THE HUNTER'S SOLITUDE This is the story Rurik, an Odaylan devotee, told his son Hareth some time after he initiated into the same cult.
Both had just returned from a hunting trip. The hunt had gone pretty well for both, each of them alone in the woods, with only their respective alynxes as companions.
Hareth felt good. Since becoming an adult his life had been better and better. He liked to hunt and the life in the wilderness, the Hare Woods were the place where he felt more free and peaceful inside. With his alynx Jaheera as his only companion, both alone against the wild. Now he completely understood the sacrifice his father did for years in order to care for him, after his mother died in his own birth.
But he wasn't going to think about that now. He couldn't think about his past, not when he felt he was happy. In spite of having returned to the Clan. There he felt like he was out of his element, some kind of suffocation, as if the walls oppressed him. He didn't like the crowds.
Social relationships weren't his strong point, that's for sure. He felt comfortable with very few people.
These days a question formed in his mind. He knew he had to ask it to his father, and that seemed a good moment.
Odayla was hunting a magnificent stag. Using his typical skills, he set a trap and attacked the prey from the most unexpected place. It fell to the ground without being aware that it was being hunted. After returning the stag's spirit to his mother so that it could be born again, he proceeded to eat the liver as a prize for a good hunt, and then he started to cut the meat and treat the fur. That same day, while he was taking a break, a group of armed men on horse approached him. He made them the Hospitality Greeting, inviting them to the meat. But those strangers didn't know nothing about Hospitality, and in exchange for his invitation they looked at him with disdain and said:
They were many and well armed, and Odayla was alone, so he had to
pretend he followed them and scape when they got distracted some. They
tried to follow him but their tracking skills were no match for
Odayla.
Unfortunately they pressed on. The next days were complicated, the
warriors couldn't find him but the hunting became difficult. He
couldn't sleep well since he knew that he was being tracked and had to
keep an eye on his surroundings at all times, and many preys noted the
warriors and fled so he couldn't properly hunt them.
Some days after, a hungry Odayla met his brother Ormalaya who had just
captured a prey. On seeing him Ormalaya said:
Odayla hungrily ate his meal, always keeping an aye on his surroundings. His brother noticed his strange behaviour, and once they finished eating he said:
Odayla explained Ormalaya what had happened to him, and his life the week before. Then his brother replied him:
This way, some time later the Fire Tribe warriors found Odayla again and chased him. But this time there was a surprise for them, the Thunder Brothers were waiting for him and they killed them all with ease.
This is how Odayla learnt that even the most solitary man needs help and company sometimes. A long time later, during the Great Darkness, he hadn't forgot that lesson and helped many desperate clans teaching them how to survive by themselves when they don't have lands to farm, and how to hide from Chaos monsters.
After some quiet seconds, Hareth noded, understanding what his father had just told him.
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