The sun began to color the sky with light on the man's second day in this new world. He had already woken up and added more wood to the fire. He was sitting on the ground, facing the fire looking his hands as he held them out in front of him. Focusing on his right hand, he said, "Heal cut." One of the cuts, which had scabbed over started to twitch and eventually sealed itself up, the scab falling to the ground, with a fresh scar left in its place. He nodded and said, "Huh, really does work." He continued with the same spell over and over until he finished both hands and feet. 'And here comes the headache…" He said as he pulled out a leaf wrapped snake cutlet from his basket.
As he chewed on the meat, he stared at the snakeskin he had hung up to dry last night. "I should use that today." He pulled a couple of ribs from the meat he was eating and set them on a rock next to the fire to dry. After he stood and wiped the dirt off himself, he grabbed the snakeskin and checked it for quality. He sat back down near a rock and set the skin on it, fleshy side up. He used a rock to scrape off the fat and bits of flesh. "Hmm, I think I'm supposed to use oils or fats or something to soften this up."
He shrugged and used the obsidian knife to straighten out the edges of the skin. He made some impromptu measurements and cut the skin off on the sides to form long strips, until it was narrow enough for his needs. Taking one of the ribs, he scraped at it with his knife to clean it off and prepare a spot to put a hole into it. It took him a while and costed him a few cuts before he finally had made a needle from the rib.
He took the other rib, and cleaned it with the knife, this time focusing more on the tip than putting a hole into it. When he felt it would be good enough, he grabbed the snakeskin and began putting holes in it along the edges. When he finished, he measured it out and cut it to length. He took his thicker rope and folded one end over it, marking the flesh where appropriate and adding holes, repeating the process for the other side.
He then took the needle rib and threaded one of the fleshy strips into it. He sewed an edge onto the sides, and eventually the rope under the ends. When he finished, he donned his new snakeskin loin cloth and cut the rope to length, tying a knot on the side of his hip. He walked around a little bit to get the feel for it, stepping with wide steps. He looked down at it as he walked, sighing slightly, and shaking his head.
He stared at the fire for a bit before a slight grin began to appear, "Water ball." A ball of water, about half the size of his head appeared before him and launched itself towards the fire, striking it much harder than he thought it would, scattering burning wood and embers around the forest floor. "Shit!" he said as he began to collect up the pieces of wood that he could, dropping "Drinks" on the ones he couldn't.
One headache later, the fire wasn't even smoking anymore. He shouldered his basket, after having stuffed the remaining snakeskin and rope inside it, and grabbed his spear, heading back towards the river, occasionally picking at his loin cloth. When he reached the river, he turned downstream and began to follow it.
As he walked, he kept his eyes on the surroundings. Occasionally, he'd see a deer, or a rabbit run off before he could do anything. He kept on walking despite the fatigue, only stopping occasionally to heal his feet.
The river started to get wider, and it met up with another smaller stream continuing on. It was no longer as fast now, and even appeared to be a bit muddy. As he walked, he said to himself, "I have a feeling when I find a town, or the remains of one, it'll be on the other side of this river." He stopped and looked down at himself, "Can I even swim with this body? Huh, I wonder." Taking a deep breath, he let it out slowly as he chased the river downstream.
At one point, he found another snake, but it slithered off into the water before he could catch it. Cursing his luck, he moved on. He pulled the leather straps and his hatchet from the basket to try to rework it as he walked. He untied the string, putting the head and handle back into the basket. As he walked, he wove the leather straps into the string to make it stronger. When he was satisfied, he worked on rebinding his hatchet. Still uncomfortable with the strength of it, he would strike some branches from time to time to get a feel for it. When he was somewhat satisfied, he repeated the process for the knife.
He finished his knife and put it back into his basket. As he had finished what he wanted to do, he began practicing with his spear, to get a better feel for the weapon itself. He had previously peeled back the bark, and the wood had become slick, but now it had dried out and he could swing it without losing control. Occasionally he'd stab at the leaves in his path, some being pierced, most of the rest simply pushing the leaf out of the way. Sighing at his desperate situation, he prayed to himself that nothing dangerous appeared.
Sighing again, he said, "And now something will jump out and eat me." He stopped for a moment to look around and listen to the forest. He saw what appeared to be a clearing further downstream, but away from the widening river. Instead of getting excited though, he approached it normally, while maintaining vigilance.
When he arrived at the clearing, he was disappointed that it was simply that, a clearing in the woods. He walked towards the center, looking to the far side of the clearing, while occasionally checking the ground for signs of people. As he walked, he stumbled yet again, but this time it was because there was a dip in the ground that he didn't see. When he turned back to it, he saw that there was a depression in the ground that stretched out to the left and right. When he turned around, he saw a similar depression running parallel to it.
He looked up, following the ruts, and noticed he couldn't see the trail, but there appeared to have been an area cleared out for a roadway previously, with some light growth reclaiming the land. When he turned around, he noticed that it appeared to be the same. Looking back towards the river, he turned downstream and began walking. He kept his position between the ruts to ensure he would notice if he walked off course, but mostly followed the thinner areas of the forest's trees. Continuing to walk with his steady pace, the man continued east, with a clearer direction of where he was going.