Tiger lily

Chapter 3

Chapter 3

We rode on in silence through the plains filled with long grass until we reached the edge of a forest.

“Should we go in or set up camp out here?” Christophe asked, looking to me to know what to do. I suppose he would assume I would know more of the dangers that awaited us in the forest, for certainly dangers awaited, but I don’t. I had not left the Institute often in the eleven years I had lived there. I now assumed that was probably because I was Chosen, and was in some way valuable, but back then it had just been one of the many unasked and unanswered questions I had had.

Looking up at the sky, I made up my mind. “We probably have a couple more hours before it gets dark. Better not to waste them.” He nodded, and we rode on.

The forest was crowded with trees and seemed to be teeming with wildlife that I couldn’t see, but hear. Fallen leaves crunched under our horses feet even though the tree’s leaves were as green as ever and not due to fall off for another six months.

We followed no trail since we had yet to come upon one that took us in the direction we were headed. Instead we weaved through the trees, creating quite a ruckus as our horses’ hooves crunched on twigs and fallen leaves. Eventually, I found a kind of rhythm in the sounds of the forest, the sounds of the horses, and the feel of Max under me. We were going at a brisk trot, a two beat gait, and the footfalls went: max, buttons, max, buttons, and so on. The rhythm comforted me and I paused, letting Christophe lead the way. Our rhythm changed slightly with the change of places, but was essentially the same. I fell into the rhythm, I allowing myself to sink into my thoughts, only staying slightly aware of my surroundings.

On the few occasions that I had been allowed far from the institute, I had never been without a Master and at least a few students. The institute had it all down to a tee. Students eventually got bored with their everyday training, as it tended to get repetitive. They never got proper vacations, so the institute let them go off, usually with a master, to gain the skills they required in more enjoyable ways. They called these trips quests. On quests they swam in lakes and rivers to gain strength and work accessory muscles, meditated in quiet clearings hidden in the forests or on rocks in a river listening to the sounds of running water, went on joyrides to build their riding skills and work their legs, and the occasional extreme sport just for the hell of it. Plus, a lot more freaking awesome stuff that I got to miss out on. Not to mention when they “practiced camping skills”, which pretty much consisted of campfires where they roasted marshmallows and told ghost stories, and epic games of truth or dare after dark; just some of the many things I had been deprived of. I had always assumed it was because I was a girl, but now I wasn’t so sure. No, that wasn’t right. Wasn’t so sure isn’t the right way to describe it. Try: was pretty freaking positive. On all the “quests” I had went on we just rode in silence to the woods that were two days away, meditated for an entire day in a lush clearing, then rode back to the institute in more silence. The nights we spent under the stars consisted of no marshmallow eating, ghost stories, or truth or dare, just basic courses on how to build fires and set up camp. Yeah I know; fun.

As I was essentially complaining to myself I realized something. On the eleven quests that I had been on, the forest had always been two days away, sometimes even two and a half. Today was our first day away from the institute. Sure, our larger group had slowed us down, but not by any stretch of the imagination by a whole day. Somehow this just didn’t add up. I felt like someone trying to put together a puzzle after missing half the pieces; the facts didn’t fit. I knew that I had taken the same path to the forest, for I had followed the familiar clearly marked path that had ended at the forest. If it had taken longer to reach it this time I could have blamed it on the lumber companies cutting down the forest for wood, but trees couldn’t grow to full height in the course of one year and their had been layers of fallen leaves left behind from last fall. My annual journey was in the middle of the winter, yet another thing that the other students didn’t suffer from. If the leaves were of last fall then that would mean that the forest had to have been there since last fall, which meant that on my most recent journey it would have only taken me one day to reach the forest, which it didn’t.

I must have looked incredibly puzzled because Christophe asked, “What’s wrong?” His face became a mirror of mine when I told him about how the forest had become unexplainably closer to the institute.

“And your absolutely positive that it always took you at least two days to get here?” he asked, seemingly more perplexed than me, which was saying something. Maybe this kid did have some sense in him after all.

“Definitely”

“Well then we have ourselves a problem” he declared.

Suddenly, I noticed the forest darkening, and fast. It must be sunset already, which not only meant that I had misjudged our time, but that we had to find and set up camp pretty quickly.

Christophe seemed to notice the arriving darkness at about the same time that I did and all it took was one shared look before we started inspecting the forest for a good place to set up camp. A couple minutes later we came to a large, lush clearing amazingly similar to the one I meditated in on my quests. All it took was another shared look between me and Christophe before we dismounted our horses and started setting up. Christophe tied our packs up into the trees, ridding the horses of the burden and securing them away from most creatures. Meanwhile, I set about to gathering wood for the fire. After Christophe was finished he made a circle with rocks for the fire, then arranged the wood I gave him into a neat pyramid, setting it alight with matches. Once the fire had grown, I got out my violin and went across the clearing to practice as I did every night, other than when I was on quests that is. I didn’t like having an audience when I played the violin, but I would just have to make an exception for Christophe, because I couldn’t go without playing for at least six weeks.

I only played pieces that I knew well enough to play in my sleep, and my fingers danced happily along, never missing a note. I didn’t improvise tonight; too tense to let my mind roam and my fingers do the work.

When I was done, Christophe clapped quietly and after I had packed up my violin and stretched out beside him in my sleeping bag he started talking, and I remembered why I didn’t like an audience.

“You’re really good! Where’d you learn to play like that?” He asked. I considered telling him that that wasn’t anything, and he should see how I played some of the concertos, but then decided that would sound like I was trying to show off, which I wasn’t. I played the violin for myself, so I didn’t need to impress anyone else so they would tell me how good I sounded. I did it because I liked to do it and it didn’t matter what anyone else thought.

“I taught myself,” I told him in a tone that said “I’m sleepy. Shut up”. He didn’t say anything else, so I assumed that he got my message. As I slowly drifted off to sleep, my last thought was “I kind of like this kid”.