A youth of about fourteen years of age crept silently through the forest. Young Paden was of medium height at about five and half feet. His long, raven black hair slightly obscured the light earth brown of his eyes of his oval shaped face that bore soft features giving him a slight noble look. He possessed a lean body that had clearly defined muscles built from his work as a hunter and helping with his foster family’s farm.

It was soon approaching the fall season and the layers of clothes he wore had thickened some. He wore a mix of olive green cotton shirts under a thicker brown wool jacket. His pants were likewise layers of cotton and wool tucked inside leather boots that reached just under his knees. He further wore a thick, dark brown cloak. On his back was a black longbow, a common bow made of iron wood native to their woods, slung across his back as he held a medium length spear in his right hand.

It was still early morning and vapor escaped with every breath he took. He slowed his breathing down as he quietly listened and looked for game. He and his group had spread out some distance in order to cover more ground. He approached the familiar edge of the forest knowing from experience over the years that there was a high probability of game on the other side.

Paden looked and spotted a heard of deer that were grazing in the tall grass before him about a hundred yards away. He noted the direction of the wind and got onto his stomach as he began to crawl closer to the herd. He crawled nervously as a change in wind direction or slight sound would give him away and his prize would flee. Ninety five, ninety, eighty, seventy, sixty five yards, he was now getting into his range.

Paden had already picked a target earlier and carefully took his bow as he quietly got to his knees, notching an arrow. His heart beat in anticipation as he drew silent breathes and readied himself, his target in sight. Whoosh. The arrow was loosed and hit the deer piercing slightly above its heart and into its lungs.

Chaos broke lose as his actions alerted the other deer sending them in a panic fleeing. He drew a knife from his waist and quickly took it to the fallen deer’s chest to make sure the job was done. The animal let a final gasp of air out as its eyes lost their life. The youth heaved as his blood still pumped fiercely in its chest as he took out the hunting horn and blew the call alerting the other hunters of his party.

His call continued for two minutes until he saw three men enter the clearing. He stowed his horn and motioned them over.

“Hahaha, good one young lad,” laughed a burly hunter with a large belly as he looked at the youth in pride.

“True. I ‘member it like yesterday. The lad was still running behind your fat arse as he was learning. Now the boy is a young man and killing his own buck,” laughed a skinnier man. The burly man gave him a look when he called him fat. He was quite sensitive about his weight and though he ate no more than the men here he could not seem to lose the gut. Were it anyone outside their group who had said it, he would be down with a few teeth missing.

“Leave Gerard alone Eber,” reprimanded an older muscular man. The brown haired man had a solid muscular build making him stand out when beside the skinny Eber and large Gerard.

“Aw, Gerard knows I mean nothing ill. We been huntin together for fifteen years now Axel. When you gonna take that handle out your…” Eber stopped talking when Axel gave him a mean look. “Alright, alright. Don’t fault me for trying to lighten the mood,” spoke Eber with a light tone while holding his hands up in submission.

Gerard and Axel heaved a sigh. Eber was never one for being serious. A habit built up from the days they were in the army together. The man also never knew when to keep his mouth shut. It got him in a right bit of trouble often because of it.

“Ignoring the clown.”

“Hey!” Paden giggled hearing Eber's ignored cry.

“Ignoring the clown,” spoke Axel while ignoring Eber’s cries. “It is true. You been following us and learning for years now. I’m right proud of you. Paden, I know you want to get some experience on your own but remember our group will always be open for you to join any time.”

Paden looked at the grinning faces of the three men around him, grateful for their help over the years. Thanks to them, he and his mother were able to get by for so many years despite having no man in the house. Axel, Eber and Gerard were as much family to him as his mother was. Eber and Gerard were like funny uncles to Paden who loved to watch the two bicker back and forth.

Axel in particular became something of a father to Paden when his mother died nearly four winters ago. Axel had saved him from the quiet despair following her death, bringing Paden into his home with his family. Axel only had four daughters, so Paden had become something of the son he never had. Even his wife, Leanna, took to Paden like her.

The talks were over so the men left with Paden and took their kill back to camp and entered under the gazes of another group that was watching over the hunting party camp. They watched Axel and his group approach with the buck with relative surprise. It had barely been an hour since the groups had left to hunt and were utterly shocked.

