Three years later
"Twenty strides ahead, behind the nettle bush." a voice whispers through the foliage.
"Don't worry, I got this." another replies, their confidence almost sounding like arrogance. They're 6.2ft with a muscular toned body and long crimson hair. Their blue eyes are almost piercing as they glare at something within the forest. They slowly stand and start drawing their bow, their muscling bulging at the force the string was being subjected to.
*Thwack!*
They let it go and the arrow whizzes through the forest, luckily missing the small branches that'd divert its trajectory. It continues along its path until it collides with a big brown furry creature that's about the size of a car...
*ROOOAAARRR!*
The bear roars towards where the arrow had come from, spittle flying off as it prepares to charge them. It kicks off sending dust and dirty into the air with its powerful legs.
"Now!" a feminine voice shouts, and more arrows come from different directions, hitting the bear just above its ribs and in other vital places. It's flustered by the sudden onslaught but continues charging... However, it can feel its body weakening the more time progresses. Once it reaches the people who'd first shot at it the bear doesn't even have the strength to stand, let alone attack.
The two figures look down at it, one the man with crimson hair, the other a woman with tanned skin, brown hair and eyes. Her figure is thin but doesn't lack any womanly features, she's also slightly taller than most women at 5.11ft. Though, the male still towers over her, both wear ragged-looking leather tribal clothing.
The duo grins at each other for a moment before driving flint knives into the bear's neck to finish it off. "We did it Ina."
She nods at him, "That was a perfect hunt Lu, it could not have gone better." she replies with a wide grin.
They ignore the sound of foliage being displaced as three other figures walk towards them, Gil'ga, Zul'meshi, and Das'ju all greet them while appraising the bear they'd just slain. The two more experienced hunter didn't seem to have changed much, but Das'ju had grown bigger and more muscular then before, a calm expression everpresent on his face.
It'd been three years since Luca had arrived in this land, he didn't know when his birthday was but he was sure he'd turned eighteen sometime in the past few months. The constant physical activity and training the forest forced upon him had apparently had a drastic effect on his body.
He couldn't remember anyone in his family who'd ever been this tall, nor this physically endowed... With the Karaskir gone, the forests had been relatively peaceful. Of course there were still small disputes with other tribes but that was neither here nor there.
A white ball of fur exploded out of a bush and jumped atop the bear's corpse, the group just shaking their heads at Sarr'bal's antics. The wolf had grown to its full size and was about as big as a large person. He was definitely capable of tearing someone apart with ease, even most of the veteran hunters were wary of him once he'd grown.
The wolf still acted like a cub outside of hunts though, this was probably due to Sarr'ina spoiling of it... He shook his head and started tying a rope around the bear, Das'ju left to grab some more hunters to bring the corpse back to the tribe... It must've weighed half a ton, so they'd definitely need some help getting it back.
The Sua'jiki tribe had become somewhat better off in the three years he'd been there. While he had tried to make use of his modern knowledge, nothing he knew was actually helpful to these people. So, he'd just stuck to hunting to provide for them. There wasn't all that much else he could actually do... Though, he and Sarr'ina had been doing something that went against Sarr'vuln's wishes...
...
Indeed, Luca was referring to Sarr'ina's "Sacred" thing... The thing her mother told her to not give to anyone else, the only people she was supposed to pass it onto was her daughters...
...
Her magic... Luca had whittled her down and she'd eventually given in to teaching him the basics about it. Truthfully, Luca's eyes were opened but what he'd learned. Sarr'ina drew power from nature itself with various chants and rituals.
Most were rather limited and required lots of preparation and concentration to perform, but magic was magic, and Luca was determined to learn... Unfortunately, like many other things he'd tried, Luca didn't have any talent in it. Only managing to learn the easiest spell, and even that was limited.
He was able to conjure the "green glow" that healed injuries. It took a lot of concentration and he was forced to repeat a bafflingly long chant in order to use it, but he prided himself in the fact that no one else was able to perform it aside form Sarr'ina.
The group eventually returned to the tribe along with the bear corpse and the tribesman surrounded them, he was now well known as "Bloody Lu'ka". He'd become one of the most efficient hunters in the tribe, and his "past deeds" had even spread to their neighbours. Sometimes when he was sent to trade with them he'd be noticed by his crimson hair alone...
Some tribes even thought that it was he himself who was responsible for the Karaskir's disappearance... He wouldn't deny it as it made the Sua'jiki look stronger and possibly prevent further conflicts, on that subject he still hadn't gotten a clue as to who was responsible for it either.
There were rumours of people disappearing, families being brutally murdered with some not even having their corpses found. Whatever was happening was affecting everyone, tensions were slowly climbing and he was sure they were nearing the breaking point.
Regardless, now was a time for celebration. The group had just taken down a bear that'd started encroaching into their territory. They didn't need another Lord of the Forest, so it was best to put it down quickly.
It was for this reason that Sarr'vuln had sent him and the others. If they were capable of taking down the monster of the cursed waters, they were certainly able to kill a generic bear.
And so another celebration was thrown, this time though food was abundant... As well as a certain wine that Luca had somehow managed to recreate... It was essentially just berries left in a containing to ferment, it didn't taste all that great but you'd get drunk if you drank enough of it.
This was one of the things their tribe now traded, Luca was filled with pride at the fact they were no longer just a tribe that herded sheep. But produced wine as well... It was a shame none of his other "inventions" had been picked up yet, he had thought that underwear might've been popular but apparently not.
Though, he had to agree with some of their complaints, using leather underwear had given his balls a rash... And that's not even mentioning how sweaty it makes you.