Month 1, Day 3

"Aleks, now!" Rafi's voice cut through the air, his hand signal sharp and clear.

I stepped out from the bushes, raised the spear higher, and threw. The spear struck the deer on its side. It went down momentarily but stayed on its feet. Then it tore itself free and bolted into the forest without hesitation.

"Shit." Jonas's voice came immediately.

"It's getting away from us."

"Stay calm." Old Ben's voice remained steady and even. "It's losing blood. We should have it soon."

I stood there, breathed out hard once, and stared at the direction where the deer had disappeared. My hand felt empty. My stomach was tight. I didn't want to admit how much that hit me, even though it was actually normal for a throw not to kill instantly.

Old Ben pointed forward. "Let's move. Aleks, stay behind me. Mirae, left side. Jonas, don't step where you'll mess up fresh tracks."

"I'm not stepping on tracks," Jonas muttered, but he moved more carefully right away.

Mirae said nothing. She just nodded once. She always stood a bit apart anyway, kept her distance, even though we were officially a team. You noticed it in small things. When I sat down somewhere, she sat somewhere else. When I spoke, she responded, but she didn't look at my face for long.

We started moving. The ground was damp, and leaves were everywhere. Many were dark and stuck to the mud. The forest had gotten denser in recent weeks, not from growth, but because everything was covered. Branches, leaves, wet wood. The air smelled of earth and rain that would come properly later.

Rafi was up front and moving fast. Old Ben wasn't quite at the back, but not up front either. He constantly looked at the ground, at branches, at the direction of crushed leaves. Jonas struggled to stay quiet. He was big and heavy, and every step sounded like he was being deliberately clumsy, though I knew he just walked that way.

I kept my hands close to my body. I had no spear anymore. In that moment I was just a guy following along, trying not to get in the way.

"There." Old Ben suddenly dropped to one knee.

I automatically slowed down. Rafi stopped and turned to him. Old Ben pointed at the ground. Between the leaves lay blood. Not much, but clear. It was fresh. It gleamed for a moment because it hadn't dried yet.

"It's losing enough," Old Ben said. "We'll see this through calmly. No rushing. No running. If you chase it now, it'll run until it collapses. We want to catch it here, not somewhere in the next valley. Only in this forest do those creatures not run around, and we don't want to meet them again."

Jonas sniffed and said quietly, "I hate that you're always right."

Rafi grinned for a second. "You hate a lot of things."

"Yeah, because a lot of things are shit," Jonas replied, but his voice wasn't aggressive. He sounded tired.

We kept going. The blood trail became clearer, then weaker again, then stronger. Sometimes I barely saw anything. Then Old Ben would spot something I hadn't seen. He was by far the best of us at hunting and had established himself as something like a mentor here.

I tried to make myself useful by stopping repeatedly and listening ahead. Not because I was a hero, but because I was afraid of doing something wrong again. Since that fight back then, every little thing suddenly mattered more. Every mistake became bigger.

I heard nothing except our footsteps, the soft rustling of wet leaves, and occasionally a bird. No panicked cry from the deer, no loud breaking of branches.

After a while, Rafi stopped and raised his fist. Jonas halted immediately. Mirae stopped on the left side, two steps behind me. Old Ben came forward.

"It's lying up there," Rafi said, speaking quieter than usual.

I stepped forward and saw it. The deer lay on its side in a flat spot between trees. It wasn't breathing anymore. Its body was large. Its legs were long. Its fur was darker than normal Earth deer. The antlers looked different. They were broader and had many thin branches, almost like big leaves made of bone.

Jonas stopped and stared. "Okay. That is… that’s a crazy animal."

Mirae held her hand to her mouth. She didn't seem disgusted, more quiet. She said, "That's our biggest find so far."

Old Ben went straight over, knelt beside the animal and lightly touched its side. Then he nodded.

"Dead," he confirmed. "Good. Now we need to work cleanly."

He pulled my spear from the wound and held it out to me. "Good throw. Not perfect, but good enough for a first attempt. The animal would have run even with a better throw. But what matters most is that you hit it."

I took the spear back and nodded, because nothing else occurred to me. I wanted to say "thanks," but it didn't come out. I was already thinking about other things internally.

Rafi patted my shoulder once. "That works. Already looking forward to eating that thing later."

I breathed out. A fleeting, small moment where something felt normal. Then we continued.

We tied the deer's legs together. Rafi and Jonas fetched the pole we'd prepared for exactly this situation. Old Ben explained to Mirae where to grip and what to avoid so she wouldn't pinch her fingers. Mirae was careful and slow about it.

I helped tighten the knots. My hands hurt because the rope was rough and because I pulled it too tight. I didn't want to leave anything loose, so that later no one would say I hadn't gotten something right again.

Old Ben looked up. "Aleks, watch ahead. Keep guard in case something comes. We're standing exposed here."

I nodded immediately, walked two steps away from the deer and turned toward the forest. I stood there, spear back in my hand, and stared between the trunks. I saw nothing. I heard nothing.

