Flashback Water, Fire, Salt

[Rodywyn]

Spring 24, 499

It was early in the morning, when Rodywyn’s father- Edwore, woke the young boy from the deep and peaceful slumber that came with being a child. The sun hadn’t poked its curious head over the horizon that seemed to stretch on forever. In a matter of minutes, the boy of 8 bathed, fed, and clothed himself, as his father said the matter was urgent. The boy was obedient, he had already started preparation for being a page, and soon, he would be sent away from home, to other households of knights around the city, to learn about different families, and to train, tirelessly. But for now, the boy had a life, almost unburdened with cares.

Edwore handed the squire his first backpack. It was nearly as big as Rodywyn, made from firm leather, adorned with a polished steel buckle. “All you will need to survive must fit, in or on this bag. You will not be able to come back to get anymore supplies.” Edwore was stern this morning, he was not usually so demanding, or terse. Rodywyn looked around. He had no idea what he needed to survive, he had never spent more than a night outside the city.

Edwore smiled, “lucky for you, I know a thing or two about surviving without the market.” The man pointed at his own pack, already laden with supplies. “the most important thing you can have is water, either already packed, or a way to make your own.” He pointed at his water skin, it was full up with water, with no air left in it to cause it to slosh around. “You can survive with out food for nearly 30 days without food. But without water, you will be dead in less than 5 days.” Edwore continued his stern discussion.

“Once your water needs are taken care of, shelter, and fire are the second most important, depending on the weather, and the season. Fire can usually keep animals away, and will provide warmth, and the ability to cook food.” Edwore took out his tent, it was a simple canvass tent, with room enough for one person. “With even a simple tent, you can have shelter in all but the most fierce conditions.”

Next, Edwore pulled out a piece of flint, and a small piece of steel, about the size of a finger. He roughly scraped the steel over the black rock, creating a shower of sparks. “With this its easy to create fire, and even in rain, you can always find dry wood.” He pawed over his bag, breezing over other tools, and gear.

It was just after 4th bell when Rodywyn left the city with his father. They were both burdened with gear, and Edwore carried a short bow, and a knife brandished openly on his belt. They walked for another 2 bells, through thick forest, and over creeks, before they reached their camping spot. It was clear that Edwore often used this spot, a small clearing had been made, and small hole had been filled with an untold amount of ash. There was a makeshift drying rack, of course Rodywyn has no idea what it was.

“This camp site is one of my favorite, its near swift moving creeks, and several animal trails.” Edwore pointed at the trails, they would be hard to notice had they not been pointed out. The trials were narrow, less wide than a person’s stance, the ground had been slight worn, but it all seemed to blend in nicely with the surrounding nature. “Deer, and other herd animals make these trails to and from their beds from all around ranges. Follow them, and youre sure to find water, food, or shelter. And if youre lucky, all 3.”

[Rodywyn]

Edwore began to unpack his kit, 3 days of clothes, and an assortment of tools, and even things to cook with. He set his short bow against a nearby tree. The father and son team quickly set up their tents, simple canvass with a couple poles, and some stakes and ropes. Edwore showed how to tie a taut line knot. Then they set about making a fire.

Finding small sticks is a simple matter, there were plenty of dead trees around the camp site, but finding tinder, that is always a harder matter. “you can make tender out of cedar bark, or the bark of birch tree. They both burn well, and can easily be balled up to and made puffed up to allow air flow, and more contact surface to the fire.” Edwore demonstrated, taking a large swath of cedar bark, he rolled it into a ball in his hand, then he set it on the ground. “Its important to note that if you get the fire mostly set up you will save time, and tender.” Edwore set up the smallest of the sticks, before he attempted to light it. He firmly dragged the steel across the flint, creating a shower of sparks, sparks the gently glowed on the cedar bark.

