The Hunter Version 1

“The hell we should. A little chunk of meat each morning is not going to keep two of us alive! I'll stay up all night if I have to!” Toby snapped, whirling about.
Ben fell silent, surprised by his companion's fury. He understood it, however. Toby was right; they would not survive long if they could not get a constant supply of food. Their snares had caught nothing, their fish traps had been destroyed without a trace, and Ben imagined they would not fare well if they ever figured out how to make a bow and some arrows. All they had left was their fishing pole, which guaranteed nothing. If Max was going to hinder their hunting, he might as well make sure he at least fed the both of them. It had been made obvious that the meat was meant for Ben alone.
Toby began to pace angrily and Ben heaved a heavy sigh. He wandered about aimlessly for a few moments before he remembered Max's words. He mentioned it to Toby, but the other boy was not listening, so Ben decided to hunt out a good spot for their new camp. He decided to avoid the lake where he had met the deer and instead made his way further west, away from the river. Max had seemed to be hinting that the two of them needed to be hidden, so Ben tried to find such a place. The best he found was a place where three trees had fallen against each other and created what could be made into a sort of shelter.
Ben glanced back over his shoulder to make sure he would remember the way he had come and noticed a shimmer of movement in the trees. A large, fat squirrel chattered angrily at him and Ben gave a chuckle. He then set about gathering up sticks and branches to place around the three trees. He had a distant memory of doing something similar with someone else. A friend or a brother, he was not sure, but he at least had an idea of what he was doing. He spent the rest of the day placing branches and sticks around the trees and then weaving vines between them. He was starting to gather up leaves to throw over the top of the structure when he realized it was starting to get dark. Ben dropped what he was doing and scrambled back to the camp, knowing he might get lost if he stayed in an unfamiliar area after dark.
Toby had been fairly unproductive while Ben was away. From the looks of it, Ben assumed Toby had been pacing the entire day. It was well past sundown by that point in time, so Ben scrambled to start the fire. The light of the fire seemed to wake Toby from his thoughts as he stopped pacing and went to sit beside the fire.
“What are we going to do, Ben? Everything about this place is weird, even the animals. I can't help but to wonder about this Max guy as well, seeing what he did.” Toby signed, drooping his head.
“I don't think he's going to hurt us. He probably knows a lot more about this place than we do and it's obvious there is something or someone he wants to avoid. We should probably listen to him.” Ben urged, thinking it interesting to see how they had switched positions in their thoughts of Max.
“I'll listen to him if he'll appear and explain things! Show yourself, bush-man! Max!” Toby snarled, lifting his head back up.
“Stop that foolish yelling, I'm right here,” came Max's voice from the trees near by.
Toby glowered as the bush that was Max glided into the firelight to stand on the opposite side of the fire from Toby. Ben offered Max a smile as Max pulled the mask off to reveal his face to Toby.
“I assume you've been listening.” Toby stated with annoyance.
“Of course. I'll explain a bit, now that Ben is no longer afraid of me.” Max said, flashing Ben a grin.
Ben felt his cheeks color with shame and he glanced down at his feet. Toby waited impatiently for Max to begin, but Max took his time, focusing instead on pulling off layers of cloth that he had the bones, leaves, and other foliage sewn onto. As his arms and torso became human, he sat down and crossed his legs.
“Well, what do you want to know first?” He asked.
“Why the hell are you messing with our traps? Are you enjoying watching us starve?” Toby snapped, not a breath later.