Caleb and his chosen accomplices had barely set foot out of the village before they heard Tanya yelling Caleb's name.
"Where have you been? I've been all over looking for you!" The young girl ran up to her older brother, her dark brown fringe sticking to her forehead with sweat. "Coral's worried sick. We're all worried about you."
"What for?" Caleb's brow furrowed together a felt a hint of irritation that Tanya was delaying him from rescuing the twins.
"This isn't healthy, Caleb!" His sister exclaimed, throwing her hands up into the air. "You've hardly grieved over Father; it's like you don't realise that he's gone." Caleb's grip around his bow tightened.
"I'm fully aware that he's gone," he growled through gritted teeth. "But I'm the Head Hunter now, Tanya, and I have responsibilities."
"I understand that," Tanya said, her voice softening as her hand touched his arm. "But no one has forgotten that you're still human."
"I don't have time for this." Before Tanya could stop him, Caleb broke into a sprint towards the river. Ares and Rex glanced at each other before shrugging apologetically at the girl and dashing obediently after their boss.

The walk to the wall carried with it an uncomfortable silence. Caleb's eyes were fixed on the path ahead, and Ares and Rex kept eyes out for any possible threats. It wasn't too long until they reached the wall. It towered high above them, each grey stone solidly cemented to each other. There was a large wooden door, but it was too heavy for them to break down. Even though Caleb knew it was pointless, he attempted pushing the door open, but it was locked from the other side.
"What do we do?" Ares asked. Caleb banged on the door and bellowed at the top of his lungs, but if anyone from the other side could hear him, they ignored him. 
He turned to his companions and gave a reluctant sigh. "We climb."

"Hang on, Caleb, can you slow down and explain what we're doing?" As soon as the pair had returned to Caleb's hut, the 19-year-old had immediately begun gathering his weapons: two daggers, a slingshot and a bow and arrow. Rhys watched him, wide-eyed, as he sprinted about gathering things.
"That piece of paper I found," Caleb explained. "It was directions. Whoever took the twins must have dropped it. We have to go three kilometres north of the river."
"But we've never gone three kilometres north," Rhys exclaimed. "There's the wall that blocks the path after two kilometres, remember?"
"Of course I remember, but whoever is on the other side of that wall has Olive and Faye." Caleb faced Rhys for the first time since he found the paper and Rhys saw the glimmer of rage in his eyes. "And we're going to rescue them. Gather the hunters."

Despite Rhys' determination to make Caleb slow down and think things through properly, he eventually caved in and had the hunters gathered in front of the Arrow household.
"Right," Caleb began. "As you all know, the twins are still missing. I don't have time to explain how, but I've found a clue about where to find them. I'd be an idiot to go alone, so I'm taking two of you with me." A murmur spread among the hunters. "Why two?" Caleb continued. "One from each division, with the exception of group A." The four youngest members of the group didn't have a chance to protest before Caleb carried on. "Accompanying me will be Rex and Ares. I have based my decision on who I think are the least emotionally attached to the twins and therefore are the least likely to do something stupid on an emotional adrenaline rush. The rest of you will stay here and continue your duties under Rhys's command."
"Caleb, let me go with you," Rhys pleaded. 
"No, Rhys," Caleb said firmly. "I need you to stay here and be in charge." The teenager didn't wait for a further response from the man. He turned to Ares and Rex, who had silently approached him and waited beside him for instructions. "Let's go."

"I'm really sorry I couldn't have been more help, Caleb," Lillian said apologetically as she walked him back to the entrance of her home. When Caleb asked her if she'd seen anything, she confirmed that she had been at Corinne's when the twins went missing.
"Don't worry, Lillian, we'll sort something out," Caleb said, trying to smile.
The newly-appointed Head Hunter returned to his own hut and waited for his hunters to return with new information. He had no such luck. As each pair returned, they shared their disappointing finds with Caleb before he sent them further into the woods.
Rhys returned shortly after the last pair were sent to search the north side of the river.
"Anything?" Caleb asked, a hand now stuck in his hair.
"Maybe," Rhys said cautiously. Caleb raised an eyebrow and waited for him to continue. "I spoke to Elsie and she said that while she'd been collecting some herbs, she saw a trail of footprints leading from Zahra's towards the big oak. She didn't think much of it, because they could've belonged to anyone in the village. So she returned to the kitchen, and then when she went out again less than ten minutes later, the footprints were gone. She said they looked like they'd been swept over - purposely covered. Only when she heard all the commotion did she really put two and two together. She came looking for you, but I bumped into her first and she explained everything."
"Where exactly were these footprints leading?" Caleb asked, standing up.
"I'll show you."

