Across The Sea, A Vale so Vile

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The Chronicles of Bamboo´Chaa - chapter II: Across The Sea, A Vale so Vile.

What I remember from My early childhood seem like daydreams, a fairytale in a perfect world, I did not know worries, sorrow, pain, disease or hunger. Well, I knew hunger but never for long. I would wake up compelled to the urge to eat and eat until I would fall asleep again. This made it easy for my father to go on hunting trips, as long as he made sure there was enough food around. The Tribe was the only existence I knew, the village was my world and I knew the loa watched over me.

Then I was marked to become a hunter, and to be a hunter you must first become a man. My Daily routine changed, I would be up before dawn, just to run or sharpen crude stones that would become arrowheads. Time passed and the tasks and training became more demanding, I cursed the elders for placing me on this endless path.

I know now my father was pushing me, he was a leading Headhunter and held great expectations to me.

Then came the day I was allowed to leave the Village along with my father and a party of other gatherers. As I passed through the village with my spear on my back I noticed a group of young trolls, those had been my playmates. They returned my stare, eyed me up and down like they had not seen me for a long time, in fact that was the truth.

Years had passed unnoticed, My father had truly been keeping me busy. Now it was time for the workout to pay off, I was to pass my first rite of the hunt, a real trial at last.

Without a Word we prepared the boats, my father pointed me to join two elder hunters in a boat and before to long we left the shores of the Isle for a long trip down south to the blessed vale of stranglethorn.

The silence was broken as the elder headhunter placed in front of me eased on the rowing, looked over his right shoulder and spoke.

"So you´re Bala´s boy!"

uh, yes! I replied, almost startled by him speaking. Well give us a name whelp! snarled the other one behind me. ''Bam... Bamboo'Chaa'' I stuttered with a obvious anxiety in my voice I glanced back only to see the home isle getting smaller and smaller in the distance, this was as far away from home I had ever been.

I am Moh´al! belched the one in front of me, And this is my brother Joh´al!

Moh´al was chubby and short, only a little taller than I and I was a mere whelp, his twin brother was a slimy tall figure, they looked nothing alike beside the white hair color and oddly shaped left tusks.

The sea will carry us now, the stream is good! said Moh´al as he put his oar aside and peered into the clear blue sky, he was a laid back troll and a kind spirit. Unlike his brother who always had to ruin the mood.

''It will be raining in a hour, possibly a storm! bringing whelps on the trips clearly brings bad luck'' Joh´al snarled as he glared at me. ''Be at ease brother! young Bamboo is a ´Chaa, does it not entertain you that we will be tutoring Bobo´s grandson, he was a fair master to us and we shall repay that now!''

''Fair!? Bobo´Chaa put us through hell! maybe we should leave the whelp hanging in a net in the highest tree we find above a rigged spike trap and some king snakes to keep him company, give him some taste of his grandfather´s ´training sessions´''

I was shocked, the tribe told stories of my grandfather´s adventures yet he seemed like any other hero since my father did not like speaking of him so I never felt any connection. Yet those very different trolls were making clear they knew him in person, I did not dare to speak, I was a trainee, a whelp, I speak when spoken to.

Heh, sometimes I wish we could go back to those days, back then gutting a bloodscalp was a adventure, now it´s just bother! said Moh´al

This whelp does not look any close to Bobo! snarled the other one. Again he dragged the conversation down to to his level, I had begun to feel hate towards Joh´al, specially since he was going to comment on my looks.

Hmm... uttered Moh´al taking a deep breath, -that may be he said. I grabbed tightly around my oar, I would be able to stand all of Joh´al´s nasty remarks as long as his brother would stand up for me, that was all I could hope for since I was not allowed to speak.

But the body is nothing next to the spirit and as the blood of Bobo´Chaa he will quick to prove his worth said Moh´al, finally. Joh´al glared back at him, took forth a dagger and began to sharp it while muttering something. Having to sit in front of him with my back exposed made me feel insecure, everything about Joh´al was unpleasant and it was obvious he was not going to make this easy for me.

I sat in silence and prepared bait, I noticed the other boats turn east. We will meet up with them once were done on the reef said Moh´al, like he could read my mind. Why don´t you prepare some bait? No brother, the storm is getting closer and we better start rowing if we are to reach shore.

