[Flashback] Then I was a Teen...

by **Jaeden Kincade** on May 1st, 2010, 6:05 am

8th Day of Sumer, 496 A.V.
13 Years old: Stepping up

Loud clacks echoed through the forest, disturbing the otherwise serene sounds one would normally find in nature. The sun broke through the slight opening that the dense forest canopy, shining brightly along the forest grounds below. The crackle of the fire posed little more need during the day other than to keep other animals away as the smoke lingered upward, the lack of wind making the mid day all that more humid. At the edge of the camp, where most space was apparently, Jaeden and Olevar stood, each of them wielding practice sticks, holding them as swords as they swung them around quickly at each other. Sweat rolled down their shirtless frames. Olevar carried a tired expression as he didn’t advance in his attacks, but rather counter attacked lightly and defended the incoming attacks that Jaeden delivered, Olevar noticed, with surprisingly better skill as the months of training passed.

Jaeden kept moving forward, raining down strike after strike on his master. He didn’t even notice the weariness that existed on his face, rather just focused on not getting cracked along the skull with Olevar’s stick. His body leaned back every time a counter attack would come, as Jaeden raised his own stick, blocking the strike. He would then, just as quickly, strike back only to find the hard wood of Olevar’s practice wooden sword barring his strike. Jaeden had learned patience in his spars with Olevar though, and felt that his mentor seemed to be taking it easy on him today, for some odd reason. He would simply wait for his opportunity to strike, waiting and watching for that opening that he could exploit.

Finally that opening came, as Jaeden noticed Olevar suddenly raise his weapon in the air, readying it for downward swing. It wasn’t too slow, but slow enough that the muscle along Jaeden’s body tightened, and a quick push of his feet sent him bursting forward. His stick was then swung along Olevar’s midsection, hitting cleanly as Olevar let out a grunt in reaction. Jaeden didn’t stop his movements, as his form passed by Olevar’s, coming to stop just behind him. His sword was swung back around, catching the bottom of Olevar’s leg as it was suddenly swept out from under him, kicking his frame up into the air. Finally, as Olevar was landing, Jaeden hoisted his wooden sword into the air, bringing it down across Olevar’s chest, just as his body was bouncing along the ground. A pained expression appeared on Olevar’s face as Jaeden let out adrenalin fueled gasps of breath, an astonished look on his face appearing. He felt he had just done the impossible.

His gaze then slowly fell down to Olevar, his eyes widening as he saw him just laying there, his face pale. “Oh, gods, I didn’t hurt you, did I?” Jaeden said as he crouched down.

Olevar just sighed. “You hit me three times with a sturdy piece of wood.” Olevar then commented, coughing a little. “Of course you hurt me.”

“Well, you shouldn’t have taken it so easy on me then.” Jaeden pointed out, helping Olevar up to a seated position.

“I wasn’t.” Olevar replied, wiping sweat away from his brow. “I’m just not feeling all that well today. I think the heat is getting to me.”

“Oh. If you’re sick, then did you want to skip the rest of training for today?” Jaeden said, a glint of hope in the tone of his voice.

Jaeden’s answer came first with the swift swing of Olevar’s wooden sword across his chest, feeling the wind knocked out of him. “As if, Pup.” Olevar said. “We’ll skip the rest of sword play for today, but just because I’m sick, doesn’t mean you get to slack. Get to work on your physical training instead.”

“Fine.” Jaeden said in a struggled gasp as he tried to get a lung full of air once again. He took a moment to help Olevar over to the tent, sitting him down in front of it before handing him his water skin.

Olevar then just sat and observed, taking a casual sip, his gaze traveling over to his bow which rested along a nearby tree. He slowly witnessed a small gash along the surface of the shaft slowly begin to mend itself. Another bit of his lifespan lost, and all at the simple misfortune of defending himself from a puma’s pounce. He hadn’t told Jaeden that he had encountered the wild cat during one of his most recent hunts. That it had attacked him for the deer he had just brought down. The puma had been slain, but it had still managed to hurt Olevar, as he was forced to raise Woodland Wrath in it’s path to defend himself, causing it damage. So it now took a bit of his life to heal itself. He remembered Caiyha’s words on the process. She called it giving back to nature, what it gives to you. A balance of sorts. Everything, after all, was part of that chain that governed the rules of the forest.

Every time the bow healed itself, and took some of Olevar’s life to do so, Olevar would always feel fatigued and nauseous, as if he had caught some sort of flu. Jaeden had only seen it twice before, and both times, like this one, Olevar had told Jaeden that he was merely a little sick, not wishing to worry his disciple over the real reasons. While he never regretted accepting Caiyha’s gift, knowing full well what he would be giving back to the bow should it be damaged, he still began to wonder how much longer he had. His concerns, however, faded as he watched Jaeden continuously lift a large sack of rocks in each hand.

A slow smile spread across his lips as he watched Jaeden. Watched him push himself, push himself harder than any child his age would do. Most kids in the city his age would be running around, playing with other children and gossiping about legendary stories of knights and heroes, people they would one day aspire to be. Jaeden, spent his days physically training himself to the point of exhaustion. Hunting and trapping wild beasts that could kill full grown men with ease. Basically already walking the path of those people that children shared fabled stories about.

