"Still alive?" Shortnose asked me as the storm continued to rage around us. The water level was getting close to our patch of mud. I had no idea how long I had been sleeping.

"Yes," I replied. My body felt a bit better, my exhaustion was less, but my hunger was worse. We were both sitting against a tree with the motorboat leaned against it, blocking the worst of the wind and rain.

"So, the ship left?" he asked.

"They most likely spotted this storm and were forced to leave," I replied. Shortnose didn't say anything as I thought about my next steps to get off this continent before we became snake food. The small motorboat wouldn't be able to get us off this continent. It didn't have enough fuel remaining.

Even taking it around the coast to the Highwater Bastion was highly questionable. The distance was too great and there wasn't enough fuel to power the boat. That meant making the trek overland to Highwater Bastion, which would be a nightmare. There was a reason why it was considered the last resort of last resorts.

"Do you know anywhere that might have boat fuel?" I asked Shortnose. That would be the best option since the snakes and their minions avoided the coast.

"The capital, but industry is tightly controlled. Without the right authorizations, you won't be able to purchase anything. Your description will be everywhere. We have no chance of getting fuel," he replied. I figured as much, but it was good to confirm that information.

"What about the special project? Would there be fuel there?" I asked. Since the distance wasn't that far away in a cove. Making it hard to access from the ocean without coming in range of coastal defenses.

"Yes. But that area would be heavily guarded as a special project area," Shortnose replied with a tremor in his voice. The snakes had really messed up his head.

"The location is closer and less populated than the capital," I said while thinking over the situation. While it was a tempting idea, the risk of running into an elder snake was too great. I didn't want to run into more danger. But making the trek all the way to Highwater Bastion was equally unappealing.

The first thing I needed was food. I looked at Shortnose and he clearly had no survival skills. Everything would fall onto me. Everything was too wet. There was no chance of starting a fire. Going out in the rain and wind would only exhaust me very quickly. Any fish I might try, and catch would be deep beneath the surface.

There was nothing to do but wait. It was frustrating, but in this situation, we had to wait out the storm and conserve energy until it was time to act. "What are we going to do?" Shortnose asked me. I could tell he was deathly afraid. He was completely dependent on me to get out of this situation.

While I didn't want to be bothered, I decided to explain my plans to him so he would remain calm and cooperative.

"Once the rain dies down, I will look into catching some fish and starting a fire. We need some food. There is enough fresh water for now with all the rain. So, drink up. After that, I will need to think about the situation some more. Probably make the trek along the coast to Highwater Bastion. But that is a long trek, even with a boat," I explained.

Thankfully, Shortnose didn't say anything as I remained still and closed my eyes. I dosed in and out of wakefulness but didn't fall into a deep sleep like I had done previously. I had been incredibly vulnerable during that period of time, but I was too exhausted to do anything else.

Eventually the storm came to an end, after what felt like two days. The sky cleared up and the wind calmed down. I put Shortnose to work collecting lots of small branches. While everything was wet, the small branches and twigs would dry out quicker than thicker pieces of wood.

I got to work trying to catch fish. Thankfully there was no shortage, and I had enough strength to swim under the water and catch ten of them. Better to cook as many as possible in one go. Returning to our camp, Shortnose had done a good job collecting enough wood.

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The water had receded enough that there was enough space to move around and collect wood. There was also a lot of debris that had been ripped off the trees. I helped him collect more wood. I wasn't about to eat fish raw and the small twigs and branches would burn up very quickly once they were lit.

It was tempting to rush things, but I was going to try and have a proper meal. While I might resist food poisoning, I didn't want to be hindered in anyway while trying to recover my strength. After collecting enough wood, I dragged over several split logs.

I wasn't about to make my fire on the muddy ground. That would restrict airflow and make it annoying to cook fish. With my claws it was a simple matter of splitting large logs in half and stacking them up to waist height, creating an elevated platform.

Shortnose continued to collect small pieces of wood while I got to work building up the twigs and branches into a small structure. Now came the tricky part, getting it all to catch fire. Thankfully my coated claws were the solution to this once more along with the motorboat.

I carved out a bowl shaped depression in one of the logs and began shredding a log into sawdust. It was slow going, but I needed material that would easily catch fire from just a spark. Once had a paw sized mound of sawdust, I moved the log holding it all under the motor of the motorboat. My claws struck the steel at an angle. I was careful not to dig my claws into the metal.

Sparks flew off and landed on the sawdust. I repeated this twice more, finally setting the sawdust on fire. I moved the sawdust make to the wooden platform and poured out all the sawdust on the twigs and branches that had been set up. The fire quickly spread.

I had Shortnose keep adding branches of larger sizes and make sure the fire kept burning. We had collected a lot of wood. The fire was nice as my fur began to properly dry off. I got to work on gutting and cleaning the fish with my claws. While it wasn't precise work like a professional chef would do, I wouldn't have any problems eating the cooked meat.

Skewering the fish with branches, I set them up to lean over and close to the flames. The smell was enticing. Shortnose looked uncomfortable with the prospect of eating meat, but there was no other option right now. It wasn't like fish were sentient creatures.

The fish ended up slightly charred, but I wanted them thoroughly cooked rather than undercooked. Shortnose hesitantly his share of three fish, while I devoured my share of seven. Once my meal was finished, I felt much better as my full strength began to return to my body.

This had been the right choice, food had been the most important priority. The fire was sending up quite a bit of smoke as well.

"Should we worry about that?" Shortnose asked, gesturing at the smoke. I shook my head.

"No. The storm was long and quite powerful. I am guessing most creatures are focused on recovery and not tracking us down. I also need to properly dry off. While the smoke is a bit much, it isn't like we are setting the entire jungle alight. There are no nearby roads or settlements either," I replied. I also didn't sense any danger, so I wasn't concerned.

"When, um are we leaving?" Shortnose asked me. I still hadn't made up my mind on what to do.

"Tomorrow morning. It is already quite late. I need to think about what our next move will be as well," I answered.

Sitting on a log looking at the fire, I began to carefully stretch out, testing each and every muscle. There were some minor sprains and soreness. I was mostly recovered, but there were some deeper injuries that would take time to recover from. I had pushed myself too much recently.

I could fight a snake, but winning would be very hard. So something I needed to avoid. I wasn't worried about Apostates or other minions. Unless they called down the Snake Ancestral Spirit, I was confident of winning. The fact that the group of Apostates I had faced, hadn't done so implied they were ranked quite low, or there were issues with calling down the Ancestral Spirit on this continent.

Nothing I knew spoke to problems, but the snakes might not take kindly if their servants did so. It might indicate weakness. Off the continent, their Apostates would need all the help they could get to complete their missions and had trust.

Running into that group meant they were probably ranked low in the Apostate hierarchy. Sent out to check backroads and search for me after I had avoided detection for several days until that point. They were decent fighters, but nothing special.

Their position had been radioed in, but the storm would have cleared all traces and stopped pursuit. While we had lost our escape route, it had also made tracking us impossible. The real challenge was figuring out my next move.

Shortnose was still a problem. If I was by myself, I could rush towards Highwater Bastion and get off this continent very easily. But with him, the difficulty increased massively. It was hard being a cat of integrity, but I wouldn't abandon him if I didn't have to.

Standing up and began to go through more stretches to help loosen up my body from the injuries it had taken. I wasn't in a hospital bed where I could take time to recover. I needed to be able to move, tomorrow morning. At least Shortnose could move his own paws.

I regretted not stealing an outfit off the Apostates I had killed. It would have made moving around easier. But I had thought I would escape at that time. Another thing to improve on, going forward for my next mission.

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