He looked over at her, ear flicking as a bead of water rolled down off it. He was quite relived that she deemed herself safe. After all. If there was some other disasterous event associated with her (say, a plague) wouldn't she know it? His dream hadn't really been an omnious one."Fish?" he looked honestly surprised by that. "You would catch some fish for me?"
She noted his relief, and smiled a little. His question, though, made her smile more and nod. "Sure. It would be the friendly thing to do, would it not? You came seeking me, surely I can feed you. Besides..."She paused there, and got a gently teasing look on her face. "I don't want you to cross the river for awhile yet! You'll scare the fish off again."
He glanced away when she mentioned that, clearly embarrassed.
"Forgive me. I had not noticed you were hunting..." he hadn't hunted himself since he was but a cub. "You need not feed me to prevent me from interrupting your hunt again."
Fish would be nice but he couldn't inconvenience her when it was his fault that she hadn't caught anything yet to begin with.
She blinked at him. Couldn't he tell she was teasing him? "No, really! It's ok. I'd enjoy the company, truly. I was only joking. Please... I'd be happy to share."
She had no idea why it would bother him so. She had time, and fish... Well they had incredibly bad memories. They'd be back very soon. It wasn't an issue.
"You were? I am so sorry... Yes, I would be pleased to share a meal with you and enjoy your company for a while."
Perhaps he would be able to figure out what was so special about her.
"I would help fish but I am afraid I haven't tried to fish anything at all since I was a cub. I would likely only scare them away again."
"Not a worry! I'm used to feeding myself. Fishing for two wont be too much more effort. I am glad you will be joining me." He was so serious! He needed to lighten up more, certainly. She gave him a friendly smile, then moved back into position on the rock.
After a moment of studious staring into the water, she murmured "Yep, they're back, just like normal..." She got that utterly silly 'fierce concentration' look again and stared, quite still. Finally, and rather suddenly, her paw darts out and down into the water, and comes back up with a decent size silvery fish.
She sets it to one side, grinning, pleased, and settles in again. After a while, she stopped fishing, once she had a pile she deemed sufficient to feed the pair of them.
"Thank you," he said once again.
When she turned back to fish he got a good look of her 'silly hunting face' and nearly started laughing. He caught himself though, and straighted up, biting the inside of his lip so he wouldn't immediately start laughing. That would be terribly rude of him. After all... she was making the effort to catch him dinner. He should be much more grateful then that.
He watched in amazement as she scooped out one fish after another. He'd never seen anyone work so fast in his life!
She sat up, pleased. She was a pretty decent hunter, and she'd just done an unusually good job. She felt proud of herself, and properly so, too. She beamed at him. "Here we go! Fish supper. Can't think of much better, myself. What about you?"
She turned and carefully divided the fish in two piles, one for him and one for her. They were nice and even. She even seemed to take care to make sure to match sizes of the fish. She really did want to be equal between them, it seems, for the food. "Ahhhh." She sighed happily.
He watched her divide the fish with wide eyes. That was something his mother always used to do for her cubs....
Oke smiled, "No. I will admit that I cannot. The river provides us with plenty this time of the year."
In the late period of the dry season though it would be nearly all dried out.
"Do you pray to any certain gods?"
She found his wide eyed expression curious and also mildly endearing. She did wonder why he had such a face. Ah well.
"Indeed, this is a good time of year for plenty all around it seems." She nodded at the fertility of the lands around them.
His question gave her pause. "Gods? Ummm not really. I do not know the names of any. If there is a god of travellers, I suppose he or she would be the one?"
"Hmm... Ok," he bowed his head a moment and when he raised it turned to her. "Thank you for catching these fish for me," he told her again.
"If you don't mind my asking, where is your native land?"
She tilts her head, curiously, watching as he bows his head. "You are most welcome. Thank you for joining me. A meal alone is not as enjoyable as a meal with a companion."
She blinks a little and scuffs her paw in the dust. "I um... I don't particularly have one?" She felt awkward with it but it was the truth. Odd, she didn't normally feel this awkward.
"You said you are a traveller, so... you have been travelling you're whole life?" he smiled. "You must have seen some beautiful places. As I said before, I have never even been far beyond the tribe's lands. I don't suppose you could tell me about some of the places you've seen?"
He took a smaller fish in his mouth and bit off the head.
"Yes, my whole life... My mother was a traveller before me, so I was born to it." She ponders, thinking of some of the places she's been. "Well let's see..." She nibbles a fish, then smiles. "I have followed the edges of a great lake so large it was like unto a sea..."
She smiles a little. "It is beautiful, and I took many days following the edges. It was a lovely blue, and full of wonderful fish and things. The lands around it were rich, and green."
He ate as he listened to her, trying to imagine the places she'd seen.
"The sea?" he asked whe she was done talking. "I have heard of that... Is it true that it is like a great river? Tell me, does it dry up during the dry season? Did it have different kinds of fish?"
Ayomide meditatively chewed on the fish she was nibbling, thinking about that. "Mmm I can not say for sure for all time, but when I was there, it was Dry Season and the water was still there, and vast."
She nods and says "And yes, many kinds of fish. Very colorful, some of it, too."
tbc~
