The Jungle Man

When their small boat passed the ruined hull, Tarmen couldn't find much interest in it. He was focused on the island, trying to look into the dense trees for a sign of where to start his search. Staying as close to the shore as possible would be nice, to make a retreat quick. He couldn't know what was edible, so being close to fish would be lifesaving.
As the boat lodged into the sand, Tarmen gave a small chunk of wood with a symbol on it to Alexis. It was rather simple, consisting of a circle with a single line going at an angle through the middle.
"I'll keep 'em low, towards the roots, and 10 meters apart. The high point of the line points to the direction I went. You won't see much brush clearin', mainly around these marks."
With this basic communication established, Tarmen was quick to begin his trek into the underbrush.
Leaving his first mark not far from his entry,Tarmen marked a notch on his leather bracer to make counting easier. He began to venture towards a sound that had immediately caught his attention when they had landed, towards rushing water. If the source was a sizable river, then it would make a decent location. While they would still have to watch their noise level, a good river would drown out most of the little noises such as tent pitching or weapon maintenance. Even if the ground wasn't the best, it was their best chance of security. Only downside was that it would drown out an approaching force as well, but he pushed this doubt back.
Just below the thundering water, the jungle had its own cacophony, though to Tarmen it was some of the sweetest music. He resisted the temptation to allow the chorus of birds and insects to envelope his focus, but allowed it to trail through his mind. The thick air fueled him as the blankets of moss muffled his steps, every moment making him feel like he was home again. Even the threat of a hostile tribe was just another day in Kru'll.
The tree that he carved onto next helped keep him in the present. It looked more like a palm tree and its trunk was barren of any branches. Even the other kinds of trees around him lacked the thick, rough trunks of Kru'll.
The lack of any trace of the natives helped his focus as well. He wasn’t looking for any footprints, a fool’s errand given the moss, instead trying to find any markers on the ground or trees. Something to mark a trail, tribal territory, or even a warning for invaders such as him. Nothing stood out and that planted a small seed of paranoia. To calm this for the moment, he dug into his private meat pouch and popped a small bit of dried sinew to chew on. He always found gnawing on something helped ease his nerves.
The sounds of the river sounded surprisingly closer after a short time, giving Tarmen some hope that they wouldn’t be without livable shelter for more than a day. Not that he would mind, but the ‘joys’ of bug bites and fumunda cheese were always quick to kill morale. His hope grew with the sight of rough rock beneath his feet. The tangled brush was pushed aside to reveal an outcrop of stone, complemented with the river itself.
Looking at his bracer, he counted around 50 notches, 500 meters from their landing. He quietly voiced a passing comment to Orestes, thanking them for revealing the location. He continued to judge the place, noting the outcrop rose with several boulders to provide a small wall. Given some work, it could be the divide they needed from the rest of the jungle. Tarmen made sure to test the water itself as well, washing his mouth and spitting it out. With no odd taste or no apparent side effects, he washed his face and enjoyed the cool sensation. With how perfect this place seemed, it only served to add to his paranoia.
He resolved to bring this up to Alexis as he rose to leave. Even if it was too good to be true, they needed somewhere soon and this seemingly had it all. Before the jungle surrounded him again, he gave one last questioning glare to the spot, as if it would reveal all of its secrets and force hidden killers to leave their cover. With no such luck, Tarmen left to meet up with the others.