10,000 BC

Erik clutched his flint spear and pulled his furs tighter around his body as they made their way through the undergrowth towards the deer that lay in the clearing ahead. They had been stalking their prey for a few days now and he was itching to get back to the village and the warmth of a fire. A signal was given once all five of the men were in position and they leapt forth from the bushes. Surrounded, the deer had nowhere to run and Erik drove his spear deep into the neck of a stag, bringing the great beast to the ground. He quickly drew his knife and made sure the animal died quickly and as painlessly as possible.

“Not bad.” He remarked, surveying the clearing once the chaos had cleared. All but one of the hunters had managed a kill, the meat would last the village quite a while. “Let’s head back home.” He added, grabbing his stag by the legs. The others followed suit, dragging the carcasses out of the clearing in the direction of their village. Looking back Erik saw the layer of snow in the clearing, splattered red with blood.

As the men walked, spirits were high and the next few hours passed quickly to Erik. Eventually smoke could be seen rising about the Horizon. Home, thought Erik, picking his pace up, desperate to warm up, telling stories of their hunt around a fire. As they came in sight of the village, he heard shouts letting people know of their arrival.

Taya looked up when a shout echoed through the village, she was huddled with a group of women around a small fire, trying to keep warm as they sat with their bone needles and sinew mending skin boots and sewing together furs to sleep on. Now they all abandoned their work and stood, hurrying to greet the hunters coming back from the kill. Everyone in the village knew there was a chance that the hunters may not bring anything back, but from their forms the villagers could see the hunters were laden with food. Taya joined the cheer that went up in greeting.

The women, including Taya, walked out to greet the hunters and relieve them of their burden. They would do the messy work outside of the village and downwind so that any animals that came to investigate would stay away from their homes. Going over to one man, Taya raised her hand in greeting then held out her hands,
"Hello! I'll take that, you go get warm." She said, smiling at the hunter. He was familiar, but Taya couldn't quite pin down his name. She wondered why, he was very attractive.

Erik couldn't help by smile back as one of the women offered to take his quarry for him. "Thank you." He replied, still smiling. He had seen her before, he was certain of that, however he'd never been close enough to realise quite how beautiful she was. Not wanting to seem like he was staring, he handed her his deer and stepped back slightly. "I'm Erik." He added, finding himself smiling at her once again. He couldn't help but feel like he was about to find out about some husband some where else in the village.

"I'm Taya," She said, moving so that Erik could go past her and into the village, looking over her shoulder to where the other young women were gathering to prepare the food.
"I should go..." Taya said, taking a step back,
"There is some stew over the fire that you will want to try... I made it myself," The offer was one many single women made to men, hoping to impress them with their cooking and domestic skills. Smiling at him again, Taya began dragging the kill to the cleaning site.
"It was very nice to meet you Erik."

"It was nice to meet you too." Erik said after her, still smiling. The mention of food had made him realise how hungry he was. They hadn't taken too much with them on their hunting trip and during the last couple of days the only things they had to eat were any roots or berries they found. For all he knew Taya could have been a terrible cook but he was sure a warm stew would seem like the best thing he had ever tasted. He also couldn't help but hope that the offer of stew was an indication of Taya's availability, as it was often intended to be.

By now he had been surrounded by some of the other villagers who have come to welcome the hunters home and Erik was distracted from his thoughts of Taya. After a few congratulations and retelling of stories, people began to go back to their daily business and Erik picked up his spear, heading over to the fire. He stuck his spear in the snow and took a seat on a rock, warming his hands for a moment before turning his attention to Taya's stew. Some cooking and eating utensils were left close to the fire and he took a crude wooden bowl from the pile. Ladling the stew into his bowl, the smell hit his nostrils, fuelling his hunger. Ravenous, he began to wolf down the stew. It was hot and burned his mouth slightly, but it tasted too good and he was too hungry to care.

The process of skinning and gutting the meat was a messy process that Taya didn't like but she didn't complain. Their village had been running low on food and with some new babies on the way they needed to make new swaddles for the children. Once the furs were removed, Taya was excused by the older women to take the furs to the village to begin cleaning them. Gathering them up, Taya trekked back to the fire. Seeing Erik by her stew made Taya feel a strange sense in her chest, it was warm and made her smile. Approaching Erik from behind, quietly and hoping to surprise him, Taya leaned over his shoulder,
"Enjoying it?" She asked.

Erik jumped slightly at the sound of Taya's voice and he hoped she hadn't noticed. He swallowed his mouthful of stew and turned to face her. "Yes thank you. It's delicious." He said, replying to her question. "You're a good cook." He added, finding himself smiling once again. "Everything good with the deer?" He asked, noticing the furs bundled up in Taya's arms. He knew the village had been low on food before they had left on their trip. It had been a fact on the minds of all of the hunting party and he had been glad they hadn't returned empty handed.

"Thank you, I'm glad you're enjoying it," Taya said, sinking down to sit across the fire from Erik, pulling some fur across her lap to start cleaning it. Grabbing a scraper, she carefully began the chore,
"You all came back with so much food! We'll have a good feast tonight, probably dancing." At the mention, Taya flicked her eyes up for just a second to see Erik through the smoke before going back to work,
"Do you have a partner?"

