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Blinding white flickered across darkness, the notion skittering across a distant field of thoughts—each thought like a tiny flame dancing in the void of Tobias' mind. Pain. Pain blazed across the landscape like a wildfire, consuming all thought into ash. Slumber threatened to reclaim him when a voice sounded through the gloom. [i]Wake up![/i] He ignored it, but it spoke again. [i]Sleep is for the dead.[/i]

[i]Am I dead?[/i] he asked the voice. [i]Not yet.[/i] 

Tobias let the distant light fill him and his eyes opened to the blinding brightness.

At first, the person near him was undiscernable from the bright blur that was all else, but then she started to reveal herself slowly, and her fair skin and white hair became distinct.

She whispered in a language he didn't understand. [color=6ecff6]"It seems he became resistant to the sedative."[/color]

Then she approached, and now her words were familiar to Tobias. [color=6ecff6]"Are you awake? Please stay calm, if you move too much, your wounds could open."[/color]

For a moment, Tobias' mind went blank, unable to comprehend the sight before him. Then hundreds of questions bombarded his already aching head. In an attempt to soothe the pain, he shut his eyes to the girl. He must have been dreaming again. 

Releasing a breath he didn't know he was holding, he reopened his eyes. [i]Still here.[/i] he mused.

Tobias inhaled. [color=gray]"If you plan on devouring me, please put me back to sleep for Fate's sake."[/color]

[color=6ecff6]"I have never eaten a man, but I imagine that if I ever desired to do so, I would pick a meal that isn't still stinking of venom."[/color] she said casually, before staring at the man's face with mild contempt. 

His eyes narrowed in mixture of similar contempt and amusement before widening in surprise and fear. [color=gray]"What in Amul's name do you mean by that?!"[/color] he yelped, panic apparent in his voice.

She shrugged. [color=6ecff6]"I don't know what you have been through, but your body was covered in fives types of venom and even a bit of digestive acid when I found you. It took more than a handful of baths to clean your body from all of that."[/color]

Tobias' head was spinning. What in god's name happened to him while he was out? A pause. [color=gray]"Wait...You bathed me?"[/color]

She tilted her head. [color=6ecff6]"Yes? The other option was letting the acid and poison slowly melt your skin off your bones, so I believe it was the moral thing to."[/color]

Tobias let out baited breath, the thought of waking up with flesh slipping of his bones to morbid a thought to dwell on. No doubt he was grateful. [color=Gray]"Thank you, I'm indebted to your kindness...Um"[/color] he trailed off, looking for a name.

[color=6ecff6]"Name is Meimu, maybe you know me for another name."[/color] casually after saying that, she started the herbs and tools that were near Tobias.

He watched her as she work. [i]Meimu?[/i] Where did he know that name? He didn't. [color=Gray]"Hmm, don't think I do,"[/color] A pause. [color=Gray]"Do you live here? Like nearby?"[/color]

[color=6ecff6]"Hmm, I actually live far away. But I do enjoy visiting here."[/color] yet a quick look at her complex looking outfit would shine doubt upon that statement. [color=6ecff6]"And you? Why were you napping in this living deathtrap?"[/color]

He cast her a look of skepticism, but spoke no further on the subject. [color=Gray]"I've lived here for as long as I can remember, and that's not alot."[/color] he chlorted. [color=Gray]"As for why I'm here napping..."[/color] he trailed off, opting to point at the carcass of the bleeding lion he assumed was still a few feet away.

The woman looked distressed. [color=6ecff6]"Hmmm, maybe the venom has caused some effect on your mind."[/color] she sighed and took hold of his hand. [color=6ecff6]"There is no lion, we are not even outside, Tobias"[/color]

She stopped collecting her things and instead started seeking something. [color=6ecff6]"You clearly need more sleep. Let me help that.[/color]

Comprehension escaped Tobias. [color=Gray]"But, like … when, um, … how?”[/color] he spluttered.

Suddenly he jerked forward, his saucer-like eyes roving about the room, drinking in his newfound surroundings for the first-time. Pain quickly wrenched him back down with a grunt. [i]Rock!? Cave!?[/i] His breath quickened, each gulp of air a knife twist in his chest. 

[color=Gray]"No, no! Where did you find me?!"[/color]

There was no answer, just an odd smell as a cloth drenched in some sort of herb got close to Tobias' face, darkness followed.

