Completed Early Sailing

[Linie Moonreef]

27 Fall 516 AV

It was a lofty day on the Suvan. Seagulls flew overhead as Linie and her counterpart Buckleye sailed away from the mainland for a day of fishing. She had to impress James, her new employer, with this next haul. She was new to Syka and wanted to make a name for herself as fisherman supreme. It was her goal to be The Guy when it came to fishing. Something in her Svefra bones told her this was where she should start with her new life in the settlement; by becoming known for one of the many talents of the Svefra, fishing. Knowing it would be easy, she was a good fisherman after all, she was comforted by her skill and aptitude in her trade. She WOULD be a name in this town.

On the boat they were arguing. They had stopped to see if there was anything to catch in the shallows. Linie was fishing in her undergarments and Buckeye was shirtless, wearing only his trousers. Both wore no shoes.
"We have fifty three coin to our name!"
Linie ignored him and pulled up the net.
"How are we s'posed to eat next season with this little coin? How am I s'posed to eat now? In two days, if you would let me, I could drink this coin!"
She still ignored him and cast the net again. They were still close to the shore, but this was a good depth for smaller fish. The net fanned out and sunk to the bottom slowly. A spray of seawater cast itself on her face.
"You know even though you don't say anythin' I know you're listenin' and you know I be right."
She huffed, hesitated, and finally said, "No you ain't. We have enough to live comfortably this season and I be seein' no reason for you to worry."
He snorted, "Sure, but what 'bout the next."
She sighed and turned to face him. The winds threw her hair about and she moved a couple strands from her face. "James has given me a fair wage."

He continued on about the money, as if he had something to spend it on, and she continued to ignore him. Buckeye was soft spoken among strangers, but when it was just the two of them he was one of two things; all over her lovingly or bitchin' about one thing or another. Kind as they come though. Once at port in Alvadas she witnessed him helping an old woman with her groceries while they were buying supplies. When she inquired to him about it he admitted she had him take it clear to her home, in which she had many mewling cats, and he got plum lost on the way to the ships. It was quite a few bells before the city spat him out at the port, poor sod, leaving them wondering for awhile what had happened to him. It made her laugh every time she thought about it and a small smile crept up on her face as she brought up the net once again. Still nothing.
"And I don't seein' why we needin' to stay at this damned settlement when we belong on the sea--"
"We need to go out more. Ain't nothin' here."
Buckeye stopped complaining long enough to pull up the anchor and they were off.

The trick to sailing is all about lift. You have it in the water with the rudder, steadying the boat against the lift going the opposite way through the sails. While it was impossible to sail directly into the wind, if you could adjust the sails to be at an angle into the wind you could get somewhere. Today though, the wind was favorable and they adjusted the boom accordingly. It wasn't long until they were taking off, at a rather fast pace, towards the open sea. Buckeye's mind was no longer focused on his problems but rather on the task at hand. He really was a one track horse.

[Linie Moonreef]

¤

They were far from Syka now. Not so far that they couldn't see the land, nor were they out of the shallows as the tide had left, but far enough it would take them a few chimes to get back. They were in a deeper part than they had before, though the bottom was still visible, and had begin catching fish. Not the fish they wanted, weird, colorful fish that probably were no good for eating-- but fish none the less. Linie knew soon they would find what they were looking for. They were on the hunt for small silver fish, no bigger than the hand and about a little wider. A fine meal if a small one, usually bought in twos and threes. With net fishing you wanted to go after schools to catch large amounts of fish at once. It made it easier to fill the boat-- if you could find the fish that is. She would fish with a rod for larger fish like shark and sword fish, but those were "specialty" fish. Today she simply wished to fill bellies. Perhaps around a holiday she would fish for larger fish that would be good for a party, to cook for a long time over a fire, but for now they would have to suffice for fish no bigger than the hand. Still it was easier for her to net fish rather than rod fish just because of sheer numbers.
After filling the net for a third time with a dozen or so bright yellow fish with blue stripes, she decided to move the boat a little more to port side; turning the boat around slowly by adjusting the sails and following a small "U" shape, as even a casinor of "The Salty Bastards" size couldn't turn on a copper miza.

