Stone Age Encampment
Vikki stepped carefully through the valley staying close to as much vegetation as she could. Everywhere she looked she could see the long necks of brontosaurus's stretching high above the tree's and over hills and rocky walls. Looking higher pterodactyls flew across the sky screeching loudly as they soared over their domain.
"If this was under different circumstances I would be amazed." Vikki said aloud as she trekked through the valley trying to find a subtle place to make her camp at. But the young woman was not having the best of luck.
She had been walking for hours staying close to anything that she could dive or crawl into to keep out of sight. Anytime she would hear something sound close she would immediately take cover and wait for what it is to pass or go away.
Once more she heard something coming her way as she found herself in clear area that had only a few tree's near a massive lake that showed a great amount of land far across from it including a few mountains and herds of dinosaurs grazing about near the lake and even stepping through it. She quickly hid in the bushes she was nearby keeping herself calm and steady to not alert what was coming to her presence.
Even when she had to conceal herself she peered through the brush and gaze upon what was nearby. As what came into sight that was only twenty yards away was a spectacle to see.
She adored the sight of a stegosaurus with a young child walking by it with a half dozen more of them walking in a file right behind the lead one that had the child. It was remarkable as the herd moved on to find a ground that suited them.
Vikki got nervous when she saw the eyes of the young stegosaurus glance in her direction as she made eye contact with it and tried not to move. She knew from the archives she studied on dinosaurs that stegosaurus were herbivores but that could be aggressive protectors if they sense a threat to them or their young. Thankfully, the young dinosaur did not see her and continued to walk alongside its mother staying close for protection as the herd soon was far enough away for, Vikki to come out from her hiding spot.
"Wow." She smiled as she brushed her shoulders. "If only I had video for this. Just cannot believe a prehistoric world actually exists. Perhaps there many more worlds far different than one I have been to before." Vikki grumbled in frustration making a fist looking down at the hideous and revealing outfit she was dressed in.
"This piece of garbage drapes!" She sneered looking down to see her hanging skirts cover only her front and back of her lower portion of her body and top she had for her chest barely covered it exposing part of herself. "Bridgette's idea of a joke is really distasteful. I will find a way out of this and when I find her I am going to rip out her tongue and shove it down her throat. She won't be gloating or laughing then!"
A Roaring cry from above made her quickly kneel down and cover her head as another pterodactyl flee close to the ground before rising back up into the sky as the sudden sight of, Vikki made it curious flying low to see a better look before it flew away.
"I cannot linger I got to move!" Vikki exclaimed as she ran to one of the tree's in the grounds she found herself in. She stayed by it to take a moment to look around. Since she first started to head into the jungle after she climbed out of the river she was pushed into hours ago she completely without direction. It was greatly difficult to even get a baring as the world around her was completely new to her.
She had no map nor even a compass to keep her direction with. It was impossible to even have any remote understanding as the world she was trapped was devoid of possible intelligent life. No civilization or even something to give her an idea of what place she was in. All she could do was rely on the training she has had and her past experiences to help her.
Vikki laid against the tree in thought with a finger on her chin trying to think of where she could go to find a place to make camp. She looked up to the sky to see the sun was shining brightly and it was past the middle of the sky indication it was long past noon, and it would be setting in a matter of hours.
"I just have to find someplace to stay before it gets dark. But where?" She seethed through her teeth grabbing the side of her head with both her hands in frustration. She was lost in every sense. In a world filled with so many creatures that are vastly unknown about standing at tremendous sizes that they could easily step on and trample her if not eat her and stuck in a loincloth like bikini she had nothing but herself.
Letting go of her head she took a breath to calm herself. As her training in her early years went through her mind. She remembered being told that. If your trapped behind enemy lines with no direction or any proper way to protect yourself the best one can do is not to panic. Take your time to recon and regroup and plan accordingly to survive and make it back home.
Vikki calmed down as her frustration was not going to help her here. Even when its discovered she is missing no one would think she was in a different world and even if that became known they would not know what other world she is in and with, Bridgette's destruction of the portal she was dragged into any way of finding her in this prehistoric world was slim to none.
