Moon 514 || Blaze and the White Griffon

11 || Part 2: Finding Elayuh

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Latest Revision: 2/26/2013 

Blaze found and read several articles in the updated database about successfully surviving in the jungle – and more particularly, he read about neighboring Malaysian and Indonesian jungles because he had heard that changes from the Third Holocaust may have made these jungles more similar than they had been previously – and he shared a summary of that information with Evelia.  Not long after they ventured into the thick underbrush, Blaze and Evelia made plasters of mud for their lower legs to avoid bites from bugs and leeches – which unfortunately hadn’t protected Evelia from the reptilian bite and which had incurred spontaneous laughter from the magic woman when Blaze explained why they had done this.  He failed to understand the humor of their precautions but being so pleased with the alien’s power of healing, he also failed to question her joviality over their efforts. 

They made bedding out of large branches with gargantuan leaves to cover them – Blaze had already forgotten why that was important but it was high on his list so he stuck strictly to that advice – he guessed that it probably kept scorpions and other noxious critters from becoming unwelcomed bed companions.  Either way, the makeshift beds were remarkably comfortable all things considered.  He prepared their small camp on high ground early in the afternoon to avoid mosquitoes and infections that come from waterlogged areas – and to avoid sudden flooding caused by heavy rains.  These preparations were also made at the expense of the alien’s gentle, yet uncontrolled laughter.  Although her body was largely designed for a sandy, near desert-like environment, she loved to be in the water so she enjoyed the moist ground near ponds and marshy areas.  With thicker, harder skin, she was relatively impervious to some of the weaknesses common to human flesh.  But to accommodate her new companions the evening past, she slept on higher ground with them.

They prepared to leave clothes drying each day while they were walking around in other clothes to avoid chills at night and fevers and they made several other precautions to make sure that their trek to find the magic woman was relatively uneventful.  One would think an adventurous soul like Blaze would have been ecstatic to be thrown into such unknown territory – and in some respects this was true – but this situation was not so simplistic.

The buzz of life in Borneo’s jungles is indescribably active – but to someone who had grown up completely separated from nature other than plants and animal life preserved to maintain a complete ecosystem conducive to greenhouse farming, the constant noises of critters and the constant new sensations of rain, excessive moisture, chilly temperatures after sunset, unfamiliar sounds, unfamiliar creatures, and the obnoxious scratches that resulted from brushing up against sharp grasses and strange plants made these jungles unspeakably overwhelming to Blaze. 

Mostly, the new environment was exhilarating – and nothing else.  He enjoyed the beautiful birds, the exotic butterflies (on the rare occasions that he saw any), the nearly unlimited variety of vegetation that made Borneo so famous centuries ago, the shy mammalian critters that seemed so curious to see a bipedal animal wandering through their neck of the jungle, and the rich colors he found everywhere he went. 

On the other hand, life on the outside was terrifying.  Poisonous plants, poisonous reptiles, vicious animals (both mammals and reptiles), diseases (Blaze only assumed that they continued to be a problem since the Third Holocaust), and gene splicing abominations all represented very real dangers that could pounce upon you at any moment.  That part of jungle life was unnerving at best, terrifying at worst. 

Add these dangers to being alone and not being habituated or trained to survive in an area like this and you find tenacious tension – a constant barrage of nervous stress.  Sure, conditions somewhat like these were put in the simulator but the simulator never anticipated the variety and the density of life to be found here.  Besides, simulator conditions usually mimicked geographical conditions like quicksand, sharp grasses, and sudden changes in terrain.  It didn’t focus on biting insects, infectious reptiles, unnerving noises, or anything akin to gene splicing experiments (aliens excepted).