It's back! Praises be sung! [Ok, I'm good now.]

"I'm late!" Still good ol' Humphrey as always.

I feel like Earnest is much more awesome than he's letting on...
great quote: "Trust me. If I were hiding, you wouldn't find me."
And homework! Will Humphrey get good enough at stalking to start playing games with the herd?

So, the key to hunting is to go after the Omegas of the herd... interesting in this context.

The phrasing in the beginning seemed a bit awkward compared with how well the rest flowed. Paragraph 7 [odd use of "such" and an awkward sentence] and 17 [last sentence just sounded weird. i like "regather himself", but "regather himself to what was said the day before" sounded odd to me.] stood out. Just my two cents. I can't criticize anything else besides a few minor typos. Nice!
I cant be the only one annoyed by the fact that FFN formatting removes paragraph indents, right?

When he finally makes it home, I bet there will be some fun moments where everyone is impressed with how he's changed. He wont really be an omega anymore, not by ability, though his personality may be the same. A joker who isn't helpless. Very cool.

What will we learn about the mystery helpful she-wolf from early on I wonder?

Glad to see this story again!
Later! -Sarge

I love it

Ah, the long-awaited (and by Humphrey, long-dreaded) Lesson 2. And it was worth the wait!

Once again, we begin with Humphrey waking up alone in the den and getting the uncomfortable feeling of the light blinding him. I think I might have said this before, but I really like how you contrast the natural beauty of the surroundings with Humphrey's own discomfort at being far from home and in pain. He's so preoccupied with what he lost and what he has to face, that he doesn't appreciate what is right in front of him now. That's been one of the problems he's had to deal with throughout this story.

It was nice to see that Humphrey is putting his first lesson into practice and taking some steps in the right direction. I did not expect him to find Earnest as easily as he does. But that is fully intentional on Earnest's part. I think Earnest has the perfect response here, "If I were hiding, you wouldn't find me." That is just the right thing to sting Humphrey while also being absolutely true.

Humphrey’s confusion about what his second lesson will be is perfectly understandable. I never expected that Earnest would take him out into the deer field so soon. It is true that they weren’t going to actually hunt the deer, but I still thought Earnest would hold off for a few lessons yet. But I see that this was what Humphrey needed to learn at this time.

I liked how Earnest points out that Humphrey was able to get into his den that first time without him noticing. Humphrey didn’t mean to do it, but somehow he still caught Earnest off-guard. It seems to me that Earnest is suggesting here that Humphrey has more potential than he realizes. Now, if he could just get Humphrey to accept that.

Humphrey seems to be slowly sharpening his skills, but he’s not wholly there yet. I found it amusing that he zones out while they are walking toward the fallen tree and ends up not acting very stealthy at all. That’s our Humphrey! I know it was a mistake, but I can’t blame him. I probably would have ended up zoning out, too. There is a lot going on in his head, after all.

I thought it was very clever how Earnest gives Humphrey that clue with his good eye. And the way he seems to still be paying attention to Humphrey even when he appears to be completely absorbed in looking at the deer. There is so much subtlety to Earnest; Humphrey should know by now that there is always more to what he says and does than the obvious.

I particularly loved the way Earnest snapps Humphrey out of his moment of self-pity and self-blame at the end there. The quote, “I tell you these things because I know you can learn a thing or two about surviving, and about yourself” sums up Earnest’s whole message for me. Humphrey did not know a thing about either, but now he realizes that he has much to learn. The important thing is for Humphrey to realize that he can find his strength and find himself if he is willing to learn from his mistakes and use them to move forward. That’s a great lesson and it was just what Humphrey needed to hear at the time.

And Earnest is right about how fortunate Humphrey is. It is easy to think we have it rough until we remember that so many others have it worse off than ourselves. It sounds to me as though another lesson Humphrey needs to learn is to have gratitude for what he has, not sorrow for what he doesn’t.

This was a wonderful chapter and the perfect lesson for Humphrey to learn. I can see how he is beginning to make progress toward surviving on his own and this is all going to be invaluable when he actually makes his way back to Jasper. Earnest is exactly the right person he needed to teach him this and you have given them such an interesting dynamic.

Humphrey has now come through Lesson 2, but the dread he felt for it has been replaced by the dread he feels for Lesson 3. I look forward to seeing what Earnest has in store for him next. Knowing Earnest, it may seem crazy, but it will be the perfect sequel to this one.

- Gordon Pasha

Humphrey's MINE!

Training begins. Humphrey is in for the nightmare of his life.