He had never told Jaeden about his own training. While it was similar training under his father, Olevar was never pushed as hard or as long. Most of Olevar’s real physical training came after he had left his father to walk his own path. Olevar, as a result of Woodland Wrath, felt he had to push Jaeden that much harder. For in the end, he didn’t know exactly how much time he would have left overall. In the end, he wanted to give back to the world, and not just in the form of using his life to mend Woodland Wrath, or helping the occasional individual in trouble he had managed to stumble across by accident. There was something more he wanted to give, and Olevar knew that the traditions his own father had ingrained into him wouldn’t allow him to do such himself. So in the end, he hopped to pass such possibilities to Jaeden, seeing something in him that he couldn’t quite fathom. It was as though the boy had been touched by fate, and Olevar was sent to find him so many years ago, to help guide him to that fate.

by **Jaeden Kincade** on May 2nd, 2010, 3:46 am

78th Day of Winter, 497 A.V.
14 Years old: Bringing Home the Bacon

Jaeden shivered slightly, even under the heavy cloak that fell over his frame, a heavy fogged breath escaping his nose as snow made the muffled crunching sound under his boot with each step. A crude, hand made arrow rested along the shaft of an equally crudely hand made bow. Jaeden wasn’t even sure if it shot strait, having never even loosed a shot from it yet. Still, he was finally doing a hunt on his own, having woke up that morning to find Olevar in a lazy mood, and adamantly claiming that Jaeden would bring supper home that day, or they would not eat.

Jaeden wasn’t sure what had put Olevar in his mood, though he suspected it might have been that today was the day that marked his birth, finding that he had similar moods during the previous years. If it wasn’t the fact that Olevar was a year older, it was likely the anniversary to something that he was equally unwilling to reveal about. In the end, it hadn’t mattered to Jaeden. While he was curious about Olevar’s past, he knew that if Olevar wanted to share such with Jaeden, he would have. What mattered to Jaeden, was the present and future. He wasn’t lying on the streets, alone and starving anymore. He had someone to watch over him, to teach him. Someone who wasn’t just luring him in so that he could sell him to some laborer or deviant with perverse desires. Someone who didn’t treat him with the simple sympathy you would do in giving a stray dog something to eat in order to get it to go away. Olevar may have trained Jaeden hard, and at times was grumpy with no real good reason, but he was always there, and Jaeden knew the man would kill and defend him with his life.

It was all of that, that convinced Jaeden to go on this hunt on his own, with no questioning or whining. Besides, Jaeden found it a little exciting, being the one responsible for bringing the food in for once. It was a lot of pressure as well. Olevar made it look easy so many times, while Jaeden had only a small amount of experience when it came to stalking the prey, and even less in using a bow. It was likely those reasons as well that Olevar gave Jaeden his sword to use in this hunt. When he noticed the simple bow Jaeden had made by stringing together a bundle of long sticks together tightly, he knew that Jaeden would likely need something a little more.

For the past two chimes of a bell, Jaeden had been tracking hoof tracks along the ground. He had trouble discerning what animal the tracks actually belonged to. It looked like a boar by it’s shape, but the depth betrayed an animal that typically was a little larger. The snow was dry, however, and such made reading the shape and depths of many tracks a little more difficult as it shifted around with each step. Jaeden stopped, as the tracks lead to a fallen tree. He crouched down, looking under the tree where the ground bowed, leaving a fair amount of space between the ground itself and the trunk of the fallen tree. There were several scraping and drag marks along the ground, suggesting that something had crawled beneath. Jaeden slowly reached under the tree, feeling the bark underneath, only to pull free a tuft of black hair from it moments later. He examined the hairs for a long moment, rolling them between his fingers to check it’s coarseness before quickly waving them under his nose to check the scent. It was similar to boar hairs, but then again, other animals had similar hairs as well.

Jaeden released a small sigh, hopping over the tree as he once again began following the tracks. He couldn’t have been far away now. Another bell had passed, and it was then that Jaeden finally heard the sounds of what heard like scraping. Crouching low, Jaeden began to slowly approach the sounds, taking a quick note of what direction the wind carried his breath when he exhaled. He slowly rounded a tree, finally seeing the source of the sound as the large mound of black fur was immediately noticeable against the white blanket of snow that covered the ground. The short back legs anchored the compact, but rather large, body in place while it’s front legs continued to furiously beat at the ground as the wild boar burrowed in search of food, the snout of it’s large head sniffing constantly along the hard cold earth. Jaeden’s eyes widened slightly, noticing that the boar was a little under six feet long and three and half feet tall. He quickly shifted behind the tree, almost gasping as he felt the pace of his heart quicken when it let out a few thunderous grunts. “ Unbe-petching-lievable,” Jaeden whispered lightly to himself, “shyke, that’s a big pig.”

Jaeden looked down to his bow and it was suddenly looking more and more crude. While the bundle strung together gave the bow a fair amount of pull weight to it, he wasn’t sure if it was enough the loose an equally crude arrow with sufficient force to penetrate the boar’s hide. He looked up to the sky, noting the light. He likely only had three more chimes of the bell before darkness would fall. If he went in search of other prey, it wasn’t likely he would find any that night. With a reluctant sigh, Jaeden kept crouched low, slowly moving around the tree once again as he leveled the bow in the direction of the boar. The muscle along his arms went tight, as he slowly drew back the string. Luckly, he was only about forty feet away. That and the fact that the boar was so large, made it a somewhat easy target. Still, his heart beat so hard, that he could feel it along the front of his chest as though it was about to jump out through his ribs. Jaeden suddenly released the arrow, and immediately yelped in pain as the string snapped along the bare skin of his wrist. “Sunuvapetchingbitch!” Jaeden yelled as his hand suddenly clasped his wrist, the sharp sting radiating through his whole forearm. “Shyke that’s smarts!”

So consumed was Jaeden in the sting that his crudely made bow left behind, that he hadn’t realized right away that his arrow had only barely pierced the shoulder of the boar, and that it was now charging. It’s head was lowered as it’s feet carried it rapidly over the short distance. Jaeden’s eyes widened, as he held the bow out in front him when the boar’s head was raised quickly. Long tusks hit the bundle of sticks, shattering them as Jaeden was flung back through the air by the force of the boar’s charge. He landed with a thud along the ground, his body feeling racked with pain as he groaned for a moment. He had little time to gain his wits as the boar continued it’s charge towards him. Jaeden instinctively reached for the hilt of Olevar’s sword, pulling it free from it’s sheath as he began to rise to his feet.

