Chapter Five:

Conversations around the Campfire

"Mmm… fifty arrows should be fine for now," she thought out loud, "I can always make more. Feathers aren't always easy to come by and those vultures are a grumpy sort," she snorted, "Just getting their feathers… not going after their eggs or young…"

She continued to mumble and grumble to herself as she inspected her newly made equipment. She couldn't believe that she hadn't thought to make a bow earlier. Though she was better with a gun, she had learned the bow and arrow as a child. Even competed in a few contests here and there. Never won, but at least all of her arrows hit the target.

"No telling if I'll be able to hit a moving target under pressure," she admitted to herself, "Bet I could hit you though," she whipped her head around.

Just as she thought. That little chicken rat was hiding in a nearby bush. It had been slowly sneaking about her camp, but she noticed it. It thought it was being so slick moving through the thick brush. Like she couldn't see the rustling leaves and hear its little footsteps. She was just ignoring it so she could give it a good scare. This was a game that they now played every other day or so. The little chicken rat would try its best to sneak about her camp and steal her food. Mostly it would go for the berries she collected. Especially the purple ones. She really liked the purple ones. She knew that it was the same critter from that day in the canyon. Running along its beak-like mouth was a scar or maybe a crack. It was quite distinguishable from the other chicken rats she had run into. The others would run the moment she pulled out her spear. Not this one. It would stop its approach, but it wouldn't go away either. Once it knew that it was caught, it would just lurk about and wait for another opportunity to steal food.

"... I know if I start feeding you that you'll just hang around and annoy me," Jory stared the critter down, "So do yourself a favor and shoo."

The chicken rat slinked out of bushes and just stared at her with its beady little eyes. It cocked its head as if it was thinking about Jory's words. She noticed that this particular beastie seemed to ponder her words. Of course this was the only creature she really had exchanged words with. Every other thing either tried to eat her or ran or didn't pay much mind to her. Even though this little feathered rat probably didn't understand a word she was saying, it was still nice to talk to someone.

"Look," Jory sighed, "There are plenty of bushes around and some of them are really heavy with berries. Go get your own," she waved it off.

It looked around and even picked at the bushes around it. But it didn't seem too interested in the berries that were just in claw's reach. It just poked the berries as it stared up at Jory with sad, hungry eyes

"Seriously?" she was getting really annoyed, "You're a big… whatever you are. You can pick your own berries. Quit acting like a baby."

It began to pout as it laid down on the ground and released a heavy sigh. Jory just rolled her eyes at the antics of the strange creature. She refused to turn her back to it though. Though it seemed depressed, it could spring back to life at any moment. Literally. It had ambushed her a few times now and knocked her over just about every time. For something that was no bigger than a large rooster, it had quite the punch. Granted, Jory had met some roosters with a good kick. Got more than her fair share of chicken spurs nailing her in the ass.

"Course them roosters also ended up as dinner," she warned the still pouting creature, "You're lucky I don't have my collection of spices and butter. You would be roasting over this fire instead of that poor son of bitch that caught the wrong end of my spear. Never had cat before," Jory inspected the nearly done chunks of big cat meat, "Smells fine. Could use some barbeque sauce though… can't be picky in a place like this," she eyed the chicken rat, "You really going to let yourself starve?"

The little chicken rat rolled onto its side and let out the longest sigh it could. Jory was a bit impressed by its over the top dramatics. She still wouldn't turn her back to it though. Instead she just sat by her little campfire fiddling with her bow and arrow. It was still early in the morning and the desert air was cool. She had to get as much done as she could before the sun was too high. There was a lot to do as she hadn't been able to move as freely for the past few weeks. It took her a long time to recover from that one night. Her side still hurt, but it was healing up. Somehow she had managed to stitch herself back together. The bruises around her eyes had faded, but spots of purple could still be made out. Though the physical reminders of that night were disappearing, the memories were still as vivid as ever. She still hated what she had to do that night, but she was happy that she was still breathing.

"Then again," she pondered out loud, "My time in the sandbox would be over by now if I had just given up. Damn my persistence," she cursed herself, "Still breathing so I guess I just have to keep moving forward."

Jory's first encounter with other people didn't end well. And it only reinforced her belief that humans were evil at their core. She wasn't too sure if she wanted to meet anymore, but she also knew that she couldn't survive out in the wilds by herself. There were things that she couldn't make. There were things that she couldn't do. Not by herself anyway. Maybe others would have a better idea of where they were and how they got there.

"And why there are upright lizards with fangs and giant claws on their feet," she huffed as turned the meat.

