Hunter's Academy (Veller)

by Spoor, Garry

  “No one is just going to lie down and die.” One cadet yelled out.

  “You would be surprised.” Folkstaff replied. “Sometimes it’s easier to just, as you say, lie down and die, than it is to keep fighting to survive, and in many cases it may not be your choice. There are a lot of factors that can influence our decisions. The cold for instance…” he said as he grabbed a hand full of snow and held it up for the cadets to see, as if there wasn’t an abundance of the stuff all around to begin with. “Prolonged exposure to the cold can lead to exhaustion to such a point where it becomes easier to just stop trying and give in to the situation. Thirst, hunger, illness, loss of blood, these weaken us and can also lead us to that same point, that mental numbness, that indifference to whether we live or we die. It creeps up on you, silently, quietly, until eventually… what’s the point. What’s the difference if I die here or over there? What's the difference if I die today… or tomorrow? You won't’ realize it's happening unless you’re looking for it, in yourself and in your companions.”

  Kile was paying close attention to the man as he spoke. Not so much what he said, but how he said it. The look in his eyes, the expression on his face, she was getting the feeling that Master Folkstaff wasn’t stating facts from a book, but from his own experience.

  “How would you know?” Daniel asked and for a second Kile though he had directed the question at her. “If you’ve gotten to that point of not wanting to go on, wouldn’t it be too late?”

  “I know what you’re trying to say.” Folkstaff replied with a slow nod of his head since everything this man did seemed to be slow, but there was that look in his eyes, that far away expression. He didn’t just know; he had actually been there. “In many ways you’re right. It is easier to see the warning signs in someone else than it is to see it in ourselves. That is why we have to keep it in the back of our mind, so that when that time comes, you will be able to see the signs. You may wake up one morning and figure, I don’t think I’ll search for water today, I’m too tired, or the water will always be there tomorrow. Those thoughts, the ones that keep you from trying to survive, to not do what you know you should do are the first step on the path to the acceptance of death.”

  “But then how does comfort fall into it?” Carter asked.

  “Ah, comfort. Are you comfortable right now?”

  “Um… no, not really.” Carter replied as he shifted his seat. It was almost as if talking about it reminded him of how uncomfortable the rocks were that he was sitting on.

  “Is anyone here comfortable, I mean truly comfortable?” Folkstaff asked as he looked over the class.

  There was a few grumbled and again the occasional snide remark that only proved Folkstaff’s point as the Hunter grinned. Kile, on the other hand, was comfortable enough, although she wasn’t going to say so.

  “I’m sure most of you would probably prefer to be back in your beds right about now, or better yet, in the warmth of the dining hall with the fire burning and food laid out on the tables before you. Maybe a stay at the Purple Hog, where the beer flows like water and the mattress are six inches thick, and stuffed with down feathers.”

  There was a general note of approval and even Kile had to agree, a feathered bed would be nice to try, at least once in her life.

  “There is no danger in comfort.” Folkstaff assured them. “It is only the desire of comfort that poses a danger. When we go out of our way to seek comfort that is not available to us, when we pass up an opportunity for food or water that we would otherwise find distasteful, that is dangerous.

  “In reality they are both mindsets, ways of thinking. We have to change our way of thinking, if we are going to survive in the wild. I’m sure some of you are sitting here today, asking yourself ‘why should I care about this when all I have to do is just ride on to the next town?’ and sure enough, most of you may never find yourself in a situation where you will have to worry about surviving on a day to day basis. Most of you will probably receive your assignments from the guild in the mornings and have them completed before the sun sets in the afternoon, and you may live out your entire career as a Hunter in this fashion, and in those rare cases where an assignment may last more than one day, you’ll have the supplies necessary to see you through, but that might not always be the situation. Case in point, your homework… we will be spending the night… here.”

  “Here!”

  It was a general exclamation of the entire group as they looked around their rather bleak surroundings, realizing that none of them had more than the clothes on their backs. This started out to be a lecture, now it was some exercise in survival. Some of the cadets sat and pouted, others openly complained, and a few talked about walking back to the academy, that was if they knew the way back, but in the end, nobody did anything. Typical, Kile thought, all talk, no action, she was actually looking forward to it, but by the looks on the faces of her friends, she was the only one.

  “You know the basics; you’ve learned them in class, now I want to see how you perform in a more… natural environment.” Folkstaff said, getting back to his feet. “This is a solo assignment. You will all go off on your own, not too far mind you, close enough that we can all hear you scream should you need help, but far enough that you can not see your neighbor. We wouldn’t want people spying on one another would we? You will be given three hours before I start making my rounds. Within those three hours you should be able to secure your basic needs. Since there are no hostile forces or wild animals in the general vicinity, you will only be responsible for food, water, shelter and fire.”

  “But we don’t have any supplies?” One cadet yelled from the back of the group.

  “Yeah, how can you make a fire without a striker?”

  “Or a knife, we don’t even have a knife to cut the wood.”

  “We don’t have anything to hold water in, how are we supposed to hold water?”

