Disclaimer: If you recognise it, surprise, I don't own it.

Chapter 8– Troga.

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Alright, I am in the middle of this random island. No, it isn't random. This island is Troga, the island Garp has taken me to so that I can train, and my training has just begun.

Of course, my first objective is to make it back to the beach, but I have a much more pressing issue right now, which is my grumbling stomach. I hardly ate anything on the journey here, and when we got here, I ended up falling asleep because I got no sleep on the trip here either.

So priority number one is finding food, which I can then eat, ensuring that I will live to see the beach. Unfortunately, there doesn't appear to be too much around me that I can eat as far as I can see. If there is, I am not experienced enough to recognise it, having never been in a survival situation before.

My best bet now is to pick a direction and go foraging for food, but it makes no sense to just head in a random direction. I might as well figure out which way the beach is and go foraging in that direction. No point wasting energy.

Alright, if I remember correctly when we were on the boat, and we finally caught sight of the island, the sun was pretty much high in the sky. So when we beached, I think it was setting to the left of me, which means it rose to the right of me, and the sun always rises in the east.

So all I have to do is get a glance at the sun and see where it is and in which direction it is heading. by figuring that out, I can figure out which way the beach is as the sun rises to the right of it.

I look up to the sky, but it is entirely covered by the canopy of trees above my head. I can see sunshine escaping through some of the foliage, but I don't have enough vision to tell which direction it is coming from.

My only options now are to either walk to a clearing, which could take me forever to find since I am in a bloody forest, or I could climb the trees and look for the sun from the top. One will take some time, and the other will have more immediate results, and the trees don't look too high.

Sighing, I begin to look at the trees surrounding me, trying to find the one which will give me the most straightforward route up to the top. Unfortunately, it is turning out to be quite challenging, each one I look at seems okay, but I can't help but feel that there must be a better option.

At one point, I realised that I was just delaying and decided to climb an old tree. I can't waste time on stupid stuff like this, and I need to be more like Garp because, apparently, that mentality gets things done.

I go to the best tree I have seen so far and reach my hands out to grasp it. I chose this tree because it has the most hand holds, and the branches are pretty low down, it is a small tree, and once I climb it and get to the branches, I can climb the surrounding trees to get even higher.

Getting to work, I begin my climb, moving cautiously and ensuring I put my hands in the correct place. There is a time to be like Garp, and there is a time not to be suicidal. Sometimes, slow and steady wins the race, and this is one of those times.

It takes a bit, but hand by hand, foot by foot, I slowly make my way up the tree, basically hugging the thing because if I fall, that will reset my progress, and I will have to begin all over again. This is a weird experience for me because, well, I have never really climbed anything before, not like this. I have just never needed to, I had stairs in my town, after all, and if I needed to get somewhere high, I could just use a ladder that had rungs to hold my hands and feet. However, this is proving to be more challenging.

I have finally climbed high enough to reach the branches, so I do so. First, I reach out a hand and grasp onto the nearest branch, and I pull on it twice to make sure it is stable before using it to pull myself further up the tree, and then I do so with another branch and then another.

After the first few, I figured that the tree was pretty stable, so I started just to climb without worrying so much. Then, finally, I get into a rhythm and begin to climb even faster, now grabbing onto the branches of other trees and continuing to rise through the forest.

*Snap*

The branch I was clenching with my right hand just snapped. I was in such a rhythm that I was already reaching my left hand out for the next branch, which was terrible. I was so close to the summit that I could see the sunshine breaking through the leaves, shining so brightly, but I couldn't tell the direction.

I stretch my hands out, trying to grasp something, anything, because gravity is starting to take effect, and I begin to fall backwards. my hands flail rapidly, trying to latch onto whatever they can.

I am failing, I am falling backwards, and I will fall quite the distance. These trees are about 40 feet tall, and I had reached quite far up. If I landed badly, a fall from this height could prove to be quite fatal.

Realising that my flailing of both hands is not working, I make the decision to commit to just my left hand and stretch it out even further, trying to grasp something. But, of course, this means that my balance is even more off, and my right side starts to inch backward while my left goes forward, making me fall faster.

