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by Joe Bandel |
 Anarchist Knight: Apprentice
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Circle that month was eventful, Tobal had never seen eight people get initiated at the same time. The initiations started early and they continued late into the night. Everyone was tired and the party didn’t get going until well after midnight. After the initiations the drum circle began and it was party time. In all it was a good time and the night went by very fast. It was early August and the sight of naked bodies dancing wildly around the central fire was as intoxicating as the home brewed beer. One of the wilder dancers was Zee. She beckoned him to join in the dance and on impulse he threw his robe to the ground and leapt into the circle of cavorting bodies, giving himself away to the driving rhythm. The energy in the circle was intense and the drummers never seemed to tire or stop. Later during a break she was leaning on him with her arm around his shoulder and he felt her breast against him. She told him she was sitting out the winter and wondering if he would like to partner up with her. He was flattered and she was an inviting partner. Regretfully he squeezed one of her cheeks. "I’m sorry Zee, I’m going to be training newbies all winter. Otherwise I would, really." "Fine then," she pouted and abruptly turned back to the dance. Kevin had been watching and came over casually asking how things were going. "She’s really something, isn’t she?" Kevin watched her retreating rear move in time to the drums as her braided raven hair flew about like a whip. "I think she’s looking for a winter partner," Tobal volunteered. Kevin shot a quick look at him, "Are you interested?" "No, I’m training newbies this winter." "That’s really hard they say," Kevin glanced once more at Zee. "I’m not even thinking about it myself. I might have to go over and introduce myself." Kevin chuckled and drained his mug of beer. He set it down beside his robe and disappeared into the dance slowly working his way over to Zee and cavorting his lanky muscular body in front of her. Tired of the dance Tobal donned his robe and headed to the keg for another refill of beer. He noticed Melanie and Becca sitting off to the side. Neither of them had joined in the dance or partied much. It seemed they preferred each other’s company to that of the group. As he approached Melanie looked up. "Hey Tobal, is it alright if Becca goes with us. We can all travel together and get to know each other better." He muttered something about it being all right with him and made an excuse to go look for Nikki and ask how things were going with her newbie. There was a lot of tension between him and Becca and he didn’t know how to make things better, hell, he didn’t know if he wanted to make things better. He was irritated at how close Melanie had gotten with her though. It looked like they were best friends or something. Tobal avoided Ox who was drunk, belligerent and telling stories about training his last newbie. Ox was complaining how no one could get newbies any more because some people were taking them all and not training them properly. Everyone knew that newbies needed more than a month to train before they could solo. He didn’t think the elders should have let Nick solo and he was letting everyone in camp know about it too. The next day it was more fun travelling with the two girls than alone Tobal reflected. Even if they did tease him a lot. They seemed to have boundless energy and a sense of fun that made the trip go by quickly. He found himself laughing with them in spite of his normal taciturn self. They were both surprised when he told his first joke and pinched each other to see if they were awake or not. Winter was going to hit the mountains and it was a pleasant surprise to find eight newbies at sanctuary. This was the last chance to get training in good weather before the winter months hit. Most Apprentices didn’t like training during the winter because it was hard enough to survive alone without trying to teach someone else He figured that was why both Tara and Zee had asked him about partnering up for the winter. He was even considering asking Melanie if she wanted to partner up with him for a month or two. The timing just never seemed right. Two other Apprentices were already there. They had missed circle to get newbies and it was just dumb luck there were enough newbies to go around. Early August had blasts of cold that reminded Tobal of the bitter winter months ahead. He needed to be thinking about his own permanent winter camp. During the winter travel and temporary camps were both dangerous. Winter clothing was essential and food critical to replace the heat given off by the body. In addition the nights were longer and there was less sunlight. The chance of getting caught in mountain storms was very real and likely. Rafe had talked some about winter survival but there had not been any need to do much preparation then. Now it was time to do some serious thinking and