watching time slip away ⚘ muddy fishing (open) (GE)

[aesior]

AESIOR OPHELES

✯ — got spirits in my head and they won't go

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The sun was yet to bring full heat to the areas that they called home, the island slowly being freed from its chilled winter. The parting of winter for spring instead brought in its passage the thaws that would bring running water through the river. Icy it might be from the headwaters in the mountains, but it was life. It was spring, and it was the full moon - it was the best time for fishing as some fish would be coming to spawn already. Nature had its ways of ensuring that the world continued, even if habits of animals were stranger than not.

Stepping through the grasses of the land upon which he lived, Aesior carried a stick in his jaws, intent on doing some hunting. He liked fire-roasted fish, raw was just as well but perhaps he had a particular taste for roasted. Tail swinging as he caught his balance, the tom would search out the most undisturbed part of the river - it was a wide ribbon of water and had depths he couldn't get across easily. He was stubborn if anything, he would get what he wanted. Wading into the softest parts of the bank that he could find, the mute talonguard would let his legs sink into the muck, making a face as it squished between his toes and claws as he squelched his way through to the water, being as still as he could with his movements.

He didn't want to chase away his prey with movements, and the fish seemed to be in this area - this was the best that he could find. Settling in the water, cold current tugging at his belly fur, he assessed how far he would have to move into the current, stick in his jaws so he could spear his fish on it. He much preferred to use his paws but if the current was too strong, this might be the best option to catch them.

Flexing his muscles as he saw a shimmer of scales in the water, he struck out to feel the fish glance him by, claws carding through its tail fin. Making a displeased expression, the tom would continue to wait, tail lifted into the air for balance. He would wait as long as necessary to get the kills he wanted. Narrowing his eyes as the sun emerged, his tail drooping to rest against the water, he gave a startled gasp as he felt a mouth close around his tail tip. Throwing his body around without much thought, he caught sight of the bass clinging to his tail, quickly going after it with his claws and a huff, digging claws into the fish as he threw it at the shore, hoping it wouldn't flop back into the water. Damn, if only he'd brought a bucket instead of a stick.

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✯ — MALE. THE GOLDEN EYE. MEDIUM DIFFICULTY. REF. LANGUAGE GUIDE. — ✯

#psychosocial.

[FRAGGLEROCK.]

Fraggle had never actually tried fishing before, but that was no real surprise. The boy still didn't have a firm grip on how to swim successfully just yet, so he didn't want to take the risks associated with fishing. It would be a shame if he was perched at the edge of the river and caught something, only to end up slipping forward and drowning. Just the thought of it was enough to send a shiver down the rabbit's spine. Besides that, his body wasn't exactly built for fishing, either. He had claws, but they weren't exactly long enough to spear anything, and although his teeth were strong, they were mostly meant for tearing through plants. That wasn't to say he had never thought about fishing, since it would be a way for him to make himself useful for The Golden Eye. However, Frag was also pretty sure he'd have to improvise a bit in order to even attempt fishing, and he was still only just beginning to make himself comfortable within the group.

This time, though, it seemed as though the youngling wouldn't have to do most of the work. Instead, he had just been hopping up to the side of the river when a bass suddenly fell in front of him, causing him to jump back in surprise. After a moment of frantically looking around, Fraggle was able to connect the dots, gaze moving between Aesior and the flopping fish. Suddenly feeling emboldened, Fragglerock threw himself forward onto the bass, pressing his paws against the writhing creature and digging his claws in as far as possible. As mentioned before, the boy's claws weren't exactly good for skewering, but they were pretty good for sinking in. As much as the feeling of blood staining his claws caused Frag to squirm, he kept pressing until the bass finally stopped moving. His muscles were already feeling tired as he took a step back, flicking his paws to try and get rid of the blood that stained them. He questioned Aesior afterwards, a vaguely concerned expression on his face, "I did good... right?" Be desperately hoped he hadn't messed up Aesior's hunt, and he wasn't just about to be yelled at.

After a moment of uneasiness, Fraggle then allowed himself to really think about what the other was doing, blue eyes focused on the river rushing around him. He then found himself questioning, his head tilting to one side and his feathered ears twitching, "You caught that fish, right? Are you sure this place is the best area to be fishing in? It seems really muddy..." Aesior probably knew better than him, though. It didn't even occur to the young rabbit that the feline could've accidentally caught the fish just by having his tail act as bait.

[glow=#4c2c1c,2,300]YOU CAN WRAP MY BRAIN IN PLASTIC[/glow]

[aesior]

AESIOR OPHELES

✯ — got spirits in my head and they won't go

space

The sound of his catch landing on shore managed to reach his ears over the sound of water about him, heart beating a bit frantically still. Memories that were coming weren't the happiest, he didn't want to remember any teeth on any part of his body. Shaking himself to chase away the memories of when he was much smaller, he blinked as he heard Fraggle's words. Realizing that the youngest member had aided him in dispatching his catch, he gave him a large grin in response around his stick before realizing he couldn't see it. Raising a dripping paw to his chin, he would move his paw in an arc towards Fraggle, a messy attempt to say thank you through sign language.

