by Rysen Londell on March 12th, 2011, 4:44 am
Spring 11 511AV
The sun was just rising on the opposite side of the lake, the light hit Rysen's face as he slowly opened his eyes. He had been awake for some time and was sitting at the edge of the water, his legs crossed. Dark circles were under both his eyes on this morning as he had spent another night with little sleep at his campsite. The past few nights he had debated going into town and renting a room for the night, but he would have no such luxuries as long as he remained unemployed, so for the time being his campsite would just have to do. Next to him lay his fishing rod that he had carried with him since he was very young. He grabbed it and after inspecting it for a few seconds he flung the lure out into the calm waters. Again his eyes drifted shut and he wrap part of the fishing line around his index finger. There he sat as the sun continued to reach further into the sky, every now and then he gave the rod a jerk and the lure splashed the surface of the lake. Eventually Rysen felt a small tug of his finger where he had wrapped the line, he gave the rod a quick and violent jerk backwards. He could feel the tug on the other end as he reeled in the line, he could tell that it was of a decent size. The fish had not put up much of a fight and soon Rysen reached into the water and pulled out his breakfast. He grabbed the knife from his pocket and slit open the belly of the fish and proceeded to pull out the guts and tossed them back into the water. He placed the fish down of a flat stone that he had found nearby and began to carve the skin from the fish, he finished but cutting off the head. Again he tossed the remnants into the lake. Next he took the two pieces of meat to the nearby fire. He threw some more kindle on to get the flames bigger, in order to cook quicker.
It would be a few minutes before his meal would be ready to eat, especially since he preferred his fish to be charred. He stood up and moved away from the fire a ways. The exercise he was about to do had often caused him to fall down and he did not want to be any where near the fire. He removed his shoes and stood there a moment collecting his thoughts, the ground was still wet with dew and the water clung to his feet. Quickly he placed both his hands on the ground and kick off of the ground. His palms were firmly pressed onto the ground and his spread his fingers wide trying to get as much surface area as possible. His body rocked back and forth but he fought to gain control of it. After a few seconds he managed to steady himself. He began taking deep breaths as his eyes slowly shut. His shirt obeyed the laws of gravity and dropped down exposing his stomach; his lean figured quivered as he struggled to maintain control. He began focusing on clearing his mind of all thought and soon enough he had done so. Almost two minutes went by and suddenly he was brought back to reality by his aching shoulders, they were quickly losing strength now and so he lowered his legs and came out of his handstand. His meal was finished cooking and he removed it from the fire taking care not to burn himself. The food was decent enough for him; it was not seasoned and had not been cooked exactly as he would have liked but it was satisfying nonetheless.
His face was still slightly swollen from the brawl he had so recklessly participated in a few days prior. The color was returning to him after his meal and he lay next to his fire for awhile. He drifted in and out of a light sleep for several hours before standing up again. He removed his shirt and dipped it in the water and the wrung out the access water, he placed it on a nearby branch to dry. Next he found his gauntlets from his bag and strapped them on. After finding a suitable tree to be his dummy for the day he closed his eyes breathing deeply. His bare feet slid through the grass and dirt relatively he easy as he gathered his balance in his stance. Then with a quick sudden movement his left fist swiftly struck the tree trunk. As the connection was made Rysen let out a low grunt and the hit seemed to echo off of the tree with each blow. He did this twenty times before switching fists. He continued this rotation for nearly an hour until his muscles began to ache from the impact. He stopped and began to consider other weapon training. Although he had nothing but a small fishing knife, the idea had been toying with him since he arrived in Ravok. He had always been clumsy with a blade but perhaps with proper training and discipline he could at least learn the basics. At least it might make him more intimidating looking although he had never been much of a fighter and a skilled one would almost assuredly not be fooled by him.
Under his gauntlets he could feel his knuckles swelling. The cool water of Lake Ravok would feel quite good at this point. He removed his clothes until he stood naked and waded out into the waters; it felt very cooling as he stood waist deep. His muscles relaxed and he stood there looking out towards the city that stood in the middle of the lake. Amazed by the architecture and by the fact that someone even had the idea to build in such a strange place, he really did admire the city. As he became more relaxed he laid out into the water and began to swim towards the city. Swimming freestyle he calmly reached one hand in front of the other as he cut through the water. His strokes were very fluid and he moved with little effort. He knew the city was farther than it looked and after about ten minutes of swimming he stopped to tread water for another few minutes before turning around and swimming back to the shore. Once back on shore he dried himself off and got dressed again.
Next he tore down his tent and packed it up neatly and then took his tarp and carefully folded it until it would fit easily into his bag. The fire had died down considerably but he still kicked out the larger portions of coals and proceeded to stomp then out. He sat next to his bag upon the ground and ran a hand through his hair, the water had made it easier to manage and for once it laid down flat as he would have liked it to all of the time. Today he had planned on going into the city but he was feeling more relaxed right now than he had in quite some time. So he laid back on his bag with legs laid out in front of him. The sun was climbing further into the sky as it was nearly mid-day now. His eyes drifted shut as the sun became too bright and he began to hum old sailor songs that he remembered from his home Zeltiva. |
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The greatest strength is having all the power and knowing how not to use it.
