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Gabe looked at Carter again and it was clear his frustration had turned to anger which pleased Gabe in an odd way. He enjoyed seeing Carter get so worked up over his feelings. Gabe was thinking to himself how easy it was to fire up the young warrior.

“Well?” Carter said still furious and waiting for his reply.

Gabe stopped in
his tracks and turned back to C
arter just looking at him with his debonair grin and deep set piercing blue eyes that seemed to look right through you. He got close to him right up to his face and replied “Nope!” again then turned away and continued down the trail laughing inside. Carter stared into his eyes and knew he was telling him the truth that there was nothing going on between them other than a friendship. Carter caught up with him relieved by his answer and the two of them continued to the undisclosed destination to begin their training without another word exchanged.

The path came to an
impasse
divided by a creek that separated the trail. Gabe stopped and sat down using the stump of the tall ponderosa pine tree to rest his back on. Carter went to sit beside him and Gabe looked at him as if he were a leopard with a disease.

“What are you doing?” he asked Carter.

“I thought we were resting?” Carter said entitled to do as Gabe
had
.

“No, I’m the teacher and you’re the student remember?  I teach and you complete the assignments. That is how you learn correct?” Gabe asked Carter. Then he explained that his first assignment was to gather all of the river rocks he could find and bring them back to him. Carter looked at him confused by this order but quickly began gathering the rocks from the creek as instructed by his new teacher.

“So what’s the point of this” Carter asked while bringing the rocks to Gabe.

“All in good time Romeo all in good ti
me” he said to Carter still mak
ing that perfect smile Carter wante
d to so badly wipe off his face.

Each time Carter dropped a rock at Gabe’s feet he picked it up and put it in the empty knapsack he was carrying. After what seemed like hours Carter looked at Gabe who sat lounging back with his feet propped up on one of the river rocks he had brought to him. Gabe was peeling an orange with a strange looking knife of some sort. It was a long shiny blade that reflected the light from the sun blinding Carter as he looked on. Gabe looked at Carter and paused.

“Finishe
d already Romeo?” Gabe asked
sneering at him.

“Yes, Gabe I am” Carter said annoyed. “And if you would bother to stop basking in the sun eating your afternoon snack you might notice that there aren’t any more
stinkin
rocks left in the creek for me to gather.” Carter said pointing to the creek frustrated.

“Hey Romeo, I sense some hostility coming from you” he said bending his eyebrow down to show his disappointment. “I believe it was you who asked me to teach you” he reminded Carter.

“Yes, I did…I asked you to teach me how to be strong and how to…” Carter paused unsure of what he
actually
wanted Gabe to teach him but knowing he needed to be taught. In that moment Gabe saw Carter’s thoughts and didn’t ne
ed him to finish. He knew what C
arter wanted even though he himself was not sure. He wanted to be what he was put here to be a warrior.

“You missed one
,
” Gabe said ignoring his rant.

“What?” Carter said confused by his response.

“Over there
,
” Gabe pointed to a large river rock embedded in the side of the creek.

Carter looked and saw another rock in the creek that he had missed and knew that Gabe obviously wanted him to pick up. Trying not to explode he dug the rock out and held it up for Gabe to see. “There! That’s it…there are no more rocks!” he said hoisting it overhead and then releasing the rock forcibly in Gabe’s direction breaking it into pieces as it hit the ground.

Gabe stood up tall towering over Carter holding the blade in his hand sending Carter into a
n immediate
regret of words expressed about collecting the rocks. Gabe walked over to him slowly not breaking his stare and the spoke calmly in a low monotone voice.

“Lesson one…never leave ANY stone unturned” he said grabbing his gear and moving up the trail.

Carter stood frozen in fear waiting for
what he thought was to come but
didn’t. He took in Gabe’s words for a moment and then smiled at the irony in the lesson. Before he could move to catch up to his wise teacher Gab
e shouted back to him to grab
the
knapsack and get a move on. Carter reached for
the knapsack with one hand and tried to hoist it but it didn’t move. He unzipped the sack and looked insi
de and there he saw
all of the river rocks he had gathered weighing over a hundred pounds. He looked at Gabe already far ahead of him, shook his head, and hoisted the knapsack with two hands over his shoulders and secured it to his back. He jogged up to where Gabe was and said

“Where too now?” with a gung-ho smile planted on his face that Gabriel caught a glimpse of out of the corner of his eye. Pleased by the turn of events Gabriel continued hiking onward and upward until they arrived at the base of a towering peak on the western edge of the Black Hills Forest. It was
a tallest peak in the forest that was
landscaped with large ponderosa pines that reached high up into the clouds. Carter was lagging a bit behind from the weight of the boulders
he
was
saddled down with. Gabe could tell he wanted to rest but Carter was not about to show weakness now that he had an idea of the mental lessons Gabe planned to teach him.

“Ok” Gabe said to Carter.

“Ok What?” Carter replied looking at him without a clue of what he wanted him to do.

“Ok, this is as far as we go” Gabe said.

“So we’re done? That’s it? That’s all you have to teach me?” Carter said his voice getting louder and louder.

“No” Gabe said putting his hand on Carter’s shoulder looking at the peak.

“This is as far as WE go but you Romeo you are going up
up
and away!” Gabriel said extremely pleased at the surprised look on Carter’s face.

“More walking…
uphill
…that’s your idea of teaching me greatness Gabe…really?” Carter said temper flaring now.

