Jason E Mohler

February was never warm, especially in the mountains Onyx grew up in, but this was one of the coldest ones she could remember, even if she was down in the plains. Snow pelted her face, driven by winds that made the day even colder as she marched. The only clue she had to where she was going was the footprints of the person in front of her.

 

And they were supposed to be camping in this.

 

And not camping in the clear pastures outside the fortress' walls, but out beyond the fence.

 

Beyond the safety she'd become so used to over the last six months.

 

It could be worse; she could be Opal. Thera was the southern-most county of Banne and was known for its lush jungles and sunny ports, and the poor redhead had been shivering and complaining since fall. She’d been excited, though, when the first snow of the season fell. That was three months ago, though, and the novelty of the experience wore off long ago.

 

The snow nearly died when they reached the forest, the tall pine trees acting as a roof. Even the wind died down, but it never completely disappeared. It was still enough to slant what snow there was beneath the hood of her cloak, stinging her chin and neck with its cold. The snow returned to full strength when they reached a clearing, but without the driving wind, it was more painting than pain.

 

Captain Engle called a halt, and Sergeant Atani took charge for the first time since leaving the Crown. “Second Cairn! Set up along the east side of the park, tents in in a line in order by setting, facing inward. Fall out!”

 

After two months of practice, Onyx and the others knew exactly how much room the tent they'd share would need and began unpacking it. Jasper carried the heaviest part - the roof - while Onyx and Jet carried the walls and corner poles. Opal carried the rest, both halves of the center pole, the stakes, and the guy lines. The tent went up easily, except for the stakes which didn't want to go into the frozen and root-filled ground. In the end, three of them would stand around each stake and take turns striking it with the backs of the short shovels they carried while Opal held it steady.

 

Raising the tent wasn't their only chore, though. There was no floor to the tent, and they'd have to clear the snow if they wanted to avoid frostbite for the month they'd be living there. They didn't need four people for the job, though, and Jasper volunteered himself and Opal to go collect firewood.

 

Opal.

 

Of course he'd choose Opal. The little redhead had practically glued herself to his side for months now. Jasper’d been pretty oblivious at first, but even as big of an idiot as him would eventually catch on, and he had. She wasn’t jealous, of course – why should she care who Jasper spent his time with? – but the two of them with all of their differences? They should stop it now before either of them got hurt. It wasn’t just their Elemental differences – Jasper was obviously Ordra’s, while Opal could only be Edra’s - it was their worldly ones, too. Even though he didn’t talk about it, it was obvious Jasper was nobly born, while Opal made no attempt to hide the fact she was a street rat from the barrios of Esso. Once again, the thought filtered through the back of Onyx’s mind that she’d make a better match for her bunkmate than Jasper ever would.

 

And the two of them were out for a walk in the woods on a picture-perfect winter evening.

 

But what did Onyx care? Jasper could do whatever he wanted.

 

Even if it was with Opal.

 

“Hey! Watch it!” Jet said when she accidentally flung a shovel-full of snow in his face.

 

“Sorry,” Onyx said, her eyes moving to the tent flap despite her.

 

Jet followed her gaze and grinned. “Some guys have all the luck, huh? I almost feel sorry for Opal, though, Jasper'll crush her if they're not careful.”

 

Onyx scowled. The last thing she wanted was to let her thoughts wander down that path.

 

The lovebirds returned by the time the two of them cleared most of the snow out of the tent. They hadn't reached bare earth, but a little probing showed they were less than a half inch of hard-packed snow from it.

 

It would do for tonight.

 

Jasper and Opal knelt beside each other, building a cabin of sticks that would become their fire.

 

“I wish we had a lighter like the sergeant's,” Jet said wistfully as he watched Opal pull a piece of flint from her pocket and began striking it with her knife.

 

Onyx agreed. Sergeant Atani's lighter looked like one of the flintlock pistols they'd be using their last month of their training, but without a barrel. There was no gunpowder involved, though. Instead, the pan was filled with fine tinder. When the trigger was pulled, the flint would hit the frizzen, sending sparks into the pan and lighting the tinder. Once that was done, all it took was a little bit of gentle puffing and it was hot enough to light a length of slow match she could use to light a candle. Which, in turn, could be used to light the tinder for the much larger campfire. All in all, it was a more complex, but far easier way to start a fire than what Opal was doing, striking steel to flint, hoping the sparks hit the kindling and caught.

 

“Who's got the food?” Jasper asked when the small redhead succeeded at her task. The other three looked between each other and Onyx could feel the realization dawning on them just as it was her.

 

None of them had brought food. On top of that, the cookhouse wasn’t part of the wagon train of supplies following them to the camp.

 

Opal swore.

 

“I guess that's why they taught us how to trap,” Jet said.

 

Opal swore again. Onyx knew trapping was not one of her strong suits.

 

“You guys keep the fire going and Nyx and I'll see if we can set some snares,” he said.

