AN: Thanks to a suggestion from Kaishei (k-k-kaishei) on Tumblr, and some advice from my dad (he used to be in the scouts when he was young *g*), I managed to write this chapter! :D And I like the result.
( AN2: Piltdown Man, not sure what you mean about 'from africa to the americas'... it's always been my understanding that anomalies travel through time and space, if that helps? But we might see more of danny and abby at some point. Dunno about continuing into S4, we'll hvae to see where the muse takes it.)
~Thanks for the reviews, guys! Hope you enjoy this next chapter~
Connor's stomach growled, and he ignored it. He wanted to save the last two granola bars for emergencies.
'I need to learn how to survive here, not use up my supplies and end up dying when I'm too hungry and exhausted to take care of myself, and that means figuring out what is ok to eat, learning how to hunt, making a fire
and cooking and dealing with all of this 'till an anomaly opens to lead me home.'
No matter what, he'd have to take these risks. Might's well take 'em when he's still moderately healthy.
Connor plucked a fig-like fruit, stem, leaf, and all, before carefully climbing back down to the ground. Leaning against the trunk of the possible-fig-tree, Connor took the bag off of his back, unzipped it, and added the fruit and leaf to the growing collection within. Then he took the little bottle of spray paint (hiking emergency trail paint, apparently… which made some sense, he mused) out of a smaller pocket, and marked the trunk of the tree with a blue dot.
Then he picked up his crutch, and limped over to a fern, smelling the leaves of the plant before snagging a piece, and putting that in his bag. (The fern got sprayed too, just like all of the other plants he'd taken fruits or seeds from, 'cept for the tubers and things like that, 'cause he'd remember what they looked like.)
Deciding he had enough vegetation to sample for now, Connor headed back towards his tree.
x_x_X
Connor split another twig and added it to the kindling, hopping on one leg to the other side of the area he'd cleared of plants and leaves. After scooping some dirt out to make a shallow dip, he'd found several large stones and had set a few aside before putting the rest in a circle around the spot. Under the kindling was a mix of dryer lint, crushed dry leaves, bits of bark and shredded twigs (thanks, good ol' trusty pocketknife) as the tinder.
Thankfully the fire starter kit had had a guide inside, because he wasn't sure he knew much at all about building a fire…. or starting one, either.
(Yes, he'd googled it once but that had been so long ago… and the stuff about finding water had been a much more recent search.)
He'd also collected, like the guide instructed, larger pieces of wood… unfortunately he didn't have an axe to chop logs or anything like that, but there were plenty of branches on the ground, and he'd snapped a couple of saplings to use as well. Now Connor bit his bottom lip as he arranged the wood over the kindling and tinder, before picking up the fire starter and following the instructions…
Connor let out a very undignified squeaking sound as the spark immediately caught on the kindling and tinder, a fire crackling to life and startling him into dropping the fire starter. He laughed self-consciously as he retrieved it, even though there was no-one there to see, and moved back a little.
"Okay. Fire's lit…. now what?"
x_x_X
The crackle and pop of the flames kept the creatures away, their only experience with it that of wild, lightning-trike-caused forest fires, causing a now-instinctual fear of the burning, destructive things.
All to the good of the lone little human, who sat nearby with his back against the base of his tree. Up in the branches, the pack was nestled, mostly hidden from sight. A rope hung down from one of the branches and swung slightly in the breeze, a few centimeters from the ground.
Connor leaned forwards and tossed another handful of dry twigs and bark into the fire, flinching slightly as it flared up momentarily. It was a moderately small fire, but good enough.
x_x_X
He dumped the contents of his pack onto the ground, and surveyed what he'd collected.
With some trepidation he picked up a fruit that looked a bit like an apple,
and brought it to his lips. He took a tiny bite, and found it tasted tart as he chewed. He was hungry enough that he threw caution to the wind and took a second bite, before setting it aside.
Ten minutes after swallowing two small pieces of the fruit, Connor found himself horrendously sick.
x_x_X
He blinked his eyes open blearily, uttering a muffled curse.
After vomiting for a completely disproportionate amount of time (and number of times, as well), he'd been weak and shaky. Connor had forced himself to drink some water, worrying in the back of his mind about the fire, before he'd passed out, lying on the ground at the base of his tree.
Now he woke to find that his fire had gone out in the night - it was amazing that he hadn't been eaten by something! His head hurt a little, and he was starving, but he felt… okay-ish.
Kind of.
He groaned and slowly sat up, reaching over to grab the canteen. There was just enough water in it to rid his mouth of the foul taste of bile, and clear his head a little.
"Well…. that was absolutely the most dumb thing I've ever done."