Weird Bird

The first few days of my journey through the forest were very difficult. I had to stay on the tip of my toes all the time, even then battles were inevitable. Though the progress was slow, my opponents plentiful and hard to deal with, I moved towards the north-west direction as told.

Week after week, my struggles and training continued. That also meant one thing for certain. I became seventeen years old. The difference was lack of any celebration or even people who'd wish me well. There were bears, wolves and large boars instead, a company I didn't necessarily require.

Not everything was doom and gloom though. The training of my energy, saw some progress. Although unable to compress the energy into my arm as required, I was on the right track. Needless to say, I got loads of practice with my sword thanks to the animals filling the forest to the brim.

Stealth became something I was forced to learn. If not for my caution, I'd probably die a few times at that stage. The deeper parts of that forest had large… No, huge groups of animals sometimes. This felt more like an animal kingdom, rather than the Endrosian Empire. Thankfully, my senses were trained to some extent in the past. That and my instinct saved me a few times, albeit there were close calls. My instincts could warn me about something being off, but that didn't mean I could simply avoid danger.

There was another crucial detail I managed to learn, or discover. Being quiet was great and all, but the animals could literally smell me. Even washing myself wouldn't help much, because my natural smell wasn't that of a wolf, or a bear. Using their skins was one solution, but not perfect. Bears or wolves could be attracted to me, depending on which skin I wore. Besides, the temperature was rising as the time went by. Wrapping myself in skins wasn't ideal.

I suffered like that until finding another way. Most of the dangerous, or predatory animals hated certain smells. One such smell was present in certain flowers. The flowers didn't look special at all, and grew in loads of areas. A green stalk with a few sharp edged leaves, and yellow flowers at the top. Though the flower looked pretty usual, it stank really bad. Animals had a very good sense of smell, probably better than my own. That smell had to be very bad to them as well.

The flowers were not that simple though, at least not at the first glance. The sharp edged leaves were not poisonous per say, but they made my hands itch. My energy was enough to get rid of that, though this made me cautious when collecting them. With enough juice from these flowers, any animal with a good sense of smell would avoid me.

Nevertheless, sometimes a fight was simply unavoidable. Just because my smell was appalling to the bears or wolves, once they spotted me, they would attack. Though the smell usually helped out during the fight, since the animals were distracted. I got mostly used to it, since the smell was attached to my body everyday.

My shelters had to change as well. There was no point making a shelter on the ground, where anything could approach me very easily. That meant my shelters couldn't be on the ground. Since the ground was a no go, the trees became my only option. My tree shelters usually had no roof, walls or bed. Only a simple floor made from branches or thinner logs, on which a few animal skins would lay as my bed. Rainy days were the worst though. I could only use a few skins suspended over my head or side.

The amount of cursing directed at the two masters wasn't small either. I hated that forest, and hated them for doing that to me. No one would appreciate living in a constant danger, without proper means to live or take care of oneself. I was often dirty, wet or cold, and with no one who'd take my complaints. "Just how far away is that sea?… I've been at it for a month or so already. I know my progress is slow due to the stupid animals living everywhere, but still", I said to myself.

The solitude made me think about my parents, friends and my sibling who might've already been born. I wondered about the name my parents would choose, and how my sibling would look. I wondered whether Dawn and Tara were busy, and missing me as well. 'I want to go back already…'.

I knew that the North was in the northern direction, that much would be obvious to anyone. The temptation to simply head towards my home and family, never left my mind. Though tempted, I didn't act on these thoughts. There was a reason my father agreed to such a journey. He knew it would be difficult on me, but he also believed I would make it.

Another few days looked mostly the same. Avoid that, fight this and sleep there. Everything seemed the same on the surface, but there was something bugging me a bit. 'That black bird… I've seen it many times over the past week or so…', I thought. That could've been a paranoia. Solitude playing tricks on my mind. Then there was the advice master Irwin gave me.

My instincts told me that there was something off with that bird. I was compelled to believe that, since why would a bird follow me for a week? That could've been a different bird, but what were the odds? Moreover, that bird always stared at me, followed no matter what. That alone made me take it more seriously.

