afb728
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Chapter I I woke up in the middle of the forest. It was quiet and dark; only a few shafts of light poked through the canopy, and the nearest birds were some distance away. With a moan, I sat up and looked around. I lay in the middle of an egg-shaped depression in the ground. Rubbing my eyes, I stretched out and very clumsily tried to stand. I fell. I was too tired to try to move any distance, so I spent my first night after awakening in the hole, which I covered with some branches I found nearby. I ate some berries and mushrooms that I prayed were not poisonous. The second day was spent with a small stomach-ache and an overwhelming thirst. I wandered in each direction until I found a small spring to the East of the hole. I again ate a few mushrooms (having exhausted the berries) and fell asleep. Day Three was spent foraging for more food. I chanced upon a beehive and got badly stung for my efforts. I did, however, find several different types of berries near it. A squirrel fell into the hole on the fourth day. I suspect a tree threw it. It was, however, a friendly little thing, and brought me a gift of some nuts. On Day Five I found two thick sticks. I used them to fend off a bear when it came near my food store. On Day Six the squirrel left and I tried for the honey again, with limited success. On Day Seven, I began constructing a shelter in one of the trees near that spring. I spent days Eight and Nine finishing the shelter. The squirrel came back, this time with another present and a very pregnant mate. At least it was a polite squirrel. On the tenth day, the squirrel gave birth. There were eight in the litter. On the eleventh day, I managed to grab the honeycomb from that beehive without being stung. It stormed on Day Twelve. Lightning struck a tree nearby, and I had fire for that night. It unfortunately didn’t last. I wished that I had magic. More and more animals are making my shelter a home. The more recent arrivals seemed to be fleeing something. On the thirtieth day, I discovered what the animals were fleeing. Bandits in the woods were chopping down hundreds of trees to build a huge fort. On the forty-third day, a very badly wounded rabbit hopped into my camp, an arrow sticking out of its leg. A mark on the arrow matched a mark I had seen on one of the bandits. On the forty-fourth day, I followed the bandit out of the fort and knocked him out. He reappeared mysteriously in the middle of the fort, heavily bruised. Other bandits began hunting the animals in the area; more and more of my guests were injured in some way; be it a snare or a dart. Some were even sporting blade wounds. On the sixtieth day, I snuck into the fort and grabbed two blades, along with as much of their food as I could take in one trip. I snuck back each night after that, taking more food each time. On Day Seventy, I noticed a movement in the trees behind me. I climbed into a tree and back-tracked a little. A bandit was following me. I took off through the canopy in the opposite direction from my treehouse. On Day Seventy-Five, two jumped out of the bushes at me. I barely escaped, but sent them off with some nasty cuts. A bear joined me that night at the shelter. More came after me on Day Eighty-Two. I managed to wound most of them, but was hit pretty hard by one of their maces. I heard the name “Vaz”, and that this person had ordered my capture, in order to “teach [me] a lesson”. I resolved to take down Vaz. On Day Ninety, I snuck into the fort and, with the help of the bear, who followed me there, knock out each of the sentries. We are halfway through the fort when the alarm is raised. The bear and I fight for our lives and run off. Three days later, the bear limps back to my camp, a trap around its paw and a deep cut on its shoulder. The next day, I again sneak into the fort. An eagle accompanies me, as well as a wolf. Between the three of us, we manage to knock out all of the guards and make it to Vaz. Unfortunately, Vaz prepared for us. His own personal guards surround us and close in. I am captured, the eagle shot. The wolf runs away. For the next week, I am whipped by the bandits. On Day 102, all of my animal friends arrive to rescue me. We manage to subdue the fort. Vaz is kept, but I strip the others of their tools and send them out into the wilderness. On Day 109, the fort is entered, this time by people in white and gold armor. The animals scatter before this first of the invaders set foot inside. I hide in one of the tents as the armored people search the fort. When one enters my tent, I knock him out, but not before he screams, drawing all of his group to my tent. With no place to run, I fight them, one by one, as they try to enter and grab me. When no more enter, and there is silence for a few hours, I poke out of the tent. Two steps away from the door, and I am surrounded. “By the Avatars, she’s naked!”
< Message edited by afb728 -- 8/22/2015 18:00:29 >
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