Closed A Search for Food (Alexandra)

[Anibesa]

14th Summer, 518AV
"Common" | "Fratava" | "Tukant"

It was mid morning and Anibesa had finished pulling on her clothes and lacing up her boots. She huffed and grunted as she grabbed her things. Her hands found her backpack containing her cloak and a compass, alongside her rope and her flint and steel. Then she threw it over her shoulder and left her tent, grimacing slightly as the bright sunlight hit her eyes and blinded her for a few moments until she’d managed to raise a hand to shield her eyes until she’d adjusted to the light.

Once her eyes had got used to the glare of the sun she removed her hand, still grimacing at the brightness slightly, before turning around the check her tent, seeing her kukri left just inside her tent and she reached into it, bending down to grab the kukri before straightening herself up and holding the weapon carefully.

Her eyes turned to the jungle and she pursued her lips slightly, walking slightly closer to it before turning and heading along the beach towards the city core and the commons. She wanted to try to find someone that would be willing to accompany her into the jungle in order to try to gather some food, or hunt an animal of sorts. She knew that she wasn’t ready to tackle the jungle alone though, it was dangerous and there were more violent creatures within the jungle.

”Safety in numbers.” she mumbled to herself, her eyes glancing back to the jungle and then towards the sea instead as she glanced over its glistening waves, watching as it rippled under the hot sun.

She could see the commons coming into view, and for a moment she stopped just to wipe the sweat from her face as she regretted choosing to get dressed before walking to the commons. Her feet sunk in the sand with every step she took, and buy the time she reached the commons she was huffing and puffing and it took her a moment of hunching over with her hands on her knees to regain her breath.

”Stupid sand.” she mumbled to herself before standing up straight and looking up at the commons, before walking inside and glancing around, attempting to make eye contact with anyone that would look towards her. She cleared her throat as quietly as she could, before speaking loudly to the few people that were there in hopes that they would listen.

”I’m going to be heading to the jungle to find something to eat soon. Anyone fancy joining? We’d share whatever we got obviously, and share whatever’s left and would be spoiled otherwise with everyone else too?” she asked, looking over the people that were there. A few shook their heads apologetically, obviously having other things in need of tending to, and Anibesa just glanced around the commons hoping that someone would offer to join her, rather than making her traverse the rest of the settlement just to find someone willing to accompany her into the jungle.
~

[Alexandra Gainsborough]

In her typical fashion Alex has gotten up quite early making sure to get a jump on the more labors tasks she had at hand. She spent a good chuck on the morning swinging her kukri around cutting down trees. It was a tool she had never really used but with how versatile it was it was something she wanted to lean more about. She figured the best way to get comfortable with the tool was to keep it in hand. It took a considerable amount of time to cut down one of the trees on her little plot of land but she needed more wood for her project then she thought possible to collect. May as well get started now. After taking down a single tree she figured she should pack it up for the moment and see what might be going on in town. Having just arrived this season she had no real plans in the settlement other than perhaps to socialize. It was going to be critical to her survival to make a few friends and help out her fellow citizen. When she manged to get to the common areas however her attention turned from people to the places and things set up for everyone to use. She looked over the forge that had been setup and muttered to herself. "This might work..." She would need a place to make glass and something that got hotter then normal. A blacksmiths forge would be the perfect place to work while she set up her shop and discovered better materials. Next stop the commons. This place always amazed Alex as so much was going on. Everyone would gather here quite often to do just about everything. From a distance Alex sat in a chair and watched someone repair a fishing net, it was very tedious work. Her attention was quickly taken away as a women asked for help out on a hunt. Almost jumping out of her chair with wide eyes she stood and said "I'll help!" with a little more volume then she expected. "I would need to return home and get my pack ready but it should only take a minute or two its mostly ready." Realizing she was not the only person in the room she looked over her shoulder wondering if anyone else would be joining them. She quickly turned back and walked over to the women. "Hi I'm Alex by the way." She beamed and asked. "Are you looking for some kind of fruit or maybe an animal?"

[Anibesa]

"Common" | "Fratava" | "Tukant"

For a few moments, Anibesa was silent as her eyes passed over the few people that were there as they shook their heads or indicated that they were too busy to take the day off in order to venture into the jungle. Then Anibesa heard a voice and she instantly turned her attention to the young woman that had spoken.

