[Flashback][Training]Not Alone in the Woods.(Kamrynn)

[Wystern]

Timestamp: Fall 24, 509.

A third day of training passed as the the two knights were training in the Bronze Woods. They didn't have much food left, and that was part of the point, It was Wys's idea to do some hunting and cooking while out. He grabbed a book on some hunting and basic cooking skills from his former mentor. Time to put the bow to some use, though the pair didn't have a particular skill with that weapon.

Being a bowman isn't really a very taught skill in knighthood. Funny how important it seems now. Time to go recollect the arrows, and try at it again.

"Damn," Crow whispered with an agitated look on his face as the arrow missed the target yet again. He had the form, it was pulling the string that was the problem. He will never hit anything at this rate, except for maybe himself. Kamrynn seemed to have the exact same problem. Wys's fingers were getting sore again, he couldn't yet afford an injury on his hands or else he would not be able to hold his sword. Several more rounds of sword sparring would come after the target practice. At least they knew what to do with blades.

The pair had set up a campfire with a tent keeping their weapons there. That's where they stored their gear. They brought some training equipment from the barracks to prevent the weapon damage and actual fatality chance.

"That's it!" Wys exclaimed as he put down the bow. That was enough humiliation from an inanimate object that he received for one day.

"So, how is the knighthood going, Kam?" Crow said looking inquisitively at his fingers.

[Kamrynn Sleightyr]

Kamrynn sighed mournfully, letting his sword arm fall to his side. He was hungry, sore and exhausted -but above all else, he was having a blast.

With his wooden "training sword," which was nothing more than a whittled stick, he had chopped down nearly ever tree that stood in this patch of the forest. An exaggeration, obviously, but the callouses on his hand certainly made him feel that way. The trees had resisted thousands of his blows and was none the worse for wear.

"Here we go..." Break time was over and he hefted the stick which -by some miracle of science- had become more than a dozens times heavier than when he had started. *Crack crack crack* It sounded, his overactive imagination was finally put to good use.

He feigned high, spun away from a stab and struck two blows to his opponent's sides, finding purchase in the chinks of their wooden armor. He then darted forward and swatted a branchy sword aside; his overhand return strike was more than enough to split his opponent's skull clean in two. He dove away from three arrows (a couple falling pine cones) and rolled back to his feet like a circus tumbler, driving his sword to the hilt into the leafy heart of some dastardly villian. Countless other's fell as he caught a great swath through the forest.

But lo and behold: in front of him stood the beautiful Wild Rose of Sylra and her captor, a monstrosity of a man, standing as large as the mightiest oaks of the Sylira Wildlands.

"You!" Kamrynn challenged, pointing his stick forward. "I've bested your army single handedly! They were as nothing in comparison to the skill of Kamrynn Sleightyr, the greatest knight in all of Syliras! Now, I will give you the honor of dying by my blade tonight! Fear not, my sweet rose, your knight in shining armor has arrived."

The wind blew, and Kamrynn's opponent trembled at his approach, but spoke not a word.

The battle was short and bloody. The young squire's blade whipped and whirled like lightening, he parried and feinted, leaving his opponent guessing and totally confused. The battle ended when Kamryn kicked out his opponent's legs and his sword swung home, clipping a major artery in the trunk of his opponent's body and laying him low. Blood poured like thick, sticky sap from the injury, and the monster was no more. Time now to collect his rewards from the beautiful damsel in distress-

So, how is the knighthood going, Kam?" Crow asked, pulling Kamrynn from his fantasies.

"Pretty good. He said coolly. "Pretty good." He turned and headed back to their tent. "So what's on the menu for tonight? Are you gonna try and catch anything with that bow of yours?" He chuckled, remembering the failures from previous nights. "I told you we should have brought more food!"

[Wystern]

"Hunger is an excellent motivator!" Wys exclaimed with a smile, "I do think wolf meat is edible, so worst come to worst we could use ourselves as bait and find a pack, or kill a bear." He finished sounding half-way serious. He sighed and went to collect the arrows scattered all around the target. The horse whined as it was eating the grass, almost mocking him. Wys put them back in the quiver thinking how could they hunt.

Crow was glad he brought some survival supplies, including a small hatchet, a shovel, and about fifty feet of rope. Syliran Knights' supply closet is quite vast, it seemed. Obviously, shooting something with a bow will not be an issue, Wys simply wouldn't do it. That only left trapping; time to go and fetch some branches, sharpen them with a dagger, dig a hole, stick the little spears in the ground and wait. Or chase something into it. Or make a noose and set a springing trap. It always sounds so simple in theory.

