Author's Note: Sanctuary Bingo Entry. Having to use . as paragraph breaks due to FFnet's funky formatting
Prompt: Chilean Shepherd Frog
When Helen Magnus first told the Big Guy her plan, he thought it was rather... well, insane for want of a better word. She was going to put a dangerous, red-list abnormal into her brain and then shoot him, just so she could flush out the mole she believed they had in the organisation. The telepathic mole, no less. As Henry would say, they were so screwed! Anyway, she convinced him eventually and he told her how to do it, so that it would look as if he was dead. Of course, Helen being Helen, she wanted to know how he had come across the knowledge of the properties of Chilean Shepherd Frog secretions. He didn't want to tell her how he knew of it, and he'd rather not remember, but Henry was sat outside his tomb again and he couldn't move until his friend had gone. "So," he thought to himself. "Perhaps I should just let the memories come, memories of home, of those I loved, and lost."
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The wind drove down through the mountains, carrying new snow to be scattered across the barren landscape. The snowy hillside was dotted with caves, some little more than indents in the rock while others went on for miles into the hills. Small groups of nomads lived in the cave systems, never more than thirty adults in one group due to the often violent nature of the males. The groups were usually made up of mated pairs, young ones and adolescents; unmated males were driven off as soon as they reached their first mating cycle. Haracka stood at the cave entrance, watching the snow fall and sniffing the air for signs of another impending storm. His mate, Shankaria, sat a few feet away, nursing their newborn son. The rest of their tribe occupied caves deeper into the system, and they waited for news of the storms that Haracka would bring. The Ritual of Renewal was scheduled to be held in three days, but storms would make it impossible to perform. Without it, several young males would be forced to miss their first mating cycle, which could prove deadly to either the tribe or the newly adult males, whose aggression would increase dramatically.
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Haracka moved away from the entrance, knowing the news he carried would not be well received by the rest of the tribe. The storms were intensifying and would likely carry on past the time of the ritual. He moved slowly, setting a pace that allowed his mate to move easily alongside him. Although the outside world would see them as ugly, to his kind his mate was beautiful. He had no idea that in a few short years, the tribe would be torn apart and he would be forced to flee, ending his journey riddled with bullets and in the care of Helen Magnus. He moved deeper into the caves, his naturally intense sense of smell telling him he was near, before they heard the voices of the others. He moved forward and knelt before the aged tribe leader and his equally aged mate.
"The storms are growing stronger," he told the Old One, keeping his head bowed.
"Then the Ritual of Renewal cannot take place?" The Old One asked, his voice strong despite his advanced years.
"No, Old One. The storms will gain strength and we will be forced to remain inside for many days," Haracka confirmed, knowing what this news would mean.
"Then the Ritual of the Long Sleep must be prepared," the Old One declared, ignoring the gasps of surprise and horror from his tribe.
"Yes, Old One," Haracka agreed, knowing the young ones would not know what the ritual meant for them. He moved away to stand beside his mate, glad he would not have to take part in the ritual that would send the newly adult males into a coma like state for many weeks.
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Twenty four hours after the announcement, the three newly adult males lay on stone benches in a small cave, not far from the main living areas of their tribe. Each was dressed in a simple white smock and had their medicine bag held against their chest, some held loosely while others clutched the pouches tightly. Each was given a piece of dried meat to chew, which had been wiped along the back of a Chilean Shepherd Frog. The tribe had discovered the effects when one of the young ones had caught a frog one summer day and, as children do, he tried to lick it. The resulting coma lasted seven days and the tribes began to experiment with the frog's secretions, keeping them as pets to see what foods changed the effects of the toxin. Within a few years, they had perfected the different ways to use the toxin, to put their kind into a 'healing sleep' for a few days, a 'long sleep' for several months or even to make executions more humane. Haracka watched as the young males were put into the 'long sleep' and sighed, hoping he would never have to experience the effects of the toxin himself.
##
Big Guy suppressed the sobs that threatened to explode from him, as the pain of what he had lost washed through him afresh. His mate and son, his only reason for living, were gone from him now. He hoped they still lived, that the new Tribe Leader had spared them when he had cast out so many. He would forever be known now as 'Bigfoot' or The Big Guy, because Haracka was dead to his people, cast out and left to die by the ones he had loved the most.