NOVEL WEB Chapter 007: Two Steps Back, One Forward
As I follow the scent of the deer, I once again can’t stop wondering over how fantastic I feel. My internal heat animates me and I move faster, making the wind on my skin and in my hair feel stronger than it really is. I also notice that temperature of my surroundings does not bother me; I feel the same now as in the morning – and it was quite cold back then! I just didn’t notice it until I stopped the fire I started.
As I take mental note to be more careful – and to avoid flammable beds – I notice my prey getting closer. I stop running and start advancing slower and more carefully. I see my quarry soon. It is quite a large deer with gray fur and black, crystal antlers; there are sparks of green here and there on its coat and antlers. It looks majestic and truly otherworldly. I start suspecting that I might not find normal animals here, at least in the region I’m in right now. I will need to check that. Anyway, now is the time to get some venison.
As I did earlier with cavies, I keep my distance and stealthily move behind the deer. Then, I slowly creep closer. However, my prey suddenly snorts, its antlers glow green and a gust of wind pushes me back. I groan in frustration. My ambush failed once again. Once again I will have to analyze what to do after the fight. Luckily, my opponent does not seem to try escaping, as it now looks at me defiantly. It is as if it was judging me. It also grunts constantly, sometimes adding roars.
I decide it’s not wise to allow it to attack, so I try getting closer again. Once again, I am repelled by a sudden gust of wind – but this time I am prepared and stand my ground. As soon as it stops, I lunge at my quarry. It evades my strike and retaliates – this time wind is more focused and sharp like a blade; still too dull to penetrate my furred hands. Then I shorten the distance once more. I aim for the neck, but the deer jumps to the side and counterattacks again – this time with antlers. I try to avoid it, but I am too slow and feel it graze my shoulder. I growl, feeling pain. I check the place I was struck in with my hand, keeping eye contact with my prey. Indeed, my fingers are blackened by my blood – thankfully, not by much of it. It's just a scratch.
I decide it’s time to change my strategy a bit. Instead of aggressive, I must be a patient hunter. So I wait. My opponent also waits. It seems it noticed that the wind attacks are not very effective compared to a direct hit by antlers, as the wind attacks cease. Instead, we are circling the same spot, eyeing each other, waiting for an opportunity. I think about the last few moments, slowly formulating a plan in my mind. Finally, I am ready.
I move towards my game, staying low on the ground. When I move close, I strike with my right hand, the one further to it. The deer dodges to my right and strikes at my unprotected flank; it swallowed the bait. To its surprise, I use the crystal I got from my last hunt that I put in my hand earlier – and blind it. The attack misses me, as my opponent staggers and roars, in pain and fury. I use that moment of disorientation to claw at its neck – and I hit! My prey staggers and falls. I quickly end its suffering with another strike to the neck.
The hunt is finished.
I feel accomplishement and frustration at the same time. On one hand, I triumphed in my most difficult fight up till now. On the other hand, my attempt at stealth failed again. This time my opponent reacted sooner; it must have sensed me much earlier, somehow! I think about my preparations. I was careful; I approached it against wind, so it couldn’t have smelled me; I was going from its blindspot, so it couldn’t have seen me; I controlled my every movement, so it couldn’t have heard me – besides, my hearing is definitely better than that of a deer. I just cannot find any fault in my actions – and yet I still fail. I recall our fight again – and then it strikes me: it was using wind magic! Is it possible it could have sensed me that way?
My ailing self-esteem soothed by that idea, I check my wound; as I thought, it’s just a scratch that should heal soon – leaving no scar. Impressed by my resilience, I go to skin my game. I have some experience at this point and it can’t be that different from skinning a guinea pig, right? Well… it turns out that removing skin from large, long deer legs is quite problematic. I end up just tearing them apart from body, with skin still on them. I then slowly peel as much of it as I can without damaging the hide. In the meantime I chew on some half-raw half burnt venison, as well as bones when I pull them out. Finally, I have some materials to make my first clothes from. Which begs another question, one I was avoiding until now: how the heck do I even make cloths?! Where do I begin?!
Since I am getting more and more hungry, I decide to put the matter of resolving my nudity at bay, as I haven’t met any other sapient humanoid in this forest so far. This time I decide to experiment a little with my food. Instead of using my claws to cook the meat, I collect some wood and start a campfire. I make an improvised spit and use it to prepare my meal. I roast the best cuts and add skewers made from worse ones. I season them with some herbs I found nearby.
As I cook, I think what to do with the rest of carcass. There still is a lot of leftovers on it. After short deliberation, I decide to leave it where it is. Vultures, ravens or whatever kind of carrion eaters await for opportunity in this forest. And I remember them being important for the environment. I will only take some meat and the antlers – they are magical, so they will be useful. Probably not in fight, but who knows – I wanted to use cavy crystal as a source of light at night, but it came in handy in the fight. Too bad it crumbled. I am pretty sure it’s either because I put too much power into it, or I put wrong kind of power into it; well, it may be also quite brittle to begin with. I have to do more tests.
