Chapter 6 : " Field Test "
Next day before sun even rise on the sky i woke up from a nightmare panting endlessly.
"Mother!" i yelped when i woke up and immediately shot my jaws closed as i realised i'm still in the den.
'Pfff it was only a bad dream'i said to myself as i tried to calm myself after what i saw in the nightmare.
'Why did i saw my mother after all this time? Why now whats the meaning of it?'i asked myself as i slowly stood up and slowely move outside the den.
To my surprised i saw a dark figure outside laying down on the grass closer to the pond.
'whos that?' i wondered as i tried to sneek out of the den.
The moon was still giveing some light so when my eyes adjusted, i saw that the dark figure was noone else but Orchid looking at the sky.
"O-Orchid ?" i asked unsure.
"Oh morning Sky" she said
"Why are you even awake?" she asked confused.
"Ummm well ..." i lowered my head as i tried to explain myself.
"I-i had a nightmare and i decide i will come out to drink a little" i replied still looking at the ground.
"Oh realy ?!" she said.
"So you were the one who screamed 'Mother' ?" she added mocking me a little.
"sigh Y-yes that was me" i answered ashamed that i screamed it that loude so even Orchid heard it outside.
"Oh come on! Everyone have nightmares its nothink to be asheamed of" said Orchid when she saw how i was acting.
At this i raised my head a bit to see her smileing.
"Come, lay down next to me if you want" she added trying to comfort me.
"The sky is beautiful before sunrise, thats why i always wake up so early" she said as i was slowly moveing towards her.
"It a nice view indeed" i replied as i layed down somewhat close to Orchid. Even if I knew she wasn't going to hurt me, my heart was always starting to pound whenever i was in close presents of bigger predator.
As i tried my best to avoid eye contact i asked her.
"Do you have any idea what the test, your father will put me through, will be about ?" i asked still avoiding eye contact.
"Well..." she said as she tried to think of posible scenarios of the test.
"It most likely go two ways. One you got a test for a hunter. Or two ..." she paused as if she did not knew if she should tell me this.
"Umm and two is most likely testing abilities such as speed and stelph" she added after a pause.
'Dame it, not good i will probobly will get a second option of the test' i thought to myself.
"Anyways you should pass the test if you survivrd almost a year by your own as a youngling" she said trying to reassure me.
"I hope so ... I-i started to realy like this place" i replied finaly founding enough courage in myself to look at her.
As we layed there for more or less an houer the sun begain to rise and other gigas woke up. As i realised that i stood up and walked towards pond to get a drink so i wont be seen laying next to Orchid, just in case it would anger Kalash.
"Morning everyone! said Orchid welcomeing everyone who was leaving the den.
I just stood there unsure what to do next. I knew that in a matter of day or two i will begain the test as i was nearly able to walk properly, but running was a different story.
"I see not only Orchid is an early bird now" said Chaos as she saw me already awake next to the pond.
"How's your leg?" she added shortly after.
"Better. I almost stoped limping" i answered.
"Well good to hear that" said a male voice above me. It was Kalash standing on top of the waterfall.
"H-how did you even-" i asked confused.
"I have my ways" said Kalash.
As heard him speeking i lowered myself with fear. For some reason i think it will let me stay alive longer.
To that Kalash just rolled his eyes and sigh afterwords as he moved back untill i was nolonger able to see him.
Some houers leater as we all got called to gather outside, Kalash still did not come.
"Ok so first thinks first" started Enna.
"Umm Enna ?" i stoped her.
"Yes Sky what is it?" she asked.
"Aren't we going to wait for Kalash?" i asked unsure.
"Umm well he is mostly a loner ... i mean he is part of family and all but ... he like to spend a lot of time alone" explained Enna.
"Oh ... thats strange a little. I though that if he is a father he is helping with kids and do what fathers do" i said surprised.
"Well don't get him wrong. He is a father and its not like he thinks of us when it suites him but he just like to be alone in his spot. He is always comeing back there. Thats the place when we first met anyways. Before we met Kalash ouer family was only created by me my sisters Haute and Maddie as well as ouer friend Chaos. " Explained Enna.
