Arc 1 - Food and doubts

"A bishonen..."

One's physical appearance is the first thing people notice on first impressions. My appearance is an advantage and a disadvantage, on one hand the first thing people will think of when they see me is "That is just a pretty boy." On the other hand, being underestimated has many advantages.

I could bet anything that in Westeros people will tell me "You were prettier than my daughter/sister/wife!" many many times.

I look at the sky, I still have a couple of hours of daylight left.

I have to find a place to spend the night and some food. Luckily for me I am very fast, faster than most animals so hunting is the best option to find food.

But first I need a weapon, I'm not going to strangle my prey to death!

It's time to turn to the knowledge of the Stone Age man. I am going to make a primitive spear, for this I only need a sturdy branch and a stone to sharpen my spear. On the river bank there are many rocks.

I walked along the river bank looking for a good rock to sharpen my spear, I also watched the water for fish. After a while I found a sharp rock, I took it and I went to the forest. Finding a good branch didn't take long, I didn't pick up a branch off the ground, I snapped one right off a tree.

This body is not only fast, it is also strong, much stronger than I was as an adult. I remember the force of my kick... I crushed that wolf's skull with one hit.

The good thing about my physical abilities is that I won't have to worry about being intimidated or harassed by low criminals. In a one on one combat my chances of winning are almost certain only thanks to my strength, speed and reflexes. But that does not mean that I am invincible, in a battle against several opponents my chances of winning are not that high or at least I think so.

In combat, even the slightest distraction has devastating consequences.

Of course I have the body of a super soldier but I don't have Riku's memories or experience. I'm still a 21st century civilian in the body of a shinobi. I will not tempt fate, I will be cautious.

The pole I have chosen is about 3 centimeters in diameter and one meter and a half long. I use the rock to sharpen the end.

With a very primitive spear in hand I prepare for my next mission: to get food.

I debate between trying to fish or go into the forest and find some small animal, preferably rabbits.

I remember that during the chunin exams Sasuke caught several fish in a river using only his hands. My body should be in better condition than his so I should be able to do that.

I go over to the water and check its temperature.

"Cold! The water is almost freezing!"

Swimming in the river with the water so cold is not a good idea, I don't want to risk catching a cold.

At night the temperature will drop quite a lot.

Hunting it is.

I go into the forest.

A while ago I attracted a pack of wolves when I got lost in my own world and was very loud. I can't be blamed! Anyone who suddenly had the body of a shinobi with all its advantages would do the same!

But this time I have to be more careful, my goal is to hunt not to be hunted.

I sharpen my senses.

The daylight begins to fade when I see a rabbit about fifty yards to my left.

I slowly approach the rabbit, each step silent as the night. My dinner is not even aware of my presence.

Sorry Bunny-chan but I gotta eat, and you are delicious.

"!"

The rabbit raises its head and looks in my direction, its black eyes staring directly at me. His body tenses and he runs off.

"Oh no! You're not going to run away from me, dinner-chan!" I channel chakra into my legs and give chase. In a few seconds I am almost next to the rabbit. The rabbit tries to change direction but before it can do so I plunge my spear right into its head.

"Huff."

I took a deep breath.

I had never killed an animal before. I looked at the corpse nailed to the spear with conflicting emotions. I don't know what I should be feeling right now.

Pity?

Sadness?

I do not know.

I don't regret killing the rabbit, the lack of disgust or remorse surprises me. Is this another one of the things I inherited from Riku Senju? I am unable to feel empathy? No, that is-. I'm still me, right?

Or...

I know that in this world peace is nothing more than an illusion, sooner or later I will be involved in some war, I will be forced to kill. Killing another living being, another human- How will I react in such a situation? Will I be indifferent? Or maybe I will feel disgust and hate towards myself? Remorse, maybe?

O- what if my reaction, if my emotions are not mine but Riku's.

Am I still Owen Ventosa? How much have I changed just by having Riku's body?

I don't know-

...

I went back to the riverbank, I tried to ignore my doubts and thoughts. I put the spear and rabbit down on the grass and pick up twigs to make a fire. Once I have enough twigs I leave them next to my prey.

I walk to the shore and pick up some rocks. I arrange the rocks in a circle and then I put the twigs in the circle.

Now to light the fire. There are many methods to make fire without lighters or matches, the one I am going to use is called hand drill.

For it I need a fireboard, a flat, half-inch thick piece of dry, dead, softwood, and a spindle, a stick made of softwood or pithy wood about 18 to 24-inches long about the width of your pinky. I sharp the spindle a little on the ends.

There are 4 steps:

Step 1: Create a burn-in hole to make a small indentation that'll fit the spindle.

Step 2: Carve a V-shaped notch in the fireboard where you drill to collect the coal and hot dust that is formed. Place the fireboard on top of a leaf or piece of bark to collect the ember.

Step 3: Fit the spindle into the burn-in hole and place your hands on either side of the spindle.

Step 4: Rub your hands back and forth to move the spindle and press downward to generate friction.

This method is very exhausting, luckily for me my resistance is amazing. It took me several tries, several broken sticks, before I succeeded.

By the time my fire is lit the sun has already disappeared from the sky. My only sources of light are the moon, the stars, and my campfire.

The next thing I have to do is cook the rabbit.

The first thing I have to do is skin the rabbit. Red Dead Redemption is one of my favorite video games, and I love its prequel RDR 2 even more. One of my favorite things in RDR 2 is hunting, from antelope to bear, the variety of prey is amazing! And one thing I learned from that game is that you can skin a rabbit without any tools.

After seeing Arthur skin several rabbits my curiosity prompted me to google how it's done. And the method is quite simple.

On the rabbit knee, I rinse the joint out until it separates from the meat. Basically what I did was push the knee joint in one direction and pull the skin in another. I then held the leg with my fingers until the skin separated from the knee joint and the surrounding flesh. I pull the knee joint up while I pull the skin down, removing most of the skin on one leg. I repeat the same process with the other leg. Beneath the genitals, I ran his hand under the skin and across the abdomen. I loosen the skin of the lower part at the pull of it completely. At the rear of the rabbit, just above the tail, I ran his hand under the fur and along the back. I hold the skin and pull the back part until it completely detaches from the tail. Pull the fur down until it reaches the rabbit's arms. Another pull and the fur is off.

Arthur made it look super easy, skinning a rabbit in one go. It took me a long time. Once the rabbit is skinned, I use the sharp stone to cut open its stomach and remove its entrails.

The next thing is to take some branches and make a support on top of the fire to cook my dinner. That only took me a few moments, I had already collected all the necessary twigs before.

While my dinner is cooking I look at the sky.

Millions and millions of little lights of different colors.

I have never seen so many stars before.

This world is beautiful, nature is wild and untouched by man. I wonder if the sky of my homeworld was just as beautiful as this before man polluted the skies hiding the beauty of our universe.

I wonder about so many things.

Lost in the beauty above me, my thoughts go back to the moment I killed my prey.

What should have I felt at the time?

If I was still in my original body, how would I have reacted?

How deep is Riku Senju's influence on me?

And my deepest doubt: Who am I?