It was about an hour later that I felt reasonably sure that the wolves had really gone away. The forest that had been quiet, as if holding its breath, became loud again with the sound of life. Night life was beginning to wake up and start their own hunt. The sun had already set and it was already getting cold. I really needed to get a fire going or tonight was going to be even more uncomfortable.

Taking a final look around, and seeing nothing, I slowly climbed down the tree. I was glad to be alive, but it really sucked to be in that tree for so long. I did get something out of it though. The inside bark of the tree basically turned into fluff after working it between my hands. It would be easy to get it to catch fire... Now I just need firewood and rub two sticks together until my arms fall off.

The moonlight was decently bright, providing enough light to see what’s what. I was able to see why when I was in the tree. This world had three moons, all pale white and varying in size. Three moons meant three times as much moonlight than there was on Earth. So I had no trouble in my search for firewood, and I was able to bring a few armfuls to that fallen tree I had seen earlier. Using my sharp rock, I cut a little notch into a stick, then grabbed another stick and stuck its end into the notch... nearly twenty minutes of furiously rubbing the stick between my palms, I was finally able to get the ember that I needed, and I had a nice fire going in a ring of stones. After feeding it sticks for a while, I stuck a big piece of wood on top.

“There, that should last for a while.” I mumbled as I wiped my hands on my pant legs, then slumped against the log of the fallen tree, facing the fire. That day had been exhausting. I had been pulled into a strange portal, that for some reason was the cause of my pain, and was knocked unconscious. I woke up in a strange world in the middle of a forest, with the body of a ten year old. I had nothing to eat except some berries, and I was up in a tree for more than an hour hiding from gigantic Dire Wolves.

Today sucked. I thought, staring into the flames. At least that wolf that saw me didn't seem to want to eat me. What was up with that?... Now that I think about it, that wolf looked a little different from the others. It didn't have any spikes. Maybe the males have spikes and the females don't? Or it could be a different species of wolf that joined up with that pack... I don't know, but I hope I don't run into them again.

>>

I must have fallen asleep because I woke up with my face pressed against the leaves, and was curled up in a ball. It was still in the middle of the night, with the moons bright overhead. The fire had gone out some time ago, only a few little coals were left, and the chill sank deep into me. My body protested against me as I sat up, the aches of yesterday had caught up. Leaning over the coals, I gently blew on them. With some dry leaves and small sticks, I kindled the fire back to life. I added some more sticks and stood up. Sleeping on the ground like that was very uncomfortable, so I gathered as many leaves as I could near the fire. Reasonably close as to not to set the leaves on fire, while close enough so that I’ll stay warm. Once I had a decent pile of leaves to cushion the ground, I stoked the fire once more, then I got myself as comfortable as possible.

>>

I woke up the next morning feeling absolutely terrible. I felt sweat and grime covering me, my entire body was sore from yesterday's labors, and my stomach was wailing and kicking from hunger like a twelve year old boy whose parents unplugged his console in the middle of his Fortnite game. Life is just fantastic right now.

Come on Seth my man, now's not the time for grumbling. You got work to do today! Self-motivation skills are necessary to be a functioning person in any situation, especially in survival situations. Yeah, that’s right. I’m motivated now. Super pumped... My first priority should be to see if those wolves left any scraps of meat, then I should make a weapon... Ok let's do this!

Picking myself off the ground was difficult but once I get moving my stiffness shouldn't be much of a problem. I brushed the leaves off my pajamas as best as I could and set off towards where I had seen last night's hunt.

It wasn't that difficult to find, it was only about 100 to 150 yards away. The two corpses were still there where they had been left. The giant stag was ripped apart, its entrails strewn all over the ground. There was hardly anything left of it and the smell of urine, feces, and guts filled my nose. It was as if someone reached their hand into my mouth and yanked on my gag reflex. My stomach heaved as I doubled over although nothing but bile came up, which I quickly spat out.

“Oh that is just disgusting...” I said, wiping my mouth on my sleeve. Using one hand to pinch my nose shut I went over to the corpses. Up close they were larger than I had thought. The deer, torn up as it was, was even larger than any horse I’d ever seen... not that I had seen many horses but I was pretty sure that no horse on earth could match it’s size. There wasn’t much of it left besides skin, bones and guts, what meat there was looked disgusting and slobbered on. The antlers looked in pristine condition though. Maybe I can use that for something... I turned my attention to the wolf carcass a foot away. I guess the deer did manage to get free, I thought as I remembered the hunt, a little too late big fella. The wolf was huge, just a tad smaller than the deer that gored it, and looked like it could eat me in at least three bites. It also looked relatively untouched! Sure it appeared to be nibbled on here and there by the night creatures, but overall it was good.

