Hunting

I set off hunting after setting up my shelter.  It was late in the afternoon when I headed off into the undergrowth.  I walked for perhaps half an hour before trying to pick up any sounds of living creatures.  I found it odd that the woodland should be so noisy; I began creeping as quietly as I could.

I should say that the skill of being quiet and the skill of remaining hidden are not ones I'm either familiar with or good at.  What happened next was something of a surprise looking back upon it.  I crept up to the edge of a small clearing where I'd heard some odd grunting noises, and across the other side of the little glade was what looked like a black pig.  I readied my bow, and took a step closer.  It was at this point that I reverted to the clumsy ham-fisted old Dzarraf that I'm used to being.  Whatever I stood on, and it was probably wood, broke with loud snapping noise.  The pig turned to look, and I could finally see its tusks.  It was a boar - and now it looked much bigger than it had only a few seconds before.

I let an arrow fly as the boar began to charge at me.  Once again time seemed to slow as the arrow went waywardly wide; I had a bowel-loosening moment as I flung the bow over my shoulder.  I know that boar hunting can be a rite of passage, a test of one's mettle.  But not here and now, not for me.  If you go seeking this kind of excitement, it's traditional to take a spear - and with good reason.  Not having any kind of spear, I took the only course of action I saw would be helpful.  I leaped up, grabbed a low branch, and climbed upwards as quickly as possible into the nearest tree.

I'm not really built for tree climbing, and I've no idea how I managed it - but I did.  I didn't need to climb too high, I stopped at about twice my height, and the boar just couldn't follow.  It didn't give up though, it stopped at the bottom of the tree staring up at me and looking very angry.

I took a moment to gather my breath, then reached back for the bow.  I positioned myself as well as I could, braced between two branches and lined up an arrow.  I took careful aim, trying to get the arrow right between it's eyes, and I let it fly.  It was more successful than my last shot, but it was still nowhere near where I'd aimed it.  It stuck in the hind quarters of the pig, piercing it at the top of its rear leg, just along its flank.  The pain bit into the boar, and its demeanour changed instantly.  It squealed and fled into the woods, at a surprising speed despite its limp.

I waited several moments, until the sound of retreating boar was gone, then climbed down the tree, dropping the last few feet onto the soft ground.  I looked back at the tree and I couldn't believe what I was seeing.  The lowest branch looked awfully high.  I've no idea how I made it up that far in one bound.

I took a few moments to look around where the boar had been snuffling was another patch of mushrooms, so lots of those were then picked.  I didn't get any meat, but now I'd gathered enough food to last me until late tomorrow.  As my cloak was full, I headed back towards my camp - or, at least, I thought it was back to camp.  I moved quickly away from the area, but I didn't seem to get back to anywhere I recognised.

Eventually I realised I'd lost my way back, and I'd been wandering around the woodland.  I stopped chasing in circles and headed, as best as I could tell, north-east wards.  I reached the river with some relief, and then headed back up stream.  It had taken me a couple of hours, but I got back to the camp site as it approached early evening.  I was so tired but I needed a fire.  I spent many minutes trying to get one lit, I had two sticks and some dry leaves, and I built a small bow with another stick and some bark, but I couldn't get the thing hot enough to spark.  I was really tired, so I just lay down and dropped off immediately.

When I woke an hour or so later, it was dusk.  I went for a drink from the river and went back to lighting my fire.  This time I got it going.  Once it was burning nicely, I laid mushrooms along my sword and placed it over the fire.  It was my first cooked food for a long time, and I really enjoyed it.