Team building

"Man, I can't believe you have time for hunting!" Said the oldest guy.

"I want to have a chat with Meryl. It's been a long time since I last saw her." Said the third hunter.

Oswald looked at the earth patch where he had buried the cow's head. 'I hope she finished cleaning everything. I won't bet on it though.'

The third hunter was the youngest. He was an adolescent, barely a meter and half tall. He was as shy as he was short.

When all four of them approached the house, Oswald called his mother by whistling to alert her of the guests. She came right away on the porch, closing the door behind her. Her hair was done and her clothes were clean, which meant she had the time to rearrange the living room.

'She closed the door behind her to talk in front of the house. There is no way the smell is gone, she woouldn't risk it.'

Her spirit was too busy thinking about the mess she might had forgotten inside, she reluctantly answered.

"Tom! Right! I remember! How are your parents? Did your mom unstitch her dress? The last piece of work I made for her gave me so much work!"

"She's doing fine, you look gorgeous by the way. For when is it?" He asked mimicking her shapes.

"Thanks, more than a month to go."

Her skin had tiny bumps of fat, as for her silhouette, it was clear she changed her alimentation. Now, the whole village will know about the incoming birth. It was a big event for every community with less than a hundred people. Everyone knew each other, and everyone knew everything. Anything that happened was akin to a kick in the nest.

The last great event that shook Revel was Oswald's violent seizure.

The hunter eyed at him from time to time, deep in their mind, they had the thought he could crumble anytime. But in front of them stood a youngling with plenty of vigor, taller than Meryl by more than a head. His jaw had two muscles tightening it and his beard darkened his traits.

After explaining their plan, Meryl was once more reluctant to let her son go.

The three hunters were gone the next minute.

"I have to stay inside the house at night, nothing complicated right?" Oswald said once he was sure they were alone.

The evening was peaceful. No snow outside nor noise in the barn. The warm scrambled eggs and the garlic bread they had filled their stomach.

When he reached the village next day, he brought only cheese to the market, the short time spacing his two venues did not give him enough time to catch a thing.

He came to the Simons shop to hammer few planks together and build a shelter to store leather outside. He was in a dark mood, most villagers mistook it for health issues. He was offered to stay for the night again but he refused.

He then went to see Tina at her shop. He had a slow paced discussion with her, because of the red meat displayed on the stall, Oswald couldn't help but remember how red his house was a day ago.

Each time she stroked her hair behind her ear, the boy became more interested. She was hard to get, she resembled his mother, and she talked to him. Three good reasons to think their relationship was going good.

Except it was barely their second time meeting. She was being courteous, her interest was based on her family and she was a very happy woman already. Seeing Oswald, an adolescent she thought timid, she wholeheartedly accepted the deal he suggested, more for business than a good-looking young man.

Her husband met them during their conversation. He saw the little blush on Oswald's face and immediately became defensive. He went in between them to shake the boy's hand and put some distance between them, still he had a friendly tone.

"Hey buddy! Are you ready for a long afternoon? You can call me Adelmo. I totally forgot to give my name, how stupid of me! Tom is the short one and Reggy the tough guy you've met earlier!" He said adding more people in front of them. They were dirty, their fur coats retained their sweat and their stench filled the shop.

Adelmo had a new bow, the cord that bent the wood was thin, all around its thread, a silvery line shone. The bow was hand-carved and had beautiful metal ornaments.

"Take a closer look at it, this one can shoot up to two hundred meters!" Said Tom, eager to try the weapon. He was excited, the devastating effects of the arrowhead were a fascinating matter for most young boys.

Their first expedition together in the forest begun soon after. In the forest, the north part of the village, they walked on a steep slope. They passed between lots of oak trees with roots entangled around each other, the abundant dark green leaves covered the sky and a gloomy mood exuded from the dense shadows.

Few minutes in, they found something. There were dozens of footprints on a muddy pond.

"They came here to drink. The pack is around eight wolves large, I've seen it from afar a month ago." Said Reggy. "This one is huge! Look at the size of his paw! He's clearly above average, he's probably the one who beheaded the cow. Man, adult boars are hard to kill with a bow, let alone one that bites!"

The group's ambience radically changed from eager to nervous.

The sun was high up in the sky and Oswald couldn't see through the traces as he did during the night. So he approached the traces and breathed deeply. He looked in detail at every particles on the same mark. Soon, they came alive, their glow flew left and right and the flow they created became a direction to follow.

"They went that way." Said Oswald, sure of himself. He pointed at a deeper part of the forest, the blue-ish glow that emanated from their passage formed an aerial river. The hundreds of print added a magical ambience to the hunt, only for Oswald.