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Rishima held his breath as he was dunked into the water, but remained quiet, not really the sort to protest no matter how he was being treated. His sister meant well after all so why should he fight her on this matter? He was allowed to sit back up but instead of going at all easy on him his sister set to work on his hair, seeming determined to get his hair to look the same way that hers did, minus the shaving part for the moment much to his relief, "I have thought of doing this from time to time." He mused, it was something his mother didn't seem to care for though, wanting him to have at least some things similar to his father, or at least his father's people, so Rishi didn't try to hard to get her to do all of his hair in the traditional Alkidike manner.

When his sister asked him about his mother, as well as his village, he gave a twitch of one antennae, "Ahhh, about mother? Oh she is wonder, a rather powerful and well known Amazon." He said, giving a smile. He really did love his mother, he just wished that she would allow him to be like the others in the village instead of keeping him caged up more often then not, "My village? It's like any village I guess, there are a lot of people practicing fighting, I've always wanted to join them but there are many that don't like me because the older people in the village don't like me. I am... well I am what I am." He said, sounding a bit uncertain as he said that. He was a halfbreed, one half being the natural enemy of the Alkidike, and he was a man. Try as he might he looked male now, at least when he was a youngling he seemed to blend in at least a little gender wise... now not as much.

His antennae twitched again before he said, "I... would barely call myself a prentice as much as I would like to be one and... I would like to become a Blade one day. At least if the elders in our village allow for it." He murmured, glancing up at Jerarda best he could, "What about you? Will you be trying to join the Blades soon?"

"F-Force myself into the group?" He asked, looking as though he were unsure of that idea. He didn't know what the others might think were he to do such a thing. He couldn't think of what his mother might think were he to do that either... she would likely be shocked. He was supposed to stick closer to home, he was supposed to be a well behaved child that did as he was told, and yet he'd wandered off leaving behind only a note, hadn't he? He'd taken one step in the right direction, right? So that meant that he should be able to take the next step right? His antennae gave a twitch at the thought before he was suddenly being whirled around fast enough that he was nearly left dizzy.

"Eh?" He blinked his mismatched eyes up at is sister as she declared that he could be a blade, all he had to do was try, if he didn't try then he had already failed and she wouldn't accept failure. Rishima starred up at her for a long moment before giving her a smile, "You are very nice, aren't you sister?" She was gruff and rough, seemed to be overflowing with arrogance and confidence, but under it all she was really nice, wasn't sure? Provided of course that you weren't fish he thought to himself, having witnessed what she'd do to one of those given an opportunity and a rock.

Giving a nod he lifted a hand up to toy with one of the new dreadlocks that she'd done up for him, and smiled, "I will try harder." He said in a quiet voice, wanting to live up to the expectations of his friend and sister. If she thought that he could be a blade... well she was the first one to do so and it really made him want to try to do just that.

Rishima's antennae twitched in a happy manner when Jerarda told him that he would become a blade and even going so far as to say that she wouldn't allow him to think for a second that he couldn't. It was really exactly what the boy needed, to have someone actually push him toward a goal instead of trying to drag him back away from it instead, "I will become a blade." He said, giving nod of his head, as though he were determined now to follow the path that was laid out before him. He wanted, no he needed, to become a blade! He needed to honor his Alkidike blood, and he needed to become someone powerful like what Jerarda was! Of course the more difficult part started now, that being him getting over his own social failures to become more like what Jerarda was like. Wanting to emulating her would be quite the feat.

When she suddenly announced that she was 'always nice' he gave a little nod of his head... followed by a squeak as he got a punch to the shoulder. He flailed a moment before falling backwards into the water, going under for a moment. As the boy surface he found himself with more then an eyeful of Jerarda which had him starring, eyes huge, before he sank under the water again seemingly waiting on her to return to the shore. There was a moment where only his twitching antennae were above water, until she reached the bank. Surfacing slowly he glanced over her way before moving toward the bank before he gave a little whistle, "Itzal! Can you bring me my pack?" He called out to his familiar.

