AUTHOR'S NOTES

Hey, I got my first review!

Thank you so much GiggiEba for your time. Your review actually made get up and out of bed just to begin writing the fourth chapter.

Again, thank you, and hope you enjoy this one!

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

It was at this point when I started to worry.

Another mob-filled night was spent in the cave, and in the morning, I noticed her breathing had gone ragged.

As all of this was new to me, I panicked, looking for something I could do or use to help.

I spent a good deal of time walking around in a panicky state, afraid for the girl whose name I didn't know.

Then again, I didn't know my own name, so I suppose that makes it even.

I got tired of basicly shambling along the forest, so I sat down in a patch of grass with tulips and marigolds. I remembered the first thing in this world that had made me smile.

'When in doubt, stop and smell the flowers'. This calmed me down a little and actually made me smile once again.

I picked up a beautiful orange tulip and sniffed at it. The natural smell of the flower along with that of the polen completely erased my nerves. However, it did nothing to soothe my worry.

All of my wandering had made me feel parched, and I pulled out my trusty bark-bowl. And suddenly, a wave of shame ran through me. Of course! She was another breathing, living being! She needed water and food as much as me!

I used the bark to gather some water from the river and carefully went up the hill towards the cave. Once there, I noticed another change in her.

She was shivering, and sweating, at the same time. I knew I should've just taken out those arrows earlier.

I managed to avoid panicking this time, however, since I was currently carrying precious cargo. I kneeled beside her and straightened her out with my one free hand, since she had somehow got herself into a ball.

Once she was settled again, I opened her mouth slightly and let the river's fresh water drip into her mouth. She didn't reject it, for which I am glad. Then came the part I had no idea what to do about.

Feeding her.

Up till this point, I had been eating those delicious red globes that sat on the branches of some trees. But I didn't know if she would be able to swallow something so hard, and crunchy, and juicy...

Mental note, need a private stash of red things.

I had an idea now. I took out my trusty stone-ish hatchet and walked over to the pile of planks and sticks. I took the widest plank and set it down in front of me. I raised my axe and brung it down on the middle point of the plank. I broke it cleanly in half.

Now I went outside and harvested a couple of the red fruits from the trees. I had collected a total of 7 tasty delights, and brought six back to the cave. The seventh hadn't made the trip.

I put one on each wooden board and pulled out a bone I collected, either from last night or the one before.

I raised the bone a little and started beating the nutrition out of the poor fruit. In a matter of seconds, it was reduced to pulp, and I removed the seeds, stick, and what was left of the core. I could probably plant those seeds later...

The mush that was left over was what I was going to feed the girl. I squashed the other thing and repeated the process, then I mixed them both on the same plank. I took it to the far for corner, where the girl lay.

I used a small stick as a spoon to gently shove some of the mush into her mouth, and I massaged her throat hoping that it would help her swallow.

Tenderly, I kept repeating the process until all of the stuff was gone. I also ended up tearing her leather chest plate into misshapen bandage-strips, like I had done with her helmet and leggings. I walked back to the girl and swapped all of her current bandages for fresh ones. Her wounds had mostly healed, and that calmed me down a little.

But I didn't know what to do with her apparent sickness. She was still shivering, and her forehead was hotter than it should be. Once again, I got an idea.

Unsure as to wether or not it was wrong, I tentatively picked her up. She unconsciously curled up to my chest, and the sight made my heart melt.

I carried her up the hill as carefully as I could to lay her in the sun, hoping it would help. My analysis told me that the darkness and cold stone floor were not helping her at all, and that laying on the grass and in the sun would fix that.

Once I was there, I slowly kneeled down and laid her on the grass. She looked more peaceful at least. Once that was done, I stared at the valley stretched before me.

I itched to explore it, but there was more pressing matters here.

I walked back to the cave and picked up all of the sticks and planks i had stacked there and brought them back up to the hill's crest.

I decided to distract myself by messing with the wood, thinking about what I could use it for. Having deeded that I was going to live down in the valley, I thought about making a temporary shelter for my downed 'friend'.

I picked her up again but I put her near the hill's edge so that I could cut down some of the trees. Once that was done, I chopped two of the trees, leaving two more on the hill. One of the trees split in half, while the other one split into four sections.

I lifted the halves onto the grass and into the dirt so they were parallel to each other, with a couple of meters in between. I used the quarts of the tree on the other side, one behind each half, and two in between those. The branches of the trees were full of foliage, so I used them for the 'roof' of the shelter.

Doing this took me so long that the sun was staring to set. I hastily moved her from her current location to the makeshift shelter. She squirmed a little at the sudden move, but once she was under the crude roof, she seemed pretty comfortable. Happy at my achievement but still on edge, I covered up the entrance with more sticks and planks so as to protect her from the mobs.

I quickly slid down the hill towards the cave and dove in. Doing this hurt, but not as much as I had expected it to. My heart was pounding hard a million times a second.

I ate another two red balls to try to calm myself down, but the only thing I achieved was choking on the tasty fruits. Then I remembered a minute detail.

I crawled to a corner of the cave and encountered the girl's stuff, or what was left of it. It was really only her boots, bow, quiver, knife and pack at this point. The pack that she had strapped to her leggings when I met her. Or, like, encountered her I suppose.

Inside the pack were a couple of water bottles and dried meat. I took a bottle of water out and slowly drank until it was empty. This helped soothe my nerves.

I slowly ate another fruit and rested among the sticks and stones in the cave. It was uncomfortable, but i was too tired to find a better place to sleep. I closed my eyes and dreamt for the first time since waking up.

I dreamt of fire.

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

MORE AUTHOR'S NOTES

Oooo, now were getting into some backstory, oooo...

This is the earliest I have completed a chapter, and I'm not so sure on its turnout. The en seemed a bit rushed to me.

Anyway, thank you all for you time and have a good day!

~LeMafiaKreb