So we rowed until the sky was darkened by clouds who roared with thunder before casting the rain heavily upon us, the wind blew with great force but thankfully towards shore.

The Reef! shouted Moh´al, we barely heard him over the storm, ''The Reef! we must slow down! we will crush into it and face certain death if we don´t loose the sail!'' he shouted. Joh´al raised himself up to cut the sail, the ocean began to hurl greater waves at us, just as Joh´al finished to cut the sail he was thrown overboard. Moh´al shouted his brother´s name in desperation as he tried to reach him, but another grate wave struck and Joh´al was gone. The heavyset troll sat in silent sorrow, and even though I tried to speak to him he did not respond, so much was his grief. Looking ahead I could see the reef, in a matter of seconds the boat was torn asunder on the sharp rocks, hurling me and Moh´al into the deep.

Darkness.

Moh´Al was sitting next to me When I woke up on the golden shoreline of west Stranglethorn the storm had calmed and what remained of our boar lay scattered around us

About time you wake up he said in a deep heavy voice, I knew instantly his brother was not with us. I tried to raise myself up, the sun was blinding me, suddenly I felt a pain in my right leg.

You were lucky whelp, few get out of a storm like that with only a sprained ankle. I nodded back at the heavyset troll, his eyes were fixed on the horizon. In silence he passed me a stick who would serve well as a clutch, this was a trial and I was to help me to my feet myself.

I felt weak all over, I was tired, beaten, sore and the worst of all, hungry. Moh´al stood up as I did, glaring at the sea.

Wait here whelp, I must go see if anything useful has drifted on shore and try to find some food. he took forth a hatchet from his belt and handed it to me. In case you have to fend for yourself, you never know what´s creeping around here.

I nodded and watched as Moh´al turned his back and walked away, I knew he did not care for any wreckage nor my hunger, he was simply looking for his twin brother´s body. I could not help but to feel sorry for him. As Moh´al walked further and further away I began to scout around for a shadow, the sun was to much for me. There were some tall rocks scattered around the beach but they were all so close to the ocean and I felt dread towards it.

The Jungle border would be perfect, the trees would shelter me from the sun and I would be able to see all over the shore if I could stumble there. I felt better in my leg already and was quick to reach the spot I had picked out from a far, a large fallen tree just inside the first small tree´s and few bushes that marked the beginning of what seemed a endless Jungle.

I scouted around, Moh´al was nowhere to be seen, hopefully he could be back soon with some supplies. I climbed up on the fallen tree, I could only wait, the hunger was most unpleasant so I peered up to the nearby trees hoping for to spot a eatable fruit but as I turned my head I stared right into the dark, mystic Jungle. I had never felt such power, I felt taken in by my very surroundings, called.

In later years I would understand this would be how the spirits would talk to me but being exposed to it for the first time scared me. I turned away, frightened, sure some invisible death would leap at me yet I was scared to run. Opening my eyes towards the Oceanside I saw a large ship, steady on the calm infinitive waters in front of me. From in a smaller boat came sailing fast towards shore.

I was curious, my father had crude drawings of such large ships (Troll Destroyers) but that one was different. Glaring towards the smaller boat, I saw those were no trolls. Father had explained the other tribes were hostile but there were many worse creatures out there than other trolls, monsters such as those, Humans. I raced to hide behind the fallen tree, the end that still held the massive roots would shelter me yet allow me to watch the invaders.

The lifeboat was now at the shoreline, it held three figures, two who were dressed in red leaped off the boat to drag it on shore. The one left in the boat was dressed in black, obviously the leader. Once the boat was safely on shore the henchmen began to remove a large chest from it, the leader did not take his eyes off it. they carried it towards one of the larger rocks who stood out of the beach, they were quick to move and seemed to have a destination, I guessed they were hiding it. In my mind I could only imagine what I treasured most of all, food, hopefully those ugly creatures would be gone as fast s they came so me and Moh´Al could feast on their precious supply.