I dug my sharp rock out of my pocket and started sawing away at its haunches. Under normal circumstances I would be revolted at the idea of eating any sort of canine, but I was starving and there was no sign of any sort of civilization nearby... and this is free meat, I shouldn’t complain. After I had sawed off a good slab, I ran off back to camp before I puked again from the smell.

Only ashes remained of my campfire from last night, so I set my free meal on a rock nearby and got to work gathering wood. In my search for firewood, I also found a few long, straight branches that I could use as spears, so I gathered those as well. Building the fire was a little faster this time, and I was able to prop up some sticks to support the meat over the fire to cook, kind of like a marshmallow. Ok, that should be alright to leave for a while, I mean, I know that you aren’t supposed to leave fires unattended but I did kick the leaves and stuff away from the fire... anyway, let’s go get some antlers!

I went back to the big deer corpse and examined the massive antlers. They were nearly as tall as I was, and were white as snow. Wow, those look nice... I thought as I picked a big rock up and brought it down on the deer’s skull. The skull split open and after a few more smashes I was able to get both antlers and I set them off to the side. I avoided looking at the mess I made, and went over to the wolf’s head. A few smashes later, I was able to get about seven teeth that were about the length of my hand and razor sharp. I also got more meat to eat later, cutting out a portion as big as my head.

With my bountiful harvest I returned to camp and deposited my heavy burdens by the fire. The meat I had left cooking over the fire was starting to char underneath so I turned the stick to cook the other side. This meat was to eat now but I needed a way to eat while on the move and not have to stop and hunt everyday. That was what this new slab of meat is for. I’ve never tried to make jerky before but it shouldn’t be too hard right?

I picked up one of the antlers and held it in the flames. Die grodie germs, DIE! Once it was all sufficiently roasted and I was sure no germ was left alive, I used some green vines I found to tie three long branches together like a teepee, then tied the antler high, so that it was just in the smoke of the fire but not in the flames. Then I grabbed the meat and got to work slicing in as finely as I could. The sharp rock that I had been using was getting pretty dull, so I set that aside and used one of the wolf’s fangs. The fangs were strange for a wolf, the edges were sharp, kind of like a shark tooth but bigger... this world is crazy. Were those wolf-like creatures even wolves? I mean, I know they look similar in shape but bony spikes, shark-like teeth, the unnaturally large size... I don’t think they would be classified as canines... oh well, I guess it doesn’t matter what they’re classified as, as long as they stay away from me.

Once the meat was sliced, I stabbed each slice onto a point and draped the rest all over the antlers, and stoked the fire again to get it smoking some more. With that done I went and washed my hands as best as I could in the small stream I found last night, and drank some water more upstream. Then, finally, I was able to quiet the beast in my stomach. The meat that I had cooked was... actually really bland. It would be better if I had found some herbs or some sort of seasoning but I guess my hunger had to be my seasoning... They do say it is the best of them.

Alrighty now, time to make some throwing spears! Let’s see here... I have three long branches for the hafts, I could use the wolf fangs as spear tips, and to bind them together... hmm... if I use the vine it would be pretty thick and won’t penetrate very far, but then again maybe that’s what I want... Wait no, these creatures are huge, if I make it so it doesn’t penetrate far they would just shrug it off like it was nothing.

Glancing around, I didn’t see anything that sparked inspiration. I know that some plants have fibers that can be used to make rope... but I don’t know which types of plants can do that though. Argh! I should’ve studied botany and wilderness survival skills! Argh! ... Not that I knew I would ever be randomly shoved into a forest...

I grabbed some more vines off the nearest tree and started slicing the vine in half down its length, then cut those halves down the middle and then cut those strips in half again. Taking three of the thin strips, I braided them together. I grasped the two ends of the newly made twine and pulled it taut, slowly increasing the pressure on the twine until it snapped. It didn’t take much strength but it did last longer than I had thought it would, so… Yay! The vine was turned into a thin cord that I could use.

Taking the three straight branches I used the wolf fang and a rock to knock off all the small branches and to smooth out the knots in the wood. Then made a small split on one end of each branch, and I stuck a wolf fang in each split and tied it tight with the cordage. Then I stuck the point of my fang knife against the butt of my new spears and twisted to drill a small hole. Now they’re long darts. Ok, so let’s make the actual thrower…

Going to the pile of sticks I had gathered for firewood, I rummaged through, looking for a stick that was as long as my forearm, sturdy looking, and had a hook at one end. I was able to find one pretty quick and a few minutes later I was able to start practicing my throwing my three spears.

...Man I suck at this.