Jeremy woke before Avon and swam a few laps across the river and back. Digging into his bag he found the instant coffee Iramy had given him and he heated some water. When the coffee was ready, he nudged Avon on her shoulder. "Time for coffee and breakfast," he told her.
"It's morning already?" Avon grumbled.
"It's been morning for a while. I let you sleep. You looked so peaceful."
"Coffee," Avon growled, still not awake. Her eyes were still closed, but she held out her hand to accept the cup of coffee from Jeremy. She took a sip and her eyes opened wide. "Damn this is strong! Where did you learn to make coffee?"
Jeremy chuckled. "Now you're awake. Let's eat. Then we'll set some traps for food. You'll learn this in survival training as well."
"So we're going after more cute little bunny rabbits?" Avon scowled.
"Whatever we catch, we eat," Jeremy shrugged. "While the U-Rats will give you the nutrition and the calories to keep you alive, the taste is a bit ... hell ... what's the word?"
"There is no taste," Avon replied.
"Tasteless," Jeremy retorted. "Yes, that's the word."
"The stew tastes like cardboard, the pasta tastes like cardboard, hell everything tastes like cardboard."
Jeremy laughed. "Agreed."
"So we hunt for meat and we gather herbs and vegetables. Sounds like another fun day."
"Actually, I'm having fun," Jeremy chuckled. "This is so much better than survival training. We have extra clothes, U-Rats, lots of water, mats, a tent, so much more. During training, you get a knife, a blanket, some paracord, two bottles of water and some matches. You have to scrounge for food, water, everything. Still you'll have a foot up on your classmates. You'll beat the socks off them."
"Great," Avon grimaced and sighed. "You want me to be a super soldier."
"The last thing I want is for you to be a super soldier, as you call it. I just want you to show everyone you're not a helpless debutante and I want to know you will survive regardless of the situation."
"A super soldier," Avon repeated.
Jeremy could only shake his head and chuckle. "How about we practice sword fighting after we eat and set the traps? You like beating the hell out of me."
"We didn't bring the bamboo sticks."
"We'll find some tree branches. They won't be a good but at least we can have a little fun."
"I'd love to have a sword like Iramy's and I'd love to be as good as her with it."
"I have the feeling it will take years of practice to be as good as Iramy. She is amazing. The design of the sword looks old. It has some kind of family crest, but I don't recognize it. Hell, it could be thousands of years old."
"It is beautiful. Some day I'm going to buy a sword."
Jeremy tossed Avon a packet of U-Rats and they settled in to eat. Both grimaced as they forced themselves to swallow each bite of the tasteless nutrition.
After breakfast Avon tried to slip away for a few minutes alone at the river. She wanted to clean as much of her body as possible. She wasn't accustomed to being dirty. She wanted nothing more than to rinse the sweat off her face and arms.
Avon did not see or hear Jeremy sneaking up behind her. "I could teach you how to swim and then you could wash more of your body," he offered.
"Why are you so anxious to watch me drown," Avon snapped. The thought of going back into the river was not at the top of her personal bucket list.
Jeremy chuckled. "I would never allow you to drown. When are you going to trust me?"
"I trust you."
"Do you trust yourself?"
No one had every asked Avon that. As the General's daughter, no one ever had the audacity to ask her that. She was taken aback. She opened her mouth to answer, but nothing came out. She did not have the answer.
"Of course," she finally stated, her voice totally lacking confidence.
"But not enough to learn how to swim," Jeremy quickly retorted.
"I'll learn next year," Avon countered. "There's no need for me to learn today."
"You may not need to learn how to swim, but you need to know how to float and tread water. You need to be able to go into the river alone and to take a bath. By the end of the week, you are going to stink as bad as a slum rat."
"I already stink."
"It's because you insisted on sleeping as close to the fire as possible. You think it will protect you from wild animals. You probably sweated all night long."
Avon nodded but did not vocalize the fact that Jeremy was correct in his assumptions. She had spent the night suffused in a pool of agonizing perspiration. She wanted nothing more than to strip down and lather up. The cold water was starting to look inviting; very inviting.
Avon stared at the river as if hypnotized by the sunlight glinting off of the water. She tried to imagine herself floating in the river, cooled by the water. Unable to see the sandy bottom, she wasn't able to force herself to take the first step off the bank and into the makeshift bath.
Avon had been asleep when Jeremy had taken his morning swim. "Well, I'm going in," Jeremy chuckled, lying. "Today's going to be mighty hot and I need to rinse off yesterday's stink before today's stink makes it unbearable to be around. Care to join me?"
Jeremy stripped down to his shorts and quickly waded out into the river. "Damn this feels good."
Avon watched as Jeremy covered his entire body with the cold water. "Come on Avon," Jeremy taunted. "I promise you're not going to drown."
Avon shook her head side to side and walked away. There was no way she was going into the river.
Avon stomped back to the campsite. While completely shaded by trees, the dense canopy did little to lower the already climbing temperatures. Avon hated being so hot and sweaty. She hated Jeremy for taunting her. She hated herself for being afraid to go back into the river.
Avon loved long soaks in the tub in her en-suite. But she could find no similarities between the soaking tub and the river; outside both being filled with water.
Jeremy sauntered into the camp. "After I change, we'll start looking for lunch. We'll check the den for rabbits first. If we're lucky, there are a few more living there. Otherwise, I'll get us a couple squirrels."
"Yuck. Rats with furry tails," Avon grimaced.
"There won't be much meat on them but I saw some wild carrots and garlic downstream. They'll taste good and we'll eat well."
"And I saw some rosemary near the rabbit den," Avon smiled. "While you hunt, I'll look for wild herbs and bring them back to camp. I'll bring back anything edible."
"Hell, maybe we can use some of the herbs to doctor up the U-Rats. I'm glad we're not relying on flavored cardboard for all our meals."