The humans walked back to the boat to bring back large shovels who like their weapons who gleamed in the sun, I only knew tools and weapons made out of stone so I took their shiny steel blades as magic. But all the magic in the world could not make up for how horrid they looked, short, tusk less, bearded like men but straight in the back like women, their hands were disgusting, short with many finger-like tentacles at the end. their feet were black and toe-less, hideous creatures.

In the middle of my inspection of the humans I catch the glimpse of Moh´Al returning, I almost shouted towards him to beware but my father´s teaching told me to stay put. I could only hope he would notice them before they noticed him so he could hide, the humans were obviously not staying. The tension was unbearable, my heart pounded as my mind screamed at the old troll to get get out of there.

Moh´Al walked slowly by the sea line from the south, holding what he had gathered, his head was hanging, he looked even more miserable than before, to deep in sorrow to notice the danger ahead. I help my breath as the man in black turned away from the diggers to meet Moh´Al´s gaze who came across the corner of the rock, Moh´Al gasped and dropped the supplies, there was some distance between them so I hoped for him to have a chance to escape, But the man in black reached into his belt to take forth two wooden wands, he was quick to raise one and point it at the large troll. The wand lid up a fire and cracked like thunder making Moh´Al´s large gut explode. He fell to his knees heavily, grabbing the mortal wound along with coughing up blood. The man in black laughed at him as his minions walked over to the troll and began to brutally beat him with the shovels. Moh´Al was now lying motionless, his blood colored the sand red all around him as his body was still being beaten and mutilated, I felt so powerless and sick to the stomach.

The Man in black cheered his men on before pointing towards my hiding, I wiped away the tears that had appeared in my eyes, the man in black was obviously one of them wizards and had properly known of my presence all along. I reached into my belt for the hatchet Moh´Al had given me, if I was to die to at the hands of the humans I should die in battle like a man so my father would not have to mourn me. The man in black walked carelessly towards me, having placed his thundersticks into his belt again, I crawled back away from the roots, bent my knees and glared forward, a warrior´s position, from my right I could feel that mystic presence again coming from the jungle. It did not scared me this time but empowered me, I felt like leaping over the tree and place the sharp hatchet directly into the wizard´s heart, but I waited. The man in black made his way across the rooted end of the fallen tree, and he did not even look towards me, stress fully talking to himself in his own tongue, maybe his did not know of me after all. Just before I leaped at him I saw he was unbuttoning his trousers, he had only come here to make a stool.

I snarled as I leaped at him, the hatchet came down on one of his legs, cutting him deep, he grunted like he was about to shout but I raised the axe up beating him across the mouth with the blunt end. The human was way taller than me and was obviously a skilled fighter, he wrestled me off himself and punched me in the face following with a sharp knee kick to my stomach which made fly down to the ground behind me dropping the hatchet. The human grunted as he spit out some broken teeth and blood form his mouth, he glared at me as I got back to my knees, we met each other´s gaze with the true hatred our races share.

He took out his thunderstick and aimed he did not fire right away, he was looking me over, he was properly seeing such a young whelp for the first time and he planned to enjoy executing me. I felt a rush as my natural instincts told me to stay alive and at that moment I felt the Jungle´s presence again, I could hear it whisper "Legba"

I jumped with incredible speed at my foe, in a split second I had thrown myself at his upper body, his hands were being held by mine at the wrist, he lost is balance and as we crashed into the jungle floor a loud bang could be heard as weapon erupted in his hand, sending the fire across his head as it exploded in front of my eyes.

I was in shock, I had won thanks to a force I could not explain, I stood over my foe in triumph, but was soon pulled back when I heard shouting, of course the thunder from the wand had alerted the other ones I heard them speak as they came running towards me, I knew I could not take them so I ran into the Jungle feeling it welcoming me into shelter.

Looking over my shoulder I saw one stop by the leaders body while the other was gaining on me with a sword in hand. I ran as fast as I can, dodging trees, roots, and think vines. It felt like eternity, the human that was chasing me was only armed with a saber or else he would have shot me long ago. I kept running, praying the human would run out of breath before I did, I was alone and lost but I rather die by the blessed beasts who roamed the jungle than the human. I looked back seeing I still had a good lead and the human was about to give up when I tripped over a large root in my path. I fall hard on my face and I could hear the human shouting a warcry behind me, I was dazed by the fall and fell again to the ground as I tried to stand up so fast. I was now on my back and I saw the tall human charging at me with his sword raised, I was sure this was the end and placed my hands over my head wishing to see home just once more.