Now farther inland the Svefra could feel that they were at the correct depth for the little fish they were trying to catch. She tried throwing the net but her wrist didn't give it the correct spin it needed to fan it open and it slapped onto the water half opened, slowly sinking on its weights to the bottom.
"Fer the last time Linie you gotta toss it UP and out not just out."
She gave him a cold glare.
"I ken this, I'm better at fishing than ye, you know."
He scoffed and brought out his buckle drum, similar to the tambourine, and started playing. He played it like a hand drum and was quite good for a novice, having one style he practiced and was true to. There were only a couple rhythms he could play and did so well.
"We gonna jam tonight?"
"Sure Buckeye, we can jam all night if ye ken what I mean."
She tipped him a wink as she tossed out the net once more. This time launching it far from the boat and fanned out wide and true, it landed with a wet slap on the water and began its plunge into the depths to the pat-pat of the drum.
Now she waited. As the net did its work she swayed and stomped her foot to the beat of the drum, humming along. She started to get into it. The wind tousled her hair as Linie threw up her arms and danced to the beat. One step, two step, one step, two. Her hips swayed back and forth and she ran her hands through her hair. IT was raw, unpracticed, but dancing none the less. From her spot on the casinor she was watching Buckeye get more into it, eyes closed swaying with his own rhythm. She found herself lost in a moment in time. It was great being young, good-looking, and happy.

Finally she pulled up the net and at last she had within its grasp the fish they were looking for. Pulling up the net was hard and she could feel her muscles exerting all their strength. She yanked with all her might, feet firmly planted on the deck wand waved Buckeye away when he came to help. She would do this herself. There must have been a ton because she heaved with all her might and finally felt the net give way, maybe it was caught on something. In the end thought she was right. By Laviku's grace she had caught about thirty or so of the small fish. She and buckeye clubbed the more rowdy ones, careful not to break their skin, but in the end a couple ended up bloody. They were small after all. Soon they wouldn't have to club anymore as they would suffocate and die.
This was a decent haul but she would need about sixty more than that to keep the Mercantile stocked for a couple of days. Just so she could have some time off to be with Buckeye. The fish flopped on the deck for a good few chimes until eventually they died or simply gave up. Buckeye picked one up and began scaling and gutting it. They would eat well tonight, Linie always kept a few fish for herself. She cast the net again and watched her man scale the fish with dreamy eyes. She loved him.

[Linie Moonreef]

¤

Now she lifted the net once again. It came up less than a foot underwater, she could feel the pull, but it was stuck on something. They were in shallow enough water she could see the bottom. It would seem it got caught on some type of brown... thing. 'Perhaps a chest?' she thought excitedly. Linie walked more to the bow and tried pulling again from a different angle. Still nothing.
"Need some help with that little 'un?"
Buckeye raised his eyebrow and gave her a grin.
"Sure do muscles."
He grabbed the rope and heaved. A bubbling froth of air bubbles began coming to the surface, as if the sea was boiling. Buckeye walked backwards as he still strained his muscles to pull it up and then Linie grabbed onto the rope to pull too. Their combined efforts brought up the object from the depths. It was long, had barnacles all over it, and was made of wood. Obviously it hadn't been down there too long as it was mostly still in tact. The rope had tangled itself around its center, a real knot, and Linie didn't look forward to taking her net off of it. This though is what allowed them to bring it up. They had dredged up an old canoe.

