Camping

“Welcome once again new applicants!”, Xentel greets all of us crowded in another courtyard. How many of these things does a guild hall need? “There is one more test and the practical exams will be done!”, The guild master announces with a smile.

“That was a good nap.”, Nadia’s says walking up next to me. So she got some sleep. I glance at her to see the lanky woman stretching.

“Tonight you will all be solo camping!”, The reptilian exclaims to us with fake enthusiasm. I turn my head back to look at Xentel. Camping? “The masters over by the gate over there-”, Xentel begins turning to his left. “-will give you your gear. After that, you have to find your own place to stay the night out there.”, He explains turning back to the crowd. “Us Slayers often have to survive in the wild to find our targets.”, He says with a raised hand pointing at the sky. “So this is an important skill for all of us.”, He adds.

“Excuse me!”, I yell with a hop into the air while raising a hand into the air, hoping to be seen. The crowd of applicants all look at me, looming over my shorter frame.

“Who are you?”, The Guild Master asks with a hand over his eyes as he squints, trying to see me.

“Applicant Lydia Guild Master sir!”, I yell at the man on the dais.

“Alright. So what is your question Applicant Lydia?”, He yells back.

“What about food? And how far away from the hall can we go?”, I ask with a raised voice.

“What?”, The Guild Master responds.

I am about to yell again when I decide to instead go through the tide of people.

“What about food? And how far away from the hall can we go?”, I ask finally making it to the front of the tide of bodies.

“Oh.”, The reptilian looks down in front of the dais. “The supplies has some rations.”, He answers. “And you all need to keep the walls of the hall in your line of sight.”, He continues looking out at the crowd.

-- -- --

The late afternoon sun shines upon the lightly forested area outside the walls, almost as majestic as Mount Fuji. Unfortunately no mountain around here though. Would be quite the sight.

“Do you wanna camp near each other?”, Birta asks me.

“If you want.”, I answer not really paying attention to her while walking off away from the walls.

I spot a few trees clumped together and smile. I set the bag of supplies down and grab hold of the tooth around my neck. First things first, mark this spot.

With a grin I begin to scratch the nearest tree with the tooth. After I set up my little camp I can explore a bit.

“Have you camped before?”, Birta asks me bringing me back to the rest of the clearing.

“A bit.”, I answer finishing up marking the tree. I look over at my supplies before asking, “How about you?”

“Once or twice, kind of.”, She answers while I grab out a rolled up hammock.

“’Kind of’?”, I respond turning to her with a raised brow, “How do you ‘kind of’ camp?”

“I was really just spending the night outside. Or most of my day being out in the woods.”, She says watching me set the rolled hammock against the marked tree.

“What’d you use to sleep?”, I inquire while looking up at the trees.

“I just tied some sticks on part of a tree over my head.”, She answers with a shrug. A lean-to? That’s so cool! I have never made a lean-to before! “What?”, She responds to me looking at her.

“That’s awesome!”, I exclaim, “I’ve never made a lean-to before!”

“’Awesome’?”, Birta asks me. The teen looks at me with a furrowed brow as she adds, “Wait, didn’t you live in an orphanage?”

Well shit, I either explain what awesome is or explain why an orphan knows how to camp… Hold on!

“I suppose it is more of a makeshift roof rather than a lean-to.”, I say trying to avoid the ogre’s questions. “Either way, it’s really impressive that you did that as a child.”, I quickly add hoping to distract the teen.

“Thanks I guess.”, Birta mutters rubbing the back of her neck. Maybe she is not comfortable with being complimented. “But again, How often does an orphan go camping?”, The teen inquires once more. She is more clever than I thought.

“We had a lot of open land around us.”, I lie to the girl.

But because of that conversation, I have lost the thrill to explore… I decide to climb the marked tree instead. I grab my hammock before I begin my ascent.

Once up to the first level of branches, I climb onto a branch and rest my weight on it. After a moment and the branch does not break, I tie one end of the hammock to the branch and climb over to another branch. I test if this branch can hold my weight as well. It does not break so I tie the other end of the hammock to it.

“Why are you doing that?”, Birta calls up to me from the ground. I suppose she may still want to talk. What a pain...

“Just trying something!”, I yell down to her while tying a rope around my waist. “I mean, what if there are bears or something like that?”, I inquire as I tie the rope to the hammock itself.

“Are bears out here!?”, She asks back to me, a hint of fear in her voice.

“Probably not, but I just want an excuse to try this!”, I respond before lying into the hammock.

-- -- --

“Okay son.”, My father says with a stern expression. “This is important.”, He continues while grabbing the folded up tent. “We gotta find a spot to set up camp before doing anything.”, He explains to me with a smile.

“Right!”, I reply excitedly. I loved doing things with him when I was a kid.

“Then we can do some explorin’!”, He excitedly says dropping the bag onto the ground.

We walk together looking about for a good spot until we reach a cleaing.

“Is this a good spot dad?”, I ask while looking around at the mossy area surrounding us.

“For the first time, like for you. Yes.”, He answers while tousling my hair.

“What a sweet little memory.”, I hear a woman’s voice faintly speak as if on the wind. “No wonder you like outdoors.”, The voice says. The owner of the voice appears at the edge of the clearing.

“What is a yuki-onna doing in my memory?”, I inquire to the snow pale woman. I always thought yuki-onna had black hair, why was hers also white as snow like her skin?

“I am no snow woman child.”, The apparently not yuki-onna answers very clearly offended. “I am the goddess of the hunt, my breath is the chilling bite of winter itself.”, The strange woman begins with a haughty tone. “And the patron of your guild.”, She adds with a gaze that pierces my very soul. “I am Skadi and you best show your respect.”, The goddess orders me with a raised finger.