Opal's Fish Fry ~ Kane & Opal (Teig and Dae)

[DaemonGabrielle]

After the storm, the island had finally calmed down. The animals were less squacky. The plants were...sickly and broken and more alive. The marine life had calmed to the point that one could hunt without scaring half of the ocean to death.

And poor Opal had better luck trying to catch a nematoad than getting this fire started.

Officially frustrated, she did the ultimate girl move that always made everything better. She stamped her feet and let out a girly scream of anger. Then she stared at the pile of sticks and logs and dried grass as if she expected it to light itself. When that didn't work, she sat down in a huff and attempted to rub the two little twigs together, yet again, for what felt like the thirteen millionth time. One way or another she was going to start this fire.

Considering it looked a bit like she was trying to light herself on fire, with the dust and dirt collected on her body and the leaves and small branches pertruding from her hair, she really wanted this work. Then she could cook her supper (which she had sitting on a small rock beside the fire)), take a bath and nap by the firelight on her wonderous Logan free day. The sticks, however, had other plans.

After another 15 minutes of rubbing them together and only producing the wispiest faint trace of smoke, she threw the sticks to the ground and removed herself from the situation. She had had enough. She was going to bathe.

What she didn't know, was that some twist of fate had decided to light the small patch of grass at the base of her pile of sticks only after she storming off toward the beach. So she didn't see the little puffs of smoke. She didn't see the logs start to spark and smoulder until a full grown fire seemingly started itself.

She saw none of this as she stormed off to the water. More the pity...  

[DaemonGabrielle]

Shaking her now clean hair dry, Opal wandered back to her campsite. She was enjoying her little outing sans Logan. It was nice to enjoy the peacefullness of nature without Logan arguing with the woodland creatures over territory. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Oh yes. This day so far was perfect. Except for the fire but that would be easily remedied now that she had cooled off and was clean.

Walking up to the wooded area where she had last seen her campsite, she saw a large amount of smoke and had a moment of panic.

"My stuff!" she gasped out, taking a running start toward the campsite. When she crossed into the small clearing, her breath stole away. The fire had been light, the fish were cooking on the small rocks beside the fire and there was no one in sight.

Sudden chills traced down her body. She knew that there was something with ill will roaming through these woods. Surely it hadn't founf her little secluded spot. She grabbed a rather large stick from the ground and prepared for a fght.

While she was walking into the campsite, however, she tripped over a overgrown tree route and feel into the fire. Giving a sharp cry of pain, she pulled herself and began to scoot away from the fire, holding her hands close to her body and heaving silent sobs.

She was scared to look at her hands but she had to hide herself from the intruder.

She managed to scoot herself into a small brush and bit her lip as she pulled her hands away to inspect the damage.  

[Teigra]

The smell of cooking fish, though faint, had started to waft through the surrounding area. Enough so to be caught by the sensitive nostrils of a passing hunter.

Kane had sought an overlooking perch in the low-hanging branches of a nearby tree. The area had seemed deserted at first, minus the cooking fish near a roaring fire. That was odd. Why would someone leave food over a fire...?

About that time, a strange female had returned. So, this was her campsite then? Must be. Though...as she approached, she suddenly seemed shocked by...something. Was this not her campsite then? The demon was growing more puzzled rather than less the more he watched the scene. And now she had a big stick. Interesting.

Fascinating mystery aside, the demon had to cringe as the strange female took a fall and landed hands-first in the edge of the fire. Ouch...that had to hurt. Before he could even ponder responding to this latest development, however, the female cowered and slipped away, taking cover under the nearby foliage. Odd behavior again.

Curiosity overcoming his usual desire for solitude and avoidance of social interaction, Kane slipped quietly from the tree and landed in a graceful crouch on the ground. Silently, but boldly, he strode from the forest into the clear area on the beach, between the foliage and the fire, and crouched down, likely more on a level with the hidden Pae. Glancing first towards the bush and the hiding female, he called out, "Your best bet is to get back to the water, you know. Cool the burn." Then he glanced back towards the fire, but more pointedly, at the cooking fish. "I'd hurry. Be a shame if those fish burned."  

[DaemonGabrielle]

Startled at the sudden appearence of the stranger, she let out a mix between a sob and a gasp. They had found her. Her attempt at warding off the evil had only invited them in. How could she be so stupid? Tears still dripping down her face, she looked around quickly for her stick. When she realized she had dropped it, not to mention couldn't hold the weapon anyway, she crouched a little lower in the brush.