integrate it into his training. Tobal found himself with his third trainee. To his delight it was Sarah. He had forgotten she would be claiming sanctuary in the late summer. When she saw him, she raised a scene by running over and hugging him. She refused to go with anyone else and there were a few tense moments. Since there were enough newbies things were soon straightened out and everyone was happy. The days were getting shorter and travel would soon be getting harder. The leaves were turning and there was not as much ready vegetation for fresh salads. They relied on dried fruit and meat. They scavenged for herbs and nuts that would be impossible to find after the snows came and began collecting and drying them. They stayed on the lookout for Hazelnuts, acorns, walnuts and chestnuts. Acorns needed to be roasted but any nuts were good protein for the winter months and kept well in storage. Some tubers and inner bark of trees were collected to be made into flour later on. Tobal was hoping to make some bread this winter if he could figure out how to do it. Trapping became the most important thing since they needed furs to make clothing for the coming winter. The easiest fur bearing animals were the beaver and muskrats. They spent much time near the streams during that first week living off fish and small animals they snared. They even tried eating beaver and muskrat. Tobal decided he could eat it if needed but used most of the meat for baiting traps and snares for more pleasant tasting game. The skinned pelts needed to be fleshed by scraping off every bit of fat, flesh and membrane from the back of the hide and then stretching it on a stretching board with the fur on the inside leaving it to dry. It was hard nasty work that dulled knives and took up most of the day. The muskrat pelts were stretched over specially whittled and sized boards but the beaver pelts were stretched in circular wood hoops and laced into place tightly. The wooden hoops were made by steaming the wood and gently bending it into the desired shape and then lashing the wood tightly into place. This was also the way snowshoes would be made later when they had more time. After the pelts had dried a few days they were tanned with a cooked smelly mixture of brains, bone marrow, and liver spread liberally over the hides, worked into them and left for a few days. The foul mixture was then washed off and the process of 'pulling' the leather began. Enzymes in the bad smelling mixture softened the leather enough to tan it. Pulling the leather was a process of bending it sharply and making it pliable. This was done by pulling the pelt across the sharp edge of a stone or around a small smooth wooden pole set in the ground. After the pelt was soft and pliable the last step was for the tanned side to be smoked so the leather would not become stiff after it had gotten wet. It was only then the pelts could be cut and sewn into winter clothing. Making the stretching boards and the stretching frames took several days and Tobal knew Sarah would not be ready to solo at the next circle. There was too much to be done. By the end of the 2nd week they had trapped enough beaver and muskrat for their own use and were busy tanning and smoking the pelts. What worried him was they hadn’t had time to do much else and the weather was getting colder. They were running out of time. He worried about Melanie and Nick. He had not taught them much about tanning leather and making winter clothing because it had been the middle of summer. Rafe had not spent much time on it because the weather had been getting warmer. But he had shown Tobal the basics of tanning leather and making winter equipment. Rafe had also shown Tobal his own finished products at his base camp. Tobal still had things stored away at Rafe’s camp and he needed to get them. Rafe was no longer available and busy with Journeyman things. It was Tobal’s responsibility to make sure those he trained were able to survive the harsh mountain winters. Most Apprentices would simply hole up in their base camps and wait the winter out. Rafe had told him the entire purpose and spirit of being an Apprentice was to learn and train people to survive during any time of the year, not just the good months. In fact, the reason Rafe trained six people so quickly was because he trained them in the winter when few people were willing to train. Last winter medics on air sleds twice sought out Rafe and told him there was a newbie waiting at sanctuary that needed training and they asked if he would do it. They only asked this of the best and most experienced teachers. Rafe had even talked them into giving him an air sled ride to sanctuary so he didn’t have to travel in the bitter weather any more than was needed. In the snow travel would be almost impossible unless snowshoes were made and now was the time to be making them. The green wood needed to be steamed until it could be bent into the snowshoe shapes and then lashed together for drying. They would be laced later. The weather and shelter were going to be