CHAPTER TEN **The Game of Life**
The birthday hunting party made for a dangerous crew, a crew of killers inside and out ready for their moon chase. Everyone grabbed their backpacks, their rifles and hiked up the mountain to Vandy's favorite hunting spot but when they got there another hunting party was there and Vandy felt violated.
Vandy saw them through the thick woods. "Who's got my spot? Man, they gotta move."
"Well let's move them!" Lynn had his back on everything.
This spot was special to him but a small group of natives warriors sat there. Man-Man carefully looked them but he saw no weapons that could harm them, so it was no reason for alarm. The native warriors each had three long guns with them, two sets of bow and one wore war paint and that alarmed Man-Man because he'd been in several battle against natives and they never ended well.
Kyle hated this tribe as they killed his father in a battle. "Is that for us?"
One of the native boys snorted at him, dislike. For their tribe an un-castrated Kyle was a disrespect due to the name he carried and who is father was. The hate between their families had stretched for centuries as Kyle's father's family hunted and murdered the Woodland tribes for the power in their blood. In kind, the Woodland's castrated every male member with that last and had done so ever since, expect for Kyle he was the grandson of the Dutchess, off limits.
"Ya'll sure you Franklin Boys wanna be out here tonight?" He shook Man-Man's hand. "It's lots of hunters out here this year too many just for white tailed deer. That moon will be full but covered by clouds tonight."
"That shit don't matter." Kyle said.
"Shut up!" Vandy barked at him and marched up to Tall Hawk upset. "But why ya'll in my spot?"
"This year you'll need a better one, an older one." He was telling Vandy to go further into the wood to the old ancient hunting grounds.
The youngest of Tall Hawk's son slung his bow on his back. "You the reason all the white men here with all that fire power. Heard about all those big wolfs running around last year."
Tall Hawk looked passed them to the group of three men coming up the trail. "We're here to protect the land and you boys are apart of it too. This year you need to find another spot son, an older one."
Tall Hawk youngest son Running Deer came and shook Man-Man hand. "Everybody is hiring guides to take them in further. It's not even hunting season, so no permits pulled, only mosquitoes and frogs to tell the story of dying while moon chasing."
Kyle flashed his wolf sight at them. He was a show off. "Who needs the moon?"
Man-Man turned up his li at Kyle's juvinell show, he did not like that boy. "Thank you and your sons for letting us know. What else have you seen?'
Running Deer looked around as he heard the loud machines in the distances. "Three wheelers that how you know they ain't hunting."
Vandy agreed to find another hunting spot leading the birthday hunting party further into the dense mountains to another ceremonial ground and it was a long hike. The group passed three hunting groups on their way in, three death squads for them. The mood changed as they marched along it was no longer a birthday celebration but a revolt.
"If we kill a few hunters will we get in trouble? Lynn asked about the human hunters they passed as they reached a large cabin. The large cabin looked lonely sitting out there in the middle of no where.
"Of course you will." Mike said walking on the old porch. "You're boyfriend is one of the most known mutherfucker in the state." Mike searched the top of the doorframe for the key. "I say we just do some fishing. Where's the key? It's not up here." Man-Man found the key under the flower planter. "Throw it up here." Mike put out his hand to catch them.
"I'm still running tonight." Kyle told them, Bernice was his mother and he felt an entitlement that the others did not because his mother was 2nd in-line to rule.
"Let his dumb ass get shot." Man-Man huffed. "Little nigga don't listen, Tall Hawk ain't in full war paint for nothing, dumb ass but if your antic's out there running brings trouble back." He looked Kyle in the face. "I'll rip your throat out and your momma nor your grandmomma can do shit to me!"
Kyle sucked his teeth in disgust because he did not like Man-Man, either. Kyle was going to do whatever he like regardless of what his elders told him, he was wild like that. His mother Bernice was the strongest D'Arco and and Kyle felt entitled to her power. He didn't care if Man-Man was a Prince or anything like that, Kyle was going to do whatever Kyle wanted to do.
