Solo Jungle Dangers

[Taren Coballon]

7th of Fall, 518

Taren walked out of the store as he thanked Juli, new axe and Kopis in his left hand to add his growing collection as he walked down the beach, she had also given him a roll of ribbon as Nya had suggested she would. The area in the jungle he had wanted to build on had proven to be bad a real bad idea because it flooded very quickly as the rain came so grabbed his belongings and returned to town. As he had thought about it more, he decided that he shouldn’t be too far away from town in case of emergency or need. Afterwards he found another location much closer and easier to find and it also had a beachfront which was a bonus. Now he was headed there to start making it into his land. He had started to pick up the habits of Syka, life was so different from anywhere he had heard of before and he even found the people as being different, more caring and friendlier and he changed because of it not that he even realized it yet.

He walked down the beach slowly as he looked around, a calmness had started to fall on him for the first time in a long time and he felt good. Town was quiet as he walked down the beach, a few people worked in the kitchen but most seemed to be off the beach taking care of their own business. Once he reached his land he dropped the axe on his possessions and strapped the small Kopis to the side of his pack to be ready when he needed it. Next he pulled the Kopis out and proceeded to clear an area of foliage back to start making a temporary camp to live in. He pulled out a hammock and stretched it between two close trees and lifted it a good four feet above the ground to keep away from most of the bugs as Nya’s words rang in his ears. He piled his possessions under the hammock but left his backpack out. Within a chime he had the pack emptied and started sorting his house items from his jungle pack. From now on he planned to have his pack ready for a foray into the jungle at a moments notice.

A sack below the hammock with a few tools beside it was all he had for the house, a pack on the hammock as a pillow, and he stuck his weapons in the edge of the sand so he could grab easily if needed for now. His tent he pitched on the sand in case but had no real intention of using it without real need. With sleep arrangements made, his next needed requirement would be something to cook on or in which is an easy one. In the matter of a few chimes he walked up and down the beach as he gathered a dozen large stones to ring the fire and hold heat for cooking and after he scooped out the sand to create a small hole in the sand he lined it with the stones he had just picked up but hadn’t picked up enough. Forced to get more stones this time he jogged up the beach again and looked for stones, this time he was more careful of the stones he choose and found ones with a flatter side which he returned them to the pit as he found them.

Once finished with the firepit he stood to find a bit of wood for cooking. He hoped that finding firewood wouldn’t take long to find, so he went to his pack and pulled the hatchet out of it. He walked up the edge of forest and stepped inside the cover of jungle to look around but was careful to not go out of sight of the edge so he would not get lost.

WC657 words
LedgerKopis 4gm
Carpenters axe 1gm

Ledger = -5gm
Roll of marking ribbon

[Taren Coballon]

Without finding easy wood that was already downed, he would need to find something on the interior or be forced to cut something new down which he really didn’t want to do yet until he figured where he wanted to build things at. For now he grabbed the Kopis from his pack and walked back into the jungle a ways but stayed in sight of the edge. Once he started to use the Kopis he found it quite efficient to cut the foliage with, the forward blade helped keeping the foliage on the edge so it wouldn’t roll of the end, and it felt much more controllable to not eviscerate any companions he might be with. Using his father’s long sword had always felt so wrong to him although it did work fairly efficiently. While cutting back the leaves he made small piles of the brush for easier clean up. Once inside and cleaning it took a couple of chimes for his eyes to adjust to the darkness of the trees from working under Syna’s glare off of the beach and water.

After his eyes adjusted to the change, he found it much easier to see around him. The foliage was dense at the edge but thinned out for an area about fifty yards in length before it started to get denser again. Before long he found a tree that had been downed by a storm some time ago so it shouldn’t be very green still which should make it burn much easier in the fire. He walked up to the top of the tree with hatchet in hand to start stripping what he could use for a fire. First he knocked the foliage or what was left of it off the top, next he took the hatchet and easily cut off the small parts of the top and worked his way downward, with his strength he quickly swiped wrist sized portions off and continued onward until he needed something larger to cut it with. Within a bell he had several large armloads ready to be taken to his camp. The largest of the tree he would have to leave for latter as his little half hatchet wouldn’t due for such large logs.

