Closed Truth Or Lies [Kirvan]

[Gabrielle Seawind]

Gabrielle stood right behind him, looking across the sea to whatever it might be that he was searching for. He had his hands on his casinor’s harpoon, and she looked puzzled in response. The situation seemed to imply that he was looking for a large species of fish—if it was really fish that they were looking for. She knew a number of fishing spots in this part of the ocean but she was not familiar with this particular one. The Suvan Sea was vast with marine life and she had no idea as to what would be here.

“It’s not another Manalim, is it?” she asked in a joking manner.

She was slightly worried that he would accidentally aim at the tavans, though she doubted her would do something so careless. But still, he wasn’t familiar with Kairo as she was. Her mind was divided towards looking ahead of them and making sure that she could still hear the recognizable squeaks of her tavan behind them.

“There?” she called out in a question that also sounded like a statement. Abruptly, Gabrielle brought her hand up and pointed a finger towards the distance, about ten yards away from where they were standing. A dark shadow could be seen amongst the blue waters.

[Kirvan Deepseeker]

Though he was dimly aware of Gabrielle standing behind him, most of Kirvan's attention was on the wide open blue before him, his eyes scanning back and forth to look for anything that would betray the presence of a big fish. Dark spots, ripples, both could accurately lead to the presence of something he could shoot at. While he had felt small twinges of regret when he first started doing it, as he was essentially killing more of Laviku's children, Kirvan was not naive to the point where he wouldn't harm animals. That was the way the ocean worked, and if Laviku disliked it then all he had to do was say the word and the Svefra would stop - all of them. Chuckling at her joke, Kirvan shook his head while his eyes remained wide open. "Laviku forbid," he swore. "I'd hate to come across something that big again. Don't know how safe Ster or Kairo would be either if one showed up." The last statement was an afterthought, he hadn't thought ahead to wonder whether Gab might feel uncomfortable about that or not. He wasn't he knew Ster was smarter than that, and he also knew that the dolphin and whale had a way to communicate with the manalims were one to show up. After all, it was Ster who had first warned Kirvan about the big beast that nearly swallowed him whole, and the beluga was fine. While on the lookout for big fish, Kirvan's mind tended to ignore everything else around him and think ahead to possible signs of recognition. Such were the signs of a novice. He had no way to tell if it was either of the tavans he was aiming at. Though he had talked with Ster about it before, and trusted the beluga to stay away or even lead some bigger fish into range. He had no idea about Kairo though, and wasn't thinking about it at the time. A shout from Gabrielle startled him for a quick tick, but soon he saw what the commotion was about and guided the harpoon to follow her finger. The dark spot of water was ten yards away, and moving steadily across the length of his range. He kept steadily moving the launcher, keeping up with whatever was casting the shadow, getting a feel for its speed. Then, when he felt he had a good enough estimate, he tilted the harpoon a slight bit farther and pulled the trigger, releasing the harpoon with a clang. Once it entered the water the harpoon slowed abruptly and came to a sop just beneath the surface, sinking slightly before bobbing slowly up to reveal what he had been aiming at. A great marlin sat there with its side pierced by the harpoon, which was a shame since that part of the fish would have to be cut, but it was a catch nonetheless. Kirvan left the launcher and leaned over the side of the boat, pulling at the tether to reel in the fish. The line moved easily in his hands, experience showing as he pulled the fish up to the boat and dragged it onto the deck. Kirvan kneeled down to have a better look. Apart from the harpoon in its side, it looked good to eat, and it looked to be a decent size as well. Not the biggest he caught, but not the smallest either. Satisfied with the work, and grateful it hadn't lasted bells, he turned to face Gabrielle. "Think you can do it?" he asked, gesturing to the heavy harpoon.

[Gabrielle Seawind]

All the while, Gabrielle watched how he caught the fish using the harpoon. She mostly thought that he wouldn’t be able to aim at the dark spot, since fish were such flighty and quick creatures. However, when he was able to hit, she was nothing but amazed. Up until he dragged his catch onboard, the young Svefra kept her attention on the marlin. It appeared to be a good catch, and the marlin was quite sizeable. She grinned at him, happy for his accomplishment.

“Me!?” she exclaimed as she pointed a thumb at herself. It was a silly reaction, because who else would he speaking to? However, she had been caught off-guard. Aside from not being the best when it came to catching fish, Gabrielle didn’t even have a harpoon on her casinor. She wasn’t sure if she would be able to aim it, more so send it flying.

