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RESPITE FALLS WATERFALL - MIDDAY
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Gareth makes his way along the trail to the town's namesake waterfall, glad to have a reason to be away from the town for the moment with all of the things happening as of late. He sighs as he walks, turning over the conversation he'd had with Forneus while he was sleeping (as he's choosing to believe the dream was real), and generally just wondering if Sammi's okay. He looks around a bit as he arrives at the pool at the base of the falls, hoping that maybe Sammi has already woken up.
Narrator: The water was still, beyond the natural churn of the waterfall, and there wasn't any sign of Sammi. Which suggests she's either still asleep, or not there.
Gareth hums thoughtfully, nodding to himself upon confirming Sammi's not in view. He calls out as he steps over to the water's edge. "Sammi? Ye there, lass?"
Narrator: If he's got good eyes, he might be able to see the outline of a figure at the bottom of the lake, but she doesn't appear to stir, just from his calling out.
Gareth waits a bit, just watching the surface of the water with his one good eye. When there isn't a response, he sighs again and leans over the edge to peer into the deeper parts. He has to squint, but he can just barely make out something distinctly non-rocky in shape down at the bottom. A few more moments of staring and he decides that it's most likely Sammi, or else some really sneaky mimic octopus or something. Either way, he steps back and takes a minute to strip down to his smallclothes, leaving the vast majority of his outfit and gear folded on the grass nearby as he nimbly jumps into the water.
Narrator: The splash, and the sound of the swimming down draws a stir from Sammi. The intent of going down there was enough to draw her up from slumber, and she yawns, stretching out all her limbs at once, blinking sleepily at Gareth above her "Gareth, is that you?" She shakes off her sleepiness, the waters brightening a little as she does "..Wait..you can't speak under water..don't answer that..." She's still a bit confused and half asleep
Gareth blinks, floating in place as he looks down towards Sammi. He'd taken a pretty sizable breath, so he stays in place as he waves at her in greetings, in lieu of actually saying anything for the moment. He treads water, just waiting a bit for Sammi to wake up a little further.
Sammi rolls up "Okay..Okay...I'm up..I'm up..." She takes a hair brush, and..waves it the vague vicinity of the tentacles on her head, which apparently is enough to straighten them out "Come on up, before you go all..weird and blue furred or something. Is..is that a thing?" She doesn't know, but she swims past him, taking his hand, and tugging him with her as she goes.
Gareth is about to swim up at Sammi's suggestion, but finds himself rising to the surface far faster once she takes his hand. As his head splashes up above the water again, he rather calmly takes a breath again and smiles. "Hi, Sammi. Sorry fer wakin' ye up like that, but, uh... I got to speak with yer papa a couple o' days back." He nods after a moment, "And... aye, if I held me breath too long, then I'd have gone all blue under me fur."
Sammi: "Like, blue might be a good look to your fur, so lets put a pin in that one!" She sits on the shore, legs still in the water "But thanks for waking me up, I suppose" She yawns, still a bit sleepy "It's super boring being asleep. I can't get anything nice to eat, and my hair gets all messed up" Her mind wanders back to his point after another few moments "Oh! You spoke to Papa? What did he look like? Giant crab? Spooky shadow" She thinks "That one really creepy kid from the stage production of 'The Swordsman Octavio'?"
Gareth chuckles a little as he makes his way to the water's edge and takes a seat. "Yer hair seemed to agree with ye, at least. Didn't look like it gave ye any real trouble gettin' it all straightened out again." He shakes his head a bit, smiling, "As fer yer papa, no, he came to me lookin' like an older wolf. He said it was so I didn't panic and wake up early, I think."
Sammi: "Ooh..the whole 'paternal figure' shtick" She ponders "Oh yeah, sometimes he does that too" Nodnod "He's trying to be good. Being all nice, and not evil and stuff. I'm so proud!" She claps her hands together "So. I'm awake? Now what? Food? and then what after food?"
Gareth nods. "We could go and get ye somethin' to eat, if yer feelin' hungry after that long nap ye had, and I could tell ye about the hunt I was on while we eat. As fer afterwards..." He tilts his head thoughtfully after a moment, "Anythin' ye feel like doin' in particular?"
Sammi: "Oh! I just want to hear your story first! Grab food. Maybe we can get inspiration from all that!" She walks alongside him bouncily "I'm feeling all..I dunno..helpy!"
Gareth chuckles and smiles warmly as he goes to gather up his clothing, putting on enough to pass as 'acceptable' in town, without soaking all of his clothing from the water still lightly dripping from his fur. Once he's so dressed, he drapes the rest over a shoulder and walks with Sammi back down the trail. "Alright, then, story it is! But first, what do ye feel like eatin'?"
Sammi: "Hmmm.." She ponders "Oh! I know! Ice-Cream! I've not been able to get it much, but its..its like..milk..and fruit..and freeziness! It's the perfect combination"
Gareth laughs and nods. "Right, I think I know the perfect place to go, then, since one o' me friends recommended it pretty highly. On the way over, I'll tell ye about how the hunt went."
Sammi: "Sounds great!" She nods quickly "Okay! So, how was this hunt? You've really hyped it up"
Gareth sighs a bit as he walks. "Well, the hunt went smoothly enough, I'd say. We'd gotten a contract to hunt down a supposed thief that came here from Sarn, one o' the landmasses north o' Aephix. We found him easy enough, but he almost got away thanks to someone interferin'."
