The Hunting

Chapter 45

As we traveled farther into the forest, the more and more anxious I got. What is everyone going to think when Nate and I stroll up with this group? What is my mom going to say? I wonder if anything has changed. My mind raced with a million questions. What's going to happen when we get back? Where will the hunters stay? Maybe they could split up between Nate's house and mine until they have a place of their own? Calum said that he wanted to find his brother, how long is he going to stay? When he leaves, will he take all the hunters with him? I paused as I thought about it. If that happens, does that mean Jaiver will leave? I looked up at Jaiver, who was walking in front of me with my dad and Calum. I sighed. "What's wrong Arden?"

I looked to my left as I saw Timmy staring up at me curiously. I smiled down at him. "Nothing is wrong Timmy. I'm just thinking about what is going to happen when we get back to the Burrow."

"What is going to happen?" Timmy questioned.

"We can finally kick back and relax for a little bit." I turned around to see Nate smiling wolfishly as he stood next to Don and Pietra. He continued, "In all honesty, all of you will be able to relax whereas Ryan, Arden, and I will be relentlessly questioned."

My dad laughed from in front of me, "You're probably right about that Nate. I am going to have a lot of explaining to do."

Nate and I awkwardly laughed knowing it was the truth.

A couple of hours has passed and I started to notice the surrounding change. The trees are getting closer and closer together, the grass is getting greener, and I hear a lot more noises from various wildlife. The forest was as green as we walked. To my left and saw some bushes with some rosehip berries in a small opening. I spoke up, drawing everyone's attention to me, "Hey everyone, I see some bushes with some berries on them. Do we want to stop and gather some?"

My dad turned around to me and smiled, "Nice eye Arden."

The whole group walked off the path and into the clearing. There were bushes of rosehip on the north and northeast side of the clearing. A couple of us started to pick berries while Timmy, Nate, Pietra, and Don sat down to relax a little bit. As we picked berries, Calum spoke up, "You know, now that we all know what you are all of the signs are showing."

"What do you mean?" I questioned.

Calum chuckled lightly. "Well, when we were in the forest you knew every tree, every animal, and every plant. When we were in the canyons and prairies, however, you didn't know a whole lot."

I nodded in agreement, "Yeah – when it comes to the outside world, us burrowers don't know a whole lot about it."

After we got done with picking berries, we continued our journey. We walked for until it was the sky started to change colors. We found a nice place to rest for the night: there was a stream and there was enough room for everyone. The vegetation was thick, this would allow us to stay relatively hidden from any prying eyes. It Calum and Pietra went to search for firewood as the rest of us munched on the small amount of jerky and the berries we picked earlier.

As we ate in silence, I heard the various chirps, whistles, and sounds of the various animals. A branch snapped to our west, which was to my back. Oh, that must be Pietra and Calum coming back. I heard the rustling of some bushes behind me. I popped berries into my mouth, paying no mind to the noises. Don spoke up, "About time you two lovebirds showed up, it's going to be dark any second now."

Don's comment was met with silence. I looked up from my berries and looked up at everyone, one emotion was on everyone's face... fear. I slowly turned to look behind me. I felt the berries slip from my hands as I stared in fear at the black bear that stood in front of us. From what I could tell, the bear just stumbled into our clearing by chance. It was looking at us curiously as it sniffed the air. I heard Timmy whisper behind me, "What's that?"

My dad was quick to hush him, "Quiet Timmy. Nobody makes any sudden movements. The bear is just wandering through here, if we stay still and quiet it should leave."

The bear tilted it's head as it continued to examine us. Based on how big the bear was, I would say it was a male, a very well-fed one at that. That put me a little bit at ease. Well-fed bears are less likely to attack since they have full stomachs. After a couple of pain-staking seconds, the bear finally turned around and was walked towards the edge of the clearing.

"Hey guys, we found plenty of wood for the – Oh shit!" I heard Calum shout from behind me.

The bear whipped around and stood up on its hind legs. It roared threateningly. The bear got down onto four feet as it ran over to where Calum and Pietra were. I watched as Pietra dropped the wood and got ahold of the sword at her hip. Blood pumping, I stood up from where I was sitting and drew my arrow from my quiver, notched it, and let it fly. When my arrow hit the bears back, it let out another roar, spinning around to face me. While I had the attention of the bear, I walked farther away from the group. The bear's eyes followed me, allowing everyone else to stand up and draw their weapons. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw as my dad pushed Timmy and Don outside of the clearing. Smart. The bear charged towards me. I quickly grabbed another arrow from my quiver as I tried to stand my ground. If I run, it will on rile the bear up even more. The bear got to me and stood up on its hind legs. Arrow knocked up at him, I was ready to shoot him right in the throat. Before I could, two arrows sunk into the bears back. I watched him flinch as he tried to swat his paw at me. I jumped to the left avoiding the blow. I wasn't given much time as the bear tried to crush me as he was coming back down to all fours. I rolled away from the attack, but just barely. I scrambled to get up on my feet.

As I did, I heard the sound of footsteps. Jaiver, Nate, and Pietra ran up to the bear with their swords in hand. My dad yelled, "Be careful you three!"

The bear turned to face them. Nate took the front while Jaiver and Pietra took the sides. None of them swung, just trying to keep the bear distracted. It started whipping his head around, trying to figure out who he was going to attack. He tried lunging at Nate, but Nate jumped back to dodge it. Jaiver and Pietra swung, slashing the bear from both sides. I grimaced slightly at the site of the bear's blood hitting the ground. It moaned in pain as it backed away from the three. It was apparent that the bear was starting to weaken. I scanned the clearing just to see what everyone was doing. Calum, my dad, and I all had arrows in our bows ready to shoot. Nate, Jaiver, and Pietra regrouped. I didn't see Timmy and Don, I just hoped that Don took Timmy far enough away from the clearing so that he wouldn't have to watch it. I turned my attention back to the bear who was looking at the three swordsmen. He continued to back up until he was at the clearings edge. He roared again, turned around, and ran off. I took a sigh of relief. Thank goodness no one got hurt. I put my arrow back in my quiver.

"Arden, you're hurt." I looked at a mildly concerned Jaiver walking towards me. I was quick to notice that Nate was not being too far behind him.

I looked down at my body, and I noticed on a small scrape on my arm. When did that happen? Nate spoke up, "Here, let me get you some bandages!"

Jaiver stood in front of me and held out his hand, "Let me see it."

I rolled my eyes, "It's just a little scrape. Seriously, I've had bug bites bigger than this."

He sighed, grabbing my arm anyways. He looked down at it, "Why do you always do this?"

I raised my eyebrows, "Do what?"

"You always endanger yourself. First in the canyons and now trying to take the bear head-on." He spoke quietly.

I shrugged, "I don't know. I guess it's just a habit of mine."

"Well, it's a very shitty habit!" Nate said. In his hand he had bandages. He grabbed my arm from Jaiver's and started to bandage it up.

"Can we worry about this another day? I am exhausted!" I exclaimed, trying to change the subject.

"Fine." They both said in unison.