She knew she had to find another portal for there just had to be another one in this world that even her nemesis did not know about or discovered yet. But first she needed to find a place to make shelter. She needed to lay low and hidden from the many dinosaurs that could make a meal out of her and be a designated spot for her to rest and rejuvenate if she was going to scour the land for any sign of a portal.
Putting a finger to her chin she tried to think again of how she was going to find a place that would be suitable for her. She needed to be where there was a fresh water source. Perhaps with food that would be suited enough for nutrients and would not be an active spot for the inhabitants of the world to normally come through.
Then an idea came to her mind. The Stegosaurus she saw earlier were walking in a file and they headed down a nearby path was between two rocky walls. Herbivores that were known to travel in groups meant they were seeking out somewhere to graze for a time. Maybe that was the key to her troubles.
"Well not the brightest idea but what else do I got?" She asked herself shrugging her shoulders. She walked over to where she saw the small herd go into. She saw curved pathway that led through a small canyon.
The Canyon was open with no place to take cover but if the stegosaurus went through it then it had to be cleared of potential danger. Taking no time to think twice about it she hurried through the canyon. She tried to be quick as possible for she was in the open. Alone and without any sort of defense she would not stand a chance against anything to would look upon her with an appetite.
Vikki continued to make her way through the canyon not stopping for a second. She came to pass that led to the right and what she saw then astonished her. She looked upon a lake that came from a waterfall near a grass covered wall that small tree's growing out from the side.
Near the bank of the lake that was only around a tiny portion of the lake she saw on the other side of the canyon it still was a great size to make use of. It was big enough to have possible fish within it and with waterfall adding hundreds of gallons to it by the second the water was fresh, and it looked clean and clear.
Vikki smiled as she slowly walked up to the lake only to peer to her right to see a familiar herd of stegosaurus a short distance away. Most of them were drinking at the lake as one of them stayed behind the herd keeping a look out for danger.
"Incredible!" Vikki smiled as she carefully stepped towards the lake keeping a safe distance from the dinosaurs. The Humidity had been getting to, Vikki for the past few hours as she was smacking her lips at the sight of the clean water in front of her. She was in desperate need for a drink.
She stepped upon the bank of the lake and kneeled down into it as the water touched her knees and worked up to the back of her toes as she sighed as cool touch of the water relieved her. She grabbed a handful of water and began to drink it up eagerly.
The Cool water was savory the chill of the water within her mouth sent waves of coolness as she gulped down handful after handful of water. She then splashed some water onto her face and poured some over her hair letting herself cool down from the excessive heat that made up the humidity. As, Vikki continued to drink and pour water over her skin she didn't realize she had caught the eye of the young stegosaurus.
The Young Dinosaur was grazing upon in the grassy areas near the lake when he caught sight of the strange being that was a short distance away from the herd drinking from the lake. It had never seen a creature like it before and decided to take a closer look. It walked over to the odd looking before as it drank from the lake.
Vikki sighed in relief as she had drunk her last handful. Her skin was drenched in water and her body was relieved. "Just what I needed." She smiled before standing up and turned to her right only to see a stegosaurus the size of a cow standing right in fright of her.
She yelped in fright from the sudden appearance as she stood completely still not wanting to look threatening and intimidating.
"Uh…hi little guy." She chuckled nervously as she stared into the black marbled eyes of the young dinosaur. The young stegosaurus peered closer at the two legged being in front of it as it looked up and down at her.
It cocked it its head partially as its curious nature was intrigued. Vikki didn't know what to think of it as she stared into the curious eyes of the reptilian prehistoric being. It was within arm's reach of her, but she dared not reach out not wanting to frighten it and cause it to alert the nearby heard of danger.
"You're quite the cute one, aren't you?" She chuckled as the young dinosaur looked up at her eyes and could not see anything that appeared dangerous about her. The Stegosaurus that stood guard looked to where the young stegosaurus was.
It saw the young one with a mysterious looking creature. It was concerned to see the young one near something unknown but it didn't look dangerous, but it roared calmly at the young one.
Vikki looked over the baby to see the stegosaurus calling to the young one in front of her. "You better along there. Your mother is calling you!"
The Young dinosaur in front of her moaned slightly as if it was disappointed it could not continue to look at the creature but turned around and ran back to the herd. One the young one came near the one guard that was his mother he nuzzled into her leg as the large stegosaurus leaned down and nuzzled the child in return.
The Other stegosaurus finished with their drinking and backed away from the lake. The Guard then took the lead once again as the dinosaurs filed behind it and as if on signal they all followed the head stegosaurus and followed her through another canyon on the other side of the lake as, Vikki watched in amazement.
"My first dinosaur encounter!" She beamed stepping out from the lake. "I'm glad it was a pleasant one too. Any paleontologist would be so jealous!" She giggled as she looked up at the sun to see it was going to be dark very soon. She looked around the land near the lake seeing how there were only two paths into the lake the one she came from and from where the herd of dinosaurs she saw left as rocky cliffs and mountains surrounded the lake area.
"Perfect spot as any I suppose." Vikki hummed slapping her arms down to her side. "Now to see what I can use to make some shelter. And get some food too."
Vikki saw the nearby palm trees had long leave branches that would be suitable to put over her shelter when she starts getting it up. She noticed the green coconuts in the tree's which would make a good start for a food source and she would see if there were fish in the nearby lake, but the shelter had to come first.
After doing one more survey of the area, Vikki decided her shelter should be made on the far edge of nearby wall. That way if or when more dinosaurs would show up her shelter would be out of the way unless they decided to come near but that wasn't the worry for the time being.
Vikki had to work fast as she only had only two or three hours left before the sun would set. Having made her designated spot to make her shelter she hurried back up to the jungle on the other side of the canyon she first entered from that plenty of trees for her to pick and gather branches from that would suit her for the shelter she was about to make. Thankfully gathering the branches, she needed was not going to be too much of a difficult task as she had not seen any more dinosaurs come near her since the stegosaurus herd.
Vikki gathered as many branches as she could carry and tied them all together with vines. She grabbed many vines and tied them over the pile of branches she had made as she would need them to tie everything together when she begins setting up her shelter.
She carried her load over her shoulders all the way back to the lake without a complication as listened to the screeches of the pterodactyls overheard. Once she found the spot she marked by drawing a land upon dunned ground she immediately went to work setting down the great roll of branches she gathered.
She undid the vines on the branches and set every branch side by side and tried to determine which branches would be the best ones to use for her shelter. She took the biggest one and set into the ground implanting it as deep as she could. She then took the rest of the branches and set them cross near the top of the standing branch in the middle and tied them all in place with the vines she gathered.
Then came the trickier part of getting the foliage needed for the shelter cover. She would have to gather them from the palm tree's around the lake. After she took a short break and drank a few handfuls of water she went up to one of the tree's and tried to determine how she was going to get up it.
Once she saw how she could do it she sighed in distaste. "If only I could simply make a ladder." She hopped onto the tree wrapping her arms and legs around it making sure to get a good grip on it. Once she had her legs and arms locked together she began to climb up using her arms to pull herself up while keeping her legs locked together around the tree.
Vikki groaned as she slowly made her way up the tree as it was becoming tiresome. "Perhaps I should have practiced more on the ropes!" She groaned as it was becoming a task of getting to the top. After a couple of painful minutes, she finally got to the top.
Vikki panted heavily. "Finally!" She held onto the tree with her legs keeping them locked tight though her lower body felt like they were on fire and the soft breeze that came about carried an upwind under her making her shudder as her exposed body got a chill.
She reached over and yanked a leafy branch off letting fall to the ground and continued doing the same for all the other branches she could reach. She was not going to do this twice and pulled as many as she could off and knocked down a few coconuts that would be good starting food source for her.
"Now I can get down! Thank goodness!" She smiled as she began to shimmy her way down but when she was less than a quarter of her way to the ground her legs could no longer support her and began to cramp up. She jolted from the sudden cramp causing her to let go of the tree and found herself falling onto the ground landing with a hard thud.
"Ooohh…" She groined painfully as she sat up rubbing her back looking up at the tree. "…well at least it wasn't from the top." She slowly got back up to her feet and shook her legs to try and get the cramp out of them as she brushed herself off.
After taking a moment to recover she gathered all the branches filled to brim with foliage on them she carried them over to her shelter. She spent the next hour placing them onto the sticks and tied them in place with all the vines she had left over.
Vikki collapsed onto the ground as she tied the last leafy branch onto the makeshift hut she made. She smiled widely as her work was completed. She gave it a quick look around and was pleased to see every bit of her shelter was covered completely. Nothing will be able to see her when she was inside it. She didn't know how well it would stand up in a storm, but weather wasn't her concern for the time being all she wanted was something to keep out of sight with and this was more than enough.
"Not exactly a five-star hotel suite but it should work." She chuckled to herself and looked over to see what she had left. There were three leafy branches left which she placed in her shelter that would make do for a mat to lay on and found she still had one long branch and few smaller pieces left from gathering in the jungle.
Vikki's stomach grumbled as her worked stirred her hunger. She saw the sun was close to going down and peered out at the lake. She then looked at the long branch and got an idea. She grabbed the branch and found a rock laying nearby. "Let's make a use for you both and get myself something to eat."
She took the rock near a large boulder and began to smash it down hard onto it. She slowly chipped away at the rock in making a point out of one end of. She then began to scrape the end sharpening it along with he sides of it. After a few minutes of sharpening the rock she tied the blunt end onto the tip of the branch with the last piece of vine she gathered and smiled widely as she had crafted a spear.
Vikki then went to the lake to find something that she could catch. Stepping into the lake would scare off anything and with the sun going down she could not stand in the shallow water and wait till something came. She then spotted a boulder that stood just off the lakes edge as it was half submerged in the water.
"That should do. Let's hope for one last miracle today." Vikki hoped as she leapt onto the boulder and stood upon it with her spear pointing down at the water and stood silently and waited. She narrowed her eyes as the water's clarity helped see down within it.
She stood one the boulder for over fifteen minutes as the sun was about to go out of sight. Vikki was about to give up until she saw the shadow of a fish near the surface. Not letting the chance go she thrusted the spear into the water and her hopes went high as she felt the spear pierce from under the water and saw a trickle of blood come up to the surface. She pulled out the spear and saw she had caught a wish as it wiggled helplessly on the spear as the sharp end stuck out from the other side of it.
"Yes! I did it!" She cheered loudly with a laugh. "Anchovies was not always my favorite but in this case ill make an exception."
Vikki took her catch back to her shelter and laid it against the wall of her makeshift hut as she gathered more rocks making a circle with them and set the last pieces of branches keeping a short one out for what she would need next in the center of it. Taking a piece of leaf from her shelter she set it just under the branch's in the fire pit and took two rocks and started to scrap them together quickly sending out sparks which eventually caught on the leaf causing it to ignite slowly and soon made the branch's go aflame.
Vikki gathered her catch prying it off her spear as it now was dead and took the smaller branch pushed it through the mouth of the fish and then sat down and held it over the fire letting it cook.
She was eager to have dinner but then as she held her fish over the fire as such faded away over the horizon letting the even move in, Vikki started to think about her father and her lover. By now they would have noticed that she was not where she would be. They would search the base first then they would search the outer areas and beyond, but they would not find her.
Her face dropped into sadness as fish began to sizzle over the open fire. "I was such a fool." She sighed. "I should have just kept to those low sighted reports and listened to, Daddy. I just…wish I could give you a hug and tell you how sorry I am and, Sarge. I know you were only looking for me. I owe you an apology too." She apologized as if the two she spoke of were right there with her.
"Ill search this whole world till I find that portal. Then I'll be paying a visit to you, Bridgette! By the time I am done with you, your going to beg for a prison cell." She growled as she saw the fish getting well done and took it away from the fire.
"Bon appetite." She chuckled lowly as she began to take apart the cooked fish and began to eat it and despite being without seasoning and not exactly mess hall made it wasn't that bad as she continued to eat her well-deserved meal and hoped she would have a good chance at finding anything to help her get home the next day as she listened on into the knight hearing the dinosaurs in the distance roar about.
