"I pray to Odin that we will be Brothers in our next life." With that, Josiah passed away with Mikael following seconds later. Mikael and Josiah Died that day aged 34 and 22 respectively.
They were welcomed with open arms to Valhalla where they found out all gods and goddess were real and the afterlife was one big party. Their were several people there that they were surprised to find there, including a certain Austrian Painter but it wasn't their call to make. God's work in mysterious ways and all that.
After 100 years in Valhalla they were given a challenge, have their memories wiped of the afterlife, both regress to age 8 and be dropped into an unknown world. The end goal? Survive, thrive and become strong with only their past lives memories.
The brothers looked at each other before nodding their heads and accepting. When the brothers next opened their eyes, they were wearing a burlap sack with a rope tied around their waist.
They were inside a clearing inside of a bigger forest, having no clue how they got there. They looked around the clearing and found a decent sized hole underneath a dead tree. Stepping inside it revealed enough room for them both to lay down in and have a fire.
Exiting their new home they could hear flowing water nearby. Mikael turned to Josiah and got confused. "Who the hell are you and where the hell am I?"
Josiah had the same reaction. "Its me, Josiah and it seems we've been sent to another world and our age has regressed. You look like you did at age 8 from the old photos mom and dad used to show me."
Mikael nodded his head, Josiah looked just like he did when he was that age. "Alright there's running water nearby and we have some shelter. Now we need to find some food and make a fire to cook it on. We also need some kind of weapon and tools like a hatchet and shovel."
Mikael pauses for a moment and gathers his breath. "We can use arm thick limbs and sharpen the tips to use as spears to either spearfish or hunt wild game for now. We can take long grass and make a basket for holding berries and nuts for now and any rope like vine or plant can be used to tie a rock to a stick that we can turn into a hatchet."
Josiah nods his head, already getting several ideas and mentally adding things to his list to keep an eye out for. Mikael continues on.
"We can also use a thicker branch and sharpen one end and use it as a shovel of sorts for now. We can find some sort of clay and make a kiln to make things like cups, bowls and plates. Before winter hits though we will need to fortify our shelter, making it bigger and warmer. Its going to be a team effort and it will take awhile to get this done but we can do it."
Seeing Josiah nod his head Mikael spoke once more. "Gather what you can nearby and be back here in one hour. Keep an eye out for animal tracks so we can be aware of what's around and hopefully we will have meat here soon."
With a nod, both brothers set off and got to work. Mikael went towards the sound of running water to investigate and found a small, clear river with a variety of fish swimming in it. He explored the bank a bit and found several worth stones and even some sharper ones that he would bring back to their soon to be home.
He spotted a huge red clay deposit on the bank and marked that off his list of things to search for. He also found the bones a smaller animal, maybe a fox or something and brought them back too.
Josiah gathered a plethora of sticks, lashings, some berries and nuts and firewood sized sticks. The brothers spent a few minutes telling the other what they had saw and found, where certain areas were and any wildlife they had encountered.
Mikael grinned happily when Josiah informed him of a large herd of wild goats, already planning on how to skin them and turn them into fuel and other useful things for themselves.
"The pelts can be turned into either clothes for the winter or bedding for now. The meat can be smoked so we will need to build a smoker. The bones can be turned into weapons and tools while the entrails will have other uses. The sinew may be good enough for a bow even which is good. We will need to capture a few birds for their feathers though."
Josiah nodded, Mikael had always been the more survival oriented of the two and had done lots of research and practice on the subject.
The brothers spent some time building a fire in the hole before taking some appropriate sized rocks to the river where they would break them down and sharpen them.
Mikael also sharpened several of the fox bones into blades he would use for gutting and skinning animals. Afterwards, he grabbed an appropriately sized stick and using some of the rope like materials Josiah had found, he fashioned them a hatchet.
They both had a small celebration when it was completed and was tested to work perfectly. Their first order of business was making two trowels as digging by hand sucks.
Next was a smaller spear to hopefully catch a few fish with. The brothers went down to the river where they managed to spear a decent sized fish that resembled a trout. They cleaned it at the river, letting the water claim the blood and guts before returning to camp.
They fixed the fish on a stick and roasted it on the open flame, salivating as it cooked. It was past dark when the fish was finished cooking and the brothers tore into it ravenously.
Afterwards they laid back content with the days progress and bellies full. All that was left were the bones which were small and Needle like. The brothers planned to use them as needled once they were able to get some furs.
After ensuring the fire wouldn't smoke them out, they each curled up into a ball and fell asleep immediately, thus ending day one in a new world.