After half an hour of preparing their gear, Ethan took a deep breath, checked the fire-storage tube on his belt and the water flask in his bark pouch, then quietly handed each person a small packet of smoked meat to put in their bags. The bag itself was quite large, both length and width not less than 25 cm, woven days earlier from dried vines and bark, because on the day he gathered too few Dioscorea roots, he decided to weave bags for foraging. He carefully checked the straps on each bag, making sure none would come loose during their trek through the forest, and organized every item neatly inside.
At last, he turned to Stella and Lucy, reminding them again: “You two just need to keep the fire going, keep an eye on the area around the forest edge, and absolutely do not go deep inside. I
