Hunter's Beginning (Veller)

by Spoor, Garry

  “I’ll see what I can do.” He assured her as he bent over the small furry little creature and pulled the rest of the towel away. There were some broken bones, those were easy to detect, as well as some cuts and lacerations that had already been tended to, he chalked that up the Luke. What worried him the most was internally.

  It wasn’t exactly the first non-human patient he ever had. Back in Procton that was all the Quigley would let him tend to for the first few years, so it wasn’t all guess work, but it was the smallest patient he ever had.

  Daniel laid his hands gently on the yarrow, he could feel its heat and the beating of its heart, which was very fast and very strong, and that was always a good sign. He closed his eyes and closed out the rest of the world as he fell into his edge. Healing through the mystic arts was kind of like untangling a ball of string, the more damage, the more string. A broken bone was easy, you just had to untie the knot, a laceration required the mystic to join two pieces of string together, it was when the damage was extensive that the problems occurred, with so many pieces of string, it was difficult to know where to start, and of course the size of the patient doesn’t help either, the smaller the patient, the thinner the string, or in this case it was closer to thread. Under these circumstances, he would have admitted defeat before he even started, but he couldn’t do that to Kile.

  Luke pulled the girl out of the room to let Daniel to do what ever it was that he could do, the last thing he needed was to have her hovering over him. Once outside she paced the stables and wonder what she could have done better, or faster that would have prevented this.

  “Blaming yourself doesn’t do anyone any good.”

  Kile turned to see Luke sitting against the wall. There was a familiarity about the stable hand that Kile just couldn’t place. She knew if she had a little more time and less on her mind she might be able to pinpoint it, but all she could think about now was Vesper.

  “You’re going to have to learn that it’s part of nature’s way. The cat was not to blame in this, neither was the yarrow careless. Their paths just crossed, one must win to survive, that is the way of things.”

  “I know, but it doesn’t mean I have to like it.”

  “This is true.” Luke replied.

  “And I don’t have to accept it.” She added as she looked at the hole that the cat had used to make its escape. If it hadn’t stopped when it did she would have lost Vesper for sure, but why did it stop?

  “One does not argue with the wind, this is just the way of things. Argue with the wind and you’ll only lose your voice while the wind continues to blow.”

  “Not to mention the fact they’ll probably throw you in the loony bin.” She added and the otherwise gloomy stable hand laughed.

  “This is also true.” He said, he was about to add something more, but thought better of it, letting Kile pace the width of the barn in silence.

  She had lost all track of time when Daniel finally stepped out of the office. He looked drained as he ran his hand through his hair. Kile stared at him, waiting for him to say something, but afraid of what he might have to say.

  “I did all that I can do, but he’s doing a lot better and fortunately there were no real injuries to speak of, nothing a little untangling couldn’t fix.”

  “So he’ll be alright?” Kile asked.

  “Well, it’s really up to him now. A little bed rest is all he really needs.”

  “Thank you.” She said as she hugged Daniel, and then ran back into the office.

  “What you did was a very good thing.” Luke told Daniel as the boy sat down on the bench beside the wall.

  “I really didn’t have much of a choice.” Daniel shrugged. “But to get all that worked up over a yarrow, it’s just… weird. I mean, she’s usually pretty strong and rather distant.”

  “We all have our weaknesses.” Luke replied. “Regardless, you did the right thing, and that’s what it means to be a Hunter.”

  ***~~~***

  14

  The noise outside the room was getting louder as the boys were now running up and down the hall yelling something. Kile didn’t know what, and frankly she didn’t care as she finished another page of the work that Master Adams had assigned. A now familiar shape ran up the side of the chest of drawers and sat upon the small black ebony box, and stared at her.

  “And where have you been?” She asked, without looking up from her work.

  -Around.-

  “Around is not an answer. You haven’t been getting into anyone’s stuff have you?”

  -Stuff?-

  This time she did look up as Vesper cocked his head.

  “Yeah, stuff, as in other people’s property. Besides, you’re not suppose to be running around outside anyway, you’re still recovering.”

  -Feel better.-

  Kile had to admit that the yarrow’s recovery was quick considering the state he was in only two weeks ago. She had thought she had lost him, now it looked as if she wasn’t going to be able to get rid of him, not that she wanted to. She enjoyed having Vesper around, it gave her somebody to talk to, that was when he was actually around and not exploring the rest of the compound. He came and went as he pleased through a small hole in the baseboard. She had made him a bed in the bottom drawer of the dresser for the nights that he did stay, not that he ever used it. He preferred curling up on the pillow beside her head, and on more than one morning she had woken up to him staring at her.

  “Okay, so where have you been?” She asked as she set aside her work and closed her eyes. Vesper jumped down from the dresser and climbed up on the bed. He sat in front of her and then closed his own eyes. This was somewhat of a regular routine that they shared as Vesper relayed his entire exploits to Kile in her head. At first it took some getting used to, but the more they did it, the easier it became. She had explored the entire compound vicariously through Vesper, and seen things from a completely different view point. Most of it was fascinating, a bit of it was disgusting and then there was the time that Vesper found his way into Master Boraro’s bathroom, now there was a vision she wished she could forget.

