Chapter 18: CH_18

Takuma jumped up to avoid Hiji's leg sweep and tried to crush one of his legs by landing on it, but Hiji pulled his leg back at the last moment. Both met eyes to gauge each other's next moves; it only lasted a split-second before Hiji sprung up, and Takuma jumped back.

Hiji immediately charged forward while Takuma stayed his feet on the ground and squared off. Hiji used his momentum to rip a front kick into Takuma's chest that missed as Takuma sidestepped, resulting in Hiji being off balance. An opportunity Takuma used and stomped on Hiji's knee.

'— joints are weak; when the chance presents, attack them mercilessly —'

Or so Maruboshi had said during their training and demonstrated the point by twisting Takuma's elbow until he thrashed on the ground like a helpless fish out of water.

Takuma didn't want to inflict that kind of pain on anyone, but even the thought of Hiji's name brought about a bubbling acid-like cruelty in him. The memories of that horrible day and their recent fight made him forget about his inhibitions. And a part of his mind wished to see Hiji writing on the ground, grabbing his shattered knee.

Before Takuma could land the hit, something crashed into his stomach, knocking the living air out of his lungs. His body folded as he went back off balance. Not only had the kicking leg lost balance, but Takuma couldn't even bring it back to keep himself from falling. The dust rose up as his back met the ground.

Takuma felt a weight on his chest and opened his eyes to find Hiji's black ninken growling at him with feral eyes and sharp fangs in full view. The loud bark made Takuma flinch.

"Heel, Kuragari!" Hiji said. The ninken jumped off, leaving a searing pain in Takuma's abdomen. "Nice, very good," Hiji laughed, making Kuragari yip.

Hiji rammed a kick into Takuma's side, making him cough out his spit. Then Hiji loomed over Takuma, peering down at him with a feral grin resembling a rabid animal.

"You're never going to win, loser~," Hiji said with a sing-song voice before, and Takuma saw the bottom sole of Hiji's boot coming down on—

 

Takuma opened his eyes with a jolt as his body shot up. His hands clawed the woolen spread below him as his legs dragged the lower end up, pulling it free from the rock used at weighted stoppers.

For a moment, he frantically looked around before his chest relaxed. The trees, bushes, and logs around and the gentle sound of the lake in the background made him realize where he was.

Takuma covered his face as he sat in the makeshift camp bed. Sleep hadn't come to him easily last night, and he had been rolling in the bed for most of the night. The bed wasn't comfortable, and it had rained suddenly in the night, making Takuma fear the integrity of his tarp roof.

Whatever sleep did come to him was ruined by the horrible nightmare that wiped any sense of rest he might have otherwise felt.

Heaving a sigh, Takuma got out of the bug net— something he was extremely thankful for bringing. The swarm of bugs, flies, and mosquitos that came to his door last night was absurd; the cacophony of their sounds was nightmare fuel that plagued Takuma with thoughts about what would've happened to him if the bug net wasn't there. It was the rain that had saved them from the horrifying thought.

The rain had brought a morning chill to the morning. Only the tip of his nose felt warm as Takuma placed his pot near the edge of the tarp and pulled it down to collect the accumulated rainwater into it. The water was cold and soothed his throat as he gazed at the early morning scenery.

He wished he owned a camera to capture the sight before him. But because he didn't own one, he could only sit down and record it in his memory while his hands warmed up inside his pants. (lol)

The fire had fizzled out long before the rain came pouring down. There was no point in rebuilding the fire when everything was wet, and it would've been dangerous in the darkness. Plus, he was scared that the bugs would rush in if he pulled up the net, rendering the protection moot.

The wet firewood was cleared out, and new birch bark and firewood were used to light a new fire. Upon which he put another pot of water to boil.

"I'm hungry," Takuma muttered as he picked up his ax and went among the woods to get a thin but sturdy log. He was going to use it to make his fishing rod. He chopped down the log to half the length of his arm and then proceeded to shave off the outer bark to reveal the white flesh inside until he was sure that he was sure he could properly grip it in his hand.

Even the cheapest fishing rods were too expensive for Takuma to buy, and unlike the bug net, which he could use at home, he didn't know how often he would use a fishing rod. So buying one was out of the question. But there were other supplies that he could afford.