The rabbit's aid was what he needed, as accidental as the catch was, it still meant food, either for himself or for others. Sneezing faintly as he paused in the water, paw midair before splashing back into the water with the contraction of his muscles. Stick being clenched between his jaws he would wince as it creaked under uncontrolled pressure. Nodding to Fraggle's questions, he pointed to the river and riled up the dirt nearest to his paws before going still. Waiting for a few more moments, as soon as he spotted bubbles on the water's surface, he tensed and plunged the stick into the water. Luckily scoring a second bass, he struggled with the stick, having skewered the bass close to the spine. Carrying it to shore, he dropped his stick to free the bass and dispatch it with a crack of his jaws behind its head. Huffing slightly, he grinned at Fraggle, shaking off the scales that clung to his chin fur. Looking back at the river, he debated how to explain his tactic for fishing, as accidental as the tail was.

Rolling his stick with a paw as he thought, he tipped his head before sitting on his haunches. Using his paws, he attempted to make a visual scene of his trick with riling up the mud and murk. Moving one paw along as if it was a fish, he would extend one claw to pretend to be some sort of smaller fish and wiggle it some distance from the 'fish'. The 'fish' would close in on the 'bait' before 'taking' the 'bait'. Fish were attracted to tether smaller things that moved, and some bass were easier to catch in the mud as they seemed to think prey was easier to find where it might be stuck. He wasn't an expert on fishing, but he'd learned this much through his years and through experimentation to feed himself.

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✯ — MALE. THE GOLDEN EYE. MEDIUM DIFFICULTY. REF. LANGUAGE GUIDE. — ✯

#psychosocial.

[DAMION MAVERICK]

IC TEXT

so someone was doing fishing, were they? how very interesting. wasn't like he was hungry and damion only preferred to kill when he or others would benefit from it, so he sat down next to fragglerock, parting his jaws in a yawn, running his tongue over his lips. he'd help soon enough, not really wanting to get his paws wet just yet. "i would suppose the muddiest place to fish is a test of luck, neither one can see the other." he mused out loud to the rabbit's question, his tail twitching as his fur fanned out to catch the sun dipping in to his skin.

OC TEXT

INNER CIRCLE - SPEECH - THOUGHTS - TAGS

[FRAGGLEROCK.]

Luckily for Aesior, Fraggle hadn't been around early enough to see that the other's first catch had been mostly a matter of luck. If he had been, he probably would've thought there was some element of luck to the whole thing – which wasn't entirely wrong. After all, whether a fish decided to bite or not was entirely determined by whether they found your "bait" enticing enough. In this particular case, Aesior's tail had evidently been just the ticket. With the next catch, though... that was all skill. Fragglerock found himself watching with a wide blue gaze, a gasp of joy leaving him as Aes shot the stick forward, jabbing directly through the fish he was aiming for. Without hesitation, Frag found himself sitting back on his haunches, paws smacking together in a clapping motion as he cheered, "Good job, Aesior! That was great. At this rate, we'll have plenty of fish for the group in no time." Of course, the feline was really the one doing most of the work in that "we." Still, the boy was happy to take care of any fish that thought they could sneakily find their way back into the water.

As Fraggle's excitement died down, he quickly found himself entrance as Aesior tried to explain the tricks of muddy fishing to him. Obviously the barrier of the other being mute made it a bit difficult, but the rabbit found himself able to follow along fairly well. Once the small presentation was done, Frag nodded firmly and said with some degree of reverence, "Wow... that's really cool. It must've taken a long while for you to learn so much about fishing..." As he looked back down at the muddy water, the rabbit momentarily found himself wondering what he could learn, given enough time. Hopefully his time within The Golden Eye would gradually make him more and more experienced, so that he wouldn't feel so guilty. He didn't want to be a leech, like several seemed convinced that he would be. Either way, he was sure that Aesior would be happy to help with whatever he chose to learn. The feline had already been so helpful thus far.

Fragglerock was then broken from his pondering by Damion's approach, glancing over at the other and taking a moment to process what he had said. Both hidden from one another? He supposed that could be useful, at least in this particular scenario. He muttered softly, glancing at the sparse trees and other bits of wildlife around them, "I suppose that's true... only really when it comes to something like fishing, though. I mean, I don't hunt myself, but... wouldn't you want to be able to see your prey clearly in other kinds of hunting?" It would be a pain to go stalking after a squirrel in the darkness, only to end up taking a leap of faith that slammed you straight into a tree.

