Hunter's Academy (Veller) (57 page)

-Ask healer, ask Danny-

“I’m pretty sure I can guess his opinion.” She replied. “I wonder if anyone would take much notice if I wore my cloak. Oh well, no turning back now.”

She folded up her old uniform and wrapped it in the brown paper, slung the courier bag over her head as Vesper jumped in and grabbed her old boots. She glanced once more in the mirror then took a deep breath before opening the door and stepping out into the hall. There was nobody out yet, she had been the first one, and decided she would wait for them outside, but as she passed Daniel’s door it suddenly opened.

“Already dressed?” He said as he picked up his old uniform from the chair beside his door and turned around. “I had a…”

He just stood there, staring at
her in her new uniform, his mouth hanging open. She had to admit that he looked pretty good in his as well, but was feeling rather uncomfortable in hers at the moment.

“What?” She asked.

“Um… ah… um…”

“Wow.”
She said. “I am going to miss these stimulating conversations when I leave.”

“No it’s just that…
it… you look… real… it’s good … that… it really… fits.”

“Keep trying boy, it’s nice to see your therapy is working, that was almost a complete sentence.”

“Hey what’s keeping you two… whoa Kile, you look good?” Carter remarked as he came down the hall. He started circling her, trying to get a look at her from every angle.

“Great, from the stutter to the subtle.” Kile said a she pushed past Carter. “Well, are you guys coming or not.”

“Those are a really nice pair of…”

“The next words out of your mouth better be boots.” Kile said without turning around.

“Actually I was going to say blades.” Carter replied.

“Oh.”

“Can I see one?” He asked as he dropped his bundle of clothing on Daniel, since Daniel didn’t appear to be moving very far from his spot. She drew one of the Lann and carefully handed it to Carter.

“Where did you get them?”
He asked as he held the blade with the utmost respect, turning it over in his hands, looking down the length and even testing the weight.

“It was a gift,
from an old friend.” She said. She really didn’t want to go into a lengthy explanation.

“I’ll say.” Carter replied. “This is old Kile, really old. I may not know much about this type of blade but I’ve never seen craftsmanship like this before. It’s a little light for my taste but it’s balanced really well.”
He remarked and the handed the blade back to her.

She hesitated before sheathing it, not really wanting to look foolish or clumsy while doing
so, but she did manage to get in on the second try. Maybe she would get the hang of it with a little practice.

“We should probably find Murphy and Alex, and then get this stuff back to the quartermasters.”

“Yeah, you’re right.” Carter remarked. “You coming Danny?”

“Huh.”

“He’s not here right now.” Kile replied as she dropped her own uniform onto Daniel bundle.

“Yeah, I can kinda guess where he is.”
Carter grinned

“Don’t even go there.”
She said as she headed out the front door of the dorms, no sooner had she stepped outside than she heard the familiar call.

“Kile Girl.”

There was a definite difference in the tone of Alex’s voice and she didn’t miss it, as for Murphy, the big man just diverted his eyes which really didn’t make her feel any more comfortable

“Can we go now?” She
asked walking past them; she should have grabbed her cloak on the way out.

They dropped off their uniforms at the quartermaster’s first, and then headed up to the Dinning Hall for breakfast. The only other people in the there were more fourth year cadets, some already wearing their uniforms, others having their breakfast first before going to the quartermasters.
Since the rest of the classes were still doing their calisthenics under the watchful eye of a third year cadet, they could get in a quiet meal before the morning rituals let out. A simple salad was all she picked up from the counter, anything more and her new uniform would be even tighter than it already was.

“So what are we going to do for the rest of the day?” Alex asked as he shoveled the food into this mouth.

It amazed her, the amount of food the boy could eat. She worried what would happen when he became certified and had to pay for his own meals. She set her salad down and Vesper jumped up on the table to get his share. He had become a common fixture at their table and no one said a word as the yarrow pulled the lettuce out of Kile’s bowl.

“We could always get in some practice
, you know, try out our new weapons.” Carter replied between mouthfuls. He was another one that could eat, although he was a little bit choosier when it came to what he ate.

“Oh come on, we’re graduating, we don’t have to practice anymore.” Alex
whined.

“You can always use more practice.” Daniel said. “You barely passed your weapons exam. If Master
West hadn’t been distracted by the weapon’s rack falling over, you wouldn’t be graduating right now.”

“Yeah, and you never did thank me for that.” Carter remarked.

“Wait, are you telling me you guys cheated?” Kile asked.

“Cheated is such a harsh word.” Carter replied. “
Let’s just say we improvised.”

“Good morning Hunters” Master Adams greeted them.

He came over to where they were seated, struggling under a large box and setting it down on the end of the table, or maybe he dropped it on the end of the table, as he caught his breath. “Don’t we look sharp in our new uniforms?”

“Some of us look sharper th
an others.” Carter mumbled. Kile threw a cucumber at him.

“What’s in the box sir?” Daniel asked.

“Glad you asked.” Master Adams replied as he opened the top and pulled out a soft leather bound book. Kile figured he was going to do it even if no one had asked.

“These are
your official code books.” He said as he started to hand them out.

Alex grinned as he quickly leafed through the pages. “Code books, you mean like our own secret code?” He asked.

Master Adams just sighed.

“He means the Hunter’s code of conduct.”

“Thank you Kile. Yes, this is the Hunter’s code of conduct. In it you will find the rules and regulations that every hunter must abide by. This is, in essence, your instruction manual. Read it, learn it, memorize it…”

“Then
dispose of the evidence so no one can break our code.” Alex added.

