04 - FIRE

After stuffing his pants and pockets with as many rabbits as he could without looking too much like a tribesman or being too heavy, Theo once again listed his objectives. First came staying alive. He’d met a powerful foe back at the truck and he did not want to meet a creature larger than a fox. Next would be to figure out his immediate surroundings and head towards people. Preferably nice people.

Then, I repeat until I find a way home to eat some pizza. Man, pizza’d be good right about now…

...

Focus!

He did not want to eat straight from a corpse. Without a knife, or a means of getting one, he could only abstain from eating them for a bit. He knew if he waited too long he’d have a bunch of decaying rabbits on his hands. He could make a fire, but did roasting the exterior of a carcass even count as cooking? It could waste an hour or two of his time without him getting decent calories.

Shaking his head again, he started searching around the perimeter of the clearing for his bag. He had no hope of remembering which way he had been headed without knowing from where he had come from so he had dropped his bag on purpose to act as a marker.

It didn't take long for him to find it even if it was a dark color. The sun beginning to dip, he started to walk towards the opposite end of the clearing, determined to find a town. A town that bought small game.

He crossed streams where he would sometimes drink and traversed flat hills. At some point, he came across a special plant. It had grabbed his ankle using strange vine-like ropes as he was walking by. It looked very strange but at the same time it blended perfectly in the environment.

He was about to dig it up to beat it a few times with his staff to see if it gave him a skill before he realized he had full slots.

Bummer…

As he walked away, the vines dropped to the ground ready to snare a new prey. The encounter reminded him to learn how to use skills.

Theo walked until the light from the sun could not reach his path. Adrenaline still pumped into him and he would not be able to sleep in such a state, so he kept going. He couldn’t feel pain or tiredness at the moment and he wasn’t sure if it was from the excitement or the fear.

Either way, it worked for him. He just hoped he wouldn’t find an animal that could see in the dark because he’d be at a very big disadvantage.

Whenever he stumbled, he would pick himself back up. He had his stick so it was fairly simple to navigate. He somewhat felt like a blind man holding his cane, if blind men could watch the starry skies at night. He took a moment of silence for all the blind people in the world, though he would have kept quiet regardless.

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He continued his trek, sometimes looking at the sky, sometimes touching the soft fur of his skirt of dead creatures. It saddened him to have killed so many rabbits, but then remembered it was more like a survival of the fittest kind of day so he simply shrugged it off.

After the third hour of wandering, Theo came across a sight: fire.

He wasn’t sure if it was a good thing or not, but he decided to approach. The fire, in the middle of a tiny clearing, seemed to be surrounded by a few people and two tents.

A camp? Am I closer to civilization than I expected?

He did not go ask them for safe haven, however. He was very aware that he was in a half game-like world. He counted 2 individuals, both sitting around the campfire. They were telling each other stories as one was obviously acting a bad guy, with his face in a sneer and his hands up.

He could safely assume from the people’s attire that the world was a kind of RPG. One wore leather while the other, plate. The armor did not seem very expensive, however, which gave the impression of either newbies or bandits.

Theo was safely hidden behind a thicket of trees and a bush maybe 25 feet from the fire. He could just about make out that the leather was worn by girl wielding a bow. The other looked like a guy from his build and hairstyle, but decided against stereotyping.

“Your kids should be like me,” he whispered to himself.

He continued observing the group; a worthwhile action since before he knew it, a third person came out of one of the tents. He was leaner than the other individual but he was definitely male. Theo kept to his spot and watched the camp for another ten minutes before starting to circle the clearing. He looked a bit further away, trying to find a road that the group might have taken to get there while also scouting different angles of the camp.

A few perimeter checks later, he confirmed that no road was nearby. They were alone in the deep of this forest. As for the camp, he spotted a sword on the ground next to the plate armored individual and a longsword hanging at the third person’s waist. There was nothing to suggest a permanent or even semi-permanent encampment. A new camper had yet to come out. There could always be someone in one of the tents, but what’s one more to fight off?

If there is, they’re probably asleep, he settled.

He tried sneaking up from behind a tent. It was easy for him to remain undiscovered under the cover of the group’s loud bantering. He lay low to listen to their conversations.

“I really wanted the sword, but my father wouldn’t allow it,” the girl said.

“He really is strict! Anyways, now you’ll be able to purchase it yourself, instead.” Someone comforted her, getting shyer by the word.

Theo facepalmed himself when he heard their normal diction.

Shouldn’t they be speaking really strangely instead of generic english? I guess I should be happy they’re not bandits or slave traders or something.

Convinced, he sneaked back into the treeline and skirted towards an open side of the clearing, all while organising his speech. He needed to have the proper words for when he would address them. He couldn’t very well sneak up on them and whisper, “Hey, kids!”

He smiled slightly, but quickly regained his composure.

His diplomatic plan set in stone, he walked out of the woods calmly and with a respectable demeanor. He walked with his staff and had his bag slung across his back. As he got closer, they took notice of him.

"May I rest alongside you?" He simply asked, courteous to the last.