Finding water

After me and Shadow formed the connecting between a Tamer and his pets, the next thing on the list of to-do was to find a reliable source of water. I knew there had to be a stream or something nearby but just not in what direction. Thankfully I could smell rain coming so after I found a decent spot to camp for the night I gathered up some leaves that were huge and ended with a point. I used the system to check it out first and see if it was poisonous and thankfully it came up as just a regular leaf, I was hoping that maybe it had some latent power that only the heros of stories would stumble upon and turn it into some kind of enormous power up.... But I kept that in the back of my mind and had to admit that I've read too many stories haha.

I was able to throw together a few sticks overhead and used the big leaves as shingles, that way when the rain came in it would minimize how wet I got aswell as directing the rain to pour in a certain direction. I wasn't the best at bushcraft but I had always been interested and watched alot of videos about people just going off into the woods and building shelters and making fires... You know just real caveman type shit.

Unfortunately I wasn't that talented nor experienced so when I tried my hand at rubbing two sticks together all I came up with was some blisters on my hands. But atleast I had something covering my head and a couple animals to help keep warm at night. It wasn't a few hours after finding the campsite when the first raindrops came splattering onto the leaves. At first it was soft and made a noise that was pleasant to the ears, However pretty soon it turned into a downpour as if someone opened up a dam! The weight of it all coming down was even starting to bend the sticks and leaves over me. Shadow had already tried to hide under me as the thunder and lighting around us was scaring him, Rhonda was a little scared but she was handling it well and she was even trying to reassure me by sending the feeling of safety through our link and rubbing her head on my arm. 

"Haha, thank you Rhonda. I appreciate it but I know your scared too. OH! Dammit I'm so stupid.... Let's do this while we wait." I slapped my forehead as I pulled out the cube and opened up the portal. I ducked my head inside and like I thought, it was dry.... "Come on you two let's head inside. But first let's grab as much water as possible." 

I filled up my canteen and after a quick second decision I stepped out and made sure I was soaked from head to toe. It was a stupid risk but I had two sources of heat so I knew I wouldn't die, and the reward was enough to balance it out. After I stepped through and got undressed I looked at what was ready for harvesting, The feathers and the bristles were ready along with another stat boost. The greens for Rhonda still had a few minutes left for most of them except for one, Instead of looking like a cabbage, it was a single stalk with a leaf but where the stalk entered the ground.... It looked like it was wriggling? This must be the other option that could be grown from them right? What was it again?

That's when my face drooped a little and I felt grossed out thinking I would have to touch worms. Bleh! I shuddered a little but knowing it would be another food source had me swallowing down that gross feeling and with a tug I pulled up the stalk. BLAH! The damn roots were all worms! As soon as I pulled it up the whole bunch of worms just fell onto the ground and some had wiggled onto my arm. I instictively started flailing my arm around while using my other hand to brush them off. Rhonda on the other hand couldn't have been more ecstatic as she squawked and started snapping her beak at the worms that were thrown her way. She was loving it as every snap was another big juicy worm down the gullet.

After shuddering in disgust I looked at the worms with the system and see what I could do with them.

[Gregarious worms]

[Plantable: No]

[Will help fertilize ground.]

Well that's fine too I guess. I mean that does make sense considering that it's a worm. But going from the bird and how similar it is to something from a game, and even now the types of things I can plant and grow... They came from a very popular game series on Earth, but why are they here in reality? Did something overlooking this reality just copy and paste? If so what else did they bring over from the game? But that brings up the question of the Cutter wolves, they weren't in the games, but there were alot of different wolf species If I remember right..... Ugh dammit this is getting all too confusing!!!

"Ugh nevermind that. I'll just replant some of the greens and I'll suffer through a dry salad and Shadow can have the last piece of jerky, how does that sound guys? Then afterwards we can head back out and look for something better tasting." Rhonda pecked me as I said that and I got the sense that she huffed at me. 

"Hahaha, ok so better tasting for me and Shadow I mean. I know how you just love this stuff and I promise you will have your fill. But me and Shadow can't survive off this stuff girl." I gave her a quick pat and explained. Thankfully she understood and left to go pick some more of the worms off the ground, and pretty soon the link was filled with nothing but happiness on her end as she pigged out.

A couple hours later and after a few harvests of the feathers and greens, it was time to head out. I gathered up a bunch of the bristles and was still trying to figure how I could use these things effectively but for now I just stashed em away. Only bummer was that it was still raining when we left the dimension, but the need for food was a bit higher on the urgency scale than staying dry so we pushed forward for what felt like hours under the downpour but eventually I was able to hear the sounds of rushing water and we headed that direction in a hurry. By now the 3 of us were fatigued and I could tell Shadow was at his limit, a few yards away from the river was a rock overhang with enough room for us to huddle underneath it and rest. 

