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 Posted: Tue May 05, 2009 8:14 pm
 A small growl escaped her throat as Nek strode towards the meeting place, hoping the message had gotten through the humans that she would be a few days late. A few days, a few days; if there was one thing she hated most about being tied to one of this world's humans it was that she wasn't free to come and go as she pleased.
She took a deep breath and sighed, figuring that if Albaine wasn't there she could always just spit some fish for her provisions and yell at Neko later, that way her time coming here wouldn't have been completely wasted. Not that Neko would actually listen. Her scowl deepened as she neared the willow tree she had told Albaine of; if there was one kind of person she couldn't stand, it was someone who wouldn't listen.
Another growl rose in her throat, but she turned it into a snort, forcing any and all thoughts of Kuit to the back of her mind. It wasn't good to obsess over her, even if the time was nearing when she would be in Namiah.
Her thoughts turning over to the task she had come here for, she let her eyes wander around in search of Albaine while her mind wondered exactly how his 'fishing rod' would work. He had explained the simple concepts, but until she actually saw it for herself, she didn't think she would get a clear picture of the contraption.
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Posted: Fri May 08, 2009 4:56 pm
Albaine yawned as he waited at the appointed place beneath the willow, dressed in a more casual attire than his normal wear with the fishing pole and some bait next to him. The message had gotten to him while he was en route to this same location on the previously appointed day, and he had to be honest he was grateful for the chance to get a bit more sleep. He wasn't much more awake today than he was on that morning being a night owl and all, but at least he forced himself to go to bed earlier.
On the verge of falling asleep, his ears picked up on the faint sounds of footsteps which brought him back to consciousness once more. He stood up, looked in the direction the footsteps were coming from, and, having spotted Nek, waved. "Morning," he said with a slightly sleepy tone to the greeting, a remnant of the feeling that was quickly slipping away with the introduction of something to occupy his mind.
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Posted: Fri May 08, 2009 5:16 pm
Nek stifled a yawn of her own, having not yet gone to bed for the day. Shaking her head with a small frown, something that could pass as a smile compared to her normal expressions, she greeted, "Seems like the correct phrase would be 'Evening' for us night-folk." She drew her sword and uncoiled her whip, tying the handle-loop to the hilt.
"So, who should be the instructor first?" she asked, dangling her sword with her whip and swinging it back and forth gently. Her eyes drifted towards the fishing pole and the bait and she quirked her mouth to the side, not sure yet what to think of the tools. Surely they were not so complicated as she had first thought them to be? Maybe this was going to be as easy as he said; then again, knowing both his and her luck, maybe not.
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Posted: Fri May 08, 2009 5:43 pm
Albaine watched as she tied the whip to the sword, getting the basics of how this 'spitting fish' thing would work. Not that it made it sound any easier. On the contrary, it sounded and would probably look quite difficult. At least he would feel less like an idiot failing at doing something difficult than something easy.
"I can explain first if you like," Albaine remarked, thinking that perhaps the easier method should probably go first so he can have her instruction fresh in his mind when he had to try it. "It's not too hard, like I said before. Just requires patience."
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Posted: Fri May 08, 2009 5:52 pm
"Alright," she nodded, stabbing her sword into the ground so she wouldn't have to fumble with both it and the rod, "What do I do?" Walking forwards so she could take the pole, she caught sight of the worms, wrinkling her nose slightly. "What are those for?" she asked, not so much grossed out by them than the fact that she would probably be using as live bait rather than dead.
She didn't think a fish would go after a dead worm, but since she had never used 'bait' before, she held onto the thought that she might not have to torture something by skewering it alive on a tiny hook rather than instantly killing it with one blow. The thought was not held tightly, though, as again she reminded herself of her luck coming into play. Either way the worm would end up dead, did it really matter how it died?
That was the question she asked herself up front, but she knew the answer was not as defined and definitely not as far from her thoughts as she would have liked.
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Posted: Fri May 08, 2009 6:20 pm
(Awww....poor Nek. xd Reminded of her situation in everything)
"That's bait. You put it onto the hook to draw the fish in," Albaine commented, not really thinking much about the potentially cruel aspects of fishing if you actually bother to humanize the fish and bait since he never really thought about it before. "After you bait your hook you cast it out, reel in the slack, and wait." Albaine explained with a combination of miming and pointing at the part of the fishing pole the action corresponds to. It sounded easy enough to him; he couldn't see how she could get it wrong. "When you feel like you've got a bite, tilt the rod back first to make it harder for the fish to let go, and just reel it in."
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Posted: Fri May 08, 2009 6:34 pm
Staring at the rod dubiously, not sure if quite understands what she's supposed to do. After thinking about it for a moment, she picked out a worm and, after cutting it in half lengthwise to give it an easy death, she thread it onto the hook. She then gripped the handle of the rod and lifted it over her head to cast it.
It seemed simple enough, but for some reason when she swung it out the line went straight downwards instead of outwards. She frowned and tried again, pausing after getting the same result, not sure if she should wait for advice or try to figure out what she was doing wrong on her own.
After a breif debate in her head she opted for one more try before asking Albaine what she was doing wrong. The line went over her head again, and she swung her arms forward again, and for an instant she was rewarded with the absense of a too close to her feet for comfort splash. Then she noticed that it was because the line was still behind her, the hook caught onto the bottom of her tunic.
She stood still for another few moments, and then she turned to look at Albaine, her confusion, frustration, and embarassment at failing what had seemed to be an easy task apparent on her face.