Takuma took out a pack of fishing line, hooks, and leaders. Along with the makeshift rod, that was all he needed to make a functioning fishing rod. He tied the fishing line around the rod with the leader attached to one end and the hook attached to the leader. Takuma, who hadn't ever seen a fishing rod before he learned to fish in this world, didn't know that some fish could chew throw the fishing line, which is why fishing leaders existed and were made from a material that couldn't be chewed through.

Now that the equipment was built, Takuma only needed one more thing. He went to a part of the lakeshore he had walked yesterday and caught a frog to use as a bait.

"Thank you for your contribution," Takuma said before smashing the frog with a log.

With the bait ready, Takuma went to the lake and cast his line into the water. Now, he just had to wait for a couple fishes to sniff up the delicious frog meat, and he would have the food he craved. And seven in the morning was supposedly the best time to fish, so Takuma thought it would be only so long.

So, he waited and cast again... he waited and cast again... but after what felt like an hour, Takuma paused fishing for a moment. He frowned and decided to remove the frog as the bait. He needed something else.

"Oh!" Takuma ran back to his campsite and got the soda can he had picked up yesterday. He cut off the top of the can and cut out a rectangle with semicircles on the ends with jagged edges. He threaded the leaders through two holes in the newly fashioned rounded rectangle and got back to fishing in the hopes that a fish would get attracted to the shiny metal and get stuck from the jagged edges when trying to bite.

Takuma could almost smell the scent of cooked fish.

But soon, he ran into another problem. Without any bait, the lure was too light. Takuma spent considerable time casting the line, but with the low weight, the line had no momentum and fell far short of where Takuma wanted. After dozens of tries, Takuma decided to bring back the frog bait.

He went to catch another frog which took half an hour because he lost the carcass of the first one and the entire frog population seemed to be playing hide-and-seek against him. By the time Takuma had found a frog, the sun had risen considerably, thus bringing up the heat, and he had wasted away the prime time for fishing as fish swam near the surface when the temperatures were cooler.

But Takuma couldn't give up. He had devoted too much time and effort to fishing, and giving up now would waste all that effort. He cast his line again, and for the next three-quarters of an hour, no fish even sniffed his lure.

Soon after, Takuma's hunger triggered frustration, and he was about to give up and simply forage for food when there was a tug on his line.

For a moment, he thought he had imagined it. He stared at where the line dipped into the water. Tug. His eyes bulged as this time he not only felt, but he also saw it.

Takuma pulled with the full vigor of a hungry man with a feast within his sight.

Splash!

The catch was out of water. It was a lake bass— a big bass. He stared at the flapping fish for a moment before grabbing the fish firmly and running towards the land, far away from the water. He was not going to let the fish flop its way out of the hook and back into the sea.

"Holy shit," Takum muttered as he looked at the fish on the ground. When he had started fishing, when it was still morning, he had thought he would catch a couple of fish, somewhat sorting out his meal for the day. As the day continued, his hopes were dashed smaller and smaller until he was going to be happy if he caught something— even the thinnest fish with slivers of meat on bones would've made him happy.

But laying in front of him was a fish of considerable size. It was big enough that he could get a more than filling meal just with the fish by itself back at home. In the wild, though, the size was enough to be portioned into two sustaining meals for the day. They wouldn't fill him, but he wouldn't have to sleep hungry.

Once again, Takuma regretted that he couldn't photograph the biggest fish he had ever caught.

Meal preparations begin very shortly, motivated by the hunger bubbling in Takuma's belly. He drank the lake water he had put on the boil, which had even cooled down as the fire had gone out again. The pot was going to be the cooking vessel. He was going to filet the fish and eat the filet and use the rest of the fish to make fish head soup for dinner.

He cut up the fish with his kunai, which because of its shape, did a terrible job. He had been told to bring a proper multipurpose hunting knife, but he had not heeded the advice for monetary reasons— and because he thought there was nothing a kunai couldn't do.

He lit another fire and used the last of the birch bark as the starter. He wasn't worried as he could find more, and other things in the forest could be used as starters— but until then, he had to keep the fire going as without it, he wasn't getting any food even if he had the fish.

And then he waited. After early morning hours of hard work, Takuma laid back on the ground and watched the scenery. It got boring soon, and he wished he had brought a book or something. But he did see a couple places he could go trekking.