The ground was damp but it was still better than being under the constant rain and as soon as I could I peeled off my wet clothes and laid them out on the driest part of ground I could find. It was cold yes, It was wet yes, but right now there was nothing I could do about the situation even If I used the cube again. I would just have to suffer for the moment and then hope for the best afterwards. Atleast now I had a reliable source of water and with any luck maybe I could find some way to catch a fish or two if there were any.

.....

It was half a day before the rain finally let up enough for us to leave out from under the overhang. My clothes were still wet but it was time to move, Following the current was always what the survival guys did so I just followed that same logic and I found a few interesting things that got washed up from the raised water level. Well I say interesting but it was mostly trash like empty bottles, some kind of tarp with a hole ripped in it and some other stuff like that, you know the normal 'humans leaving their mark' kinda deal. But some of the things like the bottles could be used for containers and the tarp will definitely come in handy for either a makeshift poncho using the hole as a opeing for my head, or using it to provide some cover. Hahaha man I never thought I would be using up what I thought would just be useless knowledge.

After following the river for a few miles we came up on a campsite that was until recently being used. I didn't know who it could be, it might just be some other random adventurer, or if I'm unlucky it might be those bastards from HQ trying to find me... I crouched down and had Rhonda and Shadow wait behind some bushes while I crept up and had a look around. I saw some traces of people here like a firepit filled with wet ashes, some cut up firewood and some leftover trash. Other than that though I didn't see anything, I didn't see footprints in the mud so I guess that they had left before the rain came in or just after it started. If I could somehow dry up this firepit and figure out a way to make atleast an ember, I could totally use this campsite for atleast a little while. It sucks that this is a known area to somebody but with survival being a necessity, I'll gladly deal with them when they come back. 

"Ok guys it's safe to come out now. Rhonda do you mind doing a quick lap around the area and make sure that there isn't anybody around? Then I need you Shadow to go find the driest sticks that you can. I'll stay here and work on getting a fire started."

With a quick nod they left and I started on the firepit, It was still drizzling so no matter what I did I wasn't going to get a dry pit, but what I could do is take a few sticks and that tarp and make a covering over it and as for the hole I just grabbed a few of the big leaves and used those to help with the drizzle and also help direct the water, instead of just letting it sit and build up. I didn't have anything that could be used as kindling except my clothes but they were soaked again... I took a look at some of the trash left behind in the hopes of maybe some cardboard or atleast something decently flammable..... No go on that. Just wrappers for some kind of packaged meal.

It took me for Fcking ever to get the tarp and leaves set up where the rain wasn't constantly filling up the pit at the same rate I was draining it. By that time Rhonda and Shadow had come back, Rhonda gave the all clear for anything being around us and Shadow had been bringing sticks to lay out under the tarp. Nothing was going to get dry at any point in the near future but he did bring back a stick that had some kind of berries on it. 

"How did you find this Shadow?" I asked as I grabbed one of the berries, they were small and had a color somewhere in between green and yellow. 

[Rousing berry]

[Plantability: Yes]

[Potential Grown Items: Rousing Berry: 99.9%, Rousing Berry Bush: 0.1%]

[These berries contain a liquid that helps stave off exhaustion and sleepiness, But beware, If used too much can result in Increased symptoms.]

Hmmmmm, well that's a pretty nice find. Aslong as I don't overdue it essentially this can help me accomplish more things in a day. "Good job boy this was an awesome find! It's not something we can use as a food source but it definitely has it's uses." Shadow yipped and wagged his tail while I gave him some pets, I put aside the branch after I grabbed the handful of berries I saw. It wasn't alot but since I could plant them it wouldn't take long before I had more than I knew what to do with. 

After a couple more hours of working on trying to dry out this firepit I lucked out as the rain finally stopped pissing down on us. That would make things alot easier on us and I went ahead and took off my clothes but this time I hung them up over branch to get them to air dry, it won't be quick but it's better than nothing. the firepit was finally somewhat decently dry and after laying down some of the sticks and branches Shadow had brought as a base, I then started building up a pyramid of the sticks that were atleast dried enough to the touch and shaved off alot of kindling and added that into the center of the pile. Rubbing two sticks together didn't work out so I had to try something else..... But what could I do? I didn't know enough to make a bow drill and ofcourse I didn't have flint and steel..... Dammit, looks like it's back to two sticks, I swear I'm going to get this right!!!!!!