"I don't." Erik replied, finishing his stew. "There's never really been anyone. The feast will be good though." He added, leaning back to grab his spear from it's place in the snow. Setting it across his lap, he took a stone and started sharpening the flint. Attacking the stag its point had broken and it was no longer really sharp enough to be useful.
"Do you?" He asked, as the two of them sat working together by the fire.

"No," She said, shaking her head before laying the finished fur to one side. It would later be cut up and tanned by someone else and then used for a wrap. Knowing that Erik didn't have a partner made Taya feel oddly happy and she smiled down at the deer fur in her lap. This was the one that Erik had killed,
"But yes, the feast will be good. I think my mother is cooking some of the deer you brought in."

Erik could help but smile knowing Taya also did not have a partner.
"I'm sure it'll be delicious if you learnt to cook from her." He said, a small smile creeping across his face, as he continued to work on his spear. He'd been hunting since he had turned 12 and sharpening his spear was something that was effectively muscle memory for him. With one side of the flint sharpened, he pressed his thumb against it to test the edge. It drew a small amount of blood and satisfied, Erik flipped his spear over to work on the other edge.

Flicking over the deer hide, Taya scraped it in long, slow motions,
"Do you dance?" She asked, looking up this time and keeping her eyes on Erik. One of the things Taya enjoyed most was dancing, it was like she was in another place far away from the village.

"Not well." Erik laughed, continuing to make progress on his spear. "Maybe you can show me tonight?" He asked looking back at Taya. When it came to the feasts, he tended to avoid the dancing. He wasn't an awful dancer, but he still imagined Taya would be able to put him to shame.

She nodded, setting the hide aside to use a stick to poke the fire back to life. She got up onto her knees to stir the stew as well before sitting back and pulling the hide up again,
"I will, I promise you will have fun." Taya said as she worked,
"But for now we need to work."

"I'll look forward to it." Erik said as he finished up with his spear. With his spear sharpened he began on his knife, although it hadn't suffered too much on their hunting trip.
"Is there anything you need a hand with?" He asked Taya. With the success of the hunt, he knew he could probably get away with relaxing until the feast, however he didn't want to stop talking to Taya just yet.

She bit her lip, thinking. There wasn't actually much for him to do that she couldn't do herself, but Taya wasn't quite ready to let Erik go yet. Standing to her feet, the young woman held up the cleaned deer skin, examining it with her eyes,
"I need this cut so it lays flat. Unless you want to take it and make something out of it... Something for a special someone..." She said, looking at Erik from the corner of her eye. It was a bold statement, but Taya wasn't a shy girl. Some of the men wanted a quiet, tame girl but Taya hoped Erik didn't mind this little bit of brashness on her part.

Erik smiled. "I'll see what I can come up with." He said, taking the deer skin from Taya. He eyed her for a moment, trying to gauge how big whatever he decided to make would have to be. She hadn't exactly been subtle, but he didn't mind. Erik was far from a skilled craftsman, this kind of job was usually left to the women, and as a result he had little to choose from when it came to what to make. Deciding on some type of dress, he went to work with his knife. If he messed up they're at least be enough of the deer hide to make something else.

Letting him take the skin, Taya turned back to the rest of the skins and began cleaning them quickly. She had dawdled a lot and knew that the other women would be grumbling about her not pulling her weight in helping to make the feast for the evening. She didn't want to leave Erik yet, but she had to. Gathering up the skins in her arms, Taya stood up and sighed,
"I have to get these to dry. I will see you at the feast," She said with a smile.

"See you there." Erik replied smiling back. He watched her leave, already excited to see her again at the feast. There was something about her that he couldn't quite put his finger on. Something good. As he sat working on the deer hide, his thoughts were only of Taya, mainly her large brown eyes he couldn't help but feel he'd be lost in them for hours during the feast.

Taya went to the drying rack and set the furs and skins to drying before she heard an annoyed shout from one of the women for Taya to help them carry in the meat to be cooked. She waved back and began the trek to the cleaning area. The entire trip, the girl thought of Erik and she couldn't stop the happy blush that crept up her cheeks. She smiled into the cold wind, thinking about dancing with Erik later that night, hoping that they would spend most of the night with one another. With a majority of the trip behind her, Taya was grateful to see the group of women growing larger, but the feeling was short lived when a loud growl split the silent air. Taya spun around and her mouth dropped open, a skinny, starving white bear was lumbering in the direction of the group and Taya was in its path.

Backing away quickly, Taya shouted to the other women,
"Bear! Bear! Run!" She cried, spinning around, sprinting away from the bear as the other women jumped up and scattered, all of them screaming. Taya's heart felt like it was going to burst out of her chest, she could hear the bear's heavy puffing breath behind her. A sudden, blinding pain burst across Taya's back and she tumbled forward, crying out from the pain as the bear swiped his giant paw at her again, cutting off Taya's scream This time though, there was no pain, only light and the comforting feeling of warmth enveloping her.