Chapter 42: Respecting the Dead
Everyone remained where they stood. No one knew how long they had been standing there.
The clearing had become eerily quiet. Even the restless children who usually chased one another through the settlement had instinctively hidden themselves behind the adults, peeking toward the long rows of fallen warriors without making a sound. The only thing breaking the silence was the distant crackling of torches planted around the village and the occasional hiss of the volcanic wind sweeping across the open clearing.
Gre Ka Go still hadn’t moved.
His gaze slowly wandered from one familiar face to another. Some of them had once stood before him complaining about how exhausting it was to train with spears instead of charging blindly into predators. Some had argued endlessly over hunting formations before eventually admitting they worked better than instinct ever had. Others had celebrated with him after bringing down beasts they once believed could never be defeated. They had all laughed, fought, hunted and built this settlement together.
Every one of them had plans for tomorrow. Some had promised their children another hunt, while others had spoken about expanding their homes after returning from the expedition.
Now...There would be no tomorrow.
A slow breath escaped his chest before he finally spoke.
"...Gather everyone."
The order was quiet, yet every Magnari present immediately straightened their backs. None of them questioned it. Several warriors quietly disappeared into the settlement while the others remained standing where they were. Before long, the entire tribe had gathered around the clearing. Hunters, elders, mothers carrying children upon their backs, youngsters who had only recently begun learning how to hold stone spears and even those too old to participate in hunts slowly formed a wide circle around the fallen warriors.
Naturally, whispers began spreading through the crowd.
"What is the Tribal Chief doing?"
"Why are they all lying together?"
"Why didn’t we leave them for the predators?"
"I’ve... never seen him like this before."
"What if the predators smell the bodies and come here?"
Even Gre Ka So couldn’t stop staring toward the clearing. After scratching the back of his neck for a while, he quietly nudged Gree Ma Go with his elbow.
"...Hey."
"What do you think he’s doing this time?"
Gree Ma Go never looked away from Gre Ka Go.
"...I don’t know."
Gre Ka So clicked his tongue.
"He was always like this. Keeping his eyes closed when he could open them all instead of just two... making strange weapons no Magnari had ever seen... teaching us things no one had ever thought about... and always telling everyone what to do."
He lowered his voice before continuing.
"...Honestly, think about the Nigairo. He was the one who made all those rules, yet he himself hasn’t paired with anyone while the rest of us...."
"Shut the fuck up."
The words weren’t spoken in anger instead they carried nothing but exhaustion.
"...Can’t you read the mood?"
Gre Ka So immediately fell silent.
"...Right."
After letting out a quiet sigh, Gree Ma Go slowly walked toward his Tribal Chief until he stopped a respectful distance behind him.
"My Tribal Chief... is there anything I can do?"
Gre Ka Go never answered.
Instead, he quietly stepped toward the first fallen warrior before lowering himself onto one knee. His hand slowly reached forward and gently rested upon the Magnari’s face. For several moments he simply remained there, looking silently at the warrior who had once stood beside him before carefully closing the pair of lifeless eyes that still stared endlessly toward the evening sky.
The simple action froze everyone watching.
"...What is he doing?"
"Why... would he do that?"
"Is he going to skin them?"
"No..."
"I don’t think so..."
The whispers quietly rose around the clearing, yet Gre Ka Go paid no attention to any of them. He simply stood again before walking toward the next body, repeating the exact same gesture. One after another, every fallen warrior received the same quiet respect. He never hurried, never skipped anyone and never treated one life differently from another. By the time he reached the final body, every pair of vacant eyes had been gently closed beneath his hand while the whispers surrounding the clearing had gradually disappeared on their own.
Even Gree Ma Go, who had originally stepped forward intending to help, found himself standing motionless, unable to understand what his Tribal Chief was trying to accomplish.
Only after the final warrior had been tended to did Gre Ka Go slowly rise to his feet. His eyes quietly swept across the gathered tribe before his calm voice finally broke the silence once again.
"...Do any of you know why I ordered every body to be brought back?"
The question lingered among the crowd. However, nobody answered.
The Magnari merely looked toward one another, hoping someone else understood.
Eventually, Gre Ka So scratched his head before awkwardly raising a hand.
"...How would we know? Maybe... you wanted them for something?"
A few Magnari quietly nodded. It wasn’t an unreasonable assumption. Their Tribal Chief had always done strange things that none of them understood until much later. They had gradually grown accustomed to following his instructions without asking too many questions because somehow, every one of those strange ideas had strengthened the tribe.
Gre Ka Go slowly shook his head.
"No."
His gaze drifted back toward the rows of fallen warriors.
"They were brought back because they belong here."
Confusion immediately spread throughout the crowd.An elderly Magnari slowly stepped forward, leaning against a weathered wooden staff.
"Tribal Chief... how can someone who no longer breathes still belong here?"
Gre Ka Go quietly looked toward the elder before answering.
"Why wouldn’t they?"
"They hunted beside us."
"They bled beside us."
"They protected this settlement beside us."
His eyes slowly wandered across every face gathered around him before returning once again to the fallen warriors.
"So why should they be abandoned the moment they stop breathing?"
No one answered.
Not because they disagreed...but because the thought had never crossed their minds.
To the Magnari, death had always been simple. When someone died, the forest reclaimed them. Predators fed upon them just as the Magnari themselves fed upon other creatures. It had always been another part of survival, no different from hunting or being hunted.
Gre Ka Go’s voice remained calm.
"A body may no longer hunt. It may no longer fight. It may no longer speak. But it still tells the story of the life that once existed. It reminds us that someone once laughed among us, built this settlement with us, shed blood beside us and protected those standing here today. If we simply leave them behind the moment they die... then what does that say about the lives they lived?"
Silence spread through the crowd once more.
Many of the Magnari slowly lowered their heads toward the bodies lying before them. Until today, a corpse had simply been another part of nature. Leave it behind and the forest would reclaim it, just as they themselves reclaimed the flesh of the beasts they hunted. Yet now, after hearing those words, they found themselves looking a little longer. Some recognized hunting partners they had fought beside since childhood. Others saw fathers, brothers or elders who had once shared the same fire only a few nights ago. For the first time, the bodies before them no longer felt like abandoned flesh.
Gre Ka Go seemed to sense that no more words were needed. He quietly stepped forward until he stood before every fallen warrior, then slowly closed his eyes. His hands came together before his chest while his head gently lowered. Even his tail gradually became still, something none of the Magnari had ever witnessed before.
The unfamiliar posture immediately attracted countless puzzled gazes. None of the Magnari had ever seen their Tribal Chief stand like this before.
"...What’s he doing?"
"I’ve never seen that before..."
"Is... is he talking to himself?"
Gre Ka So scratched his head once again, but this time even he didn’t dare raise his voice.
Gree Ma Go remained completely silent. He understood no more than anyone else, yet something deep inside him warned him not to interrupt.
One whisper after another quietly faded until the clearing once again returned to silence. Even those who still carried questions found themselves keeping them inside.
Watching Gre Ka Go stand before the fallen in that strange posture somehow made speaking feel inappropriate. The volcanic wind drifted softly across the clearing, carrying the scent of ash between the rows of silent warriors while every pair of eyes remained fixed upon their Tribal Chief.
Then, without opening his eyes...Gre Ka Go slowly parted his lips.
"The One who dwells beyond the Endless Void..."