Axel and Gerard got to work on the buck and had it lifted by a rope and a large metal rod into the trees where it was properly bled. Gerard quickly took the hide off of the buck in a matter of moments as Paden watched with rapt attention as he was still very bad and ruined several pelts by puncturing them during the skinning process. When he was done, Gerard took the pelt and offered it to Paden who shook his head.

“Rules, the one who killed the game gets the pelt,” he told Paden sternly as he frowned.

“Still owe your brother for teaching me some tanning skills. The pelt this time is for him, tell him its thanks,” replied Paden while waving off the pelt. Paden would always return favors where they were due. Gerard looked at him and still handed him the pelt as Paden looked at him curiously.

“Get to removing the fat. If you ruin the pelt I’ll have my brother tan your hide,” said Gerard gruffly as he turned to continue treating the other pelts of the animals they killed earlier.

Paden chuckled and went to an area where they set up for removing the flesh from the pelts and strung it up as he got to remove the flesh and fat still stuck to the pelt. It was an arduous labor that took Paden hours. He cringed when he thought he accidently cut into the pelt.

By the time he was done, Axel and the others were already done with dismembering the buck and were smoking some cuts and salting down some of the finer pieces to take back to the village. Gerard took the pelt and began to process it taking some bits of the buck’s brains, mixing it with some warm water to wet down the pelt. This process would continue for some time to keep the pelt from becoming too stiff. His brother would later process it into something, usually some glove for merchants to sell to nobility which sold well.

“See you didn’t damage the pelt this time,” laughed Eber as Paden blushed slightly in embarrassment. He was used to being lightly teased as he had damaged more than a few pelts while learning.

“His archery is coming along though, got the buck in one shot,” noted Axel.

“A shame he is still a chick when it comes to women. Last festival the poor boy couldn’t get a word in with Lily,” Eber joked as he gave the boy a light nudge.

Paden grew red as a tomato as he listened to Eber embarrassed. Lily was an older girl he fancied and had come up to talk to him during a festival but he was so poorly tongue tied that the situation quickly escalated into an awkward silence. The memory still haunted him to this day and made him redden whenever he saw Lily around the village and working her family’s tavern with her sister.

“Don’t be like that Paden. It’s adorable. In fact so long as you’re not like this before your wedding night, you’ll be far better than Axel. He did nothing but babble from when he asked for Leanna’s hand ‘til the end of their first year together,” roared Eber in laughter as he guzzled down some ale.

“A little early isn’t it Eber?” asked Axel as he eyed the wooden mug in Eber’s hand.

“Been out here three days. Our group caught three boars and a bear. Got more than enough meat for a while. Little Paden’s buck was a good windfall. I think this calls for an early celebration, don’t you?” asked Eber with a grin. Axel sighed helplessly at the drunkard. Gerard was still working the pelt over some and looked at the ale while licking his lips.

It was soon past midday and the other two groups returned with their kills. The groups helped each other process the meat and the pelts quickly and Paden even cut himself while processing a pelt again causing the other men around to laugh. He had done this on many occasions and it reminded everyone present of times when they were younger and learning the skill as he was. He was highly liked by all the hunters as most of their sons were not as dedicated and diligent as he was.

Having preserved the meat and put them away, the men busted out the ale and started cooking some stew to eat for the night’s dinner before they returned to the village. About thirty five percent would go to the local lord and fifteen percent split with the other groups and fifty percent kept by the group who hunted the animal.

T

he men drunk merrily as they ate the bear stew that Axel’s group contributed their meat to as other groups brought out some wild fungi and other wild vegetables they found out in the forest to add. They happily talked and lightly poked fun at Paden as they would sorely miss the boy who had been part of their group for so long. However, he was set on making it on his own, even if for a short time.

They passed some ale to Paden to try and watched as he coughed out the drink which tasted bitter to him causing the men to laugh at his reaction. Some men who had daughters around Paden’s age started pushing for him to start thinking of the future as he was a month from his fifteenth birthday into manhood. Eber and Gerard laughed when they saw the fathers approaching Paden trying to push their daughters onto him.

Axel sat still, enjoying the sight. At one time he also wanted for Paden to settle down in their village and even wanted one of his daughters to marry him. However, he knew deep down that Paden would not be restricted to their small village. His fifteenth birthday was in a month’s time and Paden would likely not remain in the village when he finally came.