One of the things that stood out to me in my first 24 hours on this world was that the place never truly got dark. Sure, the sun did set in the sky. There was a clear delineation between day and night, with nights darker and cooler than the day. But as soon as the sun set, its absence was swiftly followed by the rise of two moons that cast a gentle, silvery light across the landscape.
Their combined glow bathed the land in light, making it possible for me to navigate the terrain even in the middle of what should have been the night. There were long, haunting shadows caused by the moonlight glowing down on the alien flora and fauna, but I was still able to avoid most of the obstacles of the terrain, guided forward by the light emitted by the twin moons.
Several hours after I gorged myself on the Azureberry bush, I had to start combatting hunger along with thirst. Fatigue started to gnaw at me, and I knew I needed to find some kind of fresh water if I wanted to survive for long. I stumbled forward throughout the night, pushing myself along in hopes of finding some kind of river or stream or pond.
Eventually, I heard it: a burbling sound that drove me forward. By the time I reached the small river, the sky began to brighten with the first light of dawn. The sun broke on the horizon, flooding the air with its golden rays and bringing with it a surge of humidity. The already damp air grew thicker, and I could feel the moisture clinging to my skin. Sweat trickled down my back and my cotton shorts clung uncomfortably to my legs, making the need to cool off even more urgent.
All in all, I was in a horrible mood. I just wanted to dunk myself in a large pool of water to cool off.
Without hesitation, I waded into the river, letting the refreshing water envelop me. I let out a contented sigh as a cloud of dirt bled off me as I waded into the middle of the river and dunked myself fully, the grime and sweat that covered me slowly washing off in the running water.
The relief was immediate. The water cooled me off and fought off the heat that tried to cling to my body, and the flowing water helped to sooth the collection of cuts and bruises I’d gathered on my trek away from the capsule. I lingered for a moment, just savoring the sensation of the cool water on my skin, before scrubbing the dirt and grime off me.
After cleaning myself as best as I could without the benefits of soap, I slowly trudged upstream, seeking a safe spot to grab a drink of water. Survival information flowed into my mind from the codex, warning me it wasn’t entirely safe to drink unfiltered river water. Rivers were packed with waterborne diseases, chemicals, and impurities that could leave me sick, cramping, and vomiting.
But I ran into a problem when I got upstream. I didn’t have any option to help me purify the water. I didn’t have a pot to boil the water in, container and sand to make a filter, or activated charcoal to help remove impurities. The only thing I had were my thin hospital shorts.
I ripped off a thin strip of cotton from my shorts and dunked it in the water. After the river soaked the cotton, I grabbed the strip and squeezed it into my mouth, grabbing a bit of the strained water. It was absolutely disgusting and necessary and something I hoped to never repeat again.
As I let the water fall into my mouth, trying to ignore the unpleasant taste from filtering it through a strip of cloth torn from my shorts, a rustling sound near the riverbank got my attention. My heart leapt into my throat as I looked over and found myself face-to-face with a massive feral hog. Black lines once more scrawled across my vision, thankfully not accompanied by a headache that threatened to leave me on the ground.
[DREADBOAR]
A formidable and fearsome wild hog that is native to this world, the Dreadboar stands nearly four feet tall at the shoulder and weighs upwards of 500 pounds. Its muscular frame is covered in coarse, bristly fur ranging from dark brown to jet black. Its small eyes glint with a malevolent intelligence. Among the older denizens of the Dreadboar population are those that have collected numerous spears, knives, and other primitive weapons that have been embedded in its tough hide. These crude weapons, remnants of past encounters with predators and unlucky adventurers, jut out at odd angles, giving older Dreadboars a nightmarish, almost armored look.
The boar and I just stared at each other, neither of us expecting the other to be there. Our staring contest only lasted a split second before the beast let out a challenging squeal and charged.
Instinct took over and I found myself diving to the side, narrowly avoiding the Dreadboar’s tusks as it barreled past me. The ground shook with its weight, telling me I was lucky to get out of the way.
I landed hard and pain jolted through my shoulder, but I didn’t wait for the boar to follow up on its attack. I scrambled to my feet and searched around for any sort of weapon I could use to defend myself. I grabbed a fallen branch that lay on the side of the riverbank and looked up just in time to see the beast wheeling around with surprising agility.
The Dreadboar lunged towards me once again, its powerful muscles driving it forward with incredible speed. I dodged to the side, narrowly avoiding its sharp tusks, and swung the branch at the creature. It did nothing except anger the beast even more. The creature turned to face me, eyes locked onto mine, and I could see the anger and hatred that burned inside them. The Dreadboar lunged again, and I jabbed the branch at its face. My desperate move barely slowed the massive creature.
It swiped its massive head to the side and shattered the branch, sending splinters flying everywhere. I jumped back but wasn’t fast enough to dodge the boar’s tusks as it grazed my side, carving a deep gash that sent a flare of pain through my body. Blood flowed and soaked the ground while I staggered, doing everything in my power to keep my balance.
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The Dreadboar was relentless. It roared against and charged. My makeshift weapon hadn’t done anything to stop this overpowered beast, and I knew I needed to come up with a new plan quickly. I needed to kill this creature, or at least stun it long enough to slip away, but the beast was stronger and faster, outweighed me by a sizeable amount, and I had no weapons with which to defend myself.
My eyes frantically scanned the riverbank for anything that could help me in this fight. I spotted a large rock nearby and without hesitation, grabbed it and hurled it at the boar’s head. It hit its mark, causing the beast to let out a loud squeal of pain and stumble to the side, barely missing me as I dove once more.
Instead of continuing to fight when I was doomed to lose, I did the most sensible thing I could think of: I ran. I spun around and sprinted towards the river, my injured side protesting with every step. The only chance I had to escape was to use the river current to take me far away. The boar recovered quickly and thundered after me, its hooves pounding against the ground.
I leaped into the river, feeling the cold water snatch my breath as the current swept me away. The Dreadboar chased after me, and I chanced a look back to see its furious eyes tracking my every movement. I let the river carry me, kicking and paddling to keep my head above water. The Dreadboar was still hot on my trail, but it seemed hesitant to enter the water. I could only hope it wouldn’t chase after me.
That hope was short-lived as I felt the sharp tug of a tusk catching my leg. I cried out in pain and fear as the beast tried to chomp down on me with its hungry jaws. Frantically, I kicked and pushed against its snout, desperately trying to keep it at bay. It let out a frustrated grunt before releasing me and backing away, but I knew it wasn’t going to give up that easily.
I broke look and pushed back into the river, allowing the current to speed me away from danger. The water around me was stained pink with the amount of blood that flowed from my wounds, but I couldn’t do anything at the moment to close them. The beast raced along the riverbank, squealing in frustration as I gasped for air and pressed a hand against the gash at my side.
Only seconds later I felt another sharp pain in my ankle. The Dreadboar managed to catch hold of me again and this time, it wasn’t letting go. I screamed in agony as it dragged me towards the shore. Its teeth were digging deeper into my flesh, and I desperately searched something, anything, that could let me escape.
I punched the creature, kicked its snout, and thrashed about, trying to cause it enough pain to get it to release me. Finally, my hand brushed against something wooden. In a moment of clarity amidst all the chaos, I realized my hand was gripping one of the weapons that had embedded itself in the boar’s skin from an earlier hunt.
Without hesitation, I grabbed hold of the spear or sword or whatever weapon it was and pushed and pulled and twisted it. The weapon dug deeper into the boar’s hide, and it let out an ear-piercing squeal before releasing its grip on me and swimming away in pain.
I collapsed back into the river, surrendering to the current. The world blurred around me. I tried to fight to stay aware, but the exhaustion and pain of everything threatened to overwhelm me. My body was screaming out to let me rest, but I stayed awake long enough to float down the river for a few miles until I couldn’t spot the boar anymore.
The river’s current tugged me downstream. Pain throbbed from the gash in my side and from the wounds around my ankle. Each pulse of pain served to remind me to never fight a creature like that again without some sort of weapon. The terrain blurred past me in a dizzying whirl of greens and browns until, finally, the current started to slow and I was able to guide myself to the shore.
I reached for a tree root that draped into the river and used it to pull myself to the riverbank. Every movement I made was agony, and the gash in my side burned with every exertion. I collapsed onto the muddy ground, panting and shivering. My shorts were soaked through, clinging to my skin, heavy with blood and river water. I tried to gather my thoughts, but the pain was overwhelming, and my legs began to shake. Shock? That’s probably shock. That’s not good.
