Sudden swimming[Enria]

[Kitchi]

13th Spring, 513

Kitchi sat by the almost still waters of the Sanikas river. She fixed her blue eyes onto the ripples and faint movements beneath the surface. She was surprised how easily the fish seemed to surface, glimmering scales shuddering in the pale light. She had jammed a borrowed fishing rod into the slightly damp ground, the wooden pole reaching into the air and starting to curve towards the river. Almost invisible fishing line seemed to reach into the water, weighed down by a metal hook. So far she had not been successful in collecting any fish, Kitchi was starting to learn just how much patience it took to fish. At least with hunting she was constantly moving, treading a new path through the forests and scanning the leaves for any faint movement, she was glad that it was not her chosen profession, hunting was far more entrancing. Boredom was starting to set in, she wished that she had brought a book, or paper or something, anything, to keep her occupied while she was sitting by the calm waters however she knew that if she was occupied her attention would waive and the bobbing line would be forgotten. Sighing she glanced up and down the river, was she in the wrong location? Perhaps the fish further away from the salty sea water would bite more, or perhaps the salt water fish would be more catchable? She wished she had researched more about fish rather then just how to catch them, it seemed like a huge gap in her knowledge that she hated, how had she missed such a huge important part of fishing? Internally she cursed herself before scanning the waters once twisting her attention away from the fishing rod. Her belongings had been laid out besides her, the wooden bow, the metal dagger and her prized tarot cards laid out carefully in a line. Kitchi yawned, stretching her arms out behind her and placing them against the ground. Her blue eyes studied the water once more, what was she suppose to do now?
Before she could contemplate the question something heavy hit her. Her and the object launched forwards, limbs flailing out around her. The water she had previously been admiring started to move towards her quickly. Gravity pulling her down. Her eyes managed to shut before she plunged into the cold water. She heard the splash upon impact, the noise seemed to fill her ears and it was all that she could hear. The cold water around her clung to her skin, starting to fill her lungs. Her arms and legs flailed desperately, fighting the push of the water in an attempt to surface. The lack of oxygen was starting to make her dizzy. Eventually she broke the surface, coughing and spluttering scraps of water as she barely managed to stay afloat. Bewildered blue eyes twisted around, spotting the red haired source of her sudden plunge.

[Enria]

Enria had decided to take a walk along the bank of the Sanikas River; she occasionally drifted closer to where the river lapped on the bay to see if she could spot a flash of silver. It intrigued her how fluid they moved through the water, when she couldn’t even swim. Their movements seemed soothing; it reminded her that in all aspects of life there is beauty to be found.

She tore herself away from the silver fish, and began moving forward. In the horizon she could make out a figure sitting with a fishing rod. It was not uncommon for people to fish in this area. But Enria had never come across anyone fishing; it would be intriguing to find out what it involved. Besides it seemed almost peaceful to be at one with nature like that, maybe if she came closer that peaceful atmosphere would rub off on her; she quickened her pace, eager to investigate it.

The figure had spared a glance up and down the river, had they seen her approaching? Or were they too concerned in locating fish? She continued walking up the bay, towards the figure fishing. She casually threw a glance towards the river and admired how the sunlight danced on the river’s surface. She wondered whether the person fishing admired how beautiful the river seemed today. Perhaps they did in some way.

Her vision of the fisher seemed to clear, as if a fog had lifted, and she noticed a lean frame coiled like a spring with auburn hair like a crown around this person’s head. As Enria kept walking towards the fisher, she noticed the fisher seemed to be a woman. Each step, clearing up some of the mystery of the fisher, but it was her hair that seemed to stoke something inside Enria.

Enria stood a few feet from the woman, whilst the woman uncoiled herself and bent towards the lapping water in search of fish. It struck her then that she knew this woman; it was her friend from the Yasiry, one whom she hadn’t seen in a while. It was Kitchi. She broke out into a short sprint, ready to bounce up beside her friend, the river’s beauty abandoned in her excitement.

As she bounded closer, within touching distant, Enria’s foot connected with something hard. It all happened so fast, Enria’s body flew in the air momentarily like a bird before she crashed into her friend. The two bodies slamming into the water; Enria tensed, her eyes scrunched tight, before she was embraced by the river. It’s calmer nature, seemingly disturbed by these two figures.

