“All right, lads. Team up, and we will see each other on the base camp on the other side of the hill. You will find challenges enough along the route, so let’s see how you do on your own. First team to arrive skips laundry duty!”
Idhrial was already backing towards the forest edge as those last words rang out, slinking into the welcome shadow beneath the trees as the cries of the other apprentices started to ring out over the glade. She had packed her bedroll and meagre belongings at daybreak already, keeping them close to her as was her habit. Experience taught her not to leave those things unattended. Not among unknown ranger companies; even less so among her own.
The first teams were entering the forest now, but she was ahead of them at a good pace, jogging lightly to preserve her energy. Her strategy was to gain advantage by path - she could climb like a mountain goat over the light slopes if she wanted to. She was not going to be caught out lagging. Of course, she knew who was going to team up most likely. Others, those like her who had no fixed partner, would be slower in finding connection to a team. There would be negotiations, arguments, new alliances. Some would try to get into a good team by trading chores; others would attempt to join up with unknown people from other companies who were in the same boat. Idhrial did not have any particular desire to do either. Certainly not to beg, or to feel the disdain of her peers. She would rather travel across the icy wilderness alone than to be sneered at again by those who were supposed to be her peers, or worse, to be pitied. And just as bad would be to be stranded out in the wilderness with…
A shadow fell over her, surprising her. She looked up to see a boy jogging beside her at a leisurely pace, matching her steps. His long hair was falling into his eyes as he stared at her with unabashed boldness.
“Guess we two are the last ones out. What do you say?” He held out a hand.
Just what she needed. Another stranger, another loser who could not find a partner. And he must be a weakling; he was barely her age, in that strange in-between state boys got when they were starting to grow to their adult height yet had not yet grown the muscles to support the new frame. His growth spurt must have come in later than the rest of the apprentices. His face was thin and freckled, and his hair a dark reddish blonde. There was no beard to speak of on his chin yet, but the few sparse hairs that were growing in were ridiculous - curly and bright red, giving his chin the appearance of a newly hatched chick.
Idhrial stared at him, fuming. “I don’t need a rookie to slow me down. I am not afraid of being alone in the forest at night.”
She gave him a smirk. “Are you, perhaps?”
He laughed. “No. Should I be? Anyway, there don’t seem to be many scarier things in the forest than you are.”
“That may be, if you are scared of bunking with a girl.” Her voice was more defensive than she intended. No, she told herself, that was no good. She needed to get rid of this stranger, as quickly as possible, before he slowed her down or latched onto her. “The others seem to be.”
He looked at her ponderously. “I know who you are. They say you are more spiky than a hedgehog in autumn, and that bear mothers walk the other way when they see you. They call you the she-wolf, the little wolverine. Are you sure it's the part where you are a girl that people are afraid of?”
She drew her breath in sharply. “Why...” Her hand rose up in immediate response, pulling back for a punch.
He laughed, pulling his arm up to parry it. “Ah, so they are right?”
Idhrial growled, but let her arm sink down. She moved to pull her bag higher up her shoulders. “I don’t care. Find someone else to hang on to. I am not going to babysit you.”
He jogged beside her, uncaring. “Didn’t you hear old Gil? A journeyman ranger needs a partner. Do you want to stay an apprentice forever?”
She stopped in her tracks. “Oh, you can’t be serious,” she murmured.
“Hey, it can’t hurt testing out someone who actually asks you to partner up for once, right?” He grinned, and she felt like she wanted to punch that grin off his face. “I promise I won’t slow you down. If I do, you can still send me off alone, all right?”
She snorted. But he had hit a critical point. She did, in fact, not know what would happen when the final year came around and she had to do the trials on her own - they were designed to be done with a partner. She knew, as she had been training for them in secret all year, as had everyone else.
Still, not him. Not if she could help it. Who was he, trying to make fun of her? She would show them. She would win this trial, and people would change their minds about what a girl ranger could or could not do. Then she could take her pick, just like the others. For now, she did not have time for arguments.
“Fine. I don't care. Come with me - if you can keep up.”
She walked off without caring to look if he followed her. She had the best stamina of the whole bunch of recruits and she knew it, but she did not intend to slow down as she walked, quietly fuming. Maybe he would just give up when he noticed that he could not keep her pace.
But there he was, his boots crunching on the gravel of the path as he stubbornly kept up with her. She could hear his breath going fast. He had to spend a lot more energy than she did to move his lanky body across this terrain. Soon, he would be getting out of breath and have to stop. She sped up her steps, trying to see if she could lose him.
Eventually Idhrial had to come to a rest herself. The sun was getting low in the sky and the ravine she had been steadily descending into was plunged into shadow, the trail beneath her feet becoming harder and harder to spot. She could feel her steps becoming unsteady on the humid path. She held her hand against the cliff wall and tried to catch her breath.
Steps walked up behind her. The boy was breathing heavily; his face was wet and his hair hung down his back, darkened by sweat, but he did not let any of that show in his face as he smiled at her as if he had been on a leisurely walk across his family’s manor gardens.
“There should be a wider part just ahead. I spotted it when we crossed the top, just before. If it is unoccupied yet, it would be a good place to make camp for the night.”
He really had an uncommon look for a ranger - most, like her, had the classic Dunedain black hair and greyish eyes. A commoner of mixed Dunadan blood then, or a minor noble who was sent here to get a good education? Most likely the latter - his clothes were too fine, and his demeanor too careless and unused to be challenged, just like all the noble boys in her own company.
He grinned his lopsided grin at her once more and she immediately felt annoyed again. Yes, definitely noble. He had the infuriating cheek that could only be gained from a lifetime of never being told no.
