Serpent's Servant
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"Dangit, David... How did you get yourself into this situation again?" This would be his second stint in the woods around Lake Lilac after being carried off in a boat. Perhaps he should let Gwen do the river activities for a while. He was fairly certain he was south of camp so he'd been trudging north for a while, then ended up having to go east due to the landscape, and now he was moving south again, which was not ideal. Was he lost? How?? He knew these woods well by now!
Except this wasn't somewhere he'd ever been before. The woods were denser and less explored, the foliage a little different from what he usually saw, and the animals? They were just rude. He'd been chased off his course by a large, angry buck. It wasn't even mating season, why was it so hostile??
Ugh.
But by far the worst issue was that he was now on Day 4 of David's Wilderness Adventure Part II and he was hurting. That chase had caused him to get pretty banged up from crashing through the woods like a maniac to avoid being stomped and gored to death by freakin' Bambi. He was nowhere near the river that he'd been following so his water access was gone. The food in the area was sparse and he was hesitant to hunt due to the animals being, as stated before, rude. Just that morning a rabbit had chased him! A rabbit! Granted it hadn't chased long but still!
So here he was, in the middle of the darkest woods he'd ever seen, cold without direct sunlight, thirsty without water, hungry because all he had to eat were fruits he found growing in the wild, and tired because he'd been walking for days with little rest. He did his best to stay positive though. He'd gotten out of this situation once, he could do it again! 'At least no predators have found me yet,' he thought as he sat down on a mossy rock to rest a moment.
As if the universe had read his mind, a mountain lion sauntered over, looking a little too hungry.
A staring contest ensued, since staring a cat in the eye was the best way to keep it at bay, but that didn't last. The cat came at him and swiped. His arm was sliced in four prominent lines that extended to his chest, though they were more shallow there. David kicked it in the chest and ran. A poor idea, but he was now prey and couldn't exactly fight the damn thing!
The lion was stalking him as he crashed through the thick brush. He wished he'd been able to grab his walking stick. After the incident with the deer he'd sharpened one end to make a walking spear. Little good it did him on the ground though! He glanced over his shoulder from time to time, unable to spot it but certain it was still on his heels.
One of those look-overs caused him to miss seeing the sudden drop in front of him. His foot failed to meet the ground where it was supposed to be, and he went tumbling forward. Brambles and rocks made the roll down the steep incline that much worse. They tore at his wounds and created new ones. By the time he stopped he hurt all over. His head was bleeding and an ankle was busted. Whether just sprained or actually broken he couldn't tell.
With a hiss he pushed himself up and frantically looked around for the lion. They made eye contact again as it was hurrying toward him.
"NO!" He shouted, shifting his weight to his hip and grabbing a fist-sized rock, "stay back!!" He hurled it at it, popping it in the head. It yelped and shook its head and backed off, but was still hunting him.
"Damnit..." He got to his feet but fell when he put too much weight on his bad ankle. The sight of a struggle made the cat move closer. There were a few loose branches nearby. He grabbed a thick one and swung it at the lion. "Back off! Leave me alone!!"
There was a short battle. The mountain lion attempted to jump at him a few times, but he swung savagely, hitting it if it got close. The fight was enough to make it rethink, it seemed, as it hopped back and disappeared into the trees. Still lurking, but waiting for a better chance.
