ISLE: Something In The Way (Act I, Part X)
Marlowe finds something strange in the treetops
1000 words, ~5 minute read
Recommended listening while you read: Absorbed In Light by Hammock
Day 3 on the island, afternoon
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I had some lunch on the cliff-side, a little further back from the edge. While I ate the last of my gathered Kehra seed pods, I watched for the strange creature to return. It never did. Since I couldn’t go any further this way without intense bushwhacking, which I was very unprepared for, I decided to head back to the shelter. I’d scan the forest’s edge for anything I could gather along the way.
I found some good rocks: a few strange green ones that I thought might be flint, sharp-edged ones for axes, long flat ones for shovels. Alongside the rocks, I stuffed as many yucca leaves as I could into the rucksack. They’d be good for winding more twine. I continued with dried bush grass (for fire starting), an enormous, flat monstera-type leaf (for catching rainwater), and a mossy plant that grew in the shade of trees (maybe edible). Lastly, I found a very different seed-pod-looking-thing I hadn’t seen before.
{Unknown Item — Effects: ???}
This was the same pack-projection info as the Kehra seed pod before I’d bit into it. However, this seed was a hard brown oval with pokey bits all around its outer casing. Even if I wanted to stupidly test my luck again, there was no biting into this thing. I shook it and the hard shell rattled, something tumbling around inside. That gave me an idea, so I gathered a pack-full of them as I continued toward home.
About halfway back, I rounded a corner and stumbled onto an arrow in the sand.
[ ↠ ]
Like the other sky messages, it was about a meter high, bold, & chalky white–just sitting in the sand, waiting for me. I stopped and stared, waiting for it to dissipate into dust, and when it did, the particles floated off into the trees and enormous ferns it had been pointing toward. I pulled the rucksack off, set it in the sand, and very carefully tiptoed a little way into the overgrowth.
“Little detour...”
About 50 yards in, just as the beach disappeared from sight, another arrow crashed down through the treetops and landed in a bald patch on the forest floor. It turned me 90 degrees to my right, back the way I’d come.
“If you lead me back to that lower beach, with that thing, I swear...”
These sky messages had mostly been helpful thus far, but I remained skeptical. I stuck a large stick into the ground where the arrow had fallen. It disintegrated. I continued, delicately, lifting my unprotected legs high, like I was John Cleese doing the Ministry of Silly Walks, trying to keep my path as straight a line as I could. Another 50 yards or so in, a third arrow tumbled through the canopy and crashed down directly in front of a tall, twisted palm tree. Its pointed directly at the base of the tree. Why direct me to walk into a tree? I had already spotted some typos with these messages. Maybe whoever was leaving them just wasn’t great at their job...
I studied the tree itself, following its trunk upward, bright bands of sunlight poking through the foliage. Sure enough, near the top, there was something snagged in the leaves. Hard to make out. It looked like leather, wrapped around something long.
I tried climbing. There was no way I was making it to the top, certainly not in the buff. My hands slipped on the smooth bark, and I barely made it off the ground with each failed attempt. Next, I grabbed a stick and tried to throw it at the treetop in order to dislodge the leather-bound whatever-it-was. The overgrowth was too thick. I couldn’t get a good throw in without the stick prematurely hitting something else and changing course. I got one good hit in, but the thing was lodged tight. My last idea was to chop the entire tree down...
That would wait. Camp wasn’t far, and I still wanted to find some more Kehra pods before sunset. I’d head back, repair my axe, maybe even craft another one, gather food, and return tomorrow. Whatever was bound in that leather wrap couldn’t be that useful. Right?! I retraced my steps to the beach and turned another piece of driftwood upright in the sand to mark the start of the path. First thing in the morning, I’d be back.
Back at camp, I spent the rest of the afternoon crafting... I still wasn’t terribly good at any of it. My twine came out loose and my tools came out crooked. The afternoon went something like this…
Scoured the surrounding forest; found twelve Kehra seed pods. That’d get me through another day, easy.
Foraging points, ding.
Repaired my axe. Wove new yuca twine, ripped out the old, re-set the rock, stretched new twine taut. Sharpened it against another large, flat rock. Rucksack projected durability line. From a tiny sliver, to a full bar all the way across. From frayed twine to strong & tightly wound. The rucksack’s durability line was just a measure of how broken the thing was it seemed. Not some magical, repairable status. Just, “Hey, this is getting worn out.”
More sticks and rocks I’d collected, fashioned two more axes. Sharpened stone. Saw sparks this time. Squinted one eye, improvised eye ‘protection’. Twisted more yucca twine. As thin as I could manage. Wound straps around flat driftwood the size of my feet. Sandals. Ad-hoc but better than nothing.
Crafting points, ding, ding, ding.
Put survival suit back on. Finally dry. No more nekked exploring. Hung all three axes from loops on the side of my pack. Strung more twine between the trees surrounding camp, high up, to create an outer perimeter. Wove more arm-lengths. Tied one end to the new rattly seed pods. Tied the other ends to the new outer perimeter. Shaker-seed-pods hung chest height all around. One every meter. Harmless or not, if that massive creature came anywhere near, at least I’d have a second to react before being eaten...
Comfort points… no ding, but I’d still sleep better.
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Thanks for reading.
Author Notes
Not a lot of notes tis week. We’ve opened a lot of doors. Marlowe is no longer alone. The leather pack is going to be a bit of a game changer next week. This instalment was to get Marlowe ready (and clothed). Now we’re into the meat & potatoes of this thing. Stay tuned.
See you in the comments below.