When the boar came close enough, Jaeden quickly brought the sword down along it’s back, cutting into it’s flesh as it gave a echoing squeal. Such didn’t halt it’s charge though, as it’s head was thrust upward again, clipping the edge of Jaeden’s left thigh as he was flipped into the air over the boar’s body, it’s proportionate strength greater than Jaeden’s in comparison. Jaeden once again thumped along the ground, his hand quickly reaching out to his left thigh. Crimson red began to soak the white snow as Jaeden felt a burning sensation wash along his leg. Jaeden’s gaze took a quick look of the wound, the gash was wide, but not deep, barely reaching past the superficial. Still, having a layer of skin torn away left a memorable pain, enough that it would be too difficult to stand or move at that moment, and once again the boar was charging.

Jaeden began to panic, his mind racing over his options as the boar quickly closed in on him. In the end, he simply held the point of Olevar’s sword out defensively, hoping to halt the boars charge out of some instinctive sense of caution. It didn’t stop however, but instead squealed out loudly once again. The tip of the sword suddenly slipped into the boar’s mouth, the hilt getting shoved violently into the ground and becoming braced with the force of the boar’s charge. The tip of the sword then ripped through several layers of muscle and bone before the tip came piercing out between the boar’s shoulders. It quickly fell the ground, tumbling and flipping in the air for a moment before suddenly landing on top of Jaeden. Jaeden groaned out in pain once again feeling the wind knocked out of him as the weight of the boar now pinned him to the ground.

Jaeden, laid along the ground, breathing heavily. The boar’s body twitched as if it were having a seizure on top of Jaeden, but was for the most part dead. Jaeden’s hands slowly pressed up against the boar, grunting as he attempted to push it off his body. He then stopped when he heard footsteps approaching, a sense of fear entering him. It wasn’t an animal. The sound of the steps sounded heal-toe, and the pace suggested something that walked along two legs. Was it a Zith? A slaver? Had they been stalking him while he tracked the boar, waiting until now to make their move on Jaeden, while he was in such a vulnerable state?

Jaeden’s hand suddenly reached out towards the boar’s mouth, trying to grasp at the hilt of Olevar’s sword. The size of the boar, and the fact that it had him pinned along the ground, proved the task impossible for Jaeden to achieve before whoever was approaching him would reach him. Jaeden then just began to bear gritted teeth, his hands forming a fist, drawing them back until his elbows rested along the ground. Jaeden’s eyes then slammed shut with surprise as a figure suddenly jumped along top of the pick, big brown eyes and long drooping black hair dangling over Jaeden as the figured yelled with excitement, “Shyke Pup! You bagged yourself a Hogmonster here!”

Jaeden’s fist just went flying as he felt it connect with the soft flesh of the face before him, hearing the man yell out in pain. Then his mind snapped to the realization that the man had called him “Pup”. Jaeden’s eyes suddenly opened as the man began to yell out in pain. “Olevar?” Jaeden said, now seeing his mentor holding his face, the look no longer matching the excitement that was in his voice when he greeted him.

“WHAT! THE! PETCH!?” Olevar yelled out, rubbing his face. “What the HELL are you hitting me for?”

“What the hell are you doing here?” Jaeden suddenly snapped back. “I thought I was supposed to be alone on this hunt?”

“YOU WERE!” Olevar yelled, rolling off the boar as he suddenly grabbed a handful of snow and began rubbing it along his face to numb the sting Jaeden’s punch left behind. “I was shadowing you for the trip, but you hunted this beast all by yourself. Don’t avoid the question, why did you hit me?!”

“I thought you were staying around CAMP!” Jaeden suddenly yelled back. “I didn’t know whether you were another slaver or some Zith to come and kill me while I was pinned.”

Olevar remained silent for a long moment, looking at Jaeden with a blank expression on his face as snow began to melt over his face, shades of pink, running with the clear water, suggesting that Jaeden had broken skin with his strike. “Yeah, I guess that makes sense.” Olevar then said as he rose to his feet once again. “Come on, let’s get this piggy off of you and look at your leg.”

“Ugh,” Jaeden grunted, laying flat along his back. “This thing weighs as much as a horse.”

“Not quite,” Olevar said as he smiled, slipping his hands along the boar’s shoulder, “but close to four hundred pounds I’d wager.”

“Thanks for not being a slaver or Zith.” Jaeden simply said.

“Uhhh, you’re welcome.” Olevar said, finally rolling the boar off of Jaeden’s body.

by **Jaeden Kincade** on May 2nd, 2010, 7:22 am

5th Day of Fall, 498 A.V.
15 Years old: Growth

There was almost simultaneous beats along the ground as they ran through the forest, side by side. Both of them breathed heavily as they crossed paths several times, each of them leaping over obstacles like rock and tree roots that came into their path. They were nearing the final stretch of their run, as both Jaeden and Olevar began running at full speed. More and more, Olevar found Jaeden keeping pace with him more easily. He recalled never having this kind of stamina at Jaeden’s age. Still, Jaeden had his flaws as Olevar noticed Jaeden looking to him with a challenging smile. Olevar simply pointed forward with a smirk, and as Jaeden looked back to where he was running, he found himself running face first into a tree. “Bacaa!” Jaeden yelled out, stumbling back a couple of paces before falling to the ground.

Olevar chuckled as he came to a stop. “He’s gotta stop doing that.” Olevar muttered under his breath with a smile before looking back to Jaeden. “You doing alright there, Pup?”

“Yeah.” Jaeden grumbled, pushing himself off the ground. He took a moment to brush himself off before once again resuming his run.

