Jackal of the Unknown Galaxy: Manmeera's Quest for Survival

The forest had been there for as long as anyone could remember. It was older than the village, and before that, older than the tribe. Older than any memory.

It was a place to fear, with deep shadows and strange sounds at night. The tribal elders told tales of the spirits who lived within it, and of the clawed footed things which stalked beneath its canopy in search of prey. The bravest children would dare one another to try and reach the heart of the forest, where the great trees grow so tall they seem to scrape the very sky.

No-one from the village had ever returned from such an expedition.

A handful of brave souls tried to leave the village to seek a better life in other lands once every generation, but no-one knew for sure whether any of them were still alive or not. Perhaps they were killed by the creatures of the dark forest; perhaps they were slain by tribesmen from other villages; perhaps they simply found their way back home again.

But what if there was no other home to return to? What if this village was all there was? What if the world ended at this forest? What if its very existence was what kept those who ventured too far away from ever returning? Maybe that's why nobody left anymore. Maybe that's why I had to go alone.

I wasn't like them. I never had been. Deep down I knew I didn't belong here, that somehow this place had been chosen for me but not by me, and it only felt right to leave as soon as I grew old enough to do so without being tied down by a wife or child or house or garden plot. I left with nothing but my axe and a sack full of dried meat, leaving behind my parents and sisters and brothers along with my goat, my chickens and my pigmy sow for good measure. My father tried to stop me but I hit him with my axe until he let me pass; my mother wept over her lost sons (my two brothers joined up with a merchant caravan) as if she knew what danger awaited me out there waiting in the forest. She probably did... everyone did except me. How could they know? They've never left either - not even when they were young like me! How can they know what lies beyond that forest? And how can they know their own fear is nothing more than superstition? So I went into that dark place alone with nothing but a sack full of dried meat and my trusty axe which once belonged to an enemy warrior chief whose skull now rests on top our Tribal Chief's headdress; I went into that place knowing it was probably suicide on some level but also knowing it wasn't going to kill me if I didn't give up hope and keep going forward no matter what happened until either I die or get out alive again!

And then one day something extraordinary happened: As I sat beneath a tree chewing on a piece of dried meat contemplating whether or not I should just go home before someone took notice of my absence (for surely someone will) when out of nowhere a wolf appeared out of nowhere chewing on something that might have been part of his own stomach as he approached me without hesitation despite his clear certainty that he'd find food here! He looked at me as if he knew exactly who I was - as if he recognized something about me! And when we made eye contact, he stopped dead in his tracks, dropped whatever bit of flesh he had been chewing on (it might have been part of his own stomach!) and started licking himself clean! Then he looked back at me again as if telling me "You're next!" And then he started eating it while staring at me intently!

He stopped after finishing off whatever it was lying beside him and walked closer looking at me expectantly until finally giving up on waiting for something more interesting then moved on towards another patch of grass farther away! He nudged one single blade with his nose before turning back around, looked at me again expectantly then started eating voraciously, occasionally glancing back at me between bites!

"What are you doing?" I asked him out loud after watching him for awhile...

"Eat!" He answered nonchalantly without looking up from his meal!

"Do you understand what I'm saying?"

"Eat!" He said again without breaking stride!