Carving

"What is this, it's as if the wood is trying to let me understand something..."

Diving into this enigmatic feeling, his other senses quickly fading as he concentrate, he could feel a call of some sort coming from the stalk, reacting to the touch of the strange black-greenish tattoo on his left arm.

A new world opened entirely in front of him.

Projected in some sort of a new dimension, he could feel and discern what this small sprig wanted to be.

All its potentials, the various possibility it had to change, some already greyed because the sprig had fallen off its tree, others more or less shining, indicating the more likely path remaining in this green stalk.

Nothing was truly written in front of Alric, it was just coming from an understanding probably created by the strange inscription on his left arm which was now shining a bit more with a greenish hue.

The small sprig was now taking an entirely new dimension in Alric's eyes, his mind spinning around what he was seeing and feeling.

Making abstraction of what was happening around him, Mozzy looking curiously at him, the wind passing through the dense canopy of the numerous trees composing the forest farther at the bottom, the moon hanging in the sky, lighting the area just enough to appreciate the beauty of the landscape full of hiding terrors, Alric's hands began to move.

It quickly found its target, a carving knife strapped inside his blackish-ragged clothes.

Moving quickly with profound dexterity, he began to carve the small bit of green wood as if it was the most precious life in his world.

Mozzy was quiet beside him, staring, sitting on a somewhat flat stone composing the pile of rocks forming the wall, an inquisitive gaze while he inclined his head on his right side.

The scene was full of calmness and a strangely poetic meaning as Alric removed, bit by bit small chunks of wood, the branch now looking more and more like an elementary flute.

The wood was revealing what was inside its very fibre from the beginning as if Alric was just here to help remove it.

Bathing in the feeling, the young man was totally in his element, sculpting wood as if nothing happened since the Flash, despite what he was doing was something impossible a month ago.

In an les than an hour, a beautifully carved flute appeared, as if the small stalk had always secretly been a musical instrument all along.

The night passed quickly as Mozzi and Alric took their turns to sleep a bit behind the mount of rock, howling and hissing faintly echoing in the valley under it.

The new day came with a renewed vigour for the duo, searching and exploring the immediate area to identify the danger around and hoping to find some clue as to where they were.

It became clear at the end of the day that neither of the two had the slightest idea of where they could be or where they should move.

Alric knew he had to follow the rivers by which he came, but not knowing which river he fell in rendered the process harder.

There were at least a good dozen rivers if they didn't fork too much as he climbed to their sources, which they did obviously.

It made the search impossible to do in a matter of a day, so the days passed as they explored bit by bit this fabulous environment.

Knowing he had at least a few weeks if not months to find it, even with luck, he prepared himself and Mozzi to endure the winter which was only beginning.

Stocking food became a matter of surviving, the quantity completely mind-blowing as the two of them ate their weight in heavenly meat in a day if they were not stopped. The gluttonous vines-like inscription needing, even more, to continue to grow, which Alric was trying to do as with each more whisp came to a surge in his strength.

He continued his experiences with carving wood, understanding more and more the possibility and the principle inherent behind this strange capacity.

The greener the wood was, the more probabilities it had in the carving.

He could feel a lot more path behind it, but he had not the capability to do it yet, it seems to require a much deeper carving which he didn't understand at the moment.

To his surprise, the much bigger discovery was when he tried on a living tree.

The possibilities were practically endless, only the time used for carving was much more important than for a stick or a little trunk.

He could completely guide the growth of a living tree toward a desired path.

It could be closely linked to the art of bonsai which was used in the world previously, but with a more in-depth understanding.

The more he tried, the more he could feel that the carving was just the surface of the skill.

The Will behind the carving, what he wanted to imbue in his carving seems much more important and had a much more powerful impact.

In fact, he tend to remove less and less wood when carving living plants, as the chisel was simply embuing what he wanted to do by scrapping tiny engravings, not too deep in the wood.

He could veritably divert the growth energy of a living tree toward a path or a shape he wanted to form.

The first thing he tried was of course to grow a bow, missing a long-distance weapon a lot since his jump in the cold water.

The bow would be at least two meters high made with a wood highly flexible but strong nevertheless.

Hazel trees would be a good choice as when Alric touched one the day before, he could feel the possibility of making one, although he didn't understand how nor the time necessary for the making.

He was still trying to understand more of his weird capability to communicate with plants and he had to add now how to understanding their outcome.

The principal problem of the making was that the hazel bush he saw was near a highly occupated site.

Approaching the area where trees became a bit scarcer, a river running through toward the nearby lake, Alric could already see the numerous maned wolf eating a carcass while some were playing around waiting for their turn.

