Immediately, it burns, before being replaced with a pleasing, indescribable sensation as the bleeding stops and your wound gets cleaned. You apply a lot more to the rest of your body, and you can feel that you're recovering at a marveling rate. However, you still need to take it easy and decide to wait a bit while you recover. Tom is also starting to recover, and you decide to take this time to eat a bit Tom's food. It seems to be some kind of meat made from... fused beef jerky!? Anyway, this strange and exotic food still tastes great!

So great, that you have to remind yourself that regulation is a part of temperance, and at a time like this, you have to get used to eating just enough to survive. Seeing how Tom would require a lot more food than yourself, you left the majority of it to him. "We are just still targets right now, huh?"

Tom is mostly silent, still in a lot of pain, but you can see that it's starting to subside. After the quick meal and spending a few more minutes recovering, you're fit enough to walk, and you decide to look around, making sure to stay close to Tom. There doesn't seem to be anythingnelse in the forest, so you consider walking up to Tom's cabin to maybe find some more medicine there.

You tell him your plans before you leave and sincerely hope he will be okay as you go. Moving as fast as you can to race against time, you keep your knife out on you in case things gets hectic.

You reach his hut and immediately find a small bottle of medicine right in the door, and you manage to return to Tom in mere moments. He's recovered quite a bit, and says that he won't need the medicine, but that he will need your help to carry his stuff for him. You help him on his way, as you can see that he has a limp, and after a while you reach the cabin. Although it's the middle of the day, you're still extremely tired, and Tom immediately climbs into the only bed in the house. You decide to sleep with him, lying on the cold floor and dreaming about returning to your old, luxurious life.

You awake from the dream when a beam of sunlight shines through the window and casts itself directly on your face. For a second, you are confused as to what is going on and where you are, but the pieces start fitting together. Now you truly realize how lucky you must be to make it this far. Someone with your "skills" and "knowledge" would have died in the situation with the bear, even with Tom as help. They may have not even encountered Tom on their journey; it was just the right time on just the right day that you found him.
You never considered yourself a lucky person; good things and "blessings" only happened after you have worked very hard for them. You find it ironic that your first lucky encounter was after you was condemned. Was it a sign? Or was it just coincidence?

The epiphany makes you think about your destiny, but you're still tired and quickly go to sleep. When you wake up, you see that Tom has almost fully recovered from his injuries, and he decides to start teaching you wilderness survival.

You are very grateful for the lessons as you will need them. You hope he can be patient with your novice ways and will try your best not to cross him. After all, he isn't a pious member of a society with a reputation to uphold. Everything he does is out of the kindness of his heart and is taking time out of his day.

That being said, you don't hesitate to accept his offer and force yourself through grogginess and soreness, overriding it with excitement. "Where do we start?"

Tom decides to start by explaining a few elementary things: still water isn't usually clean, raw meat can cause food poisoning, campfires are critical and you need to sleep. Smoke rises, all rivers end, coldness can kill you. Although these are simple things, they become an incredible challenge to think of when you're hungry, lonely, desperate and afraid. He also teaches you how to light a fire with sticks, and how to move quietly. You quickly find out that using a bow and arrow is way out of your reach, as it requires a raw strength that being a coddled priestess quite simply doesn't give you.

You are giving him your undivided attention all through the lessons. Fortunately, you have had a lot of practice in this, as being a priestess at first was much like a long, drawn out lecture followed by a series of unrelated trials. You had managed to turn a switch on in your brain to keep your focus then, so this is nothing now.

The bow on the otherhand...its just not working. You try to hide your shame and disappointment in yourself with composure and perseverance, but you are quickly becoming upset. This has never happened to you before; your efforts have always balanced out with your progress. Not to say you are perfect, but if a trail was leaving you winded and sore, at least you could be proud of the result. You aren't sure how to respond to it naturally, and if not for him being here, you might have thrown a first class tantrum.

After the short teaching session, Tom offhandedly asks you why you were in the forest alone. You can tell that he's worried, and that he expects a good answer.