[Sanikas River] Lovely View (Solo)

[Risa Moontide]

(13th of Summer 511 AV)
The winding river before her was foreign. An entity she'd had no experience with. The water roared down from the mountain, quieter here but she could still hear its fury far above. Risa was going to get some fish out of this river today. She'd been fishing from her ship normally and making the long trek up the mountainous path with her sack filled with fish, but she wanted, No. NEEDED to try this experience before her. The day was still young, just a few bells from sun's breach. She wondered how cold this water was as she prepared herself for the day's labor.

Fala sat at the river's edge, resting on some smooth rocks. Risa was worried he'd dive in and scare away her prey, but he'd been fairly patient himself with the water surface. She smiled and gave a quick whistle at her friend, who looked back with a sweet coo of his own. Fala looked back at the water, watching the surface. "I wish I knew what you knew, where I could find these fishes," She said sighed, talking aloud to herself more than Fala. Fala whistled loud in response and Risa swore she heard his words in her head, "There's bergaili fish moving downstream. If you dive solairi you'd get one." Several of the words were nonsense, but she was sure that she heard him.

Risa stared at the bird, face in shock. Is this the help Eywaat gave me? He hand reached up delicately to touch the feather that had grown on her ear that day two weeks ago. She knew she'd been hearing Fala, but she'd always heard his voice in her head, making up the words to whatever cute chirp he made. Tears welled up in her eyes for some reason, the shock mixed with elation filling her mind. She sat down on the river's edge for a while, petting Fala and just thinking.

[Risa Moontide]

Risa didn’t realize how long she sat there, enjoying the heat and soft sounds of the bubbling brook. The sun was higher in the horizon, now closer to midday than the horizon, so it had to be at least for a bell. She hadn’t gotten any work done so she briefly stroked Fala’s head feathers again and stood up, ready to get her job done.

Risa unwrapped the large net from her shoulder, letting the weights fall against the ground with slow clicks. A voice rang in her ears, one of the many of her pod, trying to tell her how to spot the patches of dark, schools of fish below the surface of the water. Risa watched the water, but couldn't make head or tail of the color she meant to look for. She'd chosen this spot along the river mainly because it was close to the trail, but also because the water looked deep enough to make use of her net.

Fala flew up above the water, circling the river and Risa tried to remember the steps for casting the net. She gripped it in her left hand and began winding, but she forgot to check for tangles and soon had a mess before her. Risa sighed and dropped the net before her, this time picking up more carefully and making sure to start the meticulous task of checking the net for tangles. Her elders always seemed to find the snags so much quicker than she, where it would take her minutes they could do in seconds.

Risa coiled the net again, so much slower than before. Her eyes watched the net like Fala watched the fish above, cautious against any tangles. When she finally got the net coiled she moved moved it into her left hand, right hand preparing the next step. Getting the net into two separate piles was hard, Risa was never good at estimating it. She slowly ran each thread between her hands, trying to get it separated correctly while still watching for tangles.

Getting the net just right was tiring work, but she had to focus. When Risa had it together she grabbed a bit in her teeth and used her small finger to drag the net up. This seems right... Risa finally pivoted back and spun out, letting the net go flying into the water. It was sloppy and barely opened all the way, not forming a full circle in the water. "I messed it up," Risa said aloud, but began pulling the net up out of the river.

It wasn't until she heard the splashing of fish did she start to pull with focus. It seemed the net had closed after all, even though the catch was negligible with only a couple of fish struggling to get out. She smiled and nearly made an audible yell of victory, but didn't want to scare away any fish that were left. Maybe I can get the hang of this.

[Risa Moontide]

Risa grinned, stuffing her bag with another small fish. The net wasn't catching much, but every pull that brought the splash of fish to the surface was worth another smile, another toss into the water. The sun was warm, the day stretched before her like the river flowed towards the bay below. But Risa had gained a focus from the simple motions, trying to think of nothing but the actions over and over. Sometimes the toss was good, sometimes it fell apart before it even left her hands.

Her bag wasn't very full of fish, and Risa didn't plan to leave until the bag was a pained nuisance to carry back down to the Processing Center. But that would definitely be easier than carrying it up the treacherous trails into Wind Reach itself. Risa was going to have to dry everything in the bags, probably even flip the bag outward to get it to dry. The bag was already pretty water-proof, like most Svefra bags, but that only meant the fish would bring water inside to be trapped and contained, perhaps stagnating. Hopefully the day would stay sunny, the drying process aided by the warmth of the sun above.

Risa coiled the net around her hand again, her eyes watching for tangles. She spared a glance for Fala, but he had apparently found a nest for a midday nap. Wound up into a ball was one of Risa's capes, strewn out from her bag to make room for fish. Fala was tucked into the folds of the clothing, his black feathers peeking out from the fabric and his orange beak disappeared under his wing. He seemed peaceful.

The distraction was costly, another tangle in the large net. It was annoying. Risa sighed and began sifting through the net lines, trying to even them out and sort out which ones tangled. Each string pulled at others, so she had to move them very slow to find the tangle on her own. Risa sighed as she worked, her fingers trying deftly to sort the cords. But something wasn't going right. She pulled and separated the net for what seemed like forever, at least a chime or two. But she couldn't find where this tangle began and where it ended. It was so frustrating! Risa pulled and twisted and parted the cords again and again.

Risa let out a low groan, a tired expression of her frustration as her arms dropped and the clang of weights from the net hit the ground. Fala tweeted out a tired chirp, not bothering to look over at the display Risa was making of herself. The net was heavy in her hand, begging to be freed and the work for the day final. But Risa couldn't stop, there was so much work to do. She just wanted to get her bag filled. And even when she moved around this stretch of river tossing the net just wasn't fast enough.

"I gotta trying something new. I'll trawl it, maybe?" The net was probably bigger than it should be for the type of fishing she was doing, but it was all she had. Hopefully it would be more effective if she changed her own tactics? Risa figured she'd at least give it a try. It was a new concept, something she'd not had any experience with. But she'd learn.

Risa stripped off her clothes, layer by layer. She tried to make the clothes nice as she went, folding up the skirt haphazardly, but by the time she stripped of her undergarments she was just bunching up her clothes and tossing them into a pile. She peered over at the water, her bare skin already the sun-kissed bronze color but still enjoying the feel of the sun. She wondered about the feel of the water. Risa grabbed the net again.