  A knock on the door broke the connection as Kile jumped out of bed, grabbing the small metal box and closed off the heat. Vesper was down the bed and in the safety of his bottom drawer before she ever reached the door. She pulled it open and peeked out into the hall.

  “Hey Kile girl whatcha doing.” Alex shouted. He had a bright red scarf wrapped around his neck, one that she hadn’t seen before as well as a matching stocking cap.

  “What do you want Alex?” She asked, ignoring the fact that he had called her Kile girl again. It was becoming a routine with him, and she hated to admit it, she was getting used to it. It was either that or she had to keep slapping him upside the head every time he said it, and she was starting to think he enjoyed that too much.

  “The guys were wondering if you were coming to the dinning hall for Hobin’s Day.”

  “Hobin’s day? What’s that?” She asked.

  “You know, winter’s feast?”

  There was that certain tone in Alex’s voice that Kile was beginning to know all too well. The tone that simply asked the question, where have you been living, under a rock.

  “Oh, yeah… Winter’s… feast.”

  “You’ve never heard of it… have you?” Alex asked.

  “Sure I have, I just forgot, was that today?”

  Somehow this was not going to fly as Alex just stared at her. How was she to know what festivals they practiced in Procton?

  “Yeah, I guess I’ll go, I just have to finish up Master Adam’s assignment for tomorrow.”

  “Tomorrow?”

  And again, there was that tone.

  “Yeah, tomorrow, you know, like the day after today.”

  “There are no classes tomorrow.”

  “Why not?”

  “Hobin’s day, Winter’s Feast.” Alex repeated, and again with that tone in his voice.

  “Wait, you're telling me they’re ca
nceling classes tomorrow.”

  “You’re kidding me, aren’t you?” He asked, with that tone in his voice. Kile slammed the door in his face.

  “Vesper?” She called out as she sat down on the bed. The yarrow came out of his bottom drawer and scurried up the side of the bed beside her.

  “Have you ever heard of Hobin’s Day or Winter’s Feast.”

  -Big festival, lots of food, dancing, lots of noise.-

  “Great, even the rats had heard of it.” Kile sighed, now she must look like a complete idiot.

  -Yarrow.-

  “Sorry Vesper, I didn’t mean to insult you.”

  -Vesper show Kile.-

  “Show me what?” She asked. She didn’t really want to know all the differences between yarrows and rats.

  -Vesper show Kile Winter Feast.-

  Well this should be good for a lark she thought, but she was game for anything at the moment. She sat on the bed and closed her eyes and Vesper took her on a tour through the town. Of course seeing the festival from a rodent’s point of view was a bit unorthodox, but nevertheless it did impact upon her the grandeur of it all. The entire city prepared for this one day, baking breads, decorating cakes, sewing dresses, polishing silver, decorating the halls with colorful paper. She had never seen so much work go into one day, but she still didn’t know why.

  “Do you think I should go?” She asked the yarrow.

  -Go, fun-

  “Easy for you to say.” Kile replied as she got to her feet and grabbed her hat and cloak. “You behave yourself, no running around, no stealing from other rooms, no getting eaten by cats.”

  -Vesper be good-

  She found it hard to believe him as she closed the door to her room and stepped out into the hall, but she knew if she tried to bring him along, he would only find a way to get her into trouble.

  Outside it was like a free for all. The boys were running around, throwing snowballs, building snowmen; it was as if all rules and regulations had been lifted for one day. That was if Winter’s Feast only lasted a day, as far as she knew it could go on all week. The thought of this chaos extended for a week was enough for her to want to take the walk of Shame. She was halfway to the dinning hall when she heard…

  -Snowball eight o clock-

  She didn’t wait to verify if this was true, she just ducked in time as a huge snowball flew over her head. She didn’t even turn around to see who had thrown it, it wouldn’t have done any good anyway as there were several snowball battles occurring simultaneously and to actually figure out who had thrown it would have been impossible. She did look up to see a black bird flying high above her.

  -Ten-o-clock-

  Kile stopped short and leaned back as another snowball just missed her head, somehow she had the feeling she was being targeted. To run was to show fear, of course being hit by a snowball in the back of the head was not exactly an act of courage. She diverted her course and headed away from where the snowballs were flying and toward where a few of the cadets had gotten together and were using an old shield to slide down the hill that lead up to the stables.

  She watched as the black bird flew down around the stable and came in for a landing somewhere on the other side. Kile looked to see if anyone was watching before ducking around the corner.

  “Does Morgan want to see me?” She asked Kaza who was preening his feathers.

  -Not at the moment-

  That was too bad she thought, at least it would have gotten her out of the festival.

  “Then what are you doing out here?”

  -I do need to fly you know, can’t let the wings get rusty.-

  “What do you know about winter’s feast?”

  -Oh that, it's another one of those foolish vir holidays where everybody makes merry, gets drunk, falls down and forgets about it in the morning.

  “Sounds like a blast. What do you do at these things anyway?”

