Chapter 5: Soda And A Delicious Crab

I didn't sleep at all. The wolf's presence was still too overwhelming for me. Yet, it slept comfortably near the fire not caring if I will kill it in its sleep or not. I thought about it, that's potential food sleeping right there but, for some reason, I have formed a bond with it and, it didn't feel right to kill it in its sleep.

The sunrise lit up the forest as life starts back up. I walk towards the stream to wash my face. The cold water was enough to jolt me awake. What I didn't notice is that the wolf was right beside me. I almost had a mini heart attack as it's a few inches away from drinking the stream water.

After it had its fill, it took a glance at me before going back towards the fire. I didn't know what it want. Does it want me to feed it again? I took out a fish and place it in front of it. Seeing it lick its private part, I notice that the wolf is a male. The minute it sees the fish, it stops what it was doing and started eating it.

I took out another fish and sat at the other side of the fire not taking my eyes off the wolf. Its fur looks soft while the horn on its forehead was still as black as night. Its eyes are what amaze me. Black with a blue iris. I knew information about the horned vampire rabbit but no matter how hard I try to remember, nothing comes up with this one except the basic information about the general wolves from my world.

It stops eating as it walks towards me before sitting in place. Its tail is wagging side to side and I can see the anticipation in its eyes.

"You want another one?" I ask and it barked playfully in return. I take out another fish and hand it to him. This time, he gently takes it from my hand and I can see it trying not to bite my hand along with the fish.

After finishing my food, I got ready to continue my journey but, there was one more thing I needed to do. To figure out what to do with the wolf. I walk away from the camp a bit and just as I thought, it follows me from a distance. I stop and look back and it sat in place probably waiting for me to move.

"Does it want to go with me?" I whisper and I suddenly remember my old life in the orphanage. How day by day, I wished someone will take me. The life of being alone till the day I die was depressing. "What am I doing."

I knew this is a new life. Living my second chance, I wanted to live a different way yet, I'm starting to see the same pattern. Loneliness. Every since I got here, all I thought about is living on my own but, I don't have to be alone anymore. I got the courage to walk towards the wolf and I felt calm as it did the same meeting me halfway.

I gently stretch out my hand to pet its head and it leans a bit forward meeting my palm with its nose. I glide my hand towards the side of its head and its fur was smooth like silk yet, soft like a cloud. "Say, do you want to come with me?"

The wolf bark as it wag its tail which made me smile. Alright, you're coming with me." I pet it some more and even scratch its chin.

I start walking near the stream and this time, it follows right beside me. "Hmm, it will be easier if I name you."

I thought about different types of names. In the end, I decided to give him the name Soda. His eyes and horn remind me of a stone called sodalite back in my old world. Black and blue rock are used a lot for commoners' jewelry. Since sodalite is too long, I just used the first four letters giving me Soda. He likes and and even started responding as I call out his new name.

We travel alongside the stream until we came across another waterfall. This one wasn't as steep as the other but I still need to be careful and not slip and fall from the wet tree roots. Soda, on the other hand, did what most wolves can't do. Jumps around until he reaches the top in a matter of seconds. He peeks down at me and barks now and then. Probably trying to encourage me to safely climb the roots.

Once I got to the top, I decided to take a break and rest. The sun is at its highest point blaring down towards the forest. We both sat in the forest shade trying to cool down. I gave him another fish while I use the moment to try and catch more fish. My stock of cooked fish is depleting fast since there are two of us now. I'll also need to refill my waterskin since it feels like it's below the halfway mark.

I caught a few more fish which I gutted and stored in my bag before continuing our journey. After a while following the stream until the sun started setting from a distance, I start setting up camp and getting a fire going. Made it just in the nick of time as the sun completely disappeared into the horizon and the fire kept us warm on this cold night. After dinner, I sat around looking up in the night sky. The moon wasn't white like back in my previous life. It had a hint of cyan blue which makes it a bit eerier to look at.

"For such a big forest, I haven't seen a lot of wildlife except the fishes, birds, and Soda," I mutter noticing how there aren't many animals we came across. Walking near the stream, I would have thought by now that I'd find an animal drinking the stream water but, the only major animal I have seen is Soda.

Not that I'm complaining but, I know maybe at one point in the future, I'd get sick and tired of eating fish. I'm sure as hell not going to eat Soda just to taste some meat. I wanted to cook the horned vampire rabbit but, it's dark and the last thing I want is to attract something in the middle of the night. Darkness quickly passes and we began our journey once the sun peeks out illuminating the forest. Our stomach is full from the fish we had for breakfast and Soda seems to have a lot of energy as he runs ahead of me.

"I'm running low on water." I shake my waterskin as I walk along the stream. Ever since I left my first camp, I have been frugal with the water consumption but sometimes, my throat feels too dry. "I should have dug a hole and boiled some water before we left. There must be an easier way to do this."

I thought about different ways to boil water as we walk alongside the stream. Today was uneventful. No mini waterfall to climb up and hardly any wildlife except for a few horned rabbits that gave me a scare. Soda quickly took care of them to my surprise, he is quite agile. His speed greatly exceeds the horned vampire rabbit. I have a feeling that's not even his fastest speed since he looked like he was playing around with it. By the end of the day, I butchered three-horned rabbits and safely stored them in my bag.

"Soda, let's make camp now!" I shout towards him who's ahead of me probably looking for more horned vampire rabbits. He runs back and I still get off guard at his speed. "You are one fast wolf."

