Rue thinks that perhaps planning to camp out in the jungle was not his smartest choice. But then… has Rue ever made a smart choice? Probably not. But that didn’t matter! This was exciting! The sounds unlike any others fill the air, birds calling and small frogs making their cute little frog noises. The humidity is pesky… and the heat, but Rue is managing to cope. That’s something.

Eventually, in his exploration, he finds a clearing that seems a good place to set up his tent for the night. He hauls his backpack off and gets to work, arranging the wooden rods and the canvas into something vaguely tent shaped. It’ll do. Then he focuses on setting up a campfire for the night. That’s a little harder since he’s never actually started a fire before. But that’s nothing some continuous and increasingly frustrating perseverance can’t fix.

“And then there was light! Aha…” he mumbles to himself, crouching over the burning piles of sticks.

He sits here for a while, mumbling to himself to keep himself occupied, and having some bread to eat. But as the sun sets through the trees, and the air grows a little bit too cold, Rue decides it might be best to retreat into his tent. Even if he doesn’t sleep.

It’s probably good he didn’t sleep too, as the rustling outside quickly stops him having any chance at further sleep tonight. Whatever it is had waited for him to retreat. Rue shudders at the thought. He can hear the crunch of leaf underfoot, the occasional clatter of the cutlery he left out there. Oh dear.

For a while there is stillness, then closer footsteps, the sound of sniffing around his tent. Rue is pretty certain he is doomed now. He’s gonna be eaten alive. There’s no doubt.

When the creature begins to peek its head through the flaps of canvas that make up the door. He sees two little ears, then quickly covers his head, blocking all further sight of it, and screams. If nothing else, he can scare it off. His words come out in a shrill panicked mess, “begone!! Ah- ah— go away! I’ll kick you! I will! I can kick!!”