“Down here.” He held out a hand for her to steady herself on when climbing down the steep ravine. She was not stubborn enough to deny it, nor suicidal enough, so she grudgingly took it, but she took care not to look at him as she did so. They reached the end of the trail without getting hurt, helping each other down silently, without talking.
As he had promised, there was a mossy platform where the rock jutted out across the stream just enough for a quiet pool to form. A short overhang gave shelter from above. She had to admit that it was a good spot - it was hidden enough to have a small fire, even. She would not have found it alone, so protected was it from prying eyes above.
She sank down on the moss and loosened her boots, glad for the rest after all. She had been pushing herself for a bit more than was necessary after all, she knew. But her effort should have been good - they had not heard or spotted any other ranger apprentice teams for a while, and she knew most were likely to take the easier, but longer, path along the valley. A sound strategy when in a good team; but sabotage had happened before between teams, and the chance of stumbling alone onto a larger team was not one she was willing to take.
No matter how tempting it was, she knew enough not to consider cooling her feet in water before she was entirely sure they would not be walking any more tonight. She'd learned it early on – wet feet were a surefire way to blisters and sores on the feet. Not for nothing were the Rangers handing out thick wool socks with their standard uniforms, and often reminding recruits to maintain them well.
The boy did the same, and they spent a while catching their breath. Then, by sheer coincidence, they both started talking at the same time.
“Do you…”
“Should...”
He laughed, and she felt her ears redden. He had an infuriating way of appearing uncaring, Idhrial thought. How could he be so uncaring of the prospect of getting stuck without a partner? Or perhaps he was simply used to making fun of people who he found inferior. Did he find her inferior?
“You first, then.” He gestured nobly.
Idhrial rolled her eyes. “This will be a good place.”
He nodded.
“They call me Rosslanc, by the way. Red-throat, like the Robin bird.” He gestured to the red fuzz of his beard. “You can call me that, or Robin if you prefer.”
She had to giggle, despite herself. The name certainly fit him. “Is that for colour or for size?”
He shrugged, rolling his eyes at the barb. “You are Idhrial, I know that. Or would you rather I called you She-wolf?”
She snorted amusedly and shook her head. “Idhrial will do. Let us prepare the camp before it gets all dark.”
She and Rosslanc silently worked to prepare camp and find wood for the fire. That at least was an exercise that the boy seemed to have been doing often enough to do in his sleep. In fact, for Idhrial, doing it in her sleep, or half-sleep, had become second nature after the first days of exhausting training, so she would have been surprised if it had been any different for him. Losers did not get to rest while others built the fire.
Finally, she pushed the last bundle of kindling up on the pile they had made to serve both as shelter and supply for the fire with a satisfied grunt.
“Right. I'm going to wash myself. You can look away if you want –“ she grinned into his face wolfishly. That usually made the boys in her company blush if she wanted. She was used to them letting her wash and do her business alone – after all, none seemed to bother her much - but she was not ashamed to use it as a threat, if it became necessary.
“All right.” He shrugged and took off his shirt.
She frowned, taken aback by his seeming lack of reaction.
“What?” He looked back at her. “I am going for a wash too.”
“But you...”
He looked down his bare chest. “Yes?”
She looked at him pointedly.
He grinned back at her, much to her annoyance. “Well, I am not going to spend a week out here being bashful just to protect your feelings, princess. You can look away if you want.”
“Who said I was bashful?” She crossed her arms angrily.
He stared at her.
“You're the one who started it.” He shrugged, his grin vanishing and giving way to a sober tone. “Look, are you a ranger or not? We're staying out here like two rangers and two rangers we will be. You can look the other way or not, I don't care.” He threw his shirt down on the pile of twigs he had prepared as his bedstead.
“Or do you suddenly have a problem with being treated just like the others?”
“Why I... ooh...” Her eyes widened as he swiftly got rid of his britches and started wading into the river. She looked away, hoping she was not blushing. “Hmph!”
“What was that?” He looked back at her. “You know, you can bathe or not, but if your smell is going to scare all the animals away I'm not going hunting for two!”
“Fine!” She stomped her foot, turning away. This boy was turning out to be just as annoying as her little brothers in every aspect. She was not ashamed about seeing him naked – she had taken care of her little brothers for way too long to be confused about the difference between men and women – but the attitude and brashness reminded her way too much of them to be comfortable.
Behind her, the boy started to wash himself, splashing water.
Idhrial pondered her options. She was stuck with this boy for at least another week. This prospect did not exactly fill her with excitement, but neither did the prospect of not being able to wash during that time. And there was no way she was going to let this be the reason for her giving up.
All in all, it did not turn out like there was going to be any choice for her. She sighed and started to undo her tunic.
“All right. One lewd comment and I'll rip out your tongue, understood?”
The boy pretended not to hear.
This made her, if anything, less comfortable. She quietly slipped out of her other clothes and shoes, wading into the water some distance away from him.
He did not turn around.
She glanced at him from behind, starting to wash. There was really not much about him. He was similar to her brothers – older, of course, and despite the growth shock, she saw now that there were in fact muscles on his back from the months of bow training, his shoulders rolling in the same way she knew hers were. His hair just barely draped over his shoulders, not yet as long as many of the other boys, and was not bound. Her own hair was usually pulled back into a long plait these days. She wondered if his was less stubborn, then. She had gotten tired of her hair getting in the way. But the boys didn't cut their hair, so why should she?
As if he had felt her looks boring into his back, he turned around.
She felt a blush come on her cheeks, but stubbornly kept her stare up, pretending not to care that his gaze was wandering over her. She just wished she could slap the smirk off his face as he grinned at her, nodding.
“Here.” He tossed her something and she made a grab for it more out of instinct than intent. It was slippery. She had to use both hands to keep the bar of soap from sinking.
“Thank you.” she responded politely, holding her head high.
He grinned again, wading out of the water and onto land without another comment.