Olevar waited for Jaeden to reach him before starting up again himself. The both pushed their feet hard along the ground, tearing up earth and the first of the fallen leaves as they made a dash for camp. A final leap brought them to the small clearing, as they both landed along the ground, hunching over as they sucked in deep breaths. Jaeden finally came to a full stand, his hands resting along his waist as he continued to catch his breath. Olevar looked at him for a moment, standing strait up. His hand raised, staying flat and level as he brought it up close to the top of Jaeden’s head when his back was turned before slowly moving it towards his own head, finding that it was even with his chin. His gaze then snapped back to Jaeden when he heard him say, “What?”

“Oh, it’s nothing really. You’ve just grown a lot since I picked you up,” Olevar said, his hand reaching up to give a subtle scratch along his head. “Either that, or I’m getting shorter.”

“Well, it’s been nine years.” Jaeden pointed out. “I was bound to grow some, especially with all the hellish training you put me through.”

“Has it been that long already?” Olevar said looking up in recollection. “It seems like only yesterday that I found you almost starved to death in forest.”

“Yeah, good times.” Jaeden said before blinking a moment. “Wait a minute, nearly starving to death wasn’t such a good time.”

Jaeden and Olevar then moved nearby the tent, grabbing their respective water skins. Jaeden slowly looked over to Olevar, seeing him still staring at him. “What is it now?” Jaeden said, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand.

“I’m guessing now would be a good time as any to tell you.” Olevar said as he rested his arm along the to of the tent.

“Tell me what?” Jaeden said as a confused look crossed his features.

“Provided you keep this pace up, you’ve only got about three more years with me.” Olevar said, taking a sip from his water skin.

A look of surprise crossed Jaeden’s features as he looked at Olevar. “What?” Jaeden said, dropping his water skin to the ground. “Why?”

“Because eventually, every Pup has to leave the nest.” Olevar said.

“Bird.” Jaeden replied, a stunned expression still on his face.

“Don’t correct me.” Olevar said before giving a quick slap along Jaeden’s head. “As I was saying, you can’t spend the rest of my life following me around like a stray. In fact, I’d be disappointed if you did.”

“I still don’t understand.” Jaeden said, rubbing his head slightly.

“I only intended to train you, Pup.” Olevar said as he reached down, picking up Jaeden’s water skin and handing it back to him. “We may have gotten a little closer in that time, but in the end, once you’re trainings done, you have to walk your own path. It’s what your training has all been for after all. I haven’t put you through this hellish training just so you can stick around after all.”

Jaeden just remained silent, releasing a sigh as his gaze fell to the ground. “Well, this is a real mood killer.” Jaeden simple said after a short time.

“Yeah, I know. Hard to take in, but I figured you should know. That way you can begin mentally preparing for it.” Olevar explained, his hand falling to Jaeden’s shoulder, giving it a reassuring squeeze. “Good news is, I know what’ll help you get over it.”

“What?” Jaeden said as he looked back up to Olevar.

“More training!” Olevar said with an excited shout.

“Shyke.” Jaeden just said rolling his eyes.

“Yep, come on and grab your bags of rocks. Fifty pounds in each hand today.” Olevar said.

by **Jaeden Kincade** on May 2nd, 2010, 7:37 am

20th Day of Summer, 499 A.V.
16 years old: Swingers

Jaeden slowly rolled over in his sleep, his eyes slowly fluttering opened. It was a peaceful Summer morning as the skies held large patches of snow white clouds floating along a background of blue. The birds and rest of the wild remained calm, and somewhat quiet, echoing out only the most subtle of calls. As the darkness of sleep slowly gave way to blurred vision and then clear sight, Jaeden was suddenly greeted with the wide smile of Olevar’s face. “Gah!” Jaeden said suddenly jerking his body back in surprise as he fell onto the ground off his bedroll. He quickly looked around to see he had been carefully dragged out of the tent sometime during sleep and the camp was broken down.

“Morning.” Olevar said, holding out a cup of tea out to Jaeden to perk him up.

Jaeden slowly sat up, rubbing his eyes slightly as he reached out grabbing the cup of tea. “What’s going on? Did you let me sleep in?” Jaeden asked wearily before taking a quick sip of tea.

“Yeah. Happy Birthday.” Olevar said before moving over to his pack and tightening a few straps along it. “Get your things packed up, I’ve got a special treat for the day of your birth.”

“You’re not going to make me hunt a Barkbear or something, are you?” Jaeden said as he slowly stood up and began picking up his things idly while sipping at his tea.

“What? No!” Olevar said before slapping the back of Jaeden’s head. “That’s not until next year, and you’ll be using a cup as a weapon.”

“Ha, ha, ha.” Jaeden said sarcastically before tipping his head back to down the rest of his tea, his body starting to feel like it had a lot more energy. “Wow, what was in this?”

“A little mixture of my own design.” Olevar said as he hiked his backpack along his shoulders. “I’ll teach it to you later, but we got to move. They’re not going to stick around for too long.”

“They who?” Jaeden said as he began closing up his pack.

“It’s a surprise.” Olevar said with a mischievous smile on his face as he began heading south. “Hurry up, or you’ll be tracking me to the place.”

Jaeden frowned slightly at the vagueness Olevar was keeping involving his plans. Normally he would come out and strait tell Jaeden what they would be doing during the day, just so Jaeden could mentally prepare for the physical exhaustion that would inevitably follow it. Still, the day started like most of them did, with a run. Both Jaeden and Olevar stomped their feet through the forest. Jaeden found it easier and easier to keep up with his master in these morning runs they did now, his speed and stamina almost the same. The only difference was that Jaeden tended to keep his eyes to the ground to avoid tripping hazards, and Olevar just seemed to know where they all laid. He sometimes wondered if Olevar had spent half of his life, learning to know the forest like he knew the back of his own hand.

