Both of the Introductory Wilderness Survival professors and a heaping handful of older students here for the class credit had gathered in front of the crowd of students outfitted in their sun blue exercise uniforms while they themselves were outfitted in camouflage. It had earlier been explained to those young inquiring minds that while the professors may need to remain hidden, the students themselves needed to be especially easy to spot.
Professor Xipil had taken it upon himself to start pacing back and forth in front of the gathered crowd as the jungle loomed behind him, and the dead volcano of a mountain looming behind that to still hide the morning sun. The old lizardfolk cleared his throat before shouting out to the crowd.
“Welcome students to your first Wilderness Survival Lab!” He called out with a grand, exaggerated gesture with his arms. “Today’s class will be a simple one! You need only make it from here to a randomly assigned destination at the edge of this jungle in a timely fashion!”
The students murmured amongst themselves in hesitant relief. It wouldn’t be the easiest of tasks but it was far from the most difficult they had imagined.
“Yes yes, quite simple indeed.” Professor Xipil turned to make another round of pacing in circles around the crowd with a casual glance off into the jungle as he ended his pacing at the back of the crowd. “A simple matter of making it to the lake and AVOIDING A PACK OF DEADLY RAPTORS BROUGHT IN TO CHASE YOU THROUGH THE JUNGLE!”
“NO!” Professor Yesun bellowed before the crowd could fall into a panic. The old gray orc beckoned them to settle down from atop his horse familiar. “No. The raptors will not be a part of today’s exercise. The only raptors in today’s exercise will be any raptor familiars out there, so put your hands down. Today’s exercise will primarily be one of basic navigation as we have thus far learned. When the time comes to face the raptors it will be with the training and discipline that we will have taught you to face medium to large sized predators.”
The rusty red lizardfolk’s tail twitched about behind him as he glared at his colleague. “As much as I am sure you are all highly disappointed by this revelation, I remain certain that today’s exercise will be a test of all that you have learned in your first week.”
“You are to assign yourselves into groups of four.” Professor Yesun shouted from atop his horse, his gray eyes visibly heavy lidded from his colleague to the first few rows of students. “The rules are simple. Don’t burn down the jungle, only your familiars are allowed to fly, no actively hindering other groups, and activate your flare pack if you are hopelessly lost at which point you will be rescued by one of our assistants and forfeiting credit. After you assemble yourselves, see one of the student aides for a scroll containing your destination. Trust in your comrades! Master your fear! Make The Empire Proud!”
Isak chewed on his lip as he mused aloud. “So are the raptors...how big do you think those are? Because I don’t think Professor Xipil would settle for the chicken sized ones…”
“If they were the small ones…” Tonauac hesitated, not bothering to hide his concern as he stood behind Isak in the crowd. “...well it would be the poison spitting ones. What better way to test our survival skills than throwing deadly poison into the mix?...I’ll start learning Blood Filter.”
Zyn rested a hand on Isak’s right shoulder, bearing a grim look as Isak turned to him.
“...did your brother have some knowledge on this?”
“It was the big ones.” The drow said with a sigh as their group flinched. “The big ones that also spit poison.”
“Oh I know those!” Xoco switched to cheer just a bit too fast with clasped hands. “We had some in our menagerie! Very dangerous but I have experience dealing with them!”
“Ha ha yes!” Lin laughed as he approached with his similarly laughing monkey scampering behind him. “My family runs an apothecary and I would be more than happy to add my potions experience in dealing with such fiersome poison for my friends!”
Isak stared dumbstruck for a moment before he remembered the orange hobgoblin that he had spoken to twice in the past week. “Wha-”
“Aye! But really who would need that when you would have a dwerrow willing to take that hit for you and just ignore the poison?” Isak recognized that orange eyed dwerrow with the tunnel squid under his arm from the incident in the rain as having seemingly appeared from nowhere. “There would be no greater honor than repaying a debt with raptor poison!”
Tonauac raised a hand. “You know I really don’t recommend anyone take raptor poison so lightly, it’s really-”
“Right as always, Tonauac!” The lizardfolk of brown-green and black bands with a matching snake coiled around his left arm that approached was completely unknown. “It would be up to us to protect our dear human Isak as he guides us to glory! And a passing grade!”
Lin recoiled in a bit too much forced horror, his monkey familiar hiding behind him. “Speak not of such evils! Revered Isak’s safety would be first and foremost! A passing grade would be far, far down the list of benefits of allowing me to join!”
