The Search for the Great River: Part I

"I will find it..." answered the elderly man.

"You cannot hunt Sanyx anymore...how do you intend to find the 'Great River' if you pass through the Western Plains--it is deep in Sanyx territory!" one of the villagers snapped. The people gathered around him nodded and grunted in approval.

"I shall not fail!" he stated, reaffirming his position.

"This is madness...you cannot be sure it even exists!" another objector claimed. "Besides, who will teach our sons while we hunt? Who will manage the affairs of our village as you do so well? Listen...you are of more value here in the village than wandering around the Western Plains, chasing a vision." Bursts of "yes" and "answer that?" erupted from the crowd, until the old man raised his hand, silencing the crowd.

"I must go..." he began, but a loud voice interupted him.

"He is mad...leave him to his crazy ideas," quipped one of the more prominent Sanyx hunters. "He has nothing to offer us now. Let us concern ourselves with him no longer." With a final sneer, the hunter turned and walked away.

At that the crowd began to disperse, leaving the elderly man alone with his thoughts and his pack in the town center. Whispers floated around the town as people passed each other, glancing nervously at him. At last, the old man rose and strode resolutely out of the village and down the forest path that led to the open plains and westward to the Great River.