Enria waved her arms around, like an infant reaching out for its mother, grasping nothing. Her lungs screamed for her to take on air, but all she could feel was the water engulfing her. She pushed up against the strength of the river, and broke the surface. She took big gulps of air to subside the fire in her lungs. Her face bobbing around the surface in search of Kitchi, who was coughing up scraps of water. Enria shot her an apologetic smile before feeling something wriggle beneath her. She scanned the river and couldn’t see anything. While her hands braced, like an eagle’s ready to grab their prey, as she snatched and grabbed at whatever it was that was causing this unusual sensation beneath her; her two hands gripped tightly onto something, it’s scaly skin confirmed it was a fish but Enria was still determined to examine it closer.

She hauled it out of the water, and once confirming what she already knew, gave Kitchi a victorious look.

“Well at least we got this!” She announced, breaking the silence between the two.

As if in retaliation to this announcement the fish began wriggling, trying to break free of her grasp. A look of shock flashed across her face as she tried determinedly to keep a hold of it.

[/quote]

[Kitchi]

The splashing of water was deafening as Kitchi started to head towards the land quickly, she could investigate the other Inarta in a moment she decided as she moved. It was difficult to make her way through the water, having no idea what she was suppose to do with her limps and having only experienced water she could reach the floor in. Once she reached solid land she collapsed to her knees, coughing up the remains of water that had started to invade her senses. Learn to swim to avoid that Kitchi chastised herself internally for never having learnt, it seemed such an obvious skill but she had never had time for it before. Eventually her blue eyes turned back toward the spray of red hair and Kitchi studied the Inarta who had knocked into her with curiosity as she started to rise from the water. The strangers long red hair starting to tangle together from the water and Kitchi imagioned hers would be just as bad. A face appeared. Pale and familiar with honied eyes scanning the shore.For a moment Kitchi froze, a rush of memories starting to fill her brain as it placed the name against the face. Enria.
Almost before Kitchi could fully contemplate events Enria began to raise her hands, displaying a scaled fish grasped against her hands. It sat still for a moment, echoing the shock which spiked through Kitchi.
“Well at least we got this!” The happy voice called almost triumphantly but the fish began to wiggle again, it limps flailing just as wildly out of water as theirs had within the confining, blue liquid. Enria looked shocked for a moment before begining to fight against the desperate pleas of the fish. Water started to splash around them with each movement.
"Quick pass it here" Kitchi dived forwards slightly, careful to avoid another dive into the waiting ripples of the water. Her long fingers reached out towards Enria and the wiggling fish. She was not entirely sure what she would do if they somehow managed to get the fish on land but nothing else came to mind immediately.

[Enria]

Enria panicked as the fish began to wriggle for freedom in her fingers; its violent thrashing evoking both shock and awe of its desperate actions to survive. Enria focused on keeping her fingers clamped tight around the fish’s scaly body, she barely registered the water spraying in erratic chaos around her. Enria’s body wiggled and swayed and she tried to keep the fish from escaping, the water sloshing around her began to make her feel disorientated. Her surroundings seemed to merge into a blur as she tried to keep the fish in focus. Enria began to feel a little sea sick, if she got out of this river she was going to need a lie down.

A shout from the shore dispersed Enria’s thoughts of panic. “Quick pass it here.”

Enria couldn’t come up with a better plan and flung the fish with all her might in the direction of the voice. She hoped her aim was good, because she would kick herself if after all this it still managed to swim away with only Enria’s claw marks as a reminder of its near death experience.

The waves slapped against her, this time knocking her off her feet. She fell back into the water, this time unable to catch a breath before the water wrapped around her. The water was even less inviting the second time Enria was immersed in it. As tiny swirls and ripples swirled around her, as if in a vain attempt to calm her, Enria almost began to feel relaxed and disconnected from everything. But the burning sensation lit itself inside her like the lava of a volcano ready to blast out, bringing her out of that feeling. Enria thought she would explode if she didn’t reach the surface soon.

Her arms sprayed around her grapping and clawing at this confining space while her legs floundered beneath her as she feebly broke the surface, like a monster emerging from the deep ocean. She gasped and coughed up scraps of water, while her eyes burned and tried to gain its bearings on her surroundings. The familiar sense of nausea hit her like the waves rocking against her.

Once she felt steady enough to move, she began slowly wading her way to the shore. Internally chiding herself to be more careful in future; she had always known she was clumsy, she been like even from a young age. So why did she still insist on running around at a hundred miles an hour when she knew something like this could happen? That was one question about herself that Enria couldn’t place an answer to.

