Mission; Find Checkers

[Simon Danvers]

The bear began to slowly walk along, catching the scent of where Simon had previously been. It stood back on its hind legs, and gave out a growl-like yell. As if it were frustrated that it was unable to find Simon. Sweat began to be placed on his forehead. He was stuck.

That is, until he grew very lucky. The beast dropped down onto its legs again, and began to walk away. Simon relaxed in relief.

However his luck ran out fast. The dagger attached to his boot, kept firm against the tree previously, fell out as he relaxed. He hardly noticed it hit the marsh floor. But the bear did.

The beast turned around, looking to and fro, before it walked on over to the dagger. It gave it a sniffed before letting out another growl.

Simon gulped down the lump in his throat.

Checkers, relaxed on the Knights shoulder, heard that second growl. His ears perked up, and he looked in its direction. The dog began to growl lowly, the blood on his nose dry as he could smell once more.

Not just the trees, and the small critters around him. But the bear and his master as well.

Though a disobedient dog, Checkers was not exactly stupid. He just looked at Roland, awaiting to be put down so that he may run to his master.

[Deleted]

Without any sight of Simon, Roland was beginning to grow worried. That was until Checkers finally seemed to contribute to the hunt. He looked down at the dog and smiled, seeing his determined eyes and ready paws. All he would have to do was let him down, and follow him, he could see it written all over the dogs stance and characteristics, like a wolf on the hunt. "Alright boy, hold on." He said as he sheathed his blade again, for the moment, before jumping down and landing on the marsh's ground once again. He sat the dog down and drew his blade again. "Lead me too him." He ordered as he planted his foot and readied to keep up with the young and energetic pup.

[Simon Danvers]

As soon as Checker's feet eagerly hit the ground, the pup was off. Though he seemed to keep a steady pace; protective of its owner, Checkers was determined to get to Simon. But he also knew he was quite fast. So he slowed down slightly for the Knight.

He abruptly came to a halt, however, and remained silent as he slowly peered his head out from behind a bush. There the bear was, and no longer oblivious to where Simon was.

The boy had moved up a few branches in panic, and was now holding his bow and an arrow, aiming it at the bear shakily. The bear, growling, had both paws on the tree. It let out a few grows, trying to reach Simon.

The tree was too thick for the bear to try and tip over. However, Simon was still petrified.

The dog looked back at Roland, knowing his owner was not going to be harmed. Not yet, at least. Its ear flopped to one side as it waited for the Knight to do something.

[Deleted]

"Take the shot, Simon." Roland Commanded as he slowed to a stop behind Checkers. The dog hadn't been as difficult of a chase as he thought, perhaps because he was still a pup. What was surprising, was to see Simon in a tree with a bear in pursuit. Bears were also very capable climbers; some able to scale a 100 feet in little over 30 seconds. "Make sure you have your mark, you don't want to take more than two, and certainly no more than three." he advised as he sheathed his blade and stood; watching. Simon could do it, he believed he could, and many times the best way to encourage was to show that one had faith in them. He was, of course, ready to intervene if he had too, although it would be difficult to catch up to the bear if it came to that.

He continued to look up at the petrified Simon. If fear took over, he was as good as a statue, useless really. "Find your courage, Simon. Whether it comes from what seems like stupidity or bravery, muster it; all courage has some combination of both."

[Simon Danvers]

Simon nearly jumped as Roland called out, and he looked at the Knight. Rather surprised that he had not intervened. He turned back to the bear, who had tried to climb up onto a branch, which just broke underneath its force.

It won’t stay down there forever, the boy thought to himself as he pulled back on his arrow.

Checkers watched his master, whimpering slightly as it stared up at Roland. Of course the dog knew that Simon had never defeated anything so big; he was hardly able to defeat boys his own size. But, knowing that Checkers could not take on the bear either, the pup stayed silent.

Simon aimed at the bear, not knowing where to hit. He could aim for its heart; but that would involve timing. He could shoot it in the head; but it might not make it through the skull enough.
The boy shut his eyes tightly, before opening them and letting his arrow fly.

The boy, whom had actually aimed for the heart, hit something much better; straight through the eye. The bear reared back, giving out a loud howl. He removed another arrow from his quiver, and aimed for the heart again. This time it hit, off-centre but close enough. The beast fell. Chest unmoving.

Simon stared at the beast for a moment, breathing heavily, before he threw his hands up into the air.
“Oh yeah! Woohoo!” he yelled.
His victory was short-lived as the branch he sat on snapped, and sent him plummeting towards the ground.

He hit it with a thump and groaned, sitting up slightly and rubbing his head. Checkers, running to his master immediately, jumped up on Simon and began to lick his face.
“Who taught you to go messing with bears, ehh?” he muttered as he rubbed at the dog’s head. The dog gave him another lick before lying down next to him. Simon eyed the bear wearily.

[Deleted]

Roland crossed his arms over his chest as he watched in worry and pleasure. It seemed as though Simon had as much luck as he did skill on his side; a powerful combination. He closed his eyes for a moment as the bear fell, saying a small pray of thanks. He opened his eyes with the snapping of the branch, and winced as the thumped to the ground. Guess I praised the day without injury too soon, eh? He thought to himself with a small grin as he walked forward and drew his blade again. He neared the bear, eyeing it over and making sure that it was indeed dead.

"Do you know how to skin an animal?" He asked Simon, not turning to him yet. He began the process of gutting the beast. It was probably Simon's first kill, and because of that, and the culture embedded into Roland from his homeland, this pelt represented a very symbolic moment in the boy's life, and the trophy would stand for a great deal.

[Simon Danvers]

Simon’s ears perked up at the question, and he nodded.
“I used to help my mother in the kitchen, so that was part of my job. Skinning some of the animals,” he responded, a smile on his face from the accomplishment. He was not exactly popular in the squire’s quarters, but he bet everyone would be impressed at what he had just done.

Despite the fact that it was just pure dumb luck.

Simon stood up, stretching himself out and wincing. His back was a bit sore now, but other than that the soft marsh floor broke his fall. Pure dumb luck. Checkers stood as well, wagging his tail before going over to sniff the bear in curiosity.

For a moment he said nothing; before he finally smiled.
“Thank you, Sir, for letting me do that on my own.”
Even if it was just pure dumb luck, it had given Simon a bit more confidence in his abilities. Perhaps now, he would actually work harder towards his goals.

Probably not. But he thought he would, at least at that very moment.

[Deleted]

"Good, then I won't have to try and give a lesson to someone who might be squeamish with such things." He stated, relieved. It would have been tough to try and get Simon to help if he hated the idea of skinning at all. Roland continued, only doing the beginnings of course, it was Simon's kill after all.

He stopped and began to clean his blade as he looked over the squire. "You did well today. You did well because you listened. Walter may not be the easiest Knight to attempt to work with, but you can learn a great deal from him. Sometimes, it may be hard, and difficult, but listening and obedience is a quality just as important as doing something yourself; on your own." He then smiled, and placed a hand on Simon's shoulder. "But enough teaching for one day. Let's skin this bear, and then I'll get you back into town."

[Simon Danvers]

Simon took a few small steps forward as he watched how Roland was doing it, making sure that he did it the same way as Simon.
A surprise look dawned on his face as he looked over at Roland as he gave him the compliment. And although he disagreed that he could learn from Walter, he kept his mouth shut.

After all, perhaps Roland was right. Simon would keep a closer eye on Walter now, certainly.

He nodded, giving the Knight a big smile as he began to get to work on skinning the bear.
Perhaps Checkers running off wasn’t such a bad thing after all. This time, at least.