"Yuri's ago, before the Great change of the kingdoms, I young.  I was full of life, full of enthusiasm, and full of ignorance.  There had been times when I would be disobedient, arrogant and neglective of his training.  Genih would always try to help me out, teach me everything he knew, and to this day, I regret shunning him.  He passed away a short time after we had met, killed in battle, protecting his people and his beliefs."
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            I stood in front of his burnt down hut in the middle of the wilderness, with only the vest on my back.  Somehow, I was still furious with him.  He would always say to me, "You'll never adapt to the Wilderness alone!  Let me train you!"  He thought I couldn't do it.  He thought that the Wilderness would chew me up and spit me up.  I'd prove him wrong, or die trying.

            I couldn't sleep that night.  I had to prepare myself, physically and mentally, if I was going survive what the Wilderness had in store for me.  I began to collect large, tree-branches, and propped them against the base of a nearby rock-cliff as a wall, producing a crude shelter.  Using the wool on one of the Wilderness' inhabitants, the sheep, I managed to weave a healthy supply of cloth to provide a sturdy roof over my head.

            With an axe, which someone must have dropped, I began to make my collection of firewood grow.  I gathered bundles and bundles of wood, and stored them in a minature cave, not fit for me, but for the wood.  As long as it was inside that cave, shielded from rain and other unwanted natures, it would be the key to my survival.

             I was young, but I knew what my limits were.  I was tempted to venture into what people call the Iron Labyrinth, but I had limited stength and limited resources, so I decided against it.  Acorns settled my hunger for a little bit, but as sunrise, and sunset passed, the hunger for meat started to overcome me.  For a few days, I settled for rabbit.  But my inexperience in preparing food soon reared it's ugly head.  I tried taking the rabbit ligiments and attempted boiling them over the fire, but that turned out to be a horrible way to cook.  As the flame heated the meat, the vitamins and nurtients dripped from the meat and into the fire, wasting everything.
 
              Day's passed by as I looked into that massive stone entrance.  If I went in there, there would be a large chance that I would stumble across a key, and I would be able to obtain some metal in order to create an efficient cooking tool.  And then there was the Bear and Tiger's inside the Labyrinth itself.  My stomach pounded itself as just thinking about sinking my teeth into their delicious flesh.  If I took up the courage to go inside, my problems to survive would be solved, undoubtly.

               It was just about a Moon, when I lost it.  I had based all of my thoughts of inside that Labyrinth, and I decided that today was to day to do it.  After a an hour of sharpening my axe, to the point of my finger drawing blood as soon as I set it on it's lethal surface, I ran at full speed towards my goal.

               My axe started shaking.  Was my hand shaking from the adrenaline of facing my goal?  Or was I shaking from fear?  Fear of me underestimating my enemies that lie within?  I took a deep breath and continued on until I saw my first enemy.   He was slumped on all fours, about 3 times the size of me.  From his movements, I could tell that he hadn't spotted me.  But if I ambushed the massive bear, he would fall to my axe faster than he would turn.  I crouched, and began my sprint toward my enemy.  But before I could raise my axe to fall my foe, I started to fall.  I was planning his death, and yet he still never noticed me as I fell down a pitch black, man-sized hole.

          I fell on my side as the black hole finally gave way.  I was in minor pain, but I was more dazed, than hurt.  I looked around and spotted several chests, surrounding the middle of cave in a semi-circle.  There was a man, a healthly layer of him covered in the dusty atmosphere.  But he was asleep so I decided to not stir him.  Behind me, there was a small opening, barely enough to fit a man, which little rays of light shone through the opening.  But in front of my sight, lay a corridor.  At the end of that corridor, there was a stone wall.  Curiosity struck me, as I headed toward that corridor and pushed that stone wall aside.

          I was shaking once more, but now I know the reason.  That reason was fear.  There were dozens of Tigers, easily twice the size of the bear I encountered earlier, their eyes fixating on me, one by one.  I was no stranger to what they were staring at me for, and I started for the door.  But the door was fixed into it's place, firmly sealing the tigers, and myself, in this stone-walled hell.

          I slowly walked back, so my body was flattened against the wall.  There was a little hallway leading into the main hallway, so if as a last resort, I would only have to fight one tiger at a time.  I was forced to turn my back on the massive beasts, as I frantically tried to open the stone barrier.  I felt the door give a little way.  I didn't care about the food anymore.  I didn't care about the metal anymore.  I just wanted to get out of this place.  The door started to open a little bit, and a little bit more.  As I sighed with relief as my escape would be drawing near, I felt my cloths rip and my body begin to moisten with blood.
 
         As I feared, one of the Tigers approached me, and began it's assault.  I drew my axe and swung it back and forth, trying to create distance between us as I pathetically tried to open the door with one hand.  It leaped at me, as I swung my axe at it's hungry eyes.  I swung too early, as the Tiger was now no more than a few feet in front of me.  See'in how I wouldn't have any other choice,  I screamed in fury and flew at the Tiger.  My axe met it's mark, but it barely pierced the skin as it made contact with it's side.  The Tiger was now enfuriated as it made it's blow in return, swinging it's paw at the force of a hammer, crushing my ribs.

        I was down on one knee at this point, pain flying into my head with every breath I took.  The Tiger, crouched to plan to it's final move, as I made one more desperate attack.  My desperation, my will to live, my will to survive was forged into that axe in that instant as I lunged into that face of death, staring at me with hungry eyes.  When I made contact, I thought the whole cave rattled as my axe met it's mark once more, this time into the iron skull of the Tiger.  It fell that instant, staring at the stone sky.  The other Tigers were frantically attempting to avenge their fellow brethern, but couldn't reach me as the corpse served as a barrier between me and death.  The rest of my strength was depleted as I finished opening the stone wall, and staggered out of that hallway.  I devoured some of the remains of the Tiger, and I felt my strength re-new.  I limped toward my shelter, washed and bandaged my wounds, feasting on the meat of my enemy, and went to bed, seeing how I had a rough day I thought I deserved some rest.

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Some may think to themselves and say, "What was the point of going down there?  You didn't accomplish anything, going down there."  But their wrong.  To survive the Wilderness, is to live through every aspect that She holds.  The Iron Labyrinth was just one of them.  After that day, I felt that I survived just a little bit more that the Wilderness has to offer.