'Well thats new i did not knew Enna had sisters'i said to myself in head.
"Oh ok sorry for disturbing the organization" i said as i lowered my head to show i'm sorry.
"It is nothink Sky" Enna replied.
"So as i was saying..." continued Enna.
"Tomorrow we will go to a another hunt and to have bigger chances of getting as much food as we can we will create three teams. Team one : me and Kalash, team two : Haute and Jaiden and team three : Maddie and Balthier" said Enna.
"Ok i hope you can handle guarding the den by yourself Chaos" asked Enna.
"Yes don't worry i will have Lynx and Orchid with me. I think we can handle it" replied Chaos.
"Ok so with that of the way, Skylen" said Enna as she looked at me.
"Huh ? Y-yes Enna ?" i asked surprised.
"I want you to take care of Maugrim and Roody while Chaos will be on patrol during ouer absence" said Enna.
"Yea sure. I will do my best" i answered surprised and happy at the same time that i will have my first task in family.
As time pass by it was nearly afternoon and most of gigas were laying down on the grass useing warmth of the sun to relax a bit.
I prefares to stay in shadow because it was a little bit to hot for me and my black back .
As i was laying there i noticed that Kalash is comeing down the hill from above the cave.
I think i know why he likes that area so much. Up there is a little forest area and a river that comes down to create waterfall next to the den. Sounds pretty relaxing.
The den itself is surrounded by woods and a mountain to the right from entrance of the den.
The area itself is realy peaceful thanks to the sound of the waterfall and wind blowing in canopy of trees.
As i was relaxing while looking at this breath takeing view i heard some footsteps comeing somewhere from my right.
It was Roody.
"Hey allo wanna play tag?" said Roody wagging his tail.
"Umm i think so. And by the way call me Sky, looks like everyone is calling me like that" i replied to him as i stood up.
"Hehe then come on, Maugrim, John and Calista are already waiting" just as he finished saying that i heard Maugrim.
"I told you to leave Sky alone" said Maugrim.
"Its ok Maugrim. He asked me to join. I need some move anyways" i replied.
"Well if you say so" said Maugrim as he runned up to Calist and nip her.
"You are IT now!" he said as he runned away.
"Hey! Thats unfair!" said Calista as she looked around to see who was closer to her to be tagged.
When she saw me, she start to running towards me since beside Roody I was the smallest. I got quite surprised of her speed as I tryied to dodge her and begain to run ... well if limping away in a fast trot can be called running.
"Haha missed me!" i said as i dodge her.
"Damn you!" She said as she runned even faster then before.
"Oh shit!" that all i could say before she rammed into me sending both of us to the ground.
"Now you are IT" she said as she smiled proudely.
"Heh yea. But can you stop sitting on me so i can get up ?" i asked.
"Oh right ... sorry" she replied.
As we continued to play a little game of tag Kalash was observing us which i did not payed any atention to.
As we all colapsed exhausted but still laughing at the grate fun we had.
"Ha ... ha ... i ... did ... not ... do ... that ... in ... such a ... long ... time" i said panting a lot.
"Good ... to ... know ... you ... had ... fun" said John.
"Yeah" added Calista.
"I thought ... you will be ... stiff for fun" she added while she laugh a little.
"I only ... was a bit ... afraid before" i answered.
After whe had some good laughts we decided to take a drink.
With every amount of time I spend with the family I started to trust them more and more.
It was almost evening when we finished drinking and still talking about how fun ouer game was.
We all got called to the den because it was already sunset, so we get inside the den.
When Haute saw that we all walked in, still laughing about, she spoke up.
"Well i see you had some fun today Sky" she said with a smile on her face.
"Indeed. Haven't had so much fun in long time" i replied to Haute.
"Thats good" she said as he started to get comfortable in her nest to go to sleep.
As time pass by we all got to ouer sleeping spots and fel asleep.
In the middle of the night i had yet another nightmare.
