Day 19

I got up refreshed and ready to take the day, I had a normal dream that night, it involved forgetting to turn something off and having to rush and shut it down or something, I can't recall exactly. I looked at my fire, just embers now, and realized what the dream meant, I forgot the meat I had buried under fire. Slightly worried, I pushed aside the embers and dug out the carapace shells I had forgotten. They were hot to the touch, and I had to put my welding glove on to pull them out. Pulling them apart released the steam and smell of boiled meat. Poking at it with my knife it fell apart at the touch.

I carefully took the improvised platter and rest it on a pile of snow, hoping to cool it down some. As I waited I took my glove back off, and carefully washed my right hand, trying to clean it off as much as possible. It took a bit of effort and work, but I eventually got the visible grime off and started to pick at the now warm meat. It had been effective, the carapace was cool to the touch, and the meat wasn't burning hot now, and I could actually pick it up with my fingers. I grabbed a piece and it tore away with no resistance, and I took a bite, it falling apart in my mouth. Still as delicious as usual, and not as nearly as tough. I had essentially made pulled... bird beast? That was what I'm going to call it, bird beast, and it was a tasty monster.

I ate my fill and eyed the pool of liquid the pulled meat had expelled, and took a sip from the plate, juice dripping down the side of my face. It was just as flavorful, and It was the first time in a while I had actually drunk something, and not drank with the Manaphage. It felt good drinking the soup and I sat there, legs sprawled out, relaxed, I didn't get up for another thirty minutes.

Grabbing two spears and the spikes I had made, I started my jog into the forest, the path to the pit I made clear in my mind and marked on the trees. It took an hour but I got there in one piece and did not hear anything strange. I got to the pit and saw that something had stepped in, and had made a mess of the covering, probably in a panic. Happy with the results, I started to plant the spikes I had made, short one inch round sticks I had sharpened to a nasty point. I made them in a grid pattern and stopped after setting down twenty-four and started to once again cover up the spike pit.

It took me about 2 more hours before I was satisfied by my work, I grabbed my spears I got up and left, hoping that I would catch something like a deer, or whatever the equivalent was. I was walking back, not in the mood to jog, when I passed that clearing again, with the big rock in the middle, curiosity filled me with courage, and I stopped, wanting to find out what the heck it was finally. Before stepping into the clearing I walked around the edge, examining the rock from afar. It was large and brown, and the size of a minivan. As I walked around it, I noticed that there was a hole in the ground, about two yards in diameter, and it looked like it was a burrow of some sort. It dug partially into the rock, but I couldn't see further into it without approaching.

Before getting closer, I finished my walk around, not seeing anything else strange, and started walking towards the rock. The ground felt different as I got closer to the stone, a little bouncier, and when I got right up next to it, I could actually feel the roots under my feet rather than the dirt. I walked around the rock and got to the hole, spear at the ready, I peeked in, the Manaphage pointing in. It was a gentle slope down, and it looked like it wrapped around the rock, the hole disappearing around a corner. I thought I had had enough of caves, but it felt like this was drawing me in, and I could feel a faint breeze coming up from it, the smell of decay, and moss tickling at my nose.

I took a step in, testing the ground, it was springy still, and upon further examination, the walls seemed to be made of a thick weave of roots. I stepped back, telling myself I needed my gear before I took a deep dive into another cave. I planted a spear across the hole, hoping that if anything came out it would bump or move the spear. I turned and walked away, wanting to get back to my campsite, a little perturbed at what I had found. I internally debated whether or not I would actually investigate this new cave. On one hand, I didn't really want to go back into another cave, on the other hand, maybe I could find some sort of edible mushroom, or plant, or something. So far I hadn't been able to find any greens to eat, and I thought mushrooms were a fine replacement.

I walked back and got back to my camp, the sun still high in the day, I decided to test out my leather tanning skills, and took the now frozen leather strips and thawed them out while getting the fire going. Using a couple of different methods, I treated the leather and set them aside. I then decided to drain all the moisture from one of the wings, deciding that it would make a great roof to the new structure that I wanted to make. I then grabbed the thicker logs I had gathered before and started working on them, notching the ends, remembering the basics of making a log cabin. I spent the rest of the day doing that, working up a sweat, and an appetite.

I stopped as the light started to dim, and decided to cook dinner, another chunk of meat roasted on the fire. As tasty as the meat was, I still wanted some sort of vegetables or fruit. I sat in my lean-to, waiting for my meat to cook, and sharpened more sticks. I had about 3 dozen spears now and started to plant them around my campsite, marking a clear perimeter, and setting up what I would hope would be a future fence. Done with that, I grabbed my meat, ate it down, and started to meditate, before going to bed.