Several bells had passed, and all they did was run, stopping only briefly every now and then to eat and catch a short breath. Jaeden had noticed that their direction hadn’t really changed all that much in the time, as they still headed south, only changing when the terrain made a strait path impossible. “Are we heading to the southern border or something?” Jaeden asked curiously as he noticed the now waning light of the sky. “We’ve already ran close to fifteen miles.”

“To, but we don’t need to cross it. They’ve set up camp about five miles within the Sylira region.” Olevar replied with a slight huff.

“Who?” Jaeden asked again as they began quick bracing steps while heading down hill.

“I told you, it’s a surprise.” Olevar said, looking back with that same mischievous smile before coming to a stop. “Whoa. They’re nearby. We actually made pretty good time.”

Jaeden paused for a moment, taking in deep breaths as his ears suddenly twitch at the sound of music filling the air. “They’re being loud, in the forest like this?” Jaeden said as a frown crossed his face, looking over to Olevar. “Don’t they know about the slavers and animals?”

Olevar gave a slow chuckle, smacking his hand along the center of Jaeden’s chest lightly. “They know.” Olevar said as he began stepping towards the music. “It’s just that Slaver’s know not to mess with the leader of this group. He’s got some serious mojo going on about him, and when they dull his buzz, they tend to wind up dead. The animals just plain stay away due to the noise, fire and general smell of the incense they normally burn.”

Jaeden took a sniff of the air, already catching scent of the incense that Olevar spoke of. It had a sweet smell to it, almost like fragrant flowers, but at the same time it was overpowering as it caused Jaeden’s nostrils to tingle. “Wow, that’s a sharp smell.” Jaeden commented as he began to rub his nose.

“You get used to it after about a bell’s chime worth of time,” Olevar said as they began moving into a clearing, the sound of music getting louder as mixtures of celebration and laughter began mingling with it, “but for most animals, especially predators, it’s downright offensive. Here we are.”

Jaeden stepped into the clearing to see a giant set of tents, each of them housing intricate designs in stitching and embroidery. Several fires burned within the camps, each of them having hanging pans over the flames as a purple smoke hazed up from them, carrying with it the scent of the incense that Jaeden had smelled from far off. Small kegs were lined in front of each tent, tapped with a spout as ale was poured freely into cups from the few hunters that had arrived there before Jaeden and Olevar. Several people, men and women alike also played musical instruments ranging from drums and bongos, to guitars and flutes. The most astonishing thing that Jaeden had discovered around the camp, however, were the large number of women that danced around, half or fully naked. Every one of them, as well as those hunters who were already there, seemed to be in a euphoric haze of sorts. Jaeden looked up to Olevar for a moment, seeing a bit of a smile on his face. It was unusual, even with the naked women, since Olevar rarely liked involving himself with groups as large as that which stood in front of him.

“Olevar! You forest dog!” A voice suddenly shouted from off to the side. Jaeden slowly moved his gaze to the source, tensing up as if there were about to be a confrontation. Instead, he saw a man approaching with a smile. He was tall, with dark tanned skin, that displayed several tattoos of similar intricate design as those that embroidered the tents. His hair was long and brown and braided into several thicker strands. Hazel eyes stared with amusement as he looked to Olevar as the man took several slow draws along the long stem of his pipe. “I was afraid you had perished in the forest. Haven’t seen you in a few years.”

“It’s been about ten, blame the disciple for being too young.” Olevar said with a smile as he and the man grabbed each others wrists in a firm shake of greeting. “Nevaur, I’d likely you to meet my Pup. He’s a stray that I picked up years ago. His name is Jaeden Kincade.”

The man Olevar introduced as Nevaur, suddenly looked over at Jaeden, his eyes narrowing as if he were inspecting Jaeden, seeing if he was worthy of meeting. Then a slow smile just spread across his lips, a haze of smoke lingering out from between his teeth. Jaeden could catch the hint of a certain plant that grew in this forest, one that Olevar told him altered and confounded the senses when it’s burned smoke was inhaled. “So, Jaeden,” Nevaur suddenly said in a friendly tone, “is this man the same insufferable introvert he was ten years ago?”

“Hey!” Olevar said, giving a small shove to Nevaur as the man laughed in response.

“Uh, yeah. Sort of, I would imagine. He hasn’t changed much since I first met him.” Jaeden then responded.

“Hey!” Olevar said, then shoving Jaeden in response to his answer.

Nevaur just laughed, motioning for the two to join in on the festivities taking place. “For the Pup, it’s free since it’s his first visit. You know the price for yourself though, Olevar.” Nevaur said, quickly spinning as he held out his hand.

“What? No discount for old friends?” Olevar said, a mock frown crossing his face.

Nevaur just gave Olevar a sidelong glance, puffing out another cloud of smoke. “Everyone’s got to eat, you know that.” Nevaur replied.

“Yeah, you guys never could hunt worth a petch.” Olevar replied before dipping his hand into a small pouch before producing a small handful of gold mizas, slipping them into Nevaur’s hands.

“Thank you, both of you go ahead and take your pick, and above all else, enjoy yourselves.” Nevaur then said, motioning to the dancing women. All three of their attentions, and everyone’s in the camp for that matter, was suddenly taken away by a sudden outburst of screaming. Along the far side of the encampment, one of the hunters that had previously been enjoying himself, was suddenly standing over one of the women there, holding a knife in his hand. “Excuse me for a moment, if you would.”

Olevar’s hand suddenly grabbed Jaeden’s shoulder, gripping it tightly with a hint of excitement. “Oh, you’re going to want to watch this.” Olevar said. “Nothing dulls his buzz more than someone getting a little violent with one of his ladies.”

