I wake, rubbing my eyes, I see Adam hard at Work, Renard clearing the remaining foliage, knettle stems were saved as future textiles while the leaves were saved for future meals.
Having seen everyone doing stuff, I join in.
Dale and the kids remain asleep.
I helped Renard with cleanings up, there wasn't too much to do since Dale and I had done some yesterday.
"Here you go!". Adam walks to us and passes us a basket.
"Place the knettles leaves within here please, make sure u gather loads!". He says patting my shoulder, I nod.
"Renard has gathered quite a bit, I'm sure we are fine". I tell him a bit sluggishly, still feelings tired.
"While you do that, I'll begin the creation of our homes, if you can even call them that". He strides to the outer skirts of the clearance, to gather branches, I follow what he says, placing the previous knettle Renard had placed in a pile into the new basket.
"Thank you!, Renard who had just walked to me says.
"It's only normal!". I say to Renard, he gently smiles, while placing down some ferns near the basket.
"Should I collect ferns too?". I ask him.
"No need, Adam should have enough". He says pointing out a huge pile of ferns I hadn't noticed.
A slight bit of shock appeared upon my face.
'How long have they been up for?, I thought they were just cleaning and making things, guess that isn't just the only thing they were doing'. They are really set on getting us in a better situation.
I think to myself, because Renard said there was no need for me to collect ferns, I walk to Adam to see what he is doing.
He is still hard at work crafting, his arms fidget, I glance at what he is doing.
He is carving up wood, I look to wooden objects near by.
'Cups?' I question to myself 'they are needed.
"Should I help I carve cups?" I ask him.
Without looking at me he says.
"No need, these can be done on my own for now, I'll teach the younger ones how to do this, later I'll teach you how to make some knifes out of stone, that would be better for you to know".
He tells me while still carving out the half done wooden cup.
"Okay, we will do so later then?" I ask he nods to me, knowing I am distracting him now, I leave him alone.
I do some minimal chores that will help levitate future endeavours.
While setting areas up for more space I think about how actually useless I am, I understand I shouldn't have su h thoughts, but it is hard not to, because i am surrounded by a lot of people that know stuff,
While I only know stuff about video games and some basic knowledge of medicine I had picked up from attending some lectures.
I don't have much experience with this sort of thing, the only work I can possibly do is follow what the others tell me to do, and to clean and organise, which is nice, but I feel like I should have more of an impact.
Having these thoughts allow me to distract myself from.. that incident.
But it isn't healthy, not one bit.
I shake my head and give myself a light smack.
'Adam said he'll teach me how to make knifes, I will be of some use at some point'.
The more that I think about it, why are Renard and Adam so sure that we will be here long term?
I question to myself, are they so sure there isn't any towns or villages near by?
I still don't fully believe we are in another world, just in a place with a lot of exotic plants and animals, I have relfelcted on it, it is just too hard to fully accept.
However bad I felt about my life before, it was still my life, I feel like it was stolen.
'I need stop thinking to myself'. I shake my head and focus on the remaining chores which weren't much since I had done most earlier with Renard, I was just focusing on setting the area.
Knowing I also said the same thing to myself just yesterday, I genuinely try not to think, I think too much, I'm starting to miss knowing that I'll miss.
I go and collect water, knowing the children will need it once they wake.
Grabbing the jug Adam had finished carving I walk towards the pond.
'It's sad we haven't found a stream'. I think to myself, Adam had made the jug while I was making the area neater.
On the way to the pond I had noticed strange tracks, like I'd assume a paw print of a k9 to look like, I don't think much of it since, it should be normal for such animals to be around and Renard and Adam's probably already know such happenings.
It was an extremely quite journy, and somewhat relaxing.
I return back with Renard already having a fire made ready to boil the water.
"Alright, I got the rocks ready". Renard tells me.
'Rocks?' I question to myself a little confused.
"Rocks?" I ask.
"Yes rocks". he points to the ones heating up on the fire, he picked them up with two sticks.
"Bring the jug here." He tells me, I follow his guide and bring it to him, he slowly drops 4 rocks into the small jug.
The water bubbles From the heat, heating up and slowly growing to a boil which can kill most of the bacteria.
I look to the campfire, I see that more rocks are ready and red, just like the ones he first dropped in.
"What type of rocks are those?" I ask him, he looks to me and says, while placing his hand on the chin.
"Closest thing I could get to basalt and granite, they are good with thermal transferring". He says gently.
"Oh cool, I never knew that some rocks can have different properties". I say with wonder.
"Yes rocks aren't as simple as they look, I can tell you some stuff about them another time if you wish to." He tells me, I smile, feeling my connection with this strange become closer.
"Yes of course I would". I say with a distracting enthusiasm.
"Very good, it's always good to learn things you find to be interesting." He wisely tells me.
The water is quickly boiled.
The kids are now awake, Adam first thing guides them into getting some water, and giving them privacy to wash themselves of their stench.
After so they are quick to learning from Adam while Renard now teaches me about the different properties of rocks.
"Okay, one thing you must remember, we are not on Earth.". He says while placing down rocks he had been gathering throughout the morning.
He analizes each one.
"Haha, feels nice to see in detail without having to wear glasses is amazing".
A grin appears in his face, he then looks to me and gestures me to come closer.
"This blackish one is flint, that remains the same, this one to its left is a granite rock, they can have different shades of colour, this one is a dirty orange.".
He picks the granite up and places it in my palm.
"Give it a feel." I remain silent as I caress the rock.
"It feels rough and tough". I say, I squeeze it, trying to test its endurance, it doesn't even budge in resistance, as if it's impossible for me to break.
My hand begins to hurt only after a few moments so I stop.
"Haha strong, right?". He pays my back and laughs, I fake laugh and reply to him.
"Yes, very tough". I pass him the rock.
He laughs more.
"Well you already know the main use, it's either used for carpentry like making a kitchen side, or we can use it to boil some water.". He says not looking at me but the rocks we have gathered.
"Do I need to tell you how flint is used, I can give you a little fact, we can also make arrows out of flint thanks to its ability to flake, most of our tools will be made out of this."
He tells me while facing it to me with his back turned, he seemed to be still analysing each rock, there were only a few there.
"Hmm, I'm now looking at most of the rocks, most of it is similar to ours".
He mentions with surprise, as if he was expecting major differences.
"Rocks must be multiversal, something you only need to educate yourself once on". He laughs with a little arrogance.
"I guess all that time wasn't wasted". He smirks
"okay you just need to know what I've told you, basalt is similar to granite in the way we are going to use it, once you need to know more about it, I'll tell you". I nod, the oldman was clearly in deep thought,
Knowing I have learnt what I need to know, and got used to both the flint and granite's texture I go on an expedition to look for such rocks.
I walk out, understanding why Renard took the time to place the small monoliths, he's a rock enthusiast.
They help loads, so I will not complain.
I go to the pond, thanks to its clear waters I scour my eyes across it, and find many pieces of what I believe to be flint.
So days like this pass, with progress being made.