Chapter 34
Stick climbed back down and met up with his brothers. Smoke was the first one to arrive at their meeting spot. He was eating his beef jerky while drawing what he observed. Stick snuck behind Smoke to watch him draw. Smoke was struggling to draw the landscape he saw. The mountains were too curvy, and the cloud had strange swirls on them. Meanwhile, his trees looked like stakes growing out of the ground. Stick couldn't help but giggle.
Smoke turned around with a surprised look on his face. "What? You try drawing then!" He yelled at Stick.
"Sorry, it's just that your drawings are so weird. I just wrote down what I saw."
"How the h.e.l.l are we so supposed to draw a map if we don't have the image of what you saw."
"That Sun's problem, not mine. Why does he want to make a map anyway? Does he even know how to make a map?"
"Maybe?" Smoke was concerned. They've seen maps before from Cloud and Salacity, but most of them never understood how to read them. Sun taught them the concept of the Cardinal Directions, but that's about it.
While they were talking, Stick spots Sun arriving. He was already eating his beef jerky. The brothers sat down, discussing what they saw. Each of them was given one direction to observe. Stick observed the east, Smoke the north, Rock the west, and Sun the south. Sun took out the largest paper they had and marked the corner with the Cardinal Directions. Smoke and Stick watch him draw a cross and writing the initials of the four directions.
Smoke noticed that the east and west were on the wrong sides of the cross. He pointed this out to Sun. "Shouldn't the west be on the right and east on the left of the cross?"
Sun gave Smoke an odd look, "What are you talking about? West goes here and east goes," Sun paused, he realized his mistake. He taught his brothers the wrong directions. This entire time, they've been using the word east for what is supposed to be west, and the word west for what is supposed to be east. Sun smacked his face. "I'm so sorry, guys. These are the right directions. No wonder the sun rose from the west. It wasn't west, that
Stick laughed hysterically. He couldn't believe his all-knowing brother made an error. Smoke giggles as well, but quickly calmed himself. "Well, not everyone is perfect." Smoke said after a coughed.
"Yeah, even I can make a mistake," Sun claimed.
"Hold on." Stick said after crying from laughter, "I was observing the west then."
"Yes, and Rock's direction was the east. Speaking of which, where is Rock? He should be here by now."
Rock appeared just as Sun mentioned his name. Rock had a sad expression. "I ran out of beef jerky, and I'm still hungry." He said with tears coming down his cheek. His stomach made a gurgling sound.
The brothers looked at each other and then back at Rock. "You serious?" They said in unison. Rock nodded his head in response.
Before returning home, the brothers went on a hunt to satisfy Rock's hunger. After twenty minutes of searching, they managed to find a herd of deer. Stick went ahead of the herd. He hid behind the bushes waiting for the deers to come. The rest of the brothers walked behind and next to the herd. They were visible to the deers, but because they did not show any sign of aggression, the deers walked away from them.
Little do the deers know that the goblins were walking them to a trap. The largest deer on the herd stopped. It surveyed the area behind it. The deer began to suspect a possible trap. However, it did not warn the rest of the herd. It merely stood there watching as its fellow deers walk forward and as Rock close in behind.
Finally, one of the deers stepped on Stick's attack range. Stick jumped out and stabbed his spear through the deer's neck. The rest of the deers scattered, running in different directions. The largest one ran straight through the other deers and pa.s.sed Stick. Before leaving the scene, it turned around and looked at the dead deer and the four goblins cutting his belly open. Some of the deers it pushed while running got back up and pranced away. He waited until those deers reached it, and then it too ran off.
After draining the deer of its blood, the brothers tied on a large stick they found and carried it back. The guards on the western fences examined the deer. The cut off the hind legs and gave it to the brothers.
The brothers walked while discussing the things they saw. Rock kept staring at the leg. His mouth was watery. Stick and Smoke argued about the origin of the explosion from the north. Smoke thinks it's from a volcano, while Stick believes its a bomb similar to his and Cloud's bombs. As the brothers got closer to their cottage, Sun noticed something odd. There were bags piled up outside, and Cloud was standing outside. Some of Cloud's followers were going in and out of the cottage, throwing out the brothers' belongings. Before the others could see what was happening, Sun ran up to Cloud and grabbed his coat. "What the f.u.c.k is going on?" He yelled.
"Calm down Sun, let me explain," Cloud was shaken up by Sun's sudden appearance. Sun let go of Cloud's coat and walked up to the other goblins. "Sun, please, I need you to listen."
"Get your hands off our stuff!" Sun yelled over Cloud's voice.
The brothers got to the cottage. "What's going on?" Smoke asked.
"The chief needs this cottage. He is planning to use this as the meeting place for an important talk."
"Needs this place, my a.s.s," Sun yelled. He yanked the bags off one of the goblin's hands. The bag was filled with the brother's clothes. "Rock! Quit staring at your leg and help me." Rock panicked and rushed to aid Sun.
"Wait, so you're just kicking us out!" Stick yelled at Cloud.
"I'm sorry, but I couldn't do anything."
"Couldn't do anything," Sun said sarcastically. He dropped the bag he was holding and ran up to Cloud. He raised his fist, ready to punch Cloud, but Stick and Smoke held him back. "Don't come at me saying you couldn't jack s.h.i.+t. My brothers and I fought back those leeches, my brothers and I killed those wolves. We did everything we could while you, Cala, and the rest of them do nothing."
Smoke got in front of Sun, "Sun, calm down. You're not like this. It's just a cottage we could find another one." Sun calmed down. Smoke motioned for Stick to help Rock gather their belongings. Smoke turned Sun around.
The experience shook Cloud's body, but he still raised his hand and spoke. "I'll look for a cottage for,"
Smoke raised his hand, "Its fine Cloud. We'll stay with our mothers."
"Yeah, we don't need your help," Sun said. He picked up his bag. Rock and Stick waited for the two. "f.u.c.king coward," Cloud heard Sun whisper to himself. Stick turned to look at Cloud before leaving. He saw Cloud hiding his face with his hands.
At the barn, a group of goblin mothers taunted the caretakers. The caretakers wanted to fight back, but harming a goblin mother was a crime punishable by death. One of the caretakers rushed back inside the barn. "Bringing out Flute. What Flute do?" One of the mothers snickered. "She no give life. She worthless too. What she do to us?" Right before Flute come out of the barn, the goblin that made a comment got smacked behind her head. "Who hit me?" She turned around, ready to fight. But instead of raising her hand, she lowered her head. The person that smacked her was Dawn.
The mothers lowered their heads and stopped their bullying. Dawn was the chief's favorite and because of this, no one can harm her. "Stop teasing caretakers. Not caretakers' fault not become mother." She said to the others. "Come, we go now. Time wash babies." The mothers left for the well.
Flute watched the whole scene unfold through a small crack between the doors. She continued to watch the mothers leave until they were gone from her vision. She was about to return to work when she heard someone call her name. It came from a voice she was familiar with. She opened the barn door. The four brothers were right in front of her. They told her what happened and asked if they could stay in the barn with their mothers. Flute accepted the brothers and let them rest for the night.