Knowledge is love

Part 4: A new companion

You managed to survive winter and it was around April. This meant that you have managed to survive a little over a year in the stone world by yourself. You were proud of yourself but that didn't change the fact that you were feeling the loneliness for basically zero contact with any living thing. Whenever you could, you go see your parents. You even managed to make some clothes for them so if they managed to wake up, they would have something.

You were currently coming back from the beach with a basket full of shells and another full of seaweed.

"If I pulverize these shells into a powder, I should have plenty of calcium carbonate." You smirk to yourself. "Meaning I'll have the gate open for three different opportunities. Farming. Construction. And with this seaweed, hygiene." You turn your head to the open space you have near your base.

"And as much as I would to start farming to get more food, I don't have seeds like wheat so farming is a no go at the moment." You look up at your tree house base.

"As for construction, I can hold off on that too since it's now spring so I don't really have to worry about reinforced it with mortar." You look at your hands and your body.

"And in a world without doctors, a chunk of soap could mean the difference between life and death. So time to make some soap."

*Timeskip*

You were walking through the forest. You were in the mood for meat so you wanted to see if you could find a boar or a deer. You have your bow-n-arrow ready. You see a boar near the river. You hide behind a tree and pull your arrow back. You aim for the back of its head to kill it quickly. You fire and nail the target. You tie a rope to its legs and drag it back to your base. It was heavy but you managed to bring it back. You prepare it and toss it over the fire.

The next day, you went out to see if you could find some more resources or possibly another person. The loneliness was honestly getting to you. It's been over a year since you were awake yet you have no idea how you even got revived or how to revive others. You decided to check out the area where you were free.

You were honestly surprised to see not only your silhouette still there but your stone pieces. You bend down and start to examine it. Nothing about it felt special. The soil was a bit wet but it could've been because of rain or snow so it wasn't a good thing to off on.

You groan as you were mad at yourself for not coming here sooner. You got up and figured to go right from the silhouette to see what you could there. You start walking and it was all just trees and stone people. You put your head to the sky and see it was 4 o'clock. You figured you have to get back to base before nightfall. You were about to head back when you heard a noise. You quickly get your bow ready as you turn to see bushes covering the source of the noise.

You walk through the bushes and see a lion laying down. It growled at you and you were about to aim your arrow at it but you then exclaimed the creature. Its left paw appeared to be injured and it had a minor cut on its stomach. You slowly lower your bow as you look at the creature. You put your arrow back in your quiver and put your bow away. You slowly approach the creature with your open hand in front of you. The lion growls at you, clearly not trusting you.

"Easy boy, easy," you said softly. "I'm not going to hurt you."

The lion remains hostile to you. It was clear it wasn't going to trust you. You sigh as you get an idea. You put your weapons on the ground and put your open hands where the lion could see it.

"I'm unarmed, see. I'm not going to hurt you."

The lion relaxed a bit but still kept its guard up.

"Look I can help you but you can't bite me, alright?"

The lion looks at you as you reach inside your hip pouch. Inside you had a piece of soap, a small container of water and a piece of fabric. You slowly crouch in front of the lion. You wet the soap and use the bubbles to clean the lion's paw and its stomach. The lion roared since it hurt as you treated it. You kept telling the lion it was okay and it will be over soon. But you were honestly surprised it didn't try to attack you to get you off it.

You realized that the piece of fabric you had wasn't big enough so you thought of a solution. You take off your cloak you made and cut a strand off the bottom. You use that strand to wrap the lion's paw and you use the rest of the cloak to wrap around the lion's stomach. You reach inside your other pack and pull out a piece of meat you had. You give it to the lion. As i=the lion ate the meat, you gently pet its head.

"There you go. Good boy."

The lion looks at you and licks your cheek. You smile as you continue to pet it.

"You're welcome my animal friend."

You look back at the sky and see the sun is lower then before.

"Well I need to get back," you said as you stood up. "So long lion."

You walk back to pick up your weapons. You put your quiver on your back then your staff in a little sleeve you made on the side of the quiver. You go to grab your bow and see it was being handed to you. You see the lion holding your bow in its mouth.

"Thanks," you said as you take the bow.

The lion then limps to stand next to you and rubs its head on the side of your leg.

"You wanna come with me?"

To see if it was going to come with you, you start to walk and see the lion walking behind you. It was limping a bit due to its injured paw but it was doing its best to stay by your side.

You smile and pet it's head. The lion presses its head against your head.

"Alright boy, let's get back home and get some food."

*Time-skip*

It took a while but the lion's injuries healed up. To not keep calling it lion, you named it Nemean after the lion in the Hercules myth. You chose this name since the lion's fur was more golden than yellow and you just thought it would be a fun reference for anyone who knew Greek Mythology or at least the Twelve Labors of Hercules.

During its time, you trained Nemean to be a better partner. You made hand gestures for different things. When you snapped your figures and pointed to the target, Nemean would attack the target or if he saw you in danger he would attack. If you had your open hand out to him or in your hand in a fist in the air, he would remain at bay. When you patted your hip twice or more, he would come to your side.

You also hand vocal commands. Of course you hand some classic shut as "attack", "heel" and "come". You also have "fetch" and other vocal commands which you use to train a dog. You were glad that Nemean understood the commands and signals. You also to help with transportation and to build his strength, you would ride on Nemean's back when you two went out into the first.

You made Nemean a little handkerchief from the fabric of the cloak that was covered in blood. You tied it around his neck and it actually liked it.

You figured it was about either late September or October. This meant it was about to be another winter season and another year since you were awake. Almost another year and you haven't made any progress to find a way to help humanity or another person. You had enough of sitting around so you decided to migrate. Problem is you didn't know which way to go.

You climbed to the top of your tree and looked around the forest from the top to see if you could see anything that could help you choose a direction. Almost on cue, you saw a smoke signal. Your eyes widened since this meant that there were more people in this stone world. You felt some kind of warm feeling since it meant you weren't alone.

You climbed down the tree and packed up all the necessities you needed from your base. Food, water, resources you made and weapons. You hopped on Nemean's back and you guys headed towards the direction of the smoke signal.