The father gently blew on the spark, they flared up, crackling the dry bark, and slowly burning the sticks. “Remember to use smaller wood first, then get bigger at the fire grows. If you don’t, the fire will go out.” Within a few minutes, a small, crackling fire burned, creating a dim orange glow in the now early morning. The sun hadn’t risen over the horizon, but the dark night had been replaced by the pale blue of morning.

[Rodywyn]

“Finding water is important, it supercedes all your other needs, but just drinking anyway you find can lead to many, many more problems.” Edwore walked to a dirty pool of water, “For instance, drinking this water might cause you to get sick, which will make your life end if you don’t have a back up supply of water.” He paused, “Which brings me to me next point, always keep a back up of water that you only get into if you are in an emergency, and your life is on the line, or when water is over 3 days away.”

“If you cant drink water you find, how do you survive? Well, there is a simple process to make most water drinkable. First, strain the water through some cloth, linen, and cotton work fine. This is to get the bigger pieces of dirt out of it. Then, it needs to be boiled, if you have a fire, that is done very easily. Once its boiled, its much safer to drink, and youre much less likely to get sick.”

[Rodywyn]

“Once the need of water, fire, and shelter are seen to, you can work on procuring food. That is easy in these woods, but, deer don’t normally come out in the day, its too hot for them in the sun.” He looked down the trails, “the best time to hunt is at dusk, the deer will start moving from their beds, to their feeding ranges. The key is to be in place long before they get there.’

Edwore pointed down one of the trails, his short bow in his hand. Rodywyn followed his father for nearly a bell before they moved just slightly off the trail, hidden in a cedar tree, the bow just barely poking out. It would be a long day, one filled with silence, and boredom. The 8 year old boy struggled with himself, it was hard to keep still for this long. His father had no such trouble, he seemed to look into the distance, ready for anything. This continued for bell after bell, until the sun finally began to set. The change in the forest seemed to be instant, as the heat subsided, the song changed slightly. It was louder, more urgent, the predators would be out soon, but first, would come the deer.

Almost on cue, a small herd began to pass by, a large buck, followed by several does, thick with pregnancy. Edwore stretched the bow string back slowly, and quietly, he looked down the arrow, and released. The arrow sailed almost silently through the air, and hit the buck with a loud ‘THAWCK’. The buck started to run, then stopped, and bleated, then sat down. The other deer looked confused, then bolted into the woods. “Don’t kill does in the spring, and summer, it’ll hurt the population. Don’t kill bucks in the winter and fall, it’ll do the same.”

Rodywyn nodded, then followed his father to the buck, the arrow was protruding out of the deer’s flank, just behind the shoulder blade, it was deep into the deer’s chest cavity. It was still alive, looking around, trying to figure out what happened to it. Edwore handed Rodywyn his hunting knife, it was a straight, single blade knife, with a long blade, it was dangerously sharp. “You cant let it continue on. It wont live, and keeping it alive is just prolonging its suffering.” He looked stern again.

Rodywyn slowly took the knife, his hand shook, he never killed before. He looked down at the deer, it was in pain, and its nose flared, it tried to get up and run, but the arrow in its lungs prevented that. “Put your arm around its head, and lift. The quickest way is slicing its throat.” There was no join in his father’s voice. No room for disobedience, only one option remained, only once choice was in front of the young boy. It was a matter of life and death, in the most pure, and truest sense.

Rodywyn gripped the deer’s head, the deer bucked, and continued to fight, it wanted to live, but it didn’t know that it was already dead. “Quickly, drag the blade across the neck. The blade will do the work.” Rodywyn did as his father commanded, the blade drew effortlessly through the fur, and into the meat, opening deep, gaping wounds across the two veins of the deer’s throat. “Now keep the head held into the deer stops struggling.”

Rodywyn almost vomited, the horror of feeling a life slip away in your arms was the most terrifying, and sobering thing he had ever done. Rodywyns hands were drenched in the warm, rich blood of the deer. “Our work isn’t done.”