by Sidney Gray
She asked Elder Yarrow about visiting the mountain again, but for some reason, he was hesitant and insisted she trust the mountain and continue with her training, but she still felt as if she was missing something.
CHAPTER 31
A week later she met up with Elder Sage again. To her frustration, she still hadn't made much progress with Chase though Elder Sage didn’t seem to be worried about her progress.
“Actually I have been thinking a lot about our last session,” Elder Sage said eagerly, “and I think it would be a good idea for you to spend the day with the hunters and learn how they use their senses to track animals. They are all chosen for their connection with animals, and I believe it would be useful for you to understand how others connect with animals. Animals are not my strength, I've never had much of an affinity with them. I'm afraid, so there is only so much I can teach you.”
“What about Larch and Ash, they both have strong connections with animals don't they?” She questioned.
“Yes they do, and you already spend every morning with them, the hunters are the only group you haven’t spent a lot of time with.” Elder Sage frowned, “after what happened last time no wanted to push you, but I really do think it will help.”
Sofia hesitated, “I don't know, I don't want to hurt any animals,” she shuddered at the thought. She couldn't understand how anyone with a connection to animals would be able to harm them in any way, let alone kill them.
“You won't have to, this will be purely tracking and sensing animals.”
She had been glad when nobody had pressured her to go out with the hunters after her first disastrous outing, but she had spent a lot of time in the woods since then and felt a lot more comfortable then she had the first time. If there wasn’t going to be any killing, what did she have to lose? she thought.
“I guess, if you really think it will help?”
“I do.” Elder Sage replied with a relieved smile.
Unfortunately going hunting meant she had to leave Chase behind and he wasn't happy about it, she locked him in Ella’s house so he couldn’t follow her and she could hear him howling as she left, it made her heart ache, but she kept walking. She had grown so attached to him and hated seeing him upset, he slept curled up next to her every night, and she slept better knowing he was there.
She followed Elder Sage to the edge of the village where the hunters gathered before setting off for the day and introduced her to Rowan, the hunter Ella had a crush on. She was curious to meet him, he hadn't been around much the last couple of weeks. Ella had said he was visiting another village.
“Rowan will be your guide for today,” Elder Sage said, and Rowan nodded at her in greeting, but he didn’t look overly happy with the job, “you will stay close to him and learn everything you can, even just by watching him I’m sure you will learn a lot.”
With the introductions made, she left.
“So I get the pleasure of spending my day with a princess,” Rowan commented smirking.
She frowned, “I'm not actually a princess.”
“Really? coulda fooled me,” he said dryly, he looked her up and down disapprovingly, “you can't go dressed like that.”
“Why not?” she asked as she looked down at the clothes she had borrowed from Ella, she was lucky they were about the same size. It was just a plain top with pants, she didn’t understand what was wrong with them. She was never allowed to wear pants at the palace except for training, but she often saw women in the city wearing them, and she could understand why. They were a lot more practical than the skirts she normally wore and she had grown attached to them.
“It doesn't really blend into the forest now does it.”
He gave her some clothes to change into and left her standing there wondering where she was supposed to change, there were no buildings in sight, she frowned as she realized he expected her to change where she was, after a brief hesitation she pulled the clothes on over the top of what she was already wearing. She looked down at herself and almost laughed out loud. If only her mother could see her now.
They met up with a couple of other hunters and Rowan introduced them, but Sofia was distracted by the giant longbows they held and started to worry that there was actually going to be killing, after feeling the connection with Chase she couldn't imagine hurting an animal. It made her sick to think about it.
She pulled Rowan to one side.
“You're not actually going to kill anything are you?”
“Of course we are, princess, that's our job.”
“I know that but Elder Sage said we wouldn't be killing anything, I was just here to learn!”
“Exactly! she said you wouldn't be killing anything.” Rowan replied before he walked away, leaving her to follow in his wake and wonder if he was joking or serious. He set a hard pace, and she struggled to keep up with him. Not long into their journey one of the other hunters dropped back and spoke a few words to Rowan.
Rowan stopped and turned back to her, “You’re being too loud.” he said sharply. She winced inwardly. Apparently, she hadn’t learned as much as she had thought from Reed.
“At this rate, we won't catch anything,” Rowan added under his breath.
“Good.” she snapped, and he turned to her with raised eyebrows, she ground her teeth in frustration, trying to stop herself from acting like the spoilt princess he thought she was. “You're going too fast, I didn't grow up in the woods like you, what did you expect,” she said frustrated, she was used to moving silently around the palace and during training, but that was different than being in a forest with sticks and leaves and rocks everywhere. How was she supposed to be quiet while trying to keep up with him?
He sighed, “ok, relax, you’re overthinking, just stop and listen to the woods around you and try and match your footsteps to the sounds of the woods.”
She stared at him skeptically, but she was determined to try and prove herself.
“And stop breathing so heavily,” he added.
“This is how I normally breathe” she snapped frustrated.
“Well then stop breathing,” he retorted.
