Spirit Animals: The Keeper's Book

Chapter Two: Training

Jenna was getting ready to go to the training room, but she felt both nervous and excited of meeting her mentor and guardian. Her own green cloak gleamed like fresh leaves with dappled sunlight as she put it on. There's an ivory-diamond-encrusted swan soaring with a crystal rose in its feet. This accessory shows that she's the new Keeper of Greenhaven.
She signed. "I'm ready, Destiny. I think."
Her words were directed at the wolf, who was sitting down as she chewed on her bone and watching her patiently with a calm look in her amber eyes in the room. The room was big enough for Destiny to play fetch with Jenna.
In just a few short days, their world had shrunk from their home in the lands of Amaya to the island fortress: Greenhaven is the headquarters of the Greencloaks, guardians of Erdas. Jenna figured that the castle was very beautiful as it stood on the top of a waterfall.
Outside the window, a bell sounded from a distant tower. Three tolls: the call to training. As Jenna opened the door, the dim hallway was full of sound. A monkey barked a laugh somewhere at the side of the ceiling and a boy was calling out for the monkey. A horse whinnied. Hoofbeats followed by footsteps resonated through the stone walls. Jenna ducked as a red-tailed hawk soared overhead. She quickly took hold of Destiny's scruff after recognizing her wolf's excited glint and looked ready to go on the hunt.
"I'm not going to let you eat somebody's spirit animal," scolded Jenna. "Remember what I've told you. You're allowed to eat the wild animals in the wild, but not at Greenhaven. Okay?" Destiny seemed to have given a sigh and nodded at Jenna, an understanding had shone in her bright amber eyes. "Good, now let's go." As she and Destiny walked quickly down the hallway, various Greencloaks waved and greeted her by name.
Destiny made a curious rumbling sound as they climbed down the circular stairwell in front of them. At the bottom, both Jenna and Destiny hesitated. They faced two identical halls, each with plaster-white walls and exposed timber ceilings. Only one led to the training room.
Maybe there was somebody inside that arched doorway who could help her find her way. Even if the room was empty, there was something tempting about the curved entry. Although it surely led to another room, something about it felt as if it led to the outside instead. Jenna couldn't quite explain the sensation to herself.
Cautiously, she pushed the door open. Inside was a dim room she'd never seen before. It was cluttered with musical instruments, mysterious pieces of art, and mirrors. There was a pile of drums as tall as Jenna, a piano-like instrument the size of a dog, and a bin full of flutes and recorders. A portrait of a girl smiled at her from one wall, while a mural of a man leading dozens of unfamiliar animals through a field covered another. The room smelled like dust, wood, and leather, but it also somehow felt like the outdoors to Jenna's delight.
A single man stood inside, partially turned away.
It was possible his spirit animal was in its passive state, but Jenna was quick to realize that she wouldn't be able to tell. Apart from his face, every inch of visible pale skin was covered in green and purple tattoos: inked mazes, circles, stars, moons, knots, stylized creatures. The mark of his spirit animal wouldn't stand out in the rest of the tattoos.
Jenna was impressed. Whether it was the man's intention or not, he had done a wonderful job of hiding the current location of his passive spirit animal. Even though he seemed young, his hair was gray. Nearly white even.
He didn't seem to notice her silent, accidental presence. His eyes were downcast, he continued whispering to himself. Jenna was too far away to hear his words, but he sounded like he was coaxing. Jenna suddenly felt as if she was intruding on something private, almost scarce. But she couldn't shake the feeling that she had seen this man before. In that dim, mirrored room, it was also a little mysterious.
She backed out and made sure she had a good grip on Destiny as they find their way to the training room.

The training room was the second-largest room in Greenhaven Castle. It was bright, inviting, and had dazzling tall peaked ceiling for the high-flying spirit animals. On one end of the room was devoted to weapons' storage — spears, swords, knives, slingshots. Anything you might hope to find, so long it would leave a mark. Stained glass windows lined the walls, each featuring a different great beast.
