Fly

Chapter 3

I drop back to the ground in relief after I realize it was only a nightmare. I saw that I had scraped my calf with one of my daggers, but I didn't want to get up to clean it yet. I knew it wouldn't be able to hold my weight, especially since my legs would be pretty shaky from that dream. The wolf beside me stirs, slowly waking up from me shaking it. I gently lie back down and curl up in her warmth. It gets cold in the middle of the night and you don't have on blankets.
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The sun burns my eyes even behind the eyelids. I groan and roll over, trying to escape the blistering pain that if flashing through my skull every time I blink or open my eyes. I land on my bad leg and yelp. The she-wolf next to me jumps up too and runs to my side. She must have had pups before, and that's why she's caring for me. They could have been abandoned or died, so she needed to fill the empty space. Otherwise I would be rotting meat by now, after she would bring her pack and dig into me. I am weak, helpless. She won't care for me much longer.
I try to straighten out my stiffening leg, but the pain is too much to bear. My eyes water and I bite on my lip so hard I taste blood. I gasp and drop my leg, panting and shaking from the effort and pain. I gently rub my chapped and parched lips. My tongue feels swollen and fuzzy. I need water quickly, before I dehydrate. I look around for my bag. I might have lost it in the fall, but I hope not. Even if I did, it should still be around here somewhere. I look through the dimly lit areas surrounding the clearing. I see something shine from about 17 feet in. I quickly limp towards it, overjoyed that I have at least something out here!
As I turn to go walk through the trees, the she-wolf comes running at me. I quickly jump backwards, into the woods. She hesitates at the barrier, and then jumps in after me. If she was afraid to go in here, then that must mean something is wrong. She's been here longer than I have. What's the problem?! I quickly limp-run towards my bag, paranoia distracting me. I grab it and then rush back into the clearing. I dive into the sunlight and sit there for a minute, dazed slightly. I look back into the woods and see a large beast roaming around where my pack just was. It was larger than a wolf, but smaller than a bear. I hold my breath so it won't notice me. It leaves soon after. I look for the she-wolf and see she isn't there. I look around, fear settling a pit in my stomach, gnawing away at me. What if she got caught by that monstrosity? If she's hurt, it's my fault. I'm the one that didn't follow her warning when she jumped at me. I frantically search throughout the surrounding woods. I can't see or hear a thing. After about 10 minutes of searching, I see a small lump. I insanely run in and towards it. I stoop by the side of the mound. It's just a small pile of leaves. Discouraged, I search around from my position. Nothing. I walk back to the clearing and sit, dumbfounded. I killed her.
I realize that I am in a very vulnerable position. Surrounded by monsters and missing my guide. My head swims with dehydration and hunger. I crawl over to my bag and pull out one my 8 full water bottles. I like to be prepared. I take a tentative sip, making sure I don't get sick. If you drink too much water at once after not having water for a couple of days, you get overly sick and get rid of all the water in your system. (Throwing up, diarrhea, sweating profusely, etc.) So you start out slowly, getting your stomach used to it and able to handle it. I screw the cover back on and put it away for now. I look at the sun's position and realize I need to make a fire soon. I look around the clearing to see if there is anything in immediate areas, such as in the clearing or just beyond, about a yard into the woods. I find a lot of flimsy twigs and I know I can't make a fire from that. I go back to my back and look for one of my serrated daggers to cut off small limbs from trees. I find none in there, so I search my pockets and legs for any. I find a dulled one. I reach into a small pocket on the side and pull out my whetstone. I sit down and ready my knife in the correct position. Screitch... Screitch... The scraping makes a gloomy noise, scaring away the nearby prey. I continue scraping my dagger into submission, hunching over, watching small sparks fly off.
About a half hour later, the sun is just starting to go under the horizon, and I just finished sharping my blade. I quickly rush to a nearby tree and start hacking away at a thick branch. I need to hurry; otherwise I will never finish in time. I hack it off quickly, about 10 minutes. I move on quickly to the next one. I need about 17 of these to last the night. But I only cut down 14, once I can barely see anything. I stumble over to my pack in the middle of the clearing, stumbling over the pointed edge of the branches with my 2 feet long legs. I tumble over it multiple times, but I push through and drag it all the way in. I start breaking it apart the same way I cut it down, by hacking it to pieces. I make a good pile and get to work on making the fire. I pull my flint and mica out of my side pocket and shoot sparks. It quickly catches fire. I run to the bushes and scoop up dead leaves and grass to feed the flames. Once I get a good armful, I rush back over to see my fire fading. I dump a small portion of what I have into it, and then put the rest to the side. I get down on my hands and knees and blow into the wood, causing an uproar I my face, singing my eyebrows. I run back to the edge of the clearing to find small twigs when I hear a whimpering and sliding sound. I freeze and crouch down, sliding out my katana halfway, preparing for an attack. The sound is right in front of me. Maybe I can slice it in half and cook it for dinner over a spit. The sound stops and I desperately search through the darkness to try and find it. I think it's gone, so I pick up a bunch of twigs and leaves to burn and rush back. As I feed a small bit to my fire, getting to be a good size, I run around the clearing to find rocks to surround my pit and not cause a forest fire. Once I get back and make a good pit, the sound comes back, and it sounds like it's in pain. I slide my katana all the way out and stare at where the sound is coming from. A bush quivers, and a black figure slides out. Just before I swing my sword to behead it, I realize it looks familiar. I stop it a couple inches above. It was the wolf that saved me!