Closed A Thread Full Of Fish Stories (Aladari)

[Riluc Lorrani]

5 of Summer

Riluc stepped of his tent to great the sunny morning. Already Riluc could feel the sun warming his tanned skin even just a moment after stepping out of the tent. He tilted his face up towards the sun and let the warmth touch his serious face. The day was beautiful but that didn't mean there were dangers lurking out in the world. He was fairly sure that he would face something today. Growing up wild had instilled in him a sense of suspicion. His adopted mother had tried to break him of that but instead of ending his paranoid nature she had nurtured an excitement for the bad.

Riluc stood there for a moment enjoying the sun, and it seemed to the few people who passed him that he was like a wild animal sunning himself on a rock as he stood there bear chested dressed only in loin cloth, and boots. Yes Riluc sometimes made people wonder if he wasn't Kelvic with the wild air he gave off. Feeling warm all over his exposed skin he lowered his head. Riluc had never adjusted to clothing, he had learned modesty though, and so covered up. He also knew to bundle against the cold. The only piece of clothing he had truly embarrassed was his soft leather boots. They had made travel in the wilds world better.

Riluc pocked his head back into his tent and pulled out his fishing supplies. The rod and tackle weren't anything fancy but they worked for what he needed. In his youth he had never fished as it wasn't an activity that his canine family knew anything about. It wasn't until he had been taken to Mura that he even learned about fishing. Today he decided to try it again. It was similar to hunting but different and it put him in nature in a way that was more natural to him than buying your supplies from a store.

Having his supplies in hand Riluc walked towards the edge of the city to find a part of the river that wasn't used as trash dump. The young man walked with a wild grace as if at any moment he might start running, but not as prey runs but as the lion after the prey. His expression was blank as he walked neither friendly or angry but a predator blank.

It wasn't to long before he came to the edge of the town and turned his attention to finding a spot on the river that would have the depth for fish.

[Aladari Coolwater]

It wasn't normally hard for Aladari to find a place to fish in Sunberth. She lived just off Baroque Bay, where the coastline was easily accessible. And if that didn't work, there was always the river, stretching all through town and providing ample space for the fisherwoman. Apparently, the 5th of Summer was not normal. With the warming of the weather, people had begun to venture out to the shore and visit the docks again. The sailors were bustling all about, and so were the locals who made their living off of the sailors. This meant the bay was rather crowded. Even when Aladari ventured down the river, fishing pole in hand, she had trouble finding a good, deep spot. Much of the river was accompanied by those repairing the city by rebuilding locations or helping bury the dead. That was no work atmosphere either, so Aladari skipped those spots. This left her with little choice but to venture to the edges of town. She didn't like this much; the outskirts made her a bit nervous, save for the Slag Fire Heap. They weren't populated enough to feel safe, and they were covered enough to feel secret. A perfect spot for a murder. Aladari thought. Nevertheless, it was what she had, and she had to work. Setting down the backpack with her knife and pot, Aladari laid the pole beside it. First, she grabbed the pot and knelt beside the water. She scooped some water into the pot, and then placed it on the bank to hold her catches later. Once that was done, she picked up her pole and examined it. It was a relatively long wooden piece which tapered at the end. A long string dangled from the thin end and stretched to the ground, ending in a piece of hooked, soft metal. She grabbed a long piece of grass from nearby, piercing it on the hook and winding it around. This, she would wiggle underwater so that predators might mistake it for smaller fish and take a bite. Finally prepared, Aladari plopped herself down on the banks of the river and tossed the hook into the water. Then she began the process. Slowly drag the line in, and toss it out again, over and over. It might've seemed dull to some, but to Aladari, it was like meditation. Even in this insecure location she felt calm, at peace...almost as though she could close her eyes...just drift off for a moment...

