Tripping over a rock... I wouldn't have remembered it if you hadn't brought it up, Brother. Lian mumbled inwardly as he lifted his gaze, staring at the sunlight piercing through the gaps in the foliage. Lian was the type of person who tended to... naturally forget things that were embarrassing for him.
Last week, Lian had tripped over a rock because he was too excited chasing a deer. At the time, he wasn't carrying any arrows, and even if he had been, his bow was out of commission—broken because he had drawn it too hard during a hunt. So, with a thought that came out of nowhere, Lian grabbed the knife he was carrying and played a game of tag with the deer, weaving through shady trees and ground slightly damp with dew.
But, as one might expect, he didn't manage to catch it. The deer ran and hid in a fairly narrow cave, and he didn't know if it could come out again or not. So, he chose to give up and head back by, well, running. Whether due to a lack of focus or something else, he tripped over a rather large rock, causing him to wince in pain as he fell and hit the earth.
"Yeah, I guess I did fall," Lian said as if he had forgotten, even though he actually remembered the incident vividly. He shrugged his shoulders while shaking his head slowly, looking at his brother.
"Fell because of your own stupidity," Lian's brother pressed a finger to Lian's forehead and laughed softly. "Didn't I tell you to stop chasing it because it was getting dark? You really are stubborn."
"Hurry up, we don't have much time to chat. Otherwise, our prey might hide before we even get there."
After saying that, Lian's brother ran ahead, leaving him alone there. With the corners of his lips lifted, Lian chased after his brother with a fighting spirit. Not fighting in the sense you might imagine, but more like a race.
Aside from having the desire to defeat a bear with his bare hands, Lian had another strong desire: to rival his brother. His brother was a strong person; he could hunt a bear with just a few arrows if one appeared.
Of course, bears were animals difficult to find in Harmonious Alba. Bears were basically very shy animals, solitary, and would avoid humans as much as possible. They also possessed very sharp senses of smell and hearing. Usually, they could hear, smell, or sense a human's presence from afar, then move away before the humans even realized they were there.
Lian sprinted, nimbly avoiding trees and hard roots that protruded like stones. While running, he even managed to pluck a purplish-green fruit clinging to a tree trunk.
He ate it casually, tasting the mix of sweetness and astringency on his tongue. After a while, he finally managed to catch up to his brother, though mostly because his brother had slowed his pace.
"You're eating a Shorea fruit?" asked Lian's brother, glancing at Lian who was eating the fruit. Lian even picked another one and handed it to him.
"Yeah," Lian answered without averting his gaze from the path ahead. He didn't want to trip again due to a lack of focus.
"In that case, later after we return from hunting, let's pick some Shorea fruits to eat." Lian's brother ran while eating the Shorea fruit. "But, Meilin probably won't like the taste. Do you remember... gulp... the time Meilin first ate a Shorea fruit?" His brother swallowed the fruit before finishing his sentence.
Lian stared straight ahead, but in his heart, he recalled the incident, and he remembered it instantly. When it came to his younger sister, Lian always remembered. Even though he liked to tease her, Lian was a good big brother. He had once hunted down a pack of rabbits because one of them had bitten his sister's hand, making her cry.
"Oh, I remember. Hahaha, she immediately spat it out after just a small bite. I don't understand why she didn't like it; I think Shorea is the most delicious fruit in the forest. On the other hand, she actually likes Greya fruit, even though I think Greya is too sour—so much so that it makes me make a silly face."
Greya fruit was a dark gray fruit that grew at the tips of sword-shaped leaves. Greya had a mixed taste of sour, slightly sweet, a little bitter, and was very watery. However, the dominant flavor of Greya leaned more towards a sharp sourness compared to the other tastes.
"Meilin is indeed hard to predict," said Lian's brother as they turned a few meters to the south to avoid the sloping ground. "Do you remember? She once ate a strange, shiny white fruit she found floating in the river. As far as I know, there are no white fruits in the forest. But luckily, the fruit wasn't poisonous. We must be grateful to the Ancestor of Mother Earth for our family's safety."
Even though they were running, they made a strange symbol on their chests, then folded their hands in front of their chests, and chanted words that sounded peculiar.
.....
A few minutes later, they arrived at the place Lian's brother had meant. It was a spot where a gigantic tree towered high, as if the tree was the incarnation of an ancient giant. The giant tree had a rounded crown with broad leaves shading the ground around it.
Its trunk was dark brown, looking as hard as stone. Beneath it, a group of rabbits with fur as white as snow were eating fruits that had fallen to the ground. There were twelve rabbits in the group.
