Stolen from my story...

There was a significant collection of darts and arrows on the floor of the cave. Jeren had worked steadily and mostly in silence. His mind was working out plans, thinking on ways to use the environment to their advantage, deciding how to test their toxic plants. They needed all the advantages to fight against the men stalking them, hunting them for sport. Occasionally Oren would ask him a question. Only then would the big man speak up.

Perhaps we might even lure them into a cave. If I could find enough carbon to cause a large fire, I might be able to make it flash if I could draw them in. They would be trapped and we could just wait…or better yet, if we were further in the cave and their escape were cut off. We could surprise them. There are traps we can set also, instead of having to hunt them down. We can draw them to us. That would reduce our work and our exposure. This fibrous plant would work. It could be worked into ropes. We could braid them together. These fibers are very strong. Even if they couldn’t hold a man for a long time, that could at least slow them down. We have more advantages than I thought. All I had to do was have the chance to think and evaluate. And we do have our training. In addition to giving us our strength and ability to fight, it can guide us in our attack, lead us to them.

While the big blonde man was carefully trying to bend the stick into a bow, Oren watched in fascination and wonder. Jeren was a man transformed. It had only begun to accelerate as they had spent the day working. The young man had determined it much earlier, but the more Jerel worked and planned, the more he seemed like someone that Oren didn’t know. He knew it was necessary to their survival for Jeren to think and work as he did, but still…it was more far-reaching than he would have expected for the normally easy-going fellow. This was not the same man who got a laugh out of carrying his best friend across the training area and then pinning him to the mat so the children from the crèche could tickle him.

Jeren’s face was illuminated by the firelight and his features were hard in the orange glow. His long silvery blonde hair reflected the light and almost seemed on fire. It gave the picture of a fierce warrior. The man’s eyes were not visible from this angle and all Oren saw gave the appearance of two dark areas where the man’s eyes should be. The big man’s mouth was set. He had worked at the same pace through the day, not slowing, barely stopping for a meal.

Oren quit staring and returned to his work of extracting resin from the plants Jeren had gathered. He wondered if he could find the same qualities in himself that the big blonde fellow had found. Oren knew this would be the most difficult battle he had faced before. He had tried to find strength in himself, but all the doubts wouldn’t leave him.