The Zero Hour | #Wattys2016

Chapter 11 - Campfire (Part 2)

The rest of the conversation was a blur, consisting just of casual and polite talk to pass the time. Amadeus never felt comfortable being the 'guest-of-honor', and was always uncomfortable around authority. He was glad when the Chief excused him from the table.

Wanting to get far away from the crowd, he limped away from the campfire slowly to find a quiet spot to sit down and collect his thoughts. After many years of being a loner, he found that being around crowds drained him. Conversely, time in solitude refreshed him from the demands of daily life.

He passed several shops etched into the base of the trees selling all assortment of things. The store keepers seemed to be cleaning up their shops for the night. The sounds of jubilation and dancing grew faint as he put as much distance as he could between him and the crowds, hobbling along as quickly as he could.

He soon passed by a training range for hunters. Straw figures were bundled together and strung up on a system of moving pulleys. They juked left and right while moving gradually forwards and backwards. Their movements seemed random to mimic the erratic behavior of beasts. There was a straight counter that separated the straw figures from the trainees. They had to stand behind the counters and attempt to hit the constantly moving straw figures. Amadeus paused for a while to observe some young hunters practicing late into the night. He felt admiration for the Izenth peoples' dedication to advance and improve. A trainer was observing from the sidelines and authoritatively giving advice to the trainees.

After a moment of watching, the young trainees were dismissed. Amadeus sheepishly approached the trainer. "Do you mind if I give it a try?"

"Go right ahead Amadeus. We're done for the night but you can help yourself to the icicles on the fifth counter." He pointed towards a belt of icicles left on the counter.

"How do you know my name?"

The trainer laughed. "The whole town is talking about the commoner who helped defeat the invading Nobles. You are an inspiration to us all. I have to get back home now, but feel free to use the training range as long as you want." He slung a bag over his shoulder and departed with a wave.

Amadeus stood behind the fifth counter and held the belt of icicles in his hand. The Izenth weapons intrigued him. They felt light yet sturdy. He had seen firsthand what they could do when he defeated Waldo with an icicle. Waldo was standing still when he attacked but these were moving targets. It couldn't be so different could it?

Amadeus stretched his fingers. His hand felt better after the Aloe ointment had started taking effect but his fingers still felt stiff through the layers of bandages. He held an icicle in his hand and took aim. He focused his vision on one of the larger straw figures. This should be fun. He imagined Waldo's face on the straw figure and swung with all his might. The icicle went wide of the straw figure and fell to the ground.

"Good try."

Amadeus spun around quickly and was face-to-face with Izumi. "Uh... thanks, I think." Amadeus had not expected anyone else to be wandering around at this time of night; understandably, he was surprised - pleasantly surprised.

"You'd come closer to the target if you aim at where the target will be; not where the target is," she advised. "Like this." She picked up an icicle from the belt and immediately launched it at a target without looking twice. It hit its mark, and the straw figure swung back and forth from the impact.

Amadeus picked up another icicle from the belt with unsteady hands. He took careful aim at the straw figure and studied its path of movement. He tried to imagine where the straw figure would be a split-second from now and flung the icicle towards the imaginary target. As it weaved through the air, he tried to will the icicle to hit the target with his mind. Please, please, please... hit the target! Unfortunately, the icicle only grazed the straw figure he had hoped to hit and went off trajectory. He looked down in disappointment.