Devan was glad that he had decided not to wait for them to return. It was great for the first week just being away from everything but now he was bored. The raft that he had started was coming along nicely especially considering the fact that he had no real tools to use except the dagger's that he always carried. He hated everything about using his daggers this way but using them he had formed the crude tools that he needed to build the raft.
The most important thing for him was for it to stay afloat. By breaking down some of the crates that they had left his supplies he was going to be able to reinforce others and he had decided that they would be perfect to use as a raft as long as they were watertight.
Devan took each crate out in the water so that he could see how each one floated making sure they didn't take on any water. He thought that he could load each one with things that he wanted to take and then get access to each from the top as long as they were all together then he would only have to sacrifice one for some kind of sail.
Devan knew that he wanted each crate about half full and any crate that he was not going to use broke down as he had the nails and the boards to attach to the others. He knew that a big floating square was not going to move fast, but he was going to be able to take a lot of supplies. It was not like he was going to be able to restock them once he was out to sea. He didn't want to wind up starving while waiting for some kind of ship to come along.
Devan figured all he needed to do was make it out into the shipping lanes and it would not be more than a week for a ship to come along. It was just going to be a challenge getting this thing out there and then once there to stay in it. That is if he could even find it in the first place. Devan kind of knew where it was supposed to be, but he was not certain where exactly it flowed.
Devan knew that the shipping lanes ran all over this area. So, it was not going to be that hard to find one. After all the ships have someone in the crow's nest looking for sails and things all the time, and he knew that would include the thing that he made. As Devan broke down the crates that were empty, he used every part to strengthen the crates he was using and bind them together.
The only thing that he was going to remain scared of was a big storm. He knew that if it was just a little one, he would be able to catch the rainwater and that would give him more to drink. But if it was a big storm, he would have to worry about the waves washing him off or mixing salt water into his drinking water. Devan decided to take three crates devoted to water. Two were going to be filled with plain water, but that would make the crates heavy and hard to move and they would not float. In the third crate, he was to keep all the bottles and anything else he could store water in case the other water got contaminated with salt. That would leave the other 6 crates with the remaining food and supplies that he could round up.
Devan figured that was going to be way more than he was going to need to have months' worth of supplies out there but better to have them and not need them than to need them and not have them.
As the raft took shape Devan was pleased with himself. He knew that he could adjust how high it rode in the water just by adding or removing weight. He thought that was all well and good while he was on land but once he shoves off there won't be any weight to add except water. He knew that he didn't want it to be heavy which would slow it down but if it was too light then he was worried that bigger waves could flip it over. At that point, he would rather have the wave wash over the top than flip him and it over.
The bad thing was that during the time that they were looking for the girls they had not run into that many other ships. Even though he knows that this is one of the most traveled trade routes. He knew that they had been traveling fast and he had not been on deck most of the time.
Devan ate a meager breakfast so that he could get right back at it for some reason he was really feeling a rush to get it done now and get moving.
Devan looked out and once again he thought that he was seeing a sail out on the horizon. By this time, he realized that it had to be some kind of island or something other than a ship because it never seemed to move. It had fooled him since he could not see it all the time and at first, he couldn't remember where it was. It didn't take him long to look there for it but then it was always the same place that told him that it was something other than a ship.
Every time he caught sight of it, he would get excited thinking that they were coming for him. Only to have his hopes dashed as he would realize that it had not moved. Devan knew when he left his island that was the direction that he was going to set off in even if it was an island, he knew that he would not get close enough to let it slow him down but at least it was better than heading off into the middle of nowhere where he couldn't tell which direction he was even going in. That was if he was going to be able to get the raft to move in the direction that he wanted to go, to begin with.
Devan knew he would have a little more control when the wind was blowing and pushing the sail. He had a general direction that they had come from when they dropped him off and so he would point in that general direction and have to hope for the best after that.
Devan worked all afternoon and managed to get all the crates attached to each other. Making sure that they were all reinforced so that they couldn't fall apart even if he got in a really bad storm.
Devan knew that he was going to need some kind of sail and he had the tarp that he had been using for shade and to keep the rain off of him that he could use for it, but the mast was going to be a hard one for him to come up with.
He knew that he was going to have to use some kind of tree and the taller it was the better but he was going to have to make sure it was not too thick or too tall or it would throw the raft off when the wind would blow, He had put it off to last trying to work out in his head hoping that he would see something that would just scream to him that was what he had been looking for.
Once he had the rest of the raft together all he had left was the mast, he kind of knew how tall he wanted it. Since he was going to have to handle it by himself as well as how it was going to be secured to the raft. He knew that it couldn't be all that heavy but would have to be big enough that a strong wind would not break it.
As Devan looked around the beach, he knew that all the trees around here were too big and heavy for what he was going to need he was going to have to go inland to find it. Devan thought that he had never really even looked around the island to see what it had but there was supposed to be no need since they were coming back for him.
Devan looked up at the woods that were just off the beach, and he shook his head he hated the woods they were too hard to move silently in it was a lot better to be in a town where he could easily avoid people and take advantage of the shadows. But in the woods, all you had to use was mostly the trees and they made too much noise when you traveled through the branches, and if you were not used to using the tree you could hit a branch that wouldn't support you.
Devan thought well at least he was not hunting anyone at this point, so it was not going to matter if he made a little sound. As he walked into the woods stepping on a stick and having it break made him smile knowing that normally that would have given away his position ruining his day.
After thinking about it that way he was going to have a good time just stomping through the forest.