Chapter 6 - "The Hope."
Alpha Date Year(002): 315,848
Day: 269/365
The day after, he woke up again. This time, he slept like a log, not having any nightmares to startle him awake. But he did wake up with a strange conviction. Then he saw it. Or rather, he didn't see him. His Uncle was gone; he had already left before he woke up. He left a note stuck to the cave wall, above the stone plate. These were the rules he placed above it. "Must pay a core ahead of time for every night. If you do not pay the price, then you will pay an extra week for every day you miss a payment. For every night you stay, you must leave at dawn unless you pay ahead of time during dusk for the next day. If you try to stay, it will be considered payment. Understood?" He honestly didn't feel so good after reading the rules, but he knew he had to leave. He then began to gather his gear quickly. And then, at dawn, he heads out, trying to face the day.
J then starts thinking, "Okay…all right, first things first, I need to eat." He then checks back to where the tree was. He knew where the path towards the campsite he previously lived in was, but he didn't want to go back. He felt that the woods were still dangerous, especially since now Mountain Hounds were tracking him. So he went to the tree and set down all his gear to make camp. He decided to use the tree as a marker and used a clearing beside it to make camp.
He made a basic fire pit for his campfire. It was just a hole dug in the ground, and after finishing the pit, he started to gather wood. He knew that he needed to get a fire going if he wanted to eat. So he started to get some wood and began working with it. He starts with a small flame by rubbing sticks together, deciding only to burn a few things, and this is because he's trying to prep his gear. He decides to make some sticks around him and harden those sticks like he did before for the pit trap. He decided that he needed something to stab with.
He realized that if he wanted to protect himself from the Mountain Hounds, he needed to have something sharp to hurt them, and the stick was going to have to be durable. So he tried to harden the point of a few sticks to be as hard as possible. However, half of the attempts frustrated him because they ended up snapping and becoming too brittle. Eventually, he was able to get it right with a few large branches. These branches were pretty durable, but he knew that this couldn't work. Then, an idea crossed his mind.
He still had some string that he made. How did he make this string? Well, actually, near the clearing, there was a type of thrush. The type of thrush that he realized he could use to make string. He then spent the day twisting and forming a string, and after a few hours, he was able to make a very thin, fine string, the kind of string that was needed to start sewing things. After he had finished making the string, he decided to start seeing what he could sew. And he noticed his tent. After noticing the wear and tear, he then noted what to stitch and began stitching all the holes and tears inside the tent. He ended up hurting himself a bit during the stitching, but it was worth it. Because now he didn't mind it. He only poked himself about four or five times. But after that, he was fully in control. It seemed like he had finally developed his skills to at least a somewhat decent degree, filling him with a sense of pride.
Developing these skills to this degree was a labor of love, but overall, he was just happy that he could finally get his tent back. It was midday at this point, and he had already finished his tent, making sure that the blankets and everything else were also up to snuff. He noted any kind of damage. He saw that though his boots were kind of damaged, they weren't too torn and too worn, and as long as he could find something to weave, he could always just repair them. The tent was sewn together, but it was bunched up in some way, so it didn't sit as well as before. That was to be expected, but still, it made him kind of mad.
"Those dogs ripped up my tent! I wanted to make sure that the tent was alright. But it still doesn't look too good. Did I sew it wrong? No, I swear I had to redo the stitch three times, but I did it right. Maybe this is just how it was. Okay…Fine. As long as the tent's intact, I'm alright." More than that, he started to observe what was around him. Besides the branches and the thorn that lay before him, he noted how much string he had on him. "Hmm, how should I tie this up? Then he started to tie a knot around his finger like what his uncle told him. Up over and around, up over and around, another around his thumb, around his pinky, around his thumb, around his pinky.
He did it until it was an organized bunch of rope. Thin, but very useful and easy to get at a moment's notice. He would need it if he were to properly get enough string to sew whatever was necessary at a moment's notice. Then he started to note what was around him besides the brush, besides everything else. He noted that there wasn't much. He decided to check on his traps. He knew that they were part of the danger zone now, but he still needed to see. After going around, he then decided to look through the clearing. To see where and if any kind of rabbits were there. He didn't see any kind of movement in the woods like before. It was pretty dead silent. So, he looked around. He even waited for a little bit to see if a rabbit would come. Nothing came. So, he decided to go near the pit. He'd always check where he was by scratching and putting little arrows on the trees around him.
Directing himself to where the rabbit trap was, he looked inside the pit. Suddenly, a stroke of luck hit him because although the pit was disturbed, it seemed there was a reason…there was a dead rabbit in there. It seemed like claws were digging into the dirt, trying to get at the rabbit. But it seemed like they couldn't make it in time. The rabbit was far from being considered edible, with flies now swarming around it. But even if this was true and the image of the rabbit did make J feel sick, he was still happy as a thought crossed his mind. "It still might have its core!" and so, spurred only by this thought, he decided to take out the rabbit. He climbed and reached the bottom of the pit, grabbing the rabbit that floated in the now muddy water while being stabbed by one of the sticks in the pit. The rabbit's corpse smelled putrid at this point, where the gases had turned it rotten, but he still needed to open it.
