The camp was quiet save for the soft sound of weeping. Bibrid, in their guise as gnome, sat next to the young individual and asked what was wrong. The person was homesick, but it would be at least another month or more before they got to see home again. He, of course, listened and his best to be soothing. He understood what it was like to miss one's home. -- Anon Guest
It does a child good to spend some time away from the cocoon of home and family. It doesn't always do that good immediately. The lord of the realm had invented a program to teach children how to survive in the wilderness, an education in relatively safe circumstances. How to make a shelter. How to make a fire. How to swim. How to be certain that something was edible more than once.
And how to deal with life without their family.
Too many adventures began with stumbling teens and a freshly tragic backstory. Too many adventurers ended with simple mistakes. Their liege lord did not want his citizens to suffer like that. He could manage the prevention of most tragic events, keeping the peace with neighbouring polities and roaming tribes. And this initiative might do to prevent the simple mistakes.
It did not prevent simple upsets, like homesickness.
That was why Bibrid patrolled the campgrounds in the small hours of the night. Even though four kids shared a tent, there was always someone who'd found a way to have a quiet episode in the night.
This young one had crept off to the latrine zone to hide hir tears from the others. Ze hadn't gone as far as sitting in a latrine stall, owing to the stench, but was hiding near the woodpile and stifling hir sobs in hir sleeves.
Bibrid, in his gnomish form, was far less intimidating than more middling-sized adults. Being a gentle healer helped significantly. Looking like a rather small Gnome helped a lot more. It was difficult for most kids to be afraid of someone who was shorter than them.
The youngling saw the blur of Bibrid through hir tears and quavered, "Please don' tell the others I was being a wimp?"
"You are away from home, safety, and everything familiar for the first time in your life. Fear and sorrow are natural reactions. Do you want company?"
Sniff. "...'nk you."
Bibrid joined hir seat on the logs. "I'm listening if you wish to talk."
"I dreamed I was home with Momma. Making ginger lumps together. Taking turns stirring the dough. I could smell it. I could feel the heat of the oven. I could taste them... and then I woke up here. There's a whole 'nother month out here. And I wanna be home. With Momma. And Pa. And the whole neighbourhood of people I know. I even miss my math teacher."
Bibrid chuckled. "You yearn for the safety and the familiar. Perhaps you wish you stayed there?"
"...'es."
"It is a harsh truth of the world that life is unpredictable. You could be torn away from the familiar and safe. Without a camp like this? You would be helpless on top of that. Your liege lord understands the potential for trouble, no matter how well he attempts to prevent it. In a month, you will return home with an understanding of the wider world around you. With memories of how to survive if the worst happens. And with friends who might be able to help you in similar circumstances."
"I miss my Momma."
"Me too," said Bibrid, looking up at the Mother moon. "But we can all see the same moons. When you miss someone you love, look up. They will see the same moons, while they're missing you. You can think of them, or whisper something you want to say to them. It's a little way to connect with the people you miss."
The youngling wiped hir eyes and turned hir face to the Mother moon. "I miss making ginger lumps with you, Momma."
"Don't tell anyone?" said Bibrid. "We only worry about the kids who don't go to hide and cry during camp. That means trouble at home, for the most part."
That did a lot more to relax hir than anything else.
[Photo by Abhishek Rai on Unsplash]
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