Chapter Text
"No water, no food, no clothes. 21 days. This is the Kravaraad of survival challenges. Can our contestants survive alone in the wilderness…Naked and Afraid?" a deep voice delivered his line with gravitas, "In the heart of the Greying Wildlands surrounded by plunging mountain ranges on all sides and divided by a dangerous river sits the cursed forest. Its geography is as extreme as its climate with suffocating humidity and heat during the day followed by plummeting temperatures, making nights without a shelter nearly unbearable. Wild winds produced by currents all the way from the Frigid Depths cause sudden storms, and flash flooding is a constant threat near the Boreal Omen river. This place is home to some of the strangest beasts on the continent, mutated and volatile. Their violent urges make this an extreme challenge for anyone to survive. This… is the Savalirwood."
"Over here!"
Strong winds made Caleb shiver. His body was sweating out of nervousness more than physical exertion, and he could feel the mosquitoes biting his calves. The show had barely begun and he was already regretting it. He finally raised his gaze to see his new partner.
"Oh" he adjusted his posture. A petite but commanding drow stood in front of him, chin high and, of course, stark naked just like himself. He tried for a smile, "Hallo."
"This is …unexpected." Caleb must have looked confused because the figure continued in a friendlier tone, "Where are my manners? Essek Thelyss. Nice to meet you.."
Somewhere in a scrying mirror far away, a photo of contestant Essek Thelyss popped up, his shoulders confident and jaw set despite his slight frame. Essek's dark purple-gray skin contrasted nicely with his short silver hair arranged in locs, except for the very neatly shaved sides. His long ears had a few visible piercing holes, as well as his nose, as no ornament was allowed on the show. Beneath his name, a rank: Primitive Survival Rating of 7.9.
"With a good starting PSR, Essek Thelyss is quite the surprise this season, a CEO, scientist and survivalist from Xhorhassian lands. That's right, according to the businessman, survival brings him a renewed sense of self and a fresh perspective to lead and make decisions, which is why he has been studying and practicing it in his home country for more than 50 years now." The narrator commented with the affectation expected of a reality show host, "This is his debut on television however, and we'll see if he does well, or if living in the lap of luxury made him way too soft for this extreme experience"
The photo on the scrying mirror transitioned smoothly to show Caled Widogast, tall but slouched, with his blue eyes averted in embarrassment. His white skin was dotted with freckles all over, long twisting scars on the torso and forearms and patches of rusty hair along a body that was slender but visibly toned by some exercise. His long red hair was secured in a low ponytail with what seemed to be a vine. Beneath his name, a PSR of 6.5 appeared.
"A well known activist and author, Caleb Widogast could not be more different from his partner. Widogast famously spent ten years of his life at the Vergesson Sanatorium against his will and upon being released spent another 3 years as a street dweller while also writing his now best seller book exposing the Sanatorium's violent treatment of patients as well as its former director. His book kickstarted an investigation and became widely known in the Dwendalian Empire, and he took to wilderness survival as a hobbyist shortly after. However we still don't know what motivates him, and if he has what it takes to face this challenge."
"Caleb. Widogast" Caleb completed quickly, holding out his hand, "It's a pleasure to meet you."
Essek shook Caleb's hand gently, feeling the contrast between his soft palm and the man's calloused skin, "You as well. Should we gather our things? I want to see what you brought."
Two scrying orbs accompanied them from different distances, filming what would then be edited and broadcast into homes all over Wildemount. Caleb nodded with a forced smile, knowing that Essek was supposed to ask that, as per the show's structure, and that he was not supposed to look at the orbs, too.
They walked over to a rock where two large bags were sitting, as well as a shiny iron pot. Caleb reached into the first bag, taking out the objects he found as Essek did the same.
"Fishing net and a tarp for the shelter," said Caleb, lifting the items for his partner to see. Essek raised an eyebrow. No knife? Nothing to make a fire? He wondered if this is why they partnered the two of them up, to give the human a fighting chance.
"It seems we are well balanced then. This is what I have," he lifted his own items from the bag which included a long, quite deadly and elegant looking black dagger and a simple flint. "Fire is a necessity, don't you think?" ' Especially for a human , thought Essek.
"Oh, ja. I agree. Ah, very nice dagger as well, useful." Caleb nodded his head, finally slipping the bag on as a way of keeping some of his modesty.