Sammi: "Oh! A twist!" She claps her hands together "This sounds exciting, so! What was the interfering? Was there a betrayal? A crucial reveal of previously unknown information?"
Gareth chuckles. "A bit o' both, but unrelated to each other. See, we brought along a new person with us on this hunt, but they knew the target. When it came time to catch him, they got in our way to try and give the target time to escape. Would have worked in their favor if we weren't ready fer somethin' like that."
Sammi: "Ooh! Personal stakes! Every good story needs one of those! So, was there a whole 'I'm staying behind to buy you time?" then turning to the betray person and having a 'Your fight is with me!'...and then the winner is the person with the better friendship speach?"
Gareth chuckles. "I'm afraid I'm not sure, but I'd say yes, that's probably the general idea of what happened there. I wasn't there to see the entire thing, since I was the one takin' the target to a hidin' place in order to talk with them." He sighs, "There were enough folks sayin' he was innocent that I wanted to make sure, just in case."
Sammi: "Oooh, did someone break out cornflower? This plot got thickened!" She leans in eagerly "So, was he framed? Arrested for a crime he didn't commit? Is he gonna go form a team that helps people that the law cannot?"
Gareth treats Sammi to a curious look at the last question, but smiles nonetheless. "Aye, ye got it right in one, lass. Turns out, when I was chattin' with him, the folks up in Sarn used thievery as an excuse to get hunters to capture and turn him in. Far as any of us could tell, he didn't steal anythin' at all. We let him go, and we're not botherin' with contracts from those folks anymore."
Sammi: "Oh? Isn't that gonna make things a bit hard? Sarn's a pretty big city. There's loads of contracts from there" She ponders "But..hey! That means you're super ethical! That's really cool!" She gives him a hug "You're like..less evil than I thought you were!"
Gareth chuckles a little awkwardly as he hugs Sammi in turn. "Well, uh... thanks, lass. I've had me time playin' the bad guy in the past, so turnin' meself around's probably one o' me better ideas as o' late."
Sammi: "Ahuh! That's good! Papa always says that you can't ever act in a story for too long, or else you stop acting" She breaks away the hug "That's why I'm always zippy and cheerful! You gotta smile~ That way you're someone who's always happy!"
Gareth nods. "I like that line o' thought a lot, Sammi. Smilin' does come easier fer me around ye, and bein' happy does make things easier to handle." He lets out a singular laugh and shakes his head, "Me huntin' partner has a similar attitude, and now I can see why."
Sammi: "Yup! There's even a song! But I'm not really a great singer, and I don't have a guiter! Papa does it better anyway"
Gareth tilts his head curiously. "A song, hm? And a guitar... heh, if I knew the lyrics and had a guitar, I'd give it a try meself. I doubt I'd match yer papa's skills, but I could try." He gives Sammi a lopsided grin as the two approach the town's gates, "I only really know sea shanties, really."
Sammi: "Well! He's always as good as you think he is! If you believe you can do better than him, you will" She bobs her head quickly "Just get a guitar, and I could totally throw down a few songs!"
Gareth blinks for a moment, then nods upon recalling what Forneus mentioned of the whole reality-warping thing relying on willpower. "I'll see if I can find one floatin' around town. If not, I'll see if I could get a friend to deliver one from Bairnell's Folly." He takes a look around for a moment, noting that the two have been generally walking in the right direction to get to the ice cream shop, "I'll probably have to practice with it a bit, just so I don't make a mess o' the songs ye teach me. Also, looks like we're just about at the ice cream place."
Sammi: "Yay~" She claps her hands together "You got any ideas for flavours? I'm thinking..something with a lot of them"
Gareth hums thoughtfully. "Well, we could get a sundae, and just mix a bunch o' flavors together. There's also this one I'd been hearin' about as o' late... mostly from me huntin' partner, really... that's vanilla, chocolate and strawberry, all in one scoop." He smiles, "Whatever yer feelin' like eatin', we can get it. My treat."
Sammi: "Okay! That sounds great! Lets go for that one" She heads towards the shop "You're being really nice! Thanks a bunch"
Gareth smiles happily and leads the way into the ice cream shop. "Yer a really sweet lass, Sammi, and that smile o' yers is catchin', as happy as ye are."
Sammi: "Thanks!" She's already looking at all the ice-cream flavours, not quite pressing her face against the glass, but she wants to. Clearly.
Gareth chuckles a bit as he makes his order, getting himself a refreshing bowl of mint chocolate chip ice cream, and getting Sammi a bowl of neapolitan ice cream (plus whatever extra flavors she wants to add to that). He covers the cost of both bowls easily, thanks to his earlier bounty payment from Louma, and waits patiently as they're made. "Ye've got quite a sweet tooth, eh?"
Sammi takes the offered bowl, adding all the tops she can, and waits as they are being made "Um..well..I just like..things! And the more of the things there are, the better! I doesn't have to just be sugary stuff! It can be lots of anythings!"
Gareth nods, understanding a bit better. "Ahh, ye just really like variety! I can appreciate an adventurous taste like that. Ye've probably eaten a lot o' things I've not, and I've been sailin' the seas fