Continuing the Search

[Armaud Eden]

He took a deep breath, sucking on the shoot. He knew he could trust Kinsey. Not only because of what they had been through, but what he could feel through the squeeze of her hand. It was warm and soothing, an alien closeness for someone who kept everyone at arms length. Not because it was intentional, but because that was his habit. His sails were always open, he couldn't help it.

And when they weren't, his anchor was set deep in the swamps.

"I am glad I met you on Betha..." He placed his free hand over hers, moving his thumb across her knuckles. "I'm not sure I could have handled this alone. At least...not in any way that resembled healthy. Though..." He gave her one final squeeze before retracting his hands from hers. "I'm still firmly rooted in denial." He said with a chuckle, picking up the bow, quiver, and fishing line.

"I'll give the hook a try. If that doesn't work...I can always cheat." He plucked the line of the bow one time and nodded outside. "There's a nice pit for a fire near the water, couple of stumps for sitting. Come join me...when you're feeling up to it."

He needed to think.

[member="Kinsey Starchaser"]

 

[Kinsey Starchaser]

[member="Armaud Eden"]

By. The. Water.

"Okay." She nodded. Obviously, this was for him. "You do realize you're holding me hostage on this island, right?" She called after him in jest. While it may have seemed the case, even jokingly so, it wasn't. Kinsey Starchaser was an adventurer and always found a way out of unfavorable situations. Well. Usually always.

But she was worried about Armaud. She knew grief would come later. And it would probably hit hard.

Taking a sip of the tea, she grimaced.

It was no Dac Island but her head needed it.

Not long after he left, she tested the weight on her feet. Pretty good. Still holding the tea, she made her way out of the hut, boots stepping on the springy ground. Just a bit of that silver chain glinted along her neck. The fire in the pit was already started and the area had a surprisngly cozy feeling for being out in the open. Stooping down, she picked up a few small sticks and added them to the flame.

The goal was not to jostle the head around too much.

She eased herself down on one of the available stumps, blues tracking to Armaud.

"I'm guessing cheating means you'll use the force."

 

[Armaud Eden]

He was busy tossing the line into the water when she had arrived. He had left his shirt hanging on a branch. It was clearly a fashion choice and not a result of him slipping into the water and dunking himself. His hair wasn't wet from the water, that was totally sweat from all his hard work.

"Oh, no." He avoided shaking his head, doing his best not to jostle the line. "Cheating is tying a line to one of those arrows and shooting a fish as it swims by." It was cheating because it was unfair. All one needed was a bit of bait, or something that appeared as bait, dropped on top of the water. Then it was like shooting fish in a really large barrel.

"I don't need the force to survive out here..." He said with an air of confidence, something that was well earned by his own calculations. As he pulled the line slowly across the water, he pursed his lips and tugged the hook back in. "Catfish are angry creatures. Gotta just make 'em a bit more angry, or hungry, and they'll attack the line. I'm sure of it..." He said as he tossed the hook back out.

Turning to look at Kinsey, he arched a brow.

"I'm kind of surprised you came out...what with the water and all."

[member="Kinsey Starchaser"]

 

[Kinsey Starchaser]

[member="Armaud Eden"]

"Well, if you use the bow and arrow, you'd just be showing off your arms," that lopsided grin arched across her lips. Funny thing was? This was the most unclothed she'd ever seen Armaud. That was a funny thought in of itself. She shifted on the stump.

Ah yes, his water comment.

"This is how you can tell I care," she smirked, though the comment was genuine enough. "But this is about as close as you'll get me."

Another sip of tea.

"So why the tattoo rings on your arm?"

 

[Armaud Eden]

"Oh yeah, these guns huh..." He flexed his free arm. It was small arms at best. But a very rugged cut of metal, for sure. Nothing like a lean ranger style, cutting through the woods. "Opp..." He tugged on the line and the hook flew out of the water. "Damnit." He was sure he felt a bite but maybe he tugged a bit before the appropriate time. He cast it back out, using his free hand to fling loose bits of bark across the water.

"Oh, this..." He looked down at his arm, wrinkling his nose. "I..uhh..." He looked up towards the parting in the canopy over the water, towards the various stars in the sky. For all his wandering, he was dreadful when it came to constellations. It was an odd hobby in this day and age, considering it changed with every planet one visited. Seemed like a better idea to learn to navigate without it.

"Family wanted mares and cattle. I thought I'd try my hand at setting up the concertina fencing for poachers. Used this arm..." He wiggled his fingers. "As the spool. Got a good length set up before a rowdy mare smashed the post in and bolted. She took the fencing with her, dragged me for about a tenth of a mile before she got bored and trotted back. Mom..." Maud laughed as he jigged the fishing line. "She was furious but Gabe thought it was the funniest thing he had ever seen. After all the blood was cleaned up, of course..."

