Day 7: It's been a week... and I've so much to tell!

     I've been here a single week, and I've already achieved so much! I've made a house, I've made a mineshaft (or 3), I've created a stairwell, I've grown a forest in 10 minutes, I've crafted a whole suit of armour from my findings and I've linked cliffs together with wooden bridges! Today however I've achieved more than I have so far! As promised I explored the strange mossy wall beyond my forest, close to the open cliff system. I wore the suit of armour and made steady - if not noisy - headway towards it! I crafted a proper sword as well, late last night, and with it and my trust bow and arrows I explored the wall. Before I left however, I noted that the pork chop I left outside last night seemed to have gone... I didn't know whether to take this as a good sign or not: it could've been the wolf, it could've been a rabid creature. I probably need to be more careful about advertising my presence!

     From outside, it seemed rather creepy, and the presence of the torches only added to my fear. But with sword in hand, and suited up I poked my head around the wall... I was greeted by nothing... Well, I say nothing, I mean nothing hostile... I think. What WAS there freaked me out more than what wasn't thought to be honest. The wall was one side of a small cobblestone chamber which was dimly lit with more torches, below two of which were random chests! Despite how odd this was, what was taking the central position of the chamber freaked me out even more... A cage, with what appeared to be the skeleton of a child spinning violently like a top.

By this point I was literally shaking, expecting hordes of creatures to melt through the walls on all sides and attack me...

... But nothing. Just eery silence... Confident that nothing was likely to spring out of anywhere, I placed my sword and helm on top of one of the chests, and looked more closely at the caged skeleton: it was definately that of a small child (or another form of hominid) and it seemed to be holding something in it's right hand. It was spinning on the spot, above a small flame which remained lit even after I tried blowing it out. I was thoroughly confused by all of this and was initially going to destroy it with my sword. But then it occurred to me: there's obviously something or someone in this land near to me which is intelligent enough to perform sorcery and witchcraft, and I don't want to incur the wrath of some dark power. If this is what it can do, I don't want to make it angry... So I left it... Retrieving my helm and sword, my attention was drawn now to the two chests adjacent to the strange thing in the centre. Sensing a trap, I pried open one of the chests with the sword, and stood back in a defensive position (felt like a defensive position, but I may have just been squatting). Nothing happened, there was no sound, no movement... Just the chest... sitting open, with its lid resting against the mossy cobblestone wall. Maintaining my stance, I inched closer, and noticed something glinting inside... Taking a closer look I noticed the chest contained, not a trap, but items, of apparent value! Inside was a bucket, a sheaf of wheat, a pouch of some form of dust - possibly gunpowder or sulphur - and an old vinyl disc with a green label that had the word "CAT" stenciled across it.

     I removed the items from the chest and placed them within my bag I always carried, and set my attention to the second chest. Taking on the same stance as before - not wanting to take any chances - I repeated the process, and pried the second chest open with my sword. The lid of the chest banged loudly against the opposite wall, but aside from that... nothing! Peering inside I found two solitary items: a rather fresh looking loaf of bread, and - more sinister - a book... I removed these also, and placed the loaf of bread within my bag. The book however I was most intrigued by: I opened the first page and was met with strange rune-like symbols... It seemed to have been scrawled in a black ink of some form, and the inside of the pages were a little dusty. The runes themselves I could not work out at all. Flicking through the pages I saw page after page of them, until I heard a noise... some strange rasping noise, like laboured breathing. Placing the book within my bag, and readying my sword, I crept from the chamber and was, once again, met with nothing... Looking around I saw nothing which could have possibly made a noise - not even a wild creature - however I took this as a hint and left for my house.

     Back at my house, I removed my armour, changed back into my clothes and turned my attention to the contents of my bag: I placed the bucket into the cupboard under the stairs, my mind already ablaze with the ideas I could use it for. The pouch of powder I placed in the cellar where it was cold and dry - if it was gunpowder I'm not risking it putting it under a window! The sheaf of wheat I placed to one side, hoping to make some bread with it, and the vinyl disc I placed on my bed: it was a plain black disc, like those old LP vinyl discs, with a lime green label placed around the inner rim with the word "CAT" written onto it. Turning it over in my hands, I noticed nothing unusual, despite it being a rather odd thing to find considering the circumstances!

     I left this in my room, and returned downstairs to my bag: the loaf of bread I placed above the furnace, and I then turned my attention back to the book: the cover was old and dusty, but otherwise in fine condition. Made from leather, the spine had similar runes scrawled onto it. Inside, the pages seemed to be crafted from some rough parchment or reed extract, and possessed an unusual strength not found in the normal pages of a normal book. I studied the first page of runes carefully, noting the uniformity of the height and width of each individual rune. Like with most languages and the alphabets, there seemed to be a repetition of some of the runes, indicating that the runes more than likely represented a different letter rather than a different word or phrase. I was about to start noting down similar runes when I head scuffling outside... After the incident with the zombie a few days ago, and the fact that I'd disturbed what appeared to be a sorcerer's chamber, I wasn't taking any chances. I picked up my sword and peeked out of the window: again, nothing... I approached the front door, and heard the noise again, to the left of the door, this time accompanied by a scratching. Gaining confidence, I lept out of the door, sword beared! This time however, instead of seeing an undead creature, I saw a wolf! It saw me and was obviously scared, as it ran away from me and down my set of stairs. Throwing down my sword and running back inside I retrieved a few bones and a pork chop, and set after it down the wooden stairs!

     I managed to lure it back to me with the porkchop: I sat there watching it happily chew it's way through the meat. It then just sat there staring at me, almost expectantly. It didn't bark, it didn't growl... it didn't even blink! After awhile of sitting and staring I took one of the bones from my pocket and threw it a little in front of me... It sat there for a bit and then walked over to it, sniffed it cautiously and then began gnawing on it. It lay there, quite content in the open, within approximately five feet of me. I stood up slightly so i was sort of crouching, and inched closer to it, hoping it would stay still and not attack me. Surprisingly, it stopped chewing the bone and stared at me, tongue lolling out as though it were panting. I eventually got close enough to stroke it... and that's what I did... I sat there and let me as well! It took me quite a few minutes to take it in: a wild dog had let me stroke it... Had I tamed it? Or was this a ruse... was it waiting for me to get closer so it could sink it's teeth into my neck? Did it have wolf buddies waiting, hidden from sight, waiting to leap on me and tear me to shreds? I sat back down and it came up to me, and placed a paw on my leg... Curious, I stood up and walked away from it, wanting to see it's reaction: it whined and then followed me, trotting along beside me. I kept this up until I got to my house... and it kept following me. I'm now sitting on my bed, finishing up the rest of my diary entry for the day, with the wolf curled up at the foot of the bed...

I think it likes me...