A Song for Winter: Camping

William decided it was time to teach his daughter, Jaina, her first lesson in survival training. As was Clan Drackonas tradition they set out into the wilderness with nothing but the clothes they were wearing, one knife each, and a bow with five arrows each. Against tradition, William went with Jaina into the wilderness instead of leaving her alone and blindfolded in the woods. The two trekked deep into the pine forest until they could no longer see the village or any signs of civilization plus a few dozen extra miles. William found a nice clearing amongst the pine trees and then informed Jaina that her trial began then.

 

The first task was to construct a shelter of some kind that would last the night. William helped Jaina cut branches from the nearby pine trees. All the pine needles were cut from the branches and laid out to make a rough a-frame structure. Pine needles were woven throughout the branches of the simple structure to form a sort of insulation and add an extra layer of protection from the elements. Extra branches and needles were used to start a fire using a knife and a piece of flint that was scavenged from a nearby rocky ravine. 

 

With shelter and a fire in place, the next thing to do was find food. Berries and wild winter vegetables were easy enough to find but the real test was hunting an elk. Jaina wasn’t exactly known for her patience but when it came to hunting she was laser focused. She wanted to get her first kill more than anything else on this trip. William and Jaina carefully and quietly stalked the woods on the lookout for their quarry. After several hours they finally found one with a magnificent set of antlers. Jaina aimed carefully and took her first shot at the elk. The arrow struck the elk through the neck but didn’t kill the beast. Instead, it enraged the elk which caused it to charge at Jaina. William pulled his daughter out of the path of the charging elk and started to knock an arrow into his bow. Jaina grabbed that arrow and fired again as the enraged elk turned around. This time she fired and struck the beast through the heart which caused it to fall to the ground dead.

 

Jaina was less than enthusiastic about having to skin and harvest the meat from the elk but she killed it so she had to dress it. It was a large elk so there was plenty a lot more meat than they needed. Any meat that wasn’t to be eaten that night was packed with snow and wrapped in the elk skin. Antlers and bones were harvested for use in future weapons or trinkets. Organs, the skull, and a bit of the meat were constructed into a totem of sorts and then set ablaze as an offering to Skadii the goddess of the hunt. Dinner of roasted meat, berries, and winter root vegetables was followed by a night of sleeping on the cold ground. In the morning William hiked back to the village with Jaina who was ready to survive the wilderness again if she had to.