Rahan. Episode Twenty-Two. The White Arrow. by Roger Lecureux. A Puke (TM) Comic.

Rahan.

Show more

Episode Twenty-Two.

The White Arrow.

The cloud of screaming seagulls escorted the raft, carried by the current, as it approached the island.
"Females-who-walk-upright" Watch out for Rahan!
But where are the men?

Was this unknown land populated only by women?
One would have believed it, to see this horde gathered on the shore.

The “Man-who-comes-from-the-horizon" Is without doubt an enemy!
Show him that we do not fear him!
Lahita!
A young girl drew her bow and aimed at the sky.

Page Two:

The son of Crao saw the long arrow, with its empennage of black feathers rise very quickly.
Then fall back to his raft.

Where it struck with astonishing precision.
Plong!
The one who shot this arrow is of great skill!
Rahan will have to beware!

A moment later a group of women attacked the raft, clinging to it and throwing Rahan into the water.
Stop! Stop!
Rahan does not come as an enemy!
Release me!

Release me!
The son of Crao was a marvelous swimmer, but these strangers advanced in the water even better than him!

They dragged him down into the glaucous depths, only bringing him back to the surface when he was out of breath.

Page Three:

Exhausted and panting, he was brought back by their help onto the beach.
Lahita could have killed you with her arrow!
But she wanted to know who you are and what you came to do!

I am Rahan, son of Crao!
It is the current of the "Great River" that pushed Rahan towards your territory!

As women approach with vines he exclaimed.
Rahan will not be bound by your companions!

He reached for his ivory knife, but Lahita's bow was already up.

Chtonc!
The arrow with black feathers, slipping into the lancet of the weapon, prevented him from drawing it!

Page Four:

You should have killed him, Lahita!
If we have pity, he will come back with his clan to seize our territory!

Rahan will not flee our island!
Take his cutlass and burn his raft!
When the men return, they will decide his fate!

After the formidable address of Lahita, the son of Crao allowed himself to be disarmed.
Rahan means you no harm.

Those who live over the horizon too often speak the language of lies!
You will remain captive until the return of the fishermen!

A moment later, on a pyre of dry palms, the raft was on fire!
Rahan no longer had any means of fleeing this shore, where the women were consulting each other on the fate which was reserved for him.

Page Five:

Some, the most numerous, demanded that the captive be thrown to the sharks.
His coming is a bad omen! He must die!

Others suggested waiting for the return of the fishermen, gone on the "Great River" for several moons.
Lahita was one of them.

And Lahita imposed her point of view.
Rahan will remain free to move about, but we will keep his knife!

A curious captivity began for the son of the fierce ages.
Without a boat, he could not face the ocean.

Should he, for days on end, live with these women, most of whom were hostile to him?
Rahan carries a strange necklace!
These are claws.
Animal claws as there are only on the "Great territory"!

Page Six:

This claw is that of "Courage".
This one from "Goodness".
That of “Loyalty”.
Lahita seemed moved.

Our clan also symbolizes qualities and feelings with objects.
Here, look.

She pointed in her quiver, among the black arrows, to an arrow with a white tail.
This arrow is that of "Friendship"!

The one at whose feet we stick the white arrow becomes forever the friend of our clan!

Lahita, who seemed to have sympathy for the captive, showed him around the island.
Rahan was surprised to discover a crater outlet where sharks were swimming.

Page Seven:

He understood that the sharks, coming from the "Great River", had access to this natural pit by an underwater passage.

Death to the enemy! Throw him in the pit!
A few women rushed towards the son of Crao.

The club that one of them was wielding was torn from her fingers by an arrow from Lahita.
Schtok!

Rahan must flee this island!
Otherwise, one day, Lahita will not be there to help him and those women will kill him!

Three times the sun disappeared on the horizon.
Rahan had undertaken to build himself a hut on the shore.
They gave him back his knife during the day, but confiscated it at night.

Page Eight:

Sometimes a long black arrow struck near him.
But it was only a joke from the skillful Lahita!
Shtrok!

To gain the confidence of the women who were hostile to him, the son of Crao taught them many things unknown in those fierce ages.

He revealed to them the mystery of the noose that he himself had discovered some time before.

He taught them to sew thin skins together.
So the “Man-who-comes-from-the-horizon” knows everything?

Rahan's hut was now complete.
It stood on the beach, a hundred paces from the village.
And the captive often came there to meditate.

Page Nine:

Rahan does not know what fate the fishermen have reserved for him on their return!
Rahan must escape!!

That morning the women who had gone to fish in the rocks came back disappointed.
The fish have fled our shore!
We will not eat today!

Why do you not fish for sharks in the "Great Pit?"
Rahan always has curious ideas!!

And how could we capture these sharks?
Follow Rahan. He will show you!

Shortly after, the son of Crao had prepared his trap.
A strong hook was baited with a small squid.
And tied to a very long vine.

Page Ten:

He tied this vine to the fork of a tree and threw the bait into the shark crater.

A moment later, under the amazed gaze of the women, the vine suddenly stretched!
A shark had jumped on the bait!

Using the forked tree as a hoist, Rahan pulled the shark up.
A clamor of joy greeted its appearance.

He is not very big.
But Rahan is certain that at daybreak we will find another one at the end of the trap!

The women took the shark to the village.
Rahan threw his "Line" back into the pit.

