It took Alexei hours to find the red iron bearing rock. This was partially because he had tried to stay quiet and keep an eye out for trouble. The other reason was that he was unlucky and went the wrong way, but after backtracking and going along the cliff to what he called the west based on the fact that the sun set away from the waterfall along the cliffs, he quickly found what he was looking for and made his way back with several hematite rocks.
The flint was much easier as there was plenty in the riverbed just past the pond created by the waterfall. He gathered some rocks as well as some old fallen leaves and sticks to create a fire near the entrance of the narrow crack. He would have to dig a fire pit when he had the time and tools.
He then got to work creating a fire using the flint rocks with the hematite to get his tinder lit. It took him some time to get a spark to catch, but once he did the fire quickly spread and caught the sticks on fire. He had collected a few to keep the fire going as well as make torches, but what he really needed was pitch.
Alexei grumbled as he used the fresh and dry bark, along with some thin vine from the jungle floor, to roughly make a stone age torch which he lit in the fire. Once he was sure the fire had taken well enough he gently tossed it deep into the crack to make sure it didn't narrow to a point that would get him stuck.
Seeing that the entrance remained just wide enough for him to squeeze in, he sighed with relief and followed his torch in. Picking it up he squeezed for a few more feet until it began to widen into a cavern.
Alexei hesitated, then entered into the space. It wasn’t too wide, but it would make for a comfortable campsite as long as he blocked off the other few tunnels he saw on the far end. Surprisingly he didn't find any signs of any animals, just a few bugs and beetles that he would rather get rid of. But he had a plan for that.
It took a few trips, but he brought in and created a fire in the center of the space, then covered it with green leaves and exited the space. Hopefully the smoke would kill any insects and other vermin that inhabited the space before him. While he waited for the smoke to do its job, he began contemplating and adjusting his todo list for survival.
- Find Water and Shelter. Check
- Find safe source of food.
- Get tools to make fire. Check.
- Find flint and iron sources. Check.
- Make tools
- Make weapons
Looking at his list he wasn’t in as bad of shape as he had expected. With the iron and flint located, making tools was only a matter of time, and he might not be stuck in the stone age as long as he thought. Though…
I guess I can’t count on rescue. At this point I can’t hold out hope that I am on earth, there is too much evidence against it.
The green feline, which he was going to call a planther, appeared to either have the ability to control plants or have a symbiotic relationship with some man-eating flora in the jungle. Neither of these were great options in Alexei’s mind, and with his discovery of the goblin-like creatures, he knew he wasn't in kansas anymore.
Chuckling at the dated reference, Alexei gathered a few more nodules of flint and began to knap them into the starter tools he would need. First was just a simple knife that he could lash to a stick or piece of bamboo to make a spear. This “simple” work took him over half an hour of trying, with breaks to tend to the fire in the cave and add more greenery, before he was satisfied with his first knife.
This is almost too long to be my spear blade, maybe I will just keep this one for a regular knife. Now all I need is some leather for the handle.
Next he started knapping an axe head out of one of the larger flint nodes. He would need to be able to take down trees and shape them if he wanted to build anything like a wall for his new home. While thinking of the possibilities for the clearing, he slowly worked on the flint until it took the form he needed.
Setting the axe head aside and taking his new knife, he decided to get a better idea of what was in the jungle near his clearing, as well as finding a good handle for his axe. Gathering up some vine to use as a grip for the handle, Alexei kept his eyes roaming in search of danger. Unfortunately with the waterfall being so close he wouldn’t be able to hear anything approaching until it was too late, so he would have to be careful.
Taking a deep breathe to psyche himself up, he entered the treeline once again and began to explore the jungle. He tried to keep near the treeline and took samples of the various flora that appeared to be edible, avoiding anything that looked remotely poisonous by Earth standards. He found several handle candidates which he grabbed as well.
Just as he was debating turning back, out of nowhere one of the goblinish things jumped from a tree onto Alexei’s back and bit his shoulder. Screaming out in shock and pain, he tried to ram his back into a nearby tree to dislodge his attacker while his free hand grasped at it’s head, dropping all he had gathered. It wasn’t waiting for his reaction though, and quickly jumped off and prepared for another attack.