Rummaging from his bag, Essek produced the map they were given by the production. It showed a crude rendition of the Savalirwood, an X marking their initial location, mountains to the south, the Boreal Omen river to the north. Above the river another X marked their pickup location, where they should head after surviving on their own for 21 days.
"To the river, then?" Essek pointed at the map and then looked around cautiously.
"That would be gut, ja, make our shelter near the water," Caleb looked up and then pointed to his left, "True north. It is a quarter past 9 a.m., if this map's scale is correct, we have to journey for around five hours today," he smiled as Essek's eyebrows shot up, "If you want you can take the time to verify, but time is one of my specialties."
Essek allowed his face to display sincere surprise, which he rarely did, if only to keep from getting lines on his forehead. He didn't want to volunteer his weaknesses so quickly, but navigation during daytime was decidedly not his strong suit, coming from near perpetual nighttime, even with his excursions onto the Barbed Fields.
"Let us walk for half of that perhaps, and check again, how about that?" Caleb nodded and they turned towards their new path, the human spearheading their journey. Essek felt strangely subdued by the man's openness to being checked or corrected, and wondered if he would be that open to it had their situation been reversed. He had been known to be quite stubborn among his peers. Well, he was rarely ever incorrect, so that could be why.
Making their way (♫) through the woods, Essek felt thankful for the dense foliage protecting his skin from the sun, ' And Widogast's. His skin would certainly suffer in the open sun as well ' he reasoned, following behind Caleb's lead quietly. Essek kept his gaze locked on the man's freckled shoulders or checking the ground where he stepped, avoiding the human's backside as a courtesy.
He remembered what he said to the scrying orb in a confessional before meeting his new partner: ' Being naked is no obstacle for the prepared survivalist. You need to have strong discipline for this challenge, and a mind in the gutter would decidedly be anyone's worst enemy. ' Essek stood by that. His companion seemed to be attractive, that is, from what Essek knew to be conventionally attractive, though he was not the kind to be moved by appearances.
Despite the comfort the shadows offered, Essek could feel his feet start to complain about the rough treatment. He had been foolish thinking the show would allow his levitation as part of his "innate abilities", such as his darkvision or trance. If he had known, he'd have spent more time walking in nature to get used to its roughness, the small rocks and sticks cutting him. As of right now, though, the soles of his feet prickled and ached, and he grit his teeth silently.
"All gut back there?" Caleb asked in his heavy accent, "We have one hour left before our break. I am getting quite thirsty."
"All good, yes," Essek looked around, eyes sharpening in the shadows, "perhaps we could find some fruit on our way, I will look around." He hesitated, "How are your feet?"
"I have thick soles, this ground doesn't really bother me." Essek averted his eyes as the man looked back to him for a second, "You?"
"Fine as well. Just checking"
"Oh. Danke."
Their silence resumed for a while, with brief interactions as Essek picked a few berries off of bushes nearby, as well as purple plums from a big tree, and stored them in his bag. Finally Caleb slowed, turning to Essek.
"Eleven forty five. This is half of our journey," he pointed to a small glare up in the foliage, where the sun was, "The sun is almost in the middle of the sky." One of the scrying orbs following them went up and up, following the direction of Caleb's finger to perhaps capture images from the forest from above.
Essek quietly accepted the information and found a plum and berries to offer Caleb. "White cranberries. They like darkness and humidity, and taste quite good." he gestured to the plums, "Yun plums. Safe, not very sweet. Some of the vegetation here is similar to the one back home. It thrives in the darkness."
"Interesting," Caleb reached for the purple plum first, taking a bite. His lips were obviously chapped already, so much so that his first bite was small, focused on enjoying the juices that overflowed from the fruit. Essek watched as errant juice ran down Caleb's chin and neck, which in turn made him very aware of their differences. Caleb was scarred somewhat heavily, especially on his forearms but essentially everywhere. Essek shivered involuntarily.
"Essek, this is very good. Do you have more, should I ration?"
"Hm? Oh. Eat the entire thing if you want, I have two more and the berries seem to be very abundant."
He averted his eyes, setting everything on a rock and selecting a few berries for himself. By now his feet ached in a slow, constant rhythm but he'd rather not check on them while they still had at least two hours and a half before settling down. The berries gave him some energy, and he sliced pieces of the plum before popping them into his mouth..
"You are very neat," observed Caleb, a crinkle in his eyes denoting humor perhaps, "I'm afraid my hands are sticky now."
