Edward Linden’s monologue.

I woke up yet again, fresh. I moved from my bedroll, and felt pain. ‘well, that feels a bit more like home.’ I thought, and started reviewing what actually hurt me.

Okay, my feet still have bruises, it was pretty bad yesterday, If I had to walk 10 minutes longer, I might have had to deal with open wounds. It’s visibly better now, but I’ll still refrain from walking for a while if I can help it. Hands were sore yesterday, but no longer. My muscles don’t hurt too bad, which is strange, since I’ve used the “brand new body”.

I mean, normally it should hurt even if you work your muscles after just a week of inactivity, (after which it hurts for days,)

Why are they already start getting better after a night?

The power of youth isn’t to be underestimated, I guess.

Now, the terrain I walked on was surprisingly easy on my feet, but it won’t always be that way. I’ll need to get myself some footwear, or gradually build up my skin’s resistance. Most likely it will be both, eventually.

But first, the breakfast. The most important meal in a day, the one children mustn’t skip, or they won’t grow to be big and strong. Fortunately I’ve already confirmed the presence of fish, so I don’t need to save that dried food of mine. I mean, some will be saved for later, dried food are great for traveling, but that’s after we catch some fish.

……………………

And so He ate his breakfast.}

With renewed energy, Linden decided to stop staring at pretty pond, and get some work done. He decided he needed to do four things. Light a fire, boil water, cook fish and catch fish, not necessarily in that order.

…………………

It was easy to decide what to do first. Catching fish had to take priority. Edward still had some water, albeit less than he initially thought he would, and lighting a fire is pretty much wasting tinder and timber in case he couldn’t catch anything.

To avoid standing on his bruised feet, Ed decided to try spearfishing from a sitting position. It was suboptimal, but he had time. He took the spear, which was at least twice as tall as he was, sat down with it at the edge of the pond, and threw some bait.

Ed could see a trout like fish swimming over. He remembered that the water is refracting light in a way that makes the fish appear to be in a slightly different place than it really is, but for the love of roasted fish skin, He couldn’t remember if one should aim lower, or higher.

The spear was long, so He didn’t throw, but stab it in a direction of the biggest fish He could see. He missed. It had ran away and made Edward wait again. It appeared again. He missed again.

……………………………….

It took Edward maybe two hours to get it right. After he finally managed to impale a fish, his chest filled up with pride.

‘Finally, I caught the damn thing. Fishing is exhausting. Let’s start a fire.’

First, Ed gathered some dried grass from one of the patches, and smaller (also dry) branches. They would come in handy during setting up the fire.

Then, He took his knife, and started chopping on one of the dead trees in hope of getting a more substantial piece of wood. A saw would’ve come in handy, but life isn’t designed to make itself easy. Chopping and batoning was harder than Edward remembered, but the handle of his knife was fairly comfortable, (if not a bit too thick), so He still managed to get enough wood for his intended purposes.

After getting everything needed to light a fire, Edward cleared a patch of moss, and took out His flint and steel. He already had some practice with lighting a fire the medieval way, so He managed to send enough sparks on a piece of tinder on his fourth try, only hitting himself in the finger once in the process. He put the tinder in dry grass, and started blowing.

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After getting briefly blinded by the smoke, Edward once again tasted success in the form of small fire. He immediately fed some small branches to the flame, gradually increasing their size and thickness, until He achieved a small campfire.

Edward gutted the fish, took its’ scales off with his knife and started thinking of a way to prepare it. Boiling seemed like the safest idea, and it would allow for minimal waste of fish fat. Additionally, It would give the least amount of scent- Edward was not fond of the idea of some big predator coming to steal his lunch.

Fortunately, the wind was blowing away from the biggest entrance to his humble abode, and smaller ones wouldn’t let anything big and threatening pass. Also, Ed could always catch more fish, so saving every last drop of fish fat was largely unnecessary. What He needed, was something to raise his morale.