[center][h3]*****[/h3][/center]

Tobias woke up feeling sick and confused. Had Meimu drugged him? He couldn’t remember much past being dragged under by the mysterious woman's odd smelling cloth. Now he was naked, lying under thin sheets in a cave of bare rock. He kicked off the light sheets and propped himself up on his elbows. The cave was empty.

[color=Gray]"One moment Fate blesses me with a lovely caretaker, the next it whisks her away."[/color] he blew out an exasperated breath. [color=Gray]"No rest for the dead I suppose."[/color] he finished with a grunt of effort that cut through the caves quiet, his attempt to get his feet obnoxiously loud. 

[i]Idleness is the bane of any man.[/i] he mused, finally succeeding to stand, albeit with the help of the caves rough walls.

Tobias grimaced as he gingerly stepped through the mouth of the cave, pain etched into his features. Outside, dawn sent shimmering rays over the living jungle. Against the backdrop, the trees were silhouettes, still as an oil painting darker than ravens. Tobias blinked toward the sun that brought him a day he was never promised, yet was glad to see. Not so long ago he was knocking on deaths door.

The start of this new day brought with it the tidings of torment, pangs of distress, unquenchable thirst, and cravings for which he could never satisfy. Tobias rubbed his stubbled chin; this day, unfortunately, would be another day idleness. Their was only little he could do in his current condition, but the little he could, he would, and he would not waste time.

Turning back into the cave, he made a mental list of the days necessities: food, a source of water, adequate coverings, a fire, and ideally, a weapon. All were achievable if he put his mind to it. If he could gather the necessary tools for survival now, later, when he was healed and healthy, travel down Silvas would be much easier; he was sure Mika would wait. 
[i]All I need now, are clothes.[/i] 

While he was sure no one but him traversed this accursed jungle, adequate clothing would certainly increase his chances of survival. Scouring the cave for anything besides the sheets Meimu left behind, he managed to find his sickle sword stashed behind a small rock. The base of the sickle had been cleaved from the small straight edge and handle, leaving in its place a jagged, tooth-like wound. Tobias smiled at his luck, no doubt Fate was with him this day. He must of held the damn thing so hard that Meimu had to wrestle it from his grip, and stash it away for fear he would lash out with it.

Leaving the halved blade next to the sheets, he resumed his search, but came up empty handed. Meimu really had left him nothing, which meant he had to improvise. Mika's words played in his head: [i]Those who learn to collaborate and improvise prevail.[/i] Only now had they found use to him.

Picking up the thin sheets, he took one corner and folded it over his left shoulder from the back, letting a surplus hang down past he knees, and the rest past his butt. He then took the long end of the sheet and wrapped it diagonally across his chest and under his right arm. Then repeated the process across his back, under his left arm, and around his chest. Finally, he tucked the long end coming from under his left arm under the end already across his chest.

Surveying his work, he found the outfit to be impractical for jungle life. It was baggy and loose fitting, and it revealed his skin to the harmful elements of the Venomweald. Nevertheless, the protection it bought by covering his nether regions satisfied his expectations, he planned on using the thing later on in life.

Picking up his blade, he left the cave and ventured into the jungle, marking off 'clothing' and 'weapons' as completed tasks on his mental list. For the next several hours he scoured the nearby vegetation for sustenance and and water. Armed with the knowledge Mika provided him, he separated the poisonous from the edible. He avoided plants with white or yellow berries, mushrooms, plants with thorns, shiny leaves, leaves in groups of three, umbrella-shaped flowers, beans or plants with seeds inside a pod, milky or discolored sap, and anything that tasted bitter or soapy; all of which were toxic in some way. He also steered of insects, as the Venomweald's population was vast, innumerable, and unpredictable. 

Fruits became the meal of choice as he gathered and feasted on the various citrus fruits he recognized. Leaving a handful inside his den, he quickly procured dry tinder and kindling for a fire after drinking rainwater from a leaf, opting to use the dead branches and moss littered around the area. Arranging eight rocks into a circle near the mouth of the cave, he placed the tinder nest within the ring and grabbed a short, soft stick from the pile he gathered earlier. With his halved sword, he whittled the stick down with practiced ease, smoothening a particular side and notching a divot in it,  Mika's lessons guiding him. This would serve as his fireboard. He repeated the similar process on a harder stick, except the end was sharpened to fit in the other pieces' divot. Maneuvering the contraption atop the tinder nest, he went about burning a hole into the fireboard. Placing the drill between his hands, he ran the stick backwards and forwards to spin it, increasing speed in increments. After repeated attempts and roars of frustration, he managed to light the tinder and set it ablaze with the kindling. 