"Your hands?" Essek huffed lightly, "Your whole body, no?"
He watched in amusement as Caleb's entire face darkened a shade or two. "We will have water soon. You will be fine."
Wringing his hands together, Caleb turned around, "Ah, ja, of course. Should we get going again? It is now… twelve o' five."
Essek prepared himself, hiding a grimace as his feet reminded him of their plight.
"Yes, lead the way, Caleb Widogast."
"What a confident start for these two," an excited shrill voice took over the narration, "We have a few pros and cons to each of these contestants, in terms of survivability. Let's talk about it."
"Quite right," a deeper voice continued in a heavy Port Damali accent, "We've had plenty of elves do well in the competition on account of their trance cycles. Four hours of rest is a game changer when you need to conserve energy and stay aware of predators in the night. However, Essek Thelyss has racked up a few more points, having superior darkvision in such a dense forest, and apparently being quite the connoisseur of the blighted vegetation of the Savalirwood, which I can tell you, most contestants know nothing about."
"Who knew the vegetation was similar to the one in his hometown, what a lucky guy. And he brought very traditional, safe items as well. A flint and a very nice dagger he seems completely comfortable using. You know I love a dagger like that," the halfling and the half orc both nodded from the studio. "But Fjord, what about the human? I have to say, he seems quite impressive already. And sweet on the eyes too, huh?"
"Uh, I can't really speak to that, Veth, but the man is a known legend. After all, he was wrongly imprisoned and if you count that as survival experience—which you should, according to his book—he has 13 years under his belt. Those of us who read his story know the man has a mind for navigation that is very unique to him, which he just showed us right there."
Veth nodded, "People like to point out that urban survival is a whole other ball game, but he seems clearly well prepared. What about his objects? The fishing net can be great for a river, but a tarp? Is this the first time a human contestant prioritized shelter over fire?"
"That is correct. Thankfully, no matter what his strategy was, Caleb is well paired with a more traditional, conservative guy like Essek, with his flint and dagger."
"Let's hope they get well together then, that is always the catch!"
The rushing sound of the river made Caleb's heart jump. "I think we are close! I can see the river, over there!"
Essek huffed, looking relieved. "Good. Good job, Caleb Widogast." Caleb had to turn his head, damning his complexion and personality for flushing over any simple compliment.
In front of them the Boreal Omen river bubbled and rushed along, a little too lively for Caleb's liking but still, a welcome sight. He took a deep breath.
"It's 2:45. We have time to set up an initial shelter. Boil and drink water. Eat our fruits and rest?"
They talked over options while looking around. A large, dry bush next to a tree seemed to make almost a natural little cave, and they agreed on staying in there and making their camp around it. Caleb lined the ground inside with his tarp and cleaned the branches from within while Essek gathered enough tinder and wood to make their fire. They could improve the top of it, add leaves and build more structure, and if it rained they could even use the tarp on top of it. It was really close quarters though, he realized, as the shelter came together. Caleb felt his cheeks redden as his mind wandered briefly to his companion. He quickly shook his head, determined to not make things weird.
Finishing the shelter, he observed Essek walk back with good branches and small, dry twigs. The drow seemed to be limping slightly, his face fixed in a grimace of pain. Caleb got up to help him.
"Are you okay?"
"Ah, yes, I am," he said in a very direct tone, though not impolite, "Can you build our fire? I need to sit for a moment, sorry."
Caleb took the branches and the flint obediently, "Oh. Not at all. You should rest." He moved to a spot close to their shelter, so that the fire would keep them warm at night too, but not fill the space with smoke. He worked on it silently, transferring the sticks for kindling and placing the bigger branches on top. The ember was quite small, and the ground quite humid so Caleb allowed his fingers to grow warm and coaxed the fire slowly but surely. Magic fire never failed to take, and soon the flames were gathering strength and licking the branches eagerly. He didn't want to be disqualified but also had a high disregard for rules of any kind, so his conscience allowed him to split the difference.
Essek seemed too out of it to realize what he was doing, anyway, and both scrying orbs were circling him, making sure to capture every slight moment of suffering for the show.
"Um… Essek?" He approached tentatively where Essek had settled down, his back supported by a large tree, knees against his chest and eyes closed.
"Yes?" The answer was curt. Caleb hesitated for a moment. Pain made people angry. Being around someone you don't really actually know but are stuck with while in pain, more so. He genuinely wanted to help, but not as much as he wanted to avoid conflict, so he retreated.