Roasting won. It wasn’t perfect, mainly from the lack of spices, but a pinch of salt shaved off the crystal would have to do. Additionally , Ed boiled a pot of water, and neutralized the stinging of nettle with it. Then, He brewed some pine needles in his cup. This makeshift tea wasn’t particularly good, but Ed hoped there would be some vitamin C remaining. Surprisingly, eating all that got him completely full, and even some leftovers were left.

Irresponsibly leaving the fire to its own devices, Edward started thinking whatever to do next. He had fire, water, food, and shelter. What He lacked, was company, clothing and something to entertain and defend himself with.

Seeking human contact would have to wait for after he was done with clothes and defense, so young Linden decided To prioritize those two. He took out the cloth, thread, and needle from his backpack, and started thinking what to make. He decided pants would be a good idea. He carefully cut the fabric, and… decided He was done with work for the day. It would get dark soon, and Ed wanted to try swimming in the pond. That would take care of entertainment, as well as defense, since swimming would surely raise his physical ability.

He swam until well after day ended, mostly in breast stroke, since it’s a style well suited to creatures with four limbs, like frogs or humans, and it was also the only style He truly comprehended when He was still an adult.

After He completely tired himself out, Edward crawled out of the pond, wrung out his hair of excessive moisture, wiped himself with adult sized pants (They would dry out later anyway) and went to sleep. He dreamt of the assignment He never got to turn in.

He woke up fresh and hungry. He finished the leftovers, and first time since his transmigration went to take care of nature’s call. The moss was soft, moist and incredibly helpful in this endeavor, and Ed thought to himself that He wouldn’t mind not using toilet paper anymore as long as He had some bryophytes.

Feeling the leftover food wasn’t enough, Ed set out to repeat what He did the previous day, and catch himself something to eat.

It turned out to be a bit easier this time, and Ed once again stuffed himself and went swimming. Such behavior would normally be considered ill advised, but He defeated any potential issues with the power of youth.

………………………………………..Edward Linden’s direct pov.

Bout’a week has passed.

Things are starting to look bright. I have anything needed for immediate survival, and even some stuff for far future. On a less bright side, I don’t know anything about this places’ seasons. It looks to be late spring now, but I can’t be sure. And even if seasons do work just like in the old place, I still don’t know how severe both summer and winter are.

It’s unlikely with how deep it is, but this pond might cease to exist in summer’s heat.

Or maybe winter will freeze my ass no matter how much time I spend on preparing. Making permanent winter-proof shelter with just my knife, few trees and moss sounds great on paper, but much worse under a mountain of snow.

I should also consider my physical training. I’ve had it fairly smooth so far, but that’s no reason to stay weak. I look and feel a bit like a dry noodle. Not very tasty, and always ready to snap. Swimming helps with that, I can already feel better, but the fact that swimming is easy on joints can make them weak. I don’t want my bones to lose density even further.

It’s decided. Starting tomorrow, I will try lifting stones lying around this place, and climbing on the rock walls and trees. I don’t wanna fall and kill myself so I won’t climb high, just enough to get better at it and strengthen my grip.

Also, I definitely want to sew some clothes together, and finally sharpen my knife. It was razor sharp at the beginning, but all that pine wood and fish bone dulled it so much, I might be better off cutting stuff with a piece of flint, If I knit it well.

I’m surprised it still cuts at all.

I should also start gathering pine sap. It burns really well, sticks like glue and it’s water-proof. Useful stuff.

Ah, then there is reading in that ‘southern’ language. I have some learning materials on hand, And I don’t see any reasons to stay illiterate. I learned talking and reading once, I can do it again.

Also, I need to walk around the area and create landmarks. I can’t stay in this little place for the rest of my damn life, I’m only stopping here to prepare for the real journey.

And that preparation must include learning to walk around new places and remembering them.

I was always good at finding my way by ‘walking backwards’ so to speak, but terrible at actual navigation. In other words, I get lost in places I’ve never been to before, no matter how good my map is. So I need to take a good look around the area.

But that’s for later.