The next few days were modeled after this one, more or less spent performing menial tasks while his body healed. By the end of the first week, he managed enough strength to shift into more advanced, labor intensive tasks with the aim to gear up for the journey to Mika. Traps were set to automate the gathering of meat and other protein, as fruit had became monotonous. A simple rock and stick bait trap sufficed, although instead of rabbits, he was often met with massive, carnivorous, mutant rodents he called skiivers.

Over the next few weeks, Tobias gathered and constructed various tools; bamboo, milkweed, fur and wood the building blocks of it all.

Gathering a bundle of logs as tall as he was and as thick as his thigh, he whittled the ends to a wicked point with short, even strokes of the blade. Each log was crudely weaponized in the same manner. He then took the logs and planted with in the dirt in a semi-circle surrounding the mouth of the cave; claiming his territory and transforming it into a defensible point. 

Taking milkweed stalk, he flattened them longitudinally and broke the core, separating it into two roughly equal halves. He then stripped off the wood. Starting at the thick end of one of the halves, he snapped off inch-long sections of wood, leaving behind the exposed under skin. Left with two ribbons, one side of each covered in a flaky, dark brown outer bark, he opted to kill three birds with one stone, as Mika thought him, and tenderized the fiber by simply grinding it between his thumb and forefinger.

With the fibers tenderized, he spliced individual strands one at a time. [color=Gray]"Wrap tight, wrap sturdy."[/color] he hummed, guiding himself through the process of rope making. He repeated the procedure over and over again, producing bundles of variously sized twine and rope, a building block of survival as Mika called it. 

Armed with rope, he went about constructing various tools for survival. Cutting bamboo into sections, he constructed a square frame tying corners with lashings. He attached vertical lines from the top horizontal pole to the bottom horizontal pole and attached horizontal lines that alternated and interweaved between the vertical lines. Lifting the top frame to uncollapse and expand the pack, he completed the contraption with twine straps running from the top to the bottom of the pack.

Backpack completed, he constructed a spear, its advantage being range and versatility. Mika had favored the weapon. Taking a dried stalk of thin bamboo, he formed a point by using small, even strokes with his blade. Satisfied with the point of the spear, he held the sharpened end just above the flames, turning until the stalk changed color. 

Spear completed, he shifted to clothing. Taking the the rabbits he enjoyed earlier, he tied both back legs to a tree limb about head high. With knife in hand, he made an incision from the hock to the vent. Next he cut the tail on the underside from the vent to it's tip. Using the knife gently, he stripped the pelt up and away from the leg and cut the film that held the skin to the meat with a grimace.

Careful as possible, he pulled the pelt off the carcass, cutting through the cartilage beneath the nose and ears. Finally, it slipped free. Gingerly, he lay the pelt over a very smooth log and with his knife, began to push and scrape, removing all the fat, meat and membrane until he could to see the pores of the skin. Occasionally, skin would will pull back through the underside, frustrating him to no end. 

After fleshing the the pelt, he buffed up the furs surface with a rock. [i]Every critter has enough brains to tan it's own hide.[/i] Mika always said. [i]Except buffaloes and some people I know.[/i] Removing the brain from the rabbits skull, he mashed the organ in about a cup of water, and cooked the mixture for about 10 turns of a small glass, inside a bamboo bowl. He then mashed and mixed the concoction into an oily liquid. Applying the lukewarm liquid to his hands, his rubbed them into the pelt. [color=Gray]"Go ahead ladies, it'll make your skin soft."[/color] he grimaced. He repeated the buffing process and applied a second coat of brain, then let it dry overnight. 

The following morning, he uncovered it and begin to stretch the hide, pulling side to side and head to tail until it was dry. When the pelt was dry and no longer cool to the touch, he began the smoking process. Suspending the pelt on sticks downwind but out of reach from the wild flame, he smoked the pelt. 