Master Adams sighed
again; he did that a lot around Alex.

“Just ignore him sir.”

“Yeah, we all do.”

“Well, after today, I won’t have to, will I?” The hunter smiled.
“You’re going to want to read section 2B, that covers what you are supposed to do when you get to, well, where ever it is you’re going to be sent.”

“Then you don’t know
where we’re going to end up?” Carter asked.

He was hoping to get a heads up before his destination papers were handed out. It didn’t seem fair that Daniel was the only one who knew where he would be next week.

“I’m afraid not.” Master Adams replied. “That is taken care of by the guild council. They send the sealed documents to Sir Oblum who received them this morning by a certified level three hunter.”

“Level three, why’s he still
delivering messages?” Alex asked.

“The deliver of messages is an important part of the Hunter’s Guild.” Master Adams explained. “The more important messages being delivered by
the most experienced Hunters.”

“So we don’t even rate a level one
Hunter?”

“Level one
Hunters have their own assignments, which you will know more about if you even get past level five.” Master Adams said as he grabbed the box from the table.

“Let me help you with that sir.” Murphy offered as the big man got up and grabbed the box from the struggling instructor who willingly gave it up. He tossed it under one arm as if it weighed next to nothing and  followed Master Adams across the
dining hall to another table of fourth years where the instructor started to hand out more of the books.

“Was that a dig?” Alex asked as he tossed his own book on the table. Kile was sure he would never read it.

“Yeah, that was a dig.” Daniel grinned. He, at least, slipped his book in his belt pouch. Daniel would probably get around to it in a day or two.

“He doesn’t know me very well does
he? Why… I’ll become a level one hunter just like that. Why… I may even just skip levels two three and four just to prove I can.”

“Keep dreaming little man.” Carter said, hitting Alex over the head with his code book. Carter was the type that would only read the book in the event of an
emergency, if he remembered where he tossed it. “So, who’s up for some sparring?” He asked.

“I am.” Alex shouted, jumping up from the table.

“I guess I better come along, the last thing we need is wounded cadets at the graduation ceremony.” Daniel added.

“How about you Kile, want to break in your new swords.”

“You guys go ahead without me, I’ll be along shortly.” She said as she turned the pages of the code book.

“You didn’t really think she would join us.” Daniel remarked. “She found a book she hasn’t read yet.”

The code book was just as Master Adams described it, an instruction manual for the Hunter. Within its pages was the proper procedure for just about every situation that hunters could find themselves in, and some that Kile thought were highly unlikely, but they were still in there. There was a section on what to do if you
were stricken with lycanthropy, another if you were swallowed by a sea whale, a third if you were carried off by a cliff roc. Every situation that she could possibly think of, and some she couldn’t were all within the covers of the code book, but it was the sections at the back of the book that were the most informative, since they covered the actual rules that govern all Guild members.

She began reading through the book, starting from page one and only stopped when the other cadets began to fill the dinning hall. The morning rituals would have been over so she sought a quieter place to read. She thought about going back to her cell but the less she saw of that place the better she would be, so
she wound up in the new stables, which, if anyone knew her, was to be expected, but even the stables weren’t immune to the noises these days.

Master Pike had started his lessons on horse care in his new classroom, teaching the third year cadets how to groom and manage their horses. Why the guild had decided on three classrooms for one instructor was beyond her, it was just a waist of space and coin, but if anyone could figure out what was on the mind
s of the Guild council members, they would be one step ahead of every other hunter out there. Fortunately she had a secret weapon. Grim, as one of the fourth year cadet horses, he had been moved back to the stables, and from what Kile had learned, Mr. Rever was eternally grateful. Master Pike had chosen the classroom as far away from the mountain pony as the width of the stables would allow, so Kile sat down in the empty stall beside Grim and read him section of the code book.

“Hey Grim, you’ll like this one. It says here in 11-B section A paragraph 4C that a hunter should see to the satisfaction of his mount prior to seeking comfort for himself.”

-Finally, a book that makes sense.-

Grim snorted.

She could sense that the big horse was as eager to get out of the academy as she was.

“Yeah, but how much satisfaction does a mountain pony
really need. That’s the problem with this book; the wording is a little ambiguous.”

-It makes perfect sense to me.-

“So what would make you satisfied before I could seek comfort?”

-Shelter, water, apple pie.-

“Well, I don’t know about that last one, there is nothing in this code book that says I’m allowed to give my mount apple pies.”

-Then the book doesn’t know everything.-

“Kile, you in here?”

-Prime subject approaching.-

Grim said as he backed deeper into his stall. Kile watched the horse, not sure what he was planning on doing, with Grim it could be just about anything.

“I’m over here Danny, but you better be careful.” She warned.

She kept an eye on Grim as the shaggy black mountain pony virtually merged with the shadows in his stall. Daniel came down the aisle followed by Carter. Both boys were sweaty and out of breath, their uniforms were wrinkled and a bit dusty.

“Been looking all over for you.” Daniel said as he got closer. “This place is too
big; it was easier to find you in the old building.”

He was just in front of Grim’s stall when the mountain pony lunged from the shadows bearing his teeth and slamming his
great hoofs into the ground. Daniel actually screamed as he fell backward into the empty stall on the opposite side of the isle, landing in a pile of hay. Carter, who hadn’t been close enough, stumbled backward tripping over his own feet and cursing as he fell on his ass.