Page Eleven:

Rahan hopes, this time, to have won their trust!
Joy reigned that evening around the fire.

But as the son of fierce ages went back to his hut.
Zlang!
You forgot one thing, Rahan!

Lahita was there, smiling and mischievous.
Your knife!
You know you have to hand it to me every night!

It was difficult for Rahan to give up his precious ivory knife, but he obeyed.
When will the fishermen return?

In four or five moons.
Maybe more!
Rahan will not wait all this time!
Rahan will flee tomorrow!

Page Twelve:

At daybreak the son of Crao went to the shark crater.
The vine of the trap was ready to snap.

A huge shark was struggling at the end of the "Line".
The other sharks had fled.

Rahan braced himself to reel in his catch when Lahita appeared in the distance, behind him.

The "Big Monster" sometimes comes into the pit!
Could Rahan have captured it??

Once again the mischievous Lahita wanted to display her skill.
She aimed at the vine where Rahan was hanging with all his weight.

Page Thirteen:

The black arrow cleanly sliced the fibers, and the son of Crao, suddenly unbalanced, disappeared into the crater!

Lahita rushed forward.
But it was too late.
Under water, Rahan was pursued by the big shark!

Lahita is stupid!
Lahita has unwittingly sacrificed Rahan!
Furious with herself, the young girl broke her bow on a rock.
Crack!

The son of the fierce ages had just avoided a shark attack.
This one still had the hook in its mouth and dragged the long vine.

This is where the water from the "Great River" arrives!
But Rahan can't escape that way.
He would not have enough breath.
The shark returned to the attack.

Page Fourteen:

The son of Crao, once again dodging the monstrous jaws, suddenly had an idea.
The vine! The vine can help Rahan!

He seized the vine as he passed and swam towards the wall of the pit.
If Rahan succeeds in trapping her in this fault.

As the nose of the shark came around, the line slackened.

Thus entrapped with the vine attached to the wall, the shark was no longer a danger to him.
He was saved!
He was coming to the surface, when.

A huge "Thing" came out of the underwater passage.
A "Thing" like he had never seen before.

Page Fifteen:

This vile "Thing" had many arms.
One of them suddenly circled Rahan's waist!

"The Great Monster"! Rahan has been captured by the “Great Monster”!!
Lahita pointed at the crater in panic, to her companions who had just arrived.

They could all make out the shark which was thrashing about violently at the end of the vine which bound it.
And all saw the monstrous octopus and its victim.

Lahita should not have broken her bow!!
She could have helped Rahan!!

The son of Crao suddenly felt he was being lifted above the water by the tentacle that encircled him.

Page Sixteen:

Then he was brutally brought back under water by the horrible "Thing".
He caught a glimpse of eyes between the cupped arms.

Once again he was lifted out of the water.
He made out the women massed at the edge of the crater and yelled.
The Knife!!!

Rahan needs his knife!
Quickly Lahita, Quickly!!
The water into which the octopus again plunged him muffled his cries.

Lahita hesitated.
What would happen if Rahan did not catch the knife she was about to throw to him?

Yet when the son of fierce ages reappeared on the surface for the third time, she threw the weapon.

Page Seventeen:

And Rahan, with his free hand, barely caught the knife.
Ra-ha-ha!

The ivory blade plunged again and again into the shapeless body of the "Thing".
All around Rahan the water turned red.

Then it suddenly turned black, and the grip of the arm with the suction cups loosened.
Ra-ha-ha!

The son of Crao struck again and again.
Above him, the screams of women punctuated every blow he gave the monster.

When the tentacles stopped waving, Rahan took a deep breath.
And his clamor of victory thundered in the crater.
Ra-ha-ha!

Page Eighteen:

An instant later, he was hoisted up with a line thrown by Lahita.
The surface of the water beneath him was veined with black and red.

Rahan has triumphed over the "Great Monster"!
Rahan deserves our respect!
He will now keep his knife!

You are wrong, Lahita!
The men will never accept that we have treated an "Enemy" with so much mercy.

The men will not find Rahan!
When they return, Rahan will be far away on the great river!

Over several days the son of Crao had made a plan!
He put it into practice that night.
From the village no one heard him disassemble his hut.

Page Nineteen:

He pulled down the heavy bulkhead he had built with the intention of making himself a Raft.

The wind is with Rahan.
He stuck a bamboo pole in it, to which he attached the skins he had specially sewn.

Indeed, he was already far from the shore when cries rang out.
The enemy has escaped!
Kill him Lahita, kill him!

In the moonlight that flooded the beach, Rahan caught a glimpse of the young girl who was stringing her new bow.

Lahita's arrows always hit their mark!
The only chance for Rahan is to jump into the water!!
Crack!

Page Twenty:

He was in the dark water, clinging to his raft, when the whistle of the arrow sounded.
Buzz!

This one stuck with a dry noise in the bamboo pole, and the son of the fierce ages howled with joy.
The white arrow!

He hoisted himself onto the Raft because he knew he had nothing more to fear.
Thank you Lahita!
Thank you!
Maybe Rahan will come back one day!

The white arrow of friendship!
As the wind carried him rapidly out to sea, Rahan twirled the arrow with white feathers in his fingers for a long time.
The Arrow of Friendship!

This token of friendship was the most beautiful present ever received by the son of fierce ages.
That is why he still admired it, when the rays of the rising sun came to redden the white empennage.

Show less