Jaeden carefully observed, his eyes narrowing as he suddenly saw Nevaur tapping hot ash from the cup of his pipe as he stepped between the hunter and the woman he stood over. Simple words were then minced, most of them Jaeden could barely hear as the music had already began to start back up. Jaeden heard phrases like, “called it small” from the hunter, and “angry drunk” from Nevaur. Jaeden could practically get the basics of what it was all about from such. In the end, it didn’t matter as the hunter seemed to be inconsolable and began holding the dagger up towards Nevaur. Nevaur, in response, took another long draw from his pipe, and suddenly blew the smoke into hunter’s face. That same, wide smile then spread across Nevaur’s lips as he gave a quick wink to the hunter before the haze of smoke that covered his entire head suddenly burst into flames, engulfing the hunter’s head. The hunter screamed, as both of his hands suddenly began swatting at the flames, trying to extinguish them before he began making a mad dash out of the camp. “Holy shyke,” Jaeden said, seeing the man run off into the forest, most likely to die.

“Absolutely,” Olevar said, giving a small pat to Jaeden’s shoulder, “and that’s only a fraction of what he can do. I’ve seen him cut loose on Slaver’s trying to take his girls. They got it much worse. If you ever stopped and asked yourself what it would be like to have the water in your body suddenly begin to boil, I can tell you this much, it looked like it hurt like hell when he did it to them. Anyways, take your pick and have a good time, Pup.”

“Wait, my pick?” Jaeden said, causing Olivar to stop in his step and look back. “What is this place, anyhow?”

“Oh, you haven’t figured it out yet?” Olevar said with a subtle laugh. “Nevaur runs a traveling brothel, Pup.”

Jaeden’s eyes suddenly widened at the answer, watching as he saw Olevar suddenly greeted by two women that seemed to know him. With laughs and giggles, he picked the two of them up along his shoulders, immediately carrying them into one of the nearby tents. Jaeden felt a very awkward feeling wash over him as he began gazing around the camp, seeing the eyes of several of the women there looking over him with an almost hungry expression on their face. He felt his stomach take a slow turn, and his legs began to feel weak and shake slightly, his whole frame frozen in place. “Ah, they do love the virgins.” Nevaur’s voice suddenly said from behind. Jaeden slowly looked up at Nevaur, seeing an amused smile on his face. “Have you decided on one yet? Or perhaps two? Looking over your build and age, I might wager you may even be able to tackle three.”

“Three, well I, I, I……….” Jaeden said, beginning to stumble over his words.

“Little bit of advice, young Pup,” Nevaur said, placing his hand along Jaeden’s shoulder. “If you don’t choose one, soon enough, one may very well choose you.”

“Wait? What?” Jaeden said as he watched Nevaur just slowly walk away, puffing on his pipe.

More and more time passed by and night fully set in. Hunters and random travelers came and went into the encampment. Nevaur mingled with each of them as they visited, and one by one each of them went into the tent with the girl of their choosing. Jaeden hadn’t even been able to work up the courage to stand from where he sat, as he nursed away on a large mug of ale, that Nevaur had brought him during his rounds. Jaeden felt so nervous, that he was almost nauseous. He had practically only seen Olevar for the past ten years, and only had interacted with females briefly during their visits to the city. Jaeden didn’t even know how to approach one of the women, much less pick one. His concentration was soon distracted, as the sound of heavy footsteps approached from behind.

Turning his head to see who had stepped up behind him, his eyes widened slightly as he saw a woman standing there behind him. This woman towered over him, standing at nearly seven feet tall, her build was almost as large as Jaeden’s or Olevar’s as taught muscles along her arms and bulging thighs seemed to twitch in a playful way under the dancing light of the fires. Jaeden’s eyes continued to travel up her frame, noticing she wore a tight, short skirt, and had a simple cloth wrapped over her large bust that seemed so tight that if she were to take a deep breath, the fabric would have tore, flinging it free from her body. His eyes then settled on the woman’s face, which was beautiful in it’s own right, but intimidating, like the rest of her body as full long lips smiled with interest, those dark eyes of hers sizing Jaeden up. Likely the most distinguishing feature of the woman’s head, however, was her hair. It was blonde, almost white, and instead of a full head of hair, it seemed like there was only a single stripe of hair that ran over the top of her hair, falling down to, what Jaeden could only assume as the wind carried it for a brief moment, the mid of her back. “Who you?” the woman said in an aggressive voice, seeming to have a thick accent in her common that Jaeden couldn’t place.

“Um, I, I’m Jaeden.” Jaeden responded, almost meekly.

“I Ilda!” The woman responded, thrusting a thumb in her direction. “Ilda think you pretty. You come with Ilda!”

“Wha………… HEY!” Jaeden screamed as the woman suddenly grabbed Jaeden, throwing him over her shoulder and carrying him off. Jaeden’s eyes almost sent a pleading look to the other women as some of them harbored looks of disappointment, while others simply giggled over the show.

Jaeden’s head suddenly smacked the pole of the tent‘s framed opening as Ilda carried him through the into her tent. He reached up, grabbing his head and began to rub at the sting that began to form there, wincing slightly. “Oh, sorry. Ilda make feel better.” Ilda said to Jaeden as a couple more steps where taken.

Jaeden suddenly felt a flying sensation as he saw the tent’s canopy flying over him, his body suddenly flung by Ilda before he landed along a soft padded surface. Jaeden looked around, seeing what he could only describe as an excessively large king sized bed, as it measured fifteen feet long, by ten feet wide. Jaeden felt so surprised and distracted by the size, that he was barely able to notice Ilda crawling towards him on her hands and knees. “Wait, wait, wait. This is all going sort of… whoa!” Jaeden said before Ilda suddenly pushed him flat on his back.