Fuming silently, she followed Rowan through the woods, trying to make her footsteps to the sound of the woods as he told her. She also paid close attention to Rowan, trying to match her pace to his. The hunters were all so at ease in the woods, she couldn't even see any of the others anymore except Rowan, they blended in so well with the woods around them. They kept walking for what felt like hours until they all suddenly came to a dead halt, Sofia just barely stopped in time before she ran into Rowan’s back. She looked around but couldn't see why they had stopped. She turned to Rowan, he had his eyes closed and was concentrating hard, so she closed her eyes as well. She tried to push her mind out and feel the animals around her, she could feel the birds straight away, they were easy enough, but she struggled to feel anything else. She frowned concentrating harder, she almost felt something in the distance, the faintest flutter but it slipped away every time she got close. She gave up in frustration opening her eyes to see Rowan watching her, he raised his eyebrows in silent question, but she just shook her head feeling defeated. He turned away and started moving forward again, slower this time. Sofia followed as quietly as she could. The other hunters slowly melted into the trees around them disappearing from her sight. They reached a couple of large bushes, and Rowan motioned for her to go under them, she scrunched up her nose but did as he indicated, together they lay unmoving, waiting, for what she didn’t know but her whole body ached from being in one place too long. She could see and feel the bugs crawling around them, and it was starting to creep her out, she had never liked bugs, but she was determined that she would not move until Rowan did. He thought she was just a spoilt princess, and he was right to a certain extent, she had been spoilt, but she wanted to show him that wasn't all she was, she was more than that. Mal had shown her the value of discipline and patience. She appreciated that now, although she had hated it at the time, all the training
sessions spent standing silently in one place until someone came close enough to attack had taught her a lot, she didn't need to attack them first, if she was patient they would come to her.
So they waited and waited until finally, she saw it, a lone deer, plodding its way through the trees; its ears were pricked up twitching back and forth listening intently. Rowan nudged her, and she looked over, he mouthed the word concentrate to her.
She closed her eyes again; the deer was right in front of her so she should be able to feel it, but still, all she could feel was a faint flutter. She opened her eyes again and saw it was coming closer; soon it would be right in front of her. She squeezed her eyes shut and swore silently in frustration, why was it so hard. She could feel the birds around her easily, but the deer was still just a flutter. She could even hear the deer, its hooves crunching in the leaves as it passed right by the bush they were hiding under. Sofia could hear its breath. She could feel the flutter now even with her eyes open, and she realized maybe that was all she was supposed to feel. She had thought that because it was a bigger animal, it would have a bigger energy than the birds she felt so easily, but the deer was so delicate, just like the flutter she felt.
Rowan suddenly sprang up from beside her, pouncing on the deer before it could even react and sliced his knife through the deer's throat. The deer dropped to the ground in front of her and Sofia lay there shaking, staring at the now blank eyes of the deer.
She rose to her feet slowly, “how could you do that,” she whispered to Rowan, aghast. “You could feel it; feel its energy how could you just kill it?” She could feel tears in her eyes but refused to let them fall.
“Calm down princess,” Rowan said with a roll of his eyes.
“No, it’s horrible, I can't believe...” she couldn't even finish her sentence she was so angry and upset, she couldn’t even look at the deer, she stormed off, wanting to put as much distance as possible between her and the deer.
Rowan yelled after her. “Where are you going, you’re going to get yourself lost.”
She froze, torn between anger and fear over being lost in the woods on her own again. She swore under her breath and stopped, she kept her back to Rowan and the deer until the other hunters arrived back. She realized now that they had been herding the poor deer in their direction.
“It's the way of life Sofia. We need them to survive just as they need us, a cat doesn't feel guilty for killing to feed itself, why should we, I'm sorry It's not as pretty and perfect as what you are accustomed too, but you’ll have to get used to it if you are going to staying here.” Rowan said quietly as the other hunters went on ahead carrying the deer, she fumed silently, trailing after him. She hated to admit he had a point, she had eaten meat all her life with barely a thought to how it got on her plate, but he didn't need to kill it right in front of her. That was just cruel.
CHAPTER 32
She slept badly that night, with dreams of being chased by deer and the woods closing in on her until it all went black and she woke up gasping for air. She threw off the covers, sweat dripping down her back. Chase nudged her hand, and she patted his head before checking to make sure Ella was still asleep. She didn't want to worry her, she had been quiet that night at dinner, and Ella had looked at her worryingly all night. She had left the hunters as soon as they had reached the village to try and find Elder Sage, determined to find out why she had lied to her, she had promised there would be no killing, but she hadn’t been able to find the Elder anywhere.
She returned home, still angry and frustrated, Ella was already there when she stalked through the door and immediately asked what was wrong when she saw her face. She angrily told her what had happened and to her surprise, Ella stormed out the door to talk to Rowan herself.
