THE KING (A JEON JUNGKOOK FF)

Chapter 8

"We have come a little deeper in the forest. This is the part where we can walk around without any fear, in this huge island. You see that huge tree with the sign, none of us have crossed it. Actually only father and his few friends have crossed it when they were young. But that part is dangerous. There are many wild animals. My father's friends were killed by a tiger but only father returned alive. The fur carpet in our house, is of a cheetah that his friends hunted that day. Father keeps it to remember the quest of his friends. Since then, he has warned all of us to not enter that part. Animals from that part have not entered here till today because of the noises we make and the fire we keep in the village. Don't be brave and go past it. Just be a fool and listen to the tribes. Here itself we'll find a lot of animals like rabbits, deers, wild pigs, goats. We have to catch few of them for lunch today".

Shera explained the situation to JK. This was not something new to him. When he was young, he had heard his father talk about his hunting accomplishments. His father's study, which is his now, is adorned with the animals that his father had hunted. After JK grew up, he and Jimin, along with few ministers would often go to the forests to hunt. Now, his study includes the animals hunted by him, Jimin and Jung Hwan as well. But here, hunting is not a recreational activity for these people. It is their means of survival. The animals that they catch is to feed the tribe. JK would go hunting when he felt like. It was not frequent. But here, they had to come often.

So the tribes had many other ideas to hunt the animals. Shera took out a blowing horn that was tied to a rope on her waist. She placed it on her mouth and blew forcefully into it. The instrument made a loud sound that echoed throughout the forest. She placed it back on her waist and waited.

JK was wondering what was she doing. Waiting for answers to his questions, he also turned and looked towards the direction Shera was looking. Suddenly, the big bushes on the forest ground started ruffling to the rapid movements. JK's senses heightened. He narrowed his eyes towards the source of the sound and had a firm hold on the bow in his left hand and on the end of an arrow on his right hand, so that he'll not miss the moment to shoot the animal that pounces unannounced.

Within minutes, the sounds neared JK and Shera. JK was too busy to notice the nonchalant attitude of Shera. If only he had noticed her, he would have been saved from the embarrassment now. Few kids emerged from the thick bushes. On seeing them, JK loosened the arrow that he had kept on aim ready to shoot any minute. But his fingers slipped while retracting the string of the bow, releasing the arrow into the air whith a whoosh sound, attracting everyone's attention. The arrow fell to the ground in front of the kids, thankfully not hurting any kids, but definitely hurting JK's pride.

The kids stared back at JK. JK lowered his face trying to swallow the embarrassment. To ease the awkwardness, Shera moved away from JK and towards the kids, she stood in front of the kids. She stood to the centre, making sure to let JK know that she was their leader. JK recognised the kids. He remembered the faces that he had met, when he was being introduced to the tribals. He also noticed the aura of pride that surrounded Shera when she stood in front of the kids. He wanted to laugh, but controlled it by tightly pressing his lips together.

"This is my hunting gang. They help me lure the prey to a spot so that I can shoot it. They also help me carry the prey back to our huts after the hunt is over. Be nice to them", Shera instructed to JK. JK was slowly loosing his grip on his lips but trying to maintain it he nodded his head in agreement. "Let's get to business now, shall we?", Shera walked in the front and the little kids followed her. JK also followed her, immediately releasing a long breath he was holding, when he was sure that Shera or the kids couldn't see him and laughed without making any noise.

They all reached a huge tree. The trunk of the tree was very big, big enough to hide two average people behind it. The branches were very big, spreading wide with green leaves covering it. It was a good place to hide and shoot. This was Shera's hunting spot. The kids would lure the prey towards the tree and would signal her through the sound of the horn. She would follow the sound of the horn and the sound of the bushes and once the prey is in her sight, she would shoot it.