Jamie's Story Chapter III

Chapter III

The next morning Jamie still hadn't quite worked through what he had done the day before. He had put his life in danger by helping an animal which could have just killed and eaten him. It had been pure luck that the Raptor had run away, possibly too shocked to see Jamie as prey at that moment. He rubbed uneasily over his left arm.
He had to pull himself together. Nothing had happened and he had helped a creature, which otherwise would surely have died in this trap, and he now had wire and plug, which might be helpful one day.
Jamie's stomach growled loudly, which made him realize again that he urgently needed something other than berries to eat. So Jamie had no choice but to try his luck with the fish again. He slowly got up. The muscles hurt from his trip yesterday and he felt stiff. "Oh God," he mumbled quietly. "The worst muscle-ache of my life.
With the spear in his hand he went down to the river, to the place where he had almost caught one of the fish before. He washed himself thoroughly before he squatted on the stone again and waited until the silver shadows returned in the water. It was hard for him to concentrate, as the images of his experience the day before kept popping up in his mind.

Jamie watched the fish swimming lazily through the water, darting to the surface to catch one of the little flies that circled near the surface. The soft humming of insects filled the air, which was already warm again even in the morning. The soft sound of the water had a calming effect on the young man, so that the events of the day before faded for the time being. Jamie waited patiently until finally one of the clumsy looking fish swam close enough to the stone. It was a great representative of its kind, trying to catch a fly humming just above the surface. Jamie saw his chance come and stabbed, even struck the fat fish. The wooden spear drilled deep into the flesh. Unfortunately, Jamie hadn't considered the animal's weight and was dragged into the river by the wriggling creature. He crashed into the cool water, arms rowing. Swearing and coughing, Jamie dragged himself to the shore. Now his spear was gone along with the fish. He pushed himself upwards and wanted to go to his cave, frustrated, when he saw that his spear had become entangled in some stones the fish still impaled on it. The fish wriggled in agony, but could not escape. Jamie ran to the spear and could hardly believe his luck. It took a while until Jamie had managed to get the fish and spear out of there, but in the end he lay breathing heavily, the fish next to him on the riverbank.

Jamie looked at the big fish next to him and sat up. Now he had to do the rather unsightly part, gutting the fish. He made a face, but had little choice. He pulled the knife out of the sheath on his leg and started to cut the fish's stomach open. He shuddered, but continued until the entrails of the fish poured out.
"Oh man... it's disgusting." he hummed quietly to himself and started to scratch the whole thing out with his hands and the knife. Then he cut off the head. He would have to throw the fish offal into the river to avoid predators. But first he decided to wash the fish in the water, just like his hands.
With his hands still in the water, Jamie suddenly felt like he was being watched. He looked carefully back over his shoulder, but could not see anything, and apart from the soft noise of the water and the typical sounds of the forest, nothing could be heard.
Jamie slowly took the big fish before he slowly went to the shore, without losing sight of the edge of the forest from which something or someone seemed to observed him. The young man breathed deeply. The uncomfortable feeling that it was the little beasts that had already badly hurt him once overcame him and he began to tremble slightly. He was afraid, because the memory of the event came up again. Only luck had ensured that he was still alive.
Jamie slowly withdrew, but suddenly stopped when he could see a shadow under one of the bushy trees. Yellow eyes watched him, seeming to wait and watch what Jamie did. As if paralyzed, Jamie stood there staring at the creature. By its size it was a Utha Raptor and Jamie already knew which animal was standing there. His suspicion was confirmed when the black animal slowly came out of the bushes. It was limping and carefully approached the fish remains, which were only a few meters away from Jamie. The animal did not let Jamie out of its sight.