"Caleb, I don't think we're going to find anything," Rhys sighed. They'd been scouring the area for God knows how long for some evidence of who might have kidnapped the twins and where they might have gone. So far, they'd found nothing.
Caleb was on the verge of giving up when he noticed a glimpse of something caught on a nearby bush. He pulled it free of the leaves. It was a piece of paper.
"Three km south of river" it read.
"What's that?" Rhys asked, glancing over Caleb's shoulder.
"Our first piece of luck," Caleb answered, shoving the piece of paper into his pocket and sprinting back to the village.

The sudden disappearance of the one-year-old twins sent chaos through the village. Although no-one was directly aiming Zahra or attacking her through any means, violent or verbal, she refused to leave her home. Caleb sat with her and her daughter Krista, the distraught mother of the twins, and tried to define an exact timeline of what had happened. Krista informed him that she had left the twins with Zahra shortly after dawn, where they were to spend the day while Krista was working at Corinne Highland's home with her and her mother. Zahra told Caleb that she fed the twins and played with them until the Sun was high in the sky, at which point she began to grow tired.
"I'm nearly 50," she wept to Caleb. "It's getting harder for me to take care of both of them by myself."
"Why didn't you tell me?" Krista interjected angrily. "I could've asked someone to help you! Belle finished repairing Jai's trousers earlier than expected and had the afternoon off. I could've asked her to check up on you and assist you if you needed it."
"I shouldn't need assistance," Zahra cried. "What kind of woman can't take care of her own grandchildren?!"
"Was it at midday that you fell asleep?" Caleb interrupted, determined to continue his investigation.
"Yes," Zahra said through sobs. "I was only asleep for a few moments, God forgive me!"
"Where was Lillian? Doesn't she live in the hut across from you?"
"She's been wandering around the village all day," Krista filled in. "Checking up on all the seamstresses' progress. She arrived at Corinne's shortly before the Sun touched the highest point in the sky. She stayed for at least an hour as Belle had prepared some lunch during a break and ate with us."
"I see," Caleb rubbed the back of his neck. "I need to speak to Lillian. Zahra, you need to rest. Krista, I understand you are furious with your mother at this point, but what's done is done, and right now being angry with her won't help. We all need to stick together if we are going to have any hope finding your daughters."
Tears pooled in Krista's eyes as she suddenly flung herself into her mother's arms and wept uncontrollably. Caleb rested a hand on the young blonde's head and whispered a short prayer before departing from the hut and heading for Lillian's home in search of more answers.

When Caleb reached the Rivers' home, he knocked gently on the door. He heard no response and was about to depart to Zahra's daughters' homes in search of her, until he heard a soft cry come from within the hut. He nudged the door open to find Zahra on her knees in the middle of the room, bent over as if in agony. The 19-year-old was immediately by her side, brushing her auburn hair out of her face.
"Zahra, what's wrong?" He asked urgently, his eyes frantically scouring her face. Zahra had known Caleb since he was born - she had been a close friend of his mother. He was so used to seeing a kind smile on her face that the current scene terrified him. He had never seen tears trickle down her face, not even when she was presented with the death of Caleb's mother.
Zahra's head lifted as her fingers clutched onto him. "Caleb," she whispered. "The twins...I'm so sorry, I-I only fell asleep for a moment. I was so tired, and I just-" Caleb hushed the woman.
"Take a deep breath," he said gently, his eyes soft.
"They're gone. The twins. They're gone."

Caleb didn't linger around before getting to work. He called all the hunters to a meeting instantly, only excusing Jacob and Jai - the father and grandfather of the missing twins - and hastily explained the situation. The hunters were barely given a moment to take in the situation before they had been sorted into pairs and sent away to search designated parts of the village. Caleb ordered them to return as soon as they had completed the search of their area so that no time would be wasted before sending them off into the wilderness for a further search.
Caleb was just about to dismiss them when Jai and Jacob returned, both red-faced. "We are joining you," Jai stated. It wasn't a question.
Deciding that arguing with the distressed grandfather and nodded, and quickly sent everyone on their way. Once they'd been dismissed, Rhys - who hadn't been given a partner - approached Caleb, inquiring as to what he was to do.
"I want you to go and see all of the women and ask them if they saw anything suspicious. I'm going to go back to the Rivers' house and find out as much from Zahra as I can. Find me there." Rhys nodded defiantly before turning on his heels and immediately knocking on the door of the nearest home - the home of Lillian and Ares Rivers, the brother and sister-in-law of Jai.