This is do or die. I either grab onto something or fall down and seriously injure myself, risking death. I flex the fingers on my left hand, not clenching them, knowing I am too far gone to grab something properly. My only hope now is to claw onto something and hope for the best, so I make clawing motions to try and catch a lifeline.

It is futile. I grasp nothing and fall backwards towards my doom. I can no longer reach for something in front of me, and my hand drifts toward my left as gravity performs its job. Then, for a moment, I just float there for a second. Maybe I actually do that, or perhaps my senses just got super heightened for a moment, and I am seeing things in slow motion.

Either way, time stops momentarily, allowing me to see my surroundings. The leaves above me had moved out of the way at some point, leaving a clearing in the foliage and allowing me to see the clear blue sky.

I can see the bright sun up in the sky, and it is to the right of the blue sky, but that still doesn't help me because I don't know if it is setting or rising. Right now, it could be the morning or the evening, and I can't say because I hadn't slept for a few days, and so when I finally got some rest, who knows how long I slept, so even if I have gotten a glimpse of the sun, it doesn't matter if I don't see which direction it is heading.

Time seems to resume, and I continue to tip backwards, my feet nearly having left the branches they were standing on, but it is at this point that I feel something. I can feel leaves brushing against the fingers of my left hand as I fall.

I am such an idiot. I only tried to reach for something in front of me, knowing that the clearing I woke up in was to my back, with only a few dozen branches to break my back on the way down. However, there are still some trees to my side that I might have been able to reach, that I can still get to, and I try to.

Yes, yes, yes, thank you, thank you, whoever lives up in that big blue sky. I have managed just to grasp something, and I am currently still, with my feet just on top of two branches and my left hand out to the side of me, managing to just hold onto something that is saving my life. However, while I am safe for right now, I am still in a precarious position, stuck between three different points, stretched out and hanging over a thirty-foot drop.

Looking over to my right, I can see that I am holding onto the end of a vine draping off the side of a branch. The fact that I am not holding onto something in a fixed position worries me quite a bit, so I follow the vine along to see where it goes and see that it goes along a few branches, including the branch one of my feet is on before it disappears from my sight.

Then, seeing that the vine is also on the branch my left foot rests on, I look towards the branch my right foot rests on to see if there is anything that might help me, but there is nothing there that could help me. So, acting quickly but calmly, I make sure to dig my right foot into the tree, and then I slowly but surely twist my left foot around on the branch and wrap the vine around it, another layer of protection, in case I should slip.

I breathe a sigh of relief, taking a moment to relax and think about my situation and, more importantly, how I am going to get out of this mess. I stare up at the sky, and I notice the sun has moved. It is further to the right than it was before, which means it is setting to the right. This is because the sun rises in the east and sets in the west. The sun sets to the island's right when we beached, meaning the beach is to the south, and the south is directly in front of me.

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Well, at least something came out of this unfortunate situation I have found myself in. So that is one less thing to worry about, and now I can focus on removing myself from this precarious position. Right now, only three of my limbs are in use, my left hand holding onto the end of the vine, and both of my feet are just clinging onto the tree branches, but my right hand is completely free, though it is not close to anything that could help me.

I have a pretty tight grip on the vine, though, and as far as I can see, it is stable and seems to be quite sturdy and thick. So as long as I keep my grip, I should be good, even if I try anything. I quickly look around, spinning my head around and taking note of everything in the area. Then, feeling a plan coming together, I take a deep breath.

Resolving myself, I reach my right hand towards my left and go to grab onto the vine. Due to my observation, I have seen that the vine has enough slack that I could use it to swing to a nearby branch that is quite thick. It is also surrounded by a multitude of other branches in case I don't make my target.

My body starts to spin to the left, and so I act quickly and make a last grab. My right-hand meets my left, and they are now both curled around the vine, but my body has fully twisted due to the movement. Instead of facing the sky like I was a moment ago, I am now facing the ground, and it is a lot more daunting when you look down and see that the floor is thirty feet away from you and there is nothing between you but air.

It's okay. You have got this, Detoro. You can do this. Just ignore the fall to the pits of hell below you. It is just a little drop, don't worry about it. You can do this. Psyching myself up, I reaffirm my grip on the vine and steady my feet against the bark, and then I push with all my might going for the swing.

