Amy couldn’t believe that Dan dropped her out in the middle of nowhere with only a knife, an empty waterskin, and a compass. He has been training her these past few weeks on how to read the land and the weather. He also taught her how to find food and water out in the desert. He also taught her how to use a compass and showed her how to get back to the cave that Wolf brought her to.

When she went to bed last night, she hadn’t realized that Dan had spiked her food with a sleeping potion strong enough to keep her out. When she woke up, she found herself out in the middle of a desert. There was a note pinned to her clothes that said “Find your way home.”

She looks around like she was taught and finds the tracks Dan tried to cover up. He was good, but all her senses had been enhanced when she became Wolf’s daughter. She follows the tracks, but gets her bearings and in which direction they were heading first.

She follows the tracks and moves quietly. She knew this was a test to make sure she could survive on her own without her father’s help or
Dan’s help. First, she needed to find some water. Because if she knew Dan, he has dropped her a long way, away from her cave.

She manages to find a source of water among a bunch of rocks. She had followed a washout trail and came to a bunch of rocks. She dug down into the ground and water started to fill the hole. She fills her waterskin with the water. When her waterskin was filled, she takes a few sips herself.

Amy moves on after taking a sip of water. She starts following the tracks she found and kept onward. The sun was getting high in the clear sky.
Every so often, she would check the direction she was heading to make sure she was still on track. She was sweating and feeling the heat. The last time she experienced this, is when she was left out to die among a bunch of corpses.

She doesn’t know, how long she has walked, but when the sun starts going down. She stops for the night and builds a small fire. She caught a rattlesnake and ate that for dinner. She lays down on the ground, after placing some alarms to alert her if someone comes near her.

While she is asleep, her spirit leaves her body and appears on a cloudy landscape that resembles the place she is at. As she looks around, she notices that she isn’t alone. There are others with her as she stands looking at them.

An old Native American warrior approaches her. He is wearing old-style warrior attire.

“Come little sister. It is time for your training to begin.”

Throughout the night, Amy learns how to fight from the warrior. She feels every mistake as if she was awake. The warrior teaches her the way how they use to fight. If she makes a mistake while learning. Her physical body feels it.

When morning comes, Amy feels everything she experienced last night. Her body hurts as she gets up off the ground and she couldn’t believe how sore she felt. She dusts herself off, as she takes a sip of the water from her waterskin.

She leaves the area where she camped last night as she found it. She had a feeling that today was going to be rougher than yesterday. She starts walking after finding the tracks from Dan’s truck.

Throughout the day she wishes some clouds would block the sun. It was so clear and there was no shade at all.

When she stops for the night. She was too tired to look for anything to eat. So, she just ate a barrel cactus that she knew she could eat. When she laid down for the night, she was again whisked off to train with another warrior during the night.

For the next few weeks this goes on every night she stops to rest. By the time she arrives back in her cave. She was so mentally tired, sore, and exhausted from walking home. She drags herself into her cave and strips out of the clothes she had been wearing for the two weeks it took her to get home.

She steps into the pool of water she uses for cleaning and just relaxes. The water was warm from the sun shining down and warming it. She just closes her eyes and rests. She was hungry, but she wanted to clean up first before she decided to eat anything.

While Amy is soaking, Dan comes walking into her cave. A smile was plastered on his face as he spots Amy soaking.

“I was expecting you last night.” He sets down the basket of food his wife made for Amy.

“I would have been, but I ate the wrong cactus and got diarrhea from it.” Amy couldn’t believe she ate the wrong cactus. She thought she got the right one, but it turned out it was the wrong one.

“That will do it all the time.” A playful smile appears on Dan’s face.

“So, what is in the basket?” Amy could smell the aroma of freshly cooked chicken in the basket.

“My wife thought you might like some fried chicken, homemade potato salad, baked beans, and string beans after living off the land.”

“She was right.” Amy steps out of the pool of water and slips on a deerskin dress. She woke up one morning and found it and a pair of moccasins. There was a belt made of silver and turquoise as well.

She seats down and opens the basket. She inhales the aroma of the chicken and her mouth starts to water. After weeks of drinking groundwater and eating either snakes or cactus. She couldn’t wait to eat the chicken and the sides.

Dan could see how hungry Amy was and how she was eyeing the food “go ahead and dig in.”

“Thank you, Dan.” Amy takes out a chicken breast and bites into it.

A low moan escapes from her mouth as the spices tickle her tongue. She loved how well the chicken was spiced, after eating snakes and cactus. She finishes the chicken breast and picks another piece to eat.

Dan watches with a smirk on his face. This wasn’t the first time someone he trained had acted like this after coming back. He makes himself comfortable and watches Amy as she ate. He pulls out his pipe and lights it.

After a while, Amy finishes all the food Dan brought her and lets out a loud burp. Her cheeks turn red from embarrassment “sorry.”

“It’s okay. So, did you experience anything while you were finding your way back to here?” Dan takes a puff from his pipe.

“Yes, when I fell asleep, my spirit left my body and went to a different plane of existence where I was trained by ancient warriors from the past. How is that possible?” Amy was confused about that.

“Since you are the daughter of the Wolf. He has summoned the spirits of our greatest warriors to train you. The plane of existence you went to, is called the astral plane. It can look like anything you want it to look like. Your father wants you to be able to handle yourself.”

“So, dad summoned the spirits of dead warriors to train me?” Amy couldn’t believe what dan was telling her.

“Yes, those warriors were some of the best warriors from our past.”

“How long will I keep being trained by them?” Amy was curious about that.

“That’s up to your father and the spirits. Were you trained by the same warrior each time?”

“No, I meet three different warriors and they taught me different things,” Amy remembered the three different warriors she was trained by.

“Do you remember what they taught you?” Dan was curious as he takes a puff from his pipe.

“I can’t forget it. I felt it the next morning.” Amy was still feeling everything from her last lesson.

“That’s because whatever happens on the astral plane, also happens to your body. You’re still connected to your physical form.” Dan has only experienced the astral plane a few times.

“Okay, that explains why I feel everything from my training. Why didn’t you or dad explain this to me?” Amy wanted to know.

“Because explaining it to you and experiencing it yourself are two different things. I could explain everything to you, but you would never know what it felt like to experience it. There are going to be things I and your father won’t tell you or explain to you. We want you to experience firsthand how it feels.”

“Hasn’t enough already been done to me?” Amy was getting tired of being used.

“Yes, I’m sorry you have had to go through what you did, Amy. But you need to be prepared for what you will be doing once you leave here.” Dan could understand how Amy felt.

Amy goes about cleaning up everything. She leaves the bones from the chicken for the birds that come by to watch over her. She packs everything up and puts it all back into the basket.

Dan watches as Amy packs everything up. He puts his pipe out and stands up “you must be tired from your ordeal. Take tomorrow to recover. I’ll resume your training, afterward.”

“Thanks, Dan.” Amy hands the basket to Dan. She looks at him “tell your wife, thank you as well.”

“I will, you get some rest.”

“I will.” Amy watches as Dan leaves her cave.

Once he leaves. She walks over to where she normally sleeps and lays down. She hopes she doesn’t have training again as she closes her eyes.