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NEAR THE WATERFALL - EVENING
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Enver sits on a rock near his tent, staring into the small cooking fire as he munches down on a couple of small fish he just roasted. He seems content enough, though tired from another day performing in the marketplace.
Narrator: There was a small little blip in the water, easily missed in the turmoil of the waterfall, before the cephalady poked her head up. She was sleeping a lot more, but had been drawn towards the surface. She didn't say anything, just...watched, head poking just from the surface, tentacles floating around on the water.
Narrator Enver's camp was about 20m away from the water, but the smell of the fish definitely makes its way back to the waterfall. The mongoose doesn't notice Sammi, relatively inured to the constant noise and movement at the base of the falls and the pool there.
Narrator: Oddly, it wasn't even the fish that was attracting her. It was something else. In any case, it seemed that Sammi wasn't going to get anywhere by being distantly present, so she flops herself onto the shore, before getting herself up on her feet, and continuing to watch, now instead sitting, legs curled up underneath her near the fire. Still not saying anything just yet, just..looking at Enver, curiously.
Enver looks up from his food and blinks at the sudden presence of, well, anyone suddenly near his fire. He half stumbles back, managing to get his feet under him at least. "Uh... hello?" He tries not to panic or overreact, but well... she's just THERE now...
Sammi: "Oh. Don't worry! I don't bite!" She pauses "Okay, I do bite, but like..nothing that talks.." She pauses again "Okay, maybe..like..those little fishie things that can do that repeating what you say back.but that totally doesn't count..." She stops "Um..what was I talking about?" She refocuses back on Enver "Oh right! Hi! I'm Sammi! Great to meet you! What's with your hand? I saw it..and was like..that's incomplete, but then I looked harder..and you are totally complete, which is weird, because how could you be both..." She peers again "...Ooh..is it..oh! I get it!" She nods "Makes sense now..."
Enver looks down at his hand, which still has its prosthetic attached and the connection isn't super visible in the low light. He blinks again. "Um... I'm Enver and it's always been like this... well, without the prosthetic anyway..." He cocks his head. "How do you know about that anyway." He slowly sits down again, then offers one of the fish still on its roasting stick to Sammi. "Are you hungry?"
Sammi considers the fish "It looks nice, but I'm not that hungry, and it looks like its more a one person meal. Thanks for offering! It's a lovely gift" The real pleasure of a gift is the giving, if you don't need it, you still get the majority of the gift by knowing they wanted you to have it "And..um..it's like..uh....I dunno, I could just sorta see it, it's like some people can't see all the colours, and..uh..I didn't know what it was, just that there was something there" She nods "Its fine! You're complete! But then..um.." She flails her tentacles with frustration "I can't say it in landspeech! It's fine though! Maybe I'll work it out later"
Enver cocks his head and shrugs. "Uh, sure, whatever you say. So... why are you at my camp? I mean, I know the waterfall is for everyone to use, but this spot is the one I've been using for a while..."
Sammi: "Oh! I'm living in the waterfall! Then I saw you, and so I came to look!" She points into the water "Is this camp like someone's house? Should I have knocked?" She knocks on the empty air, which still creates a crisp knocking sound.
Enver blinks at the sound. "Wow... that's cool. How did you do that? And no, it's fine, just more... you were just there suddenly and I didn't see you coming..."
Sammi: "Oh..I just walked up, and um..I just knocked, because..um..well, I see this sort of is your home, so I should have knocked on the door, so I'm knocking on the door, which I think would be about here!" She knocks on the same spot, which knocks again "It's a bit weird, because I'm knocking on the inside of the door, rather than the outside"
Enver blinks again. "But... there isn't a door..."
Sammi: "A door is what you go through to enter a home. This is your home. This is where I went through to enter your home" She knocks again.
Enver reaches up to touch the spot where Sammi is knocking, feeling for anything there.
Narrator: Enver puts his hand through the empty air, because that's what it is
Sammi: "No, No..it's a metaphor, so you have to knock metaphorically too" *Knock*
Enver shakes his head. "Uh, sure... anyway, you're welcome in my spot as long as you don't mean me any harm..."
