Chapter Eight - Welcome to the Jungle

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The hours rolled by, just like the god damned, never ending, grassy hills, as I continued following the trails, noticing that, just like a tributary joining a river, they were slowly merging into larger, more trodden paths.

-"Should be getting close now. That or this entire world is a grassy wasteland. Good job I woke up to the voice or I would be thinking that this was my own, personal purgatory."

Doing a quick spin, having no clue about the direction I was travelling, I squinted, trying to see the mountains that were visible during my fall before finally giving up.

The sound of insects filled the air, a few occasionally flying past or landing on my legs as I let out a semi-defeated sigh and continued walking with my back to the sun.

It wasn't that I was tired, though every step I took caused my muscles to scream in protest.

It wasn't that I was starving, though my stomach was still grumbling after seeing Spike's corpse and not eating, or thirsty.

It wasn't even the tiny stones that kept lacerating the soles of my feet. Often causing me to curse and stumble every now and again, wishing to find shoes or have stronger skin.

It was the overwhelming boredom that was slowly getting to me.

Nothing changed and no matter how much I tried to stay alert, I found my mind constantly drifting towards dark, troubled places that I wanted to avoid.

Time became meaningless as I trudged onward.

What could have been hours later, my shadow had all but disappeared, indicating that the sun had reached its midday zenith, and would soon start falling in front of me, much to the dismay of my over sensitive eyes.

I couldn't help but let out a small growl, the faint vibrations causing me to faintly smile as I enjoyed the sensation of power and strength that the action elicited.

-"I am really starting to dislike this place."

*Smack*

"Nighty-three."

I bend over, not breaking my stride as I wipe the remains of the overgrown mosquito onto the grass. I didn't even have the mental energy to curse at them anymore.

-"If this were a game, I would get an achievement soon. Bane of Mosquitos."

At the start I had been getting them around fifty percent of the time, gradually increasing my kill to escape ratio as my reflexes increased. However, the last ten or so that bit me had been acting strangely. They seemed unable to fly or move very fast.

I shrugged.

What did I care, the only good mosquito was a dead mosquito in my mind. I just hoped they weren't the same disease carrying filth that we had back on earth or else I was in for a world of hurt.

-"Oh, if I could just round them all up, fill the air with gas and set it on fire, I could die a happy man."

I shook my head violently.

-”Shit! Gotta stop that.”

It had always been one of my favourite pastimes to lose myself to my fantasies, which would have made this journey a lot more enjoyable, but with whatever they had injected into me flowing through my veins, it might lead to dangerous side effects.

The fact that I hissed like a snake when in pain, was always growling at anything that irritated me and had howled like a... well, I have never heard a howl like that, but it was all the proof that I needed to be careful with both my thoughts and emotions. 

Gritting my teeth, my walk turns to a jog, the rhythmic clicking in my neck, something I had picked up as an injury early on in life, enabling me to distract myself as I fell into a trance-like daze.

I knew it was dangerous, not paying attention to my surroundings, but I was sick of my thoughts and I needed some alone time from myself.

I continued to jog, sometimes bursting into a sprint, until the sun was around the half way point of its decent, nearly blinding me, as I came to a stop at the crest of a hill, gasping for breath.

I had no idea how long I had been jogging, and I had never been very fit but, every time I felt like I couldn't go on, I released a snarl in defiance and forced myself forward and somehow my body answered the call.

It was usually accompanied by some crappy motivational saying like 'no pain, no gain' and the thought that some extra stamina, if the adaptation worked, would be good, especially if I needed to make a hasty escape at some point.

My lungs sucked in air like a bellow as my blood hammered through my veins and small, black dots hovered at the edge of my peripheral.

I felt like I was dying, but at the same time, I couldn't help but smile.

-"Gunna regret that tomorrow. Going to ache like a bitch."

After catching my breath, something that took a surprisingly short amount of time, I straightened up and searched the horizon.

Three dark green clusters, seemingly equally spaced apart appeared in front of me. The largest was one directly ahead while the other two were to each side.

-"Guess they just seem smaller due to where I am standing. From space, they all looked around the same size."