“A debt must be repaid!” The dwerrow boy shouted with indignity. “It would just so happen that in repaying one debt I would need to repay another as thanks for helping me through this class!”
Isak felt a feathery arm on his shoulder, it’s owner leaning up against the human with her best attempt of a smile that a tecolotecah could manage with an owl beak. An attempt that faltered as Isak and his group of three actual friends all turned to stare at her.
The human heaved a heavy sigh. “And your proposal for kicking out one of my friends so that I can help you pass this class?”
“I will be your girlfriend!” The black and white bird girl pressed on despite the withering glares of Isak’s friends and his own mixture of blood running to his face and another deep sigh while Vidal placed a very firm hand on her own shoulder. “I don’t know much about mammals but I know that nose is something else!”
“What’s wrong with my nose!?!” Isak finally did shake her off as he put his hands to his nose, now extremely self conscious.
“Absolutely nothing! Quite the opposite! See- oop!” The tecolotecah was not allowed another word as Xoco lifted her up under her arms, walked several feet away to set her down to leave her ice fox familiar to dart after her and returned to stand next to Vidal to join him in glaring at the newly arrived “friends” now seeking Isak’s perceived expertise.
The human groaned after putting his face in his hands, rising once more to address the retreating students. “Okay, I’m not against more friends but you’re all really really bad at lying about your intentions.”
“I wasn’t lying about liking your nose! Eep!”
The tecolotecah leapt back as Vidal took a step closer, backed up by the twin stares of Xoco and Nelli.
“Gonna ignore that,” Isak shook his head “and say that this really won’t be that hard, it’s just basic navigation and a tropical forest! Look if you run into us out there I’ll point you in the right direction, okay?”
The other four students stared off to the side or at the ground. Even their familiars shared in the guilt of a blatant attempt at bribing their way to a better grade and or a very bizarre confession. They agreed after a time and formed their own party of four to go receive their scroll with listed destination from one of the Professors.
“I have a similar problem in dueling class.” Xoco announced to cut the tension as the four stood in dumbstruck silence for a moment. "Well...a split between fearing me and wanting to challenge me.”
Isak turned to look the tall troll girl up and down before giving a nod. “I can see why! They just don’t know you like I do!...as a linguistic prodigy! And cherished friend! And-”
“-going to lead with all his other friends through the jungle!” Zyn saved him with an arm around his shoulder to march him towards the student aides for the scroll bearing their destination. Tonauac stayed silent with the smallest grin as he noticed Xoco turning a darker green before having Patli hop down onto his hand to aid the vulture in liftoff into patrolling the skies above them.
The group received their scroll from a student aide as they made their way into the jungle alongside other scattered groups breaking off in every which direction as Isak unfurled the scroll to find their destination. He breathed a sigh of relief as he readjusted his backpack of rations. “Pond at the foot of the volcano, retrieve the gold coin stashed in a downed log at its source. See? Easy. Volcano is that way and Patli and Nelli can keep us on track.”
Zyn put a hand to his brow as he looked back at the astronomy tower off to the southeast in the soft early morning light. “We have until dusk to be back here with that coin?”
“At least Astronomy lab isn’t until much later at night?” Tonauac tried to reassure the determined looking group with a shrug.
Isak lightly elbowed him. “Come on, time’s wasting and if we make it back in time we can eat a real meal instead of survival tamales.”
“What’s wrong with tamales?!?” The lizardfolk and jungle troll asked in unison with a wary look.
The human held up a hand as he led onward with trailing friends. “I said survival tamales. Give me a little bit of credit! We have our own variety back home filled with baba ghanoush and of course just a lot of olive oil.”
Xoco’s hand was on her chin as she tried to picture that combination, rolling the idea around in her head as Tonauac had stopped in wide eyed horror.
The lizardfolk power walked over to the human, put a firm green and black hand on his shoulder that matched the twitch in his eye as he stated “No. But I will still consider us friends despite that!”
“It’s good I swear!”
“MORENO!” Came an unfortunately familiar call.
“Aw come on…”
“GONNA LEAVE YOU IN THE DUST MORENO!” Jearx shouted out from the head of his own group walking in the opposite way through the jungle.
Isak groaned, throwing his hands in the air. “Good luck to you too?”
