5 - Take

"Hava has been killed. Hava is dead. Hava...."

Vie kept on chewing as he ran down the path which led outta the evil forest. He had been careful to steer clear of all the wild cats. He wasn't home yet, but in five minutes time of running, he should be there.

One of the Manganis just bore him to that multiple junctions route of the forest. Like a roundabout where a single choice could had marred him.

He remembered that he had taken the path which led left into the wood: there were three paths there. He was bore by the Mangani through the middle route. And at the end of that route, there were two other routes. One led to the right, the other to the left.

He had had tough time choosing the right one. That was his bad. He had forgotten to keep track of the road when he was coming with Hava. And he would be made to face the consequence all by himself.

Twas that moment the warnings of his mother made sense to him. Never to leave the motive unattended to at the prime of decision. Look when you should, act when you should. If you look when you should act, you'd die, vice versa.

"I will not die."

He had said to himself before he did take the left path. He had gone far and far into it. There was no sign of life. The thickets were only thicker and thicker and greener.

He had thought probably twas because twas winter. He then began to see taller shrubs and larger twigs. His instinct began to croon in the depth of his consciousness. He thought twas some mishap of the wits and grits.

Then he heard deep growls ahead of him, continuous twittering of cursed and super ugly birds. Ravens. But they called them 'Hukai'.

Then he saw two gold, glazed with red flickers eyes behind a very large thicket.He knew what that was. One of the wild cats. The Cougars. Actually, a cougar.

He bent and dropped behind the climbers decking an oak trunk. He had no idea what to do.

He ceased his breath. The cats were very sensitive. It could smell him out with the aid of the breath. He would never risk that of course.

The Cougar growled for some whiles then left. He heaved a sigh and covered his face. He almost thought that he was dead. He almost.

Then he turned over from the oak he had been peeping at the Cougar. He wanted to rest his back on the trunk for a while before making a journey decision. He would have to be sure that there was no danger ahead before he would set to move.

But as he turned, he turned to those two gold, glazed with red flickers eyes of the Cougar again. Twas very close to him. He couldn't even move back. There was a trunk behind him.

He thought he already lost it or was that another one? He had no time for those thoughts.

The Cougar snarled and seeped a deep growl, as though twas some drink.

"Please spare me. I've got somethings to tell my folks. Some evil Manganis killed one of us. I want to go report. You can come back and kill me then. But let me go first. I'm just sixteen or seventeen I guess."

He was hoping dearly that the Cougar would understand his plight. How could he possibly think that way?

The Cougar flexed its limbs closer to him and snarled. Then it took a very deep growl and leapt on him.

Vie tried to fight himself free but he couldn't. The hold of the Cougar on him was very strong and super serious.

At once, it ripped off the raffia he had covered himself with and was going to plunge its mouth into his chest. His head was deep in the trunk.

Then he felt the Cougar leaving his body. Like twas levitating, floating in the air? That could never be true. He had never been told that Cougar could fly or something. Probably he was yet to get to that level.

Then he tried fighting his head off the trunk to see clearly but he couldn't. He was stuck. But he could still see from within the holes in the trunk.

There was a brown Mangani standing before him. Well nourished and refined. If he could remember, he didn't see that Mangani in the pack of the those which abducted them.

The Mangani bit the Cougar in the forehead, waist and belly, then it threw the Cougar into the air. Then he beat his chest heavily and shrieked.

He had no idea what that meant to those apes. Probably to show or connote that they were strong and blah.

The Mangani then moved closer to him. He was afraid and skeptical. He didn't know what to believe anymore. It bent over him.

"Don't hurt me. I'm sixteen or seventeen I guess."

The Mangani grunted. He had no idea what it was showing disapproval for. Whether proving he wouldn't hurt or would hurt.

It put two of its dirty fingers into each of the holes Vie's eyes had been peeping through. Vie closed his eyes. Those fingers almost burst the retinas.

It ripped the top of the trunk, which probably was 0.5m thick, open with just two fingers and held Vie's head in its left palm and scooped him up with the right.

It placed him over his shoulder, such that Vie's two legs were over its hard chest. Vie's erection was to the Mangani's neck.

It had brought him to the T-junction and bore him through the middle path which the evil Mangani had taken him through.

He kinda tapped his legs on the Mangani's chest to tell him that he was going to a dead end but the fellow grunted.

Then it halted at a particular turn filled with shrubs and climbers, few metres away from the T-junction. It fought its way through the path till it brought him to the plain where he was standing at the moment. After several runs from the birth of the path.

Then it dropped him and vanished into the heights. Few minutes later he heard some chaos, and another seconds, there was peace and quiet.

And since then he had been standing there trying to process all that had happened. He had a lot to tell the folks.

He took few steps and began to walk towards home. Then at once he heard a deep growl from one of the neighboring part of the towering bushes surrounding the plain.

Only the way ahead led to a rather good place of habitation. Other places there were dreadful and dark.

He halted and tried to calculate but he was took late, jumpy and inexperienced.

At once, he felt a wave from the right which pushed him on the earth. Three claws already left tracks on his face.

He rolled on the earth and looked at what had attacked him. Damn! Twas a leopard.

He was dead of course. But why would he have to leap from one problem to another.

The leopard wasn't hearing that, it charged at him again.