The nightmare was about my mother and father being torn apart as i was pined down and was made to watch them be ripped alive. I heard as they were screaming my name and i tried to free myself from under rex feet.
Back in a den i was wriggleing and whimpering realy baddly. That got noticed by Enna who had been woke up by the sound of my claws scraped the rocks.
"Shhh ... shhh. Its ok little one" she said as she puted her head over my back to comfort me. The beating of her heart calmed me down as my whimper and raw movement leassend a bit.
As i slowely opened my eyes i realised it was only a bad dream. When Enna saw i was awake, she started to nuzzle my neck and said.
"What happend Sky?"
"gaspr-rexes" that was all i could say as i was trying to catch a breath.
"Its ok Sky, it was only bad dream you are safe here" reassured me Enna with a little lick to my cheek.
"I-i ... i saw how my parents die ... t-they made me look at they death" i tried to speak as i was snobbing at the same time.
"Shhh its over. It was just a dream" she said as she pulled me closer to her.
The heart beat calmed me down and i slowly fel asleep again.
When i woke up, it was already morning so i got out of the den to take a drink.
Most of family members were gone i saw only Orchid, Lynx and rest of the adolescents.
"Morning everyone" i said as i walked outsied the den.
"Morning Sky. I heard you had a raw night." said Orchid.
"Oh Sorry if i woke you up" i said lowering my head in shame.
"No you didn't. My mom told me that before they left for hunt" explained Orchid.
"Alright. I thought I was noisy again." I said walking towards the pond
When i made it to the pond to take a drink I heard footsteps behide me. As i turned around i saw Lynx walking up to me.
'Eh grate. What is he up for this time' i sayed to myself as he walked closer.
"Listen here ummm ... Skylen ... i'm sorry for what i did back then i just-"
"Yea you better" i stoped Lynx in a middle of his sentenc.
"That wasn't nice at all" i added.
As he heard that he just lowered his head a bit to show he is realy sorry for what he did.
When i saw that i controled my anger and said now softly.
"Its ok ... I'm sorry as well for how i acted then and just now ..." i said as i came up to Lynx to comfort him and rise his head up which surprised him a little.
"I do not hide my grudges for long" i said to which Lynx smiled.
"By the way, Good luck on your test tommorow" he said.
"Wait what ?" i asked surprised.
"Tomorrow already?!" i added after short pause.
"Yes and i know what one of the parts of the test will be about" said Orchid comeing up to me.
"R-realy?" i asked.
"Yea. I heard how adults where talking, and one of the parts will be stalking and hunting the prey" replied Orchid.
"Come with me i will show you the best spot for this part of the test" she added.
"Ok. Thank you for helping me out" i said, happy, not paying atention to the fact i was wagging my tail like little hachling to which Orchid laughed a bit and said.
"Heh i see ouer little hachling is excited to go for a hunt"
When i realised why she said that i stoped wagging my tail and i got red all over my face in shame.
"Heh its ok. I understand your excitement" she said to me when she saw what i was doing.
"I see just like my mom said, you realy want to stay with us don't you ?" she added.
"Umm well yes i want to stay because i feel safe here and i see how you all care about each other" i explain with a little wag of my tail.
As we got to Orchid's "secret hunting spot" i saw plenty of orodromeuses and few avacerstopses. There were woods all over so sneeking up behide the prey wasn't hard.
"This is the place" she said.
"Now go and try to hunt somethink i want to see if you can make a kill for a family" she added gently pushing me forward.
"O-ok" i said as i tryed to focus on the hunt.
When i moved closer to the edge of the forest i saw that one of the avas was walking towards the forest close to me.
'Perfect prey' i said forming my next move.
I waited untill it got deeper into the woods so it will have bigger chance of stucking while it will try to run away.
As it started to eat i knew it was the time to strike, so i did just that.
I run out of the bush and before it even react my jaws closed on its neck. When it stop moveing i finaly parted my jaws and let it fall dead on the ground. As i did so i heard a voice behide me.
"Nice job Sky" said Orchid.
"It wasen't hard i just waited for its mistake" i replied.
