The forest was dense and quiet as Azad ventured deeper, the towering trees swaying in the early morning breeze. The sun had fully risen, casting long shadows across the ground and bathing the leaves in dappled golden light. Birds chirped overhead, but otherwise, the forest seemed oddly still. Azad's feet crunched against the underbrush, his mind still racing from Ellie's harsh orders.
"Survive alone. What kind of trial is this?" Azad muttered under his breath, kicking at a stray branch. "She took everything. My sword, my armor... even Choco!" His voice carried a hint of bitterness. "I swear, she's enjoying this way too much."
He paused momentarily, looking around at the seemingly endless sea of trees. The idea of spending three nights out here, unarmed and unprepared, was starting to sink in, and a creeping sense of dread slowly filled him.
"Okay, Azad, don't freak out. You've got this. Just... gather some wood and build a shelter. No big deal," he tried to reassure himself, although his voice lacked confidence.
With a deep sigh, he approached the nearest tree. His hand hesitated as he stared at the rough bark. "Am I really about to punch a tree for wood? Again? This is ridiculous." But there wasn't much of a choice.
He balled his fist and hit the tree trunk. A sharp pain shot through his hand, and he recoiled. "Ow! Damn it!" He shook his hand, wincing. "Who thought punching trees was a good idea? My knuckles are going to be swollen before nightfall."
Determined, he started using a more sensible approach, prying loose pieces of wood with his hands, splinters of bark falling to the ground. Slowly, he gathered enough logs and stacked them into a rough pile beside him. The forest around him remained eerily quiet, with only the occasional rustle of leaves or a distant birdcall breaking the silence.
After gathering about twenty logs, Azad sat down to catch his breath, wiping the sweat from his brow. "Okay... wood? Check." He glanced around, feeling somewhat accomplished. "Now, I just need to make some tools. Easy, right?"
Opening his makeshift "crafting menu" in his mind, he carefully broke down some of the logs into planks, arranging them to form a simple crafting table. He could almost hear Ellie's voice in his head, taunting him. "If you don't adapt, you won't survive. Yeah, yeah. Shut up, Ellie."
He used the crafting table to make a few basic tools—an axe, a pickaxe, and a shovel. Wooden, of course, but better than nothing.
"Next up—shelter," he muttered, scanning his surroundings. "I can't be out here when it gets dark. Who knows what's lurking in these woods." A shiver ran down his spine at the thought of nightfall. The memory of Ellie's warning about surviving alone felt more real with each passing moment. "Monsters. Great. Thanks for that, Ellie. Just what I needed to worry about."
Looking around, Azad spotted a small hill nearby. "That'll do," he muttered, taking in the rocky mound. He grabbed his newly crafted wooden shovel and began digging into the side of the hill, intent on carving out a simple 3x3 shelter. Sweat dripped down his forehead as he worked, each dig of the shovel pushing him closer to having a place to rest for the night.
Just as he made some decent progress, a sound pierced the stillness of the forest. A soft hiss—unnervingly familiar. His heart froze.
"Oh no," Azad whispered, eyes wide as he recognized the dreaded sound of a creeper.
Before he could even process it fully, the hissing grew louder. Instinct took over. Without thinking, Azad leaped in the opposite direction, throwing himself to the ground just as the creeper exploded with a loud BOOM.
Dirt and debris flew everywhere. Azad's ears rang from the blast, and his body hit the ground hard, sliding across the rough terrain. Pain shot through his side as he came to a stop, groaning in discomfort. His vision swam for a moment before he managed to sit up, wincing as he clutched his ribs.
"Damn it!" he cursed, brushing dirt off his face. "Of course, there's a creeper! Why wouldn't there be?!" His breath came in ragged gasps as he checked himself for injuries. Thankfully, the blast hadn't caught him directly, but his left arm and side were throbbing, a sharp ache reminding him how close he had been to a much worse outcome.
Shakily, he got to his feet, surveying the damage. The hillside he'd been digging into was now a mess—dirt scattered everywhere, chunks of the ground blown apart by the explosion. He glanced down at his arm, a scrape running along his forearm where the flying debris had struck.
"Great. Just great." He muttered darkly. "This is exactly what I needed..." He kicked at a loose chunk of dirt in frustration. His shelter was ruined before it even began, and now his arm throbbed like crazy.
With a sigh, Azad rubbed his aching ribs. "I need to get a shelter up before another one of those things finds me." He winced, gathering the scattered tools and materials, and got to work again.
"There," he said after working two hours to clean the mess that creeper created, wiping dirt from his hands and stepping back to examine his work. "A luxury home, fit for a king," he muttered proudly.
His stomach growled, interrupting his moment of satisfaction. "Right. Food." Azad surveyed the forest floor, knowing he'd have to hunt. "cows, maybe a sheep. Where are they when you need them?"
The forest remained stubbornly quiet with no sign of animals. He sighed and continued deeper into the woods, searching for anything edible. The sun was almost setting now, and the shadows were becoming longer. Every rustle of leaves made him tense, his eyes darting in every direction. After what felt like hours of wandering, he finally stumbled upon a small clearing where a few cows were grazing.
"Finally!" Azad whispered, eyeing the animals hungrily. "Sorry, but I need to eat."
With his wooden sword, he approached slowly, trying not to spook them. He lunged, awkwardly swinging the sword down at the nearest cow. It squealed in surprise and ran, but not before Azad managed to land a clumsy blow. He watched it collapse, feeling a pang of guilt.
He quickly skinned the pig, collecting enough meat for at least a day. "One cow down. Sorry, buddy, but I'll need more food to survive this."
Azad returned to his makeshift shelter, the sun already began its slow descent. He piled some stones together and made a small furnace, smelting wood to create charcoal for torches. The fire crackled softly, casting flickering light around his little cave. As he cooked the meat, the scent filled the air, and Azad's stomach growled even louder.
As night began to fall, the forest grew eerily quiet, the peacefulness of the day fading into something more unsettling. Azad's fire crackled inside his shelter, the only light breaking through the growing darkness. He heard distant howls and the rustling of creatures moving about in the underbrush.
"Great," he thought, pulling his knees to his chest. "I'm stuck here alone, with nothing but a wooden sword and a few pieces of beef." He stared into the flames, feeling a deep loneliness settle over him. "I wonder what Ellie and Choco are doing right now… Probably having a feast while I'm out here, barely surviving."
He sighed deeply, his thoughts wandering. "Three nights... I can do this, right? I mean, it's just three nights. But what if something worse than a creeper shows up? I don't even have a decent weapon."
The fire crackled, but it did little to ease the tension. Every snap of a twig outside made Azad jump, his mind imagining all sorts of terrifying creatures lurking just outside his shelter.
"I swear, if Ellie left me out here to get eaten by some monster, I'm haunting her for the rest of my life," he grumbled, curling up next to the warmth of the fire. "Choco wouldn't abandon me like this… I miss that stupid dog."
The first night dragged on slowly, every minute feeling like an eternity. Azad kept his wooden sword close, though he doubted it would do much if something truly dangerous showed up. The noises outside continued—snapping branches, distant growls—but nothing came too close.
He stared into the flames again, his eyes heavy with exhaustion. "Only two more nights after this," he whispered to himself. "I can survive this. I have to."
And with that, Azad settled into an uneasy sleep.