Bieber's Warpath: Protecting the Tribe

The jungle is alive and taking over.

To the untrained eye, it would appear as if nature is reclaiming what was once hers. The trees are taller and more abundant than I have ever seen them in my lifetime. The birds sing louder, the insects buzz with a renewed vigor that only the jungle can bring. The roots of the trees burst through the soil like the bones underneath the skin of an aging woman. They stretch their branches to the heavens, reaching for something that we could never understand.

The animals are vicious, they hunt in packs. I have seen them tear two of my men to shreds within minutes without breaking a sweat. We were not well prepared for this expedition, I fear it will cost me my life and most likely many others before it is over...

"I want you to go home." I don't turn around to face him, I know who has approached me by the sound of his voice. "I don't think you understand how serious this is."

"You can't be serious."

"I'm dead serious Bieber." I feel his hand on my shoulder then slide down my arm until he grabs my hand. "I would never ask you to do such a thing unless I knew it was necessary."

"We are so close now grandfather! Can't we just push-" He cuts me off before I finish saying another word. He turns me around so that he may look directly in my eyes when he speaks to me next, "Listen to me boy, do you know where we are?" It is a rhetorical question, but one that must be answered all the same. "We are in our ancestral lands!" He raises his arms as if asking God himself to stand as witness, "This is sacred ground boy! This is Mori land! We have been pushed back farther and farther every year since your grandfather's time."

He lowers his arms and gestures for us to start walking again towards our destination which lies just ahead of us through the thicket of trees that surround us on all sides. We walk in silence for what feels like hours before he continues speaking again. "We must fortify these grounds before they have a chance to regroup after we make our move tomorrow morning." He looks over at me with solemn eyes full of worry, "If everything goes according to plan we will be free from their oppression forever."

I had not expected this so soon upon arrival, but I suppose I should have known better than to underestimate my grandfather's ability to think ahead of everyone else. In times like these it is clear why he was so highly respected among our tribe. He had always been one step ahead of everyone else, including our enemies who now seek to destroy us once and for all before we can rise up against them and take back what belongs to us!

Everything went according to plan perfectly; we did not lose a single man during our advance on their camp and managed to kill three-quarters of their numbers before they were able to run away scalded with arrows embedded deep into their flesh or blood dripping from open wounds on their bodies. Now all that remains is for us to get what we came here for in order for our efforts not be in vain; otherwise all that we have gone through thus far will have been for nothing!

The sun begins to set as we arrive at what might be considered their village, though it is more like a sprawling encampment made out of wood and other material that we would not use because it does not grow from this earth. They built no walls or houses here; instead they lived among the trees beneath the canopy within small tents which they hid behind strategically placed piles of dead leaves and branches dotted around their camp site. We arrived just in time or else they would have escaped via river while they still had enough light left under the dark sky above us now.