serious problems during below zero weather. He realized it would be important to hunt the larger animals like the deer and elk. They would migrate with the weather and he needed to know where they liked to go in the winter time so he could find them when he needed to. The cold weather would allow fresh meat to keep longer and he would only have to hunt once a week or so to keep two people in fresh meat. With that in mind he spent the next two weeks teaching Sarah how to hunt with a bow. He taught how to set dead falls and other traps for larger animals. These were things he realized the others needed to know also. At nights they worked on the hides and talked. Sarah’s father had told her quite a bit about claiming sanctuary and she had known pretty much what to expect. Still it was a lot harder than she had imagined and it took a while to get her toughened in to the daily grind. She was used to a much softer lifestyle. They joked about how different this was from the day she had taken him into the big city for a visit. The bright side was she had been used to handling the items in her father’s store and came up with interesting ways to use leather and how to make tools that Tobal never even thought of making. He asked her about where his father got all those items and she said she didn’t really know. She only knew he would leave on trips from time to time and bring them back with him. He used to tell her there was no other store in the world like the one they had and that she should be very proud of it. Sarah spoke of her mother and wanting to visit her grave. Tobal asked if she knew where it was and she didn’t. It was by some waterfall and shouldn’t be too hard to find. She was a little put off that it would be several years before she would finish training though. Tobal felt a chill at the base of his spine as she talked about this and something deep inside him was screaming that Sarah’s mother had died at the lake like his parents and she was buried in that mass grave at the abandoned gathering spot. He didn’t know how to bring this up to Sarah yet, especially since they were so closely watched. He felt he would go back there himself first and check things out before talking to her about it. The month went by quickly and all too soon it was time to go to the gathering spot. He didn’t think Sarah was quite ready to solo and wanted to work with the others in preparing them for the coming winter months. The days were getting shorter by early September and there was a chill in the air at night and frost in the mornings. The first major snowstorm could come any time and they could be snowed in for weeks. He talked with Sarah and she thought spending another month on winter preparation was a good idea. She needed more winter training and he thought the others did too. The morning of circle Zee, Nikki, Kevin and Ox all proclaimed their newbies ready to solo. They were all interviewed and questioned by the elders and approved for soloing. Each of them had winter gear they had to show the elders. It was very clear the elders were concerned about the training newbies were getting now that a sudden storm could snow a person in for weeks at a time. Tobal made a point of congratulating the two girls and Kevin. He didn’t care about Ox and avoided him as much as possible. Zee was a little cool toward him but returned his congratulatory hug and started talking a little. "I was mad at you for awhile," she said. "I didn’t really think you meant it about training all winter. I thought you were just rejecting me and no woman likes that." She put her hands on her hips and wiggled them a little with a grin. " Then I remembered Rafe and how last year he trained at least two newbies and I wasn’t so sure anymore." "Zee," I really am training newbies this winter. If I weren’t, you would be a good partner. We’ve always gotten along pretty good. Have you found anyone to partner up with yet?" She sighed, "You are serious aren’t you. I have a few people in mind but I haven’t really made a decision yet. I want to take this month off and work on my winter base camp first." He noticed she hadn’t specifically mentioned Kevin and decided to ask him, but first he wanted to congratulate Nikki on training her first newbie and wandered off to find her after wishing Zee well on her base camp project. Nikki was getting her robe from Angel as he got his. They went to the teepee where they had left their packs and were changing into the robes.. "How did you like training you first newbie?" He asked casually. "It was great! I’m training another this month." She looked at him. "I really want to train another one before winter sets in. Do you think I can?" "I don’t know," he told her. "I’ve already decided I need to go back and help Melanie and Sarah get better prepared for winter. Their newbies could use a little extra training too." She thought about that a bit. "Zee did a really good job of getting me prepared for winter weather and my newbie is well prepared too. I don’t think we will have any trouble. I know it’s a sore