with the other male around me and if hunting normally would be more risky or not, I look at Viper and notice that he’s not paying attention to me at all. So I concentrate on the prettiest Saw Beak, like I did before with the eagle, and the creature follows my command. It flies over to my hiding place in the bushes, mostly out of sight from the other birds. As I move closer to my prey and keep looking directly at it, I don’t notice another bird flying over. I finish the toucan off with a final bite and it goes limp in my mouth. Suddenly the other bird sees me and starts screaming. My eyes open wide, I run the way we came from, Viper, confused but alert shortly behind me.

«What did you do you ratbrain?!»

«Do it better, smartass!»

We run as fast as we can, a small flock of Saw Beaks behind us, screeching angrily. The big, dead bird makes running even more difficult, but I’m not leaving it behind for another predator to take. I stumble and fall over a big root, Viper running past me out of sight. The birds swarm around me and a couple of them start attacking me, but I roar and chase a couple of them off. Another I’m able to catch out of the air and kill too. After a couple minutes all of the creatures have either left or became victim of my bite, though I also got a couple scraps that bleed heavily. I grab the three prettiest pieces of prey and limp back, following Viper’s scent. Before I reach the tree I sit down and lick my wounds, trying to clean myself up and look a bit better than I actually feel. My fur is a little ruffled up but other than that I should be fine, so I grab my kills and awkwardly carry them up the tree. From somewhere I can hear the male call «Didn’t think you’d make it» and I answer «Didn’t think you were a coward».

«It’s me, Kezme. May I come in?» I ask into the leaf-curtain.

«Yes.»

«I brought you a Saw Beak. Well, three actually. They were dying to see you.»

Maylin raises an eyebrow but smiles at my stupid joke, then surprisedly looks at the prey.

«Very well, you have proven yourself, Kezme. I hope you will show as much eagerness and commitment in the future and that you will give your life to protect our tribe. Otherwise you will regret the day you didn’t.»

I swallow nervously. Her presence is so mighty and proud, it's almost frightening. And I feel this female is capable of doing much more than others, be it good or evil things I cannot tell yet.

«Let’s introduce you to the rest of the tribe.»

She walks out of her den and jumps a little down the tree, but still staying on one of the roots higher off the ground. I follow her, then climb a little farther down, as to not disturb the hierarchy.

«Mayur of my tribe, gather at the foot of the tree!»

Her voice echoes through the area and Salikos arrive from all directions, sitting at the ground and looking interestedly at their leader and me.

«This is Kezme, a young Mayur that will join us from now on. Get familiar with him, but not too familiar.» She smirkes at me.

In that moment I am sure she is planning something that has to do with me, but I cannot read her expression at all. Still, I feel proud to get such praise and attention from her and make myself look larger.

The Salikos at the ground start chattering, just like at my old tribe, but this feels different. I don’t know any of these Mayurs and it seems to me as if an adventure was waiting just around the corner. My eyes wander and I see Viper looking at me. I'm still not sure what I'm supposed to do about him seeing me use the stags-skill. He knows my secret now, but will he keep it?

By the end of the day I found myself a hole in a tree just large enough for me to sleep in and put some feathers, moss and leaves in to make a softer ground to sleep on. As I lay there, looking out of the tree, the last rays of the setting sun shine onto my pelt and make me feel warm for the first time in forever, after walking through the thickest forests for the longest time. And now I was literally a little closer to the sun, reaching out to it. And just like that I was asleep in my new tribe.