Chapter 6: The Third Challenge…The Hunt is on
"What does the hunting challenge consist of?" Max asked. He was sitting next to River Dog and Eddie as they waited for the moon to be high in the sky. The fire, in front of them, flickered playfully.
"It is believed for centuries that everyone has an animal spirit within them. On the last full moon, it is let out for the human to find them," River Dog explained.
"So, I have to hunt down my animal spirit?" asked Max and both nodded. "Do I get to know what it is?" Eddie grinned.
"That's part of the challenge," Eddie spoke up. "You need to find it yourself and know deep within you that it is a part of you." Max made a face.
"Of course, why should I expect anything else?" muttered Max. Eddie and River Dog just grinned in amusement as they turned to the fire once more.
Max just stared into the fire and slowly became mesmerised by it, it seemed like there was a female figure dancing in the fire, beckoning him to join her, to play with her when the shape slowly changed to a creature on four legs, head tilted back.
Max's hand reached out to touch the fire when another hand clamped down on his wrist, stopping him and he turned to face Eddie, still dazed.
"Fire is not to play with," Eddie warned in a serious tone. Max shook himself out of his daze as he looked at the fire once more only to see that the figures were gone.
He frowned before he looked away, titling his head back to look at the moon that was now high in the sky, signalling that it was time for him to start challenge, missing the way River Dog and Eddie shared a look.
"It is time for your third challenge," River said as he stood up, Eddie and Max stood up as well. "Follow me Seeker." River Dog led the way down a path with Max following him and Eddie walking up behind Max. They led the way down the torch lit path till they reached the edge of the jungle.
Max looked into the dark jungle with only the full moon to give light before he turned back to the others. "In here, you must find the tracks you are to follow in order to find your animal spirit," River Dog told him. Max nodded as he turned to face the jungle once more and stepped in, making his way through the thick trees and tall grass.
River Dog and Eddie turned to face each other once more before they moved away from the jungle, they would know when Max had found his animal spirit and there was nothing more they could do but wait.
Max kept his eyes and ears opened, there were many dangerous creatures in the jungle, ones that he did not wish to meet, even though he had his powers to protect him, he would rather get out of the jungle unscathed as much as he could. He stopped when he came to a clearing and looked around, there were many different paths to take and he didn't know what one to take.
Max closed his eyes before breathing in and out deeply to open his mind, he knew that he needed to keep his faith and just hoped that he would be able to pick the right path once he opened his eyes when he felt a light breeze brush his cheeks.
Startled, Max opened his eyes and looked around for what had caused the breeze, there was no wind when he had entered the jungle. He frowned when he couldn't see or hear anything and looked at the paths once more but a giggle came all around him. Max snapped his head up; looking around only for his eyes to widen when he saw a small twister of cherry blossom leaves spinning around.
It seemed to dance for a moment, circling Max, caressing him with a cool breeze before it moved over to one of the paths and danced there for a moment, beckoning him toward it. Max moved toward the twister and watched as it moved down the path. Max hurried after it, not wanting to lose sight of it.
He chased after it for a long time till it suddenly came to a stop. Max stopped and looked around to see where he was but couldn't see of anything important that made the twister stop. He moved closer and the twister burst into a shower of leaves, the leaves scattering all off him and the ground before another breeze came along and blew the leaves away, removing all evidence.
Max had taken a step back at this moment, shocked at what had happened before he looked toward the ground and saw tracks. Kneeling down, he looked closer and saw it was one set of tracks, one set of animal to hunt for and felt a smile curl up his lips as he straightened up and followed the tracks.
It had been hard a first as Max wasn't a seasoned hunter; he wasn't used to hunting animals by their tracks and had gotten lost a few times but managed to find himself on the correct path once more. He looked up into the sky and could see that the Moon had shifted from its high in the sky and knew that he was running out of time.
He sped up, following the path with more confidence now, he had gotten a good sense on the tracks and had a feeling that he was close to the animal that he had been sent to hunt, he could only hope that it didn't move and wondered how he was supposed to catch it – was he to chase it till it had deemed him worthy or something more?
He reached the end of the tracks and looked up at the rock in front of him. On it stood a regal wolf with its fur grey and dark amber eyes. It looked at him before it turned and jumped off the rock, hurrying away. It stopped and looked back at Max for a short moment before it turned around and started running off into the jungle once more.
Max could feel the urge deep inside of him to start running and he did, chasing after the wolf that he felt was a part of him. He chased the wolf, occasionally losing sight of it but he always caught up with it. He couldn't help but grin and laugh as the chase continue, to feel the breeze across his face and the ground under his feet, to feel his heart pounding and his muscles contracting with each movement sent a sense of power through him.
He had never felt this way before and wondered if this what the ancestors thought of the animal spirit being one with the human – it was to revert back to their base form, to remember what it was like to run wild with no care, only living in the day without worrying about the past and the future.
Max came to a sudden stop when he saw the wolf had stopped running, obviously had now deemed him worthy of its attention and was now sitting on its hind legs, watching as Max moved closer to the creature and knelt down on his knees, locking eyes with the wolf.
The wolf moved closer, wanting to see Max better and sat back on its hind leg, staring at Max with a regal aura. Max had to bite his tongue in order to stop smiling as he realised that the wolf was a true part of him…it even acted like a king.
The wolf regarded him for a long moment before it stood up and moved toward Max. It touched its nose on Max's forehead and slowly melded with the young man, becoming one with him.
Max exhaled once the process was over before he smiled to himself. He had passed the third challenge; he was a step closer to seeing the Seer. He straightened up and made his way through the jungle, his wolf senses helping him to find his way back.
He met River Dog and Eddie just before he exited the jungle, both of them looked at him and Max nodded.
"It was a wolf," Max told them and got smiles in returned as they led the way back to the camp so they could celebrate the success but Max had questions to answer.
"Tell me," started River Dog once they reached the camp and had settled down round the fire once more. "What help did you receive?" Max frowned as he thought about it.
"The winds…they were blowing cherry blossom leaves about," Max told him. "They seemed to dance across the path but they didn't lead me all the way to my spiritual animal, they just led me to the tracks and disappeared."
"That what was meant to happen," assure River Dog. "Has there been any other help in your challenges?" Max nodded.
"Yeah, in the underwater challenge – there was a water based mermaid; she kissed me, giving me the ability to breath underwater then when I entered the first channel, a small ball of light followed me," Max told them. River Dog frowned as he thought about it.
"You haven't seen any female figures about, have you? You know, in shadows and such," River Dog asked and Max nodded.
"A few times now," Max told him before he tucked into the meal. It didn't matter what time it was on the island, food was always being cooked and Max couldn't help but love the food that they had on the island. River Dog and Eddie shared a look; it looks like the Seer had answers to give.
The Seer wiped a hand over her forehead before shaking her head. River Dog and Eddie were always so protective of her but she was the one who was supposed to give the Seeker the ability to breathe underwater, it's hardly her fault that it meant she had to kiss him…not that she had any complaints. And she didn't mean for him to see her shadow, she frowned as she thought to herself about it, the Seeker wasn't even supposed to see her shadow…she wondered if it was down to his alien inheritance that he was able to see things that he should have been able to see.
Shaking her head, she turned back to the task at hand, he had passed the third challenge, all without help from her and she needed to see if he would be able to pass the next challenge…the gift.
TBC