Closed - Going on a hunting trip.

It was a warm day with thee sun being high in the sky, warming the environment. In the village it was crowded for everyone was working and children were playing. The forest was different. It was quiet. So quiet you could hear the wind going through the leaves and all the birds singing their different songs. Rigas had always liked the nature, when he was younger he had spend a lot of time there. You could say he knew every rock and every tree. He definitely knew his way around, it could come in handy. Especially that day. He was about to take his son out for some hunting lesson.

At the edge of the forest he waited. Rigas had two bows with him, arrows but also a spear. Freyr could choose what he want or bring his own gear. While he waited and sat down on the root of a tree. He took one of the two bows and just looked at it, letting his fingers go over the texture of the wood and the small carvings of animals, humans and other things. It was the first good bow he had made himself so he valued the weapon. It had provided his family with lots of food.
When Rigas heard footsteps coming his way he looked up immediately. Was it his son? They would meet early afternoon, when the sun was in the south west. He stood up again, taking both bows in one hand and the spear in the other one. Being earl, he had little spare time he could spent with his family, so he was looking forward to it. Rigas enjoined every minute he could spent with his family.  ’Freyr?’ Rigas asked, letting the other person know where he was. There was always a chance it was someone else, but that chance was small. It wasn’t the first time they were meeting at that spot.


First post for Freyr

The wait didn’t take long. After some minutes Rigas could hear the soft footsteps coming his way.  He was sure it was his son, but he wanted to be sure. There were enough people who didn’t like him. That wanted his spot at the top. Like expected it was his son that came out of the bushes. He looked pleased with what he’d done.

One of the corners of his mouth curled up in a smile as he heard the words of his son. ’Did you now?’ He would always be proud of his son, whatever he would do. With the bow in his hand he approached, handed it over to him. ’You’ll be needing this,’ Rigas said. It was the bow that was once his, that he gave to Freyr. ’Unless you can capture one with your bare hands?’ He raised his eyebrows a little. Rigas would love to see him try, even though he was only mocking him a little.
The man decided to turn around and started walking deeper in the forest. ’Let's go,’ he said with a small signal from his head. They could stay there for hours, just talking, but it was a shame that Rigas didn’t had hours. He liked his job, but he had a certain duty to fulfill and that duty could call for him every moment. Rigas looked over his shoulder towards his son and so he could catch up.

While they walked through the forest, Rigas was carefull with the placing of his feet. It would be a shame to scare all the animals before they’d seen them.  He looked amused to Freyr. He made as little sound as he could, while still talking with Freyr. Rigas was really enjoying the time they were having. And the weather was in their favor. Ir didn't look like it would rain that day.
’In that case I’ll love to see you try.’ Wrestling with a deer was but the easy part. First you need to get close enough without the deer noticing you. Only then you could capture it. If his son could do something like that, he was truly a remarkable hunter. ’But I fear that you’ll expect me to do the same then.’ A smile curled up his face.

His son asked what they were hunting that day. ’Whatever we can find, deer, rabbit, squirrel,’ Rigas answered. He wanted to let his son do most of the work, for he still had to learn. It wasn’t like the man was in the forest for the hunt, to take food home, but for the time he got to spend with Freyr. But besides that,
in the village they could use everything they would find. ’Tell me Freyr, where do we go from here?’ He gave him the chance to find tracks himself. ’What can you see?’ Rigas took a few steps back, giving his son a good view.

The hunting trip that they were on was a training, but Rigas didn’t want it to be only that. He wanted to spend time with his son. ’I think I’m going to pass, maybe some other time,’ he said with a grin on his face. ’Tell me, what have you done today?’ he then asked. Most of the time he didn’t knew what his son was up to. Freyr did spend a lot of time at the stables with some stable boy. Rigas didn’t knew how he was called, though he had heard the name many times. He wasn’t always to sure what to think of it. It wasn’t that bad, but Freyr had to be prepared for when he was going to be earl. Rigas looked to his side, interested in what his son had to tell him.

As far as the training part goes, he let Freyr find the right tracks. It didn’t matter what he would find, as long as it was something. If he needed it, he would help him, but it was better if he did it all by himself. He was old enough for that. The boy noticed some deer tracks and not long after the sound of water. He was definitely not stupid. ’Very good my son,’ he said to Freyr, grabbing his shoulder for a moment so he could pull him closer for a few seconds. After that he followed the sound of water and his own memory. He knew where it was and it was not uncommon for animals to be there.
Rigas already made his bow ready for when they would see some kind of life.

To start a conversation he asked what Freyr had done that day and he listened to every word he said. As he had predicted the boy had visited the horses before his training. ’If there is time, you could give me a demonstration of the things you’ve learned,’ he said, showing interest in his life.  

Rigas couldn’t help but smile when Freyr said he learned from the best. It was just a nice thing to hear from your own flesh and blood. ’And one day you will be the best,’ he told his son. Rigas was convinced that Freyr would be a great leader one day, the boy showed a lot of potential. That didn’t mean he was perfect, he still needed to learn a lot of things, but that would come when he grew older. When he knew more about life and how things could go. ’Maybe you should join me, next time I’m going on a raid. You are old enough to see how things go, you would learn a lot of it.’ Rigas looked to his side where Freyr was walking. There was a lot that could go wrong of course, but Freyr was ready. Or so he thought.
Meanwhile Rigas followed him towards the water, but there were no animals in sight. He didn’t immediately walked to the water, but he waited so he could listen to the sounds around him. If there was an animal around, big enough to make sound, he would hear. But there was nothing and while they had waited for a few seconds, nothing changed. So Rigas gave a small gesture with his head, meaning that they should take a look up close for tracks.