Post by Emiko on Aug 22, 2023 20:34:45 GMT -6
The Indian Jungle is an absolutely beautiful place. Teeming with all sorts of life and fauna that make it an exotic location. Yet, despite how beautiful the jungle can be, there is also a degree of danger that exists. Anyone who called this place home could tell you that. And even anyone with a bit of common sense could deduce the truth. Only a fool, or someone with a death wish would go out into the jungle alone. Especially during the evening hour when the dangers of the night were just ramping up. So...how was it that a certain someone happened to be doing just that?
Long before the present moment, Emiko lived in a far different place from this one she was now lost in. It was a well developed society an entire ocean away. Back home, she knew a comfortable, modest life which wasn't uncommon for others who lived there, too. She wasn't exactly a nature-girl, or had any sort of experience with exotic things. She was more or less a sheltered individual who lived contently in the safety of her home. But something about that changed when she learned about India.
For whatever reason, something about the Indian subcontinent fascinated her to no end. She didn't know if it was the rich history and colorful culture that sparked her fancy. Or if it was perhaps the exotic beauty and diversity of wildlife in the land that captivated her. Whatever the case, Emiko had grown to be deeply fascinated by India, and that fascination only grew over the years. It became a passion, and one of the few things that made her consider temporarily leaving a comfortable life to potentially experience it.
Needless to say, visiting India wasn't exactly an easy thing to do for her. The trip alone would cost a small fortune if you actually wanted to do anything. And monetary issues aside, a vacation to the usual locales wasn't the sort of experience Emiko was wanting. She didn't want to just see the temples and other historical sights on some sort of tour. Scheduled events were fine, but...she wanted to see EVERYTHING India had to show including the jungle.
For a really long time, that sort of experience was totally out of her reach and little more than a pipe dream. At least, until a golden opportunity presented itself in the form of a college event. By some miracle, the college she was attending was actually planning a trip to India and offered just about everything she was hoping to do. Seeing usual AND exotic sights while learning about them in the process. It was part of an elective college credit that would look nicely on anyone's transcripts. So not only did it help her with future endeavors, it would also help her achieve a dream she had waited so long to experience!
The trip there wasn't without it's kinks as Emiko still had to save up money to put a down payment to go. That, along with being in good standings with the college was a necessity. But, she did manage to do those things. After a lot of paperwork, and procedural planning, she was on the first flight out to India with several others from her college!
The itinerary for the first days were to fly to a larger city in India before taking a bus to a more historical area where they'd be spending the following three weeks. the flight was long, and the bus ride to the town they'd be staying at seemed even longer. When they arrived at the town though, Emiko was beyond stoked! She was so excited to FINALLY be in the place she had read and learned so much about. And for the first day, it was really nice. That was the brief period of time where she was able to get settled into a lodge with some other girls, and then explore before dinner. The following day though...was when the problems started.
When Emiko came here, she half expected this to be some sort of vacation-thing with tours and opportunities to sight see to her heart's content. What she didn't realize though was that this was about learning the culture and way of life here... Not that there wasn't those fun things to be had. But...she'd have to do a bunch of other stuff first before she could get to the fun stuff... 80% of her time was spent on this while the other 20% was what she wanted. And even then, those 'fun times' were disappointing...
After just a few days of this, Emiko had grown really frustrated. All she had done was what amounted to communal chores. She hadn't seen or experienced anything exciting, and it was getting really annoying! She was desperate for something special and decided to use her free time later one evening to go explore a bit.
When the evening of that day came, the present day - Emiko had set out beyond the town limits to explore the local jungle. Before she was allowed to leave, she was given strict instructions to stay close, follow the jungle paths, and be back by nightfall. With the jungle so clearly marked and well traveled, it was hard to get lost... But Emiko only took the instructions halfheartedly...
When she set off, she found the average trails to be as bland as everything else she had experienced here on this trip. She wanted more. And that's...when she made her first real, fatal mistake... The naive girl ended up stepping off the trail convinced that she'd be able to find it again once she saw something cool. But suffice it to say...she never found that trail again. In fact...she ended up hopelessly lost in the jungle within just a few minutes of stepping off...
Hours later, the foolish woman was wandering the jungle not having a clue where she was going. She had been walking for hours now, and it was getting dangerously close to nightfall... She wasn't oblivious to what it meant if she didn't get back before dark, but no matter what she did, she couldn't find the trail. Each step she took just got her more lost and set in reality how serious her situation was...
Being lost in the jungle was bad enough. However, traveling through the jungle in her attire was proving to be more trouble than she ever had imagined. She hadn't intended to go for a long jungle hike like she was now, but rather a casual stroll. As a result, she wasn't in any way dressed for the occasion she was in now...
Emiko had came out into the jungle in a rather casual outfit consisting simple blue dress with white floral patterns etched into the fabric in various places. The skirt of the dress was knee length with the top of it being loose, and short, frilly sleeves extending from her shoulders. It was a colorful outfit that made her stand out like a sore thumb, and the skirt getting hooked onto every prickly bush she passed. Not helping matters were a simple pair of black slip-on flats on her otherwise bare feet which...provided no support or comfort in this terrain...
