The only answer from above was the sound of a crunching bite taken from the crisp apple. Ivan’s gaze trailed upwards slowly until it came to lock with the steely gray eyes of a bare-chested man who hung out from the side of the building, with one hand clamped like a vise on an overhanging windowsill and his legs bent and braced against the brickwork. His hair was long and dark, his skin deeply tanned.
Ivan’s pupils widened almost imperceptibly at the sight of him. The reaction was not lost on the hanging man.
“Surprised to see me?” he asked. “You greeted me by name.”
“I was looking for the other one,” Ivan said.
“How terribly disappointing for you,” John said. “I won’t keep you from your search, then.”
He kicked out away from the wall, swinging his body out into the space between the buildings.
“Wait,” Ivan said quietly, and John held tight, arresting his motion and then coming to rest once again against the building. “I could use both of you.”
John said nothing, but simply waited. He hadn’t blinked since Ivan had met his gaze.
“We have been attacked,” Ivan said.
“Beasts,” John said. “Stalking beasts.”
“Did you see them?”
John shook his head.
“I smelled them,” he said. “There was something less than natural about them. The whole city reeked of sorcery, last night.”
“Those who know of such things are already looking into it from that side,” Ivan said. “I prefer to pursue other avenues.”
“Such as?”
“You named them beasts,” Ivan said.
“Predators,” John said. “Hunters.”
“Beasts nonetheless,” Ivan said. “And in all the jungles of the world, is there any greater hunter than yourself?”
“You appeal to my ego?”
“What about to duty?” Ivan said. “Tribe has been attacked.”
“You were right. You want the other John,” the hunter said. “I have no need of your model society, your civilization in miniature.”
“War is coming,” Ivan said. “You’ll need us soon enough.”
“Thanks for the apple.”
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Interesting things this story holds…
On a side note, AE, can you watch the ads that come up with this site a little closer. I have already lost most of your other stories to my works content filter, I hope to not lose all of them.
Eep! Update! Wh00t! Now, Im curious.
How exciting, a long-awaited Tribe update! I love how lately each chapter has created increasing numbers of questions about the world.
On another side note, the link from the RSS feed links to the previous chapter, 4.1, rather than this one.
I also second the sentiment about the ads. It’s bad enough I have to put up with suggestive dating ads aimed at sexualities that are not mine every time I check my e-mail, but I’m really not receptive to furry porn, no matter how tastefully it has been arranged. I understand that that may not be how Project Wonderful works, though, so maybe the issue lies with the ad authors, who will no doubt cite freedom of expression, particularly on the Internet, and we will just have to sigh and deal with it. Oh, the downsides of having a widescreen monitor…
Awesome chapter.
Side note: Not to say that AE doesn’t have original characters in this story; but alot of them seemed to be based on different myths and legends. Anyone know what this John(s) character(s) might be based on if they are based on anything? Sounds like such an interesting character/concept; would love to look into it further.
Another side note: I agree as well on the Ychan ads. *shrug*
i don’t know about you guys, but i seriously hope that it doesn’t take her another 2 weeks before there is another chapter. granted this might not be the most popular story, but it does have a loyal following. it’s really not fair that this story gets pushed to the side….i’m just saying.
I think the reason we have to put up with the ads is because the Mu story has a lot larger following, and the ads for that site get put up on this one, On computers I don’t have tribe bookmarked on, I use the other site to get here faster, instead of googling it and see the same ads. *shrug*
That said, I do wish she would update this more often, because not all of us are into stories focused on alternative sex.
Yeah, me too, I guess. Thats the only reason I dont read MU. Its just not my cup of tea.
Seeing as we’re getting to read this wonderful story for the price of bandwidth i don’t think that we can complain about how often it updates – it’s certainly not “unfair” that the author dictates her own schedule.
And on that note: Thank you AE, for publishing these stories on the internet, and not making us all pay for the pleasure of reading them.
*concurs with Ty*
The only way I would see this as being unfair is if we were giving her a fixed payment to view these stories. But as it’s all based on donations there isn’t much for us to do other than accept it and let our opinions be known.
As always: Thanks for your work AE.
Wonder if the other stories have updated….
*meanders off*
first thought is tarzan?
I’m having flashbacks to Ryuuk from Death Note. But this may be because I am a geek. (Then again, as far as AE’s fans go, who isn’t?)
Ivan was definitely looking for Johnny Appleseed, but I’m not sure who this is. John Henry makes no sense… I found ‘Iron John’ on wikipedia, whom I vaguely remember from Grimm – could be him. I’m guessing it is, since he’s a hunter.
Hm, time to catch up on this story.