The Legions of Yalutch: Chapter I (Part I)

“Run faster! Come on, is it possible for you to run any slower?” yelled Dominatrique, who I just called Dom.

“Oh, be quiet it is only training,” I responded as I leapt over a bush and concentrated on not tripping over the mangled tree roots.

“You better start training harder, or you won’t survive long.”

“Fine,” I responded out of breath, ending the conversation. I grabbed the trunk of a smaller tree that I used as a marker to run around and pulled myself around it. I put down my head and charged full speed ahead. I looked up and got ready to time my jump. At the right time I jumped over a fallen tree that Dom had set up for my training. I cleared it by a long shot, but I put my foot down too early. My foot hit the log and I went face first into the ground. I got up trying to laugh it out but my nose really hurt.

“Nice piece of footwork there, Princeton,” Dom said sarcastically.

“Oh be quiet,” I responded jokingly angry. “Oh man, I’m hungry. Got any food around here?”

“Well, maybe if you trained harder, we would have easily raided someone for food, but no we don’t have any food.”

That is our lifestyle. To survive you have to steal, but then again, that is how everyone survives. It is the name of the game. Hunt, raid, sleep, survive. They even made a song to teach the little ones.

To survive now a days

You must follow four steps,

Or face the consequences

Of your mishap.

Hunt: you gather food for yourself

Steal: you take good for yourself

Train: you must prepare yourself

Ally: more strength for yourself

To me it makes no sense. All it is about is helping yourself. No wonder Yalutch is in peril today. It is because selfish people, but no one can change that because if some tried they would easily die if they weren’t able to steal.

I head back to our home. I wouldn’t even consider it a shelter though. It is inside of a oak large enough to hold Dom and myself. It is concealed very well, which contributes to us not getting raided very often, but because it is a tight space, we aren’t able to light fires. Usually when it gets cold we move down south, but it is a dangerous journey. Dom and I raid places that are unoccupied, others, not so much. Dom told me to be careful because some people won’t think twice of attacking if they see supplies they want. After he told me this, I wouldn’t leave the tree for days.

That day seems so far away. I’m pretty sure he told me all the rules I needed to follow the day I got here. I remember that day, or at least when I met Dom.

*                                  *                                  *

Black is all I can recall before I woke up in Dom’s arms. I don’t know my true name or where I came from. It is a weird feeling, not being able to know who you are. Knowing that your friend knows you better than you know yourself. I try to remember what it was like before I woke up here, but I can never remember.

“Go! Princeton get your ‘rang and my knife and start running!” I heard Dom yell urgently and panicky.

Without asking any questions I grabbed my boomerang and his knife and headed out of the tree. As soon as I got out I saw Dom running through the bush, drenched in sweat.

“Come on! Follow me and go as fast as you can!” Dom screamed.