As soon as she passed into shallow waters, her body lurched forward and she crawled onto the shore. She collapsed on the shore, next to the fish which was still flapping in a vain plea for water; Enria could sympathise with the fish, it longed for the river much as she had longed for the air when she was submerged. Enria closed her eyes as the world began to spin out of control while her nausea began gaining momentum and smacked her like a punch to the stomach. She concentrated on taking deep breaths, inhale through the nose and exhale through the mouth, in an attempt to settle her churning stomach. It still felt as if she was being sloshed around in the river. She let out a groan and opened her eyes slowly, first peaking at her surroundings before opening her eyes wider and absorbing her surroundings once more.

The fish giving one last desperate flip of its body, landed lifeless on ground while a pair of feet moved into Enria’s line of vision.

[Kitchi]

The fish came flying towards her, still flapping desperately despite being airborne. It soared over her head and landed with a thud against the ground. Kitchi flinched at the sound, she'd be surprised if it managed to retain much life after such an impact. Her attention swiveled back towards Enria who had disappeared under the ripples of deep blue. Panic started to float through Kitchi as she nervously watched the water, waiting for the splash of red hair and vibrant life to reamerge, why had she taken her eyes away anyways? Part of her wanted to wade in and help but Kitchi wasn't sure how much help she would be, perhaps more of a hindrance. Instead she continued to watch the water as time seemed to tick by painfully slowly. What was happening? She gulped, starting to fear the worst.
Eventually she spotted the emergence of the spluttering Inarta and a sense of relief flooded through her. Kitchi watched as the red haired girl started to splash towards the shore with uneven strokes, much like Kitchi had earlier. Part of her wondered if they was something which would help but decided to leave alone, her aid would likely be battered off and she had no medical expertise to offer. Enria seemed to ignore her as she approached the shore and collapsed against the water near to the still flapping fish, it was determined to live almost impressively so and part of Kitchi argued to just knock it into the water while Enria was busy. The idea was pushed from her mind, after all the time fishing to take pity on one? Kitchi shook her head and turned curios sapphire eyes towards Enria. Enria was still spluttering as she leaned against the solid ground, her hair danced out around her head like a red halo. As if to force attention back to it the fish seemed to give a last almighty jump in its bid for water but landed dully against the ground once more, thudding as it did so. Ignoring the now lifeless form Kitchi approached the Inarta again, glancing down at the splay of red hair and water dancing around her ankle boots
“Typical, you catch more in a moment of clumsiness then I do all day” She tutted but a playful smile played across her face. Long fingers extended down towards Enria, offering belated help.

[Enria]

“Typical, you catch more in a moment of clumsiness then I do all day.” Kitchi tutted.

Enria couldn’t help but smirk at that, as she pulled the wave of red hair which had flopped over her face. She pulled herself up so that she sat on her knees and taking Kitchi’s outstretched hand pulled herself, slowly, into a standing position. Enria felt dizzy for a moment, her body slightly swaying in uneasiness; her hand clutching Kitchi’s arm for support. Enria took deep breaths and began to focus on Kitchi’s concerned face, until her body had adjusted to the sudden change in position. She offered a small smile to her friend to comfort her.

“I’m fine by the way.” Her smile broadening into a grin. She let go of her friend and bent down to pick up the now lifeless fish which had caused most of this trouble. Although, Enria was far from innocent in all this; in fact the only innocent party seemed to be Kitchi. She waved the fish so its body jiggled in her hand as if to make light of the trouble she had caused and let out a little giggle.

“All this trouble for a fish!” Enria jested, though there was truth behind her words. “We’re soaked!”

Enria gestured down at herself as if Kitchi hadn’t noticed. Shaking her head slightly, as if to brush off the droplets of water that was dribbling down her like rivers running towards the sea, she smiled. The whole experience seemed to bemuse her and ignite a familiar sense of embarrassment. Enria applied a cool, dripping hand, to her cheek as if to stave off the flame red cheeks that, she was sure, were creeping up on her face. She gestured to Kitchi that they should move further inland and away from the water; as Enria felt sure that all she’d have to do is hand over the fish and they’d most likely end up in the water again.