[Autumn Leithea]

"Jorie we're going fishing." "Aw babe! It's always cold, and I just watch you fish, and you never catch anything!" "Jorie we're going fishing." "...Fine." It had been a cold day, with pregnant clouds refusing to weep, windy and chaotic the air. They had been cooped up in Autumn's tent reading books borrowed from their Grandma Anna, content beneath the warm glow of the lantern hung from the ceiling, candles lighting their pages. Autumn had even taken a light nap later in the day, with Marjorie continuing her studies of flowering plants during Autumn's slumber. Near the end of the day though Autumn sat up and yawned, thinking of getting some air. Fishing came to her mind at once. "Bring the lantern, it'll be warm for you and it will attract some fish for us." "Sure... what about a pole? You don't have a pole." "I'll find a stick on the way there, and I'll whittle a hook. Hey you can bring your book if you want!" "You know me so well." said Marjorie with a grin and grabbed the book and put it in her bag. "Alright lets go." They made their way through the tent city, most denizens still keeping warm inside. On the outskirts of Sunberth she found a tree, and broke off a particularly straight branch, and whittled off all the extra sticks, keeping one. They made their way through the city at a decent pace, the sun at about eleven o' clock; the end of the day and they looked at it shine in a bold orange color over the tops of the buildings of the city; a captivating sight. Finally making it to the edge of the water on a rock outcropping leading out into the water just north of the docks, Autumn sat down cross-legged and pulled out the little stick. Marjorie put the lantern down between them and pulled the book she had brought out of her bag and opened it to the page indicated by her string bookmark and began reading quietly. Autumn took out her assassin's blade and cut two small pieces out of the twig, sharpening one to a sharp point. She then cut two notches in the other, and a notch on the blunt end of the sharp one. She frayed some of the string and took a thread out and used the two notches at the bottom of each piece of twig and tied them snugly together, then using another extracted thread to tie the string to the makeshift hook tightly. "My masterpiece..." said Autumn sarcastically. Marjorie looked up from her book. "Looks good." she said and then dove back into her beloved literature. Autumn then waded in the water, feeling with her feet in the sand until she felt what felt like a rock and pulled a clam out of the water. She crushed it between her hand and her assassin's blade and extracted the gooey innards and put them on the hook. With that she took a healthy length of string, cut it, and tied it to the large, straight stick, hook and bait on the end. She then took up some slack from the string and swung the hook and bait at the end over her head around and around, releasing it to let it fly a generous distance out into the water. Autumn sat down on the edge of the rocks and waited, wondering whether anyone else would show up. She'd make a campfire on the rocky outcropping and they could swap some stories...

[Riluc Lorrani]

Riluc paused as he had arrived at the river on the edge the city. There weren't many people fishing around here which suites him just fine. He could handle a few people it was just crowds that made him nervous. All three of them appeated to be women which didn't decrease Riluc's natural warriness. His time among the pack and in the wilds had taught him wariness towards both male and females. In te wild females were the equal to males in danger. The reasons why they were dangerous was world different but they were dangerous. Riluc didn't notice any children hanging around which was the primary warning sign about females.

Riluce his expression blank around the strangers as it always was around strangers, walked to the edge of the river. It looked like a good spot, and so he began to set up his line. He did notice his two neighbors. One was a shorter woman, nice looking with dark hair that hinted at green. She seemed to be a serious fisher woman. If she looked at him he would nod his head. He noticed the other party as well. Two women, one wasn't even teying to fish and the other ones fishing pole appeared to litteral be home made. They appeared to only be half interested in fishing. Riluc would nod to them if they looked his way.

Riluc used a more traditional method and paused to dig up some worms. His fingers dug in the dirt giving no thoughts to the fact his fingers were now covered in dirt and dirty. Riluc liked dirt and liked how he felt after a day of wandering the wilds. He didn't like being smelly though. Animals could smell him if he was. So it was that no one would ever catch him smell, unless it was at the end of a very tiring day, but vy morning he would have clewned and removed the smell.

Soon Riluc had the worms he needed and began to thread them on to his hook. Once he had them ready he cast the line in. Once he had it the line in place he once again looked at his neighbors. His expression still blank despite his interior interest in his neighbor.

[Aladari Coolwater]

