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As dawn broke, I heard the woman stirring. She roused herself and walked towards the supply bag to my left. She extracted the bowl, waterskin and a dried fish. After tearing the fish in half lengthwise, she handed me the larger portion and filled half the bowl with water. When we finished eating, I returned the bowl and again she filled it by half.

Instead of also drinking, as I expected, she turned to tend to the others. After tending to Italy, she set the bowl aside and knelt next to the cloth she slept on. I leaned closer to better see what she was doing.

She lifted and carried it to Germany, spreading it next to him. At that moment, the horse walked towards us and laid beside her. The woman filled the bowl to the brim and brought it to the horse, who drank readily. I was slightly shocked and disgusted, but reasoned that it was the only means of distributing water.

She returned the bowl and now empty waterskin to the supply bag. I was beginning to worry about our predicament. We had only one dried fish, no water and four people plus a horse traveling across dry grasslands. The woman did not seem worried, but I could feel her unease.

She returned to Germany, rolling him onto the smaller cloth. The large one, she draped over the horse's back. She curled Germany into himself, then brought the edges of the cloth together over his head and leaned him against the horse. She stood and knelt next to Italy, beckoning me over.

She showed me how to arrange the limbs. After bringing the cloth over his head as well, she showed me the very specific knot to fasten the rope around it. It made me shudder to think that I was in the exact situation as Italy and Germany just a few hours ago. The more I saw, the more I felt like an outsider looking into a window I should not.

When she was done, she gestured to Italy then to the horse. I nodded and carried him there, opposite to Germany. There she attached two more segments of rope to the knot in Italy's bag. Then she showed me the way to fasten all three ropes to Germany's so they would not loosen.

I watched as she touched her nose to the horse's. She stood and helped the horse to do so as well. She took up her staff and began to take the supply sack onto her back. Before she did, I asked to carry it. She smiled and allowed me.

We walked on and on for what seemed like forever. We had to keep pace with the heavily laden horse. The sun was very high in the sky when I felt the woman's elation. I looked at her quizzically and she just ponied ahead of us.

I squinted at the horizon and eventually saw a huge grouping of animals. We walked a while longer before we stopped. I 'unpacked' Germany while she tended to Italy. The horse grazed during that time. We sat to rest.

I could no longer feel her atmosphere. She stared into the horizon, her face a calculating mask. I thought to myself, 'She is completely different. What happened to her?' I found myself constantly glancing at her.

Her face and emotions were masked, but her body language was not. Her shoulders were tense and her fists were opening and closing, but her breathing was calm and slow. Something was about to happen. She stood and walked toward the horse, who was also walking to her.

. . .

I felt the eyes of the black haired one, Japan, on the back of my head. He knew I was up to something. I had to keep myself masked, or he would try to follow me, to protect me. I also did this to prepare for the hunt.

I met Aysel and looked into her eyes, thinking, 'May I use your strength?'. Her nose touched mine and I touched my forehead to hers. I turned and we started back towards camp. Aysel lay behind the blonde one. I covered her with the large cloth, took up my staff and knelt before Japan.

He glanced at Aysel, down to my staff then into the horizon. I caught his attention and mouthed, 'I will be a while. Please do not worry.' He kept his face masked, but his eyes betrayed his unease. Again I mouthed, 'Do not worry. I will return.' I turned and emptied the supply bag, only replacing the herbs and waterskin. I stood and started towards the water source that attracted so many animals.

I stopped a thousand feet from them and slipped my staff between the bag and my back, now crawling with my eyes just above the grass. I moved closer as I circled the waterhole, studying the animals to see which life I should steal. If they were young, old or sick, the meat would not be good. If I took a mother or mate, I would be stealing more than one life. Too small, and there would not be enough meat. Too large, and we would not be able to carry all of it and would end up wasting meat.

Searching for well over two hours, according to the sun, I found a juvenile, male, gazelle-like creature, the perfect balance. I inched closer, readying my staff. I took a breath and called upon Aysel's strength, exhaling as I closed the distance between me and my prey. I caught up to him in seconds and quickly subdued him. The rest of the crowd scattered, some fleeing from me and others being chased by various predators. I dragged the carcass about a yard from the water's edge and began my work.

I first filled the waterskin and added a sprig of one of my herbs to purify it. Then I dug a hole in the sand, roughly elbow deep and the same width. I broke off his horns and used one of them to remove his skin, laying it with the fur on the ground.

I removed his internal organs, using the horn to sever fat and connective tissue. What could not be used or would be foolishly dangerous to use, I discarded into the hole. I kept everything that was edible, stripping everything I could from the bones and piling it on the hide.

The sun was three quarters through the sky by the time I was done. I wrapped the meat inside the hide and stuffed it into the supply bag. I made a new waterskin from his cleaned out stomach. I filled it with water and added a sprig from one herb to purify it and from the other to keep it from going rancid.

I took the bag back onto my back and slid my staff between the two. I carried a waterskin under each arm and again circled the waterhole, searching for anything that could be useful.

Eventually, I came across a slightly bowl-shaped stone with a diameter equal to the length between my elbow and finger tip. Later I found two flat stones roughly the size of my hand. I knelt and emptied my pack. I set the large stone on the bottom, rested the hide and horns inside the divot, squeezed the stones on either side and set herbs on top. I returned the bag and staff to by back and again lifted the waterskins. I put the sun to my back and began the trek back to camp.

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