Full of adrenaline, Alexei dove towards the creature with his knife outstretched and grabbed hold of one of its legs as it attempted to jump away. It hissed and twisted around, jumping at his face.
Alexei flailed attempting to protect his eyes when he felt another bite, this time on his left arm. Aiming blindly, he thrust his knife near where he felt the bite and felt it hit something solid, then get ripped from his hand.
Alexei fell back and searched for his attacker, surprised when he found the thing gurgling and scratching at the knife awkwardly rammed into its neck. He kept his eyes on the thrashing creature as he found a nearby rock and began pounding its head in. After nothing remained of its head he dropped back to the ground gasping for breath.
That had been the closest to death he had been in a long time. He winced as all the pain came flooding back in as the adrenaline faded from his system. He retrieved his knife from what was left of the creature's neck and observed that it’s blood was red, something he had failed to note at the site of the massacre before.
Taking this chance to get a good look at the headless thing, he realized it was naked and clearly male with it’s dangly bits hanging out. Looking towards it’s legs, he noticed they were thicker than he would have expected for its size, probably the source of its long jumps. It really was an ugly thing with wrinkled green skin and heavy calluses on the feet and hands.
After wiping the blade on some nearby leaves, Alexei used the knife the cut of his left sleeve at the shoulder, then cut into strips he used to bandage his shoulder and arm. He would have to rinse them soon though in order to fight infection, though he didn’t even have clean water at this point.
His indecision about returning ended by the attack, he hurried back to camp after picking up his dropped plants and took off the bandages to wash the wounds in the river. Gritting his teeth through the pain, he looked at the wounds.
Almost looks like a sharkbite. He shuddered. Don’t want to get caught in a pack of those. And here I was hoping that they would be friendly, or at least neutral to me. Maybe I will give up and just call them goblins after all. But that doesn't feel right. Well, for now they are shablins.
He chuckled to himself and winced as he rewrapped his wounds. His group had always complained about the names he came up with for odd creatures, and would always wind up renaming them.
Thinking about his old group was making him morose, so he changed his thoughts to his gathered plants. Setting out a few rocks near the treeline and sorting the flora on the rocks, he hoped that in the morning he would see which ones were eaten and that they would edible for him.
With the sun finally setting in a day that seemed to last forever, Alexei stumbled into his cave. It smelled strongly of smoke, and would hopefully deter anything that wanted to enter for at least the night. He hadn’t closed off the tunnels, but he was running out of light, energy, and willpower to keep going. So instead he just lay down and let all the emotions of the day finally hit him and began to cry.
How the hell did this happen to me? And what happened? Was that light an alien ship and I am on some planet light years from Earth? Or was it the light of the gods transferring me to a world that needed my help? The only other possibility I can think of is that I was transported millenia into the future and this is Earth.
His nose stuffed up and he let the tears flow freely down his cheeks as he considered the possibilities. If this was the future he would have the lowest chance of making it home, but it wasn’t like the other options had easy returns lined up for them.
I wonder how long it will take for anyone to even realise I am gone? He mused to himself. I had been doing contract work before and all those were finished. The school doesn't need me for anything as my student loan is being paid monthly out of my account, along with all my bills and utilities. It would be a year before that ran out, and I already put in my notice to move from the apartment so in all likelihood they will just throw out all my stuff in a few months and keep the deposit.
So much for finding a therapist. I am about to become the most isolated hermit in human history. He snorted, catching himself falling into self pity. Come on Alexei, let’s not lose hope just yet. Maybe there is a human civilization somewhere nearby, or at least a sentient one that won’t kill me on sight. Think of it as an adventure, a chance to really accomplish something.
Forcibly changing his line of thought away from his present, he focused on the future and began to plan a compound to shock and awe any survival expert in his country. He chuckled with a little madness in his eyes as he planned deep into the night, until he could no longer keep his thoughts coherent and fell asleep.
