Member
Gerrik Far-Teacher
Level 9 Hain Hero
36 Prestige
circa 13 years Post Realta
Feet pounded along the earth and clacked against rocks. Branches were brushed aside and twigs snapped. A shadow flitted across the surface of the water of a tributary, and was soon followed by a second shadow. The sound of panting accompanied the hurried footsteps.
"Come on, Elword, keep up!"
Two hain were running alongside the stream, hopping across rocks and leaping over fallen trees. Gerrik was in front, setting the pace and the route, with Elword following closely behind.
Ahead a tree had fallen across the river. In two steps Gerrik got to the top of the trunk, then he bounded across the log to the opposite bank. Elword pulled himself up with a hand and a running leap, then skittered across with arms outstretched.
While Gerrik was setting the pace, he was keenly aware of Elword's capabilities and his present level of exhaustion. As such, Gerrik was able to calibrate their run to optimise Elword's performance.
Gerrik turned and scrambled up a boulder. Elword took somewhat longer to haul himself up the side of that large rock, and when he got there he saw that Gerrik had already hopped across onto the branch of an adjacent tree and was waiting. When Elword was atop the boulder Gerrik turned and headed down the branch and around the trunk to a branch on the opposite side of the tree. Elword took a few moments to gauge the distance, then approached the edge of the boulder and jumped across to the branch. It was not a long jump, but Elword still had to crouch down and steady himself with his hands as he landed on the branch.
He then travelled along the branch after Gerrik, who jumped off then end, landed on the ground and kept running. Elword, not confident in landing safely from that height, instead dropped downwards, caught himself on the branch to slow his fall, then dropped the rest of the way. On the ground once more, Elword ran off after Gerrik.
Their exercise continued like this for several more minutes, until Gerrik came to a halt beside the river. Elword caught up, panting. He stooped down to the river and splashed the water over his arms and face before taking a long drink. Gerrik also drank from the river. Once Elword had cooled off, Gerrik signalled for them to get moving again, and they jogged back the way they came.
~~~~
In the fading daylight Elword sat in a circle with the young hain gathered for today's lesson. His hands held two stones, and the all had a pair of stones too. Elword showed the children how to strike the stones such that large flakes would come off, then how to use wooden or bone tools to apply pressure to flake off smaller parts of these larger stone flakes. With metal still a rarity, stone knapping was an important skill for any aspiring craftshain to learn. It was, indeed, Stone Chipper's namesake.
Elsewhere Gerrik was running a smaller lesson, teaching a few of the adult craftshain how to operate the forge and the basics of working metal. Gerrik had been letting Elword run the evening lessons more regularly over the past year, granting him progressively more independence. Yet even when Gerrik was out of sight and earshot, as he was today, he would still be able to provide feedback as though he had been watching the whole thing. Elword found that peculiar, and it (along with the other evidences in Gerrik's behaviour) made him suspect that Gerrik might have some special ability for seeing things beyond regular sight.
But Gerrik's secrets was not Elword's present concern. He had a class to run and children to educate.
"Jan, you need to strike the stone along there. You need to make it rub the stone sideways. Ah, you struck the stone too directly, Tami. But notice that some of those fragments are still useful. Now I'll show you all how to sharpen the edge of the flake you have produced..."
~~~~
It was quiet inside Gerrik's hut as everyone slept. Tami, who had finished her second hatching a few months ago, snored gently on her mat. Next to her slept Zan, who had reached the age of four. Over on a larger mat, Arlen, Sharon and Gerrik slept together.
At least, most of them were sleeping. Gerrik, however, was restless. Sharon noticed this and stroked a hand along Gerrik's head. "What's wrong?" Sharon cooed, "Is it something about your coming journey?"
Gerrik nodded.
"Are you going to miss us?" she asked.
Gerrik stroked Sharon's mouth. "Of course. But that's not what's bothering me." Gerrik stared at the ceiling as Sharon waited for him to elaborate. "Elword is my apprentice. He is also my successor. And on this journey, he will succeed me as Far-Teacher." Sharon waited some more. "That means I won't be Far-Teacher any longer. I will be without my Perception, without my hyper-intelligence. I will become mortal; I will grow old and frail and die." Gerrik turned his head to look into Sharon's eyes. "And it frightens me. Those things have been so integral to who I am and what I do that I'm afraid of what will happen when they're gone."
Sharon put a hand on Gerrik's beak and looked deep into his eyes. "I love you because you are hardworking and gentle and kind. I love the stubborn determination you put into every task you do. I love you because you are always confident and outgoing. And I love you because you love me. You might not always be Far-Teacher, but you'll always be Gerrik, and it is Gerrik I love."
Gerrik pulled closer to Sharon so that his beak nudged up beside hers. "And I love you too, Sharon."
~~~~
Gerrik took one last patrol around Tallgrass, checking that things were in order. Of course, all the important preparations, such as training other hain to fill his roles in town, had been completed over the past year. Gerrik was really just looking over the town one last time before leaving.
He returned to his hut and collected his backpack. Elword was there also. He had his own backpack, a wooden staff, and a leather hat with a wide brim and cotton padding to provide protection from sun and rain. When Elword saw Gerrik, he adjusted the straps on his pack and readied himself to depart.
Gerrik's family was also assembled to wish him farewell. Gerrik embraced each of them in turn.
"Goodbye, Arlen. Look after them for me, although you don't need me to tell you to do that. Goodbye Tami, goodbye Zan. You two be good for Arlen and Sharon. Goodbye Sharon." Gerrik embraced Sharon particularly closely. "I'll come home as soon as I can."
Reluctantly Gerrik and Sharon broke their embrace and Gerrik motioned to Elword. "Come on, let's go."
Gerrik began walking, and Elword fell into step behind him. As they walked out of Tallgrass, the villagers waved Gerrik goodbye, and Gerrik waved back to them. Soon the huts and fields of Tallgrass were behind them as they trekked northwards, and Gerrik Far-Teacher's final journey had begun.