It was funny to see Humphrey getting so nervous and Earnest just playing around with his emotions. He was acting like what he wanted Humphrey to do was not so tough, all the while knowing how hard it was going to be for Humphrey. I had to chuckle at the way Earnest tries to reassure Humphrey by telling him "I'm training you to survive," and Humphrey realizes that it's really not very reassuring at all.

Also, it was great to see Humphrey's first attempt at using his sense of smell - and cheating by peaking. I thought that was classic Humphrey; even with his very survival on the line, his first instinct is to take the easy way out. But Earnest knows all of Humphrey's tricks before he even tries them.

When Earnest disappeared, I honestly didn't know if Humphrey was going to get out of that forest. I knew Earnest wouldn't just abandon him, but beyond that, who could tell what Earnest was planning? I thought he might not come back for him until the morning. That was a very exciting part as Humphrey desperately tries to find Earnest and uses all of his focus and concentration for the task. And you did good with the suspense; I really didn't know whether he'd find Earnest or not.

But at least Humphrey keeps up his sense of humor. It's obvious that he needs it to keep from giving up completely. Nice touch.

The way you had Earnest hidden was incredibly clever. You hinted at it by having Humphrey's sense of smell leading back to the rock, but you did a good job of making it look like Humphrey failed. I suspected Humphrey had actually picked up Earnest's scent, and that Earnest had to be watching him, but I couldn't figure out where he might be. And then, to have him pop out of an opening in the rock was the perfect solution. That was a great moment.

I felt bad for Humphrey, since he seems sure he failed. But Earnest is pleased, since he got Humphrey to use his sense of smell and to start taking his own survival seriously. I like the way he's doing this, figuring out what Humphrey needs to learn and how to get Humphrey to overcome his reluctance and learn it.

There were, as always, more great lines, moments, and descriptions than I can possibly mention. Humphrey's got to learn how to survive on his own and it's going to be interesting to see how he responds to the rest of Earnest's training regimen.

- Gordon Pasha

dang he's thick in this chapter. he panics pretty easy too. Keep up the good work! out of curiosity, and coming from an army family, what branch is your friend joining? enlisted or officer?

Keep going this story is great

Great chapter DLW! I'm glad to see your back and updating!

It looks like Earnest is taking Humphrey 'under his wing'(or paw) To teach him how to survive and make it safely back home to Jasper.

Well I'll be on the lookout for your upcoming updates.

Cw-d

Great chapter can't wait for more

Nice story I want to know about the Final Chapter does humphrey see Kate again and get together

"Getting back won't be easy, but think of it as going forward."
Hmmh... That's deep..
Anyways, Good Job!

There is so much to comment on, where do I begin? With the beginning, I suppose.

I really like the sun symbolism you have going on here, with the idea of a new day and a new beginning. The sun is, of course, a very important symbol of new beginnings throughout the world and I think it is very fitting in Humphrey's case since this is where his misadventure is starting to turn around.

I definitely know what Humphrey's going through with that sudden burst of sunlight as he opens his eyes. It really does stun you for a few seconds. His whole process of waking up and his somewhat comical start to the new day is perfectly described here.

Earnest still doesn't take any nonsense from his new protégée, but it seems to me he isn't as stand-offish toward Humphrey as he was previously. Is it possible that he actually enjoys having Humphrey around? That's what I'm getting from this. I imagine it's nice for him not to be alone for a change.

I was surprised that Humphrey actually asked why Earnest calls him "kid," since Humphrey avoided asking it before. But when I saw that he only asked to avoid having to talk about his real issues, I realized that it fit right into Humphrey's character.

Then I was equally surprised that Earnest just seemed willing to let Humphrey depart. And then even offering to help him and making Humphrey think he meant 'right now.' But, of course, Earnest still isn't going to help him until he can survive for himself. What he did here, letting Humphrey put the pieces together himself, was a good way of making Humphrey realize that he just can't up and leave. There's still more training to do.

"Getting back won't be easy, kid. But think of it as going forward." Very clever use of words there and definitely an idea which Humphrey will need to grasp better before he can make his journey home.

I was expecting, with Humphrey’s clear lack of survival skills, that Earnest would have much more than three things to teach him. But I'm sure he can bring everything together into three lessons. Though they just may be the three most intense lessons of Humphrey's life - assuming Eve never had a "lesson" to teach him, of course.

Once again, an incredibly well-done chapter. I look forward to seeing how Humphrey does in Earnest's survival crash course.

- Gordon Pasha

and do any of these stories go together: run humphrey run

hey gordon pasha do you know if he'll be making more chapters

Whens the chapter coming out