"I'm going to get some water for us to boil. And clean myself."
Essek seemed relieved, "Great work."
Caleb tried to make noise coming back to the camp, so that Essek would know he was around. His companion had moved, positioning a large log they hadn't used yet as a small seat in front of the fire. He seemed to be measuring sticks and selecting some, discarding others.
"Water," said Caleb, with quiet triumph.
As Caleb set the pot on the fire, Essek made space for him on the log. Caleb sat down next to him, contemplating the strangeness of their naked thighs touching up to the hip. Essek's skin was smooth, no hair. Caleb blinked hard.
"I apologize if this is too weird."
"Not to worry" said Essek calmly. His delicate hands started carving little holes on some of the sticks, "This is an entirely strange situation. We have to find comfort where we can." Essek organized his sticks one by one. "And humans need warmth."
Caleb felt even warmer as he carefully pulled the boiling water from the fire.
"Our body temperature is quite different. I can withstand the cold quite well." Essek left his unasked question hovering above them. Caleb pretended to tend to the fire for a moment, watching the crackling wood with intensity.
"I will need to keep the fire burning during the night," answered Caleb, "and, some contact, depending, could be very… it might help if-" he stumbled on his words, fidgeting with the pot.
"It is alright Caleb Widogast." Essek put a hand on his shoulder amicably. "I am only sorry I don't have more heat to offer you."
Sundown meant they ate the rest of the berries and plums and drank their water, finally. Both of them were experienced in going many days with very little food, but Essek was good with traps, and would use his extra four hours in the night to build some. Caleb wasn't as good with traditional hunting, but was excited at the prospect of fishing.
"Fishing… is not my specialty, actually. I started learning only a couple of months before getting here, but I have seen good results, depending on the river. Hopefully we can find slower fish here."
Caleb could feel Essek looking at him in poorly disguised conceitedness before answering. "No worries, I am trained in fishing as well. We can try using the net together, having some fish would be good."
Settling down to sleep was less weird than Caleb anticipated. As the sunset progressed the temperature fell steadily, so much so that being back to back—or buttcheek to buttcheek—with a man he had only met, in a tiny little cave made of branches felt only horrifyingly necessary for them to stay alive, and nothing more. Survival was humbling. The fire at the entrance of their shelter was burning bright still, keeping their heads and shoulders a bit warmer. Caleb's feet, though, felt like they were freezing off of him. It was nothing he hadn't felt before, and perhaps the worst part of it was how much he welcomed the pain like an old friend.
"So," he was surprised by his partner's voice, "Caleb Widogast. Who really are you?"
"Hm. Hard question. I pass," Essek gave him a small well humored huff, "Er. Well. In truth it's nice to not be known. The last few years I have been hiding from people, for the most part.”
He felt Essek twisting around, one of his hands touching his shoulder lightly. “I should be honest. I am aware of you, who you are, though not in great detail. I apologize if it seems like I was hiding anything, but I was simply acting naturally. I am not big on celebrities.”
The term celebrity made Caleb chuckle. He turned around as well, shivering from the lack of contact. “No apology needed. I am more comfortable like that. But why ask me now, then?”
“I want to know who you are, not who the media told me you are.” Essek sniffed pompously. To Caleb's human eyes Essek was slightly lit by the fire, but his lavender eyes stood out, almost emitting their own natural glow.
“Hm. I'm not sure.” Caleb allowed his eyes to close, the day's work catching up to his body. “Do you have an answer to that question yourself?”
Essek took advantage of the dark to study the face in front of him. Caleb's lips were still chapped, and his forehead and cheeks a bit dirty from the day. He had a nice, big nose, Essek observed. His teeth were chattering a little.
“I am a pragmatic man. Practical, logical. I pride myself in it.” said Essek, “Which is why I suggest you come closer. You being that cold benefits neither of us.”
He saw Caleb smile in the dark, “Good point.”
Essek reached for him, pulling Caleb into a somewhat stiff embrace. Caleb's head settled above his, and their torsos touched for extra warmth, the only thing separating them being their empty bags, a sort of barrier. Essek coaxed Caleb silently to move his legs and tangle them with his own.
“I know I'm not that warm, but it will help.”
Caleb didn't answer, but his teeth stopped chattering. Soon Essek felt the human relax and allowed himself to trance in the unusual position.