Blizzard, Bears, and new home

Chapter 5

Blizzard, Bears, and new home

Then this happened. I was only a day or 2 away from the place where I started from. My destination was the cave where the underground tribe is located. It would be perfect for the winter. I kicked myself for going away instead of finding it. Still some good came out of this trip. I learned many things that would let me survive this winter properly instead of just getting by.

It was not sudden. Thankfully, I recognized the signs, the tribes imparted me with, in this type of situation. Still, I didn't have more than 4 minutes of warning. I quickly collected all my things and started moving. Just before the sight was taken and replaces with the white, I was able to see a cave in the distance.

The next thing, I know is all white and burning cold. I even had trouble breathing.

I didn't know where I was going but I couldn't stop. I was scared of dying here without even doing anything, without making my mark. So I kept going in the direction where I thought the cave was. Thankfully, I reached the cave before I could be swallowed by the blizzard.

Unfortunately, I forgot to check the cave before going in. Thankfully, it was daytime and I had enough vision to see 2 grizzly bears sleeping in the cave.

I became still on seeing them. I willed myself not to even breathe. I didn't know what to do. I definitely couldn't go out because of the blizzard and I couldn't go in because of the bears. It gave a new meaning to that proverb 'Between a rock and a hard place'.

I knew the bears would kill me if they opened their eyes. I had heard enough about the grizzly bears to know that they are bad news.

I couldn't kill the bears. Not that I didn't want to. All my senses were screaming at me to kill them. The problem is I 'couldn't' do. I could fire 1 arrow at one time. It would take more than one to kill one of them. Even if I am able to kill one, it would wake up the other and I don't fancy my chances of getting out on the top in the close quarters against a bear.

For a few minutes, I stood there without making any noises and keeping my breath even while trying to think of any solutions. In the end, I thought and discarded a dozen plans. In the end, I decided to follow one I thought at first.

I formulated the plan thoroughly.

I was torn, whether to do it or not. In the end, I decided to just do it. I would get killed anyway if both of them wake up. At least this way I had a chance. A slim chance but a chance nonetheless.

I backed away to the mouth of the cave, slowly. That way I would have enough distance to run and enough room to be maneuverable if it comes to getting in a fight with it. Granted the fight in a blizzard is not a favorable condition but what else could I have done?

I put away everything on the ground that would slow me down as silently as I could. Then, I picked up the poisoned arrow from the quiver on my back as silently as I could. I could differentiate the poisoned from the non-poisoned from the way their feathers were tied down.

I notched an arrow as far as I could because I wanted my first arrow to count. Once I felt the limit, I let it loose. I was sure it would hit on the target. It was good that the bears were sleeping with their backs to the wall and head in the front. Just as it sailed away, I took another arrow and let it loose again in a slightly different direction. I was happy to see all the practice was not for the waste. Both shots were on the mark. Both of my arrows were embedded in the skulls of each of the bear through their eyes.

They woke up and screamed though I couldn't know as they felt more like a roar.

Before they could see me, I let loose more arrows, each to make sure that they were killed for good. All my arrows hit the mark: their eyes.

After getting shot twice, and losing the eyesight both bears saw me and charged at me or rather the mouth of the cave.

It was a blur after that. In less than half a minute, I fired a dozen arrows, all of which were poisoned. The bears were more than halfway between the cave end and me. Before they even had to charge at me properly, they were killed. Once it was done, I heaved a sigh and sat down. Now that all the adrenaline had worn off, I could feel my heart beating like crazy in my chest, the sweat in my brow despite the blizzard still going on and generating bone biting cold.

I don't know for how long I sat there cursing my luck and situation. I even cried in frustration.

A cold wind on my face took me out of my musing. I could see the blizzard was still going. The snow was slowly trickling down the cave. To stop that, I pushed both of the bears to the mouth of the cave. It wasn't easy. It took me a great effort to push them. Only one bear could cover three fourth of the mouth of the cave so I put the other bear beside the first. That way, they could cover almost all of the mouth of the cave.

Once, I covered the cave, it became dark.

After doing that I laid down against the bears to get warm and to get some rest.

The blizzard continued throughout the day.

Thankfully, by the evening it stopped.