Repeating the process for days at a time, he managed to gather enough pelts to fashion a kápa, essentially a single large sheet of fabric with an opening in the center for the head and an extra piece for a hood. Using the thin fang of a skiiver and twine, he sewed the pelts together, just as Mika thought him. In addition, he fashioned sandals from bark and twine, using pelts to add comfort and insulation from the toes up to his knees, while the thin blanket Meimu left him was transformed into a wraparound that reached past knees; still impractical, but he didn't complain.

One morning dawned murky and overcast, a sudden storm arising off the northwestern slopes of the Ironheart to cloak the Venomweald in rain and cloud.

Tobias frowned as he poked his head out the mouth of the cave and tilted his head upward to catch a few drops of rain as he looked at the low sky overhead, only slightly brightened by a rising sun in the east, still quite out of sight. Somehow he had expected to feel different on this morning, a morning that would ignite the spark in him to bring Mika within his grasp. Somehow he thought it would feel somewhat more, ... important.

But, as he let another handful of raindrops, cold and fat this early morning, splatter against his face, it felt neither different nor important. It felt ordinary, for the lack of a better word. Dishearteningly ordinary, with a little cold and gray thrown in for good measure. 

In fact, it looked like a day made for haste, without the need to stand and explore the unfolding world around him, with its revealed secrets and long-lost stories. Those secrets and stories found themselves hidden once more behind heavy banks of mist and fog this dreary dawn.

So it was haste that Tobias made, swiftly dressing and bundling up his belongings back into his bamboo pack; everything he would need for the journey, before he slipped out of the cave to draw up the hood of his kápa as proof against the rain. In one hand he carried his spear, a tool that doubled as his walking stick, and served as a useful weapon against the hunters of the Venomweald. In the other rolled a mango, the morning's tart and nourishing breakfast. Strapped to his wraparound stay his blade of obsidian, broken during his bout with the Nemean Lion, a loss crushing to his heart as it was his only link to past. In his pack rest various items of need and interest: a fireboard, pelts, some rope and rabbit meat cooked the night before - his meal for the day. He would hunt and scrounge afterwards.

It seemed to be falling a bit heavier now, with morning steadily progressing forward despite the storm holding the suns light at bay. He took one last look at the cave that served as his infirmary, marked by the fireplace he established on his first day, now dowsed by the rain. He would never again return to this place, for once he found Mika, he would find home. Oddly enough, something inside him said otherwise.

[center][h3]*****[/h3][/center]

From the moment Tobias left the threshold of his camp, he could feel the useless tension permeating the air, eating at his resolve and determination. Yet somehow, Tobias already felt empty, devoid of emotion or desire. While his heart felt as if it somhow lacked purpose, his body and mind were coiled like a snake, ready to strike. Each step was precise and oddly dutiful, his walking stick guaranteeing him safety in the undergrowth. His senses were on overdrive, every one attuned to the jungles every howl and hoot. All the while, he guided himself by marking the occasional tree with a symbol, a crude tri-pointed star; a memorandum of a jaded past.

By midday, he reached the Silvas, wide and opaque. The water was green, darker in the shadows and more pale in the light, but green nonetheless. Against the noise of the birds welcoming the climax of the sun's journey in the sky, the gentle murmur of the water could only just be heard, a backdrop to the musical notes coming from above. Yet, for all its serenity there was more danger in its swirling depths than the trees behind. 

Tobias rested near it's bank, feasting on soggy rabbit and soaking in the rain; oblivious to the predator that watched from afar. Rabbit had grown monotonous, its chewy, lean meat and plain taste boring him to no avail, yet, he ate, opting to take advantage of the nutrients it earned.

Suddenly, the bushes to his left began to shutter and shake. Like a whip, his his head snapped in the direction, his eyes wide with fear. [i]What in, …[/i] Slowly, he lowered the stick of meat to the ground, and reached for his spear. He needed to arm himself, but before he could wrap his fingers around the cold bamboo, a black shadow leapt from the green. With grace and royal dignity, the shadow descended onto the banks of the the Silvas. [i]A deer.[/i] Tobias silently mused, recognizing the figure of its antlers. The deer, in all it's magnificence, lowered its head to the water, and drunk from the river. Tobias remained unmoving, mouth agape, his eyes scrutinizing it's powerful muscles and massive rack. No doubt, the Venomweald had produced it.

