The World Flying Force Rebellion in the Shadows

Chapter 15- Tesser's Test

The next morning, I woke up late, having slept through my first and second alarms. The only reason I woke up is someone was banging on my door.

"Talaya!" there was panic in Notawa's voice that made me jump up.

"What?! The gods alive, give me a minute!" Still in my pajamas, I unlocked the door. Notawa came bursting into the room. Her face looked more frightened than I had seen it before. When she saw that I was fine, her shoulders relaxed, and she let out an exhale full of relief.

"What happened to you?!" I must have looked as terrible as I felt. Sleeping had been difficult.

"Nothing," My body thudded as I basically fell into the chair at my desk. I couldn't stop yawning.

"You already missed breakfast and have five minutes until reconnasaince training!" She was grabbing my uniform out of the drawers under my bed.

"Can the yelling just stop? Please, for a minute? Let's just get this day over with," I grabbed my calcumat and started for the door.

"Um Talaya, maybe you should put on your uniform?" I went back to my room to grab my uniform; I hadn't noticed she was holding the one I needed.

"Reconnaissance Talaya! Your new stealth uniform come on! You're going to be late," She threw the uniform in my direction, but I still ended up picking it up off the floor

  Reconnaissance training was a long walk. My footsteps came in quicksucession and echoed in the empty halls. The first classes had already started for the day. it couldn't be a good thing to be late on the first day. When we got there, only a few other students were waiting. Kirtis was in the class, and two others I didn't recognize. Counting me and Notawa that put the entire class size at five whole people. When we arrived, I was surprised to see Santeeg running the group. He shot me a scathing look, but didn't say anything about my tardiness.

"Now that everyone is here, we can begin, just sit or stand anywhere. Stealth is mostly blending into your background, but more than that, it is becoming invisible to more senses than just sight. There are many ways to do that in the wild. Does anyone have outdoor experience? Staying overnight in a wooded area, possibly trekking? Or taking several days to walk through a forest or jungle?" I was surprised to look around and see I was not the only one that raised their hand about having outdoor experience. Kirtis also had his hand in the air.

"Doing what? Stalking tiny animals for ritual sacrifice?" Kirtis said. No one laughed, but it made me smile.

"Actually, yes. I sacrificed to the Flight gods, that's how I am able to actually win races," Notawa laughed, but Santeeg wasn't impressed.

"Hilarious, but really, have you both?" We nodded.

"Excellent, it's pretty simple, for today we will learn how to make a fire so that the smoke doesn't give away our location, each person will be given a small pack. Inside it will be filled with essential tools that will enable you to remain undetected, instructions are on your calcumat, also heads up there will be an exam," Santeeg walked around giving tips and trying to help us. When he tried to help one of the students it was pretty easy to tell, he had never made a fire before.

I looked at the instructions on my calcumat. Building a fire was not something most people would know how to do. Surviving in the wild was a lost art on our planet. It had been something completely forgotten. Our lives had been lived on a spaceship for more thanhundred years. Most of the years had been spent in cryo-sleep, but each person had taken their turn in keeping the ship running smoothly. Everything humans had done had been regulated strictly by computers. Exploring and trekking had just recently become a hobby for some people. The wild was a scary place. Many of the animals that were on this planet when we arrived were considered hostile. There were creatures that had abilities we had never even heard of before. Some small animals had been brought on the voyage but not many at all. Humans had learned to domesticate some, and fear others. Especially the Purthis. Some of the animals had developed in their long history of evolution, a series of somewhat telepathic abilities. This was something that humans were unfamiliar with, so naturally, it terrified us. My knowledge of the forest was given to me by my father. He had shown me a few basic things. Making a fire was one of the first things he taught me in the Durok Mountains. It had been a long time and I wasn't sure I remembered how. I started gathering some brush and twigs. Notawa was imitating me as she bounced behind me and grab the exact same material. The pack had nothing in it by the way of a Firestarter. No matches or lighter. The guide was helpful but scrolling through it took a long time. While I was working on finding out how to make fire, a gasp came from another student in the class. Flames were flickering brightly out of Kirtis's fire. He was bent low to the ground and was staring at the flame. When he saw my stunned face, he smiled.