Even in this condition, it would be easy for the Raptor to overpower and kill Jamie. The young man would be an easy prey for the animal to feed on. Instead, it continued to approach the remains and had no interest in attacking Jamie. Rather, it feared that Jamie could drive it away. Still frozen in fear, he just watched. His legs just didn't want to move, although everything in him screamed to run away. The black Raptor, finally at the fish remains, looked again at Jamie, before it swallowed the remains in several bites and then quickly disappeared into the forest.
Jamie's hands trembled uncontrollably and it was hard for him to hold fish the fish. He swallowed several times and forced his legs to move. The shock and fear sat deep in his bones as he went back to his cave. Once he reached the top, he took a deep breath. He had to calm down. The animal had done nothing to him, although it could have, almost as if it remembered exactly the person who helped it. To distract himself, Jamie began to light a fire . Only a few minutes later, he had started a crackling fire and added enough wood to give him time to look for a suitable stick to use to fry the fish. But he would have to go down again. The thought of that made his stomach hurt.

His search didn't last long and everything remained calm. He returned to his fire and sharpened the stick he had found before impaling the fish on it. He waited until only glowing coals were left before he laid the fish over it. He had often barbecued with his foster parents, so he knew that a burning fire would only burn everything and the heat of the coals would be sufficient to slowly cook the fish. The smell of the grilled fish rose into his nose and his stomach began to growl loudly. Jamie would have liked to eat the fish immediately, but held back. The young man waited patiently. He didn't want to eat any of it until it was completely cooked.
When the fish was finally ready it tasted godly. Jamie had trouble not to devour the whole thing and had to muster all his willpower to eat slowly. The tender meat tasted wonderful and every bite seemed to give Jamie a little strength back. He ate almost half the fish before leaning back full and content. He yawned and wrapped the rest of the fish in a few large leaves. He would save that for tomorrow. Sleepy from the food he cuddled into the blanket next to the fire and fell asleep.

For the next two days Jamie was less successful, but slowly got an eye for how to hunt so the fish wouldn't get away from him. On the third day he managed to catch one of the big fish again. He put aside after it had breathed out his life to possibly catch another one. It was still early in the day and he had enough time. He squatted as so often lately on the rock he had chosen as his hunting ground and waited until the fish recovered from their shock and slowly came back. But with the fish came the feeling of being watched again. Jamie slowly looked around and watched the edge of the forest, this time looking for the dark scheme of the raptor. It hadn't appeared in the last two days but today Jamie could feel that the animal was nearby. The trees cast treacherous shadows in which it was difficult to see anything.
He climbed from the rock into the water and walked towards his fish, which lay on a rock at the edge of the river.

Jamie took the fish carefully as the black Raptor peeled out of the shadows and slowly trotted to the edge of the lake. He was still limping as he approached the water for a drink. He was about to look in Jamie's direction, knowing fully well that the young man was standing there.
The fur-like feathers shimmered bluish in the sunlight and moved slightly in the gentle breeze. Jamie watched marvelous creature in silence. He was still afraid, but not to the same extent as a few days ago. He approached carefully and took a look at his fish, breathed deeply and laid it visibly on the ground before taking a few steps back.
The Raptor paused drinking and observed what the man was doing. That the animal was weighing whether he meant well or wanted to trap it.
Jamie squatted down to look less threatening and although his heart was beating up to his throat, curiosity was greater. He wanted to know how the Raptor would react to the whole thing. Surely it was hard for the animal with the injured leg to hunt.

Jamie retreated even further as the Raptor still hesitated. The creature tilted its head slightly before slowly approaching without letting Jamie out of its sight. The Raptor sniffed audibly at the fish before grabbing it and disappearing into the undergrowth of the forest in a flash. Jamie looked at the place where the Raptor had disappeared into the forest for a long time.
"There goes my food..." he said quietly to himself and went back to the rock. Maybe he was lucky again and was able to catch something for himself. Unfortunately he remained unsuccessful and gathered some berries in the late evening. He sat thoughtfully by his little fire for a long time and tried to process what had happened today before he retreated into the small cave to sleep.

More to come soon..

This one still needs beta reading. Sadly I am no native speaker so some stuff may sound wired for a native speaker.