Enria turned and made her way inland and away from the water, which had lapped around at her feet like an eager puppy; part of her wanting to get away from the water’s edge until she had learnt how to swim because she felt sure that, despite her being whirled in every direction imaginable, that the water could also be another way she could relieve the tension a day’s work brings her. She whipped around to face her friend and plonked herself, cross legged, on the ground. She placed the fish so it lay lengthways on her left thigh before she patted the ground beside her to encourage her friend to join her.

While she waited for Kitchi to come and sit with her, she let her eyes flicker and roam over the smooth silvery surface of the fish. The jaggered red claw marks were the only sign of harm on it. Enria felt almost guilty that this fish’s last memory was that of a cruel and slow death, but it served as a reminder to her that life had it’s cruel moments. She had to remember it was a dog eat dog world out there and that not everything that was beautiful was safe, as the glittering river had painfully reminded her. The fish, itself, was neither small not big in size but it was big enough to lie across both of Enria’s palms.

As her mind began running away with her, she began to feel chagrined at herself for having been so foolish. Why on earth did she feel the need to run to her friend, whom she knew so well, when anyone else would have merely have walked up and greeted their friend with a simple hello? Enria let out a small, almost inaudible, sigh as she felt her cheeks flush. She had never felt so embarrassed before and Enria had already done some foolish things.

Enria looked to Kitchi and offered the fish out to her in the hopes that it would be an olive branch after their accident in the river.

“You should have this. Call it a gift to apologise for my clumsiness.” Enria said. She deliberately avoided using the word sorry, unless she had, because it made her feel weak and vulnerable to mocking.

A small breeze picked up and brushed past the pair and Enria felt a tiny shiver run down her spine. She heard Kitchi say something but she couldn’t quite catch what she was saying.

[Kitchi]

Kitchi studied the offered silver fish, its silver scales glittering in the light. Kitchi placed her hands on either side of the fish, taking its weigh onto her own hands.

“Why don't we share it? I'm sure I could work up a fire and maybe cook it” Kitchi suggested as she shifted the fish onto the ground besides her. “I have my firebox with me, we just have to collect some dry twigs” Kitchi produced the small box with a flint and steel which she carried with her and opened it up to expose the grey flint and curled, rough steel bar. It was something that she had rarely used but starting a fire outside was something not completely foreign to the hunter. Kitchi placed the opened box besides the fish and stood up, her blue eyes scanning the surroundings for any dropped twigs. To the side she spotted some suitable fallen branches to form a frame for the fire and started to head towards them. Upon approach she realised that the wood was not quite as dry as she had hoped but she gathered it into her arms, ready to persist regardless. “Could you find some stones? And maybe some dried grass and I'll get some more wood” Kitchi turned back towards Enria who seemed to be standing in a similar location. Kitchi flashed her a smile as she dropped the branches in a messy pile besides the fish and metal tinderbox.

In her mind she could see the fire built with a ring of stones and burning perfectly within a ring of even looking stones but reality reminded her that such a feet was unlikely, it would be a messy pile of burnable things they would throw on for fear the fire had stopped. She hoped that they would find some paper or something that burns easy as an igniter, she was aware how impossible it actually was to make a fire from purely wood especially when the wood was not completely dried.
Kitchi managed to collect more, smaller, dried twigs and add them to the slowly growing collection of resources that would hopefully form the fire on which to cook.

“Are you any good at cooking? I'm useless” Kitchi confessed to the other Inarta as they worked to gather resources.

[Enria]

She smiled at her friend. It was kind of her to share the fish with her. As she looked at her friend scavenging for some firewood, Enria sighed and pulled herself up and went in search of firewood herself; leaving the fish nestling next to Kitchi’s firebox.

“Could you find some stones? And maybe some dried grass and I'll get some more wood.” Kitchi called as Enria had begun foraging for some firewood.

“Okay.” She replied and switched her search to find dry grass and stones that were small enough for Enria to carry but large enough to contain the fire to one spot.

After a few moments of searching, Enria managed to find a small patch of grass that was dry enough to be picked and used for the fire. She pulled out patches of the grass, a handful at a time, and after a small bundle she placed it beside the growing pile of firewood, the fish and the firebox. Kitchi was still gathering more firewood; though just by looking at the pile resting beside the fish, Enria could tell that would be sufficient enough to cook a fish on. Perhaps she was gathering more in case the fire died down? Enria smiled; Kitchi was resourceful.