Finally, my roast venison is ready. It tastes amazing, if a little bit dry. I wish I had salt, but herbs I used add some spice to it – honestly more than I expected, giving me the sensation of something between garlic, chilies and horseradish, with surprising, sweet aftertaste. All in all – pretty satisfying.
Finally sated, I begin preparing the skin. I have a vague idea that all remnants of muscles, fat and other tissues must be removed. I carefully use my claws to do it. It turns into a disaster, however, as I have only the vaguest idea of what I'm doing. I know that hide is organic, so it must be dried up to prevent it from rotting. I try using my heat to gradually remove all water, but I fail. Critically; in the end I am left with nothing, as the skin gets destroyed. And what's worse – thate whole fiasco lasted til the late afternoon!
I groan in frustration, feeling that I wasted most of the day. I start thinking that making a skirt from straws would be faster. I only need to find correct plants to do it – which is the most difficult part since I haven't seen anything I could use, nor can I smell them, unfortunately. It seems that my dream of no longer being nude will have to wait. Especially when I made a hole in the leather. Disheartened, I toss it into the fire, along with cavy skin I brought with me, since it started stinking. It annoys me, because I will have to carry the horns in hand.
I sit on the ground, defeated. I am disappointed in myself for losing most of the day basically for nothing. And I don’t even need clothes to keep warmth thanks to my internal heat! I look up the sky and see that sun will start to set soon. Great. I still need to experiment with horns, but I need to find a place to sleep first. And I am thirsty.
I smell the area to find the closest source of water. I find one relatively close – I should arrive there soon and still have time before dusk. So I take the crystals – and some meat – and go to the stream I sensed. It is a really small, narrow one. To the point where I need to kneel to drink, since I don’t have anything I could use as a cup and my hands are too big. This position is quite uncomfortable and I feel vulnerable like that, even though I know I am safe since all the animals – or should I call them monsters? – escape as soon as they sense me. So I guess my attempts at stealth were worth something in the end? Or the ones that run away just have better perception.
As I drink water and relieve myself, I try planning what to do next. I need to find some shelter, but should I look for one a bit longer or should I start digging a hole in the ground? I don’t fancy the latter, but it might be too late to find something before the nightfall. There is also the question of safety. I know that the bear, at least, is nocturnal. What if night is in general a domain of powerful creatures? Objectively looking, I shouldn’t struggle as much with the deer – and even the guinea pigs – as I did. And if I sleep on the ground – this time I would be the one ambushed. So maybe a good tree would once again solve the problem for now?
But what annoys me the most is that I can feel that there are caves in the cliff, but there are no openings big enough for me to slip through them. And I am not going to crush rocks with my bare hands. I know I am strong, but that is too much. Truth be told, I would not be able to go into the air vents I found unless I was the size of an apple. Or an orange at most. Still, I prefer my current height. Which is probably more than 2 meters, now that I have some reference. I also think my breasts are bigger than an orange. While I don’t feel my back getting sore yet, I think I will need some support for them. Then again – as I am apparently going to be 2000 years old, how long will I keep my youth? GOD told me that only at the very near end of my life will I experience the negative aspects of an old age. But can I really trust their words? I am a completely new species after all. Then again, my ‘primordial infusion’ is apparently guaranteeing my longevity and youthfulness.
In the end I decide to search for a good tree. I can smell some willows downstream – one of them will surely be of use to me. On my way to it I also collect some tall grass and moss to use as a bedding. Thankfully, those are in abundance on the way I am going.
When I arrive at the place, my mood immediately improves; I see a small, picturesque grove by the tiny brook. There are many trees there, but what immediately gets my attention is what looks like a monumental oak, standing alone, absolutely dominating other trees – not because of its height, as it is only slightly taller than ones in its surroundings, but because of unbelievable girth of its trunk. Adding the whiteness of its bark and silver sheen of its leaves paints a truly otherworldly picture. It also exudes a calming, pleasant and stalwart aura of an ancient guardian. There is something clearly magical about it. And opposite to my previous encounters in this forest – it feels benign. I have just found a perfect place to spend the night.
I collect some of the grass and prepare my nest on the thickest bough of the oak. As I lay down there, I watch the night sky for the first time. There are myriads of stars blinking at me. There is Moon – larger than that of Earth. It is full and has bright, silver shine to it, similar to the leaves of my oak. All of it looks truly beautiful and, along with rustle of leaves, soothes my disappointment I felt from failures of today. It reminds me that I was given a new, long life and entire new, exciting world to explore. My setbacks are only temporary and not something I should fuss about. So what if I cannot properly prepare leather? I have literal centuries to learn.
As I slowly fall asleep, I feel gratitude. Towards Moon, for beautiful light it provides. Towards GOD, a bit reluctanty – but they gave me the body I couldn't have dreamt of. Finally towards the Oak that allowed me to sleep on it. I feel like giving it a name – it is so unique that I believe it deserves one. Half asleep, I lazily search for a fitting name. And I find one.
“Boromir… Oak Boromir.” I whisper, with a smile, as my tiredness finally overtakes me.