I could smell the human being just four feet away from me, then I heard a loud Thunk followed by a loud clang I knew the sounds from practicing with weapons against my father. The humans saber had been stopped by a axe thrown in the tree above me, as the human turned his head away from me he was hit with another axe between the eyes, splitting his head in two. I turned my head towards my rescuer, it was Joh´Al.

Joh´Al limped towards me, his clothes and harness were torn and his left hand wrapped up in bandages. You whelp! he belched, ''Why are you here alone? Where is my brother?!'' I held myself from bursting into tears, slowly getting up, looking down at the human´s corpse. Joh´Al retrieved his throwing axes, glaring down at me, Where is Moh´Al? I dreaded telling Joh´Al his brother had been killed, he would most likely not believe me, he would call me a liar, get angry and kill me in the process. I would have to pick my word´s carefully.

I know where he is, but I...

''Good! then take me to him! you should not have ran away from him to pick a fight with pirates.''

I simply nodded, doing as I was told was rule number one so I walked on, back to the west where I came from. The path I had ran did not seem so long now, I must have been so scared at the time I was being chased, Joh´Al was obviously injured, I was dying to know how he had made it back but I kept silent. We were slow and it took us a good hour to reach the large fallen tree at the shoreline, the wizard´s corpse was still there but his thundersticks were gone along with his jewelry. What be this? asked Joh´Al as he stepped over the corpse, I was about to answer but I saw Joh´Al glared down at the rocks.

He made his way past the fallen tree´s roots as fast as he could shouting, you get away from him you winged fiends! He had spotted his brother´s body down at the shore, lying in a large red spot on the golden sand and attracting a large number of carrion birds and seagulls. I felt my hate for Joh´Al vanish as he limped over to the heavyset troll body, eying it as a nightmare ready to leap out.

Joh´Al fell to his knees and wept, I hated being around the dead wizard so I made my way around the roots down to the shore, as I did, Joh´Al turned and sent me a glare. He stood up and limped towards me, ''Tell me Son of Bala´Chaa! tell me who did this!'' I was scared of Joh´Al but I could not hate him no more, I bowed my head as he came nearer and took a deep breath before speaking.

I told him how Moh´Al had left me alone and returned to be attacked by the Wizard, the human in black, before having to fight off the others, I also told him how I had killed the wizard.

Joh´Al was silent for a while, he eyed the surrounding over and over again picturing my what I had told him in his head, then he eyed me over. I will accept this as the truth, young Bamboo´Chaa, He finally said. He pointed me to follow him back behind the fallen tree, ''Cut his head off! you killed the filthy pinkskin, collect your trophy like a true headhunter and bring it to your father.'' He handed me a large knife so I could do the deed.

You´re first kill is impressive but this is no wizard, this human is a pirate, a outlaw that roams the sea to rob other ships, then they come here to hide their loot... The one who did not run after you properly took the guns the captain had, prepared to kill the runner if he had returned before making away with the treasure.

You avenged my brother Bamboo´Chaa, to me you are a man and you are clearly of Bobo´Chaa´s bloodline and I will reward you handsomely once we return home.

Home...

I held the bearded human head in my hands, All humans look alike, my father had brought home plenty of heads like this one over the years I hated those creatures and I swore to myself to slay any I would come across.

Joh´al and I carried Moh´Al´s body into the Jungle and did our best to grant him a worthy funeral, his brother claimed we would one day return to mark his grave with a traditional skull pile. We camped for the night and I was fast to fall asleep, I remember having terrifying nightmares about fierce animals tearing me apart one after another.

I felt sick to the stomach when I woke up, I felt I was moving, I opened my eyes and saw the Jungle floor below me, I was tied up and hanging from a pole being carried by two large trolls who were speaking loudly and laughing.

"Those Darkspear dogs will prove to be good sacrifices, at least a good meal..."

Across the sea

A vale so Vile

We wait for thee

Our chosen Child

We lead you to the holy land

Only then you understand