Chapter 2: Being Fantastical

Edward climbed the tree silently, stealthily hiding in the canopy. His striking blue eyes gazed through the thicket, spotting the small family of boar-like creatures. There was a scar-riddled father almost 2 meters in height and approximately several tons in weight, a sow of smaller stature, and a small batch of piglets the size of dogs sucking on her teat. The only thing strange about the crystal clear image in Edward's eyes was that these board were over a mile away, behind all kinds of trees and shrubbery. The fact that Edward could see them at all would put someone from Earth in disbelief.

However, such a thing was not all that strange after the Shift. Especially in the children born after, all kinds of strange happenings occurred amongst this generation. They exhibited strange abilities that varied from child to child, and were given the name: The Fantastical. However, this was pointless for Edward for no matter how magical his eyesight was, any ordinary 7 year old child would be helpless against one of the baby piglets, much less the sow and her mate boar.

After spotting the family of pigs, he jumped from the branch and did a roll as he landed on the ground. Looking up, he saw the eyes of the hunting group. Nodding slightly, he pointed in the direction of the boar and quietly said

"One boar. One sow. 5 piglets."

"Excellent!" whispered his father, Brian. Originally apprehensive about bringing his only son with him, his mystical eyesight proved to be a godsend towards the group. Being able to scout almost a mile ahead proved to be an almost divine skill for hunting. Not to mention Edward had extraordinary agility and dexterity for a 7 year old. While he would be helpless in an actual fight, he had no problem keeping up with the hunting group in the thicket of the forest, agilely climbing from branch to branch like a monkey. Due to his reddish hair and ape-like attitude, he was nicknamed Orangutan among the adults. Though, he had no idea what that creature was.

His father barked out a set of commands towards the group, and the hunting party slowly creeped towards the boars. Edward silently followed in the canopy, a small dagger made of bone in his hand. It was imperative that they not disturb the boar and sow, otherwise it would turn into a deadly fight and there might be casualties. After all, the only medicine available was an assortment of herbs and bedrest, so any injury deeper than skin oft ended up fatal.

Once they were 30 meters away from the boar, the hunting party, consisting of 9 fully grown adult men, their leader Brian, and Edward inched forward, careful not to make a sound. They slowly encircled the boar as he gently nudged his children around, inspecting them for deformities, clearly unaware of the deadly fight soon to take place. Ronald, a smaller man with a more lithe build, removed the poorly crafter bow from his back, and knocked an arrow. The tip of the arrow was actually the tooth of some unknown wild animal, razor sharp. It glistened slightly, some kind of paralyzing agent clearly coated it. He pulled back his bow, aiming for the eye of the father boar while he waited for the other men to get into position.

The hunting party was made of 2 men with bows, the rest with an assortment of spears and daggers. None of them had any metal weapons, all of them were made with bones and fangs, a clear sign of the struggle the Blue Stone Village to move past the Earth equivalent of the Stone Age.

The boar and his family were in a small clearing, 30 feet wide, with the mother laying against a large tree in the center. When Brian gave the word, Ronald and the other archer, Jeff, would both unleash their arrows at the boar, hoping to catch its eyes and blind it before the upcoming deadly fight. Edward had a clear view of what was happening, as the little rascal had actually managed to use the canopy and climb into the tree in the clearing. He calmly stared at the boar, an ocean in his eyes as he carefully assessed every inch of the monster's frame, waiting for an opportunity...