Jenna sighed in relief. After she made sure there was no spirit animals that Destiny could make a meal out of, she had let go of her wolf's scruff. Destiny shook her fur and gave Jenna a slightly annoyed look before she sat down by her side.
"Hello Jenna." She almost whirled around as soon as she heard a quiet voice from behind her. She felt her interest and curiosity perked up when she saw the same tattooed Greencloak that Jenna had saw earlier. "My name is Finn Cooley."
"Hello Finn," said Jenna shyly. She gently scratched behind Destiny's ears and the wolf panted contently. "I'm Jenna. This is my spirit animal, Destiny." Jenna noticed the other Greencloaks nearby and were watching them. "Who are they?"
"Observers," Finn said quietly. "We evaluate all new recruits to gauge their abilities. They'll assist you as needed. Pay them little mind. I just want to put you through a few exercises."
"Ummm...." Jenna glanced at the Greencloak observers. "Okay." Her voice was barely above a whisper and inched closer to Destiny.
The Niloan woman approached Jenna. She was tall and strong, but had a no-nonsense look about her. Keeping her eyes on Finn, she listened to his instructions.
"Please allow your escort to blindfold you," Finn instructed. "We're going to test your awareness of your spirit animal without the aid of sight." Jenna held still as the woman placed a blindfold over her eyes.
"Do you guys fight a lot in the dark?" Jenna asked curiously.
"This will simulate a situation where your spirit animal is out of view," Finn explained patiently, as if the question had not been meant to rattled him. "Relax and follow instructions."
A hand took Jenna by the elbow and led her several paces. With great care, she retained a sense of where she stood in the room. She waited for perhaps a minute.
"Your spirit animal has changed position," Finn announced. "Now I want you to see if you could point out the location of your animal. I respectfully ask the animals to keep silent."
Jenna strained all her sense, she could hear Destiny's gentle paws and smell her forest scent. She thought about the vague presence she could feel beneath the tattoo when Destiny was in dormant state, and tried to sense a similar presence around her. She found it!
Jenna carefully walked to one side of the room and pointed in where she think Destiny was at. She gave a small smile when she heard a quiet and familiar pant from Destiny.
"Good job, Jenna," praised Finn. "Destiny is moving and you're tracking her well."
Jenna felt Destiny turn around and came to a stop. She heard her paws turned away from her and Jenna felt herself following the wolf again as she started walking again. At whatever presence or sound of Destiny had made, Jenna pointed to wherever her presence was strongest.
"You may remove your blindfold," Finn said.
Jenna glanced curiously at the weapons on the wall. The wooden swords were obviously practice gear. Many of them arms look real, though some of them could be blunted. With extra help from Destiny, Jenna expected she could dominate most of the Greencloaks in just about any form of combat.
"Next we'll try a physical exercise," Finn explained. "You will go to the far wall." He indicated the wall he meant. "You'll run across the room and touch this other wall as high as you can, then run back and strike the suspended bag with all your might. Ask your animal to enhance your effort in any way she can." Jenna surveyed the canvas bag hanging from beam near the fall wall. Suspended by a chain, the bulging sack was taller than her and looked really heavy. "We'll evaluate your speed, the height of your leap, and the force with which you hit the bag. Go ahead and take a moment with your spirit animal." Jenna approached Destiny.
The wolf sat on her haunches and watched her calmly. Destiny gave her a wolfish grin. The relaxed attitude boosted Jenna's confidence. She sat down in front of Destiny and placed a gentle hand on her neck.
"Umm... Destiny, I know we don't know each other that well." Jenna was still unsure of Destiny how felt about her. "But could you please help me with this exercise? Whatever you give me, I'll be grateful for it."
Destiny looked at Jenna and she soon made Jenna laugh as the wolf licked her on the cheek. She slung her front paws over Jenna's shoulders and pulled Jenna into a wolf hug. Jenna returned the hug and kissed Destiny's forehead before the two of them both pulled back from the hug and observed the course together.
The course shouldn't be extremely hard, due to the training and hunting that Jenna been through back on the ship, her past travels, and exploring Amaya.
"Are you ready?" Finn's voice was much quieter than before and when Jenna met his gaze, he seemed pretty solemn at the earlier interaction that Jenna and Destiny both had both together earlier.