I quickly exited the cave once it stopped. I had been unable to eat for the whole day because of the blizzard. I couldn't even start a fire as I didn't have any wood. Still, I was able to plan my next course of action. Blizzard had been a boon to me in that regard. I found my new home for the foreseeable future. The cave was warm and would provide a good shelter. The only problem is that other animals and even humans could find the cave.

Unfortunately, I couldn't do anything for now other than laying the bear traps which I already did. Thankfully there were some bits and pieces of fish that the bears probably ate, to put on the traps as bait.

I quickly exited the cave by pushing one of the bears away. I let them there as it would keep the other animals away. Most animals would see them and run away. I don't think any animal would go in the cave in this situation. Moreover, I didn't have the energy to do it. First of all, I collected as much as firewood, I could and stored it in the cave. Due to the blizzard, there was an abundance of the torn branches and trees. I also collected the leaves for my bed. I also found some berries to eat in the meanwhile which satisfied some of the hunger.

I was only done after the sun had gone down. By the time I reached the cave, the moon was up in the sky. I also laid some fish traps near the cave in the shallow ends of the river. Once in the cave, I quickly started a fire and roasted the 2 fish, my traps caught in the morning before the blizzard came. They felt heavenly after starving for the whole day.

Once I had eaten, I went to sleep. All the work done today made me tired. I kept the bears on the mouth of the cave as this way an animal would just eat them instead of attacking me. And if they make some noise I would wake up and kill them. It was better than leaving the cave open. I am sure that the animals would have known that this cave belongs to the bears so most would stay clear of it and surrounding territory. Still, you never know.

Next day

I woke up before the sun has risen. I sometimes marvel. In my previous life, I would have been sleeping till noon in this type of season. And here I am waking before the sun. I shook my head and got ready to head out.

I also saw the cave for the first time. The cave was quite big. It starts getting a little bigger the more you go deeper. I would say the cave was about 8 or 9 feet long. The cave was probably used by humans at one point as it was also chiseled on both sides at the end. All in all, it was shaped like a 'T'. The ends were about 3 feet in both directions, making it about 8 feet long in the back as the cave was 2 feet wide.

After reaching the river, I first checked the traps. Fortunately, I found 2 fish in them. I took them back to the cave after doing the morning rituals. I didn't bathe as I already bathe yesterday. Moreover, I would need to bathe after all the messy work I would do.

Once I had eaten breakfast, I started skinning the bears but not before losing all of my clothes (as I didn't want to put bloodstains on the furs) and starting a fire nearby in the cave (as I didn't want to catch a cold).

It was good that I asked every cook of all 4 of the tribes about the knowledge of skinning a bear or lion. I knew enough from them to do it like how to recognize and put the fat and the meat part separately etc.

It took me a whole morning and a better part of the afternoon to do it right and just for a single bear. I could have done the same for the second bear but I decided to postpone it for tomorrow.

In the end, I was covered in blood and felt like throwing up. With an inhumane effort, I composed myself. I put every inedible thing that could be traded in the corner and the inedible parts that can't be traded on the traps. After that, I quickly made my way over to the river. I know I could get hypothermia but I had to clean myself from all the blood. I was sticky and I wanted to lose that feeling of being covered in the blood.

I started a fire and after taking off my clothes, I used the water to clean myself. The fire nearby kept me warm while I scrubbed myself clean.

Once I was done I went back to the cave. There I ate the bear meat for the first time. It was good enough with the help of spices.

'I am sure the meat would last me for at least a week. The cold would also keep the meat fresh. I just had to get by this winter. The Alkennys and even the other tribes would definitely take me in the summer' I hoped

After eating, I put up the defenses around the cave. The bear traps were the first line of defense but I was not foolish enough to assume that they would be enough. For the second defense, I lined the firewood along with the mouth in 2 lines with 3 feet distance apart. In between, I put some small and sharp spikes so that if some animal jumped they would impale on them. I first selected the wood from the logs and sharpened it on both sides. Then I buried it from one side.

That way the animals would not come in seeing that they wouldn't want to cross the fire. The fire also kept the cold air from coming in and by the time it became hot, I was done by the late night or early morning if you wish.

Only once, I was satisfied with the traps, I allowed myself to sleep by covering myself with the bear hides. The bear hide was really warm as I didn't felt cold throughout the night though the smell was nearly unbearable. Still, I was very tired and so the sleep quickly claimed me.