fandomhigh | Outdoorsmanship 101, Wednesday, period 1

Class met on the edge of the preserve. As soon as the students arrived, Eliot made sure they all had sunscreen (or other sun blocking cover), a water bottle (near as he could tell, all his students this time around would hydrate with water), and a reusable fire starter. Once everyone was gathered and basically prepared, he waved for them to follow and started them hiking into the woods.

"This is a class on outdoorsmanship, so you're all going to want to show up prepared to spend the whole class period outside. That means you're going to need to be dressed for the weather, whatever it ends up being. That means checking the weather before coming to class. This is the only time I'm gonna be providing water -- you gotta bring your own for the rest of the session. You show up without water, you better be able to get some before we set out at the start of class, or you're not going. I ain't havin' anyone dehydrate on my watch. Rule number one for outdoorsmanship is to be prepared. Any of you ever spend any time around the Boy Scouts of America, that'll be a familiar refrain to you. Goin' out into the wilderness unprepared is a great way to get dead. I'll give you a couple tips on how to get by without your supplies if you end up kidnapped or shipwrecked or trapped by a plane crash or something, but for the most part, if you're goin' outside, it's 'cause you want to be there, in which case, you got no excuse."

That lecture got them all the way to a nice little clearing Eliot had scouted ahead of time, with a small creek running along one side, and plenty of small rocks, sticks, and tinder along the edges.

"It's the first week, so we're going to do a pretty easy one this time," Eliot said. "We'll get on building fires shortly, but tradition dictates y'all statin' your name and such, first. So let's get that out of the way. I'm Eliot Spencer. You can call me Eliot, or Mr. Spencer, or just Spencer if you want, I'll answer to any of it. I served with the United States Army Special Forces and did freelance work requirin' me to be out in and survive in most climate types on the planet Earth, and before that I grew up doin' plenty of campin' and adventuring in the wilds of Oklahoma. I still do this sort of thing for fun, any time I can convince my partners to tag along. Now . . . you." He pointed to a random student. "Name, experience in the great outdoors, and why you're takin' this class."

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"No plans for 'em this time," Eliot assured her. Parker wasn't a big fan of horses, either. "And that's my partner. He's been a teddy bear for about a week and a half."

Eliot was no longer drunk about it, but he still wasn't happy.

Parker was very smart. Kaylin liked her very much. Even before learning about the horses thing.

She looked again at the bear and shivered a little. "Sometimes the magic here is cruel. Or has a very strange sense of humor."

"Two ain't mutually exclusive," Eliot said. "This place has a thing against me and my partners spendin' holidays together."

Kaylin frowned. Bad enough she went around with the marks on her body constantly itching and tingling, but that just wasn't fair. These were good people.

"If I can find a way to make it stop that, I will."

Eliot raised an eyebrow, surprised. "Thanks," he said. "Magic a specialty for you?"

"... Nooo...?"

She looked at him, suddenly nervous and on edge. Magic. That's something she had an unpleasant relationship with. Her hand rubbed at the golden bracer on her left arm without even realizing she was doing it - or that the motion was exposing it a bit.

"Actually, I kind of hate it. Most of it. Some of it. Mostly mages and the like." Kaylin sighed. "Some of it can be very helpful, I guess."

"Alright," Eliot said, keeping his tone light. It was hard to miss that reaction. "Just wondered since most folks figure the best way to fight magic is with other magic. If you work out somethin' us more, uh. Analog folks can do, I'd love to hear it."

"If I could find a way to stop it with my... ability... I'd do that," she said seriously, lowering her voice enough that it would be hard for anyone but Eliot to hear. "But mostly except for midwife stuff I'm... I'm really dangerous - what's in me. It's bad. So I have to be careful."

Eliot nodded, stepping a little closer, putting himself between her and the others to help with the whole keeping others from overhearing thing. "I know a little bit how that feels," he said. "It's no fun havin' to be scared of what you can do. You ever want to know some mental coping techniques, let me know, alright?"

She blinked up at him. "I... would be grateful for that. I don't ever want to do... things like I did... ever again. It's terrifying."

"Yeah." Eliot's mouth curled up faintly on one side. "I know exactly how that feels. Swing by Luke's or my office sometime. We'll talk more."

She nodded, looking both relieved and slightly shaken. "I will. Thank you."

Word of warning? She was a terrible student on anything requiring quiet focus. Sorry, Eliot.

Yeah, well. Eliot hadn't exactly been a natural at it when he started, either. And there were active ways to meditate and relieve stress.

"No problem, kid. It's kinda what I'm here for."

And if Kaylin could manage to not go off before graduation and get herself trapped and probably killed in an off-world war, that'd be great, too.

He was smart. He'd probably figure that out pretty quickly.

And she'd try not to get herself killed in Elantra before she graduated, though the odds she'd make it that far unscathed was relatively small.

"Thank you," she said again and bowed her head a little in respect.

Hopefully they'd both end up amused the first time he really yelled at her and she offered him her throat the way she did Marcus.

Outdoorsmanship 101, Wednesday, period 1

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