Down to the river to play

Sighing, Jacob leans against a tree and begins to think to himself. Well, if I go upstream, odds are I'll eventually run into the source of the the river. I'm not likely to find anything important at the source, that leaves downstream. I guess I just have to hope that towns or cities generally develop along rivers here like they did in my old world. A shudder passes up his spine at the thought. My old world. God it feels weird to even think that, like I'm delusional. But, that honestly seems like the most likely thing right now.

The giant tracks and Y-shaped needles flash through his mind as he steps away from the tree, and pats his pockets one last time, "Alright Jacob, it's time to stop being a bitch, and just fucking deal with the situation. You're not going to fix the problem by standing here doing nothing."

With that thought, he begins his slow march to civilization. The river proves to be a delightful companion along his hike. It's rumbling provides pleasant background noise as his thoughts wind around the strange things he has seen in this new world. These range from oddly shaped leaves to what can be best described as a lizard fish, in addition to oddly bright stone patches in the cliffs the river cuts through. However, while his thoughts began with worries about how the ones he left behind are taking things, he tires of these pessimistic thoughts around noon. I wonder what's different about this place? How has the culture developed here, how have the people? God, are there even humans here? How will I communicate? They probably don't speak English, so I guess it's a good thing I know sign language, even if I haven't ever really had to use it. This is going to be weird.

His thoughts continue to wander through strange possibilities of what he will find when he reaches civilization. While these ideas started out rather tame, such as a world just like his old one with the only difference being the 80's never ended, they quickly spiraled to the fantastic, with magic wielding elves racing through the trees above, while dragons dueled in the sky. His daydreams are only broken when he stumbles over a root, and barely avoids slamming his head into a rock. Jacob quickly gets his balance back, before ruefully shaking his head. "That's what I get for getting lost in the clouds I guess..."

With his mind once again focused on his surroundings, he continues walking along the river bank. The rest of the day seems to fly past him, his mind in a bit of an idle, with no clear thoughts, but always slightly aware of his surroundings. The shadows slowly lengthen, until the sun is beginning to to peak behind the hills. Suddenly, there's a crash off in the distance, and a pained scream echoes out after. Jacob's head snaps towards the commotion, and he freezes momentarily. The forest goes silent, as nature freezes with him. When nothing breaks the silence, he begins to jog towards the scream, his heart racing and his breath ragged from fear. When he reaches her, he pauses just outside of the clearing she's laying in. His eyes scan the trees on the edge, looking for the gleaming eyes of a predator. When he sees none, he quickly walks over and drops to his knees by her side, "Miss, what happened? How are you hurt?"

She seems surprised at his immediate response, and tries to shift away from him. As she does so, she gasps in pain, before stopping. "It's my left leg. I think I broke it when I slid down that slope."

Jacob's gaze snaps to the leg in question, and sure enough, the toes are pointed back towards her ass. "Yeah, I can see what your talking about. I'm glad it's just a simple fracture though. Wait here, I'm going to get you some sticks. Do you have any rope or a belt?"

"No, ahh, fuck, I don't have any rope."

Jacob just sighs sadly at that. He then gets up and quickly breaks off two sticks as long as the girls leg, and one small enough to fit in her mouth. He hands her the smaller stick, with a concerned look on his face. "When I'm about to start, I need you to bite down on this while I set your leg. It's going to hurt, a lot. In the mean time, I'll just be tearing my only shirt to make the bindings for your splint."

The girl takes the stick and places it between her teeth as she looks on. Jacob is taking his knife and cutting his shirt in to thin strips, before laying them down next to him. When hes done with that, he shoots her a questioning look and she nods to him, signaling that shes ready. Jacob nods to himself, and takes a calming breath. Then he leans her down onto the ground. He flashes her a nervous grin before he places the sticks on either side of her broken lag. Grabbing the foot, He quickly rotates it up to face the right way, before wincing at her scream of pain. Even with her biting down on the stick hard enough to leave tooth marks, her cry is still very loud, and painful to hear. Moving quickly, Jacob ties the sticks to her thigh and foot, securing the joints above and below the break. Then he leans back, and takes a good look at her.