Private Edge of the Abyss

[Mistral]

Ana Rix

Mistral looked at her for the moment. "You are going to have so many things to tell Kono when we get back. I am going to sneak away into the jungle and let you answer his questions... for tactical reasons You know and documented much more of it then I did and are the best source of inforrmation." He said it with a nod of his head though and the joke was there but Aya was. "Don't be so mean to her or at least don't do that. i love Kono and he is great but he loves his questions and she will be telling him what happened or what we found when we were all roaming arround the beach wondering if it was supplies or cannibals."

 

[Ana Rix]

Ana looked at Mistral for several seconds as he laid out his remarkably convenient plan, then slowly nodded as though she had given it serious consideration. "That sounds reasonable." A beat passed before a smile tugged at the corner of her mouth. "Except for the part where you leave me behind. I think I'll be joining you in the jungle."

She glanced toward Aya as Aya described Kono's tendency to ask questions, which only strengthened Ana's conviction. "Absolutely joining you," she amended. "I have spent enough time answering questions about things I barely understood while they were happening. If Kono wants a complete report on the killer spiders, storms, seaweed, possible cannibals, and every other terrible decision that brought us here, he can gather all of us together and suffer through the confusion with the rest of us."

Ana took another bite of her makeshift meal and settled back comfortably. "Besides, you were there too," she reminded Mistral, pointing the remaining cracker toward him. "So if you disappear for 'tactical reasons,' I'm following you. We can hide until Aya finishes answering everything and then come back pretending we got lost."

Mistral

 

[Mistral]

Ana Rix

"Well that is certainly one way to look at it but I don't know about terrible... I mean think about it the smart decision would have been doing nothing and then there is a chance several more people would have lost their lives. We saved some even if we might not know it and that is a good thing or at least that is the best way I choose to look at it. The other is slightly less depressing but I am older and supposed to be wiser.... The only benefit is that I can pretend I don't know where I am going if I really wanted to."

 

[Ana Rix]

Ana's expression softened as Mistral explained it that way. He wasn't wrong. For all her complaints about nearly being eaten, drowned, stranded, or otherwise becoming part of an increasingly ridiculous list of disasters, they had gone because people needed help. They had found survivors, and some of those people might not have made it without them. "All right," she conceded with a small smile. "Maybe terrible decisions aren't fair. Terrible circumstances surrounding a decision that turned out to be worth making?"

She looked out across the water for a moment, thinking about everything that had happened since they'd started. "I'd do it again if the alternative was leaving people there," she admitted. That realization surprised her less than it probably should have. "I'd complain about it again too, obviously. Probably considerably more now that I know what I'd be getting into, but I'd still go."

His final comment brought back her amusement, and Ana looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "Oh, no. You don't get to use being older and wiser to justify pretending you're lost." She pointed lightly toward him. "Especially since we've already established that if you disappear into the jungle to avoid Kono's questions, I'm coming with you. At least one of us needs to know how to find the way back."

Mistral

 

[Mistral]

Ana Rix

"Alright then." He said it and leaned back in his seat on the deck before he was checking on some of it. Seastone was moving them as she continued to follow the heading, with Aya taking in a few more coordinates and checks but overall it was quiet and the breeze was there. The others were finding places to sit as the time passed and eventually it was spotted. "Land." THe word came out and Mistral was looking over as he had found a nice place to relax and allow himself to breathing in and then outwards.. the rocking of the boat relaxing as Aya rose up and was looking at it. "Take us in slow and around towards the Northern shore." Seastone gave a nod as she was moving but they were keeping the island in sight.

 

[Ana Rix]

Ana had found a place to sit while the others handled the sailing, having accepted some time ago that the most useful thing she could contribute while the boat was moving was staying out of the way of the people who actually knew what they were doing. The quiet had been welcome. After everything they had been through, the gentle rocking of the boat and the steady breeze almost felt suspiciously peaceful, but she was making a determined effort not to say that aloud and tempt the universe into proving her right.

The call of land immediately changed that. Ana straightened and followed the others' attention toward the distant island, staring at it for several moments before a broad smile finally escaped her. "That might be the most beautiful word I've heard since this entire thing started." She rose carefully, mindful of the movement beneath her feet, and moved somewhere she could get a better look without interfering with Seastone or Aya. "Please tell me that's the island we're actually looking for and not another exciting opportunity to discover something with too many teeth."

Aya's instruction to approach from the northern shore sounded encouragingly routine, and Ana was perfectly happy to leave the details to her. She glanced toward Mistral, who had looked entirely too comfortable only moments before. "You realize this means our jungle-hiding plan is becoming dangerously close to possible." Her amusement lingered, though there was genuine relief beneath it. They still had to reach shore, determine what was waiting for them there, make contact with civilization, and somehow arrange passage home, but for the first time those problems felt almost ordinary.

Ana looked back toward the growing shape of the island. "I'm not asking for much. A functioning settlement, communications, somewhere to shower, and absolutely nothing trying to kill us between the shore and any of those things." She paused, reconsidering everything this journey had taught her about making optimistic declarations. "Actually, forget I said that. Just get us to land."

Mistral

 

[Mistral]

Ana Rix

There was a moment, a look.. the large wookie looked at Ana and then back and then at her again with a roar as Mistral gave a nod. "I know, I know." Aya was looking at her and shook her head but spoke. "You are not wrong but the secret is to not say it. If you do it can actualize intent and intent is something the galaxy likes to go against." Mistral was looking at her as Seastone was at the helm as she came in with a look. "You really got to think, what with all that crazy talk. People are going to think that you are mad Ana.... mad and crazy."