Sammi considers matters "...Then I'm welcome. I don't mean you any harm!" She smiles "That's good! I like feeling welcome!"
Enver picks up a waterskin nearby and takes a sip. "Sure, so uh... what do you do in the waterfall? And how come you've never noticed me before?"
Sammi: "Oh...Napping mostly" She ponders the other question "I dunno, maybe I have, and just not approached? Hard to tell, all the Landdwellers blend together a bit"
Enver nibbles on a fish. "Oh, okay... so... did you want something?"
Sammi: "Not really! I was just curious about the complete/incomplete thing! You seem to be nice though!" She ponders "Oh! Once I get to know someone, I like to give them a gift, doubly since you already gave me a nice gift!"
Enver finishes the fish he's eating and tosses the skeleton into the fire. "Oh? But you didn't want it...?"
Sammi: "But you still offered the gift! Why would the value of a nice gift be based on how much I wanted it? That's silly. It's a nice gift because it was a fish that you really wanted to eat. That's really valuable!"
Sammi was answering this, with the tone that she's surprised she has to explain this.
Enver smiles. "Ah, well, you can still have it if you want." He looks up at Sammi, taking a better look at her though he's still not quite sure what he's seeing, with it mostly making sense in the moment but something on the edges of her shape always seeming a bit off.
Sammi: "It's okay! I appreciate the offer!" She rummages in her bag, before pulling out a small box "Here we go!" She puts it on the ground "This is a little heater!"
Enver looks at the box. "Magitech?"
Sammi: "Um.." She pokes it, and it makes a small squidge noise "..I don't think so, I just got it from my bag. It's ...just a heater. It'll heat your home!"
Enver looks at it. "How does it work?" He bends down a pokes one of his prosthetic fingers at it.
Sammi: "Uh..." She ponders it a moment "If the room is too warm, poke it like...there.." She points to the left side "And if its too cold, poke it here" She points to the right side "Don't think too hard about it"
Sammi: "You'll need to keep it in your home though, it won't work outside"
Enver watches and just nods. "Ok... I will. Thank you, Sammi." He reaches out his good hand and rests it atop the heater. "So what can I do to repay your kindness? Do you want to know more about my hand or...?"
Sammi: "We're already even! Gifts are for giving! There's nothing to repay!" She considers his hand "Well, if you want to tell the story, I'll listen, but I don't want to push you if its a sad story!"
Enver takes a few moments to unstrap his prosthetic and holds out the half-formed hand for Sammi to see, with its runty pre-fingers next to the good forefinger and thumb. "Well, I was just born like this... they didn't really know anything was wrong until I started to grow and then part of my hand didn't grow with me. Mom said that something happened when she was pregnant with me, but never told me exactly what happened..."
Sammi: "Well. Lots of things happen before you're born to decide what you'll be! If your Momma had been with someone else, you'd look totallllly different, or if she'd eaten different foods.." She ponders softly "It's still all you though!"
Enver nods. "Sure... I mean, yeah, but..." He shrugs a bit. "So uh, do you have a job or anything? I haven't seen you around town."
Sammi: "I suppose I do have a job! But I can do it in the waterfall, so I don't go around the town much, people get wiggly"
Enver blinks. "Oh, okay... what is it?"
Sammi: "Umm..." She ponders "It's an underwater thing. Hard to explain, and..uh..I've not found a way to explain it that people don't get the wrong idea..soo, I'll just say that much!"
Enver just nods. "Sure..." He looks at his cooking fire again. "Want to hear about how I came here?"
Sammi: "I do love stories!" She nods, adjusting her sitting position.
Enver starts telling Sammi about his father and how he was sold as pretty much a slave, but how he changed ships at the last moment and all of that stuff. He makes the story much more exciting and less scary than it really was, now that he's on the other side of it.
Sammi: Sammi would happily listen to the story, eventually, she would take her leave. Of course, she would close the door behind her when she did..
Enver beds down for the night after Sammi goes, an odd little smile on his face as he thinks over the events of the visit.
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THE THIRSTY MINNOW - EVENING
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Brunilda is sitting at the only table big enough for her, reading a thick book about magitech... that she's honestly already read twice, but she keeps doing it out of some odd combination of interest in the topic and boredom in her life outside of it. She's clad in her usual light armor, hiding the scars in her back at least mostly.