After slicing its abdomen and rummaging through its organs, he then took the core out of the rabbit after reaching its heart. He thought about skinning it, but he decided not to. It seemed that the hide was pierced too far, and where it was impaled made it even harder to take the hide from the rabbit. He knew that it would take a lot of sewing to patch it up, but decided not to since its hide was in a bad condition anyway. Besides, he didn't want to boil it for so long to get rid of the smell. He needed to conserve what he could. But the core was a necessary find. It was a blessed find after yesterday, to be honest. Although the core appeared tarnished, it seemed to be in pretty alright condition, even though it looked like it was starting to decompose, where the surface, which was usually more translucent, was now starting to tarnish into more of something akin to badly stained and unclear glass.
But he still appreciated what had happened and thought that he could pay for a night in the cave, but he didn't know if this was acceptable. To be honest, he was a bit disappointed with himself. He wasn't able to get to this rabbit from the monsters in time, and if he had been able to get here yesterday, then the core would've been in better condition. But the markings in the dirt above the pit made him think. "They can't use my traps, can they?" After this, he decided that he needed to start making more traps, but in safer locations. But he also had an idea brewing in his head that was a dangerous idea, yet a challenge to him. "What happens if I hunt one of those? How much will I pay for one of those? How many cores? He said one core for each, but maybe if I get one of those cores, then I could pay for a whole week. Maybe.
Maybe. That would be nice. Because then I wouldn't have to worry about winter. If I just get one of those... If I were able to take the meat off of them, that meant I could eat it very well. I would have had a lot more meat on my hands, too.
Besides, I don't know how to skin them. I might have to do it twice. Hunting them once is already a problem. How do I hunt them? Wait, why was it digging? Could it not get out of the hole to get in? Wait, can it not climb like I can? Why didn't they just climb down? I mean, there's a bit of water in there, but nothing that bad, and I'm lucky that the pit didn't overflow. It's probably because I made it all sandy at the bottom. Wait, they can't climb? Hmm…that's...also, how do these rabbits avoid them?" One thought after another crossed his mind. "If the rabbits can avoid them, why can't I? Wait. That's it. Maybe I should… learn from the rabbits? Yeah, that's what I'll do! I'll learn from the rabbits!"
He had already spent a good part of his time trying just to see the rabbits or hunt them. But right now, he was thinking about how to learn from them. It'd be hard, but he realized that he could learn from the rabbits. At this point, after checking in on the condition of the pit, the night was approaching, so he decided to settle in for the night, double-checking to make sure before heading to camp. However, as he reached the camp and after studying into the night, he tried sleeping, but it was quite difficult because he had an unsettling fear that just when he was about to sleep, the hounds would come. The beasts would come. They would come, and they would rip him apart as easily as if they were just another snack, and this thought haunted him all night. He was able to get only about four or five hours of sleep at most before it was already dawn. He wanted to sleep longer, and he did, but he just couldn't. So, instead, he decided to occupy his mind by reading more of the dictionary to at least do something with his time instead of trying to sleep.
After sleeping for only four or five hours and a long morning trying to study more of the new book he had, he suddenly came up with an idea. "Hmm. Maybe if I... Maybe... Maybe if I... Maybe if I study how these rabbits run away, it can help me learn how they can get away from those large Hounds." So, he decides to go to the best place. After waiting a short while, hiding in the clearing, he suddenly sees a rabbit. He was hungry at this point; he hadn't caught much. The soup that he took along with him satisfied him for the night because of how dense it was, likely because his Uncle purposely made it very dense. But right now, he wanted to eat, so he decided to catch the rabbit.
Using the new snare this time, he gets a chance and captures the rabbit quickly. The snare moved so quickly that it honestly startled even J. "This snare is so much better now. The book told me that this was a better version, but to be honest, I think there's something I'm missing. The snare…I thought I tied it like this, but maybe tying it like this might also work. Maybe I can suggest some different ideas. Also, they said something about a spear being super efficient with it, saying that they could just stab it from a distance, too, and then kill it off quickly. But what's a spear? Is it just a sharp stick? How do I make a spear? I need to read the dictionary so that I can learn more from the book." The dictionary was pretty well thought out. After skipping a few chapters or skimming through them, he then found all the words he needed. He started to study them. It took him a while to translate the information from the dictionary to the 'Basic Monster Survival, ' but it honestly made him happy. Especially after all those sleepless hours trying to stay up, occupying his mind. "There are way more words than I thought. I thought it was just me. It seems like there are just some things I was missing that I didn't have the words to talk about... or describe. Not only that, but it taught me how to describe something. Like, 'the branches are covered in mildew. ' Or, 'the dirt beneath my feet is somewhat soft yet firm simultaneously. '
I didn't know that before. I knew that, but not in the way you thought I knew it." It amazed him so much how, with just this one book, his thoughts were now changing. The next thing you know, J was also preparing the rabbit for the night while reading the book at his campsite. He was only interrupted when he realized that he needed to get some water to wash the rabbit. It was a shame because now the water source he usually used was a bit farther than before. He considered it a pain, especially since the water source wasn't very close by either. But he needed that water source. He needed water not just for his food but for himself; from washing his food to washing himself, he didn't have time to smell bad. Especially since smelling bad means that you have a strong smell. And if you smell bad, then that means other creatures can smell you, so you can't hunt. These were the thought processes that J was having as he was learning more and more by himself.