“Well you’re not exactly walking Romeo it’s more like climbing don’t you think?” Gabe said confidently looking up at the peak. “Oh, and we’ll be having a little target practice session too
,
” Gabe said patting his blade resting in his holster.

“Now you’re talking
,
” Carter said excited to get started. He unstrapped the knapsack releasing it from his shoulders and Gabriel stopped him telling him that he hikes up the peak with the rocks it builds endurance he added.

“Fine” Carter sa
id with his teeth
gritted and
sweat
dripping from his brow. He stole the bottle of water clinging to Gabe’s knapsack, ripped the cap off with his teeth, and guzzled the water. The two of them stared each other down as Carter guzzled every last drop of the water then he crushed the empty plastic bottle in one hand and tossed it at Gabe’s feet and headed toward the pine covered peak.

“Would you like me to recycle that for you Romeo?” Gabe yelled holding back his laughter at the angry young warrior in training. Carter didn’t respond he just continued up the peak speedily in anger never looking back.

“Oh, and before I forget I’m timing you
,
” he said pulling a stop watch out of his pocket. Carter just gave him an evil stare and then Gabe said “tick tock tick tock”
grinning
a halfcocked arrogant smile back to him. Carter sprinted to the base of the peak and began his scale up the massive hill.

About half way up the peak Gabriel yelled up to Carter to st
op where he was. He told him
target practice was about to commence. Carter was confused since he was not given a weapon he
wondered how Gabe would demonstrate target practice. Then Carter saw Gabe take out the large brown bag he had grabbed out of the refrigerator back at the house. To Carter’s surprise he pulled out an orange.

“Another snack?”
Carter yelled down to Gabe.

“Clever Romeo clever.
No actually these oranges are for you
,
” Gabe announced.

“No thanks Gabe, I ate breakfast already, you know while I waited three hours for you to show up!” he yelled back letting Gabe have it.

Gabe was not pleased any longer that he was able to get such a rise out of his young protégé because it meant he lacked maturity. Gabe had hoped Carter would be a bit further along but the way he was
acting right now was telling him that
he was wrong. Carter would be eighteen years old in June and that was to be the age of full maturation for him. Everything that Carter would
possess
would be coming in waves from now until that day. And from what Gabe could see Carter was definitely lacking in patience and abilities. He was finding it difficult to believe that this boy was to be the chosen one equipped with unimaginable powers and abilities. But it was his mission to find the boy, and train him efficiently and in a very short amount of time. Ok, Romeo, let’s see what you’ve got Gabe thought to himself.

He took an orange out of the bag and hurled it like a pitcher at the mound with a record breaking fast ball straight at Carter hitting him square in the arm with a “BAM” followed by an “Ouch!” from Carter rubbing his arm.

“Very funny Gabe!
Ha
ha
ha
!” he mocked him. Suddenly Carter was hit again by another orange and this time in the side of the head and harder. The impact of the direct hit actually split the orange open sending its sticky juice splattering all over Carter’s face. Carter looked down at Gabe with fury in his eyes.

“That’s two for me and zero for you Romeo. If target practice is too hard for you we can just quit and call it a day
,
” Gabe yelled up to Carter.

As much as Carter wanted to quit he wanted to show Gabe that he was not weak like he thought. He wasn’t about to let Gabe get the best of him and thought if he wants to play games then I’m all in. Bring it…he thought to himself all pumped up. Carter raced up the upward taking cover behind the tress blanketed the hill but no matter how he maneuvered himself Gabe always managed to nail him with the oranges. Carter felt like he was a walking bulls eye and Gabe was some superimposed being with telescopic vision and the ability to throw a ball harder and faster than any human being on the planet. In awe of what Carter was witnessing he was more miffed than ever by
who
this stranger was and where he came from. But for now what he needed to focus on was getting up the peak in one piece. Soaked in the juice of the oranges
,
Carter darted out from the tre
e and sprinted up the hill zigz
agging from side to side trying to dodge the
oranges. But he was having trouble making any head way. The hill was so steep that every time he got a few feet up he slipped back a few more. Without anything to le
verage himself with the climb
would be an impossible feat. Before he finished his thought Gabe yelled up to him that he may want to use the rope to climb the peak. Carter was taken
aback
by the fact that Gabe had just re
ad his mind. He was further thinking that
if there were a rope he would have used it already. Once again he darted out from his friendly ponderosa cover and to his surprise hanging in front of him was a tethered rope attached to the top of the peak. Carter looked down at Gabe and could see the smirk on his face even from one thousand feet off the ground.

Anger now fueled his determination and suddenly Carter propelled himself up the peak quickly and diligently. He maneuvered his body from side to side pushing off the peak with his feet as he climbed. It was a sight to see Gabe thought proudly from the ground still lobbing oranges at Carter and striking him every time. Carter movement was precise and swift and Gabe threw harder and faster until there was only one orange left. He took aim and then paused
for a moment
waiting for Carter to hoist himself over the ledge as he reached the top of the peak. Triumphant Carter stood on the top of the massive peak with his arms over his head and his fists clenched yelling out with a victorious roar that echoed through the Black Hills. Gabe grinned a celebratory smile Carter’s way and lobbed the last orange like a bullet from a gun two thousand feet up at Carter. In a reflex flash of speed Carter lifted his hand and “
smack
” the orange hit the palm of his hand as he caught it
midair
. Carter held it up showing Gabe and lifted his head to the sky squeezing the juice into his thirst quenched mouth and threw it to the ground in defeat. The two warriors gazed at each other for a moment and then Gabe nodded once to congratulate his student.