The beast lifted his head, looking over at where Rishi was kneeling in the water, then got to his feet, grabbed the pack, and trotted over to him to drop the pack at the edge of the water. Once done he flopped back over, watching his master lazily. Rishima smiled, "Thank you." He said before he dug in his bag to get out some dry pants, the others still drying. He pulled himself up out of the water, shook off, then pulled the pants on. Glancing over at Jerarda when she said 'let's eat' something that had his stomach grumbling. Giving a smiled he trotted over to the fire, sitting down next to it, and gave a happy sound as he looked the fish over, "It looks really good, doesn't it? Smells it too!" He was more the eager to dig in.

Rishima looked at the rather heaping helping of fish that was handed over to him, antennae twitching, before he nodded, "Thank you." He said to Jerarda. This was... a lot more then he might normally eat, then again it was a rather massive fish, and he set to digging in after it had cooled off enough to make it edible. With each bite he thought about how lucky he was to have run across Jerarda, how lucky they were to escape without his mother following and finding them, and how lucky they were to find such a large and tasty fish. It was good for them but he wondered if he should see about getting up early to get more of them tomorrow... probably smaller ones, ones small enough to smoke more easily, and to carry more easily he thought to himself. There was much that they needed to do still if they wanted to bring supplies to their sisters that they were going to meet with but he would do his best to aid in that task. In the morning though... he was a bit on the exhausted side now.

Turning to look over at his friend he gave a bit of a smile as he watched her as she got her own portion of the fish and then emptied the rest of it out for Itzal. The Radaku starred at it for a moment, tail swishing, before he trotted over to gulp it down. It seemed as if he were as hungry as the two of them were but being the good boy that he was he didn't steal any fish while they were bathing, "You are a good boy, Itzal." He murmured to him, giving him a smile, then continued on with his meal. It seemed as though this large portion of fish was what Jerarda felt he should eat... and he would do his best to eat it since he wanted to be full and strong, ready for the morning.

"After we are done will it be time to get some sleep?" He asked, doing his best not to show that he was sleepy but really the day had been more exciting then he was used to. He was rather exhausted and was all for a nap... but not quite yet, not until Jerarda was ready to sleep too.

Rishima gave a bit of a jump as the burp torn through the night air, causing him to turn to look over at Jerarda with wide eyes, before he lifted a hand to smother a bit of laughter. That had been... surprising, nearly having him fall over in the same manner her earlier punch had, "I am guessing that means you think it's good?" He asked, giving a smile as he turned back to the food and worked on finishing it off... or at least all that he could. The rest of it he wrapped in the leaf and put near to the fire to keep it warm. He would see about finishing it off in the morning before he went seeking out more fish for smoking. Once the fish was near to the fire he turned to look over at Jerarda as she said that they would sleep and get up early in the morning, "Sounds good." It had been what he was planning to do so that meant that they were on the same page.

The main part of the fire was soon put out, good because the light might draw other things in that they weren't wanting to deal with and then Jerarda was curling up into a ball and was out in a snap. He watched her a moment before he moved over to lay down next to Itzal, using his familiar as a pillow, "Wow... this isn't too comfortable is it?" He was a little spoiled by his room back home but if he wanted to keep up with Jerarda and his other sisters he would need to get used to this, "It's alright, we will get used to this." He said, though he was sure that Itzal was as used to sleeping out as Jerarda was. He only recently came to live with Rishima after all. Shifting around a lot, taking a while to get used to the ground, the halfbreed struggled to get to sleep... once he was out though he was sleeping like a rock.

While the pair slept the Radaku seemed to be awake and wary, looking after Rishima since the boy had always taken care of him, and the woman as well since she seemed to be growing on Rishima. Working double duty as a pillow and a bodyguard didn't seem to bother the loyal beast in the least bit, in fact Itzal might actually be pleased by being able to serve the one that was so kind and chatty to him.