The young woman was pretty with red hair, and she was shorter than Anibesa. For a further few moments Anibesa looked her over, committing her appearance to memory as she realized that she hadn’t seen the woman before before she heard the woman say that she’d have to go back to her home to gather her things, and Anibesa grinned.

“Great! It’s good to have someone so enthusiastic!” she exclaimed, briefly glancing at the others there who were now ignoring the pair. She saw the woman check on the others. “I think most people are busy, so it’s probably just the two of us for now!” she explained as the young woman turned back to her.

Anibesa listened to the girl, finding herself grinning as she introduced herself. Ani enjoyed meeting people and spending time with them.

“Ani, pleasure to meet you Alex. Are you new to Syka? I don’t think I’ve seen you around before, have I?” she smiled as she held a hand out to the woman in a greeting before hearing the woman’s question as to whether Anibesa wanted to find fruit or an animal and Anibesa thought for a moment. “Fruit is fairly easy to find, so either way we’ll end up with some fruits. Meat would be more filling and last longer, so if we can find something that we can handle then we might as well try to obtain it.” she shrugged, before heading to the exit of the commons.

“You need to go home briefly right? I’ll come with you, and we can find a stream from there to follow into the jungle, if that’s okay with you?” Anibesa stopped briefly and turned to look at the the woman. “I have my compass but streams are easier to follow. Which way do we go to get to your home?”

Anibesa gestured briefly for the other woman to take the lead before glancing around, unsure of which way to go just yet. She wasn’t sure whether the woman would be staying in a tent on the beach, or in one of the buildings that had been built for residents to rent or buy.
~

[Alexandra Gainsborough]

Nodding Alex said "Yes I am. I have only just moved here a few days ago. I am still getting to know my way around." Alex took the womens outstretched hand offering hers as a greeting as well. Grinning, she was excited to be going on a hunt. She would welcome any chance to get a little more meat in her diet. Moving towards the exit she replied. "You are welcome to come with me. It is nothing more then a tent and a few sticks at the moment. It keeps me dry and it's a good place to rest my head." Her voice confident. She had grrat plans for this plot of land. For now however these simple beginnings were all she would need. "Following the streams sounds like a good idea. As long as we follow the water we should be able to make it back to the beach." Most days her sense of direction was guided by her stomach or her noise. Here these proved to be little help. "Just follow me and I will lead the way. It's not far." It wasn't long before they arrived at her  plot of land. Without a word she headed to her tent, flipped up the flap and dropped to her knees. She grabbed her pack, it was still filled with some supplies. She pulled out a few changes of cloths and other things lightening up the load a bit. Moving in a little further she shoved a small knife and a kukri into her pack. She extended out grabbing her bow and and quiver from the back of the tent. Getting to her feet she turned patting her bag to see that everything was where it should be. Running through her mental checklist she looked back at Ani. "I think I am ready. Sorry to keep you waiting."

[Anibesa]

"Common" | "Fratava" | "Tukant"

Anibesa nodded as the woman revealed that she’d only been in the settlement a few days, and Anibesa tried to remember how she’d felt when she first came here.

“I’d say the first few days are the worst. I had no clue where anything was, and it was hard to find people since it’s such a long distance from one end to the other.” Anibesa grinned slightly as she spoke. “It gets easier though, and there’s more people here now so it shouldn’t be too hard for you to find people to get help from.” she explained as they walked towards the exit.

The woman’s words made Anibesa smile again. From what she’d seen most people were content to live in tents as they were easy to move and less daunting than to try to build a home.
“Sounds perfectly lovely to me. Mine’s just a tent right now too, but it’s home to me until I can kick myself into gear!” Anibesa chuckled at the thought, noting that she’d have to find someone who was building a house to help out, just so that she could try to work out how to start!

As they arrived at what Anibesa assumed was Alex’s plot of land she glanced around. It seemed to have been a good choice of location for the plot.
It wasn’t long before she saw Alex gather her things and look back to her, saying that she was ready and Anibesa nodded with a grin.

“Now’s the time to head on into the jungle. Usually it’s best to follow a stream in, that way it’s harder to get lost. Still possible but harder.” Anibesa explained before glancing around until she spotted a stream in the distance. “So we could use this stream if that’s alright with you?” Anibesa suggested before she quickly retrieved her compass from her bag, noting which direction they seemed to be at, just in case they did end up losing the stream later.
~