The Unknown Divinity

The Lessons from the Elf

Morning would soon arrive, and Astraeus woke up to see Tiko taking down his tent, covering the campfire in dirt, and checking the nearby bushes for any activity. He looks over at the boy and exclaims, "Good morning Astraeus! Glad to know you are an early riser too." Astraeus puts his hand on the back of his neck and says, "My grandma would always wake me up at this time, so I've started waking up naturally at this time.."

Tiko finishes his side of the camp and begins helping Astraeus pack up his tent as well. He says, "Starting today, I'm going to teach you how to survive in the woods and pretty much anywhere else. First, of course, we need to make it to my cabin so I can get you properly set up. Other than your tools like your sword and cooking supplies, your tent and blanket won't keep you warm on especially cold winter nights. I'm surprised you even fell asleep with how cold it was" Astraeus thinks to himself, "I didn't feel cold at all?" He continues, "While we make our way there, I'll tell you a bit about foliage and what is and isn't safe to eat."

They begin making their way back to the road, Tiko still effortlessly glides through the bushes while Astraeus still struggles to keep his face free of splinters. Tiko begins teaching, "In the woods, you must remember everything is alive. The trees are alive, the grass is alive, and of course, the animals are alive. When you understand how this is then you can keep yourself alive in the forest. Every little thing here is trying to stay alive even if it's just a plant or fungus. For the first stop..." Tiko stops and Astraeus bumps into him. Tiko continues, "This is a berry bush. To the unsuspecting person, they would think that just because they get berries in the morning market then that means they can eat the berries right off the bush. Wrong. This bush right here has a berry I like to call the diarrhea berry, you can guess why I call it that..." The berry is bright red and needles are coming out of the leaves. He looks over at Astraeus, "Of course, you are not always going to have an experienced ranger by your side during your travels, so you aren't going to know which berries in each region are safe or not safe to consume. Luckily we can always ask nature." He points toward the ground and asks, "What do you see?" Astraeus looks at the ground and says, "Nothing sir?"

Tiko claps and says, "Exactly, no tracks at all from any deer, bear, or any other wild animals. Now look over there." He points to a nest in a tree, the nest seems to be made out of the leaves from the same bush. Tiko then explains, "Only a few select species seem to be able to not only eat the berry but to be able to use the naturally spiky leaves as a form of protection. By simply observing nature, you can make a good assumption as to what should and shouldn't be eaten. Because no other creatures but a couple of birds seem to eat from this bush then that means there is a good chance that eating this will not end well for us. That is how we found out what we could eat back before we became civilized." He begins walking and Astraeus is slow to catch up, Tiko notices and slows down his pace, "Sorry, I forget how hard it is to navigate through the foliage with no experience. It has been a rather long time since I was like you barely able to keep the branches from poking my sides and tripping over every exposed root. But with due time, you will glide through the bushes as if they were air."

After an hour of trekking through the forest, Astraeus is out of breath while Tiko seems as if he just got done with a light jog. They begin to slowly approach a cozy-looking wooden cabin. A small pile of firewood is laid across the side alongside an axe. Tiko takes in a breath and says, "Ah home sweet home. Come on in Astraeus, let's get your gear organized."

They make their way inside and Astraeus notices the animal heads on the wall, most of which are deer, some wolves, and there is an empty plaque that reads "ARK" Tiko gestures toward a chair and Astraeus sits down. He makes his way to a large cabinet and begins pulling out dusty bags. He yells, "While these tents and blankets aren't exactly new, they are certainly in better condition than what your friend gave you." He places a folded-up tent and blanket in front of Astraeus, who notices that the two items are true as he says, compared to what Kaja gave him, they have fewer holes and seem to be made of a better fabric.