The cluster appeared to be no more than a few hundred trees broad, though that didn't do the size of it justice.

Each tree, with ten-foot gaps between, spaced artificially, was at least as wide as a very tall man.

I frowned at the enormous trees, not having a clue on how I could begin to estimate their height. The words, very high, super sized and King Kong club size came to mind but just felt... inadequate.

There seemed to be a few of every species of tree I could name, a few that I could recognise and more than half that I had never seen in my life.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

-"Yeah, I am going ahead and going to take a wild guess that these aren't natural. Then again, I wonder what is on this planet."

My eyes still squinting from the sunlight, I looked at the central cluster and the one to the left, and if I strained hard enough, I could just about see another dark green cluster in the middle of the two, far in the distance.

-”That confirms it. These must be the dark green splotches I saw when falling. If that is the case, then behind me is just a grassy wasteland."

I scratched the irritating stubble growing on my face.

-"The voice mentioned that we should be safe for six months? I wonder if these seemingly natural barriers are the reason for that. Mountains and empty plains. If it was something like a 'magic' shield, then, unless she is scared we will sue her if it broke, she would have said we ‘are’ safe?”

I scanned the sky, looking for the smoke I had seen earlier but couldn't find it. Either I was too close to the stupidly tall trees or what ever was causing it had burnt out.

Shrugging, I started moving cautiously forward, wondering if the other humans, if they were the cause, had really been stupid enough to burn the only limited resources I had so far come across.

-"In a sea of grass, wood would be worth more than gold. Not that gold would be worth much here."

The sound of birds singing and the occasional call of an unknown creature overtook the noise of the insects, causing me to give a small, internal cheer. It wasn't because the noise was irritating. It was because most birds would feed on insects and I could finally get some justice for the itchy bites littering my body.

Thick green bushes, with exotic fruits and nuts, lined the mini jungle floor, for that was the only way I could describe it, as bright, vibrant flowers and vines littered the massive tree trunks invitingly.

It was so beautiful and surreal that if one were religious, they would probably be thinking they had found Eden.

“I hope there is an apple tree with a talking snake in there,” I chuckled, -”I am starting to feel a bit lonely talking to myself, and an apple would be nice.”

I had never been very outgoing, always preferring my own company but whoever said that humans were social creatures were not lying, and after just a few days of total isolation, the voice didn’t count, a friendly chat would be nice.

-"That or a football I could put a bloody hand print on but if I am going to make wishes, it would be for an encyclopedia. No way I would be able to get through that quickly."

The distance between me and the forest started to diminish as I sped up in excitement.

One hundred meters, fiftey meters, ten meters.

I continued to creep forward, expecting the natural wildlife to quieten at my unexpected presence, just like I had seen in many documentaries.

It wasn’t as if I wanted to announce my arrival but, I was, hopefully, an unknown creature, approaching from an open grassland in broad daylight on a planet that had animals like Spike running about. Plus, if it worked for me now, I could use it later. Natural early warning system.

The thought stuck as I wondered if anyone, or anything, else had thought of this before.

-"Idiot! Should have waited for dark or approached from the side, the sun was facing me, giving them cover and illuminating me."

I hissed.

-"That's what you get for being a muppet and running for a quarter of a day just to distract yourself."

My little jog had exhausted me, probably diminishing my ability to think clearly and I was once again starving and thirsty.

-”Wait? How did I quench my first earlier?”

After a few moments thinking, I violently shook my head, the only explanations that made any sense were… upsetting, to say the least.

Without being challenged, which only made it feel like a trap, I finally reached the treeline and, tentatively touching the leaves to make sure they weren’t poisonous, at least in a quick acting way, I moved into the dense foliage, almost laughing in joy as I imagined myself disappearing from prying eyes.

I had made it.

-"Cover, materials, prey… I mean food."

If this place had a fresh water source, then it would be my base of operations while… I adapt up? Level up? Whatever. While I increased my chances of survival, think of a plan and learn more about this world.

Forcefully calming myself down, I started to stalk through the plants, once again wishing my skin was tougher and not trying to think about the nasties that could happen to my feet, as the occasional thorn or sharp leaf cut my skin.