The young Svefra blinked for a while, though she didn’t want to admit her doubts. No, her pride was too much for that.

“Alright, I’ll try it out,” she said, faking a confident smile. “Hope I get it!”

For a while, Gabrielle fumbled with setting the weapon up. She had seen it used a few times before, and she worked with her memory. It wouldn’t be too hard, would it? Gabrielle waited until she was handed a harpoon, and she struggled to place it correctly into the crossbow.

She had some skill in the longbow. It wouldn’t be too hard to aim this weapon, would it? It was basically just a much bigger version… though how the harpoon was sent flying was done in a different way. This was going to be tough.

When she finally got it all in place, she started to experiment with tilting the crossbow around. It was very clear that she didn’t know much what she was doing at this point.

“Okay, okay, here we go…” she muttered under her breath as she noticed a similar dark spot as the one they saw before. Carefully, she maneuvered the crossbow and targeted the spot. And, nervously, she hit the trigger—and was surprised at how it shook, something which she had not expected. The harpoon itself flew past the fish very slightly, causing the fish to panic and swim deeper immediately. “Well, okay, that was not too good.”

[Kirvan Deepseeker]

"Yes, you!" Kirvan jokingly shouted, chuckling at her reaction. "Did you think I brought you all the way out here to show off? No way, I'm going to teach you something even if it takes all day!" Honestly though, he wasn't as confident in his teaching abilities as he was letting on. She clearly had no experience, and he was just a novice himself, still getting used to firing the thing in his hands. That wasn't going to stop him from trying though. When Gabrielle put on her confident smile and spouted a line, Kirvan smiled, knowing better. He wouldn't point it out though, instead just stepping aside and letting her take the launcher from him, moving to the cabin and preparing a harpoon before turning back to see how she was doing. It seemed like she was having some trouble with getting how the pivot worked, having to actively push down on it somewhat to keep it from falling forward on the hinge. "Don't forget, there's nothing suspending the launcher but you," Kirvan said assuringly, handing her the harpoon. "Just apply a little pressure, it seems to be the best way to hold it steadily up." While she fumbled with the harpoon, the young man pulled his catch farther into his boat, tugging the marlin around to the back of his cabin where there was more space. Walking back around to the front, he found that Gab seemed to be finished with familiarizing herself with the launcher and already had found another dark spot of water to aim at. When she fired, the recoil seemed to surprise her and caused her to jolt slightly, sending the harpoon past the target and scaring the fish into deeper water. "Yeah, it tends to jolt," Kirvan said, smiling apologetically. "I'm not quite sure how it works as I've not taken one apart, but I think something about the string moving forward causes it to vibrate. Similar to a bow I think, though I've never fired one." He stepped forward, reaching down and pulling on the extended tether, retrieving the harpoon and pulling it back onto the boat before reloading the launcher. "A steady grip should be able to cancel out the recoil, or so I've found," he advised. "Now that yiu know it's coming you can anticipate it too." With his first little lesson over, he turned his eyes back to the water, looking for another fish to aim at. Today seemed to be a good day to go out fishing, as within a few chimes another spot began to darken and the glimpse of the fish it belonged to beneath the water's surface gave him something to point to. "There," Kirvan said to Gab, stepping back to let her aim.

[Gabrielle Seawind]

With a visible frown, Gabrielle nodded. She was now slightly annoyed at her failure. Impatiently, she watched him reload the launcher. He did it in a much quicker manner than she did, a far cry from her completely novice actions.

“I know how to use a bow… this is just… it’s different,” she grumbled under her breath. It wasn’t actually that much different, it was just new—and she hated admitting defeat, and as such she wanted to blame it on the novelty of using a weapon she had never experienced before.

A longbow jolted back when an arrow was released, she knew that. However, the recoil was not that bad. Thinking about it for a moment, it was probably because a longbow was held by the person in its entirety. This crossbow was mounted on the ground, and it had given her the false impression that it was as stable as could be.

“Well, never mind, I can try again. Steady grip and anticipate it, alright,” she said as she rubbed her hands together. She focused on the dark spot he had pointed out and started to aim the mounted weapon. She squint her eyes, concentrating on the target.