  Folkstaff just shook his head as the complaints continued; this was going to be a long three hours.

  “All I’m asking is for you to try; just do your best.” The hunter said, holding up his hands to gain the cadets attention. “The wild has everything you need to survive; all you have to do is find it. This is for your own piece of mind, so you will understand what it is you’re capable of doing. Anything goes, with the possible acceptation of bodily harm to another cadet, beyond that, anything goes.”

  “So we can use our edge?”

  Kile recognized that voice as she turned to see Eric standing on the edge of the clearing. Of course he would want to know if he could use his edge, being influenced by the sphere of fire meant that he had one part of the assignment completed already.

  “Of course you can use your edge; it is part of who you are.” Folkstaff replied.

  A few cadets grinned at this, others groaned. It didn’t exactly set a fair table, some people, like Eric, would have an unfair advantage, but then fire isn’t going to build you a shelter or bring you food.

  “If that is all the questions, then please, get started. You have three hours, and then I will be coming around to see how far you’ve progressed.”

  Kile watched Eric disappear into the tree line on the opposite side of the clearing. She wanted to be as far away from him as she could.

  “Good luck.” Daniel told her, catching her off guard.

  “Oh… yeah, same to you, but then I figured you're already one up on me.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “You’re a healer and you’re influenced by water. You could probably make any water drinkable by… rearranging it the way you do.”

  “I… never thought of that.” He said as the idea made its way into his head. “That’s not a bad idea; I’ll have to give that a try.”

  “Glad I could help.” Kile mumbled as she trudged off into the snow.

  She set off through the woods a good distance until she was sure she was out of sight of everyone. How Master Folkstaff would find all the cadets scattered about the woods was anyone
’s guess. His edge, she thought, although she had no idea what that was. He must know what he’s doing she figured, and set her mind to the task at hand.

  It didn’t take her long to find what she was looking for, a large pine tree with low hanging branches. With a little work she could turn that into a natural shelter in no time, there, that was one task already… partly… completed. That only left food, water and fire. Water was easy, she had the snow all around her, but she would have to melt it first, which lead her to fire. That would have to be the most important obstacle to overcome.

  Clearing the snow from a patch of ground she created her fire pit; close enough to her shelter to provide heat, far enough way to prevent the pine tree from going up in flames. She could hear it now, cadet sets fire to side of mountain. She dug out some stones from under the pine tree to create a smoother surface for her to sleep on, and used the stones as a fire shield to redirect the heat back toward the shelter. Using the dead pine needles as tinder and the smaller branches as kindling she was all set to start her fire, too bad she wasn’t sure how to do that.

  Leon had once showed her how to build a fire when she first expressed an interest in becoming a hunter. Unfortunately he used a piece of flint and a small knife to get his fire going, neither of which Kile had on her at the moment. When she was nine she watched Erin Silvia start a fire, that was just after the hunter found her in the woods, but then she used a striker.

  “Note to self, always carry a piece of flint and a knife.” She said as she sat and stared at the pile of tinder hoping that it would suddenly burst into flame. When she got around to writing that book on adventuring, she would definitely have to include a chapter on what to bring with you no matter where you’re going.

  That just left the old stand by of rubbing two sticks together.

  She found two straight looking sticks, at least as straight as she could find, and set about trying to rub them together over the tinder, but as hard as she rubbed, the more foolish she felt. This must be why he didn’t want them to see each other, she thought, that way they couldn’t tease each other back at the academy.

  -What she doing?-

  -What she doing?-

  -Don’t know.-

  -Strange.-

  -Strange.-

  -What she doing?-

  -Don’t know.-

  Kile set the sticks down and quickly looked around the forest, but she couldn’t see anything. The voices were rapid, chattering to one another but it was difficult to actually tell how many there were since they all sounded pretty much the same. The images that came to her in the voices, were looking down on her, and so she scanned the trees, but still couldn’t find their source.

  “Is anyone there?” She asked.

  -Heard us?-

  -No… can’t.-

  -Did, heard us she did.-

  “Yes, I can hear you.” She called out quietly. The last thing she needed was for Master Folkstaff or another cadet to hear her talking to herself in the middle of the forest.

  “Where are you?”

  -Up.-

  -Up.-

  -Up high.-

  She looked up into the tree again, but still, she couldn’t see anyone or anything.

  “Why don’t you come out, I won’t hurt you.” She called to the voices.

  -Trust her?-

  -Vir… she is vir.-

  -Vir can’t hear, vir don’t listen.-

  -Trust her?-

  -Yes.-

  Something dropped out of the tree behind her and she slowly turned around as it came scampering across the snow at her, It’s large bushy tail sticking up like a flag to mark its place on the ground. She laughed at herself as the squirrel stood up on her stone firewall.

  -You are who?-

  “My name is Kile, Kile Veller.”

  -Kile… Kile Veller.-

  “Do you have a name?” She asked the squirrel who looked up the tree as if he was somehow communicating this new piece of information to the others who must be up there.

  -Tik.-

  “Tik, that’s your name, is that what they call you?”