The filets were done. Takuma had fashioned a picking utensil from the wood. He put the filet into his mouth, expecting it to be the most delicious thing he had eaten, but it tasted what it was— salted fish, quite bland. Takuma beamed nevertheless— even if it wasn't the tastiest, it was the most satisfying thing he had eaten.

Washing off the sweat from fishing by taking a dip in the lake, Takuma went on the trek he had planned. He was going to explore the area while looking for items like birch bark for fire and forage cattail and mushroom to have along with the fish head soup.

Walking around in the forest gave Takuma a plethora of new experiences. There were so many little things he noticed that left impressions. Everything from the distinct sounds of the birds to the different nasty bugs had surprisingly vivid colors. He even found four types of berries in the forest, each with a different taste, which he gladly stuffed into his pouches for a snack. He replenished his supply of birch bark.

As he trekked deeper into the forest, he found a mushroom near a tree. He jumped over a fallen log to reach the mushroom when the ground collapsed under him, and one of his feet sank to mid-thigh. Takuma tried to grab the ground near him in a frightened panic, only to find that the loose group crumbled in his grip.

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"Okayokayokay," Takuma breathed out to calm his thrumming heart that beat like a jackhammer. Deep breathing didn't help, but Takuma did fight through the flooding thoughts to observe his surroundings.

'There's a tree behind you.' Takuma turned his head and stared at the fallen tree he had jumped over. He grabbed onto it and then turned slowly, his sunken leg sinking a little deeper, until he had both arms firmly on the log. He used the heavy log to pull himself out of the sunken ground.

Laying against the log, Takuma breathed heavily as his chest heaved up and down. He stared at the sky that peered through the tree canopies with his last few moments blaring through his mind.

He was alone in the wilderness with no way to contact home. Neither did he have any companions— he was utterly alone. If he got hurt enough to get himself immobilized, that was the end for him. Even if someone came from him, there were chances that it would be too late. Even if he wasn't completely immobilized, any injury that hindered his mobility could prove fatal to him— the walk back home was long, and who knew what could happen on that journey.

Takuma sat himself up and glanced back at the mushroom.

"You gotta be kidding me," he groaned when he saw the mushroom growing directly from the ground. Because the mushroom was near the tree trunk base, he thought it was crown tipped mushroom that grew on wood. Even though this mushroom did look like crown tipped mushroom, as it grew directly from the ground, he had no idea if it was edible.

He had conceivably risked his life for something that was possibly poisonous.

Takuma sat against the log until he had calmed down before moving on. Having decided that he had had enough trekking, he headed back towards the campsite.

On the way back, Takuma did end up finding two lovely chanterelle mushrooms that smelled of lovely apricots. The unexpected finds raised his spirits, and by the time he reached the camp, his mood was a lot better.

After a gulp of cooled-down boiled lake water stored in the plastic bottle he had carried with him from home that had his initial supply of water, Takuma immediately wanted to start on dinner preparation. For that, he had to restart the fire he had once again gone out in his absence.

He stuffed his hand into his pocket to take out the Ferro rod— but the pocket was empty. He patted down his other pocket, then looked into the first pocket again, but the Ferro rod was nowhere to be found. What followed next was Takuma looking into his weapon pouches for the Ferro rod while feeling an emotion identical to the panic when he suddenly couldn't find his phone in his pocket in public.

Takuma raided his place to find the Ferro rod... alas, it was nowhere to be found.

"Oh, fuck no," he said in despair as he fisted his hair. He realized what had happened. He had the Ferro rod on him when he went on the hike, and it had probably slipped from his pocket somewhere along the way. Takuma looked toward the path he had traveled and contemplated going back to the spot where he had fallen. But decided against it because the sun would've already set by the time he returned.

A fire was essential in the wild— without it, he had neither food nor water to drink. Takuma didn't know how to start a fire without a Ferro rod. The Ferro rod was the ultimate fire starter tool— if it got wet, a simple was enough to get it working, whereas things like lighter and matchsticks could instantly become useless— plus, it required no fuel.

'Should I try the bow drill?' Takuma thought. He had no success before, and doing it outside a controlled environment didn't improve his chances.

"SHIT!"

Takuma got up and built a bow drill with wood and the remaining jute rope. He found the driest and thinnest piece of birch bark to use as the tinder and began drilling against a dry wood piece to create enough heat to light the dry birch. But after half an hour, Takuma's arms hurt, and he gave up starting a fire.