She reminded herself that it worked similar to her own bow. The harpoon’s flight would be similar. Gabrielle pointed the tip towards the dark spot, and she braced herself, and finally hit the trigger for the second time. The harpoon shot out quickly—and hit its target!

“I got it!” she yelled out in excitement. Quite quickly, she rounded around the mounted crossbow and started to pull the line. Grinning widely, she heaved the fish onboard, and saw that it was roughly the size of Kirvan’s catch.

[Kirvan Deepseeker]

While Gabrielle wasn't cursing or shouting, her frustration at having missed was evident. Not that Kirvan could begrudge her of that - he was much the same way when he'd first started. The only reason he'd killed the manalim so easily was because the beast was literally right in front of him when he fired. Still, no amount of frustration was going to help, and Gab would have to learn that if she were to aim steadily. Kirvan watched her as opposed to the target, her squinted eyes and tightened grip. Something about her manner suggested she was used to using some kind of similar weapon - she was clenching the thing with tight fists like he'd done when he made the same adjustment. Her grip was slightly looser, but still a firm grasp of the handles. "Seems almost as if you've done this before," he thought aloud, indirectly asking a bit about her experience. As she followed the target with the point of the harpoon, Kirvan's head turned quickly to watch the projectile as it let fly into the dark spot, this time meeting resistance as it hit the fish and sinking slightly before rising like his had done. gabrielle's excited shout brought a wide grin to his face, and he rushed forward to help pull the line. Only to back off when Gab rushed before him, letting her do it herself. She didn't seem the time to appreciate other people forcing themselves on her. After she heaved in on board, Kirvan knelt to take a look at it. About the same size as his own, which meant the shot was roughly as difficult - more fish meant more body to hit. The harpoon had gone through its neck, taking a bit of the good flesh but not too much of a problem. "Nice work," he said aloud, looking up to his sea sister. "Do you want to try again or do you want to take this back to the Anchorage?"

[Gabrielle Seawind]

“I know how to use a long bow. Actually, I’m better than awful—if that makes sense. They work in the same way… kind of. This one is just a taaad bit more difficult to control. Not sure why, probably because I’m not used to it.”

The topic was lost to her quickly, her full attention on the fish she had somehow harpooned. It rested on the deck with the harpoon sticking out of its flesh.

“No, I’m content with this one,” she said beaming. Gabrielle tugged at the harpoon and took it out of the fish’s flesh. Afterwards, she put the harpoon on the floor and examined her catch. In her mind, she was wondering if she should trade it for something else, or if she should feast on it for dinner. “Did you want to go for more? Not going to complain if you want to, it is quite enjoyable to watch.”

At the side of the boat, Kairo started to whistle. It was a playful one and he was evidently calling Gabrielle’s attention. The sound of water splashing against the boat could be heard as the excitable dolphin made a slight ruckus.

“This is my fish, Kairo!” replied Gabrielle with a laugh. “Go catch your own!”

[Kirvan Deepseeker]

"Wasn't planning to," Kirvan admitted. "I've already met my quota for the day, so I was planning to knock it back to the Flotilla to grab something to eat before taking a look around. They got some interesting trinkets there, and I'd like to see if there's anything I can buy as a good luck charm in this contest of ours." He ended with a wink before returning to his beloved casinor. As he pulled on the halyard and raised the main sail, he heard some familiar whistling and clicking just over the edge of the boat. "Just heading back for a bell or two Ster," he called over the edge, giving the line another heave. "I'll be back out to play with you soon. Why don't you play with your new friend in the meantime?" With the jib and main raised and taught, Kirvan took to the stern and grabbed the tiller. "Feel free to stay up there if you want," he called up to Gabrielle in the bow. "It can catch a good wind if I make it to a decent speed. Sometimes it's nice to just let the wind blow through your hair, you know?" After waggling the rudder a bit to shift him out of irons, Kirvan caught the wind in his main and soon after his jib filled too. He reached out to the side quickly and tightened the jib line to stop it from luffing before riding the wind out and back towards the Flotilla. "So, did you have fun?" he called out to Gabrielle. It might have sounded like an odd question, but it was a way to pass the time and he didn't think that he should just let a woman hang like that. "You're quite good for a first-timer, think you'll pick it up seriously?" After a short quarter bell they were drawing near the Flotilla again, skirting around the huge forest of masts. "Where's your boat?" he asked Gab, keeping a steady hand on the tiller.