  -Personally, crows don’t celebrate vir holidays.-

  “Well, I didn’t really think you did. What do… vir do at these things.”

  -Well, from my own personal observation… they make merry, get drunk, fall down…-

  “And forget about it in the morning.” Kile finished for him.

  -Of course there is the exchanging of tokens.-

  “Tokens? What kind of tokens.”

  -Oh, small trinkets, little nick-knacks, things like that. There was a time when there was some practicality to the event. Just before the first snowfall the villagers would gather in the town hall or possibly one of the larger homes and they would exchange their wares for thing that they needed to last out the winter. The baker would bring bread and exchange it for shoes from the cobbler or blankets from the weaver. This way everybody got what they needed and nobody had to pay for anything.-

  “That explain why we never celebrated it back home. The day my father gave away anything for free or accepted anything without paying for it would be a long time coming.”

  -A proud man?-

  “I always consisted it, more like… being stubborn, but I guess proud would also do. Does Morgan celebrate Winter’s Feast?”

  -That old fool, of course he does, he went back to the tower yesterday to celebrate with the croceus.-

  “How do mystics celebrate Winter’s Feast?”

  -They make merry, get drunk…-

  “Fall down and forget about it in the morning.” Kile repeated along with Kaza who laughed. She had to admit it was a unique experience to hear a crow laugh.

  “You have everything you need back at Morgan’s?” Kile asked. The first time she had met Kaza he was trapped in a cage that had fallen on the floor. She would hate to think of the bird caught in that situation again, with Morgan away.

  -Oh, I’m fine, but I would never turn away some company. There’ aren’t too many people that I can talk to.-

  “Then I’ll stop in tomorrow.” She said as she stood up and dusted the snow from her knees.

  Kaza picked out one of his feathers and held it out to Kile in his beak. At first she wasn’t sure what he wanted her to do with it, but when she took it he ruffled his wings.

  -Consider that you very first Winter Feast’s token, of course in some cultures they are considered bad luck.-

  “Bad luck?”

  -I think that only applies if you take the feather, I don’t really know how it works if it’s given to you.-

  “I guess we’ll find out.” She said as she slipped the black feather into the rim of her hat. “But I don’t have anything for you.”

  -Your kindness and your visit tomorrow is more than enough-

  Kaza exclaimed as he took to the air.

  As she stepped into the dinning hall she found that it had been decorated with colored paper, streamers and pine branches. It was not as lavish as some of the sites that Vesper had shown her, and she wasn’t sure of the reasoning behind most of it, but it was a welcome change from the drab decor.

  “There she is.” She heard Alex’s voice from across the room. At one time that would have made her cringe, but most of the cadets were getting used to a girl among them and she was getting to the point that she just didn’t care what most of the cadets thought.

  “Hey, Kile girl, over here.”

  That did make her cringe.

  One good sized potato, that was all she needed, she was sure she could hit the little twerp from where she was standing.

  “We weren’t sure you were coming.” Alex said as she got closer.

  “Keep that up and I’ll be leaving.” She said as she took her seat across from him.

  “So, you’ve never celebrated Winter’s Feast.” Carter remarked.

  “Oh no, not you too. So I’ve never heard of Winter’s Feast, is that such a crime.”

  “It’s kind of a big day in Procton. Our families always celebrated it together.” Daniel added. “This will be the first year we aren’t home.”

  “My family was never into celebrations.”

  “You didn’t celebrat
e any of the holidays? Kalamare, Summer Solstice, Winter’s Feast, Holy Eve, White Moon, none of them?”

  Kile just shook her head as Alex rattled off one holiday after another. Not only did she not celebrate them, she had never heard of them before. How was it that anything got done in Procton with all these holidays?

  “How about your birthday. Surly you celebrated your birthday.”

  “No.” Kile replied. She must have said it a bit too negatively as both Carter and Daniel turned to look at her. It wasn’t exactly the truth, there was that year that they had celebrated her birthday, or at least her mother tried, but it was a day that she wished to forget, and if she tried to explain it, they would never understand.

  “So, how’s our little patient?” Daniel asked. He had a knack of knowing when to stop asking her questions about her personal life.

  “He’s doing great, he up and about already, he asked about you just the other day...”

  “He asked about me?”

  “Who’s this we’re talking about?” Carter asked.

  “Kile got herself a pet yarrow.” Daniel replied. “He was hurt so I help him out, and now it appears to be asking after me.”

  “He’s asking after you?”

  “You know what I mean.” Kile said. She got so used to conversing with Vesper that sometimes she forgets she’s the only one.

  “Why do you want a yarrow for a pet?” Carter asked. “They're dirty little creatures.”

  “For one thing they are not dirty, they are actually quite clean, a lot cleaner than most of the boys around here, and secondly, he is not a pet, he is free to come and go as he pleases.”

  “What’s his name?” Alex asked.

  “Vesper.”

  “Vesper, that’s a strange name, why did you call him that?” Carter asked.

  “Because that’s his name.”

  “Well, who gave it to him?”

  “His mother I suppose.” Kile replied, at which Carter slowly looked over to Daniel as if to ask, is she okay.