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Posted: Fri May 08, 2009 7:09 pm
Albaine stared and almost gave advice right away rather than waiting for her to ask as he watched her fail to accomplish this task, remembering back when he first started fishing, and his difficulties with it. When she stopped and looked at him he said, "You'll get the hang of it. Try swinging it this way, it might be a bit easier," miming what he meant. He was starting to think that he wasn't very good at teaching.
Still, the matter at hand seemed to be that of the hook now caught in her tunic. It was too far down for him to feel comfortable removing it himself, and he couldn't think of how Nek could easily remove it without removing the tunic, which was also out of the question. "Anyway, need a few moments of privacy?"
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Posted: Thu May 14, 2009 6:24 pm
"If you could just... Turn around, that would be preferable," Nek replied, not wanting to let him out of her sight for reasons she couldn't really think of him doing but taking precautions anyways.
It didn't really matter since the upper half of her torsoe was bound in cloth anyways, but showing even that much skin made her uneasy. She wondered what she should do with the rod while she removed the tunic, not wanting it to flop about at her feet and trip her, and ended up walking over to Albaine to place it in his hands. Arcing a brow at him, she simply said, "Hold this."
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Posted: Thu May 14, 2009 7:24 pm
Accepting the rod with a nod, he turned around and closed his eyes. Had he not been holding the fishing pole, he would have unnecessarily covered his eyes with his hands as well, but since his hands had a task he didn't bother. He just hoped that she knew that he would even try looking at her with her tunic off.
(There wasn't much I could do with this post. xd )
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Posted: Thu May 14, 2009 7:51 pm
Waiting until she was sure his eyes were closed and that he wasn't going to look she slipped out of her tunic, wincing and letting out a small, "Ow!" when the edge of the hook caught her across the back. She paused with her shirt held in front of her for a moment, watching Albaine to make sure he wouldn't look back at the sound, then returning to letting the rest of it falling into her arms so she could take out the hook.
It didn't take her long, but after she had freed the tunic of the hook, leaving a small and barely noticible nole where it had been, she paused again. She didn't want to just set it down only to accidentally step on it or for Albaine to turn around again too quickly and have it whip into something else. With a sigh, she hooked it onto the base of her pantleg and then slipped back into her tunic, making sure her belt was straight over it before bending down to retreive the hook.
"You can turn around now," she said, holding the hook in one hand and reaching her other hand for the rod.
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Posted: Thu May 14, 2009 8:18 pm
Albaine turned around slowly (just in case the hook wasn't hooked onto something), opening his eyes and handing back the fishing rod to Nek afterwards. "Ready for round two?" He asked, thinking that she'll probably get it this time. Though he wouldn't be surprised if she took a break from her learning to teach him about her method.
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Posted: Wed May 20, 2009 9:46 am
Not quite ready to admit defeat and ask for help, Nek stuck the hook into one of the loops on the rod to prevent it from going anywhere she might step and set the rod down. "Actually, since you've given me the basics," she said, "Why don't I give you the basics and we can both practice instead of one of us getting stuck watching the other..."
She retreived her sword and whip, holding it out to Albaine as if it had been more of a decision than a suggestion. Upon thinking more, she retracted her offeral of the sword, thinking it would probably be better to demonstrate once before letting him accidentally take off an ear or something. Her gaze slackened as she half-grinned, half-winced at the memory of her first time spitting a fish.
The mentor never really had let her and Kuit forget how both of them neglected his warnings and he ended up losing peices of two of his toes. She supressed both a reminiscent snicker and a wistful sigh and blinked, returning her attention to the present.
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Posted: Wed Sep 02, 2009 5:53 pm
Albaine nodded in agreement with the statement. "That sounds like a good idea." He withheld from taking the sword at first, hoping to get a visual example in addition to the verbal one. He had an idea of how it was supposed to work, but he didn't want to do something wrong and mess up badly. He had a feeling it would be dangerous. Luckily, Nek seemed to have the same idea.
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Posted: Sat Dec 19, 2009 10:57 am
Nodding at his agreement, she set about tieing the end of her whip to the hilt of her sword, making sure the loop handle from her whip was securely around her wrist before standing up and giving the setup a few quick throws in front of her. It would be just perfect for her to lose her weapons in the river and have to go mucking about the riverbed to find them again.
Next she stepped up just next to the bank, holding her sword up by the hilt like a javelin, posed ready for any poor fish to cross her path. "As soon as one presents itself," she said, spying a fish and striking lightning quick as she spoke, "You spit it and haul it in." Her sword disappeared into the water, throwing up a cloud of dirt as it hit the bottom so that it was impossible to see if it had been successful or not. But that was the reason for the whip, as she soon demonstrated by tugging on it until her hilt came out of the water just below her.
She gripped the hilt and swung it up, revealing a wriggling fish just barely hooked into the tip of the sword. "That's an easy way to lose a fish, but it happens sometimes," she said with a frown, bringing the fish over to a clear area she had choosen earlier to be her gutting space, "The idea is to spit it all the way up to the hilt so the dragging of the blade across the sand wont pull the fish off." Slipping the fish from her sword she quickly put an end to its wriggling by beheading it and then sliding the body over her blade to catch the guts on the swordtip and leave the rest of the fish nice and meaty.
Not letting the guts fall off the tip she brought them back to the water, flinging them into an area just ahead of her. "The fish guts will call the fish into a better area and the next one will be easier to get," she finished, retreiving her hand from the whip's wrist loop and handing both the loop and the hilt of the sword to Albaine. She hoped she had explained and demonstrated that well enough, if he had questions he'd just have to ask them and she'd explain it again, with more words and less actions maybe.
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