One Among Many Unknowns

"So you're saying that you don't know anything about yourself and you don't even remember what you did before? Do you at least remember your name?" asked the village chief, dressed in brown and black slightly torn shorts. He wore a pearl necklace around his neck, had many scars on his body, pointed ears, a beard with two braids, and held a spear and a bow. The spear was made of bone and the bow consisted of three parts - the first two were wooden, and the last one was made of bone with flattened ends.

"About three days ago, I only remembered my name. My name is Leo," he replied.

"Then, Leo, you will stay with us for a while. My daughter will show you where you will live," said the village chief.

"Follow me," said the chief's daughter, dressed all in white with black hair in a braid almost down to her knees. Leo followed her, constantly looking at her. He noticed that her eyes were a different color than everyone else's - they were yellow.

"What's with your eyes?" he asked.

"Nothing special. I got them from my mother. Look where you're going, not at me," the daughter replied, and they continued walking until they reached a water house that looked more like a cocoon than a house. The important thing was that it didn't rain on their heads, and it wasn't cold inside. There was a hammock inside where Leo would sleep from now on.

"It's nice here. Whose house was it before?" Leo asked.

"It belonged to someone who died because of you," the daughter said before walking away towards the bridge overlooking the entire lake.

Leo placed his things there and climbed into the hammock, contemplating what to do next. "Is it good or bad that I ended up here?" he thought, lost in his thoughts until he noticed the flying lights he had seen before. He left the house and went to the bridge, then asked, "What are those lights?"

"They are the memories of everyone who ever lived," she replied before leaving. Leo sat on the bridge, dipped his feet in the water, and looked straight ahead.

So passed his first night in the village. The first day of spring was just beginning, and each of the villagers gathered around the edge where they had lit fires and thrown something in to start the celebration. For Leo, it was something new - the blue-white color of the fire surprised him. On that day, everyone under seventeen stayed in the village while the adults went hunting. Leo joined them - there were four groups of five people each. One of them was the chief's daughter, whom Leo had known for a long time. They headed into the forest to hunt an animal they called a tolous. It was said to be as huge as a giraffe but not dangerous unless attacked.

They went deep into the woods, each of them slowly placing their feet to make as little noise as possible. They walked for over five hundred meters until they spotted the tolous eating leaves. At first, the group separated to surround the animal, and then they shot arrows at its legs. Those with spears were to thrust them into the tolous's body. The animal was hit but started to run, and everyone chased after it except Leo. He had been hunting for a long time and had learned a lot during that time. He prepared his spear, bent his knees, and threw it, saying, "Fly!" The tolous was hit straight in the head, ran another fifteen meters, and then fell. Everyone looked at Leo in amazement but thanked him in their own way. Someone from the group pulled out something that looked like a shell and began to blow into it. A sound came out that spread throughout the entire forest *duuuuuuomm*

After a while, the remaining groups arrived at the place where the prey had been caught. Each person gathered around the animal's body and began reciting something in a different language: "Gratias tibi agimousus, Tolous..." Each one spoke, and then they cut pieces of meat off. After a while, each of them quickly left the body. The hunt was over, so they returned to the village where they began celebrating with singing, dancing, and eating. They then started discussing who killed the animal: "It was Leo, he bent his knees and then threw his spear..." someone said. "Incredible, where did you learn to throw a spear?" the chief asked, still eating meat. "I lived alone in the forest, hunted and such," Leo replied, adding his life story. However, everyone fell silent. "Did I do something wrong?" Leo asked the chief's daughter. "Not only is there no village beyond the meadow, but there are also no trees that huge," she whispered to him.

"Leo, can you come with me?" said the chief, Leo got up and followed him. "I have a request for you, Leo," he said.

"What is it?" replied Leo.

"You can take my daughter as your wife, but please leave my village," the chief said.

Leo replied with surprise and a sad expression on his face, "Alright, I'll leave the village, but I can't take her with me."

"She knows everything and has agreed. You don't have to worry about anything," the chief said, stopping for a moment before adding, "You know, the world you described to us during dinner reminded me of a story about an old sage who lived alone in the forest. I don't remember his name, but apparently he knew everything about the people who visited him. He supposedly lived near a tree that is on the water, and the tree has a white bark and leaves that constantly fall from it."

"Why are you telling me this?" asked Leo, intrigued.

"You must go there with my daughter," replied the chief, adding, "But rest for today. You need to be fully rested. And we made a bow for you identical to mine, except it's twice as durable."

"Alright, thank you very much," said Leo, after that he went to his house to check his things. "The wrist cuffs are here... the water canister is here," he said out loud. Then, the chief's daughter entered and said, "So, you'll take me with you? By the way, my name is Rori."

"Yes, I'll take you. You need to rest, Rori. We'll leave at dawn," said Leo, paying little attention to her. In the meantime, Rori placed the new bow and the quiver with arrows on Leo's hammock and went to her home.

"Okay, I'm going to sleep," thought Leo before lying down on his hammock.