“NO YOU! Wait-”
From across the slowly thickening jungle Isak heard a snickering followed by irate yelling as his own friends joined in the barely restrained laughter.
“I’ll have Nelli keep an eye out below the canopy if Patli has above?” Xoco said as she uncoiled a well rested Nelli from her shoulders. The feathered serpent puffed up her feathers and flicked her tongue before darting into the air to race around the trees.
“Good idea.” Isak said as he scanned the jungle while walking along. “Everyone else, stick close and don’t be afraid to call out anything that looks weird. Especially if you happen to be familiar with jungles.”
“Do fungal jungles count?” Zyn said as he relaxed while walking under the canopy, thankful to be out from under the open sky.
Isak wanted to say no, and almost did but instead put a hand to his chin. “Actually...yes? Maybe?”
Ozzy chittered from Zyn’s shoulder as the drow patted him on the mantle. “Don’t worry, once we need climbing or entry into small places no one can beat you.”
The group was mostly silent at first, focused primarily on navigating the jungle. Once he was assured enough in navigation, and that present threats were likely low, Isak got them all talking in turn to clear any nerves or tension. Zyn spoke of the initial expeditions across this island chain during the Southwestern Campaign, and the variety of unique island life found here. Isak noted a number of trees that did indeed look quite unfamiliar to him, to say nothing of the exotic bird flitting about or other small animal scurrying around.
Like the snake that Tonauac almost ran across before he caught himself in time as Isak gave him a thumbs up. Or the mushroom opened like a blood drenched toothy maw that Zyn confirmed was probably only slightly poisonous, but then the smell even from here was enough to keep the group away. Every so often Tonauac would announce that Patli had confirmed that they were still walking in the direction of the volcano and Xoco similarly feeling no threats nearby on Nelli’s end, and Isak would be happy for his friends while feeling a tiny pang of jealousy at their already growing familiar link.
Isak had been keeping an eye on Vidal, more silent than his already stoic self lately. It was worthy of a question on it’s own but he kept turning his head out into one direction of the jungle.
“You’ve been pretty quiet, buddy.” The human said, looking up to him. “Everything okay?”
Vidal kept thudding through the jungle despite his best efforts at something resembling subtlety. “You were being followed, Master Isak, and I did not sense it. I am attempting to be more vigilant to correct this mistake.”
“You told me you’ve got my senses, but you don’t think like I do.” Isak stopped halfway into a friendly elbow as instinct told him to not touch the lightning despite logic telling him that it would not harm him. “I just happened to be really on edge. Uh, long day.”
Tonauac couldn’t help but chime in as he kept a watchful eye on the ground. “It might have been that tecolotecah girl, she seems like the stalking type.”
“Not nearly stealthy enough.” Zyn retrieved a lengthy stick from the underbrush to hand to a thankful Isak. “Which is kinda amazing for her people but the girl has never once heard of subtlety in any form.”
Xoco scoffed as she reached down to scoop up a fallen branch of her own to snap into a sharpened point. “Nelli is being extra watchful for that one. Only small creatures seen so far though, seems everyone else is off in other parts of the jungle….something wrong Vidal?”
The group turned to the rock man again, stopping with him as he came to a halt to follow his gaze down into a darkened part of the underbrush. Tropical birds and frogs continued their symphony of sound undeterred despite the quiet in the group.
“There is nothing there, Master Isak. I was mistaken.”
Isak exhaled, leaning against his walking stick. “Better safe than sorry.”
“I have a question, Master Isak.”
The human perked up, looking back to his friends who looked equally as curious before turning back to the still staring rock man. “Uh...go ahead?”
“Something was following you, and many things are watching you now.” Vidal paused as he took a half step to the side with his gaze shifting slightly. “I am unable to designate any of them as threats, and yet I still wonder if one of them might not be your watcher. Is that paranoia?”
“I...think so?” Isak scratched his head with his free hand.
Xoco stood at their side and gave a soft smile with tired pink eyes. “It’s the jungle, Vidal. Even on an island, something is always watching. There’s just a little bit more honesty in all those eyes about wanting to devour us.”
Isak couldn’t help but purse his lips as he very much wanted to follow up on that thought, but at the moment he was a guide of sorts. A guide that was learning as he went from his companions that were far more experienced in this type of environment than he was.
“Let’s keep moving, then.” The human urged and kept on walking. “The sooner we can get through this the better.”
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