A long journey.

How long did he walk?

His initial choice was indeed quite right, wallowing in confusion while walking instead of doing so while sitting in place sure got him some progress... if there was any to count on.

Saying that the road was long, was an understatement.

Maybe it was because he was walking on foot, maybe because he steadily grew tired and thus slowed down, maybe because he had nothing to eat or drink... so many maybe, but fact was that no matter how long he walked, there was no end in sight.

Did he choose the wrong direction? He had to sleep with such doubts as his first night in the new world fell upon him.

Sleeping in the open, directly on the ground, without previous dinner nor any kind of water... useless to say, he didn't feel very well when he awoke. But what could he do other than keep going?

Like so his journey resumed, his hope for any kind of help or sign of civilization aside from the not-so-paved road under him rekindled under the bright morning sun.

Too bad it didn't go as he wished.

He got tired faster and no amount of rest could help it, considerably slowing his pace towards his goal.

Was there really no hope to him?

As if to answer his plea, by noon he saw the road he was on unnaturally elevating far in the distance and the closer he got, the surer he was that it wasn't an hallucination caused by thirst and hunger.

No, it really wasn't, that was a bridge over here! And under the bridge, a calm but large river slowly flowed by...

Ryu's eyes turned into stars as he picked up the peace and soon enough was madly running towards it. Where did he find the strength to do it? Even he himself wouldn't know, but fact was that soon enough he reached the river and threw himself in, swallowing water like it was the last thing he'd do.

It was so refreshing, a godsend who sate his thirst and helped him wash off all the sweat and grime from the "long" journey.

Too bad it didn't help with hunger, as there wasn't any fish anywhere near him and even if there was... would he have the skill to catch a fish in water? With bare hands?

Ryu didn't even bother to try, knowing his dexterity very well. Instead, he looked down and hoped the accumulated fat would last long enough to give him a chance at survival even without food. After all science did say that those layers were effectively reserves of calories for emergencies, didn't it? It was the excuse he always used to console himself everytime he felt depressed upon his body shape. Previously he used that as an excuse, whereas now he really hoped it would be true... at least till he found some help. They did say that bears lasted whole winters with that...

This was the new topic in his mind as he resumed the journey.

The thirst problem was actually fully solved as the road took a turn after the bridge and kept following along the river, so whenever he wished for water he could just hurry over... with such a great problem solved, his mood improved and his step got a spring to it as he kept going.