Chapter Nineteen
Pushing back the last of the turf, I quickly dug a small hole about a foot and a half off of center. With the deep soft blackness of the earth, so unlike the hard red clay that I was used to dealing with, I managed to accomplish it quickly enough. Moving over about half a foot I dug a narrow trench about three feet long to a slightly shallower depth with a slight incline going away from the hole. Sighing I realized that the hiking pole I normally used to poke through and connect the trench to the hole was already in use. Unwilling to risk damaging my own knife, I turned back to go grab the shamans dagger.
Even though I hadn't encountered any rocks with my shovel, I was sure that if I used my knife, with my luck so far, I would no doubt break the tip off of the only stone buried in the nearest square mile. Picking up the knife I walked back to the smaller hole and kneeling down to stick my arm into the bottom of it, I started stabbing through the bottom. Pushing the dirt out into the trench to form a small tunnel. The hole would give the bottom of the trench access to air and would use the heat of the fire to drag more oxygen through in a cycle that would only increase as the fire grew hotter. Continuously sending more air through as the heat forces it to rise, this would quickly have even green wood burning, not to mention help keep the smoke to a minimum. So hopefully more of the goblin tribes friends wouldn’t come calling.
Picking up the driest branch I could find, I started shaving strips down its length, using my own Terran made blade this time. I stripped the wood down as thinly as I could manage until the outer strips started going progressively higher until the branch started to resemble a christmas tree and ending in a point.
I leaned down into the trench and carefully placed the branch through the tunnel being careful not to dislodge the dirt onto it. Pushing it farther in until the end with shavings reached through to poke out into the bottom of the hole on the other side. Breaking off small, dry twigs from the dead branches I had found, I built them into a small pyramid in the bottom of the trench right next to the tunnel I had dug, being sure it lay on the end of the branch. Not wanting to put any more wood into the trench until I was sure I had something started, I walked back to my pack and pulled out a small tin with six small coin size buttons of wax covered cotton balls I had soaked in lighter fluid.
Fortunately it seemed like the wax had kept them from erupting the way my lighter and small propane tank. Whether it was because the fuel was covered in wax and didn't allow access to air or because it was just too small of an amount to spontaneously combust. I was looking forward to finding a friendly native that I could ask questions of instead of them trying to eat me.
Pulling out the tube of waterproof matches that were next to them I hesitated and then returned it to the pack. I have the time now and while I'm willing to sacrifice one of the fire buttons for convenience, I decided on saving the matches for a time when I was more desperate. Grabbing the ferro rod instead I placed the button down on a flat plank with my knife and the ferro rod next to it before snapping my fingers and heading back to my pack. Digging down into the pack where I kept my pot and pan bundle I pulled out my long metal cooking tweezers out of the mess bag that held the rest of my kit. I used them both as a substitute for tongs and to save my fingers from burns now that I wasn't in the kitchen every day.
Walking back to my firemaking supplies, I picked the knife up and replaced it with the tweezers. Scraping away some of the wax to expose the cotton fibers to air. I paused for a moment to see if it would self ignite in the air of this new world. When nothing happened after thirty seconds, I grabbed the ferro rod, stropping it down the back of the knife to send a shower of sparks onto the wax button of cotton and wax.
Quickly the lighter fluid allowed the cotton to spark up, while the wax stopped it from perishing into a quick puff of smoke. Setting down the knife and rod I quickly grabbed the long tweezers and pinched up the tiny blaze and immediately placed it down into the trench on the christmas tree of scrapings. Blowing down into it, I quickly helped the little pile blaze up and share the warmth with the rest of the larger branch. As the fire started making its way down the tunnel to the small pile of twigs they quickly caught as well and really started a draft of air going the way I wanted. I started feeding the trench larger twigs before progressing to placing heavier, greener branches down the length of the trench.