He was left with a pot with uncooked fish head and scrap meat. Logic dictated that he should throw the fish away, but there was still hope in his mind that he would find the Ferro rod somewhere around the campsite. To give light to his hopes, Takuma searched the campsite for the Ferro rod but ended up empty-handed.

In the end, Takuma threw away the fish and washed the pot. Now, he had no water and couldn't cook the mushrooms. The only thing he could eat was a handful of berries.

Deciding that he had had enough, Takuma retired early. He got into the makeshift bed, ate the berries, and laid down until sleep took him. The second night was no better than the first night— and sleep was irregular and uncomfortable.

The following day, Takuma woke up early. He packed up all of his gear and reset the campsite. It hadn't rained last night, so there was no safe rainwater to drink. Hungry and thirsty, Takuma set out westwards— back home.

The journey back was arduous and left Takuma irritated with the occasional berries as the only joyful thing.

After half six hours of walking, the Leaf village arrived in his view. The village had other gates than the big one in the front, each guarded by guards. Takuma showed them his identity documents and answered a few questions before they let him inside.

He tiredly walked through the streets, working towards his home. He wanted to drink water, stuff his face with whatever he could find in his fridge, and take a bath— all before heading to an eatery that gave the most quantity for an affordable price.

"You are back, young Takuma."

Takuma turned his head as he continued to walk; he only stopped when he saw Maruboshi with a grocery bag in his hand.

"Oh... yeah, I just got back," Takuma pointed towards his dirty clothes.

The teacher-student pair moved to an empty bench to the side.

"How was it?" Maruboshi asked.

"I lost my Ferro rod," Takuma said with slumped shoulders and didn't look at Maruboshi.

Maruboshi heartily laughed behind his hand.

"Oh, come on," Takuma whined.

The multi day survival trip in the wilderness was Maruboshi's idea to let Takuma experience what it felt like to camp outside on missions. But Maruboshi went a step forward and only allowed him only basic gear without food or water to really get him ready for the unexpected.

"I did tell you to take care of it," Maruboshi said. "It is a small thing, easy to misplace. I only told you because I myself have lost mine— two times."

Takuma groaned again.

"What about everything else?"

Takuma sighed, "Lucky, very lucky, actually. I found the perfect place to camp— flat, dry, and near a lake. The lake solved the water problem. Fire wasn't a problem until I lost my Ferro rod. I ate berries on the first day— on the second day, I fished, and it took hours to catch one, but the one I caught was big," Takuma smiled proudly. "I could only eat the filets and was planning to cook fish head soup, but I lost the Ferro rod."

"It seems you're happy with your first excursion."

Takuma nodded. If he eliminated losing the Ferro rod, the experience would be near perfect.

"Seeing that you have returned from a tiring journey, how about I treat you to dinner this evening," said Maruboshi, dangling the grocery bag.

"No, thank you, but it's alright, you don't have to," Takuma looked at the sky above... it wasn't as beautiful as he had seen in the wilderness.

"I'm tired today," he sighed.

 

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A/N: Wow, I think this is going to be my first Author's Note here.

• Let's see.  First, — ARC-01 [Sakura Colored Days of Shinobi Academy] —is now complete on Patreon.  I'm already four chapters into ARC-02 (Unititled).
• I used to do it a lot, commenting upon the future of the story that is, but I have stopped doing it because I think it took away from storytelling.  But, given how the story progression is panning out— there's payoff for the hardship already written in the upcoming chapters of ARC-01.  And I will admit that that ratio of hardship-to-payoff is skewed towrards hardship in this ARC-01— but it seemed right when I wrote it out.
• I'll admit that this fic can be sometimes unsatisfying to read like this, I have got that feedback from everywhere and that's completely my fault, and am actively working on adjusting the future harship-to-payoff ratio combined with satisfying story beats.
• I'm always open to interesting ideas, so if you have things you want to see in this fic, post your replies here or come down to Discord— there's like 2200 members strong community (brag, thankyouverymuch) who read the content I write— I'm there regularly to answer queries.  I will, of course, will reply here as well, if you prefer to keep the discussion here— I'm a comment-slut in need of validation. ????. Link's in the synopsis.

 

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