Tenaro softly panted as he stared up at the starry sky through the ragged cracks in the canopy.

  The breeze still carried the scent of the earthy and cool smell of rain, the cold wind causing his panting to sound shaky, his body shuddering.

  His gaze drifted down to the dead tiger, its fur was slick and it looked oddly edible. Tenaro felt his mouth fill up with saliva, *Food is food.* He thought, gulping, though his stomach didn't sound convinced.

  He scanned the clearing as he used the back of his hand to wipe his mouth, looking for kindling.

  The ground innocently stared back at him, smooth and empty, as if the jungle cleaned up just to spite him.

  *This is a jungle for crying out loud.* Tenaro thought, his left hand face-palming his face, groaning in his hand.

  With a resigned sigh, he dragged his legs out of the clearing and started rustling through the vegetation, in search of kindling that might be hiding.

  As he continued foraging, he smelled something horribly putrid. He stopped foraging and turned to another direction, *I don't even wanna know…*

  As he still scoured the undergrowth, he finally came across a single, puny, wet twig.

  *Wonderful.*

  When he finally returned from the long journey, all he had was a miserable handful of twigs, the moonlight now strong enough to have better vision.

  He tossed them down beside the tiger, the sticks clanging together as they landed. He grumbled at the pathetic pile, and spun on heel and trudged off again, head down.

  After a while, he returned with a better haul, enough sticks to work with finally.

  *Now for some stones.* He thought as he dropped his collection on the pile.

  He twisted his head around, in hopes of spotting a couple of stones.

  Once again, the jungle was spotless.

  “Hoot, hoot!” An observing owl hooted, as if laughing at him.

  Tenaro narrowed his eyes at the owl and just turned to look for stone again, shoulders sagging.

  When he finally returned, he only acquired a single stone, he looked at the stone with a flat expression, only a breath of exasperated air escaped his lips.

  “Stupid trees, stupid stones, stupid wood.” He mumbled, the breeze blew in his ear, the air knifed into his ear, making him flinch, “Stupid air.” He mumbled, as he shivered.

  Then, with no warning, a piercing pain throbbed throughout his body, solely because of his shoulder. His body flinched from the pain and he winced in agony, the pain slowly fading, *Stupid tiger.*

  Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

  His drifted up onto the clearing, when suddenly he spotted a pale round figure in a small patches of grass,

  *NOW it decides to show up.* His eyebrows twitched hard enough to qualify as a workout.

  He walked towards the stone and snatched it up, the icy cold surface spreading through his hand.

  He went and crouched beside his nest of kindling and struck the stones together.

  “Click”

  “Click-click”

  Not even a spark.

  The sticks glistened with moisture, still damp from the earlier rain. He blankly stared at them. Then to the cold stones of despair, then to the star-filled sky. His eyes twitched, his jaw tightening.

  His guts suddenly writhe loudly, churning in his torso, loud enough to jumpscare him. He looked down at his stomach and at his stones.

  “Damn it!” He shouted, throwing his stones on the ground. They bounced once, as if mocking him on the way down.

  ***

  About an hour passed by, Tenaro sat beside a tiny fire that he had finally brought to life with his blood, sweat and tears. His eyes heavy from hunger, his shoulders slumped from an invisible weight pushing down on him.

  *Finally.* He thought, looking down at his creation, the crackles of the twigs echoing through the clearing. The heat made the cold more bearable.

  A strip of tiger meat hung skewered on a stick in his hand, hovering over the flames. His bloody hands stunk from skinning the tiger, his brow frowned as he could still smell the stench. The process has taken forever, but he managed.

  Tenaro shivered from the breeze that started to blow harder, the fire slowly growing. His skin started forming goosebumps, as his jaw shuddered.

  *Why is this jungle cold??* He let out a shaky breath, he could even partially see his breath.

  On his left, lay the tiger's hide, stretched flat on the ground, its stripes catching flickers of firelight. One of his swords rested on the ground beside the hide, one a patch of grass. Its blade streaked with dried, dark blood.

  Tenaro glanced at his sword, his brows frowning and tightened his face muscles, *Where the hell am I supposed to find water?* He tightened his grip on the stick he was holding.

  Air escaped from his nostrils and yanked his eyes back to the roasting meat instead. Anything to keep his mind away from his poor blade.

  Soon, a foul sour smell drifted up from the fire, intruding his nose. His face scrunching as his nose wrinkled in disgust.

  *Should've thought about the stench before committing to this.*

  When the meat finally looked edible, he pushed his body forward and blew on it, a few careful, precise breaths. He then took a deep breath and bit down, his teeth barely tearing the meat but the heat spread to them.

  “Ugh!” Tenaro jerked back. The heat slapped him right in the soul. He glared at the meat with a mix of betrayal and annoyance, the meat sizzled as if to laugh at him, his eyes twitching.

  He sagged dramatically, letting his entire torso droop, but kept his arm straight as he waited for the meat to cool down, as the smell still punched him in the face.

  When he felt it finally cooled, he tried again. He chewed once, chewed twice and stopped.

  His body shuddered, *It's so chewy!*

  He gagged hard, his mouth denying the meat of doom and despair.

  *How did I forget that carnivore meat is inedible?* He muttered, slapping a weary, bloody palm to his forehead.

  He froze, his eyes wide, and looked at his hand.

  Then groaned into the night sky, realization hitting him, Now there's blood on my face.

  He blinked away the tears of frustration, feeling his shoulder throbbed again and pushed himself to his feet, nearly losing his balance. He wiped his eyes.

  “For God's sake.” He muttered, picking up his sword with care, and tied the hilt to the rope around his waist, the sword joining its twin, not caring if the blood smeared on his pants.

  He turned and raised a foot, and stomped it on the fire, feeling the sticks break under his weight as the fire died.

  He stretched his stiff back and yawned, peering into the shadowy trees surrounding the clearing, the leaves rustling from the wind.

  His stomach growled again, loud and dramatic, as he tried to decide which direction will take him to actual food, his stomach feeling empty.

  *Where to go?*