The Cost Of Family

Climb

The next morning began my training, Rikas spent the first few months getting me into shape. Forcing me to run around the village again and again until I would faint. I don't remember how many times I ran until he was satisfied. After this he started showing me to climb, day after day of climbing up and between trees in the nearby forest. Each day I was required to climb faster, if I fell I had to climb to the top of an even higher tree.

Nearly two months after we started, Rikas stopped by a tree and turned to me, "Today, I want to see if you can-"

I cut him off starting to get tired of this, "Yeah, climb the tree, climb back down, then climb back up and start jumping tree to tree. Just like every other stupid day." I grumble a bit as I headed to the trunk.

"Well Bren, if you want to do the same thing I have you do every day so badly then go ahead. Guess you don't want to move onto the next part of training then." he smirked as he responded, "Quite a decision to say you're not ready yet, I really respect that."

I stopped before placed my hand on the trunk, "What? We were going to move on with training?" I turned around excitedly almost jumping in place.

"Well, today would be a test to see if you were ready." he walked beside me and started climbing up the tree to the lowest branch and sat, "I want to see if you can make it to the top while I try dropping things to make you fall. If you fail then we'll try again tomorrow and every day after until you can, but if you can reach the top of this tree, then you'll pass and we'll start with combat. Deal?"

I nodded in response with a big toothy grin on my face, ready to start the training that I've been hoping for since I shook his hand. Once seeing this he smiled, "Count to thirty, if you can't then just count to ten three times, once you do begin climbing. Keep and eye out and remember to keep moving, the test is over once you reach the top, or hit the ground. Start counting" once he said that he began to climb, almost bounding up the tree. I was in awe and forgot to count for a second. I hoped that someday I could climb like that. Once I'd counted I began to climb.

I started getting suspicious after a few minutes I'd guessed I was maybe a third done and haven't had anything be dropped on me yet, besides the occasional nut or seed. Was he trying to save up a lot of object for when I got close? Was he messing with me and won't throw anything? Is he even in the tree?

Eventually I got an answer in the form of an egg, breaking over my head. Yeah he's up there, and I'm going to beat his test. And then he threw a nest.

I kept climbing up the tree, avoiding most of what he threw, falling a few feet when caught off guard but thankfully able to catch a branch strong enough to hold my weight, good thing I was still a child. I started nearing the top and there were less branches around me, I could see Rikas sitting near the top. I started climbing faster when I turned to look beside me, seeing what trees I could jump to to try and avoid more crap being thrown. Then I saw the rest of the forest below me, a mountain range in the distance, a few castles on the plains, and a desert right before the horizon. This was the tallest tree in the land, and when I figured this out I started to feel the pain and exhaustion fall over me. Me, a ten year old boy who'd never been away from his home longer than he had now, who'd never had any hardship, never had to work, who had lost everything, somehow was able to climb this monster of a tree... how?

I straddled the branch I was on for a good while, long enough for the sun to set. As I leaned my head on the trunk I'd see the occasional object fly past my vision. A nut, a stick, an egg, a... chipmunk? After seeing that I looked up at Rikas to see him give a concerned look, eventually climbing down to see me. He stopped and at branch above and behind me and sat down on it, "You alright lad?" He looked at me a bit worried, "I probably should've waited to give you this test, it is a hell of a lot taller than the ones I've had you climb before. You want me to help you down?" I stayed silent for a while and heard him sigh. He looked out to where I was looking, "It is beautiful. This is one of the few places you can see a big part of the continent. Once I'm sure you're ready, we can start moving, and I can show you many of these places. But while they're beautiful from afar, you can find some ugly and horrible things everywhere. And that's what our guild at least started from, the need to repel and exterminate those horrible things. Whether it be monsters, or ill-willed beings. Though sadly the few of us left have given up, too many were killed or became unable to fight any longer. I'm hoping you can continue what I'm teaching you, but what you do is your choice." He sighed and chuckled a bit to himself, "We'll talk more about that later on, for now let's get back on the ground."

I started to pull myself up and stand on the branch, "No... not yet..." I puffed out barely catching my breath. I began to slowly climb again, grunting in pain with every movement. I heard Rikas speak but couldn't hear what he was saying, I kept climbing. My vision started to tunnel, becoming darker and darker. I had to keep going I was almost there. I thought of those I had lost, my mother, my father, how they are dead, gone. They can't come back, and it's all because of the cloaked man, and he has my sister! And my brother, missing, without a trace. He could still be alive, he has to be. He has to be! I felt myself continuing to climb, now feeling my eyes water, my cheeks becoming wet. I had to do this, I had to get stronger, I had to train and be able to find them. Find my brother, my sister, and the bastard that took everything from me!

I woke up laying on the ground, unable to move, except for my head. I turned one way to see the forest floor where we started today, and the other to see Rikas beside me, keeping and eye on me. He smiled to see me awake and began to speak. I couldn't make out everything, all I heard was, "Lad... okay... started climbing... worried... top... fell... passed..." my hearing kept coming in and out, but I figured he was saying I passed. Thank god when I woke up a day or two later that I didn't imagine it.

Rikas gave me a few days to rest before we began again. I mostly just wandered around the small village we had been in for those days, not much to do there, and not many other children to meet and maybe play with. What few children there were seemed to avoid me. Once Rikas was convinced I was fully rested up, he began training me again. Now we started combat, first hand-to-hand. He emphasized this because sometimes you can lose your weapons or throw your foe off by not using a weapon. He spent weeks and weeks teaching me how to properly keep a stance, strike, grab, tackle, and even disarm as the last technique. After over a month of getting my ass handed to me with no weapons, we moved on to archery. He explained that this was the ranger's signature and most well known weapon to others. We didn't stay on archery for long due to me unable to pull back the bow, though he didn't seem disappointed about it and said we'd wait until I was older and stronger. He then moved to show me how to use clubs, then axes, then swords, spears, maces, and even shields, month after month of learning the basics to each, becoming easier with each one due to the similarities. Close to two years of training with these weapons until I was proficient with them all. It was then he felt I was ready to start using the bow.