He slipped the hatchet into the top of his pants so he could gather up an armload of wood to take back which he walked back to camp with to stack into a neat pile near his pit. He went back another three times before he had all the wood he cut back up to his new campsite and piled quite high compared to his plans and he wouldn’t need to cut more for some days. He enjoyed the thought of that so he could turn his attention to other things of much greater importance to him like surveying the area and building permanent shelter as he returned the hatchet to his pack.

Taren checked Syna being high above before he sat down under a bushy palm to hide from the afternoon heat as he was ready for lunch of leftovers he had made earlier in the morning. The food was edible and plentiful but his cooking skills left something to be desired so it wasn’t exactly tasty to be sure but not something he was concerned about just yet. However it did fill the stomach and he followed it up with some freshly picked fruit that was tasty and plentiful all over Syka.

WC577 words

[Taren Coballon]

With lunch out of the way he grabbed his weapon belt with his lakan and sword on it to strap onto his hips, he sets his pack onto his back, and grabbed his spear for good measure as he headed back into the jungle in exploration but stopped and pulled out the compass from his survival kit to take a reading so he would know which directions he needed to go and more importantly how to return to camp as he didn’t intend to get lost out there. From the trips he had made into the jungle already, it was way easier to get lost in the jungle over finding your way out. However he hoped with a good bearing to start that he wouldn’t get himself lost.

He didn’t bother with cutting or marking a trail this time, he was purely exploring the area and wanted to look around. The jungle closed in quickly the deeper he went in and he practiced moving around in the bush. He wasn’t as fluid nor did he have the grace of Sophia or Nya as they moved around in the jungle and with being alone he didn’t have to worry how he looked as he relaxed in the attempt. He worked his way around the jungle while he often felt silly in his attempts but he persisted in the attempts and he soon felt like he was making a slight progress in it.

As he continued deeper into the interior he zigzagged around trees and brush to attempt to stay on a direct course and occasionally he checked the compass to make sure he stayed going in the correct direction. He shortly came upon a stream of clear water and lined with rocks on up the banks, the water was clear as crystal and moved swiftly, something he would have to check out later to find if it is drinkable or not but it turned out to be a very impressive setting in his opinion. As he looked around the area, he found several citrus fruit trees of lemons and oranges and a pecan tree, near the pecan was a banana tree filled with ripe bananas. He pulled off his pack and filled it as full as he could with fruit and nuts.

While he filled his pack and was cinching the closure he suddenly knew he was being watched, every muscle in his body went tight as he planned his action. As he glanced at his spear leaning up against the tree, he judged the distance as he sprung up from where he squatted down on his heels, pain lanced from his calf, and while he landed he ducked his head and rolled right on over as he trained for years. As he rose from the roll he grabbed the spear and set it from the direction that he had just come from to find a small ocelot was were he was just sitting and now looking at him intently. His face went cold and a darkness crept into his eyes as he stared at the surprisingly small creature that attacked him thinking it might be an easy meal, it had another thing coming if it continued to think that. He was forced to endure the pain in his leg as he had no chance to check it out and hold the cat off at the same time.

The two eyed each other contemptuously and sized each other up for a chime as he positioned himself into a fighting crouch with the spear pointed a few feet in front of the feline and protected himself from the cat’s advance. Every time the cat moved to attack him he stuck the spear at it where the cat would have to sit back and bat at it several times with a paw but that done little against the spear. Every time he pushed forward the agile little cat bounced off in one direction or another without injury, while this continued for some time without gaining any advantage on the creature at all.

WC679 words

[Taren Coballon]

The pair locked in the stalemate for some time before he drew himself up to his full height over the little ocelot. As he towered over the creature, it was forced to look up at him as he attacked again. However the intimidation worked and the cat reacted an instant to slow as the spear grazed the shoulder and cut into it a little, really not much more than a scratch but it forced it to realize it’s prey had teeth as well which seemed to take the fight out of the creature since it turned and slunk quickly and easily back into the jungle again leaving little trace it was ever there. He watched for some chimes to make sure it didn’t circle around on him.

