The Archer of Equestria
Chapter 3: A new home
Walking through the forest, Ken remembered how bad he was at making tents. He knew how to make them, but even the simplest of lean-to tents would fall under his bad craftsmanship.
Maybe he could find a cave, but after remembering his last run in with a cave, he voted against it.
After ten minutes of thinking, Ken decided he should think about it later and go gather food after hearing his stomach growl and realizing how hungry he was. He was about to start when a thought struck him.
He was in a new world. He doesn't know anything about it. He wouldn't be able to tell if a berry is poisonous or not, he wouldn't know if an animal was harmless, or if it could tear him to pieces. He couldn't survive out here. At least, not without help. Ken wondering how the locals would react to him. Would they panic? would they dissect him? would they call the police? did they even have police?
A million questions were going through his head, each one leading to another.
Ken couldn't make a shelter to last the night or eat any food without knowing if it was poisonous or not, decided to go look for water. He could also go fishing while he was at the lake he was determined to find.
Counting his arrows, Ken set out in a random direction, making arrows along the way to guide him back to the tiny village. 'Maybe one day,' Ken thought, 'I'll build up enough courage to reveal myself.'
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1 hour later
The sound of running water, the smell of pine, the chirping of birds. Normally, this would make Ken just want to sit down and look at the scenery. But right now, he was power walking, desperate to get out, remembering last time when this happened, he was almost eaten by a Greek mythological beast.
But it didn't matter, he could hear water running. He was close.
Five more minutes of walking and Ken walked out into another clearing and saw a river. The shimmering reflection of the sun made it look like a million tiny diamonds dancing on the surface.
Making his way toward the river, he noted that it was, in fact, inhabited. Crouching down to dig a hole next to the river, he saw his reflection.
'That's odd, that explosion should have left at least one scratch, but my face is flawless.'
After thinking about it for a few moments, Ken just shrugged it off and continued digging a hole next to the river. It would have taken hours to fill with water and filther the silt out, but he needed water, and he didn't want to risk any bacteria that could be in the stream.
After digging the hole and lining it with rocks, he decided to pass the time by fishing. With seventeen arrows left in his quiver, and another nocked on his bow getting ready to fire at a fish. A loud noise caught his attention. A loud honking noise. Turning ninety degrees to his right, he saw a chcken. A fully grown, plump goose whose feathers were perfect for stabilizing an arrow.
Forgetting the fish, attention toward the goose, Ken drew back his bow, took aim, and fired.
The arrow lodged itself halfway into the side of its head, right where its brain is supposed to be. The goose didn't feel a thing. Watching the white feathered bird he now called 'dinner' fall to the ground lifeless, Ken felt a surge of joy, which was then ruined when he realized that he had no fire to cook it over. Picking up the carcass, Ken went to a nearby tree to tie it up.
Remembering that he didn't have a rope, he took off his cloak, tied one end around the goose's neck, and tied the other around a branch to keep any predators from eating his food. He didn't need it in this environment. It was dyed white to help him blend into his surroundings on Mt. Ontake. Ken would cook it once he got a fire going and plucked the coose.
With his mouth watering from the thought of food, Ken set out to find some firewood.
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Ken came back to his camp an hour later with about four pounds of firewood, tinder, and some flint he found in a pile of gravel. Setting the supplies down next to the river, Ken went to go check on his water hole.
It was about halfway full of dirty water. Swirling it around with his hands to make sure the dirt was all floating around, he started emptying the water from the hole, trying to get as much dirt out as possible.
By the time he was done, all the hunching had already taken a toll on his back. Standing up and stretching, Ken went over to his goose and untied it, tossing his blood-stained cloak to the side.
After remembering that he didn't have any boiling water to pluck the feathers with, Ken just decided to do it by force.
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After half an hour of plucking, Ken had sore hands, a pile of goose feathers, and a bald goose.
Laying it to the side, Ken got started on the fire. Digging a hole to be able to make the fire bigger without the fear of any predators being attracted to it, he couldn't help but feeling he was forgetting something. Something important. He just ignored it without giving it a second thought.
Once he was finished digging the hole, Ken laid down pieces of tinder into the bottom. Drawing his dagger and a piece of flint, he struck his dagger with the flint, causing sparks to fly in the direction of the tinder. After about six strikes, a small flame had popped up onto the tinder. Working quickly, Ken placed more tinder into the hole and some firewood. In just forty seconds, he had a fire to cook his goose on.
Spearing the goose with a stick, He started roasting the goose over an open fire. His mouth watering again at the sight and smell of the goose, Ken resisted the urge to just eat it raw.
After forty agonizing minutes of watching the goose cook, it was finally done. Taking a bite out of the goose, he realized how bland it was, but didn't care. The things he ate for the past two days before coming to this strange world were dried fruit and hard bread. Right now, this was heaven being shoveled into his stomach.
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3 hours later
He knew he had forgotten something, But now, it was too late to build the tent he hadn't thought of since leaving the village.
Ken was laying next to his fire, staring at the dancing flames keeping his body warm, getting up every hour to scoop out the dirty water from the hole.
Ken stayed awake for about another half an hour before his eyelids started to have the weight of cinder blocks and he was getting less and less aware of his surroundings. It was like the night before. But this time, he had a fire next to him keeping him warm, so this night, he would be able to fall asleep.
He closed his eyes, and let himself drift off into a well deserved rest.