Awakening

Chapter 2

In preparation for my scouting trip, I cleaned two more of my birds, then salted and smoked them so they would last the journey. I also cleaned out my store of nuts and berries, and packed half of my last loaf of bread. As the sun began to set, my stomach grumbled again, teased all day by the smell of cooking meat. Telling myself I could eat in the morning and my lunch was enough to sustain me, I slipped into my warm fur bed and fell into an easy sleep.

I was awoken by the bark of a dog somewhere in the camp, surely one of Tia's frisky pups wanting its breakfast. I forced myself to roll out of my warm bed, quickly dressing in my furs before the winter chill could nip at my skin. I fumbled around in my dark tent, rolling up my travelling bedding and packing my food. I nibbled on a slice of stale bread, and chased it down with a swig of icy water.

Grabbing my bow from where it sat next to the flap of my tent, I made my way to the communal fire pit. Standing there was Tia with her favourite tracking dog Finn - which was really a wolf if you asked me- and Rita with an unpractically large back pack no doubt full of pots and pans. Rita was on the heavier side, and anything but quick on her feet, however she could spot edibles from a mile away. It would make sense to have her while looking for a new home.

As Tia rearranged her pack, I held out my hand to Finn so he could sniff me. I'd always admired the creatures, but none of Tia's dogs liked me much. Finn licked my fingertips before turning his back to me and whining at his master.

"Oh shush you big brute," Tia grumbled, tossing some jerky from her pack onto the snow.

"That was some awfully good jerky you just threw at your mutt," scoffed Rita.

"Dogs gotta eat too ya know," Tia smiled, straightening up.

Tia was like me in many ways, however I'd tried to shed the habits that gave away my rough upbringing. She was actually the one to find me in the forest, after one of her dogs had sniffed me out. It was her who taught me how to track and how to hunt, but Victoria was the one to teach me to read and write.

"So what positions will we be filling on this mission?" I cut in, eager to escape back into the forest.

"Yer always so by the book Adria, all we really gotta do is wander towards the north till we find a place we like. Then good ol' Finn will lead us home again," she grinned, patting him on the head.

"Oh it's a little more complicated than that. I'll lead, Tia and Finn can take mid, and Adria, you can hang back a bit and try your hand at hunting. Lord knows I have enough food to feed a small army, so it don't matter if you actually catch nothing. Just wanna know what the forest is like," Rita delegated.

I nodded, pleased with my task. We gathered up the rest of our belongings and headed out of camp as the sun began to peak through the trees. At first we passed through our worn trails, then our familiar hunting grounds, and finally we came to the stream that marked the edge of what we considered to be our land. By this time the sun was directly above our heads, and my stomach was growling loud enough to scare away any prey in earshot.

We stopped to eat lunch, and I eagerly tore into my meager rations. I made sure to have enough for two more meals, as I felt that I could catch at least a squirrel or two being so far out from camp. I wandered over to the stream and splashed the cold water on my face and hands to clean up from my meal. We did not bathe very often in the winter, choosing instead to mask our scent with a mix of pine needles and cinnamon bark. Every few weeks I forced myself to take a freezing cold sponge bath, only to shiver next to my fire the rest of the night before I warmed again.