>>6338400Your brother eventually comes back, carrying a bundle made from a large leaf full of fruits. Looks like he didn't just leave to fill his own belly. How thoughtful! You quickly get to plucking some fat tasty grubs off of the underside of your favorite log, but not before slurping a couple down to ease you own hunger. Slimy, yet satisfying!
With the grubs in hand, you give the two siblings a little run-down on some easy to distinguish edible plants and roots, making it VERY CLEAR as well what plants and mushrooms are poisonous and inedible. Arne and Sabina seem to take to the lesson well, and start to pick out a number of mushrooms, plants, and roots that are good for eating. You feel a little proud watching them forage. Seeing as Arne can carry more, he also picks up some firewood alongside the food items.
As you begin to put together all of the foraged goods into a pile to double-check what the siblings have gathered, everything seems to be fine, so you gather everyone together for the meal. Sabina and Arne look at one another, and then look at you. "We're not going to cook any of this?"
You meet their gaze after crunching on some sweet roots and chomping on a handful of grubs. "What do you mean?"
Arne laughs. "Don't tell me you've never started a fire before."
"The bright yellow-orange thing? It seems dangerous, and I never thought to learn. I eat everything as I find it." You speak matter-of-factly.
"Fire isn't just for cooking. It keeps you warm, and you make all kinds of things with it too." Arne smiles, and takes some of the gathered wood and begins to place them together into a conical structure. "See Sabina, I knew the firestarter would come in handy!" The boy produces a small pair of objects you don't recognize, strikes them together, and a spattering of sparks alights the wood he's gathered. Arne blows on the sparks as they jump onto the dry wood, and soon he has a small tongue of flame. You watch intently as Arne continues to tend to the small fire, feeding it until it grows and grows.
Is this magic? You sense no mysterious energy from the burning ball of crackling light, but you really can't believe your eyes. You've never witnessed how fire is made before. "I am speechless..." You gaze into the fire for the first time in your life. Within the fire, you can feel a boundless potential that scares you. The boy feeds it wood, and it grows. Its hunger seems to have no end...
You try and shake off the strange feeling, and enjoy the warmth and light the fire provides. Arne goes off to pick up more wood. After a little while, he calls out your name.
"No-Egg! I think you'll want to check on this!" He sounds quite concerned. You rush over to the sound of his voice, and find the long dead remains of another human. They died wearing a wide-brimmed hat with a pointy tip, and loose-fitting robes almost like the garment you have on. The bones lay on the ground, hands reaching towards an odd thick-looking book.