I got a makeshift tent erected and a fire going in no time. The sun still hasn't gone down but I want to start on grilling some of the fish and horned rabbit meat and figure out another way to boil water without ashes. "Let me try cooking this another way."

I look around near the stream edge and found what I had in mind. A large flat rock right on the water. Picking it up wasn't difficult to my surprise yet, I almost dropped it when I saw something crawl out underneath quickly swimming away. "A crab!"

I was about to drop the flat rock on top of it when Soda came out of nowhere and knocks the crab out of the water with his paws. It lands on dry land and with Soda's speed, he was already on top of it pinning it to the ground with his left front paw. "Good job Soda!"

He barks happily as I pass him to place the rock down. I pet him and it seems like he likes being petted as his tail wags happily. I grab a stick and quickly press the crab down while I lift Soda's paw. It was a decent-sized crab but probably won't be enough to keep me full. Yet, it will be a different taste than the fish which I was excited about.

Using another stick and the rope I had in my bag, I pinned it between the sticks while tying the sticks together. I can't boil it so over the fire is my best bet. It didn't take long till it stopped moving and its shell started becoming orange. I lift it away from the fire a bit while I got to work on the flat rock over the fire. This will help me use it as a frying pan.

The rabbit had a bit of fat that I kept. I place it on top of the flat rock and as soon as it heated up, the rabbit fat start sizzling as oil came out of it. I rub it around the flat rock to oil the surface and place all of the raw fish and raw meat. Its smell was more amazing and the sound of it sizzling over the fire was in unison with the vibration inside my stomach. I took out the cooked crab from the fire and place it on top near the edge of the flat rock. Soda watches me carefully as I cook all the remaining fish and the horned vampire rabbit meat he caught earlier.

"Ok, I think this one is ready." I take out a slice of meat that looks cooked on both sides and place it on a giant leaf in front of Soda. "Careful buddy, it's hot. You get the first meat since you caught them."

He smells it a bit and as fast as he moves, as fast as he devours that meat. It seems like he is unaffected by hot food as he looks back up to me waiting for another piece. I gave him another one and a fish while I separated my portion. I tried to give him a piece of the grab but he pushed it away. I guess he doesn't like crabs which works for me since the crab will be the highlight of my dinner.

After cooking everything, I start eating and the meat was better than I imagined. It was a bit chewy but the taste was enough to keep me wanting for more. If I had salt, it would have been perfect. After finishing the meat and the fish, I saved the best for last. The crab was a bit hard to eat but I didn't mind. The white flesh inside was soft and breaks apart inside my mouth. This was the first time I ever ate crabs and I'll never forget it. These little creatures are luxury foods only for nobles back in my old life and finally, I got a chance to taste them. I'm not going to lie but, I can get addicted to eating this every day if I had enough to last me a lifetime.

Just like that, I was full, my leaf plate was empty and the sun was gone. I did store some of the meat earlier and some of the cooked fish for our journey tomorrow. Now, I hope Soda catches more horned vampire rabbit or crabs. I drank the last remaining water I had and used the stream to clean out the inside of the waterskin. I got to work on creating a container using the giant leaf. Since I had a heated flat rock constantly being burned by the fire, I might as well use it to heat smaller rocks. This will prevent ashes from sticking onto it.

I clean the flat rock as best as I can dumping water on it as I use the ax to scrape off the food that stuck itself on it. The last thing I want is to drink water that tastes like meat, fish, and crab mixed together.

I place a few small rocks on top hoping that, by the time I finish this leaf container, those rocks should be hot enough to boil the water.

Using a thin branch, I carefully formed a circle with it tying each end together. I tie the edges of the leaf on the branch carefully not ripping it too much as I pierce tiny holes onto the edges where the string can pass through.

Using three of the giant leaf stacked together should be enough to prevent a hole from happening due to the hot rocks. Rather than digging a hole, this was easier and less energy-consuming. It was a nice relaxing night near the fire. Soda is sleeping soundly near me and I have gotten more comfortable with him as he did with me.

"And done!" I look at the makeshift container from the giant leaf and I was proud of myself. To test it out, I used another leaf to scoop up water back and forth to the container. I could have just used the container itself and scooped out the water but I was worried that the weight might break it. It took a few trips which weren't hard since the stream is right next to us.

"Ok, a moment of truth." Using two sticks, I pick up a flat rock that's been heating up and place it inside the container. It sizzled the water a bit before calming down. I inspect the container and to my relief, there is no leaks. Using the cap of the waterskin, I checked to see if it's purified but I guess it needs more hot rocks as the cap turns black.

I repeat the process a few more times and in the end, it took at least seven egg-sized rocks to boil the water and purify it completely. I waited for it to cool down before filling up my waterskin to the brim and drinking my fill for the night.

I finally did all the tasks I had for the day and decided to sleep. I shake Soda awake and told him to go into the makeshift tent. I made it big enough to fit both of us. It seems like wolves in this world are intelligent since he understood me as he stood up and walked towards the tent.

He curled up inside leaving me enough space to lie down. I place the waterskin inside the potato bag and took out the spear. This way, I can defend myself and won't lose the waterskin just in case someone or something decides to rob me in the middle of the night. The potato bag will always find its way towards me but the waterskin won't. I experienced it so much back in my world that, even in this life, I'm still wary of my possessions.

I yawn in place as my eyes felt heavy and it was hard trying to keep it open. I just wish that soon, we find a place to permanently camp. This way, I can finally say that there's a place where I belong.