Nash is shocked to see a figure walking upright, and as it comes closer he recognizes the shape of another person. He crouches down beside his raft, to decrease the possibility of being seen, and make himself a smaller target. The figure stumbles out of the treeline, and as he sees Nash, raises his hands into the air, away from the sword in the scabbard at his waist. "I come in peace, I don't know how I got here, I just want to go home," the boy says.
"What's your name?" Nash asks.
"Jay Marquez," the boy replies.
Nash lowers his bow, his hand still on the arrow. "Come forward, and remove your sword from your hip," Nash yells across to him, "I'll sling my bow."
As Jay comes forward and removes his sword, he drops it to the ground in front of him, and Nash slings his bow over his shoulder. "I'm gonna come to you and grab your sword, then we can talk," Nash says to him, and Jay nods his head in agreement.
He reaches down and grabs Jay's sword with no resistance from Jay. Then he beckons him forward to the raft, where he finishes weaving his basket. He drops the meat into the basket, and asks Jay, "Do you remember what happened before you woke up here?"
"I was hiking through the mountains above my hometown. There was a heavy storm that shrouded the mountainside, and before I could descend, a massive avalanche buried me in snow. I lost consciousness, and then I woke up here," Jay explains to Nash.
Nash explains his last memory before arriving in the forest, "and I woke up just over there, in that direction you came from."
The two boys pondered the meaning of this reality they woke up to. "Could we be dead?" Jay asks Nash.
"There's no way to know for sure," he replies, stepping back onto his raft. "Yesterday, I hiked upstream to a spot where the river split. Today I plan to raft downstream before the sun goes down, to try and find a city or a village, or any sort of sign of human life. You're welcome to join me," Nash says, handing Jay his sword. Jay equips the scabbard, and steps onto the raft.
"Well, it looks like you're better equipped, and we'll probably have a higher chance of surviving together," Jay replies.
"We'll eat where we camp, but for now, we need to continue forward before the sun sets," Nash explains, Looking up at the sun briefly. "It's probably close to 10 right now, I don't have any way to know for sure," he says to Jay. "I see you also have a backpack, you have a different weapon so I wonder if you have something I don't." Jay is quick to take the hint, and empties his bag onto the surface of the raft. "I have a compass, throwing knives, a saxe knife, and a scabbard, and it looks like, instead, you've got a folding saw, a sharpening file, a metal bowl, and a bundle of paracord," Nash tells Jay, "That would've been useful for the raft."
The raft's grass rope still held strong, so Jay packed his items back into his bag. With little more to say, the two of them pushed the raft into the river, and continued down the stream.
The sun was at its peak, nestled halfway in the sky, almost a full 2 hours after their departure from what they'd started to call the where am I woods. The river's current had gradually started to slow down, and the stream was getting wider. Ahead of them, they noticed a large body of water. The land on the other side was hard to see in the distance. There was no doubt in their minds, they'd found a massive lake.
Nash sunk his bamboo pole far into the water, and shoved the raft towards the edge of the river, not wanting to be stranded in the middle of this large expanse of water. They both dismounted the raft, and shared the weight of the basket they carried between them. Occasionally, they swapped the weight to their opposite arms, as they progressed through the woods at the edge of the lake. There was 60 pounds of meat, meaning each of them carried only 30 pounds, but that small weight proved to be tiring on the arms after walking for two miles.
As they reached a large stone outcropping, they set the basket down and peered over the lake. "We have about 5 hours of daylight left," Nash told Jay. "Let's set up camp here."
With a small nod, Jay set about finding dry wood with which to start a fire. As Jay was busying himself with the firewood, Nash began chopping down trees they could use to build a lean-to. Within the hour, Nash gained another skill Point for woodcutting, and had began constructing their shelter when he gained yet another for Carpentry. Jay had not yet gathered any flint or quartz, so Nash grabbed his Fire Starting tool from the previous night and quickly got the fire going. Jay admired his resourcefulness, appreciating his handiwork in the Firestarter.
"Such a simple concept, but cleverly crafted," Jay said to himself. Nash watched him hold his creation, amused by his appreciation towards the fire starter, when he seemed so unimpressed by the raft.
With 3 hours left in the day, he gave Jay the task of cooking the meat, and laughed at his shock when Jay felt the ice cold meat. Jay asked him how it stayed so cold, and Nash could only tell him, "I don't really know for sure, it was like that when I was parting it too."
As Jay began to cook the meat, Nash found some small dead trees he could Chop into logs for the fire. After gathering enough wood to fuel the fire for the night, he pondered the idea of carving a canoe. "With my Crafting skill at level 2, it couldn't be too hard of a task to complete," he thought to himself.
He asked Jay to borrow his folding saw, and found a large tree about 50 yards from their camp and began to saw into the wood. He was impressed by how easily the saw cut through the tree. Within 10 minutes, he felled the tree. He moved 15 feet down the tree, and chopped the end off with an hour and a half left in the day.
Jay called him over soon after, "Nash, dinners ready!"
Nash jogged back to the fireplace to see that Jay had perfectly cooked three large chunks of meat. "I figured, as a symbol of companionship, we could split one of these three between the two of us," Jay told Nash.
Nash agreed with that concept, comparing it to breaking bread, removing a throwing knife from its scabbard, and slicing the meat down the middle. Nash remembered the chervil he had in his backpack, removing the chervil and slicing it in half to be used as a garnish for their meal. He placed Jay's saw back with his things, then he wiped off his blade and slid it back into the scabbard. They both said a silent prayer, thankful for their blessings, good food, a warm fire, shelter, and a strong new bond that had formed between the two.