OPEN

[hornedomen]

Date & Time: All throughout January
Location: Outside places.
Characters: Ico and you!
Summary: Hunting and following hunters.
Warnings: Animals will die.

[a]

[The natural talents of a Sacrifice could only go so far. Though Ico picked up the bow and arrow with eerie efficiency, hunting was an entirely different matter. Not all his hunts were successful. It took time and failures for him to learn. Though at times he grew frustrated, he persevered.

Successful hunts ended in the death of a small animal such as birds. Ico did not enjoy it, but it was necessary. He prayed over the animal in a strange language. Because he had never hunted back in Toksa, he made up the prayers, and even the act itself. Once he finished, he hesitantly grabbed his knife.]

How am I supposed to do this?

[b]

[What better way to learn than by learning from a hunter? The hunters of Toksa village often hunted in groups, so he believed that by joining others, he would also better his chances of a successful hunt. Should Ico see another person hunting, he did not hesitate to follow. Snow crunched loudly under his feet as he quickly approached.]

Hey! [He waved to get their attention.] May I hunt with you? I'm still learning.

Comments

[hornedomen]

I think so, too. The Light is powerful, it makes sense that it exists in different worlds.

[Even if they were not exactly the same, he believed that they were different forms of the same god.]

Maybe that's why you're different from him. Because you chose the Light.

[stonefaith]

I think it's simpler than that, boy. We seemed to have led entirely different existences, in entirely different worlds. Perhaps the Light was not even recognized, wherever he came from.

[ Bariyan turns his knife over in his hands, and shakes his head. He looks to Ico's kill. ]

Now-- do you still want to see about this fox of yours?

[hornedomen]

If that's true, then I pity him. The Light probably could have saved him.

[He sat before the fox. Quickly, he glanced at Bariyan. This man is different, he told himself. There was no need to distance himself from this Bariyan.]

Please, show me. [Abruptly, he asked:] Do you pray for them after you kill them?

[stonefaith]

Pray? [ Bariyan frowns as he turns his knife over in his hands. Then he shakes his head. ] I can't say I do... do you?

[ He pauses with the tip of the knife hovering just above the fox's carcass. If Ico wants to pray, Bariyan won't start dressing until after he's done. ]

[hornedomen]

I do. I don't know if anyone else does. We all follow the Light in Toksa village, but no one taught me about what I'm supposed to do here.

[He placed his hand over the fox's cold head.] I've never hunted with the hunters back home. Go ahead, I already prayed.

[stonefaith]

[ Hm. Bariyan gives Ico a critical stare, for a few moments, trying to guess the boy's age. He must be pretty young, if no one's brought him on a hunt. Or perhaps things are different wherever Ico comes from.

Bariyan returns his attention to the fox. ]

All right. Now-- I'm guessing you want this for food, yes? If so, the first cut goes here [ Bariyan lowers the tip of his knife to a point on the fox's underside, slightly below the head. ]

[hornedomen]

[That stare was met with one of Ico's own, as if he were trying to peer into his very thoughts. Eventually, once Bariyan turned to the fox, so did he.]

Is that to take out the inside parts that we can't eat?

[stonefaith]

[ Bariyan nods. ] Exactly. Then you cut all the way down.

[ He takes that as confirmation that Ico's more interested in the meat than the fur, so he cuts in, then slides the knife down along the belly. Red meat blossoms outwards in the knife's wake. ]

Were there hunters in your family?

[hornedomen]

I don't know. My foster parents aren't hunters, they're too old to hunt anyway. And I never knew my birth parents. I'm forbidden to know them. It's tradition, because I'm a Sacrifice.

[He watched it all, from the direction of the cut to the red seeping into the snow. As much as he tried to look unfazed by the gore, his nose wrinkled.]

I guess that's why no one taught me.

[stonefaith]

[ Bariyan's brown furrows, both with concentration, and with alarm. He sets the knife down. ]

What does being a Sacrifice mean?

[ He picks up the carcass and moves it to the cleanest patch of snow he can find. Carefully, he grips the slit hide, and starts to pull it back over the head, turning it inside out and peeling it away from the meat underneath. ]

[hornedomen]

[Just when he thought it could not get any worse. He visibly tensed when Bariyan began pulling off the fur. He put his hands over his eyes, hesitated, and then cautiously peeked at the carcass again.]

It means, [his voice shook. He swallowed.] It means we go to the castle when our horns grow out. They...

[He could not finish.]

[stonefaith]

[ Bariyan drew a breath in between his teeth as he pulled the hide off entirely. It made an awful, sticking sound as it came away from the head, but it was a sound now ingrained into the background noise of Bariyan's life. He took no notice of it. ]

You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to, child. [ Bariyan looks up at Ico and smiles. ] I didn't realize those horns were real, though! Light. Will they grow any more?

[hornedomen]

[That sound made him feel sick. He shifted uncomfortably; every part of his body felt wrong just being witness to that. It was as if his very skin would leave him as well. He looked up at Bariyan and then he looked away, unable to hold eye contact.]

Maybe. I don't know. I hope it doesn't, not like before. It all grew out in one night. It hurt a lot.

[He rubbed his eyes. He knew it was ridiculous to cry over the fox so he tried to stop it from happening.] I want to tell you. The truth's been buried for so long, I think everyone should know.