Setting out
Kes slowly arose from another night of sleep. He yawned and stretched himself, complained about the hard rock, and went to the well to grab some water to drink as he slowly but surely woke up more and more.
He had gotten into a sort of morning rhythm over the last couple of days within the cave. He smelled the fresh stench of the Stinky Cave. It really was getting more and more potent. But all in all he felt himself getting more and more used to life within the Stinky Cave.
'Even the hard rock is growing more and more familiar.' Kes thought as he quickly shook his head.
'Stop thinking like that, I hate the hard rock. I want to get out of here and now.'
Feeling the grogginess of sleep leave his mind, Kes slowly but surely regained his focus.
And when he focused he noticed something incredibly strange, the bear was gone. He couldn't sense the presence of the thing that had been lurking near the cave for the past couple days at all. Even though Kes had expected it to make a move soon this came quite sudden.
'What exactly is the big brown beast playing at.'
Kes wondered if it had just left overnight or if it was hiding somewhere nearby. But the bear had not been that good at hiding its own presence, Kes couldn't imagine it hiding somewhere.
So that must mean the beast had gone to go get water or food. It had left at night so Kes did not really have a lot of time to waste. He needed to dash out here and fast.
And the bear also needed to not notice him. Kes did not know how far out the brown beast was, but if he got close to the thing again he probably would not get as lucky as last time.
Kes decided to drink as much water as he possibly could from the well and make a break for it into the forest, if the bear really was gone that was. But before he did so he would scout out the area, he didn't want to drink his whole water supply while the bear was sneakily still lurking nearby.
Precautions had to be taken. Kes really did not want to die, but least of all he wanted to die because of a hasty and avoidable mistake he had made himself. That would put all his convictions to shame.
'Not like I care much about shame anyways.' Kes thought as he looked towards the cave entrance.
For the first time in a lot of days Kes finally set foot outside of the Stinky Cave again. The fresh forest air had never smelled better.
Kes inhaled deeply as he took in the green sight in front of his eyes, he could only catch glimpses of it before through the small entrance of the cave. He looked around in awe as he made his way through the forest.
'No matter how many times I see it, the forest really is beautiful.' Kes couldn't deny it. Despite the terrible memories the forest was now associated with, the place was still incredibly beautiful. The way the green leaves danced in the soft forest breeze looked beautiful. Even to Kes, who wasn't much of an aesthetic, the green scenery was amazing.
'Most of my time in the forest has been spent in the Stinky Cave, though.' Kes sighed as he looked behind him towards the small protrusion that signified the existence of a cave. But because of this, because he wanted to leave the cave and spend more time in the luscious green forest, he had to go out now and hold a good search for the bear.
Kes made a good sweep of the area walking in every single direction. He kept trying to sense for a presence nearby with his Flow and made sure not to let his guard down. He was ready to dash back towards the cave at a moment's notice if he sensed the brown bear.
But Kes did not sense anything at all. He also heard nothing and saw nothing, no sign of life appeared before him. There really did not seem to be a lurking brown beast nearby anymore. Kes mentally rejoiced as he made his way back to the Stinky Cave, ready to leave it behind for good and to drink his remaining water.
It took him another while of walking, but eventually Kes had made his way back towards the Stinky Cave. Kes smiled as he entered the small cave, he still vividly remembered rushing towards this small cavity while he was fleeing for his life. He was thankful for the cave for saving his life, without it he would have long died. He would have probably become delicious bear food.
His face instantly turned sour after he got a little deeper into the cave, though.
'This is why I named it the Stinky Cave, now I remember.' Kes thought as he pinched his nose. The putrid smell had already entered his nostrils, he could not really do anything about it now.
Kes sighed as he walked towards the back of the Stinky Cave, he still had something to pick up there.
The stones that had been marinating within the awful soup that could probably wipe out a nation had now been fully coated with the stuff. Kes quickly tucked them into his tattered robes and moved towards the front of the cave. He would never know when the throwable stones could come in useful as weapons.
And now, finally, he knelt next to the well and began drinking. Kes had only drank the minimum and what he felt like was the required amount of water. So he was undeniably very thirsty.
He greedily gulped the water into his mouth. The water reinvigorated his whole body, he found himself slowly but surely becoming less and less sluggish. It really was nice to drink a lot of water when he could.
Kes vividly remembered his thirst attack a couple of days ago, he now more than knew how vital water was. After this experience he felt like he started enjoying water a lot more than he ever did before. After all, it had been an unlimited commodity before, and now it was more of a delicacy of sorts.
Hopefully this would not be the case in the future. Kes was dead set on settling down close to a water source next. He wanted to quench his thirst regularly and whenever he wanted to.
The next place he would settle down would also absolutely not have an awful smell. He had smelt enough of that for the rest of his days. The fresh forest air smelled so good the contrast was especially striking.
But all of this fantasizing would not do him any good. Right now he had to get out of here and fast. Kes had no intention of letting the bear return before he had made a break for it, and he had already wasted more than enough time.
Kes licked his lips to catch the last remaining water droplets and dragged himself out of the Stinky Cave. His thirst was quenched for now, now he just needed to do something about his nagging hunger. Kes would try his hardest to find edible plants or some animals, he was craving meat above all.
He looked behind him with a melancholic look on his face. Even though he should hate this place for all the bad memories that were associated with it, the past week had no doubt been the worst week of his life, Kes somehow could not help but feel somewhat sad about leaving the cave behind.
He could not bring himself to hate the Stinky Cave, it had saved his life and he had made many important breakthroughs within. It would no doubt be remembered by Kes as one of the most pivotal places in his life, despite the fact that he had only spent a couple days living within.
Kes thought back to the breakthroughs he had made within the cave, they had no doubt been incredibly important. He wondered if they would have been taught in the academy too, but he would never know. But Kes came to the conclusion that they probably would have never learned anything specific like this. The breakthrough or insight, whatever it could be called, could only be achieved by experiencing it yourself.
'And without this cave I would have probably never experienced it.' Kes sighed as he thought.
He turned around and started walking, slowly inhaling more and more of the fresh forest air. He began softly humming a tune as he quickly dashed into the opposite direction of where he expected the big brown bear to be. His sand brown hair waved in the wind as he took in the feel of the forest.
For the first time Kes could actually freely experience it, the feel of the forest.
He looked around one more time just to be met with the sight of a tree, the Stinky Cave had long vanished from his vision.
'Goodbye Stinky Cave, I will remember you.'