Going the Long Way Around

[espresso_doppio]

The camp rules were agreed upon on the first day:

1. Watch rotation: everyone would have a shift keeping watch at night for 3 hours.

2. All food and resources were shared equally. If someone found something valuable, it was up for group discussion whether it was used or kept.

3. For venturing into unknown areas, they needed to stick together at all times. When anyone needed to leave for any reason, they were to inform the others as appropriate.

4. Injury or sickness had to be communicated immediately. If anyone fell behind, the group slowed until everyone was able to continue. (They had been spared incident thus far, thankfully.)

Doppio rubbed his eyes as he re-read the rules during a little downtime at camp. He had borrowed some of Reigen's paper to keep track of them. By the time he got to the specific system of emergency signals (that involved one whistle, bird signals, and the metal from a six-pack Reigen had on him to act as reflective surfaces) he felt his ability to focus dissolving. It wasn't because he was bored or disagreed with them...he actually felt way more at-ease with a clear system of operation.

He was just tired. A lot. His head hurt. A lot. He felt his focus slip away...a lot.

Rule #4 forced him to be honest about when it got to be too much to the point he couldn't hide it. Reigen and Hitomi were patient, but Doppio wasn't content with it. The first few days were the worst, especially because of rule #3--every place was new to him. Hitomi at least knew the parts of Freid that hadn't been cleaved apart, and Reigen seemed like he was wrapping his head around things quickly, but for him it was sensory overload.

So, he had to learn how to ration out his energy.

Focus on what you can do, Reigen would say. He was the meal-prepper. He had to start there. It was actually something that came to him naturally. Doppio found that encouraging--in that way, it became the first thing to properly energize him. It made the times he had to be at camp more often productive, so he took on shelter management and quartermaster duties too. Even if he wasn't the haggler that Reigen was or quick on his feet like Hitomi, he could still make himself useful.

After a week he had finally gotten his daily system down to a science. It felt torturously slow getting there, but he let himself feel good about his progress.

Pitter-patter.

Ah, rain.

It rained often, and there was only one tent to start with, so they had to waterproof more shelter pretty early on. Maintenance checks were a pretty frequent part of Doppio's day.

At times like this, when he had pushed the limits of his focus and completed his tasks, Doppio retreated to his tent and let his mind wander a little. Despite all the hardship, Doppio had to admit that there was a surreal beauty in their surroundings. There were pine trees growing along what probably would have been a mountain--rocky cliffs rising only to be sharply cut off. Rivers flowing from unknown places. Rice paddies that melded with white sands.

Then there was the wildlife...that was his favorite thing to observe. Not just for their own sake, but it was where he learned about the environment the most. Doppio had heard somewhere (where?) that early humans learned what was safe to eat from watching animals. This all went straight into his notebook.

Pitter-patter.

'Ah, the rain is still going,' Doppio noted when he looked up from his writing.

There was a rustle--Hitomi in her tent, stirring from a nap. It was just the two of them at the moment while Reigen was in town.

"Good morning," Doppio said lightly. It was early afternoon. "Are you hungry?"