The only good things about her outfit, if you considered it part of it was a blue hair ribbon that kept her long brown hair tied back in a pony tail. This provided some relief from the heat of the jungle. And you bet her naturally brown eyes were focused on everything around her. But...that was all she had going for her... Otherwise, she was just a colorfully dressed, pale girl who anyone could spot miles away...
As the sun drew closer to setting, Emiko was steadily realizing how hopeless her situation was. As much as she wanted to get home, she was starting to realize it wasn't happening right now. And if she kept moving at night, who knew where she'd end up? If she even made it through the night on the ground alive... As much as she hated to admit it, she knew she had to get somewhere safe and wait out the night... It was...her only chance...
She took a moment to observe her surroundings finding...no suitable place on the ground that was safe. No caves, or carved out tree crevasses she could squeeze into. No thorn bushes, or anything like that... Her only real safe haven was up in the trees which...had it's own set of problems. But it was, quite literally, all she had unless she wanted to meet a tiger on the ground.
With a disgruntled sigh, she started looking for a tree that she could actually get into that would offer protection from the night. She wasn't a botanist, or anything, but even she could recognize a sturdy tree when she found one. It thankfully didn't take her all that long of searching to find a sturdy one. And low hanging branches meant she could actually climb it. But...it wouldn't be that easy.
Reasoning there was no other alternative to safety, Emiko did start trying to climb the tree where...she was met with rather mixed results. Her first few attempts to climb up ended in failures causing her to fall back down. And when she did catch on and start making progress up, her trip up was slow and clumsy. Obvious she wasn't someone who got out much. It took three times longer than most normal people to accomplish, but after many attempts and through sheer determination, she had safely made it a good ways up into the tree onto one of the sturdier branches.
As Emiko started to settle in for the night, she curled up against the tree trunk and brought up her legs to hug into her chest. She then looked out towards the setting sun and started to think about what she had done, and what was coming... A long night of most likely no sleep. And all because she wanted to see something neat...
"...That was stupid of me... So stupid... I never should have left the trail even for a second... Now I'm lost, alone, and..." She complained, to no one in particular. She stopped a moment later though realizing that...it wasn't going to solve anything, and just...sighed sadly...
"...I hope I can get back home tomorrow... Someone will...surely notice I'm lost and come looking for me...? I hope... Until then, I just...need to hold on... Try to sleep tonight and set off at first light... Easier said than done, though..."
She let out one last sigh before slinking back against the tree trunk. She knew what she needed to do, but somehow, it felt insurmountable. She feared how bad things could get for her before she was found, but she couldn't comprehend just how dangerous of a situation she was in right now... Or even how bad her situation was going to get if the wrong individual(s) happened to find her... She'd most likely find out...soon enough...
(Reserved for Chronos)
Long before the present moment, Emiko lived in a far different place from this one she was now lost in. It was a well developed society an entire ocean away. Back home, she knew a comfortable, modest life which wasn't uncommon for others who lived there, too. She wasn't exactly a nature-girl, or had any sort of experience with exotic things. She was more or less a sheltered individual who lived contently in the safety of her home. But something about that changed when she learned about India.
For whatever reason, something about the Indian subcontinent fascinated her to no end. She didn't know if it was the rich history and colorful culture that sparked her fancy. Or if it was perhaps the exotic beauty and diversity of wildlife in the land that captivated her. Whatever the case, Emiko had grown to be deeply fascinated by India, and that fascination only grew over the years. It became a passion, and one of the few things that made her consider temporarily leaving a comfortable life to potentially experience it.
Needless to say, visiting India wasn't exactly an easy thing to do for her. The trip alone would cost a small fortune if you actually wanted to do anything. And monetary issues aside, a vacation to the usual locales wasn't the sort of experience Emiko was wanting. She didn't want to just see the temples and other historical sights on some sort of tour. Scheduled events were fine, but...she wanted to see EVERYTHING India had to show including the jungle.
For a really long time, that sort of experience was totally out of her reach and little more than a pipe dream. At least, until a golden opportunity presented itself in the form of a college event. By some miracle, the college she was attending was actually planning a trip to India and offered just about everything she was hoping to do. Seeing usual AND exotic sights while learning about them in the process. It was part of an elective college credit that would look nicely on anyone's transcripts. So not only did it help her with future endeavors, it would also help her achieve a dream she had waited so long to experience!
The trip there wasn't without it's kinks as Emiko still had to save up money to put a down payment to go. That, along with being in good standings with the college was a necessity. But, she did manage to do those things. After a lot of paperwork, and procedural planning, she was on the first flight out to India with several others from her college!
The itinerary for the first days were to fly to a larger city in India before taking a bus to a more historical area where they'd be spending the following three weeks. the flight was long, and the bus ride to the town they'd be staying at seemed even longer. When they arrived at the town though, Emiko was beyond stoked! She was so excited to FINALLY be in the place she had read and learned so much about. And for the first day, it was really nice. That was the brief period of time where she was able to get settled into a lodge with some other girls, and then explore before dinner. The following day though...was when the problems started.