He took a seat on a nearby tree stump and pondered on what they were going to do. "I am seriously thinking about setting a couple of traps and baiting some wolves." His sword rested on his hip, two wakizashi concealed and criss-crossed in their sheaths on his back and a dagger below them. The leather plates held it together, and he was almost aching to put it to good use.

[Kamrynn Sleightyr]

Kamrynn's heart was in his throat at the idea of using human bait for wolves. Wystern, of course, would have every intention of using Kamrynn as said bait.

As if a pack of wolves wasn't bad enough, now Wystern was thinking of hunting a bear! "Crow, now I think you've lost it!" Kamrynn said, exasperated. "A bear is a thousand pounds of claws and muscle! I think taking first in the last unranked sparring contest has addled your brain -given you a false sense of divinity or immortality!"

Kamrynn drew his short sword for effect. "How do you intend on killing a bear with a knitting needle like this? Remember, your little katanas are no bigger than my sword, either. We'll look like two tin wrapped snacks to a bear."

Kamrynn's stomach grumbled, making a much better argument than the knight's. He'd had bear before, and it was delicious.

"Alright," Kamrynn conceded, his shoulder's slumped. "I'm too hungry to argue. How do you want to use me as bait?"

[Wystern]

"Well, the general idea, was to set up some simple swinging and spike traps, and go and look for trouble. Then lure the trouble over to the traps and turn the trouble into dinner!" Wys said with a slightly maniacal look on his face."Seriously, we need to get to work, we need to find some branches, chop them off, and bring them here so we can sharpen them. I Have a shovel, we will just need to find a way to disguise them. Oh, and remember not to fall!"

Wys took his book and began reading over how to make a good spiked pit. Depth was of little importance as long as there was about a two-foot hole, it was the force with which the spikes were hit by the flesh. At this point, the plan to kill a bear was beginning to get compromised. He had no idea how in the world the two of the would carry it. Tie the corpse to horse and drag it? Crow seriously began to wish for a rescue from a realm of imagination.

"We have to remember, a skin is skin, if we get the head, it will die. I did hear of a this way hunters killed bears with a Y-spike. Remember how bear stand on their feet before they maul something? Put the spike where the bear's shoulders would land and you got yourself a dead bear." Wys looked around for trees, suitable to make the weapon. Most were good, but too thick to cut down with little effort. They just needed a tree about twenty feet tall and about a foot and a half in thickness.

"Or maybe we could just kill a bunch of wolves back to back?" He said with a weak smile.

[Kamrynn Sleightyr]

Kamrynn was beginning to have his doubts about Wystern's leadership, but as Wystern was his senior, (not in rank, but in time with the order) Kamrynn compelled himself to trust the man's judgement.

Besides, Wystern had somehow managed to amass an impressive amount of survival gear and survival guides. Kamrynn knew absolutely nothing about wilderness survival, he had only brought a blanket from home and the arm full of food he had managed to steal from the chow hall. He chuckled, remembering the cooks cursing him as he ran from the larder.

"I have my lance!" Kamrynn offered helpfully. "I don't think there's a creature in the whole wilderness that could survive me crashing into it at a gallop with that." Now he was feeling like himself again; the foolish fearlessness that came with youth and inexperience -often mistaken for bravery- flowed into him with renewed vigor.

"Crow, let's bag us a bear!" He moved over to where his mount stood grazing, pulling his lance from where it was staked in the ground. "We're Syliran knights! The whole forest should tremble when we ride through it!"

[Wystern]

"Well, lance is something we always carry when we take a horse." Wys looked at the one over near his horse. A lance!

"Kamrynn, you're a genius!" Crow exclaimed as the new idea hit him."We will use myself as bait, I will run off, leading it to traps, and then you ram it with a lance!" Wys finished, took his katana as he ran off with a hatchet looking for branches. After about fifteen minutes, he showed up out of breath, carrying two armfuls of small, but fairly long logs. "I think this is enough to make about four traps in total, assuming he lands on them it shouldn't be particularly difficult."

Wys will have to put them on the brush, where he could easily maneuver and the bear would have to smash through the trees to get to him. There were just so many other factors to deal with. If he gets injured, it's not far from Syliras, maybe Kam will get help. Blood may actually attract a pack of wolves on top of the bear hunt. And he wasn't even sure if they would find a bear or a pack of wolves.

