The chief stared at the mountain of meat. His eyes reddened. He lowered his head, his shoulders shaking.
"WAAH!"
He burst into tears.
The sudden outburst shocked the tribe. They crowded around him, trying to comfort him. They thought he was crying tears of joy.
"Chief, what's wrong? This is good news!"
"Don't cry. People are watching..."
"Are you really that happy?"
No one knew the weight he carried. To keep the tribe alive in this chaos, he saved every scrap of food to buy those thin "Know-Leaves." He hoped to find a way to survive. His people told him to stop, that their home was peaceful. They said it was a waste of food.
But the more he learned, the more afraid and helpless he became. Piruka's ships. Elbaf's giants. The tax collectors. None of them could be stopped. He had lived his whole life on this small island. He had learned to read just to trade. Some of the things on the Know-Leaves, he couldn't even understand.
But the more he knew, the more powerless he felt. He was just an old man on Burubu Island. But he was the chief.
The despair of knowing disaster could come at any moment and being unable to stop it, or even know where to run, was crushing him.
This food, enough to feed the tribe for a year, was a blessing. But the old chief wiped his face, pushing down the surge of greed. He looked up, his eyes still red, and spoke to Rhett.
"Young man, you know..."
"It's nothing," Rhett cut him off.
The chief's words stuck in his throat. He looked at Rhett's casual demeanor, his terrifying power, and the result of this "hunt." A thought struck him like lightning. This young man could have done this to them yesterday. But then another question made his eyes widen. He remembered how Rhett had arrived.
Rhett: I wasn't chased. The ship was just bad.
The chief gasped. "They... (meaning Piruka, the kings, those forces)... are they also..."
Are they also like you? Powerful enough that resistance is unthinkable? Our struggle is meaningless?
Rhett saw the chief's face pale. He didn't answer. He just looked away.
That was the second reason he had shown his power. To show the chief, who still held a sliver of hope, the harsh reality of power. Pity and hope wouldn't save anyone. Only by seeing the truth could they make realistic choices.
The chief stumbled, as if all his strength had been drained. He understood. Their survival meant nothing to the truly powerful.
After a moment, the chief looked at the meat again. The excitement was gone. Only the heavy pressure of reality remained.
He wiped his tears and straightened his back. He looked at his people, still confused and happy. He took a breath.
"Listen! Quiet!" He pointed at the boars. "This is a gift. And a warning."
"I'm old. My world was just Burubu Island. I only learned about the wider world through the Know-Leaves. Piruka, Elbaf, the kings above... any of them could destroy us with a step. Our safety wasn't because we were strong. It was because they hadn't noticed us yet!"
The tribe was shocked into silence.
Rhett spoke up. "I can help you. As payment for the ship. I'll clear a place deep in the forest and surround it with mist. For a hundred years, it will hide you from most threats. You can rest and recover there, away from the coming storms. Though life won't be easy even then."
The crowd stirred. A young man shouted excitedly, "Then we can hide forever!"
"Nonsense!"
The old chief's roar made the young man flinch. The tribe had never seen him so angry.
"Hiding forever is death!" He was shaking. "We would become blind and deaf! We wouldn't know the world outside. Our children would forget how to trade. They'd forget how to build ships. They'd forget how to talk to strangers. When the mist clears, our descendants would face a world they don't understand. How would they survive?!"
He was shouting the truth of his life.
"The world is chaotic. But chaos brings opportunity. We can't be afraid. We must send people out. To see. To learn. To trade. Even with risks. We need to know the world to know when to hide and when to come out. I'm old. I'll stay here. If I don't check on you every week, you stay hidden. A year, two years... until it's safe."
Rhett looked at the old man with new respect. A leader like this was a blessing.
The crowd erupted.
"No! Absolutely not!" A young hunter shouted. "Chief! The tribe needs you! You're our leader! If anyone goes, let it be us!"
"Yes! Let us go!"
"I can go! I'm fast!"
"I have good eyes! I can find my way!"
All the young men stepped forward, ready to take the risk. They could lose themselves, but they couldn't lose their chief.