Limits-Chapter 2: Adventure with Berries

As you might have expected I was not a hunter nor was I meant to be one. So going into a forest without any experience was not one of my best ideas but going to the forest without any supplies or weapons? YES that would be somewhere at the top of my stupid ideas of all time.

Fortunately boars, wolves and bears were most common hunting preys for hunters from the village and I never heard of anyone meeting something more dangerous than bear.

My profession was craftsman. So I could technically craft stuff from wood but being an idiot I had no knifes to do so. I could also tailor a bit but then again no tools.

Because I left in the morning, in the afternoon I actually covered quite a distance going through the forest. Then all the excitement and adrenaline rush subdued and it hit me that I will need a shelter, food and water.

I panicked a bit, ok quite a lot actually. I then said to myself "how hard can it be to find food in the forest". It was, because the first thing I found were berries. I was so happy I got to eat something….. Yea not even half an hour later I had to spend considerable amount of time in the bushes. This event took its toll on my body as you can imagine and so I didn't touch anymore berries that day.

Thankfully I found small stream with clear water and because of the adventure with the berries I was quite thirsty. Sating my thirst I thought it would be better to find shelter somewhere near the stream, so that I have access to water. I searched the area around the stream and couldn't find any type of place I could use as my hideout.

I also decided that sleeping on top of trees would be dangerous because what if I move during sleep and fall from such height? So I preferred to stay on ground. Time passed and the only thing I could find that would at least give me some protection was an old tree stump hollowed out in the middle. Because it was getting darker I decided I will use the tree stump but some kind of 'door' would be nice. So I collected branches, climbed into the stump and covered the entrance.

Not very comfortable to be honest but because I was used to sleeping on the streets it wasn't half bad. The next morning I drank from the stream and because I had nothing on me that could contain water I could only leave.

Although hungry I didn't touch any fruits or mushrooms as I didn't know which were poisonous, of course I now knew one type of berry that was. On my way I noticed wild animals such as deer and rabbits. Because I was not quicker than rabbit or a deer and had no weapons, I would not catch anything anyway so instead I tried to spot what type of things do the animals eat. This way it will have much less possibility of being detrimental to my health.

I saw that the rabbits sometimes ate green berries but never touched the berries that I ate… go figure. I tried the green berries, I didn't eat a whole lot just tried one or two mouthfuls of berries. They actually had not a bad taste a bit bitter but other than that not so bad. I've waited for some time and nothing happened, which meant it was alright to eat them. I've collected as much as I could into my pockets and went along my journey.

Sudden though hit me at that time. I didn't encounter any dangerous animals yet but that doesn't mean I will not. Some kind of weapon, any kind will be much better than my bare fists. But what can I use as a weapon found in this forest… berries? Yea sure throwing the berries at the bear or wolf will no doubt guarantee my safety.

A stick would be optimal choice or stones, but I couldn't carry stones around with me that would be too tiring. Stick seemed as most probable but just picking up a stick from the ground will not make me more safe. I could either carry large stick and use its weight as my weapon or smaller stick but sturdy and pointy. Ha! but how would I make it sharp?

So the only option was a large sturdy stick with some weight. In search of such stick I went around the immediate area I was in and although I found some contenders but none were sturdy or heavy enough.

Searching like this for 1 hour! I finally found a suitable stick (who would've thought that finding a stick in forest can be so hard). I should really thank those hunters one day because if not for them I would surely encounter something bad already. Acquiring the stick I used some vines to make a holder to place it on my back.

The day was almost over and it was time to find another shelter. This time I noticed a cave. I wasn't stupid enough to just march in there and proclaim it as my new hideout.

What if there are wolves or bear in that cave. I started observing the cave and saw nothing so I decided to move closer.

When I was about 30 metres from the cave I thought of an idea. Instead of going there myself I will throw a rock at the entrance and see if something is there. As I thought I did, and so one rock flew… quiet. I threw one more, again quiet. I thought 3 times a charm and threw another one, again nothing.

Now that I was 'sure' there is nothing inside I made my way to the entrance. To my surprise it really was empty. The cave was quite simple with couple of boulders here and there but other than that nothing else. I ate my dinner and straight after that I almost shat it out. There was some noise outside the cave and it was getting closer to the entrance.