05.08.2022
It's me, it's a Friday I'm in a rush and this is your weekly dose of Stranded!
But first the weekly dose of comments!:
Squaretree - I've absolutely never even heard of the show as TV is generally not my cup of coffee. I'm more of a basement-dwelling gamer, though I lack a basement to dwell so I'm stuck in my room. As to the world I've already decided what to do with it after one too many ARK comments.
Jaune75 - I don't aim to impress, but earning laughs here and there is one of my goals! Also self-bashing!
InsaneMakaioshin - She was supposed to appear today, but the story kinda went a different way so... maybe next week?
JesterGlych - It would have been the best pracitcal joke in the history of practical jokes, but that is sadly not the case. Maybe one day we'll find out what the fuck's going on in this world, eh?
Drax152 - She's off the table. It's only a few select A and B girls, so unfortunately no.
SonicMax - Kekw
And now the chapter!:
Izuku faced his current opponent with a weapon in hand like a cowboy at noon, but it was early morning, he was wielding an axe and his opponent will not - probably - defend himself.
And that's because Izuku was tasked with gathering bamboo as per Momo's request, a task that had him revisit the bamboo grove that they'd already extracted resources from in the past. This time around however he was more than equipped for the job, because Momo used some of the left over Element to make him a new axe, one that'd for sure serve him way better than any stone one ever could! Even though the head was made out of Element, Momo refrained from calling the tool a Tek Axe, saying that it wouldn't be right and her two friends wisely decided not to pry into the subject.
However, despite not being called a Tek Axe it sure did perform like it. Whereas Izuku's previous primitive axes made out of stone blunted after a couple of swings and became nearly useless, his new one retained its cutting abilities throughout the day. Having the right tool for the job was a big breakthrough and allowed Izuku to wrap his task up in a matter of hours and not days like the last time.
Now that they had the necessary materials all they had to do was begin construction.
Momo's solution to the problem of water freezing inside their pipes was to simply not let it happen and all they had to do was keep the water running even if it wasn't needed. In hindsight they could've just kept their tap open all the time, but that would quickly result in an ice rink forming in front of their cave, which may have sounded cool - cause it's frozen water, funny right? - but would quickly become a nuisance if they had to partake in a figure skating championship each time they'd try to exit or enter the closest place they had to home here.
That's why Momo decided that simply extending their pipeline would be the best choice. She even found a valve that'd make it that much easier to connect the old section of piping with the new one.
This time they were going to use gravity to keep the water moving so the return pipes would need to be placed way lower than their current ones. Thankfully it meant no wall climbing for Izuku who could get everything into place from the ground. Yet even without the additional level of complexity that working at heights provided, it was still enough work for Izuku to be forced to finish the final part on the next day. Once he was done however all three were happy to see the water flow back into the small lake beneath the waterfall.
Now that their water supply was prepared for winter, Momo's mind conjured an image of a much more glaring issue - the front door to their shelter, or rather lack thereof. It was almost guaranteed at this point that winter was just around the corner and the morning chills were getting more severe by the day. At least the wind calmed down somewhat, but when it picked up for even a moment the cold could even worm its way inside their home.
It wasn't that noticeable when they were all cuddled up with their boyfriend, but as soon as they left the warm confines of their shared bedcave it was impossible to ignore and while cuddling with Izuku for potentially days sounded very tempting - and very dangerous - the issue itself couldn't be ignored. What if the river froze over while they were all lovey dovey and another tiger crossed into their territory only to find their cave completely open?
As such they all agreed that reinforcing their entrance at least somewhat would be necessary to prepare for the coming weather of unknown and unforeseeable intensity.
This had Izuku return to what was left of the bamboo grove with the task of cutting it down completely, seeing as bamboo was a very versatile resource it wouldn't hurt to have a bit of it at hand in case of emergency. Momo did point out that he shouldn't cut it as close to the ground as possible so that it might grow back once the weather returns to normal.
When Izuku was off doing the masculine task that is procuring construction materials with a hand axe, Mina and Momo were scouring their land for any edible berries they could find, a task which was getting harder and harder by the day as bushes simply refused to bear fruit at the rate they were used to seeing.
Their food stockpile was still growing mind you, but there was no way of telling if it'd be enough to get them through the coming winter. Searching for a additional food source might've been a good idea, but Momo felt ashamed to admit that she wasn't that knowledgeable when it came to plants and as such didn't feel confident enough to try and find edible roots or wild veggies, especially since there was no telling which laws from their world apply in this one.
If things got hairy though they could always try to fish, as they could continue doing it even if the river was to freeze over. Unless the peak density of water is not at four degrees like normal. It was frustrating really, having all that knowledge and not being able to use it since none of it may be true in this world that they still hadn't named.