His stomach was churning not from fear but with the idea to hunt beasts just to make a bow and not to eat or protect his life.

- Stop worrying, repeated Mozzi for probably the fifth time, life works like that, and even if it wasn't, if you want to protect your life, a bow is a must against much bigger threat...

- Yeah yeah, right, since when a fox is the voice of reason...? Mumbled Alric

- Since forever! We fox are known throughout the whole world for our insidious ideas and curious minds! Answer the little fox with a smug smile.

- Yeah, good for me for speaking to you about your species, I should never have done that, I will hear about it for months now...

- But it's still better than being alone, winked Mozzi with its tongue out.

His mind a bit appraised by the short exchange, Alric took a long inspiration before taking his chisel in his hand.

Mozzi smirked and tightened his muscle, ready to jump into the fray.

With a powerful run quickly shortening the distance, Alric jumped on the larger maned wolf that was supervising the group and was looking in the other direction at the moment.

Startled, the wolf couldn't even defend itself before the slashing blow cut his protected throat as if it was nothing.

By sharpening this chisel at the maximum, Alric had drastically reduced the durability of the weapon but had gained a sharp enough knife to kill some group of beasts.

Sadly for these wolves, they were in this group, powerful in a pack, but not so much individually compared to an evolved human.

Letting a last desperate howl while its body was falling, the dominant wolf didn't understand what had happened before letting its dying breath.

Hearing the howl, the fifteen or so remaining ones began to run in all directions, fleeing the area with an impressive speed under numerous small balls of fire coming from a devilish fox which was enjoying himself.

- Told you, said Mozzi, his smug look already on his face, these dogs are always howling that they are the best, but remove the leader and they all flee their tails between their legs hehe...

- I already told you, your laugh is quite creepy, answered Alric, already knowing this conversation would go nowhere. Be on the lookout, we don't have much time before some beasts come here!

- Yes boss, hehe, don't worry, there shouldn't be any wildlife coming here for the time being, the howl of a dying wolf is a powerful restriction, said the red fur beast while circumventing the area searching for potential trespassers.

Taking a deep breath while looking at the wolf corps, Alric could not help but think that all things were not so bad as he just killed one, and the body of such a beast could be quite useful for him.

Looking toward the hazel bush, he quickly focus while touching it, trying to find the same feeling he had with the small oak near their hideout.

Quickly, a rush of information came to him, as if reading all the physiologic needs of this small bush.

Isolating the possibility of a long shape, his mind reading as much as it was directing what he wanted, he slowly began to carve the idea that came to mind with a few words echoing in his mind while the artistic creation was taking place.

« Powerful. Beautiful. Enduring. Flexible. »

While these words were embued in the micro carving he was making on one of the longest and straight branches of the bush, the plant was reacting as if under steroids.

In a few seconds, the branch became thicker and denser, its colour darkening visibly despite the beautiful meaningless carved volute Alric was inscribing on it.

If he could have seen the inside, he would have seen small cells rearranging themselves, compacting themselves while secreting more and more cellulose, the water being expelled ubiquitously.

They were reacting to an impulse coming from the chisel, a weird energy made of meaningless but beautiful words which dictated in a way Alric couldn't understand yet their reorganisation.

In under a good ten minutes during which, apart from some small games quickly taken care of by Mozzi, no beast came near their place, a beautiful hazel bow appeared under the astonished eyes of the broad-shouldered man.

As the last carving came, the cells at the base of the branch died of apoptosis, cleaving the wood and making the bow fall toward Alric hand.

Taking it by the beautiful handle making one with the body of the weapon, Alric was in awe for five good seconds.

Looking incredulously toward Mozzi who was burning a small rat in his mouth, Alric could feel the surprises in the mind of his comrade.

Briefly glancing around, he took the body of the dominant maned wolf on his shoulder without letting the bow touch anything, fearing it might disappear as quickly as it had appeared.

Running toward their hideout without exchanging a single word in their mind, the duo arrived an hour later, letting out a breath they didn't know they kept while entering the cavern.

Alric put the bow carefully away while immediately cutting the wolf's body to retrieve what could be used.

Putting the meat away which was slowly smoked by Mozzi's tongue of fire, Alric could still not believe what happened.

"I used some sort of extraordinary power, just like some creature, just like Mozzi...That changes everything, I'm going to survive, and I'm going to push Art toward unknown horizons, hehe"

Seeing the creepy smile on the face of the man to whom he gave his trust, Mozzi let a small sigh escape his jaws, knowing he was embarking on a long journey with this senseless guy.