When Emiko came here, she half expected this to be some sort of vacation-thing with tours and opportunities to sight see to her heart's content. What she didn't realize though was that this was about learning the culture and way of life here... Not that there wasn't those fun things to be had. But...she'd have to do a bunch of other stuff first before she could get to the fun stuff... 80% of her time was spent on this while the other 20% was what she wanted. And even then, those 'fun times' were disappointing...
After just a few days of this, Emiko had grown really frustrated. All she had done was what amounted to communal chores. She hadn't seen or experienced anything exciting, and it was getting really annoying! She was desperate for something special and decided to use her free time later one evening to go explore a bit.
When the evening of that day came, the present day - Emiko had set out beyond the town limits to explore the local jungle. Before she was allowed to leave, she was given strict instructions to stay close, follow the jungle paths, and be back by nightfall. With the jungle so clearly marked and well traveled, it was hard to get lost... But Emiko only took the instructions halfheartedly...
When she set off, she found the average trails to be as bland as everything else she had experienced here on this trip. She wanted more. And that's...when she made her first real, fatal mistake... The naive girl ended up stepping off the trail convinced that she'd be able to find it again once she saw something cool. But suffice it to say...she never found that trail again. In fact...she ended up hopelessly lost in the jungle within just a few minutes of stepping off...
Hours later, the foolish woman was wandering the jungle not having a clue where she was going. She had been walking for hours now, and it was getting dangerously close to nightfall... She wasn't oblivious to what it meant if she didn't get back before dark, but no matter what she did, she couldn't find the trail. Each step she took just got her more lost and set in reality how serious her situation was...
Being lost in the jungle was bad enough. However, traveling through the jungle in her attire was proving to be more trouble than she ever had imagined. She hadn't intended to go for a long jungle hike like she was now, but rather a casual stroll. As a result, she wasn't in any way dressed for the occasion she was in now...
Emiko had came out into the jungle in a rather casual outfit consisting simple blue dress with white floral patterns etched into the fabric in various places. The skirt of the dress was knee length with the top of it being loose, and short, frilly sleeves extending from her shoulders. It was a colorful outfit that made her stand out like a sore thumb, and the skirt getting hooked onto every prickly bush she passed. Not helping matters were a simple pair of black slip-on flats on her otherwise bare feet which...provided no support or comfort in this terrain...
The only good things about her outfit, if you considered it part of it was a blue hair ribbon that kept her long brown hair tied back in a pony tail. This provided some relief from the heat of the jungle. And you bet her naturally brown eyes were focused on everything around her. But...that was all she had going for her... Otherwise, she was just a colorfully dressed, pale girl who anyone could spot miles away...
As the sun drew closer to setting, Emiko was steadily realizing how hopeless her situation was. As much as she wanted to get home, she was starting to realize it wasn't happening right now. And if she kept moving at night, who knew where she'd end up? If she even made it through the night on the ground alive... As much as she hated to admit it, she knew she had to get somewhere safe and wait out the night... It was...her only chance...
She took a moment to observe her surroundings finding...no suitable place on the ground that was safe. No caves, or carved out tree crevasses she could squeeze into. No thorn bushes, or anything like that... Her only real safe haven was up in the trees which...had it's own set of problems. But it was, quite literally, all she had unless she wanted to meet a tiger on the ground.
With a disgruntled sigh, she started looking for a tree that she could actually get into that would offer protection from the night. She wasn't a botanist, or anything, but even she could recognize a sturdy tree when she found one. It thankfully didn't take her all that long of searching to find a sturdy one. And low hanging branches meant she could actually climb it. But...it wouldn't be that easy.
Reasoning there was no other alternative to safety, Emiko did start trying to climb the tree where...she was met with rather mixed results. Her first few attempts to climb up ended in failures causing her to fall back down. And when she did catch on and start making progress up, her trip up was slow and clumsy. Obvious she wasn't someone who got out much. It took three times longer than most normal people to accomplish, but after many attempts and through sheer determination, she had safely made it a good ways up into the tree onto one of the sturdier branches.
As Emiko started to settle in for the night, she curled up against the tree trunk and brought up her legs to hug into her chest. She then looked out towards the setting sun and started to think about what she had done, and what was coming... A long night of most likely no sleep. And all because she wanted to see something neat...
"...That was stupid of me... So stupid... I never should have left the trail even for a second... Now I'm lost, alone, and..." She complained, to no one in particular. She stopped a moment later though realizing that...it wasn't going to solve anything, and just...sighed sadly...
"...I hope I can get back home tomorrow... Someone will...surely notice I'm lost and come looking for me...? I hope... Until then, I just...need to hold on... Try to sleep tonight and set off at first light... Easier said than done, though..."
She let out one last sigh before slinking back against the tree trunk. She knew what she needed to do, but somehow, it felt insurmountable. She feared how bad things could get for her before she was found, but she couldn't comprehend just how dangerous of a situation she was in right now... Or even how bad her situation was going to get if the wrong individual(s) happened to find her... She'd most likely find out...soon enough...
(Reserved for Chronos)