Ella was quiet when she finally arrived back, and Sofia didn’t press her for answers, she was too tired from the day and went to bed early. Hours later, after a lot of tossing and turning she finally gave up tiptoed out of the room and outside into the cold night air. The woods were so still, and she would have been frightened if not for the moon shining brightly above her head. She went over to a patch of grass and laid down, Chase stretching out beside her. She stared up at the stars, marveling at how bright they were here compared to the city, she started counting them as she listened to Chase's soft breathing beside her. She slowly drifted off, but tensed when she suddenly heard a noise in the bushes, she sat up abruptly and looked around her, but she couldn't see or hear anything, Chase lifted his head watching her, his ears twitching. She shrugged and laid down again, closing her eyes but as soon as she started drifting off, she heard it again, a rustling noise but when she sat up she couldn’t hear it anymore. She closed her eyes again, but this time when she heard the rustling she didn't sit up straight away, she stayed where she was concentrating on the noise. It sounded like something moving in the bushes, maybe an animal, she heard more rustling, trees moving, and then she heard another noise, snoring. Ella’s snoring, it was unmistakable, she heard it every night.
She sat up with a gasp and looked over at Chase in shock and a jolt of realization hit her, she had been concentrating on his breathing when she had heard the noises.
She tried again, concentrating on his breathing, this time it was almost instant, the sounds hit her all at once, like a brick wall and she sat up again gasping, she didn't realize how loud the woods were to a wolf.
Determined, she tried again and again until she could pick out all the individual sounds, she also began to get a sense of what sounds were caused by, the slight rustling from an owl, the leaves moving from the wind. It was incredible. She lay there for hours listening to the woods until exhaustion overtook her and she fell asleep.
Reed found her there, hours later as the sun was just spilling over the tops of the trees.
“Have you been out here all night?” he asked.
She nodded, “I couldn't sleep.”
Excitedly she told him what she had happened and what she had felt when she connected with Chase.
“I have to tell Elder Sage,” she said as she jumped to her feet and raced back into the house to change. She couldn’t wait until her meditation session to tell Elder Sage, so she went straight to her house, Elder Sage was just as excited and put her to work straight away. They both sat down outside Elder Sage’s house, she closed her eyes, and Elder Sage asked Sofia to tell her everything that was happening around them, everything that Chase could hear, smell, and even see.
She was able to do it almost straight away, to her delight, and after that, it became easier and easier. Soon Sofia was able to walk around with her eyes closed letting Chase’s senses guide her. It was incredible now that she knew how to do it, it was almost too easy.
The next week was a blur as Sofia spent all of her time with Elder Sage training, and to her surprise and delight, she progressed rapidly, moving onto other animals in the village, the cow, Sweetie, that she milked every morning was the easiest after Chase. She was also starting to get an understanding of animal's emotions and get a sense of when Chase was unhappy or excited, like when he was chasing chickens.
As spring disappeared and they started into summer, the days grew longer and hotter, and she began to spend more time at the waterfall, she was often joined by Reed and other villagers looking to cool off in the afternoons.
The Ashen often gathered together for dinner in the warmer months, and she would often help out in the kitchens with Holly and Ivy. It felt like a completely different world than what she was used to, everyone talking and laughing together. At the palace, dinners were often spent in silence or defending questions from her mother and arguing with her sister.
On one particular night, she was sitting with Ella, watching as everyone danced around the fire, Reed was twirling his mother around, and Holly and Ivy were waltzing around making everyone laugh. Ella had just arrived back from visiting another village with Elder Hazel, and she was glad to have her back. She noticed Ella had been keeping her distance from Ro
wan all night and asked her about it. Apparently, their conversation after Sofia’s hunting trip hadn’t gone well.
“Maybe he isn't the person I thought he was, at least Reed can admit when he’s wrong,” Ella said bitterly.
“Maybe he doesn’t think he is wrong,” she said with a shrug, “I think you should try talking to him again.”
It was obvious that Ella still liked Rowan and she didn’t want to come between that. After all, Rowan had just been doing his job, and she had come to accept that even if she wasn’t quite ready to forgive him yet.
Ella suddenly turned to her.
“I’m glad you’re here.”
“Me too,” she replied, surprised that she really meant it. She was glad she had followed Ella into the woods even if she did feel guilty for leaving.
“Although I have to ask, what is going on with you and Reed?” Ella asked hesitantly.
“What do you mean?” Sofia replied confused.
“Well, you have been spending a lot of time together and… well, I’ve noticed he can’t stop looking at you.”
Sofia was momentarily speechless, she had never actually thought about Reed in that way, she hadn’t thought about any boy that way, in fact. She had been practically engaged since she was born, it had never occurred to her. She wasn't like other girl, boys didn’t flirt with her and try to impress her growing up, she had always been off limits. She could feel Ella watching her closely, but luckily someone approached to ask her to dance, and Sofia was saved from having to give an answer she didn't have.
She avoided Ella for the rest of the night and the next day, afraid she would ask again, as she tried to come up with an answer. She found herself watching Reed more, and their eyes met more often than not, so Ella was right about that, but she still didn’t know how she felt about it all. She was supposed to marry Alex so it wasn't as if anything could happen between her and Reed but still she couldn’t help but compare the two.
