Trapped

TRAPPED

"ROAR!" the lion pounced on me at the same time that an arrow hit his nose. He roared in pain as he landed on me too surprised to do anything. I couldn't move, probably because there were 400 pounds of fat on top of me. A war whoop came from somewhere. 

My brother. Rhoden. He leaped on top of the lion, pushing it away from me while at the same stabbing at it with his deadly lance. I was up in a second getting ready to throw my spear, but sadly the lion was already dead. "Whoop!" My brother let out another war cry.

"You should have left it for me, I was dealing with it fine," I told him. 

"Yes, but then how would that be fun for me?" he replied carelessly. He was almost 3 years older than me and thus always paraded his supremacy. My brother looked up. "Let us go Chenzi, it is becoming dark. The night beasts shall come out soon."

As we were walking, huge thunder clouds gathered above us. 

"Rho, we should take shelter. We are still far out from the village and if a storm hits, we might get lost. Better to stay here," I told my brother. 

"No, we can go on. Sometimes the clouds look big but move away quickly," saying this my brother walked faster than before.

The rain was pouring on our heads. It was so heavy that we couldn't even see our own hands. 

"There," my brother's voice echoed from somewhere to my right. I turned to face him. I squinted and saw him pointing somewhere in the distance. "There is light there bu-" I heard him say just as thunder boomed covering out his next words. I guessed that he said go to the light. Anyway, it seemed like a good idea, but I was pretty sure we were still not close to our village, "So, then what was the light?" I wondered.

The light was farther away than it had first seemed. I pushed my way through dense leaves and slush till finally I emerged in a clearing. There were a few huts in a circle, but these huts were totally different from the ones in our village. For one, they had skulls and bones hanging from there entrances and they were shaped like tents. But what choice did I have? The rain was pouring harder than before, and I could see the light emitting from behind the tent entrance. I cautiously moved forward just as something soft hit my neck. 

"Huh?" I muttered in surprise. For some reason, the huts now had rainbow walls and the bones looked like they were laughing at me. I felt dizzy and sat down. Suddenly, the ground started tilting moving up till it hit my head. I caught a glimpse of a pair of feet before everything went black.

I woke up with my head throbbing and everything white. I slowly got used to the light and managed to see my surroundings. I was in a brightly lit room with a fire and torches. I was facing the fire and that was why everything had been bright. It was still raining outside as heavy as before. The rainwater was seeping through the room's floor. It came up till my ankles. I looked around, there was no on present. I was tied to a tree in the middle of the room. I struggled with my bonds and touched something. I whipped my head around and found a skeleton facing me. I nearly cried out in surprise. I could distinctly hear some chanting. Then I realized. I was a sacrifice to these people's god. They wanted me to drown.

I struggled with my bonds, but they were tied too tight. The water was slowly rising. Now it was almost up to my knee. Then suddenly I heard a whoop outside. Then a scream. The jungle was filled with cries of surprise and shock. I would know that whoop anywhere. It was my brother. The forest was filled with many whoops. I whooped at the top of my lungs to let them know I was in here. I strained my ears trying to hear past the rain.

I could distinctly hear the pattering of feet and slicing of spears. "Come on, come on," I muttered under my breath. The water was up to my waist and rising fast.

"I'm in he-" I was interrupted as the door flew inside and hit the tree to which I was tied. The water poured out onto my brother. I heard a muffled yell as my brother was flooded by all the water. After a few seconds I saw him walking into the hut drenched in water. 

"You should've warned me Chenzi" said my brother. 

"Yes, but then how would it have been fun for me," I repeated my brother's words. He scowled   at me and took out a big hunting knife. He cut my bonds and caught me as I fell. 

"Let's go back home," he told me and we walked out of the hut.

Soon we had reached our village again and I sat in our house cleaning my spear. My brother sat opposite me skinning the lion we had killed together. My mother sat on a rickety chair rocking back and forth while holding my sister.

"Who were those people?" I asked, breaking the silence.

My mother shared a look with my brother and nodded. "Usually Chenzi, young men are informed about the 'xikandza xa nhloko' or the 'face of the head' or the Bone tribe when they have completed one year of hunting. They are a religious tribe who pray to their god of skulls and death. They believe that he created the world as an entertainment and that everyone must please him to attain a good death. Now everything has changed. While your brother was saving you, he mistakenly killed their shaman. It is possible that we have started a tribal war. Their tribe is known to never forget. Their tribe is also located close to a vast ocean. They believe the ocean leads to their god. We must be more careful when we hunt now, for they might follow us and try to kill us," my mother said, looking at me with sad eyes. 

I stayed quiet for some time. "Well, that sure is a big problem."