"I know. If you do just that during test you will make it" said Orchid as she helped me drag the body to the den.
By the time we reach the den Enna, Haute and Chaos were already there, eating what they hunted.
"Enna look" said Chaos when she saw me and Orchid draging the ava.
"Nice job Orchid" said Haute.
"Actualy thats Sky's kill" said Orchid.
"Wow nice job then Sky" said Haute.
"Thank you!" i said wagging my tail.
"But still Orchid show me the place so its not like i did it alone" i added.
"Regardless" replied Orchid.
As we set there and begain to eat rest of the hunters came back and joind the feast.
After everyone got filled up we took a nap under the warm sun. As we layed there i was wondering what else will be in my test. I knew there are parts but i did not knew how many and what they are about. For now i just had to hope it wont be a impossible task.
The rest of the day was quite lazy as not even youngest Roody was running around. Everyone enjoyed they sunbaths.
When night came we all came inside the den but this time i layed down on a grass insted of stone to not wake up anyone in case i will have another nightmare.
The next day was full of tension for me as it was a day of my test. If i fail i will have to leave which was not an option to me as i started to like that place already.
"Alright snacky today we will see if you can proof yourself useful" said Kalash.
"Why snacky ?" i asked confused and scared.
"Reason of this is simple. For now you are no more then snack to me. Proof me wrong and you will stay" explained Kalash.
"I will do my best!" i said as i stood up proudly.
"Alraight then lets get started" said Kalash.
"First task is locateing a wunded prey in a forest. Second task is to stalk it and hunt it. Third task is to defend it from predators" said Kalash.
"I will soon go and mark a target of your hunt" he added.
"And what if no other predator will show up?" i asked thinking of last task.
"Dont worry about this there will be a predator" he repiled.
"You ready ?" asked Kalash.
"Not gonna be more then i already am" i replied.
"Good, i will go now to mark a target" said Kalash as he moved forward.
When he was gone Enna came up to me and said.
"Just be careful Sky".
"I will" i said.
She then just licked my cheek and said.
"Good luck Sky" said Enna smileing
I just smiled back as i got called by Kalash to start serching.
This part was quite easy. It was hard to not see a river of blood after Kalash's bite.
As i found the target everythink begain to go wrong way. The target was young bull edmontosaurus.
'Oh for a love of theri. Why this is the target. How can i bring it down by my own. Couldn't Kalash pick somethink in my size not his ?!'i thought to myself as i stalked it to find a weakspot.
'Ok its limping. That means it can't run away so maybe i can strike and run away and strike again untill it will bleed out'i talked to myself as i walked closer and closer to it.
'Thats it thats my chance'i said to myself as young bull was going out of the forested area to small pond that was surrounded by woods.
As i runned after it to bite its back leg i dodged his tail swinging and runned away, all acording the plan.
After a painfully long fight the bull finaly colapsed. I was waiting for that. I charged in and bite its neck to cut his life vein and end the hunt with a success.
When i finaly killed it i jumped ontop of it just to see Kalash comeing out of the forest.
"I ... i ... i did it ... Kalash" i said trying to catch my breath.
As he did not replied i got confused.
"Kalash?" i asked as i started to panic.
Still no answer.
"KALASH !" i screamed to him afraid of the fact he was not answering, but then he stoped and licked his upper lip.
I froze when i saw that.
"Kalash stop it! Its not funny!" i said as i tryed to show no fear.
We looked at each other for a moment which felt like eternity, but then in split second he charged towards me and pushed me off of the edmontosaur's body.
When i finaly hitted the ground i yealed to Kalash.
"What the hell are you doing?!" i said scared and angry at the same time, but just when i finished my sentenc he pined me down with his feet.
"AAAHHHH that hurts! Please stop! STOP I BEG YOU!" i screamed.
As he lowered himself over me and parted his jaws and closed them on my neck.
'This is the end for me! How could i trust gigas!'i said to myself as i closed my crying eyes and was strugleing to free myself from Kalash's jaws.
But everythink stoped. Kalash opened his jaws leting my neck go as well and he no longer pined me down.