Lian stared at the giant tree before him while hiding behind the trunk of another tree. He had never seen a tree that big before; he didn't even know that in the forest of Harmonious Alba, there was a tree of that size.
Psshh!
Psshh!
Lian snapped out of his daydream when his brother hissed softly at him. He turned and saw his brother was already prepared with his bow, taking an arrow and nocking it onto the bowstring. His brother didn't release the arrow immediately, instead waiting until Lian was ready too.
Lian quickly grabbed his bow, his rough hand reaching for an arrow from the quiver on his back and nocking it. Lian closed his right eye while nodding slowly.
Two arrows flew with incredible speed, as if challenging the wind itself, then embedded themselves directly into the bodies of two different rabbits. The group of rabbits immediately panicked, running in all directions. They looked terrified, as if they were being chased by a wild beast with unnatural strength.
Lian's brother stepped out from his hiding place, and so did Lian. They continued shooting with terrifying precision; the arrows that flew never missed their targets, even though the rabbits were running erratically and were hard to predict. However, thanks to years of experience, they managed to shoot nine rabbits easily, while the other three managed to escape into the bushes, and they chose to let them go.
"Yes, that's it!" Lian exclaimed happily while crossing his bow over his chest. "Looks like I'm ready to face a bear if one shows up."
Lian's brother ignored his younger brother's cheering; he was used to Lian's habit of always cheering every time they successfully caught prey. He was bored of hearing it. Instead of responding, he chose to pick up a long branch, then cut some hanging roots with his knife to use as rope.
He gathered their catch and placed them under the giant tree. His brother pulled out the arrows stuck in the rabbits' bodies, handed some to Lian, and started tying the rabbits' legs with the hanging roots he had taken.
After all the rabbits were tied to the long branch, he lifted it and stood up. "We're going to the river around here."
Lian nodded, placing both hands behind his head, then followed his brother's steps.
On the way, Lian, who was still curious about the tree earlier, finally asked, "Brother, what kind of tree was that big one, actually? I've never seen it before. I didn't even know a tree could grow that huge."
His brother, walking slowly in front of him, glanced back. "I forgot that you've never been to that place before... Father said that tree is called a Borbor tree. Borbor trees can indeed grow very large and tall because they can absorb natural energy faster and better than other trees. Father said he once saw a Borbor tree whose height exceeded the clouds, and its size was as big as Harmonious Alba itself.
"Father also said the Borbor tree we saw earlier was probably only two or three years old. And, Borbor trees can also protect us from the danger of the dark souls of our prey. Father said that in the past, Borbor trees were the dwelling places of the Ancestor of Mother Earth."
Hearing that, Lian could almost barely believe it. He thought: How could there be a tree that can grow that big? It feels impossible. If a Borbor tree could grow as high as the clouds and as big as Harmonious Alba, then that tree must have been blessed by the Ancestor. No wonder the Ancestor chose it as their dwelling place.
"I'm curious now," Lian mumbled while brushing a dry leaf that had fallen onto his white hair, "if the Borbor tree we saw was only two or three years old, then how old was the Borbor tree Father saw?"
His brother thought for a few seconds before answering, "I don't know. From Father's story, maybe hundreds, or even thousands of years? I'm not sure myself."
.....
A few minutes later, they arrived at a fairly open area—not completely devoid of trees, but the trees there were still quite dense if viewed from a distance. In that place flowed a small, clear river; its current was gentle and its rippling sound was melodious to the ears.
Lian's brother tilted the long branch carrying the rabbits, letting their catch fall to the ground on the riverbank. Meanwhile, he placed the branch on one of the trees, which would later be used to hang the rabbits after their heads were cut off. He took the knife from his waist and sat by the river.
"I'm going to clean these rabbits. You can go gather Shorea fruits around here, or explore the surrounding area. If you're lucky, maybe you'll find another group of rabbits, a deer, or even the bear you've always dreamed of." Lian's brother started beheading the rabbits one by one with his knife that seemed to never go blunt. After finishing, he hung the rabbits upside down on the branch he had prepared.
Lian, who had been watching all of this from the start, began to feel bored. Initially, he intended to watch his brother clean the catch, but he quickly grew weary of it. But suddenly, a strange idea appeared in his head.
Since Brother is cleaning the catch, what if I go exploring? Not just ordinary exploring, but going a bit further. Brother definitely won't realize I've gone too far, because usually I always obey his words... Lian smiled silently and cleared his throat softly.
"Alright, I choose to gather Shorea fruits."