He continued to roll through the pages of the dictionary, turning them over and over again. His head was now working differently. The book's effect was that now that he could describe something, he could think logically about it. And now that he could think in more detail about something, the logic made him way more effective at planning things. Before, he just did what he was told or needed to do, with slight changes in between, but now he was planning on what to do for himself. Using that knowledge, he then started to think about just what he wanted to do. Studying the dictionary was truly a blessing. He had so many new words available to him.
He also realized that some words were similar to others, but some were more descriptive or were used for specific scenarios. He just thought words were made to be direct or describe one thing. But by being able to describe multiple different things at once with just one word, he could save time and effort, and he could sound more direct or accurate. "Instead of just saying, 'Dog there!', now I know that instead, I could be saying, 'Halt, there's a predator, stop!'" which was 'concise', you could say, 'The predator is around the field! Do not go there, especially near the line drawn on the map!' I can describe things like the location and actions of animals so much more easily now. I can even use this to describe plants, and just what kind of plants they are, especially the dog's bane, which I finally learned the name of, which to me was an 'ironic' name, especially since the mountain was full of hounds. But I appreciated the fact that it seemed to be growing near the tree close to my campsite. I also gave the peculiar tree many different descriptions, and I can now describe it so much differently. I can now describe it as a 'vivid-looking' tree. Or I could also describe it in a sentence like, 'The vivid-looking tree looks so shiny when it dawns.' It was honestly my favorite thing to describe in the whole forest."
However, just as he was preparing his meal, he heard a rustling in the woods and felt scared. Wondered if there were hounds or anything, but it was just the trees. He felt another sense of fear, but also sadness that he had to stay here. He considered going back up to the cave, but he had to be there during dusk, and it was far too late now. He knew that doing this training would endanger him, but at the same time, he needed to figure this out on his own. He had learned something, and he learned it in a word. Responsibility. It means being able or self-sufficient enough to take care of yourself. He thought it was the same as survival. He honestly thought to himself that thinking that responsibility and survival were the same thing. He realized that responsibility was a bit more specific than he thought, compared to survival, which was universal. Responsibility seemed to help with survival; responsibility is necessary for survival. He then had this thought, and it dawned on him: words can be similar, but they can also mean something when compared to a larger word.
He then started to put survival higher than responsibility, meaning the same thing, just being more descriptive. Self-sufficiency is also placed below responsibility. Soon, he was making visual representations. He drew these words in the dirt to remind himself of the spelling and placement of these words, and he wrote until he had a good memory of them. He also practiced his math. He noticed that he had two cores today. So, if he kept on making more cores every day until his Uncle returned, then he could have seven cores. And to get the coat that his Uncle promised him, he'd need to have two cores every day.
He liked math because it was simple. Because if he did have two cores every day and maybe one extra, then he could finally buy the coat. But if he needed to get a coat this week, he needed to save up everything he could. He understood that he couldn't go back to the cave, but he didn't see much of a need anymore, especially since the cave, although empty, was now being guarded by his uncle's rules, and his rule was law, and he wouldn't break those rules, especially since that meant he would be punished. He'd been punished before by his uncle. It was not good.
There were times when he'd smack him, or there were times when he had to discipline him. There were even times when he had to be selfish or mean. There were even times when he honestly could not deal with it, but he couldn't. It was a sad time, but he realized now that he was being responsible. Responsible for himself and J. After learning what responsibility was, he then thought about all the things his Uncle had done for him. He decided to put a new word to describe Uncle. Before, he looked at him as someone "stern, mean, cold, hurtful." But now, a bigger word appeared: "kind." Then another word popped up: "generous." But before all of that, "Responsible. He is very responsible." This idea made him sad, though. Because now, he couldn't run to Uncle.
Even if he did get in trouble, he wouldn't mind it because he could always run to Uncle. Now, there's no chance that he could. He doesn't have any kind of protection. He is completely alone, but this doesn't deter him so much; it only makes him more determined. "When Uncle comes back, I'm going…I'm going to hunt so many rabbits. And I'm going to figure out how to kill those monsters. I'm going to kill those hounds. And then I'll continue to get stronger. And then I'll get so strong that maybe, just maybe… I can make it outside. And if I kill enough monsters, I'll finally have that map. And then I'll be able to see the world." This idea made him smile as he made his meal, as he was eating his roasted rabbit, and he went to bed. Then he thought of a new word to add to his already increasing vocabulary: "Hope. The desire to have something or the belief that you can achieve something. Like a goal or an action. Hope." He repeated this. "I hope that I can do this."