The rope swings and I follow it, but only for a moment. Then, something goes wrong, and my left leg is stuck for some reason, which prevents me from completing my swing, and the swing stops before it even really went. So I end up once again stuck in the middle of the air, my left leg still attached to the tree branch for some reason and holding onto the vine, which is now above my head.

Because I swung, I am now facing the ground, held in place by my left foot and my arms above my head, holding onto the vine. Unfortunately, the vine is perpendicular to the ground, and I can feel my hands slowly losing their grip.

Managing a look behind me, I see the root of my problem. One of my feet did indeed leave the tree, but my left leg did not leave because, like the idiot I am, I forgot that I had wrapped the vine on that branch around my leg. So when I grabbed the vine with my right hand, I twisted to face the ground, and my foot became even more tangled.

To put it simply, I am between a rock and a hard place, even though I am between a vine and a branch surrounded by nothing but air, and I am screwed because my hands are slowly slipping. Crap, I have to complete the swing before I slip and fall to my death, and to do that, I have to untangle my leg from the vine, and I don't have the time to be neat about it.

I begin to kick and kick, trying to free myself, kicking against the tree as well as pulling my leg, trying my utmost to free myself. With each passing moment, I can feel myself slipping, and my struggle is not helping me. Finally, my hands are nearly at the bottom. At this point, I am really panicking, and I just start to move my legs in a frenzy, both of them, just trying to survive.

*Snap*

Yes, I am free, and now I am swinging, and I am going to make it. I am going to-

"AGGGHHHHHH!"

I slipped halfway through the swing. I missed my target completely, not even landing on my backup branches. I fly feet first right underneath them, travelling through the forest, and-

"UGGH!"

I impact a tree which stops my travel. I flop off of it like a wet pancake and begin falling down to my death. I am-

"Ugh."

I feel myself impact something much softer than wood. It still hurts but is not severe. Not the, oh my god, I am dying kind of pain. Whatever it is, it doesn't do much to slow me down, and I continue to fall. Down I go and-

"Ugh."

I hit another one, and then another one and then I am just being barraged by them as I continue my travel, and I have no idea what the hell is happening, but my speed is slowing down, and that is a good thing. I might actually survive. Then, I suddenly land roughly on my ass on something, and my journey ends there. My momentum carries through, and my back falls back as well. My back slams into what is obviously the ground, and a cloud of dust blooms in my wake.

Damn, that really hurt my ass, and my back isn't doing so good either, but thank god I am alive. I could have seriously died, but my speed had diminished so much that I didn't break my ass. Unfortunately, though, I am going to have a massive bruise. So I stay there for a moment, in a state of shock and intense relief at my survival. But, goddamn it, why am I so bloody clumsy? Damn you, my past self. Why did you make such bad decisions?

Hmm, what the hell are all those yellow things in the sky, and why are they getting so much bigger? They kind of look like- Crap. I quickly move my arms and cross them over my face. I bring my knees up over my stomach as well, all to protect myself.

"Ugh."

"Agh."

"Gah."

I grunt as the multiple projectiles slam down on me, battering my arms and legs, but thankfully my hasty defence was good enough that none of them managed to slip through and punch into my stomach or head. Instead, they continue to wallop into my limbs, seriously bruising them. My limbs shake with each hit, gravity assisting it in battering my arms and legs, and I very nearly drop my guard, but before I can, the barrage stops.

I stay like that for a moment, just in case any more are coming, but it seems to be over. I chance a peek over my arms, and there is nothing above me except the green of the canopy above me. Feeling safe now, I move my arms out of my face and sit up, and I take a look at what the hell it was that had broken my fall.

Looking down, I can see a bunch of green vines underneath my butt, like a whole ton of them. These must have been what broke my fall. I was falling so fast that I kept running through them one by one, which slowed me down, and I even ended up taking them with me to the floor. They also helped break my fall. With the amount there, it is like I have a net made of vines. I can hardly see the grass underneath it due to the sheer amount.