Every now and again, I came across a few worn paths, leading to the centre. However, I did not follow them as I already had a plan in motion. I was slowly circling the outside of the copse, taking note of as much information as possible. When I had discovered a place I had already walked, normally by some obvious sign like an 'I was here' footprint, I walked two tree's deeper and repeated.

If my guess was right, and with a bit of luck, the water would be in the centre. Unfortunately, this also meant the biggest, meanest creatures were more than likely there.

This idea was further cemented when I came across a few tree's that had their fruit removed and questionable, brown deposits with seeds in, littered with scuff marks, on the ground.

After finding a few dozen of these locations, I breathed out a sigh of relief. I had not found any bones or animal remains. It looked like whatever lived here was a herbivore.

-"Or they had emptied their larder and are waiting for fresh meat. Though, even if I can't see more than a dozen or so feet ahead, this place isn't very big."

I snorted, causing a red and green bird, that I somehow missed, to release a shrill call as it erupted into the sky.

-"Most omnivores are opportunistic and won't actively attack if there is a risk or unknown, especially when they aren't starving. But that will change if you add more competition."

It seemed that I might need to evict the previous owners before I settle in.

I chuckled, relishing in my new mindset. Back on earth, just because I felt the need to fit in, I always ended up with the raw deal. Here, those worries simply didn’t matter. I was my own man. A hunter, a survivor.

My musings were cut short by the sounds of running water towards the centre of the island of trees and a wicked grin appeared on my face.

-”Awww yeah, everything is going…”

I stopped.

-”I really need to think up a name for myself. Though, I should probably be careful as names often carry meaning and can affect mindsets. I need to start thinking of myself with a name that represents what I want to become…”

I had been given a long time on the trip here to think about the adaptation and the possibilities it represented tho, they were outweighed by all of the potential pitfalls.

-"Finally, my psychology degree is becoming useful."

Chuckling I started moving forward again, my excitement of finding water reducing my cautiousness

-I can always think of it lat-”

Pushing away a particular fern-looking branch, which could have easily been the size of a small boat, my mind stopped.

“Oh... Fuck.”

I had found water, or more specifically, five pools of water in a circle and, by the look of the steam rising from one and ice covering another, they were all different temperatures. In the centre of the circle of the pond, was a large, white barked tree which reminded me of a certain film, its gnarled surface perfect for any Halloween setting.

The whole thing looked surreal and epically beautiful at the same time, but that wasn’t what I was swearing about.

The clearing surrounding the ponds, which probably was a few hundred feet’s worth of space wasn’t empty.

Oh, no. In fact, the space had the opposite problem. It was jam packed.

Hundreds of eyes, of many varying species, were locked onto me as if I had just walked in on a group of teenage girls in the midst of changing.

Yep, while all of the eyes sparkled with intelligence, some were fearful, others confused but, especially from the Spike-like creatures whose eyes kept going from mine to the two spines in my hand and back again, open, unadulterated hostility.

The whole clearing was stock still, the only sound breaking the silence was the birds obolivious to how fucked a certain human was below them. That or they were debating who would get the best leftovers.

A giant white wolf, and by giant I mean if I squeezed, I think I might of been able to fit down its throat whole, stepped forward, the other creatures making way, even if some were subtility hostile to it.

-"Yep, totally and utterly fucked."

My mind was in turmoil, half of it trying to work out what I was seeing and the other half looking for an escape plan.

So far, the wolves would outrun me, Spikes would out range me and the half monkey, half insect things that looked like they had wings would out fly/climb me.

Releasing a deep breath, I lock eyes with the approaching wolf. Both my instincts and my knowledge screaming at me that I was not about to do the smarted thing but I just couldn’t help myself.

-”When you can’t retreat, attack.”

My smile returns, though I know its more of a snarl as a growl tears itself from my throat, causing my body to shake as the wolf not only pauses, but takes a step back, tilting its head in confusion.

Raising my arms at my sides, gripping my improvised daggers, I take a step forward.

-”Well, me, it looks like this is it. Lets try and make sure we level the score before expiring.”