The Battle Mage

Bonsai

We're told to convene in the art room again at 8:00 the next morning, and so Jack and I walk there together. There appears to be a line of students waiting to get into the school, so we slip into it and make our way inside. The purpose for the line is revealed when we reach the door - Gerald is standing there, blocking the way, handing a paper to every student as they pass. It takes him a minute to get the right paper for any student, so the line moves at a snails pace. When we reach him, Gerald gives Jack a snaggle - toothed smile. 

"Ah! Jack! You've got a fun one this year. Let me find it..." He ruffles through the papers and hands one to Jack and me. "You're in the same group, right?" I nod. "Alrighty, off you go. I got a line, you know." We scamper off towards the art room. Jack looks at the paper. "Escort mission. Oh, hell." "Really?" I say, excited. "What are we escorting?" "We're supposed to go pick up a ferret. What's a ferret?" I scoff. "You seriously don't know what a ferret is? It's like, a long kitten." "That doesn't sound too bad." He admits.  

We arrive at the art room. Wesley is already there, laying on the ground and reading his paper. "You guys seeing this shit?" He says. Jack nods, sitting next to him. "We have to bring this ferret through a big - ass forest. Who even knows what a Ferret eats?" "I do!" Lisa's voice chimes in. She enters the room, holding an armful of books. "Well, I don't at the moment, but I took the liberty of getting all the books this place has about ferrets! Which, to be fair, isn't much, but I also got ones about rodents and Euripta forest!"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, let's read the paper before we dive on in." I say. 

"'Task: Bring a nonmagical ferret through Euripta forest in a span of five days.'" Wesley begins. 

"'Your task is an escort mission of medium difficulty, chosen to suit your group and grade level. You have been chosen to go to Euripta forest, known for it's prevalence in magic - using creatures, which will create a dangerous atmosphere and emphasize your abilities. The seer will be able to demonstrate ability to recognize and follow different magic signals, while the mages will be able to defend from the dangerous fauna and the healer can help recoup after these encounters. The shifter's connection with nature will benefit the mission, especially the task of escorting.'" 

"Wait, what does that mean?" Lisa asks. "It means you're in charge of the ferret." Wesley mutters. "I don't want the ferret!" She protests. "I hate rodents. Felines are much more my style." "Deal with it." He snaps back. "Now shut up and let me read." 

"'The primary goal of this mission is to ensure the survival of the ferret. The secondary goal is to reach the checkpoint at the end of the mission. The rest is up to you. Please collect your ferret before lunch in the courtyard. All group members must be present to collect. If you have any further questions, contact Gerald.' Poor Gerald has a lot on his plate." Wesley finishes. "Look at the group tab." Jack points out. "We still have Keanu." "Shame, I was hoping to be the fighter in the group," I lament, "He'd kick my ass." "We have to wait for him to get here before we can get the ferret. You think he's coming?" Jack asks. "He has to!" Lisa answers. "He may be a jerk, but he cares about his grades!" 

"That's the only reason I'm here." I hear his voice mutters. I turn to see him slink through the door, arms crossed and obviously unhappy. "I can't believe Gerald didn't let me change groups. Said my reason was 'too arbitrary.'" "Tragic." Wesley mutters. "We should go get the ferret." I glance at Lisa. She meets my gaze with a pout. "I don't want to handle the ferret! It's a rodent." "Just pretend it's a long kitten." Wesley says, giving her shoulder a pat as he walks past. We follow him to the library, Lisa complaining to Jack along the way. Keanu follows reluctantly, making it very clear he's dissatisfied with our group. 

When we reach the courtyard, there's already a large group of students milling about. Several small animals, ranging from puppies to rabbits, are bouncing around. One group has a small fawn that's wandering about on wobbly legs. "I guess escort missions are popular this year." Jack says. I nod in response. We head towards a table near the center with a teacher sitting behind it. As we approach, she starts leafing through a booklet. "Your escortee is right here." She says as we approach. Behind her are several cages, most empty, but a few still have small animals in them. She grabs a cage and sets it on the desk in front of us. "Have fun. Good luck."

Jack picks up the cage and considers the animal inside. It's a ferret, a long rodent like creature with tiny ears and a triangular head. It's mostly white, with its feet and tip of it's tail a dark brown. It has a brown head and white face with a dark stripe across its eyes, making it look like it's wearing a mask. It regards Jack with curiosity, poking its nose through the bars to sniff at him. "It's kind of cute." Wesley comments, and pokes his finger through the cage. The ferret sniffs it for a moment, then tries to bite it. He yelps and yanks his hand away. "I take that back, you demonic weasel!" 

We make our way back to the library and put the cage on the ground. Lisa opens one of the books she'd recovered from the library and starts reading. Wesley "So do we vote Lisa's taking care of the demon?" Wesley asks. She glances up to glare at him. "I'll take care of it. But I won't be happy about it." "Tragic." Wesley smirks. She sticks her tongue out at him and goes back to her book. "I'm going to the gym for battle practice." Keanu mutters, swiftly exiting the room. "Can I send the ferret to bite him?" Wesley asks. 

I open the map we've been given of Euripta forest. I've never heard of the woods before. It's separated into five different section: A marsh, thick oak trees, pines, a clearing, and a lake. "I guess you're on guide duty." Wesley comments. "I'm gonna... learn the anatomy of a ferret for emergency healing." He grabs a book and starts flipping through it. 

Jack is laying on the ground, his face a few inches from the creature. "What's up?" I ask him. He squints, the ferret looking back at him. "He's a completely non - magical creature." He replies. "Not even a hint. I'm trying to do some soul - searching, but it doesn't work on him." "What's soul searching?" I ask, grabbing a marker to write on the map. "It's like mind reading for the heart. Emotional reading, I guess." He he turns his head to focus on Wesley. "Wes is... confused." "Damn right." He mutters. "They have the same bones as people. I'm trying to figure out how that works." Jack focuses back on the rodent. "I'm trying to figure out how to make it trust us."

I go back to the map, letting him do his thing; I don't understand how it works, but I know he has a very high success rate. I try to distinguish where danger would lie, as well as the best path through the woods. We're being dropped in the marsh in such a way that crossing it would be far faster than going around and the final destination is on the opposite side, crossing the clearing and theoretically lake, as going around that too would be a pain. "Oh, here!" Lisa says. She tosses me a book about forests, and I leaf through it until I find Euripta. 

It seems to be a normal forest, populated by both magical and non - magical creatures. None of them look like something I, or at least Keanu and I, couldn't handle. Nothing about it seemed out of place or special, and it looked like it would be easy to cross. "Something's up." I mutter. "This looks way too easy. Wouldn't they give us, you know, a difficult forest? It's not even that big." "They're probably gonna drop us with no food or something." Lisa comments. "Obviously they'll be monitoring us to make sure we don't starve. Also, we have to keep the ferret alive! Did you know they're not actually rodents?" She flips her book around and points at a family tree. "They're mustelids, like weasels!" "Neat." I comment. 

I continue my reading. There seems to be no shortage of food, and other than some mushrooms and berries, nothing lethal. "Hey, should one of us find out how to make, I don't know, traps or something? For food?" I ask. Lisa's hand shoots up in the air. "I can do the hunting! Animals don't perceive me as a threat because I'm a shifter. I can just sneak up behind them and -" She drags her finger across her neck. "That's how my family gets our products. We supply animal pelts for the stores." "Lovely." I respond with a smile. Doesn't seem like we'll have too much trouble with this.