Then I suddenly heard Rafi's voice from the distance. Not close to me, but further to the right. He'd apparently gone off again while we were still working.

"What the fuck..." he called out loudly.

Jonas raised his head. "Now what?"

"Get your asses over here," Rafi called back. "Quick."

Old Ben stood up immediately. "Spear with you, Aleks?"

"Yeah."

"Then come. Mirae, Jonas, take the pole, we're not leaving the animal here, but we'll check first."

We moved in Rafi's direction. I felt my pulse rising. Not because I wanted excitement, but because I'd learned by now that "what the fuck" rarely meant "oh look, a nice rock."

Rafi stood between two trees and stared ahead. He was usually loud, energetic, constantly talking. Now he was silent.

I stepped beside him, looked in that direction, and my head stopped for a moment.

There stood a ruin. Not just a few stones. Not a broken arch. An entire temple complex. Multiple columns, many still upright, though most were broken. Large stone blocks. A wide area that must have been a floor once. The columns were fluted and tall. The stone was light-colored but dirty. Moss grew in cracks. Some plants had pushed through. It was many times more impressive than the one where I'd previously stayed overnight with Carmen, Daisuke, Nikita, Amina, and Cealith.

Jonas came beside me and just said, "What the hell."

Mirae stayed behind us. She looked like she didn't want to go closer. She held her hands to her body, as if she were cold, though it wasn't cold enough to be cold.

Old Ben walked slowly forward. He said nothing. He looked at the ground, then the columns, then the surroundings.

Rafi whispered, "How is it possible that a building like this stands here? I thought we were alone on this planet."

Jonas spoke quickly, without noticing he got loud. "Bro, I'm getting goosebumps right now."

Rafi already stood a few steps ahead of us, staring at the columns. "Man..." he said quietly. Then he turned his head to us. "Let's see if there's anything inside."

Old Ben breathed out audibly. "Are you stupid, Rafi?"

Mirae stood behind us, holding her arms close to her body. She said nothing. She just looked alternately at the ruin and at the forest behind us, as if hoping we'd simply turn around.

I walked a bit forward. Rafi walked right beside me. He wasn't grinning. He was serious, and that was rare for him.

"Aleks," he said quietly. "What do you think this place is?"

"I don't know," I said. Nothing more came. I kept walking inward. Rafi stayed close to me. He almost clung to my side, as if he wanted to hold on, though there was no reason for it.

"Let's see what's there," he said quietly. "Just briefly. Then we'll go back."

Old Ben called behind us, "Aleks. Better come back. This could be dangerous."

"I'm only going a few steps," I said without turning around.

Rafi laughed softly.

Mirae stayed at the edge. She didn't take another step. She looked at Old Ben, as if waiting for a clear "we're leaving now."

In the middle of the ruin was an opening in the ground. Not a small hole. A real entrance downward. Round. The edge was partially broken. I crouched down and looked in. Below was only darkness. No floor visible. No wall. Nothing. A cold draft came up. Not strong, but distinct. It smelled of stone and something old that hadn't seen light in a long time.

Rafi crouched beside me. He leaned forward and peered down too. It reminded me strongly of the ruin from before. I thought about whether there could be some kind of prophecy inside here too.

I put my foot on the first step. Then on the second. I just wanted to see if anything was recognizable after a few meters.

"Aleks." Old Ben's voice came immediately, sharper. "Stop."

I stopped. "I'm just looking."

"You're not just looking," he said. "You're going in. And if something gives way here, you'll be lying down there. We have no rope, no people, no time, and you don't even have light with you."

Rafi stood behind me on the step and pushed close to me, so that I felt him at my shoulder. "Bro, just quick. We won't go deep. Just one minute."

"No," Old Ben said firmly. "That's enough."

Jonas now came closer too, but stayed up at the edge and just looked down. His face had become serious. "This isn't funny anymore. If someone falls down, we're not just pulling them out."

Mirae said quietly from above, "Let's go back. Please."

Old Ben took two steps closer to the edge, but he didn't go down. "Up. Now."

I breathed out and went back up. Rafi followed me immediately, as if afraid I'd change my mind.

At the top I stopped and looked once more into the opening.

Old Ben pointed backward. "We'll tell Basha. This is too dangerous to go down now. Besides, our prey is waiting for us."

Rafi rolled his eyes but said nothing against it. He just nodded once.

Jonas snorted. "Yeah, okay."

Mirae immediately seemed calmer. She went back toward the forest first, without looking back again.

Old Ben said, "We'll mark the way. Rafi, remember the trees. Aleks, remember the ground. Jonas, you stay close to Mirae. We're going back now. No discussion."

We went back to the deer, lifted the pole again and carried it toward camp. No one talked much. Rafi wanted to say something once, but then didn't. Jonas walked quieter than before. Mirae said nothing at all.

The rain started when we reached the edge of camp. It came slowly at first. Then it got stronger. The paths turned dark. The gravel glistened wet. The water ran in small channels that formed on their own, because the ground was now firm enough that it didn't immediately seep through.

I walked behind the others and held the spear so I wouldn't accidentally hit anyone.