#himaa

It was a simple trinket. Glass embedded in a small metallic oval with a plain handle cropping out from the lowest point, all cast in a single piece. But what it did, was show Aruktai his reflection. But also, not his reflection. It wasn’t exactly his face, but rather someone who had a face just like his. The face of his brother, the face of Itrugen. The face in the mirror was illuminated by a small fire, crackling into the night as the wood crisped up and sent sparks up into the night sky atop the drifts of smoke. 

With a heavy sigh, Aruktai wrapped the mirror in the soft cloth he used to keep it from breaking, bringing the material around thrice before he tucked the item away inside his pack. Laying back onto his bed roll, his amethyst tinged eyes cast upwards to the sky and the stars above. It was late in the eve, but he found himself restless given the day he was to have tomorrow, for tomorrow was the anniversary of his twin’s death. 

The pair of them were born to a loving mother of the Himaa tribe, their father having been taken by a Dotharl prior to the woman knowing she was with children. Aruktai was the second born of the twins, and a brash and hotheaded balance to Itrugen’s calmness. As they came of age they began hunting out of necessity, pelts and meat to trade and ensure the wellbeing of themselves and their mother. 

But eventually, hunting became less of a means and more of a sport. Their game increasingly large and dangerous as the grew older. It was the thrill for them. The slaying of something so wild and of nature. Anyone could kill another person. If a want arose, you could walk up behind someone and stab them in the heart. To the Himaa brothers, even fair combat was far from a thrill. No, they savored in the hunt of the wild, of felling a beast five times their size and a hundred stone heavy. 

Of course, with such beasts there is always risk, even to a seasoned hunter. And Aruktai and Itrugen were perhaps lightly seasoned at best. Aruktai fancied a mammoth, the largest of a herd. Like a fool, he was too bold and rushed in headlong with his spear. A timely intervention from Itrugen spared the younger of the pair from being gored, but that action also left the duo naught but a single.