บท 67: Making a Shack
'Our next destination is Sleepstorm Village. We can arrive there in about two to three weeks, but let's see about that', I thought while checking the map. With a long way to go in front of us, I tried to teach Shelly something new. "Shelly, is ramming things your only way of attacking?", I asked. Shelly looked at me confused, not sure what I was on about. "This sort of attack is not only inefficient, it can be dangerous at times. Remember that black caterpillar thing? The creature was so tough, your shell cracked. You have to build up speed in order to ram something. How about you use different means of attacking?", I explained.
Shelly bit the air a few times, then looked at me. "Yes, biting is one way. You are able to tear through flesh when eating, so why not use that during a fight?", I asked. Shelly nodded, seemingly interested to try it out. "Alright, in that case, you will be responsible for hunting our next dinner. We are running low on supplies, therefore hunting is not a bad idea. Remember, I will not help you. Make sure you can deal with the situation alone", I said.
Shelly accepted my challenge, which meant we only needed to find the prey. It took us a while, but we managed to find a pack of wolves. It was relatively small, with only five of them and no silver-grey variants present. "Alright Shelly, show me what you got", I said quietly.
Shelly slowly approached the pack, instead of rushing at them from the get go. The wolves spotted Shelly, but seemed a bit baffled by the lone turtle. That was Shelly's advantage. No creature or Human would assume Shelly was actually fast and strong. This allowed Shelly to get closer and closer, while the pack of wolves treated it more like a plaything. They circled Shelly, before one of them jumped straight towards it.
"Swoosh... Awooo!", a chunk of flesh was missing on the wolf's body. Shelly's move was so quick, no wolf would be able to react in time. 'To think turtles could move their head at such speeds... Shelly's bite was also strong and precise. That wolf lost its ability to fight properly', I thought. That would be a problem for the wolf, if it was alone. Unfortunately, there were other wolves and they no longer played around. All of them jumped at Shelly trying to win with numbers.
Shelly did the next best thing, and started to run away from the encirclement. 'Hmm? Shelly seems a bit faster', I thought but then recalled something. I gave my medicine to Shelly, since its shell was cracked a bit. Shelly must've used the medicine for more than recovery. 'You crafty little turtle', I thought while watching the fight unfold.
When Shelly gained speed, no wolf could really stop it anymore. Though Shelly slammed into the group, it then used its mouth to bite the wolves to death. There were a few calls, which almost made me intervene, but Shelly managed to deal with everything. "Mah! Mah!", Shelly exclaimed a few times, as if calling me over. The fight was over, and Shelly won beautifully. "Good job, Shelly. You got stronger thanks to the medicine, right? You rascal, I gave you medicine to help you recover. Anyway, it's great that you can manage on your own", I said.
"Mah! Mah...", Shelly released a few more noises, then looked at the wolves. "Right, roast the meat, aye? Wait a minute, I need to get the meat first", I replied before going to work. Since Shelly did all the hunting, I roasted as much meat as it could eat. "Before we get anywhere remotely close to a village, let's make a camp for a few days. We can work on your senses, and fighting ability a bit more", I said suddenly. Shelly seemed baffled, which was understandable. After all, it was me who urged Shelly to leave that mountain.
"I understand your confusion, but there was a purpose in my actions. You see, wild animals can't depend on us to live their lives. No matter how long we stayed there, we would leave one day or another. In this case, sooner meant better. Our presence gave them a false sense of safety. Normally I wouldn't mind animals getting attached to us, but this case is a bit different. Those furry deer don't hunt, they eat plants and whatnot. With us looking after them, they would get used to the safety and disregard predators. Then once we left, that mountain would become a heaven for hunting grounds. That's something we don't want, right?", I explained.
"Mah!", Shelly made a noise while nodding. "We had to leave that area for their own sake. Wild animals are wild animals after all. You are a bit different, since you travel with me. You can also take care of yourself. That is why, we don't have to rush towards our next destination. We can take it slow, practice and improve ourselves for a while", I added. Shelly was happy with such arrangements, therefore we decided to take it more slowly.
"Then it's decided. Let's search for a more appropriate place to set our camp up. Are you done eating?", I asked. Shelly asked for more food, making me roll my eyes. 'That turtle really is a glutton', I thought. With Shelly's appetite finally sated, we moved out in search of our new camp area. The map came in useful, since I didn't want to set up a camp near a village.
On our first day we found nothing special, but the next day we stumbled upon something great. "Look Shelly, the river falls from up there and continues this way. With the fresh supply of water, we can easily set a camp over here. Moreover, hunting should be much easier due to the water source located here", I said. After scouting the area for a bit, I found animal tracks next to the river. 'Just as I suspected, animals will frequent this place', I thought. The location was really great. Away from any village, with a source of water and potential prey we could hunt.
"We will need a better shelter than usual, since we'll stay here for a while. Let's go, we need to collect some wood", I announced. My plan was to make a sort of shack. Saws and nails would be great for that, but not necessary. I found a few medium sized trees, ranging from ten to twenty centimetres in diameter, then cut them using my daggers.
With a few fallen trees ready, I called Shelly over to drag them towards our camp. "Here, I made a sport of rope from the vines. Just bite it and drag the log to the river. When you are done, come back here", I said. Shelly looked at me with narrowed eyes. "Hey! You want me to do all the work myself? That's the only thing I'm asking you to do, since you can't help me with anything else", I added.
Shelly bit the vines reluctantly, then dragged the log towards the waterfall. 'The log shouldn't be too heavy. I removed all the branches and cut it in half after all', I thought before returning to my work. The first day, I focused on gathering the necessary materials. The next day, I dug holes for those logs. My plan was to dig loads of holes, place the logs inside, then bury them in an upright position. With enough logs, I'd get a wall, then the second wall and so on.
Of course the logs Shelly dragged back were still too long, each measuring around four metres from the base. I planned to use the top part of each log for the roof, therefore I didn't trim those. One log after the other landed in the ground. I also used vines to tie them together for added strength. It took me two more days, but the walls were completed. Of course I cut out a hole for the doors, since we had to access the shack somehow.
"The roof will be simple. I just have to place thinner logs between two walls, and tie the branches with leaves to them. We will have our shack soon", I said to Shelly who was mostly lazing around. A turtle couldn't really help me make those walls or the roof, I had to make everything by myself. No matter, another day went by, and the roof was completed. Moreover, I had some time to make a bed for me and Shelly.
"This shall be our home for a few weeks. Since we put so much work into this, it would be a shame to leave after a few days, right?", I said. "Mah", Shelly made a noise while nodding. "Alright, it's time to hunt something. Since you've been lazing around, finding hunting the prey will be your job", I said. Shelly complained that I called it lazy, but there was no other way to put it. "Don't worry, I'm going with you", I added before we moved out.
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