All of these vines were attached and wrapped around trees, so it is obvious that they were the reason for the sudden barrage. But, in addition, it was because every time I broke landed on one of these things, the vines would strain and tug on the tree before either coming loose or snapping. Either way, with the number of vines being pulled and tugged on as I descended, the trees were constantly shaken, which ended up throwing some other things down with me.

The things that were falling down on me were some kind of yellow fruit. The trees were shaken so much that these things shook loose as well and fell down, and there is a whole bunch of them, more than two dozen of them. Reaching out, I grab one of them. It is a round yellow fruit. It is hard and hairy like a coconut, except it has yellow hair, but unlike a coconut, this has a stalk, like a banana.

Fiddling around with it, I can't seem to figure it out and am not able to open it, it is very hard all the way around, but I have discovered that the section between the stalk and the rest of the fruit is very soft. So I grab hold of it and pull it down, not dissimilar to how one would peel a banana.

The hard outer shell comes off. It seems to have been on top of the soft skin inside, and inside, the fruit is something akin to the inside of a banana but round and segmented like an orange. I take a bite. It was delicious, I quickly scoffed it down, and before I knew it, the whole thing was gone.

I am left with the hard shell, which had been segmented when I peeled the fruit. They are like little rigid plates. I could probably use this for something. But, dismissing that for now, I look at my surroundings and at all the surrounding fruit and then at the big green net under me, which is made of vines.

I get up and start to gather all of the fruits together and place them in the middle of the net. I then gather the edges all together and lift them up. I have fashioned myself a makeshift bag from the vines to hold my food and take it with me on my journey back to the beach.

I can't tell if I am lucky or I am unlucky. Due to my clumsiness, I took a severe fall and hurt myself quite a bit, and yet due to that, I figured out which direction to go, collected a whole bunch of fruits, and acquired a vine net to store the fruit. I completed all my immediate objectives in one go, yet I have seriously bruised my ass, back, forearms and shins. Am I really lucky?

Sighing, I ignore the many questions I have that will never be answered and heft my makeshift bag over my back. I walk back into the clearing, which, thankfully, is not too far. It is a good thing I hit that branch and fell so close to it. Otherwise, I would have to do another dreaded climb again to regain my bearings.

Reenetreing the clearing, I walk up to the tree that I had climbed, the tree I used as a bearing point, and I walk past it heading south, heading towards the beach. Finally, I have my bearings, I have food, and I have had enough sleep. It should just be a straight shot from here to the beach now. Easy enough. I just need to walk in a straight line. How hard could it be?

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"ROAAAAAAAAAAH!"

"Huff... Huff... Huff..." I pant as I stay pasted to the back of the giant boulder I have hidden behind, doing my best to keep my breath from coming out. Still, the best I can limit it to is a slight panting, but at least I can keep my crackling breath and wheeze from coming out, which would surely alert the beast currently looking for me.

I was an idiot when I thought this would be a walk in the park. I must have cursed myself because this journey has been anything but easy since I left the clearing. From the simplest things, such as somehow getting turned around and significant obstructions in my way, to something like an animal getting too close and freaking out or even attacking me.

All manner of things in this hell-like forest have constantly gotten in my way and made me lose my footing. I have had to climb trees quite a few times to get a sighting of the sun so that I can continue the trek in the right direction.

*Smash*

"GROAAAAAAAH!"

I hear the massive gorilla behind me bellow in rage and smash something to smithereens in anger because it can't find me. I suppress a shiver when some debris comes shooting past me and imbeds itself into the trees in front of me. I had come across a few different animals here, a deer that got spooked and knocked me to the ground, some foxes that stalked me for a while, and some kind of wild tiger cat, which I thankfully saw first and hid from before it could spot me.

I hear the heavy footsteps of the giant gorilla behind me and then some shuffling behind me. What the hell is he doi- I fall backwards and get laid out on the ground, staring up in confusion at the massive gorilla that is standing right above my supine body. The beast towers above me, holding the colossal boulder that I was resting on high above his head, I am cast in their large shadow, and I feel as if the sun has disappeared as a cold chill runs through my body.

I don't know what to do, and my body doesn't either, so I just continue to lay on the green grass, the dangerous creature holding its equally dangerous weapon above my defenceless body.

I am so screwed.