《War Games》Chapter 7. A Delicious Meal
Advertisement
While waiting for his leg to heal, Sam tried to go to Origin. He knew that warlords couldn't get hurt there so he was just curious to know what would happen if he was injured before going into Origin. Would all of his wounds heal or stay the same way there were?
It took him several tries before he was successful. The entire time, Sam had been closing his eyes and thinking only about Origin and nothing else. He had been interrupted by outside noises and forced to start over again. When Sam felt the tree under him change to a smooth, flat surface, he knew he succeeded.
Sam opened his eyes and looked around. He was in the room with the larger stone. This was the place where they entered their world. Sam looked down at his leg to see if there was any change. The pain completely stopped, even when Sam stood up and put all his weight on his right leg, he didn't even feel the slightest pain. But that was as far as it went. Sam could see his injuries still there, it didn't get healed.
'I wonder what would happen if I chopped my entire leg off. Will it get healed completely, or will it go back to the way it was before I chopped it off.' Sam wondered to himself. He wanted to try it but was a little hesitant. If it didn't work, he would have to put himself through all of that pain for nothing.
Sam waited to see if anything would change with his leg for a few more seconds and when nothing happened, he put his hand on the stone and he disappeared from Origin.
A few days later.
Sam got down from his spot on the tree. His injure had mostly healed now and he could walk without leaning on Xander. Today was the day Xander and Sam started walking again.
Both of them were sick of eating berries over and over again. Xander thought that he might turn into a berry if he ate anymore. Their water situation wasn't good either. The berries had lots of water in them, but Sam and Xander could never eat enough to satisfy their thirst.
Sam and Xander started walking and left the tree, which had been their home for almost a week. They headed forward, always staying near the mountain. Sam and Xander continued walking well into the day, only stopping to take a few breaks here and there to catch their breath.
After they had been walking for almost six hours when Sam noticed something. In the distance, he could hear a loud roaring sound. Soon enough, Xander noticed it as well.
"It's a river." Said Xander as he realized what he was hearing was.
"Yep. We finally found a river" said Sam thankful that he didn't have to walk without a direction anymore. From here on out, they could follow it down and hopefully hit civilization.
Sam and Xander proceed carefully. They were both excited to see the river, but they both remembered that this forest held strong predators. Where would they most likely be? Near the river, where all animals have to come to get water.
Advertisement
Sam and Xander walked forward slowly, trying not to make any sounds. They did not want to alert anything that could be near the water. When they finally saw the river, they relaxed. They could not see anything that could kill them and that was enough.
In front of them was a wide river, around thirty feet in width. In the middle of the river, the ground was not visible so the depth was not visible. There was a lack of trees on the river bank, which was filled with small stones. The water was neither fast nor slow. In the river, fish could be seen swimming about, once in a while, there were larger fish around four feet in length.
Sam and Xander approached the river and kneeled down.
"We can drink this water right," asked Xander, wondering if the river could somehow be poisonous.
"Running water is usually safe. It's just the still water we have to worry about." Said Sam. "Just be careful with the fish though. Some of them don't seem to be too harmless."
Sam could see fish that had teeth outside their mouths, sometimes swallowing small fish that got too close. He figured that they could make a fine dish later.
They both cupped their hands and put them in the river. They drank lots of water. Their throats had been dry for almost an entire week and they had been dehydrated. They were not going to give up an opportunity to get lots of water.
After drinking, Xander looked around. They were in a clearing, so there weren't any trees in the vicinity.
After taking another short break, they followed the river down. It was much easier to walk this time around because they didn't have to walk around any trees or any bushes. After an hour of walking, Sam decided to stop for the day. It was going to be dark in around two hours and they needed to figure out where they were going to sleep and what they were going to eat.
"We can go climb a tree to sleep but what should we eat?" He said, thinking out loud. "Fish? Maybe, but we have to catch one then cook it, so we would need a fire."
"I like the sound of fish," said Xander. His stomach grumbled when he thought about a nice warm fish. He began to salivate with just thinking about it. It had been too long since he had actual food that tasted good.
"Okay, fine. You are in charge of catching a fish and I'll start a fire." Said Sam.
"How am I going to catch a fish without fishing?" Asked Xander. After thinking for a few seconds he came up with an answer himself. "I can catch it with my bare hands, like Bear Grylls."
Satisfied with his own answer, Xander got in the river, looking for fish to catch.
Sam was thinking more along the lines of making a spear to catch fish but it didn't really matter to him how the fish was caught. He went back to thinking about his own task. He could get plenty of wood from the trees so the only thing he had to worry about was lighting it on fire.
Advertisement
'How about I pick up a few stones and bang them together until I get a spark? No, that's a lot of work. I would need to randomly stumble across a rock that can actually get a spark and here, where there are literally hundreds of stones, it's not gonna happen.' He thought. 'I guess the only other method is the stick spinning on log method.'
