Survival instincts

I can definitely say my survival instincts kicked in. I looked at the small shelter I had built with a smile. Due to me being in a forest there was an abundance of sticks and other materials to build a small shelter with. Banyan trees were quite helpful in providing shade and materials for the shelter. I can roughly guess my geographic position due to the different types of trees and fruits. It's an assumption, but I believe that I have ended up in India. I don't know how, but it seems the universe won't give me an explanation either. Which means, the most important thing I can do right now is survive.

It doesn't matter where I am whether it be India or some other place on the planet, I just need to survive. I died because I wasn't cautious enough. To be honest, I can't even say for sure I killed the first robber. Which is both a good and bad thing, because if I killed him I would have to deal with the emotional baggage that comes from killing something, but at least I know that I brought someone down with me. However because I can't be sure if I killed him, it doesn't matter and I won't worry about it too much. All I can do now is survive and find a way back home.

There is an abundance of fruit in this forest which is an absolute win. I won't have to worry about food for at least two months, maybe more. There are a lot of animals, but I have no idea how to hunt or make something that can kill one in the first place. So I'll rely on fruit for now. Nothing like an Indian orange right?

My next focus should be water. I can hear water from my current location, but I am scared to look for it in case I get lost. I'll need to make some sort of trail to find my way back. Sticks would work well in that regard. I just need to get some more sticks and then I can get a trail to some water. After that I'll focus on building up my shelter and learning how to make a weapon. After that... well I'll work on a plan later too much thinking for 1 minute.

.....Time skip 2 hours.....

I gulped the water down furiously. Turns out after walking for an hour left you thirsty. The river was really beautiful though. Paired with the trees and other greenery the river looked like it was created by a master sculptor. I took a moment to admire the river before grabbing the makeshift water barrel I had made and filling it up. Of course carrying it back would be a pain, as the trail was almost completely covered in roots and plants. I used sticks to create a path here so I could get back easier. I picked up the barrel and started my walk back to the shelter. Being conservative, I would have to get water every three days which means I would have to take the walk here and back every three days. Or, I could make multiple barrels of water and stock them up once every few weeks. The multiple barrel idea is better, due to it being better in emergencies in case the trail becomes completely impassible, or I can't make the trip to the river. I'll have to designate the day after tomorrow to gather the water. For now, I should just head back to the shelter and sleep before it gets too dark.

On my walk back, I took some time to admire the different sights in the forest. The birds chirping, the different plants, and the trees swaying in the wind. It made me wonder. Though pointless to think about, how did I get here? Some all powerful being giving me a second chance at life, not likely. A fuck up with the timeline in some way, don't know how that would happen. I can't come up with a logical conclusion because there isn't one. The bullets that pierced my heart should have killed me. My brain shouldn't be working, but it is. My body shouldn't be working, but it is. My heart shouldn't be beating, but it is. Which means, I should keep moving forward. As long as I am alive, As long as my heart still beats, I will do everything I can to stay that way.

Suddenly I saw something ahead of me that made my body freeze. A large Bengal Tiger. Or something that looked like one. It was twice my size and hadn't seemed to notice me. I slowly backed up hoping it didn't notice me. I quickly hid behind a tree waiting for it to go away. It walked away most likely looking for its next meal, hopefully not being me. I picked up my barrel and continued walking the trail. Phew, that was close. If I hadn't noticed that thing earlier, I might have died again. At least I can count on my luck to be good.

I continued walking before hearing some branches crack behind me. I heard a growl and slowly turned around. Standing there was the huge Bengal tiger. I placed my water barrel down before slowly backing away. The tiger didn't react at all. That was confusing to me. Or maybe it wasn't. Tigers usually don't attack humans unless injured or old. Maybe I could try to befriend the tiger? I walked towards the tiger slowly, I was scared for sure, but I was also hopeful. It would be nice to have a tiger to help me with surviving even if it was a little crazy. I put my hand out towards the tiger. My red eyes met its amber ones it sniffed my hand before it growled at me and ran away. "Huh?" I tilted my head as it ran away. I sighed and picked up the water barrel and started walking back to my shelter. No tiger friend today.

............Chapter break...........

Hey! The author here is just gonna explain some stuff real quick before continuing this chapter.

1 Bengal Tigers are pretty cool! They don't attack humans unless they are old or injured in some way, and coincidentally they also hail from India. They think of us like a last resort as we don't taste that good to them to all the shampoo and body soap we put on our bodies.

