[Jerome's POV]

I swung in the trees, heading towards my favorite river. It was about three miles southwest from my tree house and had the best fish in Canada. Mmm... sweet, juicy, delectable fish...

I went into a trance while fantasizing about the fish I was going to eat and pretty much stopped paying attention to where I was swinging. Because I was so careless, I didn't notice the collar of my suit got stuck on a branch until it about half choked me to death when I jumped forward. "Agh! Seriously? Again?" I cut myself free using my stone axe and fell to the ground. "This wouldn't happen if I could just wear a simple shirt. Why can't I do that?"

I knew very well why. Every bacca knows. It's because we baccas have traditions that we've stuck to since the beginning of time. We wear suits, eat raw food, live alone at an early age, only use axes, and a bunch of other things. No bacca would dare break tradition, mainly because that bacca would be shunned by everyone else. Then again, even if a bacca did break tradition, there wouldn't be many baccas to shun him/her for it. According to the elders, a thousand years ago there was a huge war between baccas and humans. I have no clue why. No one would tell me. But I did know that it was devastating for the baccas. They robbed us of all our best weaponry, burned our homes, and killed off 90% of the population, forcing the rest of us into hiding. And if that wasn't offensive enough, they completely forgot about us, ya know, except for that 'Chewbacca' guy. What a low blow. So long story short, all baccas resent humans. Although, I have heard that...

I shook my head in an attempt to focus. I was getting way off track. Climbing back up the tree, I started heading towards the river again. "I really need that fish."


Finally! I can see the river in the distance. I was about fifty feet away from all that raw fish! I was about to sprint towards it, but I hesitated when I saw that something else was already there, and it was definitely not another bacca. I held my breath. A human. A real human.

I inched towards the human but stayed hidden in the trees. I just wanted to get a better look. Sure, I may have heard about humans, but I've never seen one before. The human didn't look fully grown, so I assume that it's just a kid. It was definitely a boy. He wore a coat and something shiny around his neck. He bent down to get some water and I tried to get even closer. But I was sloppy with my footing and fell to the ground with a thud behind some bushes

The boy whipped his head in my direction. "W-who's there?" I didn't respond, but I repositioned myself so I could see him through the leaves. He rubbed the shiny thing around his neck and the next thing I know he's holding an axe. Wait, what?

"Come out! I'm not afraid of you!" He called out. But I was too distracted by the axe to be threatened. It was a sort of blue, and a glow surrounded it. An enchanted diamond axe. But how? No baccas have even seen a diamond axe since the war. And humans don't use axes anyways. Could this human possibly be a Man of the Bac? The Man of the Bac is an old legend that says that there are still humans out there who follow the bacca way. But everyone was convinced they were all gone. Yet one was right in front... hey! He's gone! Where did he go?

The next thing I know something fell from the trees and on top of me, pinning me to the ground. The kid. He put the axe next to my face. "Who are you?" He demanded. Then he looked me up and down. "What are you?"

I sighed. Typical human. If I really wanted to, I could probably take him down in a fight and get out of this situation. But I couldn't let myself do it. Not when he's possibly the last Man of the Bac alive. "I'm Jerome," I told him. "And I'm a bacca."

"A what?"

I rolled my eyes. "Bacca. B-A-C-C-A. And before you say anything, no it's not wookie. It's bacca. Now who are you?"

His grip loosened just a bit on me. "Mitch."

"Why are you way out here in the forest and not with other humans?"

Tears started to form in his eyes, but he quickly blinked them away. "Who's supposed to be asking the questions here?" I didn't expect him to respond, but he did. "I came here to get away."

"From what?"

"If you don't make me tell you, I'll get off you."

"Just like that?" I asked him skeptically. "You aren't gonna kill me for being a strange creature?"

He shrugged. "No. Why? Should I?"

"No! I mean, it just doesn't seem very human of you."

Of all the things he could've said, I didn't expect him to say what he said next. I thought he would just fire back with an insult, but he just said, "I don't even know if I am human anymore." He got off of me and then helped me up. "Sorry to bother you," he said. "I'll just go."

Before he could walk away, I put my hand on his shoulder. "No! You should stay with me."

Mitch looked at me with a puzzled look on his face. "Why? I'm not good for anything."

Answer. I need an answer. Anything but straight up telling him he's a Man of the Bac. Think Jerome, think! "I... well... I've been all by myself since I was two, and I think it'd be nice to have someone to talk to." It's not completely a lie. I have been alone since I was two, but baccas don't need to see anyone. In fact we isolate ourselves from everyone. But I need this kid Mitch on my side.

Mitch thought, then shrugged. "Sure. Not like I have anywhere else to go."

I gave him a warm smile. "Great! Just give me a sec to grab some fish and then we can go back to my tree house."

I knelt down next to the river bank and grabbed some fish when they swam by. Mitch crouched down next to me and drank more water. After I had caught a fair amount of the fish, I sat down and started to eat. Mitch gave me a weird look. "Aren't you gonna cook that first?"

I fake gagged. "Blagh! No! I don't understand why you humans take perfectly good food then waste time and energy just to make it terrible."'

Once I had finally finished, I headed back towards the trees. "You coming?" I called back to Mitch. He nodded and climbed up the tree with me. As I swung, he kept up with me pretty well. Impressive.

After awhile, I felt his hand on my shoulder. I looked back to see that he was breathing really heavily. "Jerome, *pant* how much, *pant* further?"

"Just a couple more miles." I replied. He groaned. "C'mon. Quit whining." I started dragging him across the branches while he tried to regain control. This kid better be worth the trouble.


Finally we reached the tallest tree in the forest. That's where I lived. I started climbing up, Mitch not too far behind me. I pushed open the small trapdoor and climbed into my tree house.

I pulled Mitch in and his eyes widened. "Wow. This is awesome."

I guess my tree-house is pretty nice. I built it myself after all. The main room had a couple beanbags sitting by a fireplace and some bags stuffed with leaves so I could practice my fighting. In another corner there are a bunch of chests I use for storing food and materials and such. I also have every axe I've ever owned on one wall. In another room I have a bed too.

I walked over to the wall of axes and hung up the stone axe. Mitch just stood there awkwardly. "So, you gonna tell me anything about yourself?" I asked him. His face suddenly drained of all color. "Sorry," I quickly said, "is it a bad subject?"

"N-nah," he said unconvincingly, "About five months ago, my mom died in a plane crash, and-" He just froze. He wouldn't say another word.

"You've been on the run ever since?" I finished.

He nodded. "Yeah. That."

"What about the diamond axe? That was really awesome! Where did it go anyways?"

His face morphed into a panicked one. "I-I don't like to talk about it. Is there a place where I can take a nap? I haven't slept well in months."

I pointed to the door behind me. "In there there's a bed. You can sleep there I guess. I'll just be out here practicing fighting."

He headed towards my bedroom. "Thanks Jerome," he said. Then he disappeared into the room.

I took a fresh stone axe off the wall and started beating up the bags while thinking. What was so traumatizing that Mitch couldn't talk about? It has to do something with the axe. Maybe he knows something about him being a Man of the Bac. That would explain why he didn't immediately kill me earlier. But then he surely would've said something, right? I took out my frustrations on the poor bags, which were torn to shreds after a while. I will get answers out of this kid eventually.