Mike attempted to striking bargain between them two, "Hey look, Kyle we saw the hunting parties, three of them right. So, I say tonight we go fishing and see how many come up this way and if it's manageable, then will go run."
A loud gun shots run out through the wood, a reckless gun shots from no discernible direction sending birds flying off followed by hoots and hollars from the trigger pullers and all the werewolf's went silent. Everyone stood in place an listened wondering if more shots were to follow.
"Go run nigga!" Man-Man laughed out the words to Kyle.
The sounds of the four wheelers in the distance were coming closer the men were so loud they could hear the conversations between the drivers as they got closer. The men were eagerly talking about killing big wolves, them, they were those wolves.
They all walked out to the porch and stood there to listen, to listen to the invaders attempting to hunt them. The D'Arco boys; Kyle, Mike turned in one direction and smelled the air for danger. The Franklin boys: Vandy, and Jabari turned in another direction and sniffed the air for dangers.
The most powerful males Man-Man who was the Prince looked into the trees to hear the songs of the birds. There was danger all around, that's what the air creatures told him - it was all danger is what he heard from the Red Cockaled Woodpecker.
"We honestly should leave in the morning and just go Vegas." Mike was not a brave man at all, he was a lover not a fighter. "We just chill here for the night and go gamble."
"Yeah I guess we're going fishing." Kyle gave in. "I'll get the poles ready."
The sounds of the four wheelers got closer Lynn walked to the window and her wolf sight flicked about. She could see the men automatic weapons and got alarmed. "Babe I think we got visitors approaching." Lynn pointed into the distance as three large hunters came up each wearing Carhart camo with rifles slung over their shoulders. They were trouble.
"You boys out here hunting too?" the man with the red face asked. "Pretty far out here this time."
"Naw we fishing." Vandy told him. "Ya'll got to much fire power round here, might mistake one of us for big ass wolf. Dick Cheney our ass." The newly arrived hunters smirked at his comments but he was serious.
"Told you we should've went fishing." The younger hunter complained. "Running around chasing deer's and grey wolves, I wanna go fishing it ain't even hunting season."
"Shut up for you gets slapped again. Let's go, you men enjoy it out on the river." The hunter gave them a salute and marched on.
Jabari watched them wandered off into the woods and decided this trip was a bad idea. He looked around at all of them and declared. "Need to we get the fuck out of here, for they could back on shoot us screaming All Lives Matter or some MAGA shit! I don't trust them mutherfucka's."
Vandy went in the cabin and came back out with his and Lynn's backpacks. He did want to put her in any danger. "Man just fucked my birthday up with AK-47's and semi-autos'. Lynn, we bout to go!"
Mike stood watching the hunters driving futher into the dense trees as two more John Deer's blew past them to catch up with the first group. "They'll be driving all over our sacred lands." He was a sensitive man with a feeling nature, but always had a load gun in his sock.
"Let the woods deal with them." Man-Man looked around confused. "They shouldn't even be this deep without permission, let the night creature deal with them. The Woodland's are out and the moon will be high."
Jabari came out the cabin and dumped all the backpack and fishing poles on the porch. "Let's go, aye Vandy wait up let's go to Vegas on Uncle Mike."
Lynn laughed "It's full tonight, how we go fly tonight? Us in the air, how? You got more special powers I don't know about? Like Vandy control of the moon?"
Jabari did not want his Man-Man nor Mike to know about him transforming like he did, so he answered her questions shaking his head and they all hiked back down to the SUV. There was no talking on their way back, not comfortable enough to conversant on any subject, just the feelings of stalked, encroached upon. They had never experienced anything like that, human men vying to kill them with modern weapons right in their faces. No respect! First the murder of the Werebear in the Netherlands and now humans without permits looking to hunt them. Life was changing rapidly and no one was perpaired for what was coming next.