55th Searing 120 Year of the Age of Steel
Sun’s Zenith ¤
Sun’s Zenith ¤
Currently she was fishing, or had been trying to fish. The pole and accessories were completely unknown to her though she understood the concept of “cast, when you feel a tug, reel”, the kit that her fishing pole came with was insane to her. There were so many different kinds of lures and bobbers she was terribly confused. In the end she chose a lure that had a heavy metal sort of bell on it with what looked to be a bluejay feather also attached. This is what she had cast into the water, watching it sink to the bottom and wondering what she could possibly catch down there.
Time ticked by, she waited and waited and waited but nothing happened. By the time she finally felt a tug it was too late, she had almost fallen asleep leaning up against the tree. Reeling in with all her might it would seem there was actually nothing but weeds at the end of her rod. Pouting to herself she took care of the weeds and tossed them back into the drink, her stomach growled.
‘Oh yeah, that’s right, they need something to eat! Do fish even smell?’
She wondered to herself as she got herself up and found a large rock to turn over, looking for grubs or other creepy crawlies. She found one large nightcrawler and pulled it out of its home with some difficulty, then returned to her spot above the creek.
Instead of using a heavy weight this time she went with just a plain hook with a white feather attached and tried tying the worm on. It was hard work until finally she got it knotted and gutted just right in order to keep it on the hook. Again she cast her line and waited, feeling the water’s pull on the string and lure this time, and then stretched against the night air with a big yawn.
‘I wonder how Shasco and Althalos are. I hope they’re keeping Poppy well. I should have brought her with me, I don’t know what I was thinking!’
With the pole balanced between her thighs she rubbed her face with her hands, she was hungry and tired.
It was some time before the pole moved, but again just as she was falling asleep she could feel it, the tug of something stuck on the line. Dearly hoping it wasn’t another pile of weeds she tugged the pole back and felt a rush as something clearly alive slapped its tail at the top of the water. Reeling in slowly now she took her time trying to pull in the fish. It wasn’t easy and she once thought she had lost it but after a time she finally reeled in a brown and red speckled fish about the size of her hand. It flapped and gasped for air in her hand as she pulled out the hook from its jaw, and feeling sorry for it she put it out of its misery with a stone. Heading over to her crafted spit she stuck the fish on a stick, then remembered she may need to gut the thing. Using her knife she cut down the bottom of the fish like she had seen done at the docks fish stalls in Kalzasi and its guts fell out. She threw them in the fire to make sure no creatures would come bother her on this night. Pulling out the rest she tossed those into the river watching them get swept away down the creek. Now she was ready to cook her fish on the spit and stick it above the fire.
Fully satisfied she realised it would be some time before the food was done. Rather than take a nap she figured it might be nice to take a swim. Disrobing herself was the easy part, jumping butt-naked into the chilly waters on the other hand was not so easy. As she cannon balled into the deep creek hitting the water and coming to the top had her teeth chattering with her holding her shoulders. Instead of getting out she swam a few laps and played in the water, eventually acclimating to the cooler temperature. When finally she got bored of swimming in circles she just let her body go slack, allowing the slow creek to gently push her downstream.
Thoughts went through her head as she stared at the treetops, again she wondered about Poppy, mentally kicking herself for not bringing her.
‘What has gotten into me recently?’
She was making all kinds of rash decisions, this trip being one of them indeed. She was lucky she even thought to have bought a map so she could make it to Loras in relative safety, Taelian and his portals couldn’t save her twice. These impulsive decisions she hoped were leading her towards fortune instead of ruin, something about these footsteps she was taking in regards to a path of decisions seemed to be leading her certainly somewhere.
‘Is there such a thing as coincidence? Oh gods, I hope Shasco really isn’t making a huge mess. What have I done?’
These questions would all remain a mystery as she heard voices heading up the stream. Moving her body to be back in an upright treading position in the water she tried to be as silent as she could as she hid from their sight underneath an eave of the dirt bank. Directly above her now she could hear their voices and became acutely aware of how naked she was. She froze there for moments, eyes wide with anxiety too frozen yet to problem solve. The voices above her were that of two men and a woman, it would seem they had decided to camp here for the night.
“I could say, Richard, tha maybe if ya shared the rum I woodn’t always be such a bitch to ya.”
A barking laugh sounded through the night, it was the woman. Saej clung to the dirt now looking all around her for some kind of out for the situation.
Now could be heard the sounds of twigs snapping as they readied the fire, then the sound of what she assumed to be the rum jug. It sloshed and clinked in its glass container. Saej found some purchase so she didn’t have to quietly tread anymore, one foot on the bank and her left arm holding onto a thick root. She slipped once, causing a splash to which her unknown companions said, startled,
“What were that?”
And the woman came again in reply to the man,
“It’s probably just a turtle takin a bath. Leave it be.”
Saej waited under that overhanging bank for so long she finally was awoken to the sound of snores above her. The light was shining in the sky now, just a peak, but everyone seemed to be sleeping. Her arm was numb and ached, but she was safe and sound. Trying not to panic she swam back up the stream as quietly as possible and made it eventually to her camp. The fire had gone out and the fish was burnt to a crisp. She was pretty upset, naturally, as she put her clothing back on and got out the fishing rod again, she was absolutely starving.
