Dawns High and the Destruction of the Bees

Con.

George Hum

Wednesday, October 7—

Today for elective class, we are going into the forest to do some exploring. I am so excited! This will be my first time going into the forest in Dawns. However, I also feel queasy. After I heard how and where Roy got hurt, it's no wonder why there's butterflies in my stomach.

"This way!" Ben shouts. He is also my elective teacher. An elective class is a class that the students get to choose themselves and there's a mix between all the students for the whole grade. I don't really know anyone here. Some people are from my class, but I only talk to them when I need to. I'm an outgoing person, so it's not really that bad being alone. I can make new friends here.

We are in the forest to practice hunting and setting traps. I don't really know why we need to learn it, but Ben insists that it'll be useful one day. The forest is really colorful too. I always thought forests are green and brown, and maybe red for poisonous mushrooms, but this forest is damn bright. It's like a rainbow. I'm carrying a bow and some arrows on my back. Ben said that we're here to shoot some birds and maybe learn about the plants and wildlife here. Although I don't really see many animals. I can hear the birds, but all I see are insects.

Ben stops walking next to a blue gigantic flower looking plant. "This is a Chanupano Flower," he says. "It's used to treat back pain and it likes to grow in places where there are a lot of different abilities. The size of it depends on how many different auras it can detect in its environment. He then walks a few more paces before coming to a halt again.

"This is a Hikibili Plant," he says, pointing to a plant whose leaves fold together into a chair-like thing. I wonder if you can sit on it. "This plant likes to grow in groups and hunters can rest on them when they are tired. However, this plant can sense if you are actually tired or not. If it senses that you don't need to sit, spikes will appear on its smooth leaves." What's wrong with that plant? Who says you need to be tired in order to sit down? Ben continues to guide us through the forest and on the way, teaching the class about a few other plants. The one that got me most interested is the "Abonebility Tree" that grows fruits that can strengthen one's abilities and powers. It is said that if someone doesn't have an ability or if theirs is taken away, they can just eat the fruit to get back an ability. The tree has a brown trunk and branches, but it's leaves are purple.

"This plant is very very rare," Ben explains. "We are lucky to have one so close to us so we can use it if anything bad ever happens. This tree bears tons of fruits, but only once in a hundred years. Also, this tree takes a thousand years to fully grow and to even grow fruits. The one we have here is two thousand five hundred and ninety nine years old." Although why don't they plant more trees with the seeds from this tree? Oh and does this mean next year the tree will bear fruits? That is going to be fun to watch.

After educating us about the various plants, Ben decided that it's finally hunting time. We were taught how to use arrows in the past weeks and today is the day to actually test our skills. I spot a blue bird flying to the north of me and I take out an arrow and aim it at the bird. The bird is flying around, so it is hard to find the right moment to shoot. Eventually I release the arrow positioned on my bow and it strikes the wing of the blue bird. I go over to the bird to have a look and notice that I barely got it. My arrow hit the very tip of its wing. It's not bad, I suppose, as it is my first try today. I've had archery lessons in the past, but only shoot targets and not living things. I brought the bird back and showed Ben and he quickly patched it up before letting it go again.

"You're the first person to shoot a target, good job!" Ben says while hitting me on the back hard. I feel myself cowering with every slap on my shoulder.