"I..I don't want it. Just ta..take it and go!" she cried out, doing her best not to actually cry.  

[Teigra]

Kane's left eye twitched almost imperceptibly. Oh for...another one of those whiny females? Really? Rolling his eyes, he grumbled, "Don't even tempt me." The hunting had been decent lately, even with the mess left after the storm. He wasn't exactly hungry, but he wouldn't turn down a meal of fish, well...ever.

Peering at the bush again, he raised an eyebrow and started to wonder if the crazy thing in there might be afraid of...him. Not that she shouldn't be, of course. Heh. But really, what interest did he have in some whining woman? He was more interested in the fish roasting by the fire, but...only because it smelled so good.

"Hey, lady," he called, rolling his eyes again with the effort. "Your hands are gonna' keep hurting 'til you get them cooled off. Just sayin'. The lake is your best bet." Not that he cared, of course.  

[DaemonGabrielle]

Opal could barely keep still at this point. Evil or not, the mysterious voice had a valid point. Her hands felt like they were still on fire. She knew water would help. The only problem she had at this point was the stranger and he hadn't poised a threat so far. Just scared her half silly.

Taking a deep breath to try and pack the sobs back down inside of herself, she slowly turned around and began to scoot out.

"Please don't let this strange pae eat me." she whispered more to herself than him. As she emerged from bush, her hands held loosely in front of her, she prayed to the gods that this wasn't a mistake.

Yet again covered in soot and dirt, leaves and twigs in her hair, and tears trailing down the sides of cheeks, she looked a mess. Add the burnt hands on top of it and this day had taken a whole new level of low. Using her elbows to brace herself as she rose, she let out a small hiss as the motion jarred her hands.

 

[Teigra]

Kane eyed the female skeptically, feeling that this wasn't about to end well. Without wings, he doubted she would be able to balance herself sufficiently to stand without using her hands. And he was right.

Sighing and folding his wings around his shoulders like a cape, he crossed to the helpless female with another discrete roll of his eyes. Were all women this helpless, really? Well, not his daughter, but she was raised by someone with some sense. His ear twitched slightly as he neared the female, his enhanced hearing picking up her whispers. Oh for...

"I'm not going to eat you," he quipped sharply, making a face. "There are much better things around here I'd rather eat than you." Standing over the struggling female, he reached down and took a firm hold of her upper arms. Swiftly, but not exactly completely ungently, he lifted her bodily and onto her feet. He hardly seemed to strain with the effort. "Now, water," he said curtly, starting to march towards the shoreline with her.  

[DaemonGabrielle]

One minute she was struggling to raise up and the next minute she was on her way toward the shore, the not exactly happy stranger pushing her along.

So he wasn't going to eat her. That was a good sign. His helping her was another good sign. She wasn't going to die. This crappy day was starting to look up.

Unable to hold back the sobs, she began to cry. Softly, but still crying none the less.

"Thank you." she said between sniffles. "Thank you so much."

She followed his urgings obligingly until the reached the shore line. When they reached the water, she relaxed into the shallow liquids and took a deep breath. The water stung her hands at first but, slowly, it began to quelch the burns on her hands. As the pain ebbed, Opal's mind began to reclaim itself. As the water cooled her hands, it also cooled her tears.

Looking back at the stranger, she offered him an apology. "I'm very sorry for thinking you would eat me." Opal took another deep breath. "There have been troubling pae along these waters and I was unawaree of your presence. So I assumed you were one of them" she admited, a slight blush appearing on her stained cheeks.  

[Teigra]

The smell of salt water hit his senses and Kane was unable to stifle a growl. "Would you stop that," he bit out sharply, glancing over at the silent, sobbing female. At least she was quiet...cradling her hands carefully, even a slight reddish tinge showing against her glistening white skin. That had to hurt. Unable to stop his mind from pulling up thoughts of how he would have behaved if this was his daughter, he cursed silently in his mind and added in a slightly less grating tone, "....please."

Geez, he'd become such a pitiful sap.

As soon as she reached the water, he left her to tend to herself, instead returning to the fire to retrieve the fish before it burned. A clean stick provided the skewer, and he set the opposite end jammed upright in the sands a safe distance from the fire. Not too overdone, he judged with an expert glance.