Fiora pushes open the doors to the Minnow a little dramatically, it seems to be about the way she does everything, and spotting Brunilda, immediately grins. She pushes through the doors, without much care to Gareth behind her, and beelines to Brunilda's table. "There she is! Perfect! Brun!"
Brunilda blinks in surprise, looking up. Immediately upon seeing the giraffe, she feels a bit of a warmth in her... warmth she's not sure she's allowed to show. But Fiora seems to be in a good mood, so... "H-hey, Fiora." She gives a small wave of her hand.
Gareth ambles into the bar just after Fiora, his hand already out to catch the door as it swings shut behind the giraffe. He glances around to see where she's gone off to, then nods when he sees his partner making a straight line towards the pachyderm. He raises a hand in greeting as he approaches the table. "Evenin'. So, yer Brunilda, hm?"
Brunilda looks up at the wolf, the nods: "Yes, that's me. Evening..." She is certainly a bit confused at someone searching her out.
Fiora glances back at Gareth, "Eh? You two haven't met? I figured you'd sparred the whole guard by now, Gareth." She shrugs, then turns back to Brun, "Eh, whatever! The point is... yeah, we'd been looking for you. I know we've kinda talked about bounty hunting and stuff, and we've got a job!"
Brunilda raises an eyebrow at Fiora, leaning back on the chair: "Eh? Congrats, I guess."
Gareth chuckles a bit and shakes his head at Fiora's question. "I've sparred with a good few of the guards, but not all o' them. Louma gives a pretty good challenge compared to most." He nods at Brunilda, "We got ourselves a job, but Fiora's got a couple o' questions to ask ye, I think."
Brunilda looks at Fiora expectantly, if somewhat confusedly.
Fiora nods. "I do. Uh... do you wanna tag along?" She pauses to think, "I guess that's the only question. It's an easy job, just some thief kobold or something. We've already done the investigating. Just need to haul their ass in. I don't even mind giving you a cut of my portion of the bounty. Just having you be extra muscle, get a feel for the job you know? Shouldn't be anything too dangerous or fun."
Brunilda blinks, tilting her head slightly: "Tag along? But I'm no bounty hunter..." She looks down for a second, then back up: "...sounds interesting, though."
Gareth nods along. "It'll be a pretty easy job, most likely. Just got to keep an eye open fer any other hunters that want to try and poach the bounty." He sighs a little and looks over at Fiora, "There's also a second bounty, if we happen to run into the other hunters, lass. Off-record, though, this one."
Fiora chuckles, cracking her knuckles, "Honestly, that sounds way more fun then the first one, but we'll see how it plays out. I know you can fight, Brun. And if nothing else, you can register into the guild this job as a journeyman. I'm willing to put write a recommendation for you, say I've been apprenticing you. You say you're no bounty hunter... but you could be."
Brunilda looks between the two, considering: "I don't know..." She looks into her drink: "I don't know what I am, honestly. Guess there's no harm in giving it a shot."
Fiora grins wide. "If we get into any big fight, I'm confident you can hold your own. They gotta get past me first anyways."
Gareth laughs a bit. "And me. I might not look like much next to the two of ye, but me claws are as sharp as any born fighter." He pauses, then smirks, "...Maybe more than most, really."
Brunilda smiles, nodding. "Sounds good." She then blinks, pausing: "...why, though? I mean, why me?"
Fiora shrugs, "You're fun to hang out with and fight with. I thought you wanted to put this whole guard thing behind you?"
Brunilda nods slowly: "I did, yes... and y-you're fun to be with too."
Fiora shrugs, "I don't have much other reasons for stuff. Gareth only said yes because I agree you'd take a cut out my half. I'm not looking to turn this into a trio, but you'd be good muscle to have around."
Gareth shrugs a bit at that statement. "Ye both get along, and I found the job, so if Fiora wants ye to come with us, that's her call. I'm not against it at all, though."
Brunilda looks between the two again, then nods and gestures at the table she's sitting at: "Well... guess I'm in."