It's not like Momo wasn't familiar with that feeling since she had become very acquainted with it during her first semester at UA, but being reminded of her previous weakness made it even more frustrating to deal with. Alas she didn't have time to worry about that too much as they still had some things to do before winter rolls in properly.
Taking down the bamboo grove and dragging it back to their home took Izuku almost a full day, but once that was done they could begin construction right away.
They could have used bricks to erect a solid wall, but it'd take a long time to create enough bricks and time was something they didn't have a whole lot of. What they did have however was mortar which Momo was planning to use to better insulate their cave from the harsh weather outside.
As expected there just so happened to be a box of hinges inside their pile of stuff-that-should-not-be-disturbed-at-all-cost, but - to their great surprise - no door handles, which forced Momo to make a crude one out of some spare bamboo.
Surprisingly, building something as simple as a wall is not as easy as it sounds. I guess that's what happens when you don't make your neighbor pay for said wall.
Political jokes aside, none of the three had any knowledge or experience with construction engineering, so it took them a few tries to finally iron out all the details and erect a structure that did not crumble under its own weight at the slightest gust of wind. After that came the easier task of splattering a layer of mortar all over the wall to reduce the amount of heat escaping their home. It could really backfire on them if another heat wave was to roll in, but there was a risk that they wouldn't survive to that day, so they decided to take the risk.
They finished insulating their new entrance just before the suns started the final stage of their daily descent and - as they'd soon find out - just before winter decided to show up and mess their routines up.
Izuku woke up surrounded with copious amounts of boob right in his face as Momo and Mina decided to switch places for the night. It's not like he minded it of course, he doesn't remember the last time he slept so well or felt so rested in the morning.
Although sleep was a very enjoyable thing in and of itself, being awake had its own list of benefits, one that Izuku - thanks to his tendency to wake up early - could experience to the fullest.
All good things have to come to an end unfortunately, though the mandatory 'good morning' kisses were a sound compensation for having to get up and get through the day.
This time however, getting through the day turned out to be a vastly different endeavor from what they were expecting.
With their cave walled off from the outside world they could focus all of their efforts on gathering food and firewood before the inevitable drop in temperature happened, but as soon as they stepped outside they realized that it was already a bit too late for that.
A cold, howling gale combined with the surprising brightness of the surroundings forced them to shield their eyes at first before they could even look around. They got over the initial shock rather quickly and immediately understood what had happened.
The winter has come. And it didn't bother pulling any punches.
Everything was covered in snow, not exactly buried just yet but under a hefty blanket for sure. All the leaves seemed to have vanished overnight as their lush forest transformed into an arctic landscape with bare trees everywhere you looked.
Whilst Mina and Izuku were dumbfounded at the sight in front of them, not able to get over the sudden revelation that fast, Momo immediately went to check whether they managed to keep the water pipeline intact.
Their efforts were not for naught as fresh water started flowing out of the tap as soon as Momo switched the valves around which made her release a sigh of relief.
Once her two friends came down from their starstruck trip, they decided to explore the area for a bit to see if something else besides the obvious things changed. Their first stop was obviously the river as that'd have the most impact on their future plans that they don't yet have.
The temperature didn't seem so bad so they were hopeful about the river not freezing over right off the bat as that would give them at least a few more options as to what they could busy themselves with. Fortunately that's exactly what's happened and they released a collective sigh of relief. Their luck had to run out at some point though and it must've been running on fumes already as they approached their frozen solid bath.
"Well, I doubt any one of us would've liked to bathe in this freezing water anyways." Mina stated, upset but ultimately glad that at least some things were going their way.
"Besides, walking back in this cold right after coming out of a bath would not end well for you." Momo seconded her opinion though even she'd admit that not being able to take a bath to relax was going to suck just a bit.
"Maybe we could dig out a bath inside the cave?" Izuku proposed and the girls immediately turned to stare right at him. Their intense gazes started to unnerve him a bit, especially since they said nothing to his idea. "Or we can not do that?" He asked with a bead of sweat on his forehead.
Instead of a verbal response he received a physical one as the girls tackled him into a hug, their combined momentum almost being enough to topple him over due to the element of surprise.
"Girls?" He questioned with nothing but confusion on his face.
"That's a great idea!" Mina exclaimed with an enthusiastic grin on her face as sparks of mischief circulated in her eyes.
"I can't believe I hadn't thought of that!" Momo was the next one to speak. "Filling it up will be a breeze with the piping still intact and we can just boil some of the water over the fire to adjust the temperature of the bath!" The raven-haired beauty shared her thoughts with even more enthusiasm than Mina.
"Oh, I think we still might have some soap berries stored up somewhere around the cave!" Mina said excitedly.