[glow=#4c2c1c,2,300]YOU CAN WRAP MY BRAIN IN PLASTIC[/glow]

[DAMION MAVERICK]

IC TEXT

"would be helpful to always see your prey when you hunt but then again, hunting when you can't see is like I said, a test of luck. or you just get used to not using your eyes to hunt, i guess. that's why we have our other  senses aswell." there were plenty of times where he was forced awake by his father or one of his siblings in the middle of the night to kill something or someone. the old memories brought a bloodthirsty gleam to his sunken optics and he smiled, exposing criss-crossed jaws.

OC TEXT

INNER CIRCLE - SPEECH - THOUGHTS - TAGS

[Grimm]

[table][tr][td]

ultimum eques
the golden eyes
stoneguard
albino oriental
tags

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[div style="max-width: 360px; font-family: georgia; color: #664b4a; text-align: left; padding-top: 8px; padding-left: 10px; letter-spacing: 1px; font-size: 12px;"]NEVER GETS ANY BETTER, ONLY GETS WORSE

With age comes wisdom, ease allowed such to be thrown about as though imparted truth among the simple assembly of words, often found brittle beneath scrutiny. Time allowed experience, tempered skills honed, but so too it a cruel blade that may carve away that untouched, forgotten beneath the new. Eager once had he been to gather knowledge, harsh the lesson learnt of taking upon himself such trivial tidbits. Instead given his attention to a select few, trained those deemed necessary.

Fishing was not within his repertoire, something he had not thought to remedy.

Always was there a time to acquire new talents, even for an old dog such as he though adamant those who spoke of such being incapable. His progress slowed, a walk that bore the secondary purpose of noting growth that had deemed such a time as suitable, always necessary herbs when they lacked a practiced medic, head swivelling about. Loose the fabric that looped across his forehead, vision obscured in some small part, exposed as paw rose and shifted the cover. Short the time of such before it was pulled back down into place, enough was it to catch those that had disturbed his thoughts.

Expected two, common their presence and welcome, though behind closed teeth such words held, the other inciting only confusion. Abandoned his prior task, turning upon his heel and began again his momentum, the exchange of canid and lagamorph bringing a hum to his lips. It seemed Damion had changed his tune where concerned the youth, casual his words, a conversation strange. "Is not every hunt partially luck." Smoothed his harsh tone beneath a mirth not often allowed to gently temper his words, at odds with the frown delicately drawn against his lips. "I find vision not necessary most of the time."

Away his attention moved, held as assessed the mud coated Aesior. No stranger was Vincent to the practice of fishing, the exact methods that which he could not speak on, thus viewed with some skepticism the stick the other bore. Some of it was dispelled when noticed the blood adorning tip, the bright points of shed scales that clung to pale strands, and the still aquatic creatures. Ridiculous still seemed the method, his few times viewing others performed largely with their own claws, reflexes honed to a point their speed may adequately match the fish they hunted. "I never would have thought a stick would do much against a scaly hide." With the presentation missed he bore no remark for the method Aesior had stumbled across, one even more ridiculous so many it best he did.

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© MADI

[aesior]

AESIOR OPHELES

✯ — got spirits in my head and they won't go

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As Fraggle applauded him, the tom would find his face warming beneath his fur, embarrassed to be congratulated on a skill he'd developed merely to feed himself.  Shaking his head as if to dismiss the praise, he would look at the two kills between them before pausing to consider. Would the others be hungry? No matter - fish could be salted and saved for a later time. Nodding faintly at the boys enthrallment with his presentation, he would flick an ear softly. It had taken him a long time to figure out how to hunt in this manner, yes, but if only because of an injury that he still suffered from years later. His paws had become injured more through his lifetime but the nerves in his paws and wrists would sometimes become strained or even cross over and fine-tune movements where it included intense use of those muscles such as fishing, he had learned to use other items to his aid.

Looking up as Damion joined the small party of two, he dipped his head slightly in greeting, offering him a faint smile as he spoke of the fishing being a thing of luck. To him, hunting and fishing could be done by use of predatorial instincts, though not everyone was skilled to have such an instinct to tell them where creatures of prey might be. Crouching to get settled as the others spoke, he turned his head with a smile towards Vincent as he joined them, tail curling about his paws. His paws were sore from the temperature of the water, though he didn't mind it and this was a bit of an effort to warm them before they could start to ache. He would explain his situation with his paws but such a weakness was a secret he liked to keep, for as kind as the world of predators may seem, not everyone was a kind being within it and he had little desire to be taken after for a physical weakness he could not help anymore than he could help being mute. Strange as it had been to fish with a stick, he'd found he had greater success with spearing them in this manner. That, and the stick worked well for carrying the corpses once he was done.

