Timestamp: Fall 2, 520
After his arrival yesterday, Puk was still not quite sure what to make of this place called Syka. He had a home now, still amazed at how seemingly easy it had been to get. But he now would need to pay for it at the end of the season. He'd never been allowed to have or handle money before, Grau had always done that. So he'd need to figure out how to do that. He knew people bought things with money, but he didn't know what he himself would even buy. When he was hungry, he went and found food. When he was thirsty, he found water to drink. When he was tired, he slept. What else was needed?
At the thought of food, his stomach grumbled, and the large, naked man found himself wandering northeast of his bungalo home, after making his bed and bathing, of course. He loped through the trees, dodging around trees and vines as he plodded along, looking around for something that looked tasty. He could go for some fruit. He did love fruit. He had so many coconuts yesterday, so maybe something different today.
As he pushed eastward, he found the jungle growing thicker and thicker. He pushed through the brush, letting branches slap against his thick skin. He was more than used to it and hardly paid it much mind, except for the rare occasion when one caught him in the bits. That still smarted. Eventually though, he reached a point that even he couldn't pass through, though perhaps a smaller, more nimble person could. He backed up, eyeballing the closeness of trees, before backing up a bit further. He was thinking about going around, when he stopped. He spotted yellow in the distance. He squinted and broke into a smile.
Bananas.
Definitely not leaving now. He pulled off his necklace, tossing it high into the air. As it floated upward, he transformed into his Tskana form, catching the necklace with his trunk and slipping it over one of his middle tusks. The bananas were eye level now, and he began to push forward. The smaller trees and bushes went entirely unnoticed but still, the jungle here was dense. He lowered his head, planting his shoulder against a larger tree and walked forward. He went slow, steady, pushing, forming deep furrows from his feet until the tree slipped and fell from the loose soil. Puk stepped over it and kept clearing a path until he finally reached the bananas.
He reached up, grabbing a hold of an entire bunch with his trunk, ripping it off the tree. As he did, he noticed many more banana trees, in an arc. He shrugged, shifting back into his human form, the necklace and bananas falling. Puk caught the necklace in one hand, and instantly caught the bananas in both arms after. He walked around the banana trees, still looking up at them. As he walked forward, he felt the soil, always covered in plant life change. Confused he looked down, seeing bare earth.
Looking up, Puk saw several terribly large mounds of dirt, and instantly he felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end. Nothing was growing there. He had no idea what that meant, but every sense and instinct of his was on high alert now. Animals had to trust their instincts to survive. Eyes wide and wild, Puk set his stuff down, transformed into his Tskana state again, if only to feel safer. He grabbed his banana and necklace and rushed away as fast as he could, carving a new path eastward away from the creepy mounds. Once he was outside of their influence, and he shifted back, sitting down on the trunk of a fallen tree.
His heart was still racing, his eyes wild and darting. He held his bunch of bananas defensively, protecting them from something unseen, something unknown. He grabbed the first one, eating it whole, not bothering to peel it, ever watchful and listening. That place was... wrong. It felt like he was in the presence of a mighty predator... still did. And he was terrified, shown by the slight quiver of his limbs, the hunch of his shoulders, the small amount of tears building in his eyes. But still, he ate.
