Open Land Legs

[Ko'Lara]

1st of Autumn, 517 AV

"Well, this is it I guess." Ko smiled at her pod brother, who had helped her get her gear and belongings to her designated slice of beach and patch of jungle. "Thank you, Jem."

"No trouble, Ko." The young man wiped a bit of sweat from his brow and readjusted the scarf that kept his hair out of his face. The jingly bits of metal and wood that hung in his many braids made a sort of music as he moved. Ko sure was going to miss that. "Just be sure you visit yeah?"

"Of course, it's not like I'm far off the regular currents anyway. I'm sure I can meet the pod in Riverfall every now and again. It's not far and there's a ship that sails between here and there called the Veronica." Ko looked down at the dugout canoe full of camping gear. "Want to help me drag this a bit closer to the tree line?"

"Sure." The two, one able to pull much more than the other, tugged the canoe farther up the beach toward the trees. It would be tragic if Ko lost her tent and canoe in the tide. Once the two got the canoe a few feet from the trees Jem pulled Ko into a hug. "Don't ever lose your sea legs, and remember you'll always find home with your pod."

Ko smiled into the taller man's shoulder and gave his ribcage a squeeze before letting go and stepping back. "I know, Jem. And...make sure Corona takes care of her leg, if she doesn't stretch it every day-.."

"I got it, Ko. I'll make sure she gets her exercise." Jem glanced back in the direction of the personal Casinor bobbing out past the shoreline. A whistle pierced the air, once, twice, then stopped. "That's my signal to get back I guess, we have to get back to the pod before the tide turns." He gave Ko one last quick hug, smiling sadly when he pulled away and began to jog back to the sea.

Ko waved one last time as Jem dove into the water and swam back out to the casinor where two other members of her pod waited on the deck. She watched the whole time they moved away from her back out to sea, she pretended not to notice how much she had to blink to keep her vision from blurring. Damned wind.

Well, time to get to work.

[Ko'Lara]

1st of Autumn, 517 AV

First thing to do...set up the tent. She'd put up tents before, she'd just always had help. Looking around she realized it might be better to put her tent up just inside the tree line to keep it pretty stable even in high winds, her pavilion could be set up and taken down more easily, so that one she would put on the beach.

Ko started by unrolling her tent and eyeing up the width and length of it. "Hmm, I'm going to need to clear an area." She walked into the jungle a ways, still within sight of the beach. The area was relatively flat here so it was mostly a matter of clearing the leafy plants, dead leaf litter, and branches from an area big enough for the tent.

Easier said than done honestly. Using her knife Ko cut away at some leafy plants, piling them up nearby, maybe she could find a use for them. She used a dead forked branch that was about her height as a sort of rake to scratch away the sort of dead litter that small creatures might like to hide under. She had only been at it for an hour and she was already a little sweaty.

Ko tossed her branch on the beach in frustration after another hour. She'd barely cleared a patch large enough for her tent and she was exhausted. The air inside the forest, though cooler than on the beach, felt more oppressive because of how dense the foliage was.


"Time for a swim." Ko took off her dress and tossed it into her canoe so it wouldn't blow away in the wind and ran down to the water, diving into the surf and kicking furiously to get past the breakers.
Underwater was always a place of peace, no matter how wild the water was. Ko's gills fanned out a bit as she took in some water before following the sandy bottom deeper. She ran her hands gently over the sand, raising clouds in the wake of her fingertips. She turned and kicked for the surface, grinning as her head broke the surface. This was the life.

She swam about for a bit longer before heading back to work, she left the dress off, not like anyone was around to see her anyway. Getting the tent up was a trial in and of itself, she had forgotten a hammer so she anchored the tent's ropes by hammering the spikes into the ground with a rock. Finally she cast her canvas tarps over the top to keep any potential rain out, tied those down, and went back out to the canoe. It was nearly sunset by the time she'd hung her hammock, put her spare bedroll in her tent, and strung her bug netting over the hammock.

"What a day." Ko sighed as she drank some water from her waterskin and munched on some basic rations. Tomorrow she would need to set up her water trap, pavilion, and locate all the edibles in this area.