Maud smiled as he looked over to Kinsey. "It's a cover up. Obscures the scars pretty well, I think...what about your scars? "

[member="Kinsey Starchaser"]

 

[Kinsey Starchaser]

[member="Armaud Eden"]

A small smile curved on her lips as he spoke. She supposed she sided with Gabe’s reaction. It was rather funny to picture a younger Maud being dragged across a field - as long as he was mostly fine in the end. And it was rather funny to see his frustration at missing a fish.

“Oh,” she looked down and put a self-conscious hand over her arm where the scars started before they disappeared up the sleeve of her shirt. It was easy for her to forget they showed at all, especially because she wasn’t one of those beauty-conscious girls who were horrified at ever getting scars. Scars told a story and were a reminder of being alive. And there was typically a lesson learned somewhere in there.

Fingers pushed her sleeve up further, the three lines continuing up. The crackle of the fire warmed her back. “I dunno if you’ll believe me,” eyes drifted away from her arm to find his verdant gaze. “An amulet was stolen from me by some Vagrant fleet member. Tracking him down and all that is a long story in of itself.”

She waved it away.

“I ended up searching his quarters after I joined the Vagrant fleet with a friend.”

That nautolan, Xin Boa.

“Finding a stolen amulet wouldn’t normally be...dangerous. But this was a Sith amulet that turned the wearer into a nexu. Xin was looking and pulled something down from the closet and the amulet fell, encircling his arm. Everything happened so fast. He transformed pretty quickly and I knew I had a second to try and get it off him.”

Head shook and she smiled ruefully.

“I succeeded but not before his claws dug into me.”

She shrugged as if this was a completely normal thing to happen. Stomach rumbled. She was definitely getting hungry.

“Sure you don’t need any help?” Dark-brow quirked and lips twitched.

 

[Armaud Eden]

He eyed the scars as she told the story, absentmindedly jigging the line as he listened to the tale. It was quite the tale, he admitted to himself, wondering about this Xin Boa. Was he still a friend or was this sort of activity the thing that could get one kicked off the list. It seemed, maybe, Kinsey had a bit more friends than Maud did.

"It's not a bad looking scar...if that helps." Sort of location that could be hidden if needed. She was fortunate, given the circumstances.

Smiling at her comment, he nodded and found a branch along a tree nearby. Running the line over it, he encircled the branch once and then ran the end over to Kinsey. "There, just bounce it around...and you don't even have to leave your seat." It was all dependent on the fishes temperament anyway.

Setting the other spool of thick gauge under a rock, he fastened the end of the line to the tail of an arrow. Picking up the bow, he nocked the fastened arrow and looked out into the water. "Of all the things we've seen, you think a story about an amulet and a friend named Xin turning into a Nexu would be what I deemed unbelievable..." He stopped and pulled the arrow back at half pound.

He spotted the flash of silver. He'd wait to see it again.

[member="Kinsey Starchaser"]

 

[Kinsey Starchaser]

[member="Armaud Eden"]

"Thanks," fingertips brushed against his as he handed off the line. She pulled the tip of the stick back in a slow bob. "Har, har. Fair 'nuff. Though, we haven't so much seen or experienced the mystical together, have we? Just brain eaters, bugs, thugs, and the First Order."

Granted. First order coulda fallen in line with the thugs category.

"Although, I think I told you about my run in with the starweirds. Very disagreeable beings."

Sighing, she leaned forward, elbow on her thigh, upturned hand beneath her chin. There was a sudden lurch on her line. Then another tug. Sitting up straight, she pulled the stick back.

"Ha. I think I got one!"

 

[Armaud Eden]

"Oh I don't know...talking bugs, glowing crystals, that seems fairly mystic-"

He stopped as he pulled the bow back to full tension. Catching a separate flash of silver, further into the water, he loosed the arrow and it sounded with a dull whisper. Cutting through the water, he waited. The slack formed and then it tightened, giving him the cue to drop the bow and step on the line. Leaning down, he wrapped his arm with the cord - not unlike the concertina wire - and began walking back. He had a good size fish on there, the line was dancing all over.

"Yank it hard, Kins...just once should do." He grimaced as he stumbled forward and then arched his back, continuing his step back. "If you sink the hook. It'll tucker itself out."

He looked back towards her. "Then we can reel it in. Easy peasy."

[member="Kinsey Starchaser"]

 

[Kinsey Starchaser]

[member="Armaud Eden"]

Kins.

Dax used to call her that. She hadn't realized how much she missed hearing that nickname until she heard it from someone other than her missing twin. A small, secret smile claimed her face.