I struggled to my feet, using a nearby tree as support. The gash on my side was still bleeding, and I knew I needed to find some way to stop the bleeding and cover the wound so it wouldn’t get infected. Information flowed into my mind from the codex, warning me of the danger of not stitching myself up, warning me about infections from the water, and of bleeding out, and of the dangers of shock to the human body.
I needed medicine. Where the hell could I find a fully stocked pharmacy out in the middle of the woods? I had no idea what the trees or flowers or herbs around me did, and there was no way I could suddenly figure out how to do advanced pharmacology to distill them into medicine. How was I supposed to create any kind of antiseptic when I didn’t even know what was safe to touch?
My strength waned and I lay back on the ground. The small voice in the back of my head was pushing me to get back up but all I wanted to do was stare up at the sky and take a moment for myself. The dual moons, still visible in the day’s light, stared down at me. The air was thick with humidity, clinging to my skin and making it hard to breathe. And as I lay there, with despair slowly settling in, a soft glowing light appeared above me.
With a supreme effort, I sat up and stared at the giant blue glowing butterfly fluttering around my head. It hovered above me, casting a gentle light. The codex flashed, providing information on this strange creature.
[LUMINARA BUTTERFLY]
A majestic and ethereal creature, renowned for its captivating beauty and mysterious nature. With a wingspan of up to two feet, its wings are a radiant blue, glowing with a light that is often used to guide weary travelers. Luminara Butterflies are typically found in wooded areas or near water sources, their presence often heralding both wonder and trepidation. In the folklore of numerous tribes in the region, the Luminara Butterfly holds a significant spot. It is said that these butterflies are the spirits of ancestors who return to guide the living through times of peril and uncertainty. Their glowing forms are believed to be the harbingers of both fortune and misfortune, depending on the circumstances.
Great. A bi-polar insect.
I mustered my strength and pushed myself up, wincing as pain shot through my side. The Luminara fluttered a short distance away and then paused, as if waiting for me to follow. I staggered along behind it, clutching my wound, and stumbling over the uneven ground. Each step I took was agonizing as my wounds throbbed. I could barely put weight down on the leg the Dreadboar had attacked, and I had barely stemmed the bleeding from the gash in my side.
After only a few minutes of me following it, the Luminara paused near a cluster of plants with broad leaves and vibrant, red flowers. I focused on them and the expected black lines flowed across my vision.
[REDVEIL HERB]
A potent medicinal plant known for its vibrant red leaves and robust healing properties. Growing up to two feet tall, the plant has broad, lance-shaped leaves that are veined with deep crimson, giving it its distinctive name. The edges of the leaves are slightly serrated, and the plant often emits a faint, earthy aroma. When crushed into a paste, it can be applied to wounds to prevent infection and numb pain. Redveil Herbs are commonly found in shaded, damp areas such as forest floors and near streams or ponds.
Relief flooded through me. I dropped to my knees, ignoring the pain that shot through my body, and began tearing the leaves from the plant. I chewed them to create a thick paste and pressed it into the gash at my side. The relief was almost immediate; the pain dulled to a manageable throb as I let out a moan in relief. I needed to bandage the wound to keep it from bleeding again, so I tore strips from my already tattered shorts and wrapped them around my midsection and leg.
I was now entirely naked, shivering in the night air, still somewhat bleeding, and lost in the forest. But at least the immediate danger of infection and bleeding to death had been addressed. So…that was something.
As I worked, the Luminara butterfly fluttered around me, its glowing blue light a comforting presence. I finished bandaging myself and stood, still making sure to keep most of my weight off my bad leg. As I stood, the butterfly started moving again, leading me away from the herbs and deeper into the forest.
After around twenty minutes of travel, the butterfly guided me to a crevice in a rock formation. It was just barely large enough for me to squeeze through to get to the cave it housed. The cave gave me shelter from the elements and, more importantly, a safe place to rest.
Exhaustion crashed over me like a wave as I sat on the cave floor, curling up to conserve warmth. The Luminara hovered near the entrance, its light dimming as if to signal that it was time to rest. I was out before I even closed my eyes.