Vishe looked at the man motioning to her. It didn't take long for her to realise he was telling her to follow him. She guessed he knew she wouldn't be able to understand and just stopped talking.
She couldn't do anything else but follow. No matter how much she thought it was a bad idea, she couldn't see any building or sign of civilisation. Following him was the only thing she could do unless she wanted to freeze.
Resigning herself to following him, she couldn't help but shiver again. Then she started complaining.
She knew she was the one who told him to put her down, but that didn't stop her from cursing. She complained about him not carrying her, the length of the walk, she complained about the cold, she complained about the people who couldn't protect her safety with their weak tether.
What she didn't know was that almost every animal on Arkash could break the tether with minimal strength.
There was nothing she didn't complain about. Complaining kept her mind off the cold that was threatening to find its way into her bones. She could feel her hands and feet going numb. She slowed as she lost the strength to walk.
Xeno noticed her slowing down. He stood and watched her come to a stop, breathing slightly heavy. He looked out at the sun that was already setting. The days are short in winter.
He knew she would protest, but for her safety and his own, he chose not to care. He walked back, scooped her up and briskly walked towards the cave.
Visha felt him scoop her up, and she couldn't be bothered to care. She could feel the heat on her back. He was very warm. She relaxed into his arm, feeling the warmth.
Sleep was trying to creep up on Visha. She wouldn't allow that to happen. Even if she was warm now, she knew that sleeping in places as cold as this could be the death of you.
So she forced herself to stay awake. It wasn't until another 10 minutes that she found out where he lived. He allowed her to go in before him.
A cave! A fucking cave!
Visha looked at the people sitting in the cave, huddled together. Men, women, children, and elders all huddled in a cave. They were all wearing animal skin, just like the man who was standing behind her.
She couldn't quite wrap her head around what was going on. Why didn't they go home? Did she find some kind of civilisation that still thinks electricity is evil?
She tried to greet them, only to be met with wary eyes.
She looked at the man who stood behind her, trying to understand why they would look at her like that. Unfortunately, no one answered.
She sighed and went to a corner away from the opening of the cave, hiding her back so as not to let any more cold air seep in. Not that it would make a difference.
She watched the man walk to the centre of the cave and drop the large stone he was carrying. She didn't know why he was walking around with stones on his back. It wasn't until she saw everyone getting up with small stone bowls that she knew. What she thought was a big stone was actually a large bucket.
She thought again about the clothes they were wearing. She was tired and not in the mood to figure out where she was. She could only wait for them to start a fire. Maybe they would allow her to get close enough to get some warmth.
She watched as everyone went about their business. Some people seemed interested in her and kept glancing at her, then went back into conversation with their peers. No one actively greeted her.
She looked over at the man to see him talking to another man with one arm. The one-armed man was lying on the cold cave floor. She noticed the man take off his animal skin top and give it to the one-armed man.
Not seeing anyone move to make a fire, Visha started walking over to the man.
"When. Do. You. Make. Fire?" She used her hands to gesticulate, trying to get her point across. Pointing at him when she says you, and opening and closing her hands to make what she thought was a fire signal.
She watched as the two made conversation. She was sure she had never heard the dialect before. The way they kept looking at her showed they weren't sure what she was talking about.
Visha couldn't wait any longer. Unless she was planning to freeze to death, she had to do something. Her body was already spasming from the cold.
[Task: Make a fire]
[Reward: Ration pack x1, Language pack]
Visha saw the interface pop up and thought she was going crazy.
She looked around at everyone, trying to find out whether they could see it. Just because she was crazy didn't mean she wanted everyone else to know she was. When she noticed that no one else seemed to be paying attention, she walked back to the corner.
She closed her eyes, hoping to make it go away. Closing her eyes didn't work. She was still able to see it from her mind's eye. She took a deep breath and calmed herself down. Panicking wouldn't help her at the moment.
She needed to make a fire anyway, so crazy or not, she would do it.
She looked around, finding small pieces of wood scattered about. She didn't even know if she would be able to make a fire. The most she could do was rub pieces of wood together.
She walked around, hoping to find something else, anything that could act as a catalyst. She found some moss. She found a place close by to where she first sat when she entered the cave. There was a small section of the cave, forming a small crater, and she broke as many branches as she could, as small as possible.
There was a particularly flat piece she used as the base. She placed a long one in the middle and started to spin it in her hands.
Xeno and Uri watched the woman. Since she walked up to them, making gestures, they were curious about what she wanted. Neither of them was sure how to respond.
They watched her walking around, grabbing wood and moss, until she started spinning the stick.
Everyone in the cave was peaking at Visha. Whether openly staring or peeking. Visha didn't notice, or rather pretended not to notice. They might not be afraid of the cold, but she was.
Visha rubbed, spun and blew. Her breathing is coming out in harsh breaths. She started sweating despite the cold. She murmured to herself, at least one good thing came out of it. I won't freeze, at least not now.
She looked at the wood, feeling discouraged, but she didn't stop. As long as she could stay warm. That was her focus. It wasn't even starting the fire anymore. She had a taste of warmth again and didn't want to stop.
Her arm strength, however, started to wane. She sat there in her still-wet outfit, trying to catch her breath.
When she looked up, the man was towering over her.
She didn't pretend to be polite and motioned for him to stand beside her. She gave one of the sticks she had placed at the side to him. She held her stick in her hand, spun it and pointed to the flat piece of wood.
He looked at her for a moment before complying.
Xeno didn't know what he was doing. Uri convinced him to find out what she was trying to do. Now, he was working as a labourer.
He followed what he had seen her doing before. He was obviously more vigorous than Visha. He didn't even break a sweat when smoke started rising.
Visha patted his hand away and gently blew on the smoke. She reached for the moss, hoping it would ignite. Lucky for Visha, it did. She smiled widely, shaking her shoulders in a happy dance.
While she was dancing, she didn't notice the looks of bewilderment from the people in the cave.