Looking at the place I think about whether or not I really want to go onto unknown land. The place is certainly rich in terms of Sprites and resources, however that also means everything that lives there is going to be stronger. Sprites like to gather around stronger beings. While mainly because stronger beings understand them better, there are other reasons.
Either way it means that something very strong lives in this new part of the forest. Considering the distance from the bear den, which is about an hour and a half walk, nothing too strong should be close to the edge.
'As much as I want to explore this, I have other things I want to do. Maybe after I get myself a full set of clothes, learn how to use my abilities more, and set up a good home. Not to mention I haven't even fully explored this part of the forest. Going into a new part would just be too much.'
With those thoughts I turn around and start wondering where to go. Now I know where my current home is, the bear den, the river, this weird forest, and other things. All of them are within around 2 hours of the river. To make things more convenient they're all on one side of the river. Which makes me curious about what's on the other side.
From the position of my home the river is north. That makes the bar den north east, and the new forest north west. I haven't been too far south so I'm not sure what's over there. The same goes for the West. Then again I can't really claim I've ever been far from my home. Thinking about all this is making my head hurt. I'll just go home and find something to do. I'm feeling a little tired right now.
As I head back home nothing important happens. I come across some moose fighting each other. Only the strongest get to survive and pass down their genes after all. I mostly ignore it since it has nothing to do with me. I stop by my frozen elk carcass and a thought suddenly hits me. Elk have hide , don't they? I can use that to make clothes can't I?
I slap myself on the head as I think about how I never thought of that till now. I could have taken some of the hide from the moose I killed before. I highly doubt its still there at this point.
'Well no point in crying over melted snow. I'll just work with what I have left. The elk should have more than enough hide to make me clothing. What should I do with the excess?'
I think and smile happily as I walk. I get to the elk and start stripping it of its fur. Of course it was very gross. I've skinned many rabbits, however an elk is a lot bigger.
When skinning an animal it's vital for me not to think about it. Anyone would feel at least someway after killing and skinning an animal.Unless that person is missing something.
I didn't completely skin the elk but just took a lot of the hide. I didn't need all of it right now. I just need to make A shirt, shoes, and perhaps a hat. I don't need much protection from the cold, but in case I get attacked the hide will offer some protection. At least that's what I hope.
'I have to clean this fur before using it. I don't really have the energy to do it today. Tomorrow will be fine. For now I'll just go home. It's still light out but nothing wrong with sleeping early. That just means an earlier start tomorrow.'
With this thought I walk back home. I crawl down into my home before sealing it off from the outside world with my door. I yawn as I place the hide to the side. After thinking for a bit I grab it. I lay it out where I sleep and freeze the less furry parts of it. After spreading it out it worked to soften my laying area.
As I lay down I feel my body relax and my tiredness coming at me in full force. I move around a bit on the hide due to how comfortable it is. After half a minute of that I settle down. Before I even know it, I fall asleep. This time around I have no dreams. Nothing, but the silent darkness to accompany me in my sleep.
As I open my eyes I get straight to work. I stretch a bit, eat a leaf, pick up the elk hide, and exit my home. I go to the elk carcass to eat a bit of it. After that I head to the river. This time around I'm a lot more cautious about my surroundings. After roughly 3 hours I finish cleaning the hide and myself. I wasn't in the water the entire time, but for a good amount of it I was.
I head back home and began getting rid of all the ice that formed on it. After that I cut it up with a sharpened ice knife. The cuts aren't perfect, but they are good enough. After finishing with the cutting I began making a shirt. I didn't really have the time and skill to make it properly.
With that in mind I cut a hole in a somewhat big piece of the hide. I put my head through the hole and the hide covered my collar down to my ribcage. The same went for the back. After that I use a similar method I did for my skirt to wrap some fur around my sides. I use those to keep my shirt in place.
After that I begin making some shoes. I just end up wrapping my feet in a hide before freezing it in place. I quickly come across the problem of actually taking them off. To resolve this I unfreeze my shoes before attaching various pieces of fur together. I then make some curved spikes of ice to slip through the fur and hold onto the sides of my feet. This way I can just take the spikes out to take my shoes off and on.
"I am indeed a genius."
I laugh softly to myself as the Lower Winter Sprites agree with me.