Sam got up and headed towards where the trees were. He searched the ground for things he could use as kindling. He picked up a few small sticks and dried leaves, satisfied he went back to the rocks and set them there.
After a few minutes of looking and going back and forth, Sam was finally ready. He picked up a stick with a sharp end and pointed it down to a large log. He set the kindling on top to light on fire when there was a spark. Sam started to spin the stick around and waited.
It was a long and tiring process. Sam almost wished that he went with the rock way instead. After spinning the stick, for what felt to Sam like hours, there was smoke and then a spark. The kindling caught on fire and Sam put the other sticks onto it to keep it going.
Satisfied with this fire, Sam looked over to where Xander was catching fish. Sam was shocked at what he was seeing. He saw a small pile of large fish to the side of the river. He didn't even think that they could eat all of that even if they ate only fish for a week. He was amazed at Xander's skill.
'If this warlord thing doesn't work out, we could start a business fishing.' He thought to himself. 'Xander could fish and I could cook. We would be millionaires in no time at all.'
Sam cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted to Xander. The river was quite loud so Sam had to be very loud if he wanted Xander to hear him.
"THAT'S ENOUGH FISH FOR TODAY, XANDER. BRING THEM OVER THERE." Sam shouted.
Xander heard Sam and stopped fishing. In the beginning, he couldn't really catch any fish. He was aiming for them directly and but by the time his hands got to them, the fish were gone. So he experimented around and after a few more failed attempts, he finally got his first fist. After that, he just kept going. He forgot that he was fishing to get food and fished in order to just get better at it. He fell into an almost trans like state with fishing being his only thought. It had been interrupted only when he heard Sam.
'That was weird,' Xander thought to himself. He looked over at the pile of fish and was surprised himself. He didn't think he had caught so many fish and he didn't even think that he had been fishing for so long. He picked up all the ones he could carry and headed over to the fire.
Xander set all of the fishes that he brought to the side and gave one for Sam to cook. One was enough for both of them to be full. Sam took a relatively clean stick and shoved it through the mouth of the fish. He held it over the fire, turning it over once in a while.
A few minutes later, the fish was completely cooked. Both Sam and Xander could not wait to have their first real meal in a week and began to feel very hungry. When it was finally finished, Sam set it on a rock and cut it in half with a sharp rock. He took one half and gave the other to Xander.
"Be careful not to accidentally eat the bones." Said Sam.
After a few minutes, the cooked fish was nowhere to be seen. Sam and Xander completely ate every other than the head, bones, and intestines of the fish.
"What do we do about the other fish?" Asked Xander. They couldn't hold onto them, but they would go back in a few days and they always just catch more fish.
"I have a good idea. We can use them to lure something out of the forest." Sam said. "We can put them near the fire so we can see exactly what comes out."
Sam and Xander both had been worried about even the smallest noise while they were waiting in the tree. They had been worried that something worse than the black animal would walk out and attack them in the middle of the night. This would be a good way to clear up all of their doubts. If they just left the fish out, animals would be able to smell them from far away and when they came out, Sam and Xander would be able to see exactly what they were.
"You get the rest of the fish here, and I will get more logs to keep the fire going through the night," said Sam.
After a few minutes, all the fish were close to the fire and Sam had enough wood next to him to keep the fire going for a long time. He would need to add logs periodically but he wasn't too worried. In the worst-case scenario, Sam could just throw logs onto the fire from a tree.
Xander picked a tree that was close to the fire and started to climb. When he reached the fifth branch he stopped. He was not going to take any chances. Sam followed him up and stopped at the fourth branch. At this height, both of them had a clear view of the fire, the fishes, and the river.
They didn’t have to wait long, as soon as the sunset and the darkness of the night came out, they could see something moving towards the fish.
Advertisement
- In Serial70 Chapters
The Core: The First Guest (Book 1 of 3)
Book two starts here: https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/46417/the-core-the-hive-daughter-book-2-of-3 --- Kevin was just a normal 10 year old kid until he saw a woman vanish right before his eyes. This made Kevin just a little bit different. He paid more attention to people now. Little did he know that this little difference would kill him the next time he encountered another alien about to return home. It would tear him apart, cell by cell, until he was unmade. His mind being transported away. So distantly far away there is a race that advanced to the point where they built dyson spheres to house their civilizations. In their continual expansion, they seeded galaxies with pods and connection satellites. Over time they upgraded their dyson spheres into matryoshka brain Cores. Imagine a computer powered by a star. Citizens of Cores no longer age once they upload their minds into the virtual living system of the Core. While they didn’t age, most still choose to cycle through life and death though at a different scale of time compared to our lives. Citizens can visit other planets and live there as if they were on a "vacation". Mercury is Earth’s hub connected to the closest Core and Earth is a remote vacation spot for wealthy citizens. When the main character was 10 he witnessed a citizen returning to the Core. The story continues 10 odd years later when he again witnesses a similar situation unfolding and manages to touch the person returning to the Core. This causes him to be swept up in the transfer as well and for his mind to join as a "Guest" user of the Core. As a Guest he has limited powers, a starting balance of zero cr or Citizen credits, and no idea how he can get home. He is the first human to ever become a Guest of a Core. Where money itself is the highest form of their science. --- Progress update: Progress update: COMPLETE Stories:✦The Core: The First Guest (The Core: Book 1 of 3) ✦The Core: The Hive Daughter (The Core: Book 2 of 3) The Core: The Hive Daughter (Book 2 of 3) | Royal Road Stories in PROGRESS:✦The Core: The Dark Enemy (The Core: Book 3 of 3)PROJECTED Stories and Series: ★The Radiative Zone Series: The Girl with Powers (3 book series) ✶The Convective Zone Series: Into the Game (3 book series) This series is a work in progress. Major editing will be done after each book is complete, so there will be typos and parts that need further explanation. Please, please feel free to point out any of these things. I will attempt to keep readers apprised of all changes and big updates.