"What are we waiting for then? Let's go!" Momo exclaimed and took off in the direction of their home with Mina right behind her.
Izuku just stood there, dumbfounded and slightly confused but amused by the enthusiastic display he witnessed mere moments ago. He shook his head with an amused smile and then followed the girls home.
After spending some time outdoors before coming back to their cave it was easy for the trio to notice the difference in temperatures that seemed just a bit more pronounced right now than in the morning.
It made Momo pause for a couple of moments just so she could think about what really was going on with the world around them.
As they hadn't suspected the winter to fully arrive overnight without so much as a snowflake the day before, they all were wearing their usual short-sleeved clothes during their initial exploration of their snow-covered neighborhood. Yet even with the copious amounts of snow everywhere, they didn't feel that cold after stepping out of their home. They were gone for an hour at most and at no point during their trip did they notice the temperature dropping by even a single degree, yet as soon as they returned home the difference was immediately noticeable as the warmth of the cave surprised them to no end.
There was no one inside besides them, so it's not like someone could've lit the fire up while they were gone and the cave couldn't have gotten warmer on its own.
How do you explain the vast temperature difference then? Did the outside world keep getting colder and colder as they traversed the land? If so then how come they didn't notice the cold before being showered with warmth from the inside of their home?
So many questions that will probably never be answered.
"Maybe it was hypothermia?" Izuku provided with a thoughtful expression.
"We weren't outside for very long, so it would need to be really cold for hypothermia to set in that quickly and that surely isn't possible since the river is still ice-free." Momo debunked the idea as she too racked her brain to try and solve this enigma.
"Maybe we are living inside of a volcano? It would explain where the heat came from." Mina shared her own theory as she walked about the cave.
"I'm pretty sure we'd know if there was an active or even a dormant volcano right next to our home, you know?" Momo stated as she exhaled heavily, though couldn't help but feel somewhat amused by her friend's attempt at helping them in their investigation.
"What if it appeared overnight like the snow or our bedcave?" Izuku prodded with a really serious expression.
"Then it would be absolute bullshit." Momo stated flatly with no expression whatsoever, though after a few seconds sighed deeply and relaxed her body. "Though I guess it would also be pretty in line with everything else that's happened ever since I've got here…" She admitted.
"See? We can't rule out any possibilities!" Mina stated proudly with a smug grin as she decided to strike up a cool pose by leaning against the wall and shooting finger-guns at her friends.
Her plan backfired however when she yelped and immediately jumped away from the wall as if she got burned by it. Needless to say her outburst was noticed by her friends who weren't really watching her during the brainstorming session.
"What's wrong?" Izuku asked as his heroic instinct awoke as soon as he heard her pained yelp and he sprung onto his feet.
"I- This wall is way too hot!" Mina exclaimed as she pointed her finger at the spot she just jumped away from in an accusing manner.
"What are you talking about?" Momo questioned, believing that this was merely Mina being herself and lighting up the mood with a follow-up joke, yet couldn't help the growing curiosity as the pained yelp sounded really genuine.
Izuku - who was on his feet already - walked over to where Mina was pointing to investigate and even Momo stood up to join him a moment later. They quickly concluded that Mina was in fact telling the truth as even without touching it, they could feel warmth radiating off of the wall. Izuku even reached out with his hand tentatively, but hesitated from touching the stone directly as the heat was nearly searing his skin without direct contact!
"I really hope you're mistaken about the volcano thing…" Momo murmured to herself as she too investigated the wall.
"There's only one way to find out." Izuku stated and then struck the wall with his small pick.
"What are you doing?!" Momo exclaimed in horror.
"Finding out." Izuku simply answered and redoubled his efforts.
It took only a few mighty swings for larger pieces of stone to start falling off until - after one particularly devastating strike - a stream of steam erupted from the wall, forcing the three teens to take a few steps back unless they wanted to become steamed veggies.
Whatever it was had quickly died down in intensity and Izuku could return to mining. Now that he'd made a breakthrough it took only a few more swings to make the opening big enough to see through.
The trio poked their heads inside only to find-
"Is that a hot spring?!" Mina exclaimed in excitement.
It was indeed a hot spring. A really hot one too if the steam that engulfed most of the room was anything to go by.
"Yes, yes it is." Momo stated in a flat tone, absolutely done with the shenanigans that have happened in the span of two hours.
"At least we don't have to make a bathtub anymore, right?" Izuku pointed out with a small smile, though he too felt overwhelmed by the sheer absurdity he witnessed in a single day. Even a week of working with Hatsume didn't leave him so done with everything!
Needless to say, it was a really hectic beginning to a very hectic winter.
That's all for today! The winter has come to mess everything up so make sure to come back next week to see what it has in store for our growing harem! Have a great day and see you next Friday!