While I knew the vortex wouldn't continue down its length, the heat from the fire would still work on drying the wetter branches out so they would eventually blaze up when I moved embers over from the start of the trench where the fire was beginning to burn hotter, starting to flicker up past the edge. Wanting to give the fire a chance to burn up the bigger branches and break down into smaller embers before I tried heating up a spear head to cauterize the hole in the bear's stomach. I decided to make a trip back over to the small copse of trees to grab another load of firewood. Quickly picking up before I left, I returned my knife to its sheath and the firestarter to its place in the pack next to the matches and tin of wax buttons. Deciding I would need the tweezers soon enough for dinner I went over and unzipped a small bit of the tent so that I could slide them in before zipping it back closed.
Standing back up, I forgo brushing the dirt off my pants, as they were still covered in troll gore despite my best efforts and the dirt mixing into it was actually starting to help with the smell. Despite that I had no desire for that mess to get anywhere near my fingers so I just rubbed them vigorously together to remove the dirt, not wanting to waste any more of my dwindling seaweed or small supply of freshwater that I had left. Picking up the frame and settling it on my shoulders I bundled up the paracord before leaning down to my pack to snag my water bladder's tube and take a long draught of water. Adding that dwindling source to my growing supply problems, I stood back up and began making my way back to the copse of native trees that I had harvested my earlier woodpile from.
Marching across the fields of grass between my camp and the nearest trees again I really looked at it this time. Not that I was an expert on american grasses to easily discern the differences between my old world and this new native specimen. The first thing that stood out to me though was how green everything was. At five feet and chest high on me this would have been gold and straw like back home, here it was heavy with seeds, and bending away rather than breaking apart. While I didn't think the seeds were heavy enough to try and harvest for flour they did seem more substantial than the regular grass back home.
Upon arriving at the small grove of trees, I took the time to give them a once over while slinging down my pack frame and gathering up what I could from the ground. They looked to be hardwoods, similar to an oak. Looking up at the branches I got my first hint that I was looking at a late spring if I was going to guess the seasons from this info. Small leaves that didn't look fully formed and no seeds or fruit being born yet. This was amazing news as I wasn't going to have to immediately start trying to hunker down and prepare for winter.
I had time to try and find civilization or failing that go farther down to the grasslands and try to make for the river where I could supplement hunting with fishing and have easier access to water. As I began picking up what dry branches I could find I looked at the brambles that were preventing me from going deeper into the grove, they looked very similar to blackberries. When I heard a loud coughing echoing across the hill from my camp I quickly got distracted.
Hoping that Gaian wasn't having problems or under attack I turned back to look at camp. Not seeing anything other than a small bit of smoke I quickly started throwing more wood onto the frame. Unfortunately it seemed I had gotten most of the usable ones on my first trip, so drawing my ax. I quickly started going after a few low hanging branches of green wood to use as a grate to dry the fish on. When my hatchet blade started rebounding off as it was really to small for the task I quickly switched gears and pulled out the saw blade from the handle.
Quickly cutting through five small branches rich in offshoots and leaves, I held off stripping them as I was anxious to get back to camp. Piling the greener branches on top of the drier dead ones I had stacked earlier. I wrapped everything onto the frame and wrapped around it again with the paracord. Looking down annoyed with myself, I realized that I hadn't brought anything to clean the saw blade or ax head with. Not wanting to get dirt or sap into either of the sheaths which would be a pain with my normal tools that I would use to get any gunk out were back on another world or in another universe. I frowned at my forgetfulness. I was making too many little mistakes.
Swinging the frame onto my back, I felt the branches start poking through into my bare back and again frowned while inwardly berating myself. I really wanted to scream at my self to get it together and let loose my frustrations, but I didn't want to compound my mistake and alert any goblins that might be in the neighborhood. I was both annoyed at my forgetfulness and how many rookie mistakes I was making now I had to make the return trip being careful not to get any cuts or gashes on my back that I wouldn’t be able to reach to treat.
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Smacking myself in the head with my knuckles I dropped the pack to the ground and made a quick harness with the rope. With my pack back at camp the frame should be fine for a short drag over the long grass, Yeah I was going to leave a trail this way but no doubt the smell of fish on the fire would no doubt be a greater draw than a singular trail through the grass. I was too used to hiking across sand and rocks which would quickly destroy an aluminum frame if I had tried doing this back on the California coastline.