She nodded to Armaud, trying not to stare at the buckle of muscles along his arms as he let that arrow fly.

Yanking hard on the stick once, she stood and began slowly walking backwards. The line definitely remained taught. The not-so-lucky fish on the other end was definitely still there. And fighting. She felt a momentary twang of guilt that was quickly overridden by the growl of her stomach. Boots stepped carefully backward, didn't want to fall on her head again. Luckily, the line wasn't that long so she didn't have far to walk.

"Don't hurt your arm again," she replied mildly and with one final tug, the fish flopped from the water and onto the shore. Kinsey squinted in the darkness and crackling-glow of the fire.

"Is my fish bigger than yours?" She asked innocently.

 

[Armaud Eden]

He chuckled quietly, shaking his head. Like he'd hurt his arm like this, pulling a fish out of an isolated body of water. Unless it was a shark. Then he could be in some real danger.

He lost track of his footing for a second, thinking about pulling out a shark from a water boy manually, and tripped over a root. Landing on his rump, he gave out an audible oomph as he stumbled slowly back up and began pulling again. A little while after hers was out, Maud managed to wrangle his fish on to the shore.

He grumbled something about the fish being close as he walked towards his catch. It was far enough away from the light for her to not see as he pulled out his hatchet and thwacked the fish hard across the back of the head. As it spasmed, he de-gilled it ran the line up the tree to hang it for a moment.

"Not bad for the recently concussed..." He stated quietly as he walked into the firelight, looping his hatchet with a smile. "Since it's your fish, I assume you'll be killing it?" He pressed his hands on his hips, thoughtfully. "Or I could show you how?"

[member="Kinsey Starchaser"]

 

[Kinsey Starchaser]

[member="Armaud Eden"]

"What can I say? Kinsey Starchaser brings her A-game." A wide-grin split her face with a little swagger in her step. That swagger faltered as he talked about killing. It would've been much easier if he'd just killed the fish as he killed his. Ugh. But Armaud never made things easy.

She gulped. Jaw lifted in determination.

"No, no. I can do it. Hatchet?" Walking up to him, she held out her hand stubbornly and expectantly. Eyes drifted down as she caught the silhouette of his bum in the firelight before he turned fully to her. "Um. You've got some dirt. In that-um area."

 

[Armaud Eden]

He dusted himself, unashamed of his dirt ridden self. It was the way things were supposed to be. As his hand moved to the hatchet, he thought the suggestion over and realized that he should have done it from the start. She wasn't raised in the woods like him - she had no need to prove herself and if she didn't know how, he'd rather the fish didn't suffer.

"Let me do it this one time. You can do it next time around." He stated confidently, sensing her unease. Kneeling next to the fish, he grasped it by the body and brought the flat back of the hatchet down on the back of its head. As the catfish spasmed, Maud waited for it let out that final gasp before reaching into its gill set and ripping out a single raker.

Then he took her line and strung it up from the same tree. "They got little barbs. Poke you in the fingers, could be sore for days if it doesn't get infected on top of that." Clapping his hands together, his nostrils flared as he took in the fresh air.

"So you said no on the wood sorrel?"

[member="Kinsey Starchaser"]

 

[Kinsey Starchaser]

[member="Armaud Eden"]

Blues watched him closely as he worked with the fish, confident that she'd be able to do it on her own next time. She did not have as wide of a range of outdoor survival as Armaud. But she was no slouch. She knew how to find water and treat it in several climates. She knew about foraging for edible nuts and berries, how to make a fire, basic first aid - as in bacta patches and stitches. But she always planned for trips like that with plenty of rations. Or planned a drop for rations.

This was definitely different.

The girl found a seat back on the smoothed out stump. She nodded along at his explanation. She didn't take offense even if she had a feeling he was covering up. Nose crinkled at the mention of the bitter root.

"What? No. It's so bitter. Unless it tastes better cooked with fish." She winked. Fingers extended toward the warmth of the fire, a shudder running through her body. She was surprised to find that she was colder than she thought she'd be.

 

[Armaud Eden]

He fanned out his shirt, it was fairly dry with the residual heat from the fire. "It's uhh..." He slid the shirt back on. "More like a pepper when it's ground up. Like fresh pepper corn." He shrugged. "We don't have to use it if you don't want. Just cause I'm making dinner..."

He huffed as he stepped away from the water, carrying a large flagstone. The fire pit was set up with rock columns on each side and as he approached, he set the flat stone on top of the fire. And began to feed branches in beneath it. "Doesn't mean you can't help." He smirked as he waved. "Be right back."