It felt likes chimes, but by the time Aladari opened her eyes again, there were three other people gathered around her fishing spot. Momentarily forgetting she was holding her pole, Aladari rubbed the sleep from her eyes with both hands. Not only did the salty water on her hands burn, but the pole slipped to the ground and began to slide into the water. The girl jolted forward and grabbed the pole just in time, smiling sheepishly at the other people. However, when she tried to sit back down in her spot, she noticed that her line was much tighter than previously. She gave it a curious tug, waiting for it to tug back, but there was nothing. Had she caught a weed? Aladari pulled harder, yanking back on the pole. Still, it would not give way. Almost angry now, Aladari yanked one last time, and suddenly noticed the wiggle of one of the other poles. Oh no. Another soft tug confirmed her fears. She had crossed over someone's line. She had caught herself- not a fish- but a fishing pole. Aladari could hardly hide her embarrassment, as her eyes immediately flushed pink. What would she say? What could she say? It would be very difficult to untangle the lines, and to have to explain to a stranger how it happened would be mortifying. I'm sorry I ruined your day of fishing, but I was busy dozing off on my job. No, she'd have to think of something else. Maybe, just maybe...they wouldn't notice? Maybe when one of them reeling their lines in, it would untangle itself. It had happened to Aladari before, when she "caught" a rock. It could happen again. And then she wouldn't have to say a word. Putting on a pouting face, as though she had just lost the fish she had snagged, Aladari sat back down heavily with her pole clutched tightly in both hands. She glanced at the others quickly from the side, trying to judge if they had bought her act.

[Autumn Leithea]

Autumn was dozing off into daydream beside Marjorie reading her herbalist book when she felt something at the end of her line. She woke, and grabbing her pole she pulled back a little bit, expecting the light struggle of a caught fish to be nipping and pulling at the end of it. It felt like something large and slow had caught her line, a turtle perhaps? Then her optimism fell apart when she pulled again; her line was crossed with another's. She turned to look and saw a young girl blatantly avoiding their gaze, Autumn could clearly tell with her Auristics. The poor girl hadn't the confidence to come to them and explain that their lines were crossed. Autumn knew all they needed to do was pull in eachothers' lines, and uncross them. Simple enough. "Jorie babe, my line is crossed with that girl's, you wanna come with or are you okay here with your book?" Marjorie looked up from her book and closed it, putting it in her bag. "Sure, it's great to meet new people." Marjorie stated. "Well be nice, she's a little shy I can tell." "You know I'm always nice." "Sure Jorie..." said Autumn comedically. "Oh will you stop it!" returned Marjorie with a frustrated smile. They walked over to the girl and introduced themselves. "Hi! My name is Autumn and this is Marjorie..." said Autumn. "You can call me Jorie." stated Marjorie warmly. "...I think our lines are crossed, do you want the both of us to reel them in at the same time and unhook them? It's simple enough." said Autumn Marjorie turned to Autumn and whispered something into her ear. "We were also going to make a fire, if you want to come warm up you'd be welcome. That means we could all fish together, and if we don't catch anything we can at least tell fish stories by the campfire. What do you say?" Autumn said. The man to their left seemed preoccupied and hesitant to join them. Autumn decided to walk back to their fishing spot and make a fire, and then invite the man as well to come join them. They'd have a motley crew by the fire, telling fish stories long into the night. "You see Jorie, we're making new friends, I told you we should go fishing." "Aw don't rub it in." said Marjorie smiling. "So what do you say?" said Autumn, asking the girl.

[Riluc Lorrani]

The wilder looked over as he saw movement. The two women who had been fishing, well one of the at least been, the other had been more interested in reading, were walking towards the dark haired woman who looked to be a serious fisherwoman. Riluc turned his attention back to his pole and noticed it floating away from the area he was fishing specifically. So Riluc realed in his line. While it was purge checked the bait to make sure it was still on there. He smiled briefly when he saw that it was. It was during this moment that the women began to talk.

They introduced themselves to the other solo fisher along the stretch of the bank. He was surprised to hear on of them was named Autumn. He hadn't ever meet someone named after the seasons but that seemed like a better choice than many names he had heard. Suddenly the introductions on the other were finished and Summer had worked to untangle her line.

It was then that the they had returned to their spot and we're inviting him and the other woman over for a fish fry. Riluc was slightly surprised at the invite being to included. His expression cleared and he moved over to join the forming group. "Thank you for the invite." He said in his baratone voice. Riluc looked at the two women who had invited him over. He carefully set down his fishing rod and walked over to help the women start the fire. It was something he had mastered in his times in the wilderness many times.

