Hunter

Chapter Six - I Almost Shoot Myself

On my walk back to the direction from which I came, I ran into my short friend.

"Oh, there you are. We're about to go hunting; want to come?" My eyes widened, surprised by the fact that a rookie like me would be wanted on a hunt. The most important thing I could do was serve as bait.

"Dee, are you serious? No jokes and stuff, seriously serious news."

"Dead serious, but first, I need to teach you how to hold a bow and shoot some arrows."

"What exactly are we hunting?"

Dee explained how Arcadia had two borders. There was an inner border that encased everyone that lived on the land. The kidemónas déntro surrounded the lake house, and that was where the inner border ended. Beyond that, there was a second outermost border, where the land of Arcadia ended. Between the two borders was the Hunting Zone, where my mom would release animals, monsters, and creatures.

"Every so often, we'll hunt them just for practice, but we can also hunt them for food."

"Who are we?"

"We, right now, is you, me, and Sarah. There are many beings that live on this Camp, but their purpose is to train you, not feed you. Different species serve different purposes."

"There are different species?"

"Of course! Centaurs, satyrs, dryads, and others." My brain decided to stop working correctly, therefore, I couldn't respond appropriately to her statement. I just inched on forward, soaking in the information. "Here we are!" We drifted into a room of bow and arrows that were mounted on every open space. It was Arcadia's own personal museum of long-range weapons.

"Isn't it great?" She grinned, her hands pushing me forward. "Well, what are you waiting for? Pick one!" I circled the room, examining each and every bow with extreme caution. I took in the hard edges, the soft curves, and the smooth materials. Their colors were either muted of shining, some small crossbows, others bigger than me. My wide eyes glistened with wonder until my body halted on its own accord. A long bow painted green and blue with white accents curved gracefully in front of me. I raised it, reveling in the feel of it in my hands. I held it up imagining what it would be like to shoot an arrow.

"Uh... Hayley, you hold the bow the other way round. Unless, of course. you're aiming to shoot yourself."

"Oh." I smiled sheepishly, tucking a strand of hair behind my ear. "This is the bow, I can just feel it."

"Okay then, grab that bag of arrows and toss it on. We've got to move." I brought down the quiver on the wall and positioned it on my back. As we proceeded outside, Dee gave me a quick 101 on how to use a bow, and then she added on more information.

"So, when hunting we need pets, to keep us company and to protect. Now, I would like you to meet my companion, Snuggles!" Out of the mist, dark fur and sharp claws rose well above us, shining teeth glistening with a rabid drool. I eyed her in disbelief.

"You call a bear that big Snuggles? Are you kidding me?" I wouldn't put it against her. She chuckled, her eyes amused.

"His name is Thrasher. So, what animal would you want for a companion? You can start with something simple but as time goes on, you can get stronger and larger partners in crime." It took me a while to think about it, but then I finally got it.

"A wolf because I can also mount it, right?" I don't know how I knew that.

"Good choice. Yeah, you can mount it, but you'd have to increase your skill in Subjugation to get it that big."

"Okay, so how do I, you know... wolf... companion?"

"Oh right, you're a newbie sorry." She grinned apologetically and led me into a tent the size of my house while explaining that Subjugation is a technique that is used to acquire pets and make them stronger. Inside, the walls were layered with countless shelves, and on those shelves were innumerable clay pots. In the center of the tent sat a circle of dirt and a burgundy olden day water pump. She led me to a shelf with white flower pots etched with brown, tan and black.

"Alright, this is what we call the Animal Chamber. Inside each of these pots, you'll find a cluster of either the tooth or the nail of one companion."

She waved her hand towards the white pots and spoke, "There are wolf teeth in these pots. Pick one, any one, and plant it in the dirt. Then sprinkle the liquid from the pump over the earth. Once you're done call me back, and you'll repeat a Binding Oath." With those words, she exited the room and left me standing alone in the tent of teeth and nails. I peered inside the pot, staring at dozens of sharp white incisors. On the edge of each tooth was one of the colors that were on the pot. I rummaged through the incisors, my hand buried deep in the mouth. I looked disappointedly at the jar, sensing that there was a lot more to it.

Then, there it was.

Glinting softly at the bottom of the pot was a single tooth, with a thin silver lining on the edge. I stuck my hand in and pulled it out. It chilled the tips of my fingers as I twirled it in my hands. It was heavy and dangerously sharp, one wrong move and it would've been stained red. I made my way towards the centre of the tent-house, got down on one knee, as if asking the dirt to marry me, and stuck my fingers in the earth.

It was mushy as if I was sticking my finger in half frozen pudding. I wedged in the tooth and pulled out my fingers. Slowly, I stood by the water pump. As the faucet opened, a thick liquid the colour of fresh blood, sputtered from the pump, tainting the brown earth. I held back a disgusted groan and let the blood-water flow. I stared deeply at the bloodied sand, and BAM!

Nothing happened.

Disappointedly I called Dee back into the room with me.

"Uh, it didn't germinate," I mumbled.

She looked at me with one eyebrow raised, "Hayley, these aren't seeds. Of course it didn't germinate." I rolled my eyes at her as she prompted me to repeat the Oath of Loyalty.

"Lady Artemis, I pledge to take care of, protect and love the wolf. . ." I had to think of a good name, "Midnight, until the day that I--," Dee corrected me, " -- that we shall perish in battle."

A swirl of mist danced in front of me in a silver cloud. As it dissipated, there stood a grey and silver wolf, almost as tall as me, with a saddle on its back. My legs buckled beneath me as my energy was drained from my body. I landed on Midnight's shoulder, her warm tongue lolling out to lick my face. I wiped the thick slobber off my front, the sticky spit attached to my clothes. Brush much? I lifted myself off of her shoulder and glanced at Dee who was taking in the scene with round eyes and an open mouth.

"I've never seen anyone get it that big on the first try." Dee moved closer to Midnight to get a closer look, but she growled. Dee stopped, taking the hint. "She's a feisty one, and she's big enough to mount." Dee raised her hand, palm up, and placed it to the nose of my wolf. After a second of sniffing, her large wet tongue slobbered over Dee's fingers. I grinned, and somewhere out in the distance a conch horn was blown, cutting off our laughter.

It was time for the hunt.