A few hours later, they finally managed to set up the traps, pack up their stuff on horses get the general route to get back. They ate what was left of the food they had, so at least the pair wasn't hungry, for now.

Wys packed his arrows and a bow, it should, at least, attract the bear's attention. "Are you ready Kam?" He said with a smirk, awaiting a response. "If I die, I will dome back to haunt you."

[Kamrynn Sleightyr]

Kamrynn chuckled. "Well then, my friend, I hope you enjoy life as a ghost!" He raised his lance in salute.

Kamrynn didn't expect much success as Wystern and he began their search. They hadn't seen any dangerous creatures since they had arrived, why should they expect to find one now? In fact, it usually worked out that bears and wolves were something you find when you weren't looking and didn't want to find them.

Still, it sure would be a story to tell the other knights. Skewering a bear with a lance? How many knights could honestly say they had done something half as heroic as that!

Speaking of lances, Kamrynn hadn't mentioned to Wystern that he was a novice at best; both in handling a lance and handling a horse. If it weren't for his overwhelming optimism he would have been concerned about the success of their mission. As it was, he calmed his nerves by going over in his head what little advice he remembered about combat with a lance.

"The lance delivers an incredible amount of power," He recalled form his squirehood, "Not only does your lance hit with the speed of a charging horse, but it also puts the entire weight of both you and your mount behind the attack." Kamrynn grinned, the thousand pound bear didn't seem so bad now: armor, horse and man together weighed that.

"Grab the lance firmly with your hand, and tuck it under your arm, to maximize stability." Kamrynn did so, debating whether or not to carry his shield in his left hand or use it to grip the lance. The bear wouldn't be carrying a lance to guard against, but Kamrynn decided to continue as he was taught, there wasn't much sense in deviating from what little he knew. He lowered his shield against his chest, angling it at 45 degrees to deflect an incoming lance as a glancing blow.

"Keep your stomach and back tight, and at the moment of impact, remember to stand up against your stirrups to deliver as much momentum as you can." Check.

"I'm ready for this bear, Wystern." Kamrynn said calmly. "You better find one."

[Wystern]

Wys saluted Kam goodbye as he was leaving him behind for the ambush. Crow found some mud and covered his face and armor in it, hoping it would mask his smell, at least a bit. He took down the hood, and started slowly walking away from the last trap. "Here goes nothing." He muttered to himself. This idea started getting wore and worse as he was progressing into it, but he is in this too far to back off now. He let out a sigh, he either had to come back leading a beast or die. Or be mocked by the other Knights...no, that was entirely out of the question. The bow he was carrying was mainly just a way to attract attention to himself. He did read that if a bear tasted human blood, it would seriously consider all humans as a food supply. The upside is that many died in these wild lands. The chance of a bear who had a human for dinner was fairly high; or so he hoped.

"Here, bear, bear, here bear, bear." Wys was calling out though not very loud. He was leaving some signs, very broken branches, slashed trees, just something to run back on. He was not entirely sure if he would like to meet the creature on the receiving end of that message. "Good Gods! Stop being such a damn coward!" He told himself, but it is far easier said than done.

He found a spot and waited for about an hour, he was about five minutes of straight running distance back to the entrapment. Wys checked his trail, in the moonlight, there was a very obvious path to follow back. Wys heard crackling sounds and froze. It was just an owl landing on a dry branch above him. "What next? You will freeze at your own shadow?" He told himself. Wys should probably stop that. Patronizing himself did him no good. Neither did the fear.

He paused for a second, this time he heard buzzing. There, right there, a mother grizzly stuck her snout in the bee hive, trying to get out the honey to feed her kin, about three cubs were playing beside her. Wys stopped, he barely breathed. That beast was roughly five times his size, it was big, and he knew how far a mother would go to protect her kin. Especially when it was "food" she had to protect the cubs. Wys stopped and considered what he was about to do.

"This is it." He whispered as he picked up the bow and started pulling the arrow. The mud on his hand let the arrow loose and stray, and he cut himself a bit under the knuckle of his left index finger. The arrow landed about five feet away from him, in the midst of a bunch fallen dry branches. He wasn't noticed yet. No, being noticed wasn't enough, he had to give her a reason to get him, and that meant he had to hit at least one damn target with this blasted bow.

