Mist opened his eyes and saw the three elders looking at something next to the wall. They had their backs to him. Elder Soturi was the first to realize Mist was awake. "Do you feel better? Did you have a nice nap?" Elder Soturi asked.Nodding his head and rubbing his eyes, Mist slowly woke up. He noticed the gems were no longer in his hands and the thing on his head was gone. The room returned to normal and all of the additional room features receded once more into the floor and ceiling.
Elder Yemay seemed to almost float to Mist. She gently stroked his hair. "Are you ready to be our disciple little Mist?" she asked. "Your disciple?" he asked. "The disciple of the village," she said.
"What does that mean?" he asked. "Everyone in our village is very good a something. We will all teach you what we are best at. We will all be your teachers and you will be our student," she explained.
"I"ll know a lot then, whoah! I might know more than Mountain Breeze!" Mist was excited. The three elders laughed at the excited child. "Do you even know what kind of things we"re going to teach you?" laughed Elder Smith.
"How to be a strong hunter, like father," Mist responded clearly confused by the question. "You"ll be more than just a strong hunter, it doesn"t matter. You"re still a little young." Elder Smith said with a laugh.
"You come from a village of hunters?" asked Elder Soturi. "Yes," Mist confirmed. Elder Soturi turned his head and stared into the distance. Just as Mist was about to ask what was going on, a man walked into the testing room.
The man looked a little strange, but Mist immediately recognized him for what he was, he was a hunter. Dressed in rough clothes and protective leathers. The man carried a bow and had a quiver of arrows. A knife was at his side and he carried an elegant but ferocious-looking hunting spear. There was also a small bag on his belt.
"This is Elder Tok, he will be your hunting instructor. No one is a better hunter than master Tok," said Master Smith. "Elder Tok, this is Mist, he is our village"s disciple. He comes from a hunter village like you. I would like you to take him back and explain to his people that he will be our student," Elder Yemay said.
"He pa.s.sed the test?" Elder Tok asked with surprise. "More than pa.s.sed," Elder Soturi said with a smile. Elder Tok was surprised. Elder Soturi wasn"t a person to exaggerate. If the boy was able to put such a satisfied look on his face; he must have extraordinary potential.
Elder Smith walked near Elder Tok and quietly spoke to him. Mist observed the pair as they talked. The Hunter looked very shocked as Elder Smith spoke with him. The entire time he spoke, Elder Smith had a large smile on his face.
By the end of their conversation, it was obvious Elder Tok was excited. Looking at the boy now, Elder Tok saw Mist as a little treasure. "Mist, I don"t want you to think we are going to make things easy for you. Everything we teach you will require a lot of hard work on your part," said Elder Soturi.
"Okay, I"ll work hard," he answered simply. He was truly an innocent child. "Go home and say goodbye to your family, and you"ll return to start learning," Elder Koos said. "Say goodbye to my family? I don"t want to leave my family," Mist said as tears welled up in his eyes.
"Don"t worry, you aren"t saying goodbye forever, you"ll even get to visit with your family from time to time. It"s just, you have a lot to learn. We need you to stay with us for a few years. Don"t worry, your parents will agree," Elder Yemay comforted Mist. She knew a child like Mist would find parting with his family to be scary and sad. The problem was there was so much they needed to teach him.
The boy needed to build up a foundation of knowledge in many fields so he could master everything they wanted to teach him. He couldn"t do this and live at home. "Don"t worry, you"ll see your family but you"ll also learn medicine, forging, hunting, reading and writing, and countless other things. Don"t you think this knowledge will be good for your village?" asked Elder Tok. He was from a hunter tribe and knew how to talk to the little hunter.
Mist realized he could be a big help to the village if he could learn from these people. Even though he was only seven-years-old, Mist was determined to learn even if it meant leaving his family. Elder Tok could see the determination in the boy"s eyes. "Good boy, let"s go see your family. I"ll even take them a few gifts to help them," he said.
"Wait a moment," Elder Yemay said. She disappeared for a moment but soon returned. When she returned she was holding what Mist thought was a tiny egg and a bag of some fort. "This is for the wolf, he did well bringing us the boy. You need to give him his reward," Elder Yemay said.
Elder Tok nodded his head and received the items. After this, Mist said his goodbyes to the three elders and left with Elder Tok. The three elders saw the pair off as they left the village. "I was starting to doubt we would ever be able to find someone to teach," said Elder Soturi.
"The boy brings hope," Elder Smith said while nodding his head. "He"s a sweet boy, he reminds me so much of..." Elder Yemay began but suddenly became emotional and choked back tears. "He does dear, he does. Maybe Trevis is giving us a second chance," Elder Smith said while he gently stroked Elder Yemay"s hair.
"Do you think so," she asked desperately. "Of course, it"s possible," Elder Smith replied. "This husband and wife, both of you should go home and rest, it"s been a stressful morning for you," Elder Soturi said.
"It"s a good kind of stress," Yemay said while turning her eyes back to the direction Mist left in.