2 Alexander is going to be magecraftless for a while.

3 Alexander was shoved into India during the beginning of the Mahabharata and will most likely take part in its events (Specifically the war).

4 Alexander is a "rational" person and makes rational decisions based upon "logic" interpret that as you will.

5 Don't expect Alexander to become a heavenly defying existence as strong as Gilgamesh or anywhere close, however under the right circumstance he could POSSIBLY "beat" Gilgamesh or almost any other character in the fate series.

6 If I make any mistakes in the story of the Mahabharata please notify me in the comments so I can fix it.

7 I took inspiration from Fate/defiance for this fic, though it will most definitely not be as good due to my mediocre writing skills.

Other than that, I hope you have a great time reading this story, if you don't, tell me why and I will do my best to fix it! -AndrewTate

...............Chapter break end.............

When I returned from the river and the tiger incident, it was already dark and I was tired. I stored the water barrel in my shelter next to the fruit barrel. The barrels weren't really barrels, as much as they were water melons which had been emptied. They were huge though, the watermelons were bigger than my head and could fit 3 days worth of water, however they were scarce and I had only found two so far. Which means I had to gather more if I wanted to roll with the multiple water barrels idea. What a pain this whole surviving thing is turning out to be. I decided to shut off my brain for tonight and sleep.

...............The next morning.................

I yawned and rubbed the sleep out of my eyes. It was time to get to work building up my shelter and gathering more food and materials. I gathered more sticks and branches to start making a more cabin-like shelter. It took a while, but it started to look more and more like a cabin. It was still small, but if I wanted to expand it more I would have to cut down a few trees. For now, it was like a modern home compared to what the shelter was yesterday, so I was content. Not to mention it was also water proof this time. Unfortunately quite a lot of time had passed while I was building the cabin and I didn't have much time left for creating anything that could help me. Actually I could make a fire pit with the remaining time in the day. I'll need some rocks, mud, and a whole lot of dirt.

Time skip

I looked at the fire pit with a small sense of accomplishment. I cleared out most of the vegetation around it so as to not start a forest fire. I put the rocks around the pit in a circle, using mud to "glue" them together. Then I put dirt into the fire pit to make sure it didn't burn the ground beneath it. I put some sticks into the fire pit and started a fire by banging rocks together for probably about 30 minutes. Next time, I'm using friction. But now I have a fire to keep me warm! Mostly in case my clothes become ineffective. They are beginning to look a little rugged. The jeans and white t-shirt I was wearing were stained with dirt and mud while my hair was caked with mud and my hands covered in dirt. I needed a shower bad. I'll take a bath next time I go to the river. I still have about 2/3 of the water left in the watermelon barrel™ which means I can wait at least another 2 days before going to the river again. I found another watermelon today, but I haven't eaten it yet which means I can't use it as a barrel. Agh my brain hurts, thinking too much is a pain. For now I'll just start eating the third water melon to make another barrel.

I walk to the "cabin" and grab the watermelon. I slowly cut the top off using a curved stick with ridges, my very own makeshift saw. The top was gone and I started eating the watermelon. It tasted like a sweeter version of a normal watermelon. Pros to eating it fresh I guess. As I ate, the Bengal tiger showed up at my little camp and looked at me curiously. I waved at it and continued eating. I am still scared of the tiger but it likely doesn't know what to think of me. It looks to be wild, so I doubt it's ever met a human in its lifetime. Until me of course. I finished eating half of the watermelon and wiped my mouth with my shirt. I walk over to the tiger and stick my hand out to it once more. It looked at me like I was stupid before turning around and laying down near the fire pit. Maybe it liked the warmth. I sighed and stood up returning the watermelon to my "cabin". I then walked over and sat down next to the tiger.

I reached out and started petting its head. It purred as I pet it behind the ears. I smiled. It might look mean but on the inside, I bet it was a big softie. I continued petting the tiger for a while before it stood up and left. Well alright then. I waved goodbye and decided to go to seep. I should make a weapon and start hunting. But first, sleep. I crawled into my shelter and decided to sleep on a pad of matted grass. I wonder how my sister is doing back home? probably fine. Johnathan was probably looking for me. I wonder if I'll ever see them again? Hopefully I would. For now though, I should sleep and focus on making a weapon in the morning.

....................End of chapter (2000 words)....

I decided to post this for now, and make another 2000 word chapter at some point this week, as to not bore you guys with a 5000 word info dump. The next chapter should have a teeny bit of action in it though so be ready for that! Also don't be afraid to leave a comment! I am open to criticism as well. -AndrewTate