Enria turned her attention back to the task in hand and went in search for some stones that would encompass the fire. She had managed to find several so far, which she had placed beside the rest of their resources, and thought that a few more would suffice. After several more minutes, Enria slowly returned to Kitchi with the last lot of stones that Enria gripped tightly with both arms. Enria silently panicked in case she tripped and dropped the heavy collection of stones or in case they spilled out from her grasp. But her worries were soon diminished as she placed the last lot of stones with the rest she had gathered minutes earlier.

Enria stood up, her wet clothes clinging to her; though Enria wasn’t sure if that was through sweat or through her venture into the water earlier. She flashed a smile to her friend before picking up a small bundle of firewood.

“I’ll set up the fire.” She offered and wondered a few feet away before dumping the wood on the ground.

She turned on her heels, which squelched with water, and began moving the stones down where the fire would soon be; the pair slowly formed a circle around the firewood with the stones; till eventually the small pile of firewood was completely surrounded by stones. The fire pit wasn’t much to look, it probably looked a little scruffy if Enria was honest, but it was purpose built rather than appearance built, Enria thought.

“Are you any good at cooking? I'm useless.” Kitchi admitted, as a light breeze wrapped itself around the pair; it twisted and twirled their hair like a young Yasi playing hairdresser. Enria knew they needed to light the fire soon otherwise they would risk getting a chill from their wet clothes.
“I know a little.” She confided, after a short pause, to her friend before smiling. She picked up the fish once more and wiggled it again. “We need to gut this.”

She remembered back to her work experience in the communal kitchens and remembered seeing a cook gut a fish by cutting a line on the underside of the fish. It seemed simple enough, they just needed a knife. But with a quick glance around, she deducted that Kitchi had not brought a knife with her and neither had she. Well neither of you saw this coming! Her thoughts scoffed.
“Why don’t you go and light the fire. I’ll try gutting this fish.” Enria said.
Kitchi may as well be lighting the fire while Enria sussed out how to gut a fish without a knife, Enria thought to herself. She wandered over to where she had gathered the stones in search for stone that would act as a substitute for a knife.

She eventually settled on a flat toothed stone and settling on the floor once more, with her stone and fish in hand, she began to gut the fish. She jaggedly cut a line, just as she had remembered seeing the cook do, along the fish’s belly. She cut a line from its tail and stopped just shy of its mouth. Placing the stone on the floor beside her, she used her fingers to prise open the fish. The smell and disgusting appearance of soft red flesh, Enria steeled herself and used her hands to act like claws and ripped out everything inside; she was unsure if any of the insides were ‘safe’ to eat. Her hands clamped around gooey insides and pulled out them until they were out. It reminded her of the eagles clawing at their prey at their supper time. She pulled out the bones of the fish and discarded them on the floor with the rest of the insides she didn’t want.

Enria racked her brain for another memory. What had the cook done next? But the memory wouldn’t surface and Enria’s brow furrowed in concentration. Were the head and the tail safe to eat? Enria bit her lip, she wasn’t sure. Perhaps she should just get rid of them anyway. After all it was better to be safe than sorry, Enria thought. Besides she wasn’t sure if she and Kitchi would want to dine on a head and a tail. Enria wrinkled her nose up at the mere thought of it.

She picked up the rock again and pounded it into the fish and after nearly beheading the fish, Enria pulled the head off with her own bare hands. Enria thought she’d have been better off with a knife because the stone was proving to make the job of preparing the fish even harder. Still it was better than nothing, Enria reminded herself. She returned to pounding the fish once more, this time in an attempt to rid the thing of its tail.

After successfully riding the fish of both its head and tail, Enria used the stone to spilt the rest of the fish in two; one for her and one for Kitchi. This also helped her dig out bones of the fish which surprised Enria. She didn’t think that a fish that could wriggle as much as that had in her grip could have bones; she thought it was all muscles.

She then swiped two twigs from the reserve pile of firewood and began to skewer a piece of fish on each. That would make it easy in cooking the fish because they could just hold the twigs over the fire. Enria double checked that each fish was secure on each twig before getting up and joining her friend by the fire.

As she approached Kitchi, she noticed the fire was unlit. Enria began to feel confused. Why was the fire not lit? She stood beside her friend, who seemed deep in concentration and handed her the twig with her side of the fish on it; she gave her a small smile.

“Fires are tricky things to get going, aren’t they?” Enria said in an attempt to lighten the mood. She turned to look at her friend and asked, “What should we do with the rest of it, the bits we can’t eat? Should we burn them?”