[Aladari Coolwater]

"Hi! My name is Autumn and this is Marjorie..." "You can call me Jorie." "I think our lines are crossed, do you want the both of us to reel them in at the same time and unhook them? It's simple enough." The woman's voice was almost shockingly cheery, and even her friend seemed relatively welcoming. It was so unnatural to the girl after even a season in Sunberth, that Aladari was taken aback. "I..." "We were also going to make a fire, if you want to come warm up you'd be welcome. That means we could all fish together, and if we don't catch anything we can at least tell fish stories by the campfire. What do you say?" It did sound rather nice- just a nice warm fire, fishing, and good company- but Aladari was ultimately a little suspicious of the woman's friendly exterior. She accepted, albeit cautiously. "I would like that." Aladari rose, pulling in her line as quickly as she could and laid the pole down on the ground to be untangled later. In the meantime, she wandered over to where the buff man was sitting, beginning his work at starting a fire. His muscular form was bent over the wood, concentrated on the task at hand. When he thanked Autumn for the invite, his voice was deep and calm; the sound reminded Aladari of thunder in a storm. Seeing that she had no way to help set the fire, the Vantha moved back to where the poles were and sat down, pulling the tangled lines onto her lap. "So," she began, "Why are you all here? I mean, fishing?" Hopefully, she thought, learning why they were here would let her relax a bit about their overly friendly nature. Hoping to ease any of their own concerns, Aladari offered her own information. "I work as a fisherman. Err, woman. I come from Zeltiva, but I live by the bay. I like to fish in the bay, but it is soft out here. Quiet. Peaceful. I like it more than in the city some days. Sunberth is too loud. Too...what is the word, for when something is too much for your senses to take? Strong?"

[Autumn Leithea]

"So, why are you all here? I mean fishing?" said the wild-haired girl. Autumn could feel that she was on edge, and would love nothing more but to put her spirits at rest. "Jorie and I just thought it would be something to do tonight, we're not regular fishermen if that's what your asking. It's relaxing and gives us some peace and quiet over the raucous furor that is the majority of Sunberth." "I hate fishing but I like to read." said Marjorie with a smile. "When Autumn drags me down here I always bring a book." I work as a fisherman. Err, woman. I come from Zeltiva, but I live by the bay. I like to fish in the bay, but it is soft out here. Quiet. Peaceful. I like it more than in the city some days. Sunberth is too loud. Too...what is the word, for when something is too much for your senses to take? Strong?" said the girl. "Overwhelming?" stated Autumn with a big grin. "Yes, sometimes, but when you get past the ramshackle, violent nature of this place it's actually quite exciting, if it isn't already exciting knowing you could die at any moment!" Noticing that she was unarmed, Autumn continued. "Zeltiva eh? Jorie and I had to flee to Zeltiva when the great storm came to Sunberth. We were there for a couple of days, and then came back here. Your home city is truly a wondrous place. By the way, you should always visibly wear a weapon in Sunberth, it's tradition and it represents that you are not to be messed with. Usually nobody will mess with you if you visibly wear a weapon." Autumn felt the girl was still on edge. Maybe talking about dying at any moment was a bad choice, even though Autumn was trying to lighten the mood with comedy for the young one. "What's your name hon?" Autumn asked lovingly. "And how about you?" Autumn asked turning to the man building the fire. "If you need help with the fire I'm your girl!" said Autumn with a smile toward the man.

[Riluc Lorrani]

Riluc had wondered the forest to often not to know how to start a fire. He carefully laid the base of twigs and bark that would be the start of the fire and then he laid the larger base that would keep the fire going once the twigs had done there job. As he was working on laying the fire he listened to the other women talking. The one who had been fishing by herself was called Aladari. She claimed to be a fisher woman. Riluc could appreciate what she said about Sunberth being so busy. Riluc always found it a bit trying when ever he came back to the city while being out in the forest. The peace in the woods had always been calm and un intrusive. The city was like a pile of bricks that had just landed on your head.

Riluc looked up as offer was helped on the fire, the spark of life was already starting. Keeping an eye on the infant flames, Riluc turned his attention back to the woman named Autumn and her friend Jorie. His voice still gentle with it baritone rumbling said. "I think its going now. I am Riluc Lorrani, I originated from Sunberth but have spent the past few years in Mura." He paused to feed the fire some more. "Sunberth can be overwhelming at times, but it is also an exciting city. Mura rarely got exciting. Sunberth seems to be on the verg of rioting everyday." Riluc said with a soft chuckle. "I came fishing for a little variety in my diest. I prefer supplying what food I can to my diet."

Riluc looked at the fire as the flames spread to the larger branches. His green eyes watched for a moment longer before nodding. He looked at the woman Jorie. "What kind of books do you like to read. I only learned to read in the past couple years and have ready mostly books that taught me about the world. I have only read a couple stories book. I don't have access to many books now though"