Deep breath, he picked up another arrow from the quiver. Nineteen left, no chance in hell he would go pick the other one up. Deep breath, aim the arrow... hold, focus, lock the target, the mother, hold, and... release. The arrow made a springing sound as it got launched through the air and flew straight... into the body of a cub. Not the desired target, but effective nonetheless. The mother looked at what just happened, her snout a bit stung and swollen from the bee poison. She ran over to the cub, tried to pick it up, but it's injured, limp body wouldn't stand. The bear roared with rage, looking around, noticing the figure standing about forty feet away, the trees were far enough apart for her to cross that distance fast.

The mother sniffed the air and Wys noticed that his hand was bleeding, enough to cover most of his fist in blood. She charged, he reacted and ran, trying to put the bow in the quiver. No luck, he just threw off the quiver and threw away the bow. The bear roared, about twenty feet away, it closed the distance faster than he thought, but they were about to head into the brush, he would maneuver easier than her, he thought; he better be able to, or else.

"Kamrynn!" Wys roared at the top of his lungs, dodging a tree. The bear was closing in, and he was far from the traps when he had a brilliant idea. He untied the knot on which the cloak was bound and threw it into the bear's face, it was close enough where he didn't really have to look. It worked, blinded, the bear slammed into a tree, almost knocking it down. The cloak slid off and it began the chase again, but Wys gained some very precious time.

His body was getting numb from adrenaline. He was running out of breath, but he couldn't stop, he couldn't stop. To stop would mean death, it is too soon. They were going to kill it. They had to now.

"Get ready!" Wys screamed again. Soon, he thought, soon, it had to be. There! Last slash, he jumped over the trap, bear just a few feet behind him, it flew right onto the spikes. She wasn't even startled. "No way..." Wys muttered to himself. That was supposed to phase the creature, but she didn't even notice in that blind rage. Or maybe he should have tried harder making the trap. The bear was leaving a trail of destruction, Wys figured the cubs would just follow. He jumped over the second trap, the bear simply missed it. He looked back, the beast was closing in again, and fast, her cubs were indeed following.

The mother finally slammed into his back, he turned, fell forward, three feet ahead, stunned and confused. When he shook it off, the bear was on its back feet, about to trample him, just when he finally saw his partner in a possible death. Wys grabbed the sheathed katana after the strap that held it snapped off his hip, evidently that's what made him turn as he fell, and tried to roll away.

[Kamrynn Sleightyr]

Kamrynn was dozing peacefully on his horse.

Twice he had caught his head lulling to the side, and twice he had jerked his head upright and slapped himself until the urge to sleep retreated. The sandman's third attack, however, caught him unawares as he leaned against the back of his horse's neck.

He dreamed deeply the dreams of all young knights. Of future battles and glory to be won, damsels rescued (and later ravished) and evil smitten and purged from the land.

"Kamrynn!" The crowd shouted; they were all around him now, praising his glorious deeds. "Get ready!" That part made little sense, in fact, it sounded like Wystern's voice.

Wystern, Kamrynn pondered the name sleepily. Wasn't he supposed to be, helping him with something? A bear! That's right, they were hunting a-

A gallon sized shot from Kamrynn's adrenal glands tore him from sleep like a window shattering. His eyes popped open and he scanned the dark scenery in a sleepy, confused panic.

Wystern had just broken into the scene with a monster towering over him. It crashed into him, knocking him from his feet, then it reared back to deliver a terrible finishing blow.

Was he still dreaming? Kamrynn wasn't sure, his brain still hung in the foggy limbo between dream and reality, but his body responded with full capacity. He had already spurred his mount into action. The fearless and well trained warhorse fought its every instinct to turn tail and run from the bear, and instead charged straight for it.

Kamrynn fumbled with his lance, locking his feet in the stirrups and leaning forward, his knuckles whitened around the hilt of his weapon as he lowered the tip towards the creatures heart.

It all happened in seconds.

The lance hit home with a terrible cracking of wood, but sunk deep into its target. Kamrynn's arm felt like it was being torn from the socket -the thousand pound bear may very well have been a castle wall, but the knight held fast to his weapon. His feet slipped in the stirrups, he was going too fast and the target was too big. The horse surged forward underneath him, but he and the lance had stopped dead.

It was obvious now, the collision had dismounted him, and he toppled backwards from his saddle. The cracked lance stuck in the bear as Kamrynn threw his hands out behind him to catch himself -all to know avail. His head hit the ground with a thud and the sky filled with stars.

* * *

The crowd was back now, Kamrynn stood victorious in the arena. He was a champion, a knight without peer. He pumped his fist in the air, and the people roared in admiration. Something didn't seem right, but Kamrynn couldn't complain.