After spending so much time in Greerson, doing a whole lot of not a whole lot, Kind was almost relieved when Tormal asked for his assistance. Tormal needed help surviving in the wilderness. Kind agreed to teach him as long as he would remember everything that Kind taught him. Tormal must apply himself to follow the distinct methods of survival that Kind learned from his family. If Tormal did not wish to do so, then he could learn from somebody else.
Surviving Kind
Kind led Tormal deeper into the forest. Not too far, but far enough so that Tormal was lost (which turned out to be not too far at all). Kind enjoys teaching because it allows him to do things at his own pace. That usually means stopping every so often to investigate some kind of organism that interests him, or a sound he heard. Kind is a very investigative druid. He sees nothing wrong with a little curiosity, as long as he is not in the form of a cat.
For the first day out, Kind decided to have Tormal try to survive by himself, just so he knew what he had to work with. Tormal would have to provide his own food and shelter. This was also somewhat for Kind’s amusement. Tormal did not fair too well. He had gathered a few non-poisonous berries and found a semi-flat place to sleep.
The next morning Tormal awoke to Kind, jabbing him with the blunt end of his spear. Tormal didn’t want to get up, at least not until Kind mentioned that they would be going out to look for food. Kind stressed again on Tormal that he will refuse to teach unless Tormal will do this the correct way. Tormal agreed, and they set out.
Tormal followed Kind for a few hours until they entered a less dense part of the forest. Kind motioned towards a clearing a little ways from where they were, and told Tormal to follow him. Kind took one step into the moist ground, and the mud squished between the toes on his bare feet. Then he waited. Tormal watched closely. After a few seconds he took one more step. Squish. Tormal kind of paused, and looked puzzled, realizing that the foot Kind had just lifted had left no remaining print on the moist ground. Then a few seconds later Kind took another step. Continuing this process for a minute or so, they reached the clearing. Kind pointed to one edge of the clearing at something. Something… fuzzy……fuzzy and grey. It moved back and forth for a few seconds before a small head rose up. The bushy tail stood still as the squirrel now noticed the two people staring at it.
Kind whispered instructions to Tormal.
“You must never take an animal’s life if it is not willing to give it to you.”
Tormal, as happened much on this trip, looked puzzled, then whispered back,
“How do I know if it is willing?”
Kind looked sternly at Tormal, and replied,
“You’ll just have to ask it.”
Tormal almost laughed, but he noticed that Kind’s face remained serious.
Tormal turned towards the squirrel and cleared his throat.
“Good day squirrel.”
Tormal looked for approval from Kind, who nodded.
“I am looking for a meal here in the forest, and was wondering if you would be that meal.”
The squirrel took a page from Tormal’s book, and gave a puzzled stare at Tormal.
Tormal waited a few seconds and then began to ask Kind,
“What-
But Kind was no longer there. Tormal again was puzzled, until he heard a soft squeaking from back in the clearing. He turned and saw Kind holding the now dead squirrel.
“Just kidding Tormal! You’d be waiting a long time to get the animal’s approval to be eaten. The best way is to catch it off guard and then spear it.”
Tormal looked embarrassed for a short while but ended up laughing a little.
Kind explained that Tormal had been the distraction so that he could go in and get the squirrel.
While preparing the squirrel, Kind explained to Tormal the actual methods that he would need to follow. The first rule is that you never, under any circumstances, take an animals life if you do not intend to make the most use out of it.
Kind’s second rule is the most important to him: Whether our prey knows it or not, they are providing for us. As such, whenever the opportunity arrives for you to help an animal or plant in return, you must do what you can. Kind can sometimes be seen trying to restore animals to full health, or freeing an animal from a trap that is no longer being checked. He also likes to carry different kinds of nuts and berries for such occasions.
Kind decided that the clearing was a good enough place for a fire. He instructed Tormal to go fetch some wood. But he made it very clear not to chop down any trees nor tear off any branches. There is plenty of wood to gather without harming a living tree.
If there are only a few trees in a given area, Kind will still do his best to follow this rule. He will sometimes spend hours gathering wood, and return with only a few small branches.
After the wood was gathered, Kind urged Tormal to start a fire. Tormal started grinding two sticks together, but couldn’t come up with any flame (ironically). Kind sorted the sticks that Tormal had gathered into two categories: wet sticks and dry sticks. Then made more categories for the dry sticks based on the type of tree it came from. He then showed Tormal which sticks are used to make better fires.
After the food had been cooked and eaten, Kind put out the fire. There is not much use for it after we the food has already been cooked. Kind instructed Tormal to only keep the fire alive if he is desperate for heat.
It started getting darker and Tormal began to nod off. Before he knew it he was being nudged with a spear again. It had seemed like he hadn’t slept at all. Then he opened his eyes and realized that he actually hadn’t. There was even still a little bit of light left. Kind poked at him some more.
“Time to find a place to sleep.”
Tormal looked blankly at Kind, and replied,
“What is wrong with this area?”
“It’s not very comfortable.” Kind said as started walking away.
Tormal was very tired. He tried to talk Kind into staying in the clearing by pulling together leaves and moving inconvenient rocks to make it look more comfortable. Kind sighed and showed Tormal that the piles of rocks he had moved were actually the home of some creature at one point in time. Kind believes there are many places that nature has provided that are already comfortable. You shouldn’t modify a wonderful place like this clearing just so that you can be comfortable, when all it takes is a little effort to find and already cozy area.
After a little searching they found a large tree with its thick roots spread widely over the ground. Kind nestled between the roots in some grass and placed his head on the soft moss on the tree. Tormal found a similar place, and the next time he was poked with Kind’s spear, he had felt better rested than he could ever remember.