Twisting his gaze back to the river and his stick, he stood back up and moved to roll it back to his body, most of his weight leaned upon his hind legs. Paws visibly shaking as he moved to pick it up with his paws and bring it to his mouth, pressing his paws back to the ground to try and hide the tremors. How did he explain another unwanted injury? Shaking his head, he stood up to give Vincent an example of how he used the stick - he could use his jaws but in the mud he was sure to end up wearing and eating more mud than catching a fish. It truly was a test of luck, but he tended to be fairly lucky when it came to fishing like this only from years of experience and studying. He was growing tired of the taste of bass but it was the fish he could catch best - he could only dream of eating salmon when their season came to pass through the rivers towards hatching grounds.

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✯ — MALE. THE GOLDEN EYE. MEDIUM DIFFICULTY. REF. LANGUAGE GUIDE. — ✯

#psychosocial.

[Grimm]

[table][tr][td]

ultimum eques
the golden eyes
stoneguard
albino oriental
tags

[/td][td]

[div style="max-width: 360px; font-family: georgia; color: #664b4a; text-align: left; padding-top: 8px; padding-left: 10px; letter-spacing: 1px; font-size: 12px;"]NEVER GETS ANY BETTER, ONLY GETS WORSE

Often hard the limitation that allowed such things as kindness to draw to a conclusion, the assistance of an offered hand a gamble for the other may hold a knife beyond view. A lesson learnt, repeated to such a degree he cared little where it came to keeping a tally, his very body a display of weakness. To any mother a child such as he was decreed deceased upon the draw of first breath, a beacon that called to danger alike a lighthouse to ships, better an end given quickly and clean. His life an uphill struggle, a fight from the beginning, thus loose the cap on the kindness he gave even if small that he gave by choice.

Gentle the tug that drew his own lips upward, a poor mirror of that given, crooked as one side was incapable of matching the other. Short the time he had known the silent presence, a man of no words and yet so many, more intriguing than any other who allowed their tongue to shape needless thoughts that gave nothing. Maybe that is what drew him, a quiet intrigue to understand, bridge a gap written word and flourishing flora spanned, a middle ground sought.

Brief the diversion, line of sight followed, calm the wide ribbon of muddied water. Intent evident, once more returned to Aesior. Smoothed and practiced seemed his motion, beset by tremor minute, stifled beneath a wish to have it pass by undetected. Such unlikely, proven as his gaze settled upon where paws held aloft his stick, the quick shift of stance enough to tell how Aesior felt about the situation. No words on it would bypass his lips, supposedly aside brushed as he moved closer beneath the guise of studying the manner this method was conducted.

It would not be dropped so easily, evident by the manner lavender depths flicked down to where pale paws pressed against the sodden embankment, still now, before rising. Neutral his expression yet his eyes bore that he would not speak aloud, allowed to be maintained some semblance of privacy, divulging how far the issue went left only for Aesior. "You seem to be rather full of surprises."

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© MADI

[aesior]

AESIOR OPHELES

✯ — got spirits in my head and they won't go

space

grateful was the allowance to slide past the injury he bore as an internal mark of shame. the attack that had left him mute years ago had done more than surface damage, but he'd been able to take a small revenge on the brute that took his voice, like he'd taken many things from him. giving an exhale to clear the angry memories and thoughts wrapped around the bastard that had done it, he would re-focus his mind on the present. he was fishing. he liked fishing. he was good at fishing. relaxing and his ears resting at a neutral point, he would check to make sure he still held the pale-furred tom's attention. not that he was eager for attention, gods no, but he wanted to show his means.

he would laugh if he could at his words, saying that he was full of surprises. attempting to flash a coy smile around the stick held now within his jaws, he would wade back into the waters, tail resting still in the air, a proud point over his spine, away from the jaws of any hungry fish. he would wait quietly, ears twitching at every minute sound, eyes finding a vole upon grasses not far away from where they stood. blinking, he would return his gaze to the calm water around him, involuntary the shudder at paws sinking deep into mud. holding himself still, he would wait and wait, waiting for the faintest disturbance of water, of a fish passing by his legs. quick came the strike, little time to tell where the muscles tensed and when the order to fire was given. abrupt and swift the splash of water around slender shaft of stick. rearing his head back, heavy weight of struggling fish upon the other end nearly causing him to lose his grip.

rotation of weight upon hindlegs closer to shore, he would turn his body back with stick in tow, to drop it against the shore and swiftly end the fish's life. gazing it over, he would narrow his eyes slightly. small, but it would do, they always did - he merely felt some regret for ending a young fish's life. shaking his head to free the scales from his chin fur, he lifted his head to vincent and motioned towards the stick he'd used. a silent offer to teach the other the strange way of fishing.

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✯ — MALE. THE GOLDEN EYE. MEDIUM DIFFICULTY. REF. LANGUAGE GUIDE. — ✯

#psychosocial.