Upon arriving back at the camp I waved over to Gaian, who didn't even raise his head to greet me. Apparently the coughing was either just to let me know he was lonely or he had a hairball. Dumping the harness I had tied to the pack frame I also set down my saw and ax that I had to carry by hand. I quickly seperated out the branches that were dead while leaving the green off to the side.
Heading over to my pack I my second cleaning cloth from the package, leaving four fresh ones still in my bag. I wasn't willing to just use seaweed, I realized I was going to have to maintain this cloth separate from the rest of everything and just use it to keep my blades in good shape. I had no desire to let them go to rust, as no longer was it a small purchase online to replace them.
Not that I was ever one to mistreat his tools, but I couldn't allow myself to make any more basic mistakes. I had too many unknowns that were sure to be ahead of me. While I was sure that I would make missteps in the future, I really wanted to try and keep them from being basic ones that the tiniest bit of forethought would stop. If I'm going to f'up, I prefer to go big and do something unique. Tiny mistakes everyone can make are so boring and just not my style.
Wetting the fabric slightly with a small amount of spit, I didn't want to waste any more of the water I had brought from Terra. While I was sure that my filter would get anything harmful from a water source when I found one, the problem was there didn't look to be any nearby. So I used the wet end of the cloth to work into the sap of the saw. Cleaning the blade slowly, both because of the effort of clearing the dried sap, also because I needed to not risk cutting up my fingers. Or more importantly the cloth, as my fingers would no doubt scab over quicker than my finding a store to take my singular credit card that I had buried back in the sand.
Finally, clearing all of the sap off, I tucked the saw back up into the ax handle before cleaning that blade as well, this one much easier as I hadn't used it that much before giving up. Quickly finishing up I placed it back into its sheath on my right side.
I looked down into the fire and seeing a deep pile of glowing whitish red coals, I decided to try to accomplish the beginnings of my next two tasks at the same time. I started by laying more dead branches along the first half of the trench. Next, picking up my shovel, I took scoops of the coals and spread them out onto the wood. When the initial pile was just a fraction of what it had started with, I added some of the fireharded spears that the goblins had gifted me.
When all of the dead wood in the middle began to smoke with the addition of a heat source to the oxygen and fuel that made up the other two parts of the fire pyramid. I began working on rebuilding the initial pile at the beginning of the tunnel. That was where I planned on the fire being the hottest. I would use that to heat the spearhead that would hopefully get Gaian back onto his feet.
Watching that pile begin to blaze up, sucking more and more oxygen into the bottom as the heat drew even more air into it. I left it alone for a moment to walk over to the sled and pick out the biggest eel filet and the sea weed that had wrapped it. Wanting to save the tiny bit of salt and pepper I had brought with me, and mostly just needing fuel, I left it plain as it was. Just skinless filets with the soft bones still holding the meat together. Walking over to the end of the trench where there were just a few coals, I stuck a couple of green branches into the dirt to hold the bundle above the coals, so that my meal wouldn’t catch fire while it steamed.
Walking over to the six metal spears, I looked them over. Five were simple plugs with a point on the end, not much better than the pointy sticks I had put in the fire or the few that had bone tips that most of the goblins had wielded. Just slightly sharper and more likely to make a bit of a hole before snapping the garbage wood that made up the haft.
But one of those things was not like the others. It seemed to have been looted from another civilization in its entirety. Most likely in the not too distant past as it only had a small bit of rust on the blade. Making a note in the back of my head to go back and get some of the sand that made the trip with me for future cleanings. I walked over to the sled that held the grub and looked into the bottom of the tarp. Seeing a small handful at the bottom, I sighed in relief.
Grabbing yet another piece of kelp, I dipped it into the sand, getting a decent amount stuck onto it. Rubbing it up and down the blade carefully, I worked at getting all of the remaining rust off. While not the sandpaper from my workshop, it was the best impression of one outside of building a small sand barrel here. I had neither the time, energy for that task, tools to accomplish it, nor to be honest the need for it; as this substitute was doing its job well enough.
