Tale of Panthera Regina (Remake)

Bonus Chapter #2: Lessons

POV: Jane

(About ten years ago. 200,012)

A Northern Native human with brown hair, pale skin, and blue eyes stood looking back at her distant mountain home. Jane wore warm gray goatskin clothes. The Native human had just arrived in the Rocky Plateau territory. The sky was brilliant blue, and there was not one cloud in the sky. The air was cold, but Jane had lived in one of the villages of the Aquillo Mountains. So, she was used to this and felt it was warmer than she was used to.

Jane knelt to the ground and dug into her harp seal skin bag for the map that she had stolen from her parents. Possessing a seal skin of anything was a status symbol and meant that the person had money or something valuable to trade. Inside her bag were some food, mainly plants and crops, an extra pair of clothes in case she got wet, a notebook, something to write with, and a stuffed rabbit toy. Jane had the stuffed rabbit toy ever since she was five years old.

Her mother had made it herself when Jane got sick with the flu. It was gray, and the stuffing was starting to fall out, but it was the one thing that she wanted to bring with her. After all, Jane wasn't going to return to the village until her mission was done.

"I don't understand. It says it suppose to be right here?" Jane expressed as she looked around as she held the map. The Northern Native stood up to get a better view, but it didn't help. Everything looked the same. "Okay, I don't think I passed the meadow yet, but I know I passed the river of snakes," Jane said thinking out loud.

The land around Jane was rocky within a grassy meadow at the base. The sun was slightly past its peak. The wind picked up and nearly ripped the map out of her hands. She couldn't understand why she wasn't there yet. She turned the map over and looked at the back of it.

The letter was signed by Silver the Doe. A map was on the back of the letter. Jane wanted easy access to both and didn't want to risk losing either. She read the note again.

*Dear Village of the Bear People,*

*My scouts have reported unusual magic in your village. The strong gardens and fields are evidence of this, as the Bear People tribe is known to have more crop failures. In my opinion, I believed you have someone bearing a Gift of some kind. Please, send him or her to this location for training. It can become dangerous for the Village of the Bear People if this creature goes without proper training. I will send one of my students to pick them up if you are unable to bring the Gift Bearer here. Please, reply soon.*

*Love the Silver Doe*

Jane was the girl that Doe explained in the letter. However, her parents refused to accept. They demanded that she wasn't going with some animals and it was a scam as none of the animals could write. The Northern Native thinks her parents wanted a justification for her to remain in the village and only there.

*After all, it's a crime to fake being given lessons, especially when they're magic-based.* Jane thought as she remembered taking the map and letter in the night.

Jane didn't need to pack as her father often brought her to hunting and tracking lessons. So, she always had a bag pack with some food, spare clothing, and a notebook. The only thing she added was her stuffed rabbit, the letter, and the map.

Suddenly, she heard a sound and looked to the West. The sun was bright and made it hard to see, but she did see figures in the distance. The Northern Native guessed that they were animals because of how they began to move closer to her. It scared her. Jane started to think that this was a mistake. Jane backed up slowly.

Unlike the Southern Native People, their Northern brothers tend not to have the best relations with animals. They tend to keep to themselves and not bother learning anything. It was so bad that most Northern people didn't even know that the Common Tongue existed and that many of the animals surrounding their village would be more than happy to teach them. The only interaction they had with animals was hunting. They didn't even have any livestock or pets.