One of the Greencloak observers stood by them against the starting wall. The second Greencloak stood in the middle of the room, where Jenna would be running. Another was positioned by the wall where she would jump. The fourth Greencloak waited near the hanging sack. Jenna touched the wall behind her and she took a deep breath, struggling to calm her nerves.
"Get ready," Finn said. "Go."
Jenna pushed herself off the wall and ran as fast she could. Her body racing with a newfound speed by the help of Destiny. It felt like she and Destiny were two souls being joined together, a great bond beyond imagination and for some reason, the speed seemed to be reaching its full potential.
Jenna noticed that the wall was coming up. Her legs pushed off the ground and her hand had slapped the wall as high as she could, her feet pushed off the wall. A loud howl echoed throughout the room, leaving goosebumps on her skin. A sudden urge of speed made her run faster.
She felt wild emotions filling her chest, she almost felt like a wolf racing after its prey. Jenna leapt through the air and spun in a circle, doing a spinning roundhouse kick. The slam echoed through the room and the bag swayed a little.
Jenna bounced towards the ground, she had managed to land pretty roughly. Jenna got up with a bit of a tumble and Destiny was there by her side almost instantly. Jenna smiled and stroked Destiny behind the ears.
"Any thoughts?" Finn asked the observers.
"Not much beyond her natural talents," said the woman Niloan Greencloak.
"Except toward the end of Jenna's run," One of the Euran Greencloaks pointed out.
"How did that feel?" Finn looked at Jenna curiously.
"When Destiny howled?" Jenna gave a slightly confused frown at the thought of it. "I'm not really sure how to say it, but I felt wilder and on the urge for hunting. Like Destiny and I were one and the same."
"Your relationship with your animal are individual in nature," said Finn. "I want you to be more aware of your spirit animal and how you might learn to help one another."
Jenna nodded in agreement. With the rumors about the war in Zhong and the future wars in other places. Jenna knew she had to be trusting and loyal to the Greencloaks, because a contest between her and the Greencloaks would only break them apart.
"Can I see one of you do it?" Jenna asked them curiously.
Finn glanced at the other Greencloaks, then at Jenna. "You'd like a demonstration?"
She nodded with a nod. Instead, Finn didn't reveal his spirit animal, a young Niloan man had stepped forward. With a flash, a tannish-gray monkey with a black face had appeared.
"Your spirit animal is a monkey?" asked Jenna curiously.
"Yes and my name is Gavi." The Greencloak and Jenna shook hands. "This is Ayo. He is more clown than beast."
The monkey rolled into a series of acrobatics, his long body twisting and twirling gracefully like the tail of a kite. Jenna smiled and clapped at the monkey, Destiny panted in amusement.
"All right," Gavi said to his beast indulgently. "We all know you're the biggest showoff here. Do you mind lending me some help for a moment?"
The monkey jolted upright to attention, and then watched as Gavi walked to the wall where Jenna had started her race. Jenna gasped when he started running. Nobody could accelerate so quickly! When he reached the wall, he kicked against it three times, gaining altitude with each step, before slapping a spot more than twice as high as anyone else had reached. As he fell, Gavi pushed off from the wall, did a backflip, and landed running. When he reached the hanging bag, his punch made it leap and quake. Then he turned away from the swinging bag.
"That was amazing!" Jenna exclaimed as she started clapping and Destiny barked with a wagging tail.
The display really had been quite impressive.
She would never have guessed that the tall warrior could move with such speed and agility. Gavi extended a hand to his monkey. "Ayo deserves the honors. Without him, I could not have done any of that. We're a team, just as you are with your animal. Explore the connection, and you will be rewarded."
"I just like to have Destiny with me," said Jenna softly, petting Destiny and smiled as the red wolf leaned against her leg. "Powers or not." She was a little surprised to see everybody smiling at her, even Finn cracked a smile and Destiny seemed to be smiling too.
"Spoken like a true Greencloak," Finn said, his voice filled with such gentle pride and approval it made Jenna blushed slightly.