"You failed" said Kalash.
As i tried to pick myself up i noticed thinks i never did. Scars. Kalash had many scars across his whole body.
As i begine to wonder how he got every scar every clawmark every teethmark on his body he spoke up again.
"You did not even tried to defend yourself"
"W-what did you exepect me to do?! To attack an allay ?!" i yeald confused, angry and scared.
"You can never know who is your allay and who is an enemy" Kalash replied.
"That was a part of the test ... and you failed it" he added shortly after
"C-can i at least help you bring a body to the den and say goodbye to everyone" i asked as i lowered my head sad that it mean I will have to leave the only place I could call home at that time.
"Fine" Kalash said.
As we draged the body to the den we got spotted Enna and others who were already waiting for us. When Enna saw the body we were draging she said.
"Congrats on compliteing the t-"
"I failed" i said stoping Enna.
"What !? But you made a kill and you had bring it here !" said Enna confused.
"I-i failed defending it" i said as i colapsed and started to cry.
"How could you fail defending it if its here ?!" said Enna even more confused.
"Ask Kalash" i said as i could not control myself.
"What happend Kalash?!" she ask requiring an immediate answer.
"Well he failed to defend it, he did not even fought back" he explaind.
"But what!? What did he had to fight back?!" said Enna.
"Ummm well..."
"Kalash" i said still crying.
"I had to fight back againt Kalash" i added after i catched some air.
" ... realy Kalash ?!. Was that not enough that you picked an edmontosaur for a test so you decided to be the one who will try to steal his prey !" said Enna cleary angry.
I'm not gonna lie. Angry Enna looks just as scary as Kalash.
"You asked me to test him out if he can stay. He faild the test so he is not alowed to stay. " said Kalash.
"You think so huh ?" replied Enna.
"He stayes. He did pass your test. I can bet you even thought picking edmontosaur as a prey will be enough to make him fail" she added.
As they continued to argue i got so scared that i was unable to move. Orchid saw that and as she came closer to me she said.
"Dont worry we are on your side"
"I-i-i..." i could not even speek as i was still choking on my sobs and was scared to death.
"Hash. It will be just fine" she said trying to comfort me best she could.
I was feeling so strange as she was nearly twice as big as i was, and when i was laying all i could see was her feets since she was that close.
When Enna and Kalash finaly stop argueing i heard Enna say.
"If you dont want to let him stay here i will adopt him and you cant do anythink about it"
"What do you mean adopt?!" Kalash said surprised and confused.
"It mean he is my son from nowon" Enna said.
As i heard that i looked at Enna and then on Orchid.
"I-i dont understand ... what is going on" i asked Orchid.
"Looks like you are staying with us" Orchid explained as she lowered herself over me nearly touching top of my head with her lower jaw.
"Y-you sure Orchid?" i asked still shakeing.
"Yes i'm sure. Brother" she replied with a smile on her face.
I got so confused when I heard that. I did not understand why she called me like that.
"W-why are you calling me 'brother' ?" i asked.
"Because my mom adoped you so now she is your mother as well" she said.
As i slowly began to process the whole situation i asked.
"Dose that make Kalashglupmy father ?!" i asked scared and confused.
"I dont think so, since he was against you staying here" replied Orchid.
"Come on Sky. Let me see those bitemarks" said Enna as she help me stand up and walk to the den.
"T-thank you" that was all i could say still scared to death.
"Its ok now, you can relax" said Enna.
When we made it to the nest and i was about to lay down next to it, Enna nearly picked me up from the ground and she said.
"This time you will sleep in nest" she said as she let me go.
"B-but Kalash-"
"Kalash had go to his spot outside. You don't need to worry" sayed Enna.
"Now hop into the nest its almost night" she added as she layed down inside the nest.
As she did just that i slowly got in, unsure what will happend when Kalash will be back.
"Thank you ... for saveing me again" I said as i tryed to go to sleep.
"It is nothink. Now sleep ... son" replied Enna while she was nuzzleing my neck.
"Sleep well" she added while i layed there with closed eyes.