Having run out of food yesterday, I decided it was about time that I changed tactic.
These past nine days have been more than a little inconvenient and not at all leisurely regardless of my high degree of inactivity during them. The warg, having followed me diligently all this time and likely having got somewhat bored himself, finally deigned to speak to me. More to the point, he spent some time mocking me before laying his head down to rest; secure in the knowledge that I would stay up here out of reach as I had continued to do since he first found me.
He or she or it, like I, is all too aware that I would be swiftly out-paced should I dare to jump down to the grass and make a run for it. However, knowing that I could not stay in the tree indefinately and that my furry companion was not likely to just go away anytime soon, I finally decided to do something about the situation.
I would say it was frustrated stupidity that led me to take the knife from my furs, carefuly judge my position and jump down from the branches onto the back of the sleeping warg rather than any silly notion of bravery. Still, I was just about quick enough to take the dratted creature by surprise and slip my blade into the point of its neck where the skull and spine meet. I very nearly did not manage it, though, the beast having jumped to its paws the moment it felt me land atop it.
I waited to be absolutely certain that it was dead. Then I waited a while longer to be on the safe side before I dared get off it. I had turned on go on my way and had taken a few steps toward the distant Misty Mountains before it occured to me that the warg had no further use for its hide and the extra warmth would be of great use to me in in those frozen peaks.
The rest of my day was spent in relieving the carcass of its skin and then scraping the skin free of fat. It was a rather nasty job, all in all, and one I would not be swift to repeat. Naturally, I lack any decent means for curing or tanning out here and had to make do with smoking the skin-side of the hide over a small camp-fire.
It stinks. It honestly reeks atrociously. However, that is something I shall have to deal with if I am to remain warm during my trek along the mountain paths.
Onwards, then, to a place I am in no hurry to reach!
