Day 59

it took me a while but I was finally able to clear a couple of trees and then got to work breaking them down into planks. It took me a couple of hours to do so, but I eventually got them into nice, even-ish shapes. I then started making flat steps up the side of a tree, making them wide enough for Lupe to climb up. I then started melding in a floor into an area of branches near the top of the tree, right before it started thinning. I then cut the surrounding branches down and used them as padding and window covers.

I called Lupe up when I finished with the ceiling, he easily scampered up the steps and climbed in, and I closed the hatchway behind him, the trap door closing smoothly. I laid out a pile of leaves and after drying them laid down on them, they were softer than I thought they'd be, and before I realized it I passed out in a semi-comfortable state, with Lupe taking the smart option and sleeping on my chest. I woke up briefly and noticed my Manaphage as shiny as usual, and needed some more juice, so I decided to meditate while the sun was still down, and entered back into a trance-like sleep.

I woke up again to a squawking noise, bird-like and rather annoying. I pulled myself out of the leaf pile, light shining through the cracks in my shuddered windows. Feeling much warmer than usual, I had pulled off my robe while sleeping and had used it as more cushion than anything else. Peeking outside, it felt like the forest was coming alive, I heard bird calls, and noises, and so much more, I hadn't realized how quiet the mountain was, and how much all the noise actually hurt when it came suddenly. I swear it came suddenly, like all at once, like someone hit play on a background track.

I covered my ears before slowly releasing them, as I got used to the sudden increase in stimuli. I noticed some movement around outside, and saw little birds flying, flitting about. I was surprised and found that I was very happy with my findings, I was no longer in an arctic forest mountain top, but rather in the beginnings of an actual forest, with plants and animals, and hopefully nothing more than I could manage. I ate some jerky and took a swig of water, before climbing down, Lupe excited to start exploring his new surroundings. I too wanted to explore and find something good to eat.

I marked my tree and checked out my board pile, still had about half the boards left, since I only made one room up top, and it wasn't a very big one. I had plans to build a small hut at the bottom of this tree too, one for drying meats and cooking my food, since a treetop barbecue sounds like a one-way ticket to treetop fire watch. So I started to explore, plans to build up my little hut for when I got back since it honestly wouldn't take me too long.

As an aside, I know whoever's reading this is probably wondering how fast I can build a hut now, after the practice I've had. I'll let you know, it's pretty fast, all I have to do is drag a finger along the wooden seam and will the two pieces together. I have to go slow to get deep penetration, like welding, but all in all its pretty fast. The hardest part is getting enough of a mana supply to keep up the building process, everything else is essentially just moving the boards into position and after a minute or so, done with that section.

Anyway, since I knew I'd be coming back later, I left the planks where they were and got on my way, the great forest ahead of me, the prospects ahead of me promising a bountiful harvest of vegetables and fruits, and maybe even a normal water source.