Chapter 150 - 151
"Hurry up!" called Woods, who had just rushed ahead of the group as fast as his hefty limbs would allow. "I think I saw a deer!"
The day was cold and the sky was a clear, pale blue, the majestic, snow-covered forests creating a stark contrast to the memories that were still fresh in Alistar’s mind from the previous month. His friends had organized a hiking trip into the forests just south of Distan, in the same general area as the site where he had fought for his life against the dark-maned bobcat all those days ago.
"Get your fat arse back here," snapped Jaden, who rushed after his friend with a look of annoyance on his chiselled, freckled face. "The last thing we need is to have to drag your dead carcass back into town."
"It’s not my fault you guys are slow. Besides," wheezed the rotund boy, "you should be thanking me. You and Zech need to collect a dear, don’t you? I really saw one, so stop complaining and let’s get on with it already."
Jaden rolled his deep-set brown eyes, looking at the others as if he couldn’t believe his ears. Seeing that everyone was lost in their own conversations, he hurried after his friend while muttering a string of curses underneath his breath. Seeing this, Alistar hid a smile. He knew Jaden well enough at this point to see that he was more worried about Woods than anything else, considering the fact that the latter wasn’t particularly capable of defending himself from man or beast, especially now that they were over half a league out from the county limits.
Corrie followed after them without saying a word, giving the others a glance that cautioned them to keep apace with the other two.
"We shouldn’t have let them tag along," muttered Zech, who seemed both frustrated and impatient. "Who yells that loud while out hunting?"
With Zech and Jaden having turned fifteen just a few weeks apart from one another, they had both registered at the frontiersmen guild and were now officially novices in the field. After their respective Name Days, they had each been given the expected ultimatum by their caregivers to find meaningful employment within half a year else they would be forced from their homes to live on the streets, for it was quite shameful for a legal adult to continue to ’leech off of their families,’ as Zech’s father had put it. Alistar disagreed, since life had taught him that, above all else, it was only natural to take care of one’s own.
"You’re not really going to kill a deer, are you?" said Emely, a bit downcast as she patted Ms. Parsnip in an effort to quell her anxiety. "I hope we don’t find one."