“Hey what are you……? Wait!” Jaeden said as Ilda moved her hands and fingers over the buckle along Jaeden’s pants with the proficiency of a master pick pocket. Before Jaeden could even get another word in, or grab the top of his pants, Ilda was yanking his pants clean off his body and tossing them to the corner of the tent. “Now wait just a petching minute, let me at least get a little comforULP!” Jaeden was saying before Ilda suddenly hopped over Jaeden’s frame, straddling herself over his waist.

Jaeden felt his heart begin to race as he saw Ilda’s hands slip behind her back, quickly untying the fabric that covered her breasts. His eyes then widened, as their size seemed to almost double when she finally set the beasts free. “Holy shyke! They’re the size of watermeloULP!” Jaeden began saying before Ilda suddenly grabbed him by the back of his head, pulling his face in between her breasts.

“Love Ilda! Tell Ilda how her touch feel!” Ilda demanded of Jaeden as she began to rock her hips along top his frame.

“I cnt breeve!” Jaeden muffled out from within Ilda’s cleavage.

Those outside the tent slowly began to gather around the opening as the night continued to pass. All of them giggling with amusement as they eavesdropped in on the bedroom sounds coming from Ilda’s tent, the whole frame of the large tent rocking back and forth. The crowd slowly began cheering, swaying their hands back and forth with each rocking of the tent. This continued on for a full two bells before that final echoing howl of pleasure from Ilda sounded out, and a round of applause came from all over the tent, led by Nevaur himself.

The following morning, Jaeden slowly woke up, his body feeling soar. His hand slowly rose to his face, rubbing it slowly as a throbbing feeling of pain kept pounding at his head. He began to look around him, seeing the frame of the bed he had been lying along crooked, splinters of wood littering the floor. Jaeden slowly turned his head, feeling a heavy weight along his arms. His eyes widened, more than they ever had previously in the night as he first noticed Ilda’s hair. It wasn’t just her hair that surprised him, however, but rather the fact that her hair now ran down along a thick muscled neck, covered by a thin soft tan fur. “Uh…..Ilda?” Jaeden simply whispered, stirring the creature that now laid in bed beside him.

As she turned her head slightly, Ilda’s once strong and beautiful features were replaced by the head of a horse. Covers were suddenly flung aside as hooves kicked out. A shimmer of golden light then blinded Jaeden for a moment as the horse body was suddenly Ilda’s, muscular human form once again. She stood up from the bed, stretching out for a long moment. “Oh, Ilda feel good. Last night fun.” Ilda said, slowly stepping out of the tent.

Jaeden was too stunned for words, as the shock of waking up to a horse laying in bed next to him, originally caused him to think that his ale last night had been drugged. In retrospect, he hadn’t thought his first time in bed with a woman would have turned out quite like this, and it only caused him to bury his face in his hand for a long moment. Time passed slowly, as Jaeden slowly began to dress himself, his mind still reflecting the events of last night. Finally stepping out of the tent, Jaeden was greeted with both Olevar and Nevaur staring up at him with amused smiles on their faces. Jaeden’s face only frowned in response. “Hey, why the long face?” Olevar said as Nevaur snickered a little.

“Shut up.” Jaeden grumbled as he began walking over towards his pack.

“I heard Ilda broke you in last night.” Olevar then said, snickering a little himself.

“She broke the bed.” Jaeden grumbled.

“I told you to pick one, before one picked you, young man.” Nevaur said, taking a slow draw from his pipe.

“To your credit, Ilda did come walking out a little bow legged.” Olevar commented, taking a quick sip from whatever he was drinking that morning. “You must be hung like a…”

“Don’t! Even! Say! It!” Jaeden said, sharply turning as he thrust a finger at Olevar. “I will petching end you!”

Olevar and Nevaur just began bursting out in a loud laughter, as Jaeden finally just gave a sudden huffed exhale. “I’m going to hunt.” Jaeden then just said, grabbing his pack and heading to the forest, starting the new day.

by **Jaeden Kincade** on May 5th, 2010, 4:04 am

89th Day of Spring, 500 A.V.
17 Years Old: Trusting the One Next To You

There was a subtle silence in the forest, one that only came when the animals stood still with their breath held as they either stalked or hid from prey. The kind of silence that suggested something was about to happen, something either glorious, or violent. As Jaeden and Olevar stood back to back, surrounded by six men, armed with various weapons, events pointed towards the latter. Jaeden’s growth had taken leaps and bounds over the past two years, his frame growing in height to equal Olevar’s own, and as well his physical build also revealed the same as he stood there, his legs spread out slightly, bare arms taught and bulging and head leaning forwards slightly, as though he were ready to pounce. “I just want you know, I blame you for this.” Olevar suddenly said, turning his head slightly.

“How is this my fault?” Jaeden said, a slight leaning nudge shoving Olevar slightly. “It was your idea to free those women.”

“You saying that it would have been nobler to just leave them with these slavers?” Olevar said, nudging Jaeden back, a frown crossing his features.

“Oh, don’t even begin to try and play that card with me.” Jaeden said, standing up strait as he turned and faced Olevar. “You only did it because you thought the woman was attractive.”

“They were BOTH attractive!” Olevar said, turning to face Jaeden as he lowered his sword to his side and pointed the finger of his other hand in Jaeden’s face. “There were two of them! One for both of us! If you hadn’t been such a noisy little shyke, I would have succeeded too.”

“Hey.” A slaver had called out, a frown crossing his brow.

“I was in the forest! Five hundred paces away!” Jaeden yelled, disputing Olevar’s point of him making noise.

“Hey!” The slaver once again called out, his voice raising in volume slightly.

“That just goes to show how much of a pain in the ass, your noise really is!” Olevar shouted back, their voices now echoing in the forest.