Caleb instructed the group B hunters to hunt south of the river until midday while he took the group A hunters to the north. He watched as Aidan and Koda began setting up snares around the forest floor, and Trey and Toki leapt stealthily up into the trees where they nestled into a comfortable position before retrieving their first arrow from their quivers and began scouring the ground below them for their first victim. Once Aidan and Koda were satisfied that they'd set up enough snares, they ducked into a couple of bushes, making sure they were positioned downwind from the snares, and waited patiently, each with a sharp flint in one hand.

Caleb made himself comfortable in his own tree where he could observe all four of his men. There was no noise or movement for a good thirty minutes before a gentle rustling could be heard from one of the bushes, not too far from one of the snares. Caleb watched as Trey and Toki both raised their arrows, already prepared in the bow, and aimed in the direction of the noise. Less than 20 seconds later, a rabbit poked out of the bush, pink nose twitching curiously, before slipping out of the bush completely. Its body had barely touched the sunlight before an arrow struck through it, killing it instantly. Moments later, the creature had been collected by Koda and taken into the bush where he and Aidan had been sitting.

By the time the Sun had reached its highest point in the sky, the group had returned to Caleb's hut with three rabbits, a squirrel and a beaver. Caleb had just set the young men skinning the carcasses when the other two groups joined them; the other hunters carried a large deer between them, but the fishers had retrieved very little in their basket. Caleb instructed all the men to prepare the meat for the woman to cook under Rhys's watchful eye while he went to speak to Zahra, Jai's wife and the Head Cook, about the collection.

Caleb was eager to escape to home after the funeral. He'd asked Rhys before he left to stop by in the evening to discuss hunting arrangements. The 28-year-old arrived little after seven, just as Tanya had begun cooking dinner.
"You know, we don't have to jump straight into this," Rhys said as Caleb let him into their hut. "You're allowed to spent time with your family." 
"I'd rather do this now," Caleb insisted. "The whole village can't suffer just because of what's happened." Rhys opened to his mouth to protest, but decided against it and nodded. "Right, we have a total of 12 hunters now since Toki turned 18, right?"
"Yes, but he's still a novice."
"Of course. As you know, we currently have two equal divisions - one for land hunting and one for fishing." Rhys nodded. "I want to trial a three-division strategy: one for fishing, one for hunting small land animals, one for hunting large land animals. Due to the varied skills of our hunters, I think this could be an effective method. It will also benefit those who join upon turning 18; let them get a grip on hunting with smaller creatures before attempting to hunt larger ones."
"Sounds reasonable," Rhys said, inwardly impressed. "Have you decided on the divisions?"
"I have a rough idea, but you know each hunter's skills in a bit more depth, so I'd like to run them by you before we introduce this scheme to the men." Caleb then presented his initial idea and the pair discussed the organisation until Tanya called Caleb for dinner, at which point Rhys took the hint to retire to his home for the evening after agreeing to meet back at Caleb's at dawn.


By the time the Sun had fully risen above the horizon, the village hunters were lined up outside Caleb's hut. Caleb stood before them with Rhys flanking his left side, his arms folded. Caleb knew he didn't need to bother with a speech about deserving respect to these men; they knew each other well enough and respected Jared well enough to show the same amount of respect to his son. Instead, he immediately began to explain the new strategy. Despite the odd uncertain look, most of the hunters seemed fairly satisfied with the new arrangement.
"The divisions have been arranged as follows," Caleb announced. "Fishing: Markus, Jacob, Rex and Zeke. Those hunting small land animals: Aidan, Trey, Koda and Toki; you'll be group A. Those hunting large land animals: Ares, Jai, Cameron and Flynn; you'll be group B." Caleb ignored the faint moans from the four youngest hunters, who had been designated as the hunters for small land animals. "If, over time, we find anyone would be more efficient in another division, we will look into rearrangement of the organisation, but for now this is the final decision. Rhys will take monitor the fishers on my behalf, and I will be in charge of all hunters. Fishers, if you have any issues, you will report immediately to Rhys. If he sees fit, he will then relay to me. Are we all clear on the new arrangement?" An approving grunt spread among the men. "Good. Then let's begin."

"I'm very sorry for your loss," Caleb heard for the 20th time in the space of about ten minutes. This time, one of his father's men, Rhys, was speaking to him. He was a well-built young man with sandy hair that framed his face and tanned skin from his constant exposure to the sun. "This is a brave thing you're doing, taking over after your father."

Tanya grabbed Caleb's shoulder as he left the building and swung him round to face her. "Caleb, wait."
"What is it?" Caleb huffed restlessly.
"Caleb, our father has just died-" Tanya ignored Caleb's flinch. "Don't you want to take a moment for that to sink in before you hurry off and start making arrangements?"
"We've known this day has been coming for weeks now, Tanya." Caleb's voice was harsh. "Father wouldn't want me to mope around for days. He'd want me to get on with life."
Caleb broke free of his sister's grasp and broke into a sprint down the road.
"He knows you're not a robot though!" 

Tanya's last sentence whirled around inside Caleb's head as he reached the funeral home. He pushed her voice out as he opened the door. Mr Lyte rose his head at the sound of the soft ring of the bell that hung above the door. His grey eyes grew sad when he saw the falter in Caleb's stride towards his desk.
"It happened, I assume," he said softly. Caleb nodded his head sharply. "I'm very sorry."
"He wanted to be cremated and scattered above my mother's grave," Caleb explained in a business-like tone.
Mr Lyte blinked, surprised by the lack of emotion in his voice. "Of course, that can be arranged, but-"
"We'll hold the service on Saturday. He loved Saturdays."
"That's only four days away, Caleb. There's a lot to do."
"I'll get it done." Mr Lyte saw the determination in Caleb's eyes and knew that he was fighting a losing battle.
"Alright."

"You need to stop this, Caleb," Tanya confronted her brother as he exited the funeral home.
"Stop what?" A growl crept into his voice.
"Running away from your emotions all the time!"
"I'm not running away from anything," Caleb snapped. "I'm dealing with things the same way Father did."
"That's not a good thing, Caleb!" Tanya cried, clutching at his arm. "Since Mother died, Father has been a machine." Caleb turned away from Tanya furiously. "All he's ever thought about is protecting the village," Tanya shouted at him. "But when something actually happens to them, he had no emotional response whatsoever. Don't let that happen to you, Caleb, please! There are people who need you!"
Caleb whirled round. "Like who, Tanya?"
"Like me," his sister answered defiantly. "And Tobias and Grace. We all need you."
"Just let me do my job, Tanya." For the first time, Caleb's voice sounded broken, and he tore away from his sister before she could see the tears stinging his eyes.

Caleb had been expecting this day for weeks now. His father had not moved from his bed in 24 days, and his time was coming to its end. He looked down at the man; how could someone look so strong, yet so frail at the same time? Jared's body hadn't changed much - his muscles still bulged beneath his shirt and he hadn't lost a great deal of weight, maybe three or four pounds at the very most. But his eyes looked weak. They used to blaze with an icy indigo passion, but now they'd faded to a dull blue. Any moment now, they would change once more, for the last time.

"Caleb." The 19-year-old knelt beside his father, slipping his hand into the weak fingers of the man who had raised him. "Caleb, you must remember everything I've taught you." Caleb's lips remained in a tight line and his jaw clenched. "Take care of the girls. Take care of the village. My dagger is under the bed. Take it. Use it." Caleb watched helplessly as a tear grew in Jared's eye. "Pass on what I've taught you."
"It might not be time yet," Caleb said in a husky voice.
"You must," his father answered. "I haven't trained you all these years for my grandfather's dagger to fall into the hands of someone else."
"No, I mean it might not be your time yet." The hope that pounded through Caleb's voice crept into his voice ever so slightly.
Jared answered him with a weak laugh. "Caleb, my boy, I know when my time has come. It will happen any second now." Caleb's fingers tightened around his father's. His free hand tentatively played with the frayed hem of his father's sleeve, revealing the first letter that was tattooed on the man's arm.

Suddenly, Jared's body jolted and his back arched off of the bed as a heart-wrenching groan escaped his lips. Caleb clung to his father's wrist, his own lips muttering inaudible words as Jared's eyes glazed over a fiery red. "Take care, my son." The words that slipped through Jared's lips dripped with sorrow of their early farewell. Caleb lowered his head onto his father's chest, tears dripping onto Jared's t-shirt.

"Caleb." Tanya's voice was soft. "Is he..."
"Yes," Caleb answered, raising his head and turning to face the eldest of his younger sisters. The 15-year-old knelt by her brother and gently kissed her father's forehead before she closed his eyelids. Caleb's eyes fell to his father's sleeve where they lay for a moment before he plucked up the courage to pull back the fabric. 'Take care, my son' read the tattoo, now a blood-red rather than the jet black that it had been whilst his father's heart had been beating. Caleb always saw irony in that.
"Let's go," Caleb said in a raspy voice. "We need to prepare the funeral."


Credits:
Julia Caesaris - Editorial contribution