Tedium, A Rookie Mistake, and a Mouth Full of Teeth – world 2

Resting on the wind with wings stretched wide, Tristan soared over the school of gulpers as they lazily flapped their way in and out of the mist. Watching the schools was an important, if boring, job. Gulpers were slow and ungainly, grazing along the boundary between the breathable air and heavier mists below. And, while they were content with filtering out small organisms for sustenance, other creatures felt gulpers themselves would make a much better meal. Many strange (and often large) creatures inhabited the lands below the mist; forming an ecosystem foreign to those in the lands that reached up into the clear air. 

Tristan sighed contentedly. He was assigned here temporarily as a part of his scout training, and, he suspected, because somebody really needed a break. He was enjoying his time with the schools though. Life here was simple, and a pleasant break from the business of the city. That was part of why he loved flying. In the air, you could move however and wherever you liked. It was just you and your thoughts, a wonderfully peaceful place. He could see, however, how staying here indefinitely would turn a pleasant break into tedium. 

Just below him, the school startled and began to rise. All, that is, except one which was struggling, tailless, to keep up with the rest before a mouth full of teeth pulled it down. Tristan froze, suspended above the carnage watching with horrible fascination. Then his training kicked in. Locking his wings open, he double checked the fit of his mask, pulled out and strung his bow, and unclipped several arrows. Then, he pulled out a small, paper wrapped item, struck it against the flint on his belt, and threw it out away from him where it burned away in a bright red arc. 

Fitting an arrow to the string, he rolled over and dove towards the place where the teeth had disappeared. Suddenly, the creature burst upwards snapping at another gulper. Tristan fired an arrow but missed. Quickly, he fitted another to fire again, but the creature folded its wings around itself to form a ball and plummeted into the mist. Tristan pulled up, using his airspeed to climb and looked around to see if the creature would return.  A shadow crossing over him just about made him jump out of his skin, but it was only one of the other flyers settling into formation beside him. 

“Situation?” shouted Otumbu. 

“We lost a gulper. I shot at the creature but missed. Do you think it will return?” 

“What was it,” Otumbu inquired? 

“It was,” suddenly his brain clicked in, “a snatch.” His face warmed under his mask. Snatches were not really much of a threat, and he had just summoned the entire force to deal with just one. 

Otumbu asked, “You’re certain?” 

Tristan grimaced and shouted back an affirmative. Otumbu sent out his own flare, white this time, for the all clear. The figures flying towards them slowed, leisurely turned, and headed back to their positions. Tristan could not see the expression under their masks, but it was a good bet he was going to hear about this for a long time. 

Back at the ship, the tale is told, and the heckling began. 

“Was it the biggest one ever seen?”

“No, it was a hundred of the biggest ever seen.”

 The crew laughed as Tristan’s face turned crimson, clearly enjoying his discomfort. 

Otumbu slapped him on the shoulder. “Buck up. They’re just giving you a hard time. Stow your gear and get to supper. There’s nothing like good food after an exciting day.”

Tristan nodded and did as he was told. Supper was an uncomfortable affair for him, but he lingered in the dining room after the others left. He was sitting alone feeling stupid when a mug appeared in front of him, and Captain Salazar sat down beside him. 

“Have a drink. Don’t worry about the crew, you did fine. Now, tell me what happened.”

Tristan related the story, and when it was finished, The Captain shrugged. 

“Sounds normal to me. You know why they give you a hard time? They’ve all been in your shoes before. They’ve all been the rookies who panicked and were harassed for it. Now they’re the ones to get to do the heckling. The first time you see something pop through the mist and bite pieces off a gulper, you can’t help but picture what it would do to you. It’s hard to think clearly in those situations.”

“The next time I see a snatch, I’ll just buzz it, and it will drop away and leave us alone,” said Tristan 

The Captain nodded and grinned. “You’ll do fine. Just relax. The crew will have some fun with this for a while, and then get over it. Don’t worry, this won’t follow you around forever. Everyone makes their fair share of mistakes, especially as a rookie. You just keep working and learning. The only part I’m bothered with is that you missed. That was an easy shot, and I don’t have arrows to waste. You’d better believe I’m going to tell your instructors to drill you to death on shooting. I’m not going to have you practicing out here wasting my arrows, so I’ll let you waste the council’s arrows. When you get an easy shot like that, you’d better hit. Next time you shoot, make it count.” 

Tristan just said, “Yes sir, sorry sir.”

Captain gave him a friendly slap on the shoulder and said, “Well, that wraps that up. See you at the next shift.”