“HEY!” The slaver now yelled out, as both Jaeden and Olevar looked to him, irritated expressions on their faces. “I don’t mean to break up your lover’s quarrel here, but can we get back to your imminent enslavement and/or deaths. My men and I have a schedule to keep!”

Jaeden and Olevar looked to the slaver as if he had just spit on their shoes, and before anyone could react, both the student and the master were rushing forward towards the slaver. Jaeden quickly ducked down, reaching out. The slaver, distracted by Jaeden’s movements, didn’t catch the swing of Olevar’s sword as the edge swung over Jaeden’s frame, the tip slicing through the slaver’s throat.

The remaining five men began rushing in toward Olevar and Jaeden. As Olevar’s swing came back, parrying an incoming strike at Jaeden, Jaeden’s hand snatched out, grasping the first slaver’s sword as he began to fall back, grasping at his throat. Jaeden’s movements continued, as he swung his sword upward, parrying the incoming attack of the third slaver nearest to them, as it attack was aimed at Olevar. Both Olevar and Jaeden then suddenly shifted their positions, as Jaeden thrust the tip of his blade into the slaver that Olevar had defended against, and Olevar’s sword find the same attack successful against the slaver Jaeden had parried an attack from. Three men now fell to the ground with mortal wounds as Jaeden and Olevar turned to face the remaining three, who halted their movements suddenly, taking a more cautious stance.

“It’s your fault.” Jaeden muttered under his breath towards Olevar as he began to step towards the slavers.

“Is not.” Olevar muttered back as he began moving forward towards the remaining three slaver’s with Jaeden.

The slavers disbelief over what they heard appeared on their faces. Here these two woodman were, bickering with one another. In most situations, even among seasoned veterans of battle, such bickering would hinder their ability to battle with one another. These two, however, showed no such signs. The fact of the matter, was that Jaeden and Olevar, after spending every single day for the past eleven years with one another, had grown to known each other so well, that they knew the moves the other would make, and knew to cover the blind spots. They sparred against one another so many times, that synchronizing their attacks and defense to suit the other was as easy as breathing. Despite what bickering that went on between them at the moment, they knew that the other would not let them come to harm without first taking harm themselves. It made their collective skill together much greater in the end.

The first of the three slavers pressed forward, followed quickly by the second one who only managed to move when seeing the first do so. The first slaver’s attack was directed at Jaeden, as he brought his sword swinging down from over head. Jaeden raised his sword, blocking it with the flat of his blade. The slaver looked down on Jaeden with ferocity, only to have that expression wiped away by one of fear and pain, as he felt Olevar’s sword pierce between the spacing of his rips and enter his lung. The second slaver’s sword came swinging down at Olevar, who pulled his own sword free from the slaver’s body and swung it through the air in front of him, knocking the incoming attack aside with enough force that his body was twisted slightly. When he began turning to face Olevar again, he found Olevar already walking past him, and the tip of Jaeden’s sword biting deeply through his stomach as Jaeden moved in front of him, swinging his sword across.

The last of the slavers now looked to Olevar and Jaeden, visibly shaking as he held his weapon out defensively towards them. Jaeden stepped up next to Olevar, tilting his head slightly. “His fault?” Jaeden then just said casually, letting the sword he held rest along his shoulder.

“Yeah, I do think he was the one who spotted me.” Olevar said as he began wiping his sword clean of blood.

“Told you it wasn’t me making noise.” Jaeden muttered under his breath.

“Oh, are we really going to start this again?” Olevar said as he turned to Jaeden, almost growling at him.

That was all the incentive the slaver needed as he quickly turned and began running as fast as his feet could carry him, only to find that he ran strait into a tree, his head bouncing off it as he fell back unconscious. Jaeden and Olevar looked down on his prone body, tilting their head with curiosity in almost synchronized movements. “Huh,” Jaeden suddenly said. “That never happens when I run into a tree.”

“That’s because you’ve done it so many times, you’ve grown too thick of a skull to be knocked out by it.” Olevar remarked, sheathing his sword

“Toochie.” Jaeden said, tossing the sword he had aside.

“I think you mean, Touché,” Olevar said, pulling some rope free from his pack.

“Gods bless you,” Jaeden replied.

Olevar strung the slaver upside down and left him hanging from a tree’s limb for the wild animals to feast upon. Then Jaeden and him had made the long walk back to the slaver’s camp. Both of the women had remained where Olevar had found them, tied and gagged in the slaver’s camp. Olevar slowly reached down, cutting through their bindings. “You are welcome, my ladies.” Olevar said, tossing their bindings aside.

Both of them, now free of their bindings, suddenly stood up, and flung their arms open. Olevar, however, was surprised at their reaction as they ran past him, both of them embracing Jaeden, causing him to stumble back a couple of paces. Jaeden had a surprised expression his face as he looked to both of them for a moment, before looking up to Olevar with a smile. “You’re right, this was sort of a good idea.” Jaeden then said, chuckling slightly.

“Oh, come on!” Olevar almost yelled. “He wasn’t even here the first time.”

by **Harlequill** on May 10th, 2010, 6:09 pm

Weighing in...

XP Awarded

Character: Jaeden
Experience: 4xp Longsword, 4xp Bodybuilding, 3xp Running, 2xp Hunting, 2xp Tracking, 2xp Unarmed Combat, 2xp Wilderness Survival, 1xp Composite Longbow, 1xp Stealth
Lore: How To Please A Horse, The Approximate Weight Of A Hogmonster, Nevaur's Traveling Brothel, Olevar's Training Techniques, The Threat Of Magicians

Comments: This was a great deal of fun! Startled me for a moment, but Ilda was both tastefully and hilariously done. Awarded just a little extra bodybuilding for two hours with the horse. Better than carrying bags of rocks, i'm sure. (Figured the bundle of sticks bow would be modeled after the bow you already know how to use.)