  -Tik.-

  “I don’t suppose you know how to start a fire… do you?”

  -You are asking a squirrel how to start a fire?-

  That voice she did recognize as she quickly looked around at the tree again.

  “Kaza, where are you?”

  The crow drifted down from one of the higher branches and landed on the rock wall, startling the squirrel, although he didn’t run very far, his curiosity kept him close.

  “What are you doing out here, is there something wrong?”

  -Nothing's wrong. I was just spreading my wings when I saw you guys out in the woods. Wanted to see what you were up to.-

  “How long have you been up there?”

  -Long enough to hear you ask a squirrel how to start a fire. If they could, do you think the forest would be safe?-

  The Crow asked as he hopped down into the fire pit and kicked the tinder aside.

  -It’s a good thing I did come along, you couldn’t start a fire if your life depended on it.-

  “And you can?”

  -I’ve seen it done.-

  “Without the use of the mystic arts, because that’s not my area of expertise.” She reminded him.

  -Without the use of the mystic arts.-

  He assured her.

  -What you need is a bow and drill, or I can fly back to the academy and fetch you a piece of flint.-

  “No, that wouldn’t seem fair.” She said as she piled the tinder back up. “Besides, I want to try to do this on my own, well… with your help, if you tell me how… but then… wouldn’t that be cheating too.”

  -Not the way I see it, didn’t the tall vir tell you that you could use your edge.-

  “Well, yeah, but I don’t know if this is exactly what he had in mind.”

  -Then how else are you suppose to use your edge. You are a rare vir, you have the ability to communicate with the natural world, that is your edge and you are allowed to use that edge during this assignment.-

  “Well, I suppose.” She replied. She wanted Kaza’s help, she needed Kaza’s help, but she wasn’t going to go as far as to send him to the academy to get a piece of flint, that would borderline on the definition of cheating… in a way. “Okay, I will use my edge… and ask you for help.”

  -Help?-

  -Help?-

  -We want to help.”

  -Help Kile.”

  -We want to help Kile.”

  Kile looked up at the tree again as the voices came chattering in her head. How many squirrels were up there she wondered?

  “I’m not really sure how you can help.” She told them, although she didn’t want to dismiss them so quickly. It was nice of them to offer, but she wasn’t sure what they could do. The only thing that came to mind was food, not that she could or would ever eat a squirrel, but they knew the area better than she did, and she had wasted so much time rubbing two sticks together that she still had to get her shelter built. She turned to Tik who was still sitting upon the rocks waiting eagerly for something to do.

  “Can you find me food?” She asked.

  -Food.-

  -Food.-

  -Food.-

  -What kind?-

  At least one of them was thinking, although she wasn’t sure she knew the answer. It would probably be something like an edible plant, something that a vir could eat that wouldn’t make her ill, something that could be found in the immediate area, something that they could carry.

  -Yes.-

  -Know where.-

  -Food.-

  -Food.-

  The forest suddenly came alive as somewhere in the neighborhood of twenty squirrels started to pour from the pine trees all around her.

  “Why do I have a bad feeling about this?” She asked as she watched them all race off in the same direction.

  -Because you just set loose an army of little thieves.-

  Kaza replied.


  Kile was amazed as she warmed her hands by the fire. She would have never thought it possible to start a fire with two sticks and a length of string pulled and braided from her cloak. Kaza sat on the edge of a tree branch, not far from her, and watched. She could have sworn there was a bit of pride, a bit of swagger in the way the crow perched there.

  “Proud of yourself are you?”

  -I taught a vir how to harness fire.-

  The crow said a he stretched his wings to the sky as if declaring it to the heavens.

  “I would have figured it out… eventually.”

  -Eventually takes time, and time you don’t have.-

  “Well, that’s fire out of the way then, now for water and shelter.”

  Water was going to be more of a problem then she had thought as she looked for something to melt the snow in. The only thing she had that could hold water was also the only thing she had that could keep it out, her brother’s hat. She took it off, turned it upside down and began to fill it with hand full of snow.

  It wouldn’t do for her to just toss the hat onto the fire, it would go up in flames before the snow ever melted. Instead she moved it as close as she dared to the heat and, with the help of a pair of sticks, picked up one of the warmer stones and dropped it into her hat. With the warmth of the stone slowly melting the snow, she set about fixing her shelter.

  -It would appear that you have learned a few things after all.-

  The old crow commented

  “It was bound to happen, wasn’t it?”

  -I suppose.-

  She wove the lower branches of the tree together with a few stray twigs that were scattered about. It didn’t need to be much, just enough to keep the snow and the wind at bay. When she was finished she crawled in and sat with her back against the truck of the tree, looking out over the snow covered field, and was surprised on how comfortably warm the entire set up was.

  “I could really get used to this.” She said.

  -I can’t-

  Kaza replied as he landed in the opening of her shelter.

  -I’m out of here child, this cold does not do well for my wings.-

  “Morgan will probably be worried about you.”

  -Worried? That old vir, he probably doesn’t even know I’m gone.-