An Ice Leopard came bounding out of the grass, it whispered
something to Fog. He nodded. "DD, the leopard found something, a
backpack in the grass....and...a dead body." He whispered,
grimacing. "Follow me, there could be provisions in the pack," He
said and gestured to DD to follow him.
DD nodded, signalling to her knights to begin moving to follow Fog.
They would need whatever supplies they could get their hands on,
but she couldn't deny her own morbid curiosity over a dead body.
From what they could tell, they were the only ones in the grass,
aside from the currently dead bird. Who had the body been? Another
victim of this field perhaps? Whatever the case may be, they
currently needed whatever the backpack contained more than the body
did...
After walking for about an hour, they came to a small flat area,
where a rotting skeleton lay there, clutching a backpack in its
bony arms. He picked it up curiously, and peered inside. It
contained some rope, some food, a torch and only one
sleeping bag. Fog groaned and handed the sleeping bag to DD, "Here,
take this. There's only one, and I don't get as cold as you humans
do," Fog said.
DD took the sleeping bag a bit hesitantly. She could feel
her pressing at the edges of her mind palace, envy filling
her head at the mention of Fog's abilities... No... She wouldn't
kill him, he had done nothing to be a threat and she wasn't about
to go willy nilly on someone who was being helpful. He had proven
himself useful and thus she needed him alive. That was the only
reason, right? Pulling herself from the mental rabbit hole, she
looked over the rest of the gained supplies, mentally calculating
how to ration the food over a long period of time if necessary.
Even though it would be easier to take it for herself... No!
She whacked herself in the head. Not happening! He was of use to
her! She won't do that to him. DD took a deep breath before
straightening up to look at something to get her mind off of... The
dead body laid there. She looked at it with a hint of fascination.
She had never truly seen a rotten corpse before, only the freshly
dead ones. She studied it for a few moments, curiosity satisfied
for now, and then turned back to Fog. "Where should we go from
here?"
He thought for a moment, "I think we should make camp," Fog said
and began to cut blades of grass with his hands. Fog was an expert
in weaving and creating nets, he knew all the different knots and
how to use them. In a matter of minutes, a large grass-woven net
sat in front of him.
An Ice Lion ran up to him, carrying broken twigs and leaves in its
icy maw. It dropped them into Fog's lap and then melted into a
puddle. Fog smiled and attached the net to the twigs. He worked
hard, concentrating on his task at hand. Fog stood up, his project
completed, it was a hammock! He grinned and fashioned another net,
attaching it to more twigs and creating a small shelter for DD. Fog
placed her sleeping back under the canopy and grinned at her. "Here
you go!" Fog beamed. "I think you should make yourself a fire, to
keep yourself warm. I would gladly do it....i-i just don't like
fire," he whispered, turning away from her.
DD nodded, understanding how Fog would be somewhat against fire.
Luckily her outfit meant she had plenty of pocket to hide different
materials to use. Taking some of the unused twigs and dead leaves,
she set up a small canopy for the fire. Her knights broke off
chunks of themselves, which would grow back in a few seconds, to
place around the fireplace to contain it. Digging into one of her
many pockets, DD pulled out a full box of matches. It took a few
strikes, but she soon had the match, and subsequently the fire,
going strong in no time. Glancing uneasily at the grass blades
surrounding them, she called her knights to protect the two of them
for the time being. Two knights stood on opposite sides of Fog's
hammock while the other two stood at either end of her shelter. She
sighed a bit, hoping that nothing bad would happen to either of
them while they, eventually, slept.
Fog tossed and turned until he finally sat up with a frustrated
huff. He glanced at the still sleeping DD and looked back down at
the backpack in his arms. Fog looked through it and pulled out some
scraps of meat. With a long and sharp stick, he skewered it and
fashioned a spit out of more material. He placed it above the fire
and placed the skewer of meat on it. Fog nervously lit the fire
again, jumping backwards as the fire roared to life. With shaking
hands, he turned the spit on its side, roasting the food. Fog ate
his meat raw, he didn't need to cook his. A short time passed, and
light began spilling into the clearing, light which Fog presumed to
be daylight. He gently shook DD awake, with a quiet, "Wake up..."
DD groaned as she was pulled back to reality. She blearily looked
around, trying to make sense of her surroundings in the mere
moments of consciousness. When she finally did, she grimaced at the
result. The field of grass hadn't been a dream it seemed... She
carefully got up and said a tired "Morning." to Fog while rubbing
the sleep from her eyes. She took a deep breath and smelled the
cooked meat. She glanced at the now present fire and cooked meat on
the spit. Food was a welcome idea to her. She turned back to Fog
with a smile. "I see breakfast is ready. Have you eaten yet?" she
asked, curious about how long he had been up in order to cook the
meat.
Fog nodded, "Yep, I don't mind eating food raw so it didn't take
long." he said quietly and resumed his net weaving. The grass
rustled slightly in the cool breeze but it felt very eerie in the
clearing. He could hear cawing in the distance which made shivers
go up his spine.
DD nodded and began to eat. She was glad they at least had a bit of
food to keep them going. The sounds of more crows did worry her a
little, but she felt confident that the two of them would be able
to fend them off. Wait, why was she so comfortable with Fog
already? It was nearly impossible to get her trust, so why was she
pretty much handing it to him on a silver platter?! She decided to
not go down that mental rabbit hole for now. They needed to focus
their energy in finding a way out of this field.
"So, DD. What should we do now? Camp here for a bit, or set off?"
he said, shivering. Fog lied when he told DD he didn't need the
sleeping bag, but he wouldn't tell her. It was common courtesy, he
told himself. Louder caws were heard in the distance, and he
groaned. His wound from the cut hadn't healed, and it was bothering
him a lot. From inside the bushes, something hissed. Is slithered
quietly on the floor, tasting the air with a forked tongue. As
quick as a flash, it darted behind Fog, and sunk its teeth into his
arm.
Fog yelped and stabbed the snake with a stick. The snake twitched,
then died. A large gash on his arm, where the snake bit him, bled
profusely. He made a makeshift bandage with some leaves, but it
didn't hold for long.
As DD considered their options, she listened to the cawing in the
distance. She was about to speak when the snake came out of nowhere
and bit Fog. Luckily Fog managed to kill it with a stick, but the
damage was already done. She examined its corpse and came to the
conclusion that it was indeed a venomous species of snake. With its
broad, triangular head, elliptical eyes, colorful body, and, with
further investigation, a heat sensing pit. She turned back to Fog,
who was trying to stop the bleeding with some leaves which were
failing to do much. In a moment of desperation, DD tore off one of
her dress's sleeves and wrapped it around the bite mark, tying it
securely.
"T-thanks DD," he said sadly. Fog paused, "What were you about to
say?" He winced at the sight of the wound, and the green patches
climbing up his arm...
DD winced at the green patches crawling up Fog's arm. "It seems the
decision has been made for us. You're not going anywhere with that
venom in your bloodstream." They needed to do something about the
venom ASAP.