Chapter 86

"They were not found."

The sun had just risen, casting a faint light over the land. Wahbon was already urging the guards at the settlement gate to open it. She anxiously waited until noon to see three hunters returning not far away. They were all dirty and looked weary, with heads hanging low.

Especially Kama, when Wahbon approached to inquire, she truthfully replied, "I saw Cloudy, Titus's Cloudy, but we got separated midway. I don't know where she is, maybe she got eaten." As a hunter, Kama didn't care much about Cloudy, but it might be a loss for the mothers in the settlement, as the Matriarch valued her greatly.

Wahbon turned eagerly to the other two, receiving the same response of "not found." Neither Titus nor Cloudy was seen by them. Afterwards, Wahbon followed the three of them to the longhouse to hear their report to the Matriarch.

The hunters briefly explained the situation and left the longhouse to rest. They needed to prepare for the upcoming external hunt and couldn't afford to waste any more energy. After the hunters left, the Matriarch sat back on the ground and sighed deeply, "Wahbon, you've been following Cloudy all this time. Do you remember what she did for us, the warm shelter for newborns and the clothes she promised to make before the rainy season?"

Wahbon nodded and shook her head, "I know about the shelter, but not the clothes. I hope Cloudy will come back. Will Titus bring her back?"

"Titus might still be alive. Cloudy ventured deep into the rainforest on her own; she may not have survived." The Matriarch sighed again. She had confidence in Titus's strength, and with his fierce personality, he might have already eliminated those who took him away. Not returning immediately to the settlement could mean he was injured and recovering somewhere alone. Such situations often occurred during previous external hunts. She... wanted to remain optimistic about Titus; the settlement couldn't afford to lose such a skilled hunter. So, for now, she only mourned Cloudy's death. "We should have broken her legs earlier and kept her in the settlement."

"Yes..." Wahbon liked Cloudy a lot. Even though she looked strange and sometimes spoke incomprehensibly, chatting with her was always pleasant. "I enjoyed working with Cloudy. I hope she comes back."

It was undoubtedly a significant loss for the settlement, but they couldn't stop moving forward. The Matriarch requested Wahbon and the other mothers who had worked with Cloudy to research the warm shelter in the days ahead. The external hunt would begin in a few days, and someone else would need to take Titus's place. With the recent attack on the settlement, the distance, scope, and time of this hunt would be reduced, and the number of hunters staying in the settlement would increase.

Undoubtedly, this was the most challenging period since she became Matriarch. In the coming days, the Matriarch...
The mothers in the settlement were busy arranging the external hunting matters. After everything was planned, the Matriarch found some time alone to visit Titus' home. She wanted to see if Cloudy had left any other useful items here.

Inside the house, there were many things, all neatly stored in wooden frames. Most of it was bone fragments, wood, stones, and other items of little value. The Matriarch slowly moved her massive body around the house, near the large wooden table by the bed, she found some things she didn't recognize. They looked shiny and very unfamiliar, stored in clay bowls. She picked them up and observed them in the sunlight through the window but couldn't make sense of them. She could only assume they were unique items from Cloudy's settlement.

Facing the wooden table was a shelf with similarly useless odds and ends. Titus' animal skins were neatly folded on top.

The only somewhat valuable thing inside was Cloudy's "animal skin" that the Matriarch found on the bed. It was also strangely shaped, brightly colored, soft to the touch, and probably only suitable for Cloudy and newborns. She tucked it away and left the house to the backyard to take a look.

The backyard was not as tidy as the inside, with burn marks and pits everywhere. Ashes and stone fragments were scattered around, with the most prominent feature being the stone kiln in the middle of the yard. This seemed to be where Cloudy researched warming houses. The Matriarch sighed, squatting down and picking up a clump of dirt with her fingers, muttering, "May fire and sun take away your pain." This was a simple death ritual; those whose bones were not found could only have this ritual performed for them. Without returning to the settlement's land, their bones would return to the rainforest, becoming part of the moist soil for wild animals.

"I don't want to perform the ritual for Tuna." They had performed a ritual for Titus before the last rainy season. "Please tell the trees, tell the insects, tell the beasts, bring Tuna back."

...

Cloudy suddenly began sneezing violently. Titus, walking in front of her, reacted quickly, turning around and covering Cloudy's mouth with his hand to prevent another sneeze. "Uncomfortable? We need to be quiet."

"Yeah... I... don't know, just suddenly sneezed." Cloudy's eyes were watery, and her nose was running. After stifling a third sneeze, she began coughing very softly. Why did she suddenly start sneezing? She didn't feel itchy in her nose.

"We need to be quiet."

"Mm-hmm..." Cloudy instinctively covered her mouth and nose with her hand. The two of them were walking through dense bushes, covered in mud to mask their scents.

Titus and she had spent four sunsets tidying up on the platform of that tall tree. This morning, Titus had fully regained his vitality, testing his strength by climbing up and down and then darting between the canopy to bring back three birds with their wings torn off.
After cleaning and swallowing the bird, they set off to return to the settlement.

To say or not to say, although eating raw bird meat was disgusting, once it was in her stomach, Cloudy felt much more comfortable all over. She even tasted a hint of sweetness amidst the nauseating bloody taste, as if in her era they also had something like chicken sashimi... She had never tried it, but just thinking of it as sashimi made her feel much better.

Along the way, Titus slightly slowed down his pace with Cloudy and taught her many things on the road. Whenever Cloudy heard "this can be eaten," she would immediately pick it and put it in the makeshift leaf bag she made. Seeing how happy she was collecting, Titus decided to slow down even more, knowing that he could easily carry Cloudy and make it back to the settlement before sunset.

The resources in the depths of the rainforest were indeed very abundant, with various plants, flowers, and fruits, but she couldn't explore here alone, as it was too dangerous. Titus repeatedly reminded her in a whisper that she shouldn't come here alone while he was away hunting outside.

"The beasts here are very large, and it's lucky we haven't encountered any yet." Titus gestured with his hand to show the height of the beasts. "Cloudy can defeat bugs, but not beasts. Their fangs are higher than Cloudy."

Giant dinosaurs... Cloudy swallowed nervously, recalling the herbivorous dinosaur Titus had slapped before. To be honest, she was quite curious to see a real giant carnivorous dinosaur with her own eyes. "Are the giant beasts tasty?"

"Tasty!" Titus's eyes sparkled. "The meat is very delicious. I will bring some back from the hunt this time for Cloudy to taste."

Although she didn't fully believe Titus's claim of "very delicious," given his delight in eating bugs, Cloudy still felt hopeful. The thought of tasting it herself, even if she couldn't see it, was exciting! She began to walk with a lightness in her step, confirming that eating meat indeed lifted her spirits.

She reached out and grabbed Titus's large hand, shaking it as they walked side by side. "Titus, be safe on the hunt."

"Of course, I will make sure Cloudy eats delicious meat." Titus beamed and squeezed Cloudy's hand. "She will definitely enjoy it."

"But I wanted to ask, now that Titus is going back, will he still catch up with the hunt? We've been here for four sunsets, have they already left?"

"..."

It seemed they had already left. Cloudy chuckled awkwardly. "If others bring it back, we can still eat it!"

"I will bring it back for Cloudy, that's for sure!"

"Either way works!"

"No, it has to be me!"

"Keep your voice down. Keep it down...!"