"Ants! Oh my god!" he yelped, spinning on his heels and sprinting away at full speed.
The ants scattered in all directions like tiny soldiers after Rivan's not so graceful intrusion. These weren't your ordinary ants; they were larger, freakier versions, like the ones you'd expect to see in some sci-fi B-movie. One particularly ambitious ant latched onto his leg, it's beady little eyes zeroing in on the perfect spot to climb.
"Oh no, no, no! You gotta be kidding me?!" Rivan yelled, flailing his leg. "A ghost, a zombie, even ex girlfriend would have been been better than this" He hopped around like a deranged kangaroo trying to shake off the creepy crawler. But before he could shake it loose, the ant sunk it's mandible into his leg , tearing the chunk of his flesh.
"Ow! Son of a b**!" Rivan screamed crumpling to the ground in not-so-dramatic fashion. His face wrinkled in agony as he stared at the ant, fury overtaking him. His eyes locked onto the ant, and suddenly, vengeance became the only thing that mattered.
With the battle cry that only Rivan coud make both sound heroic and ridiculous, He grabbed a nearby rock, and began smashing the ant repeatedly.
"You think you can munch on my leg like it's chimichanga night?! You are smaller than my ego, and you think you can take me down? This is what you get!" He hammered the ant over and over, blood and translucent bug goo splattering everywhere, paying no mind to his own injury.
Finally, the ant's head was a squished mess, but it still clung to his leg, its mandibles stuck deep in his skin. As the initial rush of anger wore off, the pain surged back, and Rivan noticed the veins around the bite swelling up.
"Great, just what I needed," he muttered, glaring at the mangled ant still hanging onto him like a bad ex.
Rivan yanked the squished ant off his leg, his face a mixture of disgust, pain, and... mild annoyance? "Ugh, I'm never gonna look at ants the same way again. This was not part of the plan," he muttered, flicking the ant carcass away with exaggerated flair.
The forest was eerily quiet again, the oversized ants having vanished beneath the leaves. The dim light made everything feel extra creepy.
With a dramatic sigh, he tried to stand up. He looked over at his little tree root shelter. "Yeah, no big deal. Just, you know, a casual mile away... while my leg feels like it's been gnawed off by a rabid squirrel." Groaning, he limped toward the shelter. "Ahhh... oh god, ahhh... yep, feeling every single step," he whined with each agonizing movement.
Finally reaching his destination, Rivan collapsed in the shadow of the giant tree. "Well, that was a workout. Guess I'm skipping leg day for a while." He arranged his leg in the least painful position, still wincing. "Okay, Rivan, time to be resourceful!" He grabbed a pile of leaves and snapped the stems. "Let's get our Survivor: Forest Edition on."
He began rubbing two sticks together, doing his best caveman impression. "Come on, fire, let's do this! I've seen people light fires this way, how hard can it be?" A little smoke appeared, and Rivan's grin stretched wider than it should. "I'm a genius!" He blew on it... nothing.
"Pfft, whatever, it's not like I expected it to work right away. It's my first time. I'm a fire-starter virgin!" His voice was filled with mock encouragement. "Patience, Rivan, patience."
Minutes passed. The grin slowly faded. "Damn it!" Rivan suddenly threw the sticks down like they personally offended him.
"What the actual hell? Didn't they say our ancestors started fires this way? Liars! It's all a scam!" He waved his hands dramatically. "And who even decided those cave paintings were about fire? Probably some blind archaeologist thinking, 'Oh yeah, they must've been rubbing sticks together.' But no, it was just some ancient dude jerking off, and boom, everyone mistook it for fire!"
He blinked, staring at the mess he made. "Wait... Why am I talking to myself... am I losing my mind? Nah, I'm good. Just gotta make fire.... easy peasy."
Picking up two rocks, Rivan renewed his efforts to start a fire. Striking them together repeatedly, he emitted grunts of effort "Oh, come on, you piece of junk!" he muttered, as smoke puffed out in a fitful burst.
After several dramatic attempts and some questionable expletives, a small flame flickered to life. Rivan grinned triumphantly. "Ha! I'm basically a magician!" he exclaimed with a mix of relief and satisfaction, though his smile was slightly off as he gulped heavily.
He glanced longingly at the small pool of water. But then he froze. "Oh, great. Just what I needed: a potentially life-threatening fire and a dangerously tempting puddle," he said, gulping dramatically.
"I'm definitely not thirsty. Not at all. Nope, just trying to avoid the whole 'dehydration' thing." His resolve cracked as he crawled over, eyes locked on the water. "Oh, screw it!" He drank greedily, splashing water everywhere, and washed the gory mess of his wound with as much tenderness as he could muster while complaining.
Returning to the fire, he examined his leg: the flesh was torn, exposing blue nerves that bulged grotesquely. "I'm sure this is good for my complexion. And my leg? Well, it's just a bit of decorational blue nerves. Fashion statement, really."
With a wince, he gingerly picked up a fruit that miraculously survived the fall. "Nothing like a nutritious snack after a little self-surgery. Not like I'm gonna die from ants. I mean, come on, it's not like they're venomous or anything... right?....it's just pain.... a lot for pain." He crunched into the fruit, grimacing.
His mind wandered back to the scene under the leaves. The ants had been feeding on something, and the smell... it was unmistakably foul. "It has to be a decaying body. But was it human? Hehe, come on, it must have been some local animal carcass. After all, how could a human end up here and... and die? Heh"