 

The sun was starting to set, darkening the already dim skies before they found their first sign of prey. A set of rabbit tracks leading from one tree to another marred the thin dusting of snow. It was hard to tell which way the tracks went in the increasing darkness, so Onyx and Jet split their bets; one took one end of the trail while the other took the other.

 

They took their time, carefully retracing their steps in the light snow as they returned to camp. The last thing either of them wanted was for the others to have to send a search party to look for them.

 

“Any luck?” Opal asked when they returned to camp. She dropped a handful of snow into a pot sitting next to the now-healthy fire.

 

“We set a couple of traps, but no, a deer didn't jump in front of us and die of a heart attack while we were out there,” Jet told her.

 

“So, no dinner,” Opal said, dejected.

 

“No dinner,” Onyx agreed. “Where's Jasper?”

 

“Sergeant Atani wanted to see all the setting leaders, and since you were gone, he went.”

 

“Makes sense.” She nodded.

 

They sat across from Opal, warming their feet and hands in the fire's glow as the three of them stared silently into the flickering fire.

 

Onyx was the first to notice the large figure emerging from the darkness and immediately recognized Jasper.

 

“I've got dinner,” He announced, holding up a small bag. “Rolled oats.”

 

“For who? You?” Jet asked.

 

“For all of us. I know it's not much, but at least it'll get something warm in our bellies.”

 

“True,” Onyx said although she’d hoped for something more filling. “Why don’t you and Opal start heating the water while Jet and I check our traps.”

 

“You know that’s a waste of time, right?” Jet said as he stood.

 

“Probably, but we might get lucky. Besides, would you rather sit in the snow and watch the water boil?”

 

“You’ve got a point. Let’s go.”

 

On a whim, Onyx grabbed a short spear from the nearby rack. Shrugging, Jet grabbed one and fell in behind as the two stepped carefully into the wood line. Onyx hadn’t thought of herself as quiet but, compared to a city-bred noble like Jet, she was like a kitten on carpet. It was hard to tell through the cloud cover and canopy of trees, but she figured it was close to nightfall, although which side of the sunset they were on, she couldn’t tell. Not that it mattered, she didn’t want to spend any longer out here than she had to. It wasn’t just the cold, either. Something was off.

 

She stopped and was glad when Jet had the common sense to silently do the same. She listened and heard a rustling off to the side. They weren’t alone. It was probably a couple of other Jewels, but she didn’t think so. She turned to face Jet, silently tapped her ear and pointed in the direction of the noise. When he nodded, she jabbed a quick finger at him and waggled her fingers like two walking legs and pointed back the way they came. Again, he nodded and, much quieter than he’d been earlier, ghosted back down the trail a ways.

 

“Second cairn, fourth setting!” Onyx called when he was in position.

 

It wasn’t a human voice that answered. It wasn’t a voice at all. It was a low grunt, followed by the unmistakable snort of a wild boar.

 

Onyx wasn’t one to swear, but there were times it was called for.

 

“Jewels! To me!” She yelled as loud as she could when, with one last grunt, the still-unseen boar began crashing through the underbrush.

 

“To me! To me!” Jet echoed as he rushed to join her.

 

“Jewels to the line!” someone called in the distance. Not that it would make a difference, the boar was too close. She still couldn’t see it, but to be that loud…

 

There.

 

It came into view barely twenty yards from her and sped up when it saw her.

 

“Jet…” she said as she planted the butt of her spear on the frozen ground and prepared to refuse the charge.

 

“I’m right here.”

 

Onyx didn’t look to see where, exactly, “here” was. She didn’t have time. The boar was nearly on her and she dropped the tip of her spear ‘til it was – hopefully – pointed just below its head and the thick skull beneath. Her world shook when the boar struck the spear, and it took all her strength to keep it grounded. The shaft bowed until Onyx was afraid it would break, but then she saw Jet enter the fray. He thrust down hard, driving the tip of his spear into the boar just behind its shoulder blades.

 

There was a reason wild boars were considered as dangerous as they were; even with two spears in it, the boar was still alive, thrashing Onyx and Jet when the first reinforcement arrived. Sergeant Atani skidded to a halt as Jasper rushed forward, adding his spear to the first two with enough force to make the tip bite into the forest floor beneath, finally pinning the beast in place. The sergeant shifted until she had a clear view, raised the wheellock she carried to her shoulder, sighted down the barrel, and pulled the trigger. There was a short whirr, and the musket fired with a brilliant flash and cloud of smoke.

 

The animal dropped.

 

Nearly as quickly, Onyx slumped to the ground. As always, Jet was the more flamboyant of the two and flopped spread-eagle in the snow, gasping loudly as he tried to catch his breath.

 

“Like I said, Nobodies get the job done,” Opal said when she kneeled next to Onyx to make sure she was all right.

 

“Hey, I helped,” Jet gasped from where he lay.

 

“And I’d be dead if you hadn’t, thank you.”