Leonardo - Chapter 12

Story by Kaynyne on SoFurry

, , , , , , , ,

#12 of Leonardo

Chapter 12.

The outcome of the feast.


The feast of the "Return" wasn't until later that day on sunset. The time in between when Jake came back and the time the feast started was used up with Jake's mother all worried on him and Leslie talking with Jake most of that time. Most of what Leslie asked is how I was when I was with him.

Apparently she really didn't know that Jake was interested in me, long before I knew I was interested with him. She asked many questions about us to him; most of them clean, some of them dirty (apparently). To be honest, I didn't think she knew a little something about anything 'dirty'. It wasn't only a surprise to me when Jake told me about that part of the conversation, but also a surprise to him himself. It probably shouldn't have been a surprise to me (or him and us) not knowing she went fifteen going on sixteen on the day Chief took me out. So some things must've...gone around in her mind...doing things...--ahem.

Anyway, the feast started while the sun was setting for night to come around, which was either around 7 at night or 8 at night. Most of the citizens of the Community were there for the feast, whether or not if Jake or Jake's family (which, in a way, included Leslie's family) knew anyone there. The table (or at least what we call a table there: a long piece of elevated wood) was filled with different foods: chicken, fruits and berries of many kinds (that are within the forest of course), more meat of different kinds, and refreshments (most of it being water).

The second the food was laid out, people just started eating. Some were just eating what was on the table (most of the peers there); some were talking there, chatting about their day earlier; some just eating in silence. One of those eating in silence: Jake.

He sat beside his mother fox on his right and his sister raccoon on his left. Out of the three, only the mother was not the silent, talking to her friends around the table. Leslie had no reason to stay silent; her friends were around chatting about things of...whatever they talk about. For Jake, there was only one person he wanted to talk to (as what he told me) wasn't there as he was never to be brought home again. Leslie didn't try to talk to him, she understood Jake's situation.

Three minutes into the feast, the Chief rose up from his end of the table. He didn't say anything at first, only giving a loud whistle to be quiet and heard. Some of the citizens stopped eating, seeing what he had to say, some still eating but still looking at him; some were just still eating.

"As you all know..." the Chief started, "...there was a little incident with someone being 'lost'."

Something like that... Jake thought, listening to his words silently.

"After a few days, we have had a searching party for finding them. And now...he's back home." He didn't point or look at who it was, though everyone knew who it was. "Nothing better than a grand feast, eh?"

I guess... Jake thought, biting a little bit on his chicken. The Chief continued on with his speech.

"Though this feast shouldn't just be propaganda on ourselves to just think 'everything's going to be alright'. At this time around, the kits and litter of our generation...and Community are important for their futures to come; Important to keep them from the dangers around to keep them safe..."

'From the dangers...' Jake thought, keening at the Chief's words '...to keep them safe...' Some little things said around can trigger major event memories; for Jake at the time, the "Incident" triggered in his thoughts

The "Incident" was something that will forever be within us, the "kits and litter" of our generation, good or bad. It was something that was not intended, something that was... in bad timing. It was something...that truly did change us all forever. Every single one of us had a different angled view on the "Incident", but all of them were seen exactly the same given the exact same result: fright, change of mind, change of thought. None of all ever grouped together just like a little youth club or a grouping--no, we would've never done that or else anyone who saw us would've been suspicious of us. Even if we never grouped in one, we all knew, exchanging looks to whoever was around us, that we could never tell anyone, not even those who witnessed the "Incident" to remind anything about it.

The "Incident" showed us all the Lead Chief's way of giving the "proper" consequences. A few days before the "Incident", one of the citizens of the Community was banished the same way I was, in public--only for a different reason. A reason neither Jake nor I know. The banished was an adult fox, unknown at the time if we knew him or not. He never gave any notice to anyone, not even the Lead Chief. We knew if anything major happened around the Community, we had to inform him. Without him knowing...we didn't know how things went until then.

We all had a different angled view on the "Incident", but all were seen exactly the same. Sun-high, we were all, the kits and litter, playing a little off from the Community, in the area where we usually play. Some played on the ground, the grass, some on the branches of the trees. I was playing with a few friends on the grass, just playing a game or two. Within the first ten minutes, nothing out of the normal went about, until that next minute. Cesle, a rabbit friend, noticed something within the distance, behind a large array of bushes. She didn't continue playing after a second to look, she kept on looking. Our group stopped playing, seeing what she saw behind the bushes. What we saw was a silhouette of a fox, the banished fox. I looked around, seeing other familiar faces away from the sight. The fox was looking around, either looking for something, or for somewhere to hide. His expression was frantic, something we all knew that something was wrong.

What happened next...happened quickly. The fox looked up, his mouth open, but nothing coming out of it. A black blur came rushing down on the fox, stabbing him assumingly on the heart. The second the killer stabbed him down, he slashed out the stick from the body, blood spurting out of the body. He poked the body, still standing then before falling down, making it fall on its back on cue. We didn't know who it was then; the killer's body was showing his back. We instantly knew who it was; he turned around, showing his green eyes, shining against the sunlight, his thick tail, waving around cautiously, checking if anyone was around. He didn't know we were around; we hid away our faces, he probably just seeing bushes and branches that he saw.

We never continued playing from there on that day. Only a few seconds later looking away from him and the body, he and the body were gone. We dared not to walk on forward to the former scene; we never walked around the scene to find the others; we didn't instantly leave from our spots; no one did. From there on, we've changed.

The Chief went on with his words, Jake only hearing his words, but not listening to them. Jake continued on eating little by little, not caring how much time has passed, until his name was called out on him.

"Jake..." the Chief said. He didn't repeat himself, only saying the name once; Jake turned around, seeing what he had to say. "...Why did you leave the permitted area?"

Now all eyes were on Jake, waiting for his answer to come. He looked to his left and right, even they were looking at him. He took a deep breath, finally saying, "I was just...finding someone."

"Hm, I see... And were you with the banished one?"

"What? No! I wasn't..." Jake looked around the table, seeing some murmuring with whoever was on their side. Looking around, he noticed something with the people. He recognized some faces, friends and their family, but there was one particular group that wasn't present. A familiar scent was clearly not there, but one or few similar to it wasn't present. My family wasn't there. We weren't sure why they weren't there, they just weren't.

"Hm," Chief remarked, "It would be best to not to meet up with the banished one if I were you." Jake looked at the Chief, wondering where he was getting at.

"Well, what do you mean?" Jake asked.

"What? Nothing, I'm not getting anywhere. I'm just saying it's not best to see him to be on the safe side."

"There's nothing wrong with him," Jake argued, slightly raising his voice up, "He's been nice to everyone ever since being young. He hasn't done anything bad since he was young. He had an innocent record ever since--"

"Enough!" Chief roared out. It retained everyone silent, stopped everyone from eating, looking at either him or Jake. Jake glared at the Chief, him only eying at Jake. The glares stopped when Jake looked down, pushing away his food.

"I don't know that much of you..." Jake murmured out. It was slightly loud enough to only get to 3 people away. "...None of us know much of you...but I don't want to wait to know more much of you." He stood up, still looking down. "I'm not hungry." He ran off from the feast, leaving everyone else in silence.