Of course a small black bird couldn't harm me in any possible way, at least not to my knowledge. The bird never tried to get close either, which made it more bizarre. 'That guy is toying with me, or following me on purpose… I'm not sure which one it is though'. There was no way to lose that bird either. I couldn't outrun it, especially in a dangerous forest filled with hordes of animals.

Instead, I grabbed a rock and tried to scare it away. "Swoosh… pak. Caw.. Caw!", the bird got startled and flew away. 'Wasn't so hard after all… Even though my aim was off by a lot'. The bird was gone, but not for long. It returned a while later, acting as if nothing happened. I tried the rock a few more times, but the bird always returned. Moreover, the bird kept a larger distance between us, so that my throws became really ineffective. 'That damn bird… I'm no archer, and I don't even have a bow. That guy isn't afraid of my throws anymore. Once I try to get closer, the bird simply distances itself...'.

This was hopeless. I couldn't even make that bird leave. 'Just why the hell is that bird following me?... What if I hide somewhere? As long as the bird doesn't spot my hiding place, there's no way it will know where I am, right?', I asked myself. During that day, I made sure to look for a good hiding place. 'Hmm... This place will work. That crack in the tree's trunk is big enough to fit me'. My plan was simple. Scare the bird away, then make it back to the tree with a cracked trunk. I had to leave that area, but secretly marked the way towards it.

My progress slowed down considerably, since I was waiting for the evening to arrive. I couldn't go far away from that tree, because there would be little time to hide. Once the sun was about to set, I grabbed a few stones and checked if the bird was there. 'Yep, still there. Alright you bastard, let's see if I can scare you', with that thought in mind, I hurled the stones at it. Though my aim was off, with the amount of rocks I threw, one or two passed quite closely to the bird. That finally startled and prompted it to fly away.

Making sure the bird couldn't see me, I rushed back towards my hiding place. The insides were hollowed out to some extent, but the space available wasn't that great. Either way There was no way anything could see me inside. That was a perfect hiding place, especially against creatures such as birds. 'Let's see how you follow me now, you stupid bird'. I was prepared to spend the night inside that trunk, just to make sure that bird couldn't find me.

The night was never peaceful inside that forest. Howls, roars and other noises were the norm during the night. These animals had to eat, but there were no deer or rabbits, they had to hunt each other in order to eat. A bunch of broken bones, or rotting carcasses wasn't an unusual sight in that forest. 'Anyway, I have to sleep here. Fortunately, with that smell on me, the animals should avoid this place', I thought.

The morning came, and with it an unpleasant surprise. 'I don't believe it…'. That damned bird was there. Moreover, it was looking at the tree, at my hiding place. 'That's impossible. There's no way it could see me enter this tree trunk. I made sure this guy wasn't around before hiding myself. How is that… Smell?'. Smell could be an explanation.

'Don't tell me that bird is attracted to the smell of these stinky plants... Even then, why would my instincts tell me that something's off about that bird? Moreover, why only one bird? Exactly one and the same bird became attracted by the smell? I refuse to believe that'. These flowers grew in many locations. How could that bird simply pinpoint my position thanks to smell?

This made me certain it wasn't the flowers. '...Wait a minute… I almost forgot about these guys!', the thought made me storm outside the trunk. "Master Yater! Quit playing those tricks on me! You bastard!", I shouted at the bird. "I know it's you, damn it! I have enough problems on my own. If you want something, show yourself and talk like a normal Human being!", I added. The bird backed away, but stared at me nonetheless. Moreover, it seemed rather confused, tilting its head left and right.

"Grrr… Playing tricks on me, when I have enough problems already". I was convinced this was the work of master Yater. He knew illusions. There was no way a simple bird could follow me like that, it had to be some sort of illusion. 'I don't appreciate such stupid jokes. That bastard, he was supposed to be the nice one of the two'. Convinced that the bird had something to do with master Yater, I disregarded it and continued my journey north-west.