8 286 - In Serial8 Chapters
The Outliers
This is a tale of gang warfare in a world of fantasy. The city of Vim: a cesspool of crime, poverty, and death is home to over 100 gangs all vying for control of the metropolis. Once such gang are the Outliers, an up and coming group of teenage boys seeking to reach the top. One day they are invited to a gang rally, where they are framed for the assasination of a prominent gang leader. Now they must fight their way through the ghettos of Vim to get back home alive.
8 104 - In Serial11 Chapters
Hymn of Ignis
If a man is told to walk from the moment of his awakening to the world, what will he do? He will walk. What if along his path he stumbles and falls? He will get up, and walk. What if along his path others bar the way? He will push through, and walk. What if along his path a storm hinders his passage? He will overcome it, and walk. What if along his path the sky changes color and light no longer guides the way? He will remain on his path, and walk. What if along his path the very ground gives way to oblivion? He will press on, and walk. What if along his path he becomes more than a man? Will he stop? Release schedule will be either weekly, or biweekly, depending on the time I have available. Hopefully that will change for the better along the way. As for the story itself, opinions matter a lot! I appreciate both soft, and hard criticism, so don't hold your punches.
8 239 - In Serial7 Chapters
A Merchants Tale
Legends rise. Country’s fall. Empires wage war. But what supports these great powers, allowing them to function as a single organism. Is it the common man, Farmers and Millers forming the backbone of the land? The Soldiers and Guards keeping public order? The Wives and Widows supporting from the side-lines? The Nobles from their seats of power? Or the elusive Sorcerers who wield power untold? And what maggots crawl in this great creature, all trying to get a piece of its slowly decaying flesh. The gangs of the Underworld hidden in the shadows? The Bandits and Deserters hiding at the edges, ready to pounce on any weakness? Witches and Warlocks working their dark art? Or other Nations clawing at their neighbour’s, salivating over the riches they stand to gain from another’s demise. There is one group that belongs to neither group. They thrive on others misfortune and bring with them salvation and destruction in equal measure. They can raise a kingdom up or tear it down screaming and kicking. These are the merchants, the lifeblood of kingdoms, because what is the one thing above all else men crave. Is it Love? Power? Destruction? All these things can be acquired with one simple thing. Wealth. Wealth is the true power behind the world. Wealth can buy army’s, strangle kingdoms, and turn even the most devout man from his faith. Merchants come in many forms, shapes and sized, some gaudy, bleeding the people for all their worth, some tricky, preferring to make contracts and debts to trap men. And some desperate, doing all they can to sell even the most worthless of junk. This is a story of one merchant who goes against all a merchant stands for. He works not for profit but for some unseen goal, a prophesy aeons old. He comes and goes like a ghost, bringing with him hope and victory. All pray for his arrival to spare them from despair. But what about when he doesn’t show? What about the people he doesn’t save? For this man is no angel, no saint sent to save the masses. His goal was never to deliver hope. It merely isn’t time for their destruction yet. For nothing is eternal. And all things must end. But what comes after? Quick disclaimer in response to the review I got, this is my first story and somewhat of an experiment for me, hopefully my writing will get better the more I practice. Thanks for any helpful advice :)
8 65 - In Serial6 Chapters
Come to the Tree
A man who doesn't know who he is or where he is at is stuck in a school campus. He finds different items across the campus and they show him things, things that all lead to...what? This is a short story split into 6 short chapters.
8 174 - In Serial10 Chapters
My never ending cycle of Life and Death
My name is Stewart, Christopher Lynn Stewart. I am a normal Junior high student, and the 2nd son of a normal family. Well... I should be... however, my memory is being inherited by some genius in the territory of an ancient kingdom. not only were he able to comphrehend my memory and knowledge. he even put it to great use... alas... he has a short life just like me... but... there's a diffrence between me and him... that is... he is cursed... it is unknown whether it is curse or blessing but... you will understand this when you read this neverending cycle of my life and death...
8 199