The smell of earth and rain flood my senses as I blink my eyes open. The familiar pounding of drums and the holler of the children outside wake the village up. Shuffling and hushed whispers fill the stone house as the other families wake. My eyes reluctantly open to see the stone ceiling, growing mossy and wet. My back aches as I rise from my sleeping area and I turn to my left to find Chanyeol still snoring peacefully. Baekhyun who’s beside him simply covers his ears with his hands and turns the other way. I throw grass in his face as I hiss at him to wake up, knowing the consequences we get for sleeping in for too long. Chanyeol spits out the grass and groans in annoyance, turning around to cuddle Baekhyun. I stand up and kick the two before changing out of my sleeping clothes into the cloth I usually wear outside. 

Unlike the other members of our village, I don’t enjoy showing off my skin. The rest of the Aztecs wear only lower body clothing with the exception of females, but I wear a long cloth that my mother made for me about 3 years ago. I rub my eyes and yawn as I look at the other people emerging from their dwellings, all dark-skinned and muscular from hunting animals. Yixing and Jongdae emerge from their dwelling across the clearing, acknowledging me with a nod of their heads before walking away towards the eating area. A shove at my back causes me to stumble on my feet and I groan as the annoying snicker of the two little devils erupt behind me. 

“Soo, you’re so small, didn’t see you there,” Chanyeol snickers, probably elbowing Baekhyun for acknowledgment. 

“Chanyeol, didn’t you loose a chicken yesterday because you tripped over your ogre feet?” I asked, raising my eyebrow even though they couldn’t see my face. I turn around to look at their reactions and find Baekhyun nearly rolling on the floor while Chanyeol looking bright red as he mumbled for Baekhyun to stop laughing. “Come on Baek, let’s go” I patted Baekhyun on the back and we walked towards the eating area while the boy beside me snickered quietly. 

Few seconds later, the heavy footsteps of Chanyeol grew louder as he approached us and whined about leaving him behind. 

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We arrived at the eating area after constant nagging and whining from Chanyeol about how tired he was or how hungry he was or “how come none of my friends are even nice to me”. We ignored him like usual, rolling eyes as Baekhyun discussed what was for breakfast. We sat down at the regular table we sat at, consisting of Yixing, Jongdae, Minseok, Junmyeon, and occasionally Yifan, Zitao, Luhan, and Sehun if they were feeling bored. Today was one of those days where everyone was sat in the circle where we usually eat, the regular meal of corn, beans, and vegetables in the middle. 

“Chanyeol stop whining and sit down and eat.” Yifan said, munching on his corn but then offering it to Zitao who was staring at it earnestly. Zitao accepted it happily and ate the rest of the corn while Yifan went to grab another one. 

Chanyeol pouted and sat down, pulling Baekhyun down with him. I grabbed some corn and beans and sat down next to them, quietly munching on it and satisfying the growl that came from my stomach. The loud talking in our circle multiplied the moment we sat down, making the rest of the groups around us shake their heads, grumbling about how us young ones could be so energetic in the morning. 

This was regular, and I had grown used to it. The calm atmosphere, the laughs we would share while eating and the groans from the groups who happened to sit next to us. After this, we would be assigned our duties of the day, whether it be hunting food, maintaining the fields, or some random duty that had to be done. After that, we would return for another meal that accompanied hushed laughter and happy atmospheres, and then we would return to our dwelling to look towards the next day. It became ritual to us, every single day a repeat of the one it was before for 24 years with the exception of special ritual days. 

So when the families were interrupted by the head chief, we were curious as to what was going on. It took a few hits to Chanyeol’s leg for him to stop talking, but nonetheless the camp grew quiet quickly. 

“As you know, this years harvest has gone well, and we have had no problems hunting or going on with our lives, so for that I want to congratulate you.” chief says, and as he pauses, whoops and shouts of pride erupt from around the campground. “However, the day we all know is approaching and we will need to send one man off from the Eckso tribe to participate in this year’s selections.” The campground goes silent and it seems as if all of us stop breathing. “You all know the rules of the selections, it’s done completely by random and we will announce a few days before the selections start, which will be about 7 days from now.” the chief smiles sadly before continuing. “However this year is the year of the coronation for the new King. To ensure the gods are happy, we will be sending off 3 people from each tribe.” Quiet mumbles and whispers break out amongst the crowd, and Kyungsoo goes pale. He completely forgot about the coronation, and he looks around the circle to see everyone’s reaction the same. “I hope you guys live up your life to the fullest these 7 days, for you won’t know if it will be the last ones of your life. Sorry for interrupting you, please continue your meal. We will be announcing the rotations in a little bit.” the Chief steps down from the mound and walks down to rejoin his family and their meal, all of their faces solemn and grim. I turn around to look at everyone else, the mood from earlier completely ruined. Everyone’s faces were a shade paler and even the indifferent Yixing looks as terrified as the rest of us. No one continues their meal, let alone speak, and we all stay still in shock and fear. 

Junmyeon, the known mother of our group, looks around at the rest of us, worry imprinted into his face. “Let’s not think about it for now shall we? Come on, eat up, we need to go work soon. We can’t go to work hungry.” he says, attempting to make us feel better. Jongdae weakly smiles at him before picking up his corn and nibbling it, much less than he did before. Zitao fiddled with Yifan’s free hand as he quietly talked with him, Yifan looking at him kindly and comforting him with his words. Chanyeol and Baekhyun, the two who were known throughout the tribe as the happy-go-lucky kids who were never down, were completely silent and still. Baekhyun slowly ate his vegetables while Chanyeol looked at the ground with wide eyes. The rest of the group had similar reactions, slowly snapping out of it to continue their feast. I sighed, picking up my corn again and nibbling it, my mind growing emptier by the minute. 

Nonetheless, the rest of the day went on. As usual, I led the hunting group due to my speed and skills in tracking but, again, I didn’t partake in the actual hunting of the animal. A lot of people always ridiculed me for that, saying what good is a male who can’t hunt. But I took pride in my speed and my ability to find the prey, for if I weren’t there, we might not be as good off of a tribe as we were. We returned to the bed, the whole entire camp silent. The elders who usually stayed up later to tell stories to the kids or gamble amongst themselves were cooped up in their houses. The kids who argued with their parents to continue to play with the others were huddled up against their mothers in the safety of their arms. It seemed that even the crickets hid away and the cicadas quieted their screeches all for the sake of our tribe. I emptied my mind to be able to sleep, ignoring the quiet whimpers and the stressful rustling coming from the others around me. I turned to face the ceiling, letting darkness overtake my sight as I let out a deep breath. 

May the gods be with our camp.