'OH ****' his heart was pounding. Standing still, he made sure to listen for any dangers. The hand was about 15 feet away from him, laying in a relaxed position with its palm facing the sky. Fear took over. He was in danger, whatever severed that hand could do the same to his. he took slow steady steps toward the hand. There was a digital watch around the wrist, and the hand had roughly torn calluses. Bone protruding out the wrist with skin tears and meaty flesh along it, a pile of blood formed around where it lay. He was lucky he hadn't ate, he began retching at the site nearly hurling but managing not too. '****' this was his first experience with something so gruesome yet tranquil. it lay peacefully at rest.
Fearing for the future, he extending his hand toward the severed limb, and picked it up. unlatching the watch. He needed something besides educated guesses to tell the time, it would be a waste to leave it. This hand was a wake up call, he couldn't afford to feel bad right now. but he did respectfully but the limb back how it lay originally.
After doing his best to rub blood off, the watch seemed newish enough. It was digital and solar powered, its power indicator being on low. It also had a stopwatch and timer setting, and an LED light to display time in the dark. "6:47 PM" he glanced at the sky, that seemed about right. He tightened the strap to his left hand and strongly gripped his branch. The sun was nearly gone. He needed to find somewhere safe. He turned away from the hand and began walking. glancing at it one last time 'sorry...'
.....
Another half hour passed before it became pitch black. The thick rain clouds combined with the thick forest made it nearly impossible to see. He was starving but he new food would have to wait for tomorrow. Dropping his branch he began to climb the nearest tree. unfortunately for his tired body it was a bit harder than expected but he eventually got to a high enough point to stay safe from ground predators. The trees seemed like some species of Oak but much thicker and with more arms branching out in every direction.
He wanted to get comfortable but with him being soaking wet from the now gentle rain. He couldn't. 'status'
[USER: JAMES CARVER
STATUS:
RACE: LOW-HUMAN
AGE: 21
LVL: 1
HP: 10/10
MP: 15/15
STRENGTH: 9
AGILITY: 11
CONSTITUTION: 8
WISDOM: 12
INTELLIGENCE: 11
SKILLS: (Observant Lvl 1)
TITLES: N/A ]
'huh?' his first thought. 'Observant' he thought before a smaller screen appeared over his status screen
[Observant Lvl 1: Your senses are being honed for small details]
'woah!!' he leaned forward, his eyes widening. 'I GOT A SKILL' he did a mental fist pump before he began reading the short description. Admittedly the skill wasn't the most useful right now, as he was at risk of being killed and starving, but he felt a great sense of achievement despite that. Some good news at the end of a long day was what he really needed.
After imagining what would be in store for him he relaxed himself as best he could on a large branch arm before slowly drifting toward sleep. It didn't take long for him to knock out.
.....
The morning he woke up half expecting yesterday to be a dream, but with the severed hand still fresh in his memory he knew he was still in the thick of it. climbing down from the tree and grabbing his branch he made a determined expression. 'food' an absolute necessity today. He made sure to keep walking in a direction away from the severed hand and continued his trek through the forest.
Maybe due to the rain stopping and it being much more sunny, the forest seemed more lively as he heard birds. and saw some occasionally fly through the sky above him. 'maybe i could eat one of them....' salivating at the thought.
It didn't take much walking before coming across a curious sight. He side stepped behind a tree when he spotted something. Taking a careful glance he spotted what looked like a hairless malnourished dog in the **itting position. Its thin skin and clear outline of its ribs and spine was a unnerving sight. It had long pointed ears edged with delicate near see threw membrane that seemed torn slightly. James realized it had hands and was holding something. "aaugh auugh" it said sounding excited as it bounced slightly up and down hunching over something.
He tried walking away but as fate would have it that wasn't an option. The creature made a sniffing motion before turning around and locking eyes with James who barely started making his first tip toeing motion away. 'fuck' "AUGUUGHH" the creature yelled before pointing a sharpened claw toward him. It had a pointed nose and human like features but was extremely ugly. His hands reached into his pocket as the creature began walking toward him, A dagger in one of its hands. His left hand gripped his branch tightly before he pulled out a stone with his right. He made a clean throw aiming for its torso. maybe due to its momentum it didn't manage to dodge and got hit directly on its stomach causing it to collapse onto the ground. "AAAHHHH" the creature began screaming bloody murder, unnerving James greatly. a small wound formed with dark green blood oozing out. Its brows sharpened seeming angered more than pained and it got up and bolted towards James again.
He quickly grabbed and threw another rock but this time missed as it dodged his throw. Too close to throw another one he had both hands on his branch and swung it wildly sideways. the creature a short maybe 3 feet ducked easily before making a stabbing motion toward James stomach. the creature seemingly intent on revenge. *SWOOSH* the creatures blade ripped through the cloth of James shirt and grazed the edge of his stomach. probably due to adrenaline, but he didn't feel anything and he swung his stick down directly on the creatures head. causing it to collapse again. it fell bleeding its heads structure slightly concave but it still clearly alive. James didn't stop and slammed his branch on its head again. A gruesome scene unfolding as brain and blood exploded out from the impact. he kept going
*SPLAT* *SPLAT* the disturbing noise sounded through the air as James repeatedly slammed down on the creatures corpse. He was breathing heavily, and stopped to catch his breadth as he stared down. His eyes were watery and his hands were white from his grip. He slowly unclenched his hands and his bloodied branch fell. He fell backward suddenly registering the pain in his lower right abdomen. he brought his hand toward it and felt the tear in his shirt before feeling flowing blood trickling down his body. The wound was a scrape at best. not deep at all but it was still a shock. He was more mind boggled by what he just accomplished. He took a glance again at the mashed head feeling dread. Then he noticed...
[KILLED Young Brown Goblin EXPERIENCE GAINED]