*****

It was just starting to get light when Rishima came to, sitting up slowly, rubbing a hand against his eyes, and for a moment as he looked around he was utterly baffled as to where he was, "Eh? Eh?" Looking from side to side the confused boy's eyes finally fell on Jerarda and it all seemed to filter back. Where they were, what they were doing, and where they were heading, it all came back to him and he lifted a hand to smother a yawn, "Ohhh... right..." He murmured, crawling over toward where he'd left the bundled bit of fish, eating half of it and saving half for Jerarda which he put near to her, before he pushed up to his feet, "Alright, come on Itzal, let's see if we can't get some more fish to smoke, shall we?"

Walking over to where his pack was sitting, carefully taking everything out of it, and piled it up on the shore, "Alright, I am going to catch the fish, preferably small ones, and put them in the pack." He told Itzal as he hung the back around the Radaku's neck. The two of them wadded into the water then and set about the slow going task that was hand fishing. He hoped to get at least a couple of them before Jerarda came to, wanting to prove that he could be useful to his sister.

A growling sound from Itzal drew Rishima's attention from the water he was watching over to the Radaku, then passed him to where his sister was moving about. He gave a smile as he watched her go about the waking up process before he turned back to the water, moving on getting another of the fish that was circling around his feet. There were the fish in the pack, where he tossed the ones that were freshly caught and still struggling, not wanting another fish to knock him over, and then those that were laid out on the bank where he tossed them once they seemed to give up the fight in the pack. He'd lost a few of them that had flopped off of the bank and into the water again but the majority of what he caught was still present, something that he hoped would make Jerarda happy. Much to his shock and delight his sister actually said that she was impressed.

Turning to look her way again, watching as the woman went about skewering the fish to set them to smoking he gave a happy sound, antennae twitching, "I am happy to hear that." He said, glad that he was able to impress Jerarda who seemed the epitome of the Alkidike people and as such was one that he wanted to impress, "Do you think that we have enough? Or should I get more?" Truth be told he'd be happy to get out of the water, his hands and feet were looking a little wrinkly due to the water, but he'd rather that they had enough. The comment she made about him getting enough for breakfast and enough for their sisters was more then enough of an encouragement for him. Catching the last fish that was circling around his feet he tossed it to Itzal, "You pay for your hard work." He said, laughing when the beast snapped it out of the air and swallowed it down in one big gulp before the two of them went over to the bank, climbing out of the water and he took the pack from around Itzal's neck.

"there are more fish in here but they are still flailing about so we will need them to give up or for you to subdue them before we can cook them." He said, not exactly feeling up to bashing fish in the face with a rock in the same way that Jerarda did, an aversion he would need to get over he was sure. For now though, if she wanted to help out with the fish bashing, he would be more then happy to let her do just that.

Rishi watched, making a few faces here and there, as Jera worked on preparing the fish to be smoked. It was a... well a rather disgusting sort of process but at least they would food for later right? That was important so he couldn't complain about her methods, "I am glad that I was able to get enough to be of help to our sisters." He said, antennae twitching in a happy manner as he walked over to where his clothing was still laying out, dried now, and pulled on his shirt, the pants getting folded up and set with his other things. He took his pack over to the river to wash it out, then laid it out to dry as well. Hopefully it would dry enough to put all of his things back into it before they headed on their way. He would need to wrap the fish in something as well he realized but decided that he could use his veil for that, a piece of clothing that he didn't see a need for with Jerarda since it seemed that he didn't have to hide from her.

Walking over to where Jerarda stood, watching over the fish, he gave her a smile, "They are looking good." He was eager for them to turn out well, because then they would have offerings for their tribe to make up for them being late to joining the group as well as to make up for Rishima being... well, himself. He had no idea what this groups reaction might be but if it was anything like that of some of the older women back home... well it might not go as smoothly as one would hope. He supposed that they wouldn't know until they got their though.