Nick laughed at the drool dripping from his friend’s face, glad to have found a reason to smile after everything he had gone through.

When the second claw filet was golden brown, he pulled the spit off the fire and then cut the meat in half. Bandit tried to claim his portion the instant he realized that Nick intended to share. He had to stop the lemur from grabbing the sizzling steak right away so that Bandit wouldn’t burn his fingers. It earned him a comically reproachful look, but all was forgiven when Nick handed over the slice thirty seconds later.

He was curious how the lemur would react to the taste of cooked meat, which was not normally a part of his diet. He watched closely as Bandit popped the morsel into his mouth and started chewing.

It was love at first bite. Bandit polished off the swordclaw filet even faster than Nick, licking the juices off his fingers with a look of such pure satisfaction that Nick burst out laughing. He gave the rest of the claw to the Elder, who was trying to restrain herself and maintain a modicum of dignity. Her efforts held out until she took her first bite, at which point she let out a bark of delight and devoured the rest of her portion so quickly that it looked like she inhaled it. He felt guilty when he ran his gaze over the rest of the tribe.

Every lemur in sight wanted to try this wondrous new culinary experience, but he had nothing else ready to share. The claws had been simple to cook, but Nick had no idea how to butcher the rest of the crab’s corpse, and even if he did, there wasn’t enough to go around.

Peering out at the ring of pleading faces, Nick decided that he was willing to give it a try. If he didn’t char the meat, the tribe should be able to eat it, as they normally consumed crab raw. The problem was that he had no prior experience cooking shellfish, much less gutting and cleaning the carcass beforehand. However, he had read a lot of stories and played a few in-depth survival simulations where hunters prepared the game they caught. It was enough information to provide him with a place to start.

Nick began by using his new sword to cut off the crab’s face, offering the creature a silent apology as he went to work. With some help from the tribe, he used rocks to crack open the shell, then cut away the gills and abdomen before taking a closer look at the main body.

He used his dagger to carve out the guts as best he could, then rinsed the meat clean with water from his canteen before pulling the shell apart and slicing the big chunks of meat into manageable pieces. After adding a fresh pair of logs to his fire and adjusting his makeshift spit, a process that the lemurs found absolutely fascinating, Nick was ready for the next stage of his impromptu barbeque.

The lemurs seemed utterly entranced by the concept of grilling, gazing up at him like he was Prometheus and Gordan Ramsay rolled into one. Once they understood what he was up to, the Elder barked a command, and half of the tribe ran off, heading south into the forest.

The mystery of their disappearance was resolved twenty minutes later, when the missing lemurs returned. They chittered as they dragged a pair of fresh swordclaw corpses into the clearing, along with a towering pile of lesser crustaceans. Nick had seen the tribe hunting the little crabs before, but he was surprised that the lemurs were willing and able to take on the more dangerous swordclaws.

By now, the next round of steaks was ready. As Nick had feared, these filets didn’t cook nearly as evenly as the ones that came from the claws. Sections were definitely too raw for human consumption, but at least he didn’t burn them too badly. When they were cool enough to eat, Nick cut the meat into even portions and then slid the pile over to the Elder, trusting her to handle the distribution while he went to work carving up the crabs that the tribe had piled beside the fire.

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Nick’s fledgling attempts at butchery were embarrassingly poor. Fortunately, his lemur friends didn’t seem to mind. They tore into the sizzling crabmeat with a gusto, crying out in delight while pestering him to give them seconds right away, as their understanding of the concept of cooking was still a little spotty.

The boisterous primates were generally patient with one another, despite their fervent desire to eat as much cooked crab as possible. Nick stole bites from every other claw steak, keeping the orders coming without neglecting his own stomach in the process.

After grilling up the pair of swordclaws, he moved onto the smaller crabs. Instead of trying anything fancy, he impaled them with his sword to make a hole, then placed them on the spit whole.

When they were ready, the lemurs pulled the shells apart. They ate everything inside, tossing the remains to the ground like fast food wrappers. Curious, Nick tried a nibble of the lesser crabs, deciding that while they were edible, they didn’t offer the same depth of flavor as the swordclaw steaks.

Nick wouldn’t have been willing to make such a commotion and risk the pack or the lurk crashing the party if it weren’t for the two dynamics of the situation. The first was that the grove was open and spacious, thanks to the giant tree claiming the surrounding sunlight for itself. The width of the clearing gave Nick plenty of time to retreat into the canopy if any hostile beasts emerged from the tree line.

The second was the presence of the tribe itself. Even a creature as stealthy as the lurk wouldn’t be able to evade their sentries while crossing open ground. It had gotten the drop on them before because the slope running from the beach to the woods had provided an angle where the lurk was hidden from the tribe’s view. On this flat strip of clearing, there was no way for it to hide its presence.

It was late in the day before the last crab was ready to eat. Nick handed it to the Elder, who had been watching the proceedings with clear amusement, but hadn’t eaten anything since her first steak, making sure that everyone else got their full share. She grunted out what Nick interpreted as thanks and then tore into the morsel.

The lemurs kept watch while he finished putting out the fire. When he climbed into the branches for the night, they dispersed into the woodlands. After waving Nick a fond farewell, Bandit followed suit. From the safety of the branches, he let out a satisfied sigh while rubbing his full belly, reflecting on how strange his day had been by the standards of his old life.

It was surprisingly satisfying to have fed the tribe, cementing their relationship going forward. Nick was thrilled to have found some reliable allies. Friends who could help him out in any number of ways, at least for the remainder of the tutorial. After all, the tribe had saved Nick’s life on multiple occasions, keeping him from becoming komo chow and dying of dehydration, and he intended to repay them in kind.

Eliminating the bonecruncher pack should save the lives of numerous lemurs, as well as boost his odds of surviving the days ahead. His grilling sessions might offer additional benefits as well. If the tribe liked his cooking enough to do the hunting, Nick might be able to eat without having to risk himself in the process, at least every now and then.

He was curious where the lemurs were camping but was glad that they hadn’t decided to use his tree. No matter how much he enjoyed their company, he wouldn’t want to have to deal with their waste raining down on him all night, and he suspected that the presence of the tribe would lure predators into the area.

Although I might have done that already, given the mess we made today. That thought made Nick realize that he would have to be extra diligent when climbing down in the morning until he had time to bury the remains of their feast. The mess would inevitably attract scavengers if he didn’t take precautions.

All things considered, taking a day off to recover had done wonders for his condition as well as his morale. He had strengthened his relationship with the tribe in the process and learned a bit about butchery to boot.

Nick fell asleep not long after, enjoying the contentment that came with a belly full of meat and a body free from pain.