The First Jumper (first draft version)

The First Jumper 19: A Divine Meal

The presence of the rabbit on Little Bear’s chest again drew even more consternation than before.  Tiger was sure that it was black magic on Little Bear’s part.  Willow was still convinced the rabbit was a god.  Cave Bear just worried about the weather, and pushed everyone to get moving, and Raccoon worried about his son.

Little Bear didn’t want to get moving.  He was stiff, sore, and utterly exhausted, as if the night had not refreshed him at all.  Unlike the rabbit, which woke up and bounded away with great energy, Little Bear could barely get to his feet.

He was very hungry, though, and when Willow brought him some dried meat, he could eat it all.  Before many minutes, he was looking ready to travel, though still visibly weary.

Cave Bear started them running fairly hard, and he pushed them.  He could be seen looking back to his right at the sky.  When Willow caught Raccoon’s worried look in that direction, she looked there to see large banks of clouds moving in, and she could smell snow.

Little Bear continued to focus on trying to understand how his body worked.  Each mile that went by, he had learned something new about how his body was put together.  With the detached awareness that had come from Gerleesh, he was not long in understanding more about how the human body worked than anyone before him.  

One thing that puzzled him greatly was his level of tiredness.  He understood, now, that what he had done with the rabbit had drained him, and he needed much more time to recover from that, than he did to recover from merely physical exertion.  He had a cold moment when he realized that, had he tried the same thing with the dire wolves, he probably would have died in the attempt--not because the wolves would kill him, but because it would drain his life away to attempt it.

Normally, the second day of the trek was the easiest, in terms of distance, because everyone was sore from the first day, and still hardening their muscles.  This day, though, Cave Bear pushed them so hard, they had managed nearly forty miles before midday.  As they were stopping, snow was beginning to fall.

By the time they had finished eating and resting, the ground was already covered, and snow was beginning to fall thick and fast.  Cave Bear led them, walking, for another mile, to yet another stream, where they crossed and went into the forest.  

Everything was telling them this would be a harsh storm, and it was time to get out of the elements while they could.

They found a large stand of hemlocks, and made beds under them, as Ringtail built a fire pit in the middle.  They piled up enough wood, pulling it through the snow, that they thought it should last a full moon.

The hunters went out in a hasty party, but they came back in less than an hour.  The visibility was so poor that they were likely to get lost and freeze out there.  

It was dark long before sundown, but the snow did not diminish.  It continued to fall throughout the night.

By the time he bedded down for the night, under a tree with Raccoon and Willow, Little Bear was quite recovered from his exhaustion, and feeling better.  An hour later, however, he heard a soft footfall, and his friend the rabbit returned.

Surprised and glad to see it approach, his expression changed when it climbed up onto his chest again.  Suddenly, he didn’t feel as good.  He started feeling tired again, even though he was resting.

The rabbit, on the other hand, appeared to be full of energy.  Little Bear suddenly understood why it was following him all this distance.  It was energized by being close to him, but he was being drained.

Willow was surprised to see the rabbit as well, although she was glad to have such a good-luck symbol.  She was even more surprised when, instead of just letting it snuggle up to his chest, Little Bear picked it up, with its feet pointed away from him.  But she was positively horrified when, with a deft  motion of his hands, he snapped its neck.

As she covered her mouth, he handed her the creature and said, “Dinner.”

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