Buckeye jumped in and flipped the canoe over to make it float, which it did, meaning it was still completely in tact. Now he picked it up while treading water and Linie grabbed it and brought it onto the boat. This was hard work though as she wasn't the strongest. Though it was odd, when the adrenaline hit she could wrassle a shark on the end of her fishing line and get it in the boat. That was a different story. Finally the boat was in their casinor. It was about 6 feet long and covered in barnacles, seaweed, and sand. Both she and Buckeye began taking the tangled net off of it.
It took them nearly fifteen chimes but finally the net came undone. The hardest part was untangling the weights from the net as opposed to where the net was tangled on itself, which came out like a charm. Under, over, poke it through. That was the mantra and pretty much all they did for the fifteen chimes. Both were so intent on fixing the net hardly a word was spoken. Nothing was said until the end when Linie asked,
"What do you think happened to it?"
But Buckeye only shrugged. She was left to her own thoughts about the boat and what had happened to it.
'Maybe it got dragged out to sea.'
A canoe would be the fastest way to travel from one end of Syka to the other. Much faster than walking. Perhaps the tide grabbed it and swept it away. This, in her mind, was the most probable.
'It could have been shoved off to sea.'
Though why someone didn't just sell it rather than casting it off she didn't know. They could have just been that angry at it, maybe it brought them bad luck.
"Ye know," came Linie's voice, "The owners could have been eaten by sharks."
Buckeye scoffed.
"Nay, hear me out. It was a cold, stormy night. They had made it all the way from Riverfall on this here canoe, aye and just about to hit Syka's sands. A giant wave comes and knocks the boat. They lose all of their supplies. They're swimming. The boat is lost, sucked under the water by another wave. A fin appears above the water. They know they're done for. In the end, they're eaten."
"Laviku that was dark. Sounds like you had a moment of Lykata."
"Arr, I wish. Should Eyris ever bless me she would be blessin' me with a much more vivid imagination."
Buckeye chuckled and began scaling another fish. She cast the net out again, silently wondering what to do with the boat. They would leave it on the casinor for now until they figured it out.

This next catch wasn't quite as big, only twenty something fish, but it would do. Finally they had found a good spot for the fish. This time she wouldn't have to use her mark to catch the fish. Which was good. It was well known among her people to not misuse your mark; lest you risk Laviku's ire.

[Linie Moonreef]

¤

The wind was getting colder as the sun began to set. Not unpleasantly cold, but to Linie's partially naked body goosebumps were beginning to rise. Buckeye had put his shirt on and Linie followed suit, putting her shirt on though she left her pants for now. The net was already thrown out, she began pulling it back up. The boat was rocking slightly from the waves as she heaved the wet, wriggling mass of net onto the boat. Another decent haul. She counted about twenty fish, almost where they needed to be. One more haul this size and they could go home. There almost wasn't enough room for them to walk, have the fish on the deck, and have the boat on board. They would have to do something. After some arguing on whether to keep the boat or not Linie, on the side of pitching the petching thing, eventually won as they came to the conclusion of getting rid of it.
"What a waste..." Buckeye chided as their combined effort pushed the boat off of the Salty Bastard.
It floated morosely Linie felt a bit bad about leaving it. Still, it would be too much trouble to sell it her on the settlement, they had no need for it, and it belonged to Laviku now. If it floated back to the shore on its own, good for it. Someone would have a lot to work on their hands, cleaning it, repairing it, possibly painting it.

Now with much more room she enlisted Buckeye's help and threw the net off once again, together. She waited a sufficient amount of time before bringing it back up. The line was heavy with fish and he muscles strained to get it on the boat. When she finally did she put her hands on her bare legs, doubled over and breathing heavily. She lifted up on the rope and let all of the fish out of the net. They flopped and gasped for breath, finding none. Their silver bodies jumping into the air in their mad hope for escape. They found none, only the club of Linie and Buckeye. She counted nearly thirty fish this time, excited indeed she was. James would be happy with all of this fish and so would the denizens of Syka. They began their return to the shore with their hefty catch. She was glad. Perhaps she would make a name out of herself, indeed.

[Gossamer]

The Fates Have Spoken
Here is your thread grade!

Character: Linie
Experience Awarded: Fishing +4, Sailing +2, Body Building +2, Observation +3, Storytelling +1
Lores Awarded: Fishing: Using a Net, Fishing: Canoes can be caught. Canoes: Catch and Release, Fishing: Desirable Fish Locations off Syka's Shores

Notes: Nice thread. You could have kept the canoe. I very much appreciated your incorporation of a colorful NPC in your writing.

As always PM me if you have issues.