Her injuries weren't the only thing that were stopping her lately. It was true that thanks to the wounds and bruises she hadn't been able to explore as much as she wanted, but there was another factor recently. After that day in the canyon, Jory started to see the two giant lizards a lot more. Never in the area where she was making camp, but they were close. There were some days when she had to stay close to camp because they were roaming in the places she needed to go. She didn't want to spread her scent around too much and for them to be able to track her back to her camp. She still didn't have a way to secure her hidey hole yet, but she did have another idea.

"I have an idea," Jory flipped over the steaks, "Doing it is going to be the interestingly hard part. Got to haul logs. Shape them. Then secure them the way I want them to. I can say all that. Doing it? Ha!" she laughed sarcastically, "That's that hard part. Especially with my side in the state it is," she rubbed her side, "I've got to try though. No," she shook her head, "I've got to know what I mean?" she looked over at the chicken rat.

It looked up at her for a moment, but then went back to sighing and holding its belly. Jory just rolled her eyes and went back to inspecting her equipment. Maybe it wasn't so bad being stuck at camp. She had a bit more time to strengthen and repair her primitive tools and weapons. The constant use was dulling them quickly. She even had broken her ax. Stone tools were good for helping her survive, but they weren't sustainable.

"But I want to thrive," she sighed, "Grandpa knew a bit about shaping metal as he and his father used to make their own horseshoes. He taught me a bit… hmmm," she thought for a moment, "... a forge!" she suddenly had an item.

She must have been a little too loud as the chicken rat jumped up in surprise. It looked around as if it was expecting to be eaten. When it realized that nothing dangerous was around, it gave a stare up at Jory with a snort.

"What?" Jory wasn't sorry, "I've got a great idea. If I can find metal, melt it down and hammer it into usable tools, then I'll be able to work easier. If I can make my work easier then I can get more done. Maybe actually get somewhere. What do you think?" she looked down at the chicken rat.

It just stared up at her with really no thought behind it's eyes. It probably had no idea what she was talking about. Instead it came over to the fire and curled up for a nap.

"I didn't invite you to stay," Jory frowned, "Oh well. As long as you ain't bothering me, I don't care. I've got something to work out," she began to draw in the sand.

It took every memory she had of watching her Grandpa hammering, bellowing and tempering, but Jory felt like she recalled the details of the simple forge. The materials would be a bit difficult to find, save for stone. There were plenty of stones around. Although, she would have to make sure that whatever rocks she used would be able to handle the heat needed to melt down metal. Then again, Jory wasn't sure if she had seen any metal in her surrounding area. That was the key factor to her building the forge. No point in wasting time if she didn't have metal to melt and shape. Wasting anything in a place like this would only put one closer to death.

"Tittering on the edge of death everyday," she snorted to herself, "I'm sure you're in the same boat as me," she looked over at the snoozing creature.

It was snoring and didn't even hear her. Jory smirked as she thought it looked cute all curled up nice to the fire. Kind of like the barn cats would gather around the firepit when she and Grandpa would sit out on cold nights. Out of habit, she reached out to pet the chicken rat but stopped and shook her head. This wasn't one of her barn cats that she had helped raise since they were kittens. It was a strange and wild little beast that she really didn't know anything about. She knew that it had a wicked bite and its hind legs were strong enough to knock the wind out of her. It was best to keep her distance.

"Almost let my guard down around you," she settled back down next to the fire, "For all I know, you would spring to life and latch onto my hand again," she examined where the chicken rat had gotten her that day, "Glad I never got an infection. Guess your mouth is cleaner than I thought… I was lucky in that respect," she looked over at it again, "I don't blame you for biting me though. You were defending yourself… but you didn't have to hang there for as long as you did," Jory snorted, "I was about to smash your head in ya know. I restrained myself, but don't you think for a moment that I wouldn't have done that," she eyed the little beast who was still asleep, "I'm losing my mind out here," she ran her hand down her face, "I'm threatening a chicken rat that's just sleeping," she felt a bit bad.

Reaching into her pouch, Jory pulled out some purple berries and placed them near the snoozing beast. It would have a nice meal when it finally woke up from its nap. She said that she wouldn't feed it, but she gave in anyway. Her heart was always weak for animals. Apparently, that extended to creatures that she had never seen before.

"Guess I'm just a softie," Jory laughed to herself as she pulled the steaks off the fire, "Still got things to do other than worrying about little pests that won't leave me alone," she stared down at the drawings she made, "It's doable. I trust what Grandpa taught me. His teaching have seen me through so far," she leaned back and watched as the sun rose over the ridge, "Didn't get done what I needed to do. Just spent my time jawing and thinking… Oh well," she sighed, "I've got some direction and that's all I need at the moment."