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“This is your apprenticeship Tamlen, I shouldn’t be here.” Wraith argued as Tamlen dragged her through the forest, his other hand on his sword.
“Come on, it’ll be fun. What’s the worst that could happen?”
“You’ll meet the bear you plan to go after and I’ll have to drag your arse out of the fire, again. The Keeper’s right, going after a bear is a bad idea.”
“Again? You’ve saved me before?”
“Yes, when you pulled Merril’s hair, let the Halla loose, stole the apples from that orchard… shall I go on?” Wraith listed, dodging a weed.
“Hey, you stole the apples with me!” Tamlen pointed out, as they found the bear cave.
“Right, this is where I leave you.” Wraith whispered, backing away from the cave and heading towards the forest.
“No, stay. It’ll be awesome!” Tamlen requested, drawing his sword and striding towards the cave. Sighing, and knowing she’d regret this later, Wraith crouched down into the brush and waited.
Tamlen sprinted out of the cave, a roaring bear swiping at him. He spotted Wraith in the brush and swerved.
“Run!” He screamed, as Wraith broke cover, drawing her daggers and throwing herself at the bear. She missed, failing in attacking the bear but succeeding in getting the bears attention. It roared, lifting itself up onto it’s hind legs as Wraith dived out of the way. As it turned her way again she scrambled up a tree. Tamlen jabbed at it with his sword, as it charged after Wraith. In desperation he kept hacking and slashing at it until it finally dropped dead.
“It’s over.” He panted, his sword slipping from his hand and landing on the ground with a clunk.
“That’s good, now can you help me down?”
“Why? You can get yourself down.”
“Because… I’m stuck.” She admitted, clinging to the branch like a lost kitten.
“Hang on, I’m coming.” Tamlen assured her, committing the moment to memory. He reckoned he had a years worth of teasing material from this single event. Laughing, he climbed the tree after her.
“A bear!? What in the name of the Creators possessed you to do something so stupid!?” His mother shrieked, the sound reverberating around the walls of the aravel. His father, having learnt the consequences of interfering with the wrath of Tamlen’s mother, nodded along. Tamlen sat there, having come up with a decent excuse in advance,
“I wanted to make you proud!” He claimed, shifting away.
“You already make me proud! I-”
“If I may interrupt?”
the Keeper stood in the doorway, leaning on her staff.
“Yes Keeper?” His mother asked respectfully,
“I had hoped to speak to Tamlen.”
“Of course Keeper.”
Tamlen hopped of his chair, and ran after the Keeper. Once they were outside the aravel, the Keeper turned to face him, her eyes meeting his.
“You nearly got yourself and Wraith killed. Your pride will be the death of you young man.”
Tamlen looked at her with his baby-face eyes, only to be matched with a grim gaze usually reserved for when the children wandered off from camp.
“What was the real reason, da’len? You didn’t do it to make your mother proud.”
Tamlen surveyed the area, checking on one else was in earshot.
“I wanted to impress Wraith.” He confessed, focusing his attention on his hands and fiddling with them. The Keeper sighed, smiling a little.
“Getting yourself killed won’t help your cause Da’len. At least you completed your apprenticeship.” The Keeper murmured, as she ushered him back into his aravel to face punishment.