Fiora reaches out a hand over the table towards Brun. "Awesome. Gareth knows where we can find the asset, just a matter of going in, knocking them out, and hauling them off to Bairnell's. And bust the heads of anyone who tries to stop us."
Gareth leans against the table a bit. "Shouldn't be too big a hassle, if the other hunters are slow on the uptake. The target's just an inventor, so I can't imagine them bein' especially hard to deal with."
Brunilda hums, nodding. "I will just follow your lead, then..." She frowns: "I hope Louma doesn't mind me doing this, too much."
Fiora shrugs, "Eh, worst she can is fire you."
Brunilda looks at Fiora evenly: "...that's reassuring."
Fiora: "What? You've already got that cushy generator gig, right? 'sides, this job pays good. Even just getting a quarter of it is going to be more then your guard salary."
Brunilda frowns for a bit, but then nods slowly. "I... I guess that's fair."
Gareth laughs. "Well, I guess if yer worried about losin' yer job in the guard, I could leverage some favors to let ye keep it."
Brunilda gives a weak smile: "...g-guess so."
Fiora laughs, "Gareth's better at pulling strings like that then I am. And your Captain isn't exactly a pushover, so not like I can demand it or anything."
Gareth smiles mysteriously at Fiora. "Let's just say I've got a good bargainin' chip against Louma if it comes to that."
Fiora raises an eyebrow at Gareth. "So... you are dating her eh?"
Brunilda raises an eyebrow at Gareth, again feeling both confused and curious.
Gareth blinks as his smile shifts into a slightly annoyed frown. "No." He sighs, "Fine, I was plannin' on keepin' it a surprise, but Louma gave me a bounty fer the weapon one o' the hunters has. If Brunilda's job is on the line, I can reduce the price of the bounty in exchange."
Brunilda blinks: "I mean... I sure hope my job isn't on the line..."
Fiora folds her arms, "I don't see how it could be. Not like this is illegal or anything. It's a contracted bounty."
Brunilda shrugs helplessly: "I don't know about this stuff, you tell me."
Gareth shrugs again. "Eh... all depends on the guard captains, really. Some o' the ones I've met in the past can be really uptight about "followin' rules" and whatnot."
Fiora chuckles, "Followin' rules has never been my strong suit."
Brunilda glances at Fiora: "From what little I've known you, that much certainly is true."
Gareth stifles a bit of a snort of amusement.
Fiora grins wide. "Damn right. You can't let anyone tell you how to live your life, Brun. Gotta seize it by the throat and don't let go."
Brunilda pauses, then grins a bit: "...is it enough if I seize it by the shoulders and shake it some?"
Fiora chuckles, "It's a start!"
Brunilda smiles, shrugging: "It's what I can do. Maybe."
Gareth hums. "Well, if it worked fer Fiora, I don't see why it can't work fer ye, lass."
Fiora nods, "My custom process! Or something. Wait, what worked for me? "
Brunilda raises an eyebrow at Gareth: "I'm not sure I follow either."
Gareth gesturing at Fiora. "Seizin' life by the throat and doin' yer thing. Hasn't gone wrong with ye yet, has it?"
Fiora: "Oh! Yeah, nope! Guess not! I'm like, a model example."
Brunilda nods, smiling: "Suppose you are, then. Not that I'd really know."
Fiora glances at Brun. "Yeah... I kinda thought you'd be more excited about this. You just aren't the type to get all passionate, eh?"
Brunilda frowns, looking at Fiora: "I am!" She then looks down, shying away slightly: "Just... not often?"
Fiora laughs, "Eh, I'm teasing! It's fine."
Brunilda harrumps slightly, but manages a small smile afterwards: "I don't know what to get excited about, yet."
Gareth shrugs. "Well, if there's one thing to get excited about, maybe it's gettin' a chance to exercise yer skills as a guard, in a way? Look at it like an arrest."
Brunilda shrugs: "Maybe. We'll see." She looks unsure about this whole premise yet, but can't find a direct objection in herself either.
Fiora shrugs again, grinning. "It'll be fine. You'll see."
Brunilda nods, shrugging again with a smile.
Narrator: The three talk a little longer as Fiora and Gareth order drinks, sharing the table with Brun.