Pulling his knife out from his boot, he walked behind the hut. Kinsey might have heard some slashing and he returned fairly quickly. One hand, he held a bunch of potato beans pulled from an overhead vine - the other hand held a bag of assorted spices. Finding another flat stone nearby, he sat down and set the potato sized beans on the stone.

"If you want, you can grab the fish now...they've bled for enough I think. I'll just chop these up." He went to work on peeling.

[member="Kinsey Starchaser"]

 

[Kinsey Starchaser]

[member="Armaud Eden"]

"Sure, Chef Armaud," she smirked and stood. After a few unsuccessful tugs, she finally got both lines down from the trees. She couldn't help the wary gaze of the dark water to her left, even as it reflected back the starlight from above.

Stopping next to Armaud, she held them out in front of him, tempted to swing one in his face. But the poisonous barbs. Yeah, yeah. Those.

"How about we switch? I'll chop up the root veggies. And you take care of the fish?"

If he touched her fingertips, he'd find that they were cold.

She was just disappointed that his shirt was back on.

 

[Armaud Eden]

"Fair is fair, I suppose..." He took the fish, noticing that her fingers we indeed pretty cold. It wasn't that cool outside, refreshing at best. He wondered if she was okay or maybe it was just that she ran cold. Or maybe she didn't deal with death all too well. There were many he knew who didn't.

Scooting over, he offered her the stone with the veggies on top. The packet he carried over had dried herbs that would help with seasoning once on the fire.

Reaching behind him, he pulled another stone to his lap and set the first catfish on it. The barbs were a big issue when living, still a bit of in issue when dead. Proper pressure on the cheeks could cause them to come out, not exactly a recipe for a happy time.

"These catfish are really oily for some reason...so we'll cook them at the center of the stone and put the potato beans around them..." He went to work on it, making sure not to skin it - that was the best bits. "So was that your first time fishing?"

[member="Kinsey Starchaser"]

 

[Kinsey Starchaser]

[member="Armaud Eden"]

Easing down, she joined him, shoulder bumping lightly into his. Taking a knife from her boot, she began chopping the veggies. Free hand tucked a dark feather of hair behind one ear. Blues flickered in his direction.

"Yeah. Surprisingly so. I've seen it done before but never had a need to do it myself."

Looking at his handiwork she did notice the fish looked remarkably the same size.

"Plus, y'know. Water and I don't get along. Unless it's a hot sanisteam or shower in a refresher."

She smirked.

Showers were a rare luxury. Her ship just couldn't hold that much water for that kind of luxury. Sometimes hotel stays were wor th it for that reason alone even if she preferred sleeping in hammocks. She began adding handfuls of the veggies around the fish, Leaning over to distribute evenly.

"Did you do this kind of stuff with Master Relit often?"

 

[Kinsey Starchaser]

[member="Armaud Eden"]

Easing down, she joined him, shoulder bumping lightly into his. Taking a knife from her boot, she began chopping the veggies. Free hand tucked a dark feather of hair behind one ear. Blues flickered in his direction.

"Yeah. Surprisingly so. I've seen it done before but never had a need to do it myself."

Looking at his handiwork she did notice the fish looked remarkably the same size.

"Plus, y'know. Water and I don't get along. Unless it's a hot sanisteam or shower in a refresher."

She smirked.

Showers were a rare luxury. Her ship just couldn't hold that much water for that kind of luxury. Sometimes hotel stays were wor th it for that reason alone even if she preferred sleeping in hammocks. She began adding handfuls of the veggies around the fish, Leaning over to distribute evenly.

"Did you do this kind of stuff with Master Relit often?"

 

[Armaud Eden]

He met her gaze, lingering for a moment, until he drifted down to her work on the potato beans. She was good with a knife, that was a nice start to overcoming her love of potato chips. Maybe she'd turn over a new leaf, start to appreciate the fresher side of life.

"Oh I don't know...Mom used to talk about Carosi XII. Pretty big deal for the healer side of the force but..." He finished off one of the catfish, flinging the bones into the fire, and got to work on the next one. "I've heard they have really nice hot springs. I betcha one of those crystals that you'd get along just fine there."

He smiled and then she brought up Master Relit. His expression didn't darken but he was adorned with a hidden somberness. "No. Relit didn't eat. He didn't really need to, being a sentient plant after all..." Just sunlight and water. "He did partake in sugar water from time to time. Which was his equivalent of a nice bottle of mead. He could get very judge-y when he was on the sauce."

He didn't realize how easy it would be to refer to the man in the past tense. Maud added the second filet to the hot rock and helped Kins push the vegetables about, stealing a bit of pepper and salt to properly spice the filet. It was starting to smell pretty good.

[member="Kinsey Starchaser"]