Once he was sure he was indeed alone again, he relaxed a little although the pain in his leg still hurt him horribly. As he looked down at his left calf, he found three scratches with the middle one being quite deep into his blue flesh and it was bleeding quite a bit. He took the few steps to his pack again to pull his water flask and a bandage out of his pack before he sat down beside the pack to tend the wound. The situation brought back so many memories for him, he envisioned his mother tending his wound as she tended to his many wounds while he trained for the trials when he was a boy. She was an exceptional healer and he had always felt lucky to have known her as so many Akalaks never had that chance. Her blonde locks would of fallen over her face as she inspected the wound and poured clean water to clean it out as he did now and let the water mixed with blood spill on the jungle floor. Once cleaned he pulled the bandage around the leg and he heard her saying “Always make sure it it tight to keep the dirt out, but don’t cut off the circulation.” as he tied the knot to keep it in place.

With the wound cleaned and bandaged as best he could, he smiled as he remembered her so clearly like she was with him now. He set his hand over the wound and bandage, her pale white skin in contrast against the deep blue of his leg as he spoke with her in Kontinese “May the divine grace of Rak’keli heal this wound, body, and soul” as she looked at him with her green eyes. He always felt better after her prayer but he knew he had none of her power but he cherished the memory of her closely regardless of how long ago she had returned to her home island.

Warmth returned to his eyes as Taren returned the water skin back to his pack and stood up knowing he would need to see a real healer later to look at the leg and maybe a couple of stitches but doubted it would get infected by the amount of bleeding it had done and then cleaned with good water. He picked up the pack and set it on his back again before he grabbed his spear to continue on with the tour of his land. Almost reluctantly he let go of his recollection and walked out of the clearing while he paid more attention to his surroundings. Luck had been with him and he was glad he walked away from the encounter, but he started to have a new respect for the jungle also.

WC592 words

[Taren Coballon]

He hobbled a little as he left the stream and faded back into the jungle but kept the sound of the stream within hearing so he could follow it upstream. The ground slowly graded upwards until he came upon a cliff, if you could call it a cliff that is. The edge stood maybe twenty to twenty five feet above him and as he could hear a small waterfall which he followed. The stream over time had slowly worn down the edge of the cliff as it poured over it to form a small waterfall while the pool below looked shallow enough. Common sense told him not to put his fresh wound into untested waters which he listened to for a change.

He took a quick bearing to make sure he was still on track before he turned south to follow the cliffside. He noted the stone was covered in moss and vines up for as far as the eye could see. Several small alcoves dimpled the side as well, most wouldn’t even allow the large Akalak shelter from a rain shower let alone any real weather they might have but did continue to find more fruit trees around, he also crossed some small game trails, and found several bird nests on the cliff. He only saw the nests by the amount of feathers he found on the ground which he gathered up and stuffed them into the top of the pack for use later if he found a good reason.

His journey continued southward for some chimes until he came upon a bamboo grove that wedged itself right up to the cliff wall so that it was not passable so that he would have to go around. He checked the compass and if he followed the bamboo he should be headed in the correct direction to get back to the suvan, the leg throbbed with every beat of his heart and getting worse. He sat down and removed the bandage to clean the wound again as he noticed the trail of blood he left behind him that any predator would easily track straight to him. He quickly rinsed it clean for the second time and put a fresh bandage on it again before he took a long drink from the water skin.

He endured the pain, even the limp couldn’t stop him. It slowed him but he knew that if he stopped for the night, he would be dead by morning as the jungle was not forgiving. The walk back to the Suvan took much longer, the leg slowed him down considerably. As night neared and the jungle darkened he was forced to use his Akalak vision to finish the journey to the sea. Eventually he walked out of the jungle and onto the beach of the Suvan, not exactly where he wanted but he was relieved to be in the relevant safety of the beach and out of the jungle. Once on the beach he turned toward Syka to return to the campsite. He stopped just once to pull fruit and water from his pack to eat while he walked.

The couple of bells it took to return to his campsite, was all his leg could handle. He walked on the wet part of the beach so he didn’t sink into the soft dry sand as the limp turned worse and any blood would get washed away in the rising tide leaving any predators with no blood trail to follow, he hoped. However when he reached his campsite he simply fell into his hammock and pulled a tarp over himself before he passed out from exhaustion.

WC608 words