Just as quickly as it came, the deer suddenly disappeared. Tobias barely reacted to the event that had taken place with the blink of an eye. Where the deer one stood only remained a pooling of  water and an ripple in the river where its lips had once been, nothing more. [color=Gray]"By Fate, am I hallucinating?"[/color] he muttered to himself, scanning the area for any signs of the deer or a predator. Nothing of the sort appeared.

From that point on, Tobias avoided nearing the Silvas, opting to follow it from afar. Rain fell for days, the torrential downpour soaking the land and chilling his bones. His kápa insulate him, but only fire would truly bring comfort to his freezing bones. Unfortunately, rain made fire starting almost impossible, even under the the dense canopy of the Venomweald. Each step in his sandals became agony as the rain transformed dirt to mud. Game became difficult to catch, as the cold chased away the prey, leaving predators starving. Suddenly, Tobias was at the bottom of the food chain. 

Time and time again he avoided the clutches of vergs, skiivers, panthuras, yaugers, mimics, and all forms of predator that prowled the Venomweald. Sleep turned into a blessing when it came, as he was forced to rest in the tress during the last leg of his journey. 

Sleep deprived, hungry, and dirty, yet alert and undeterred, Tobias eventually came upon a waterfall at the end of the Silvas. It was a whirruping waterfall. From a distance, it looked like a silver tear track on the wrinkled face of the mountain looming over him. It was tiered and plunged into the depths of a paradise-blue pool. As he began to get closer, the noise of the cataract increased, growling and rumbling. Then it foamed into lathered at the base. The waterfall seemed to fuse itself into distinct threads of watery fabric as he approached, as if a loom of liquid silver was pouring down the rocks. The sound was cacophonous now. The spout was hitting the cavernous hollow of the pool like a thunderclap. It rushed down the mountain, roiling and bubbling, boiling and churning. The pool fed two other smaller waterfalls, but they were not as deafening.

Mika was nowhere to be found.

He rushed along the edge of the rocks, leaving the swollen noise of the large pool behind. The sounds changed to a gentler swoosh-plunk and hiss-plop. It remained a salvo of sound, but it had a gentler slushiness to it. The two waterfalls streamed into one infinity pool of bliss. From it, the last spillway flowed, as smooth and fluvial as silver dew. It spilled over the gravelly bed with the honeyed sensuality of a lover’s kiss. A chinking, tinkling sound was caused by its languid slickness echoing from rock. It looked like the sleek robe of a water witch as its glassy brilliance pinged and plinked. 

He was panicking now. 

Just then, the sun came out. Its rays caught the watery slide, giving it a trance-like quality. It turned it a-glitter, like shreds of silky silver. The airy sparkling of its spray was magical. It looked like a spritz of fairy dust, flickering in the slanted light. It had the dreamy and illusory façade of a painting and the same shimmering sorcery of a mirage. The drizzling spray created a filmy mystique above the pool, dazzling him with its beauty for but a moment.

For hours he searched the falls, but nothing came of it. Neither scrap nor clue of Mika forthwith. Tears flowed freely down Tobais' face, the dam broken against his will.

Mika had swore.
 
It was more than crying now, it was the kids of desolate sobbing that came from a person drained of all hope. He sank to his knees at the edge of the river, not caring for the damp mud that dirtied his pants. He cried until there was nothing left inside but a raw emptiness that nibbled at his insides like a hungry rat. His irises were threaded scarlet and his eyeballs hung heavy in their sockets. His whole body hung limp like each limb weighed twice as much as it had before and just moving it about was a slow, painful effort. The sun now shone in the sky, but not for him, the birds sung in bursts of melody, but not for him, for him there was no beauty left in the world, only desperation, struggle, and survival.

[hider=Jungle Man]
Man this is to much to summarize. In short, Tobias wakes up after his fight with the lion, to find himself in a cave with a diva named Meimu (Courtesy of Double Capybara…I mean Ilunabar). After a short conversation about baths, Tobias is put under. He once again wakes up in he same cave, this time alone. Thrust back into survival mode, Tobias spends the first few days performing menial tasks so he can heal. After a week he starts turning it up a notch, putting in place defenses, traps, weaving rope from scratch, making fires, tanning hides. This is all in preparation for his journey down the Silvas which eventually comes and starts. After some exposition Tobias reaches the end of the Silvas, and Mika is nowhere to found. Suddenly, Tobias is forced to truly come to terms with what he can only assume is Mika's death.[/hider]