A Branch of Human Species

Historians assumed that humans or homo sapiens have been around 200,000 years to 300,000 years ago. They began migrating outside of Africa to Europe and Asia around 70,000 years ago. From that first movement of migration, humans start to populate the entire Earth. According to scientists, the Pleistocene Age around 13,000 years ago connected Asia and North America by a land bridge. The human then used it to migrate to North America and begin to populate the continent.

Now, they can be found in every single corner of the world, thriving and building civilization. They become smarter, creating new inventions both for good and bad purposes. They were the apex predator, the top of the food chain, and the ruler of the world. They are so powerful that they drove many species to extinction over the course of history.

That is the story that happened on Earth.

In a certain world-

Things took a different turn here. Homo sapiens are not the only species that exist but they are not aware of them. Hiding deep inside the thick forest and far below the ground, there is a group of humans that took a completely different evolution path. Their existence is unknown to homo sapiens but they exist.

Just like the homo sapiens, they have also been migrating around the world but moving in a discreet manner. Due to their vulnerability, they choose to hide from humans. Nonetheless, sometimes humans coincidentally spot them in the woods. Whenever they were spotted, humans were always chased after them. It is safe to say that humans can become a little bit aggressive when they see something that they thought lesser than themselves. Not only that, humans are not good at keeping secrets and always try to spread their existence. Fortunately, no human believes them.

They are the little human or also known as Dunirr. It can be said that they are a branch off from normal human evolution. Unlike humans, Dunirr evolves to become smaller and smaller in size.

They choose to isolate themselves from their isolation in order to protect themselves from humans. It is impossible for their tiny body to compete with humans. However, it comes with a cost. While a human has begun to build a civilization, thrivingly developing their society. The Dunirr still lived a tribal hunter-gatherer lifestyle.

….

Somewhere in the deep forest.

"Chief, what should we do? Humans have spotted us during our hunting." Haja said. He is one of the hunters responsible for hunting food. Earlier this morning, his group accidentally came across the human. Haja quickly reacts by hiding in the nearby bushes. It won't do them any good if they were captured by humans. Unfortunately, one of his subordinates reacts slightly too late. A human manages to catch a glance at him. Perhaps he was shocked seeing the humans. This is his first time joining the hunting team.

It took them a few hours to escape from the human pursuit.

The chief of the tribe calmly replies, "Don't worry. Keep hiding for a while. They will soon give up their search and return to their settlement. I don't believe that they will spend so much time in this dense forest just to capture us."

That's how it has been since the Chief was a kid. Although humans probably know their existence, they still didn't manage to find their settlement.

Their conversation was interrupted by someone.

"Ch-Chief!!"

Haja stands up and says, "Insolent brat, show some respect. To suddenly barge into the chief's tent like that!!"

The chief just waved his hand at Haja, "It's okay, Haja. He must have his reason. What is it Moja?"

"Th-The humans!! They are here!" Moja replied.

"What?! How is that even possible?" The chief was shocked. Humans never manage to find their settlement for decades. Why now?

"Apparently they followed a blood trail on the ground."

"Blood trails? How could they even recognise that? Our size is so small compared to theirs. From their perspective, it can easily be mistaken as animals' blood. Dense forest will make it even harder to differentiate."

"I don't know, Chief. This time they are hell-bent to capture us. What should we do?" Moja panickily asked.

"Hurry up! Pack all of our stuff and destroy our settlement. Those that can't be destroyed must be hidden. We moved to the north."

"I will order the hunters to help," Haja told the Chief.

Chief nodded.

That's how they survive. Once the human finds them, it spells the end for them. The Chief has heard so much about horrible things humans do to them.

Humans are superior to them in every aspect and their numbers keep increasing. They are running out of space to peacefully develop. According to their ancestors' records, the number of humans and Dunirr are roughly the same as thousands of years ago.

Now, things have changed, a substantial number of humans have known Dunirr's existence. For the sake of their safety, they keep moving from one place to another. They even lost their way to communicate with other Dunirr settlements. Several settlements of their species have been destroyed by the hands of humans.

Their species was captured and put in the cage as a pet. Some of them have their blood extracted to the last drop by humans who are on a quest to seek longevity and immortality.

'We are small. Too small to do anything.' He shifts his eyes to his body. An adult male Dunirr is only twenty centimetres tall and a female is only fifteen centimetres. Aside from their height, there is no difference between them and humans.

His thought ends when Haja enters the tent. "Chief, we are ready to move. Which direction should we go?"

"We go downstream. Let's hope it brings us to a better place." The chief sighed. He is already at the end of his rope. He doesn't know how long this tribe will survive until they perish at the hand of other species. Deep down in his heart, the Chief feels unworthy to become a leader. The Dunirr needs a capable leader to unite them. They are the only races that have no country or structural government.

Hearing the Chief's unconvincing tone, Haja also became sad. He feels it is his fault that humans find their settlement. Years of living in peace have dulled his senses.

Looking at Haja, the Chief tries to console him. "There is no need to blame yourself. This is our fate as a weakling to be hunted down. We can only hope our species will survive until the end of time. Now, let's go before those humans come closer."

The entire tribe begins to walk along the Zheqas River. After hours of walking, the sun is almost set and the forest begins becoming dark. The Chief looked up to the sky before saying to the tribe members behind him, "We rest here tonight. Haja, brings some men to scout the area. Make sure there is no dangerous element."

"Alright, Moja, Rosta and Tusca." Haja starts to call out the names. "You guys come with me. Bring your weapon as well." Haja said while grabbing his stone spear.

Four of them walked in the south direction first. Once they checked the south, they moved in a clockwise direction to check the west, then the north before moving to the east.

As soon as they arrive in the west. They look at the towering stone monolith with their eyes and mouths wide open. The monolith is around 3 meters. For a normal human, it might be taller to some degree but for Dunirr, is it the tallest non-wood structure they have ever seen.

Moja asked, "What do you think this is, Haja?"

"I don't know. Maybe some sort of ancient monolith." Haja replied.

"Haja, look!!" Tusca points at something which causes others to look there as well.

"There is someone near the monolith," Rosta said. He narrows his eyes to get a clearer look before slowly muttering, "A Dunirr?"

"Don't be ridiculous. Why would a Dunirr be here all alone." Moja quickly dispelled the idea.

"Let's check it out." Haja steps forward, wanting to take a closer look. Others follow him from behind.

"It's really Dunirr." Moja shock.

"Is he dead?" Rosta asked as the Dunirr didn't move

Suddenly, "Urrghh…Where am I?" The Dunirr groaned while one of his hands held the back of the head.