spot, but perhaps two months of training is needed. Have you ever thought about it?" He bit back an angry retort and instead simply said. "I do think training newbies during the winter should take two months. There is too much to learn about winter gear like snowshoes and working with furs for winter clothing. Anyone that I train this winter will get two months of training." Nikki beamed, "I’m so glad to hear that Tobal. We all worry about the newbies and how hard it must be for them in the winter. I haven’t spent a winter here yet but I’m pretty confident things will go well. That’s why I want one more newbie. I will probably end up spending the winter with them unless they decide to solo and go out on their own." Nikki’s plan sounded uncomfortably like his own. He still planned to train through the winter but didn’t really have any idea if it would work out or not. What if his newbie didn’t want to solo or move out and build a base camp on their own in the middle of the winter? He was still thinking about these things as he wandered over to see how Kevin was doing. Kevin was helping set up some of the teepee shelters for the night. Tobal joined in until all the teepees were set up and fires laid in them. Kevin didn’t know what he was going to do. "I’m still hoping Zee will partner up with me for the winter," he told Tobal with a blush. "She hasn’t said yes and she hasn’t said no. It’s driving me crazy because I really need some sort of plan. I don’t want to work on my own base camp if I’m not going to be living there." "Say, that’s an idea," Tobal reflected. "Zee says she wants to spend this month getting her camp ready for winter. Perhaps you can offer to help and it will allow each of you to see how you get along together. That way she won’t need to commit to anything until she gets to know you better.” Kevin brightened, "I’m going to try," he said. "I’ll talk to her about it later tonight." "Good Luck!" During circle he noticed Ellen was training Misty to be High Priestess. He had forgotten that Misty was a Master now. He was going to miss Ellen and wondered what she would be doing next. It was strange to see people he knew advance on to different positions. He noticed earlier that Rafe had been put on wood crew along with Dirk. That meant they were responsible for there being enough fire wood at the gathering spot for circle. Everyone was encouraged to help, but only a few Journeymen were actually tasked to ensure there was enough wood. Angel would be given new duties next month as well. He noticed this morning that she now had four chevrons and seemed to be moving up the ranks more quickly than Rafe was. Since Journeymen didn’t spend all of their time training newbies, they were each assigned duties that normally lasted two or at the most three months before being assigned to the next duty. The wood supply for the Circle was usually gathered well in advance and there was little work to be done during circle itself except tending fires as needed. That’s what Rafe was doing when Tobal spied him between initiations. "Hey stranger," he teased. "Who did you kill to get that?" Rafe grinned as he turned in surprise. He postured and showed off his first chevron. "One of the girls challenged me. She thought she could beat me. Bad mistake! She almost did too." He admitted ruefully but then brightened. His mischievous smile was still the same. "Now I’ve got all the girls fighting over me. I must be the most popular Journeyman ever." Tobal looked at his friend. Rafe was filling out, getting taller and stronger. "I think you will be winning quite a few fights soon," he said. "You’re not so little any more. Pretty soon you might have to start picking on the girls instead of having them pick on you." "You really think so?" Rafe laughed. "Guess I can give up on the idea of fighting babies then. So what have you been up too? Is Sarah ready to solo yet? I’ve been hearing some good things about how you taught Nick and Melanie." "Well, I’ve run into a bit of a snag," he confessed. Sarah isn’t ready to solo yet and I’m thinking about having Melanie, Nick, Becca, Mike, Butch and Sarah all over to my place this month. We can all make our winter gear together. None of us is really that good at it and maybe helping each other out will work." "That’s a terrific idea," Rafe said. "I wish I had thought of it when I was training newbies. I guess we really didn’t do that much training for winter did we? There was only about one week of snow in your training before it melted away. Is there anything I can help with that you don’t remember?" "I remember how to do most of it," he replied. "But I will need to go back to your base camp and get some of my things if that is all right?" "Sure, take anything you need. I probably won’t be around there very much this winter. I’ll be hanging around the Journeyman area most of the time. Either that or be out here getting wood or doing some other duty. Being a Journeyman is nothing at all like being an Apprentice."
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