The tough kelp held up long enough to scour one side clean of the rust. Setting down the tools for this job, I headed over to the tent to grab my tweezers for the next. Closing the tent back up, though I had yet to feel any biting insects on my skin. I had no doubt they were out there somewhere. There was no doubt in my mind that something as disgusting as those Goblins had been, didn't have something from the insect kingdom that feasted upon them. Walking over to the fish I had placed above the coals, I could smell it cooking and my mouth began to water. Using the skinny tongs I flipped it over being careful not to break open the kelp and spill any of the fish out onto the coals.
Not wanting to set the tongs down, when I was just going to need them in a quick minute. I clicked the ends together twice, before flippin them up into the air, to catch them by their head and slide it into my bowie sheath, handle first over the top of my knife blade. Walking back to the sled I dipped my improvised paper back down into the sand and began cleaning the other side of the spear. Being careful not to miss any specks of rust in my eagerness to finally put some actual food in my belly.
Foregoing the accompaniments to the meal that I had left alone in the pack, as I was certain at this point that hunger would be enough of a sauce that I would eat the filet's in their entirety. I would probably swallow a bone or two in my haste to get something real into my furnace. Before I set the kelp down so I could get to eating, I brought the spear blade closer to my face to be sure that all of the rust that had been inching up the blade was gone.
Rubbing the last little speck of rust away, I dropped the kelp to the ground, not having another use for it. The haft of this spear was solid and heavy, while the pointy end had a very nice leaf blade that was a little longer than two feet, behind which was a boar brace that was integral to the cone hilt. It had three brass nails that were being used to secure the blade to the haft.
No doubt Gaian was grateful that the owner of this beauty had been one of the two goblins holding the sacrifice out to the shaman. As this fine piece would have done some real damage to him. Going over to the tunnel portion of the trench, I saw it blazing up at the fire's eagerness to devour the fuel that it was being given. Wanting to let it get back down to coals before sticking it in, I set the spear down beside the fire and went back over to my meal.
Pulling my tongs back out once more I paused before I risked grabbing the package out and watching the fish dump into the fire, as the kelp was starting to turn to charcoal. I instead went to grab my shovel as a backup. Pulling the kelp carefully onto the blade it managed to hold together and not dump my food into the coals. Not taking a risk, I slowly stood up and backed away from the fire. Setting the shovel down to use as a plate, I used the tongs to open up the intact pieces of kelp, letting the fish steam up into the air.
Leaving the fish one last time, I walked back over to the spear and saw the flame had finally died down to coals. Carefully putting most of the two foot blade into the white coals so that it would get hot enough to cauterize and sear out any infection when I removed the bone sticking into the bear's belly. Leaving the blade to heat, I went over to my pack and digging into the bottom cooler, I removed my second beer.
Quickly zipping the cooler back up to save the ice, I tucked it back into the bottom of my pack. With a quick flick of my knife I removed the cap and saved it in one of the cargo pockets on my pants. Walking back over to the shovel, I returned the blade to its home and removed the interloper again. Sitting down, I took a sip of my first IPA on this new world before using the tongs to take a taste of the fish. Staring up into the sky that the giant planet had finally retreated from, I saw a third moon in the distance. Looking to be the size halfway between seeing Jupiter through a backyard telescope and staring at the moon with your naked eye. I wondered if it was the distance or if it was just smaller than the other two I had seen so far.
Taking a second bite of fish and washing it down, I hated to use the term heavenly, as with my existence being turned to hell. But the depths to which I had plummeted, was no doubt what elevated the mediocrity of my cooking to its mouth watering taste. With only a few minutes before the blade became hot enough, with the amount of oxygen that was getting pulled into the bottom of the fire. I had nowhere near enough time to properly savor my first meal on this moon. But time and tide wait for no man, and if I was going to risk my life trying to save my new friend I wanted to do it on a non empty stomach. As I was hungry enough to eat a… well not a bear, this small amount of fish would have to do.