Tales of Nowardo

Train or Die

Jarek woke up from a horrible nightmare. He was almost killed my a plant and lost his gardening suit and his grandfathers knife. Then had to kill a flesh-eating okapi with his teeth and if that is not awful enough he had to seek refuge in a bunker full of probably horrible people. Then he realized it was not a dream but what actually happened. His leg still hurt, his hand was still burned, but he felt much better. Another day and he would be ready to go home. "Those bunker#3 people seemed to be not that awful after all", Jarek thought, "I am still alive and they treated my wounds." Just now he realized the humanoid creature squatting in a chair next to the bed. Jarek crawled to the other side of the bed and eyed the man from his frog-like legs to his smirking face. "Great! Enough sleep. Time for your first lesson. Here is a knife. Try to hit me.", the man said with a squeaky voice and throw the knife to Jarek. The knife fell in his lap. The frogman jumped on the other side of the room with a flip in the air. Irritated Jarek looked at the knife in his lap. "What?", Jarek asked. "Oh yeah", the man answered, "I explain. I am Flenk, second-most feared warrior of the camp. I will train you to become a great warrior, so you can solve the rat problem. We have no time to waste. You will set out in two weeks. All clear?" "No. Nothing is clear.", Jarek said with a slightly despaired tone. "Which part of I train you so you don't die on your quest is unclear?" "Why are you doing this? I am a simple farmer. Just let me go home." "Oh, I see know.", Flenk said while nodding, "You don't know our rules. If you come to the camp you either die or you become one of us. The others wanted to eat you. I heard you killed a beast with your fangs. I knew you are one of us. I knew I will make you a great warrior." "You eat people? You wanted to eat me?", Jarek screamed of disgust, "Absolutely barbaric!" "If we don't eat, what is the point in killing? Why waste good food?" "It, is wrong?" "Says who?" "The law! The gods! Everyone!" "They have no power here. We eat people and we like it. You will like it, too." Jarek gagged from the thought. "I will not." Flenk stared at him. His expression changed from irritation to anger. Before Jarek could react Flenk had jumped on the bed and grabbed Jarek by the collar. His eyes full of fury met Jareks eyes full of fear. "You will become one of us or die. I don't want you to die, but that is the way.", he whispered with a far deeper voice than before and then released Jarek and jumped back to his old position. Jarek was terrified. "Will I ever return home?", he wondered. He was close to tears but suppressed them. If he would cry now, they would probably kill him. He had to act strong. He wanted to survive. There are a lot of things Jarek would rather do than becoming one of those savages, but dying was not part of that list. "Maybe I can escape them", Jarek thought. With this ulterior motive, Jarek accepted. He threw the knife and of course, Flenk dogged it elegantly. "Not bad", Flenk commented, "you could kill a rat. Before the other ten would bite you dead." "I am a simple farmer.", Jarek stuttered. "Yesterday a farmer, today my student, tomorrow the greatest warrior of the camp." Jarek wished he could be warrior, so he could make Flenk shut up. "The first thing you have to do is to forget everything you know about fighting.", Flenk started explaining. "I don't know anything about fighting." "Perfect! I love the commitment. You will become better than me one day." Jarek gave up trying to convince him of the opposite. The only thing he could achieve is being killed. "You will also forget everything that hinders you becoming a warrior. Where are you from?" "I am from the fort", Jarek answered. The fort was what the bunker#4 is called by most people. "Wrong. You are from the camp now. Forget about the fort." Jarek didn't react to that. He realized whatever he said, it didn't matter to Flenk. "Next you need to act like a great warrior and surround yourself with great warriors. Don't worry. You will train with the best. In the morning you will throw knives and axes, in the day you will fight against the best warriors of the camp and in the evening I will show you how to move unseen." Jarek seemed interested. He still wanted to go home. He still wanted to be as far away as possible from the people in the camp, but he had to admit it did sound attractive. "Maybe I can even learn one thing or two from these horrible people before I escape.", he thought to himself and nodded as if he fully agreed to what Flenk just said. "The last part is teaching. One day you will train warriors yourself and only then you will become a true master." Jarek had a lot to think about. Too bad Flenk didn't let him rest. "You are fit enough", he claimed, "The lamps don't reward sleeping all day." "Lamps?", Jarek asked with curiosity in his voice, "what are lamps?". "You people outside the camp believe you understand everything. You don't understand life. Instead of praying to imaginary gods, you should train to impress the lamps.", Flenk explained his beliefs. Jarek was hurt. How could this man dare to declare his gods to be imaginary, but he knew objecting was pointless. "Can you tell me more about them.", he asked instead to win the frog mans trust. "I will at the end of this day. Now you must throw more knives."
It seems Jarek has to accept his faith for now. How would you have reacted? What do you think will happen next? What surprises could await Jarek on his path to becoming a warrior of the camp? Will he succeed in fleeing. Write it in the comments!
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