Apologies for the delay! I initially didn't intend to actually write this scene out, but I found myself thinking it was necessary, so I had to backtrack a bit while writing- sorry it's a bit short!
Wilson took a bite of his carrot and chewed it deliberately, closing his eyes in thought. A large part of him wanted to ignore the strange voice, and was, perhaps, grateful that it had not answered him, because that suggested that it had left him alone. He was perfectly happy being alone. Especially when the alternative was… what? A ghost? A shadow? A very convincing hallucination? Yet, at heart, Wilson P. Higgsbury was a man of science, and when confronted with the unexpected, he could not help but seek an explanation. He swallowed and asked something else:
"You brought my axe back?" Indeed, he had wholly expected to never see it again.
"…Ah, yes—I'm sorry—I did," It sounded apologetic, stumbling over its words. "I thought I told you. I didn't think—I didn't mean to startle you."
Frustrated by not knowing where to look while addressing this… spirit, Wilson settled for staring into the crackling fire. By its very nature, a disembodied voice had nothing in the way of body language, and therefore very little to scrutinize for signs of deceit or trustworthiness. But these circumstances couldn't be helped, and so he could only resolve to tread carefully.
"Quite frankly, I thought you wanted to steal something of mine. If that's not the case…" He paused, eating the rest of his carrot, partly stalling for time and partly feeling very hungry. "What do you want, if not to scare my wits out of me?"
"I want to help you." There it was, stated plainly.
"Hmm. And if I were to say I did not want your help, would you leave me be?" He asked. A flash of memory came to him, an image of—he believed the phrase was— "being possessed," and he fought a shudder. That help, he could do without.
The spirit sighed, and he could only guess that it was mulling over a response, or maybe it had sensed his fear. "Yes, I suppose if you honestly do not want my help, I will go. But please, allow me to make my case first. You haven't been here long, correct? But I have. Therefore, there's many things you don't know about the way this place works. But I do. Trust me, you won't want to learn them the hard way."
He felt apprehensive about conceding anything, but he had to admit that the logic was sound. And perhaps—it was possible—excessive caution could be as detrimental as recklessness. Taking a certain amount of risk was necessary. After all, he had gambled his life on the carrots and berries that grew here not being poisonous, because the alternative was certain starvation. Thus far, he had gambled wisely.
"Alright, that makes sense to me. If you're so eager to help, and so knowledgeable, would you happen to know where some saplings are?" Wilson reached for his axe, bringing it closer to examine the damaged blade. "You see, I need to replace my tools quite often, but I'm running low on twigs." He dwelled for a moment upon the implications. No twigs for a handle, no handle for an axe, no axe to chop trees, no chopped trees for logs, no logs for a fire… he'd be back to lighting torches, except he would still have no twigs for a torch.
"I don't know of any nearby that you haven't already stripped clean, but there's some trees just south of here…" The shadow hand appeared for a moment, pointing the way, "that should supply you well. They're very… twiggy." The voice carried a hopeful tone. Wilson had not seen any trees fitting such a description, but he had also not explored that direction yet. He could only hope this was another good gamble.
"Then I suppose I'll head out at sunrise and see what awaits me." With that, Wilson retreated into his mind, considering the deal he had made. He still knew nothing about the entity that insisted it wanted to help him, and that bothered him immensely. If he asked, maybe it would tell him how that strange hand functioned, and where it went when it withdrew.
Will there be twiggy trees, or is Wilson being tricked? ...Okay, probably, and probably not. But stay tuned anyway to watch more of our favorite Gentleman Scientist learning to survive in the Constant!