He stood, rolling his shoulders with a sigh, then headed back towards the water to see if the crazy lady still lived. Seemed so. He was back, standing over her with crossed arms when she spoke again. Her explanation caused the demon to snort, amused, and raise an eyebrow at her. "It's a mistake that's been made before," he quipped, without noting the full truth of the statement. "But, I suppose I'm more trouble to a tasty fish or deer than I would be to you." Still, the comment caused him to raise his guard once more, senses scanning the surrounding area. He hadn't heard these rumors, himself, however, he wasn't exactly the most social of Pae. If there were trouble about, he wanted to know about it first.  

[DaemonGabrielle]

The blush across her poor cheeks deepened. "That's kind of the problem." she said, looking thoroughly embarassed. It was bad enough she had all but thrown herself into the fire over something so silly but now she was sitting prey for this rather large demon.

Scooting back a little ways from the water, she held up her hands and began to inspect the damage. When they started to burn,she shoved them back in the water, carefully avoiding her legs and feet from touching the oxygen rich liquid.

"I'm afraid I am this 'fish' you so casually mentioned." she explained, wondering what in the world she was going to do now if she couldn't leave the water. Looking back at the dark colored stranger, she pondered something.

"WOuld you be able to run back to camp and bring me a piece of cloth from one of the bags up there?" she asked, not really trusting him but not really having any other option either.  

[Teigra]

Kane simply raised an eyebrow at her statement, standing over her arms crossed. Oh, she must be one of those Naiad Pae. He'd not had much personal experience with them, but he'd been around long enough to at least know about them. The basics at least. And without wings, she was either that or a Faun and well, she was no Faun. THOSE he was familiar with.

"Fish don't normally talk," he quipped shortly in response. Not the kind you ate. He'd never thought about eating fish-like Pae any more than any other land Pae. Uh...moving on... In any case, he waved a hand dismissively to signal she had no worries about being eaten, at least not by him. He was still wondering though, about what she'd said regarding dangerous Pae in the area.

He watched her failed attempt to leave the water, and listened to her request, processing the two together. With some idea of what she was thinking, he had to admit, it was a decent idea, something to try anyway, if she didn't want to sit there at the water's edge all day. Still, what did he look like? Her servant? He sighed, rolling his eyes. "Yeah, yeah, alright, but don't think this means I'm just gonna' jump and run every time you want something," he snarked, just being difficult as he crossed to her bags anyway. He tried not to look at anything else in there, just looking for something that looked like cloth that would hold water for a while. Finding something suitable, he headed back to the shoreline, dropping the cloth in the water by her hands. "Here."  

[DaemonGabrielle]

Opal nearly died with relief when he actually listened to her instead of walking off with a scoff. This pae was more like Logan than she had first thought. Minus the crazy. If he was crazy, she was gooing to run like hell. she had enough crazy.

When he dropped the two small folds of fabric into the water besides her, she gave him a small smile. "Thank you again." She resumed focus on her hands. Wrapping each individually, with her hands under the water, she lifted them out and kept them well away from her legs. She knew she was going to have to do something better soon but for right now, this would have to work.

Rising from her seated position, a bit more eloquently now that the pain wasn't searing through her brain, she turned back to the camp. "Oh dear..." she moaned. "The fish. I forgot the fish." she said with a hint of complaint in her voice.

This day was starting to stink again...  

[Teigra]

"Yeah, yeah," Kane muttered, rolling his eyes and crossing his arms over his chest. Well, at least she wasn't crying anymore, and she was grateful enough. Could have been worse. Could have been one of those constant 'cry-for-no-apparent-reason' females, or even worse, the 'bitchy-demanding-hissy-fit' ones. Ugh. He'd have been long gone if it were.

Well, she didn't need help standing up by herself anymore either. Kane kept his distance, allowing her room, since she seemed to be making careful movements for some reason other than her injured hands. He raised an eyebrow at her sudden laments, rolling his eyes once more. "Yeah, well, fortunately, I didn't." He nodded his head curtly at the fish, removed from the fire and hanging nearby on a stick jammed into the sands. No bigger shame than a fish ruined by overcooking. Even if it wasn't his fish.  

[DaemonGabrielle]

Not really able to think of anything else to say or do, Opal trotted, albeit ever so carefully, back to the campsite.

Trying to sit calmly, or at least somewhat ladylike, she ended up well away from the fire. Fish, burns, strange men. This day was starting to get weird. Huffing a bit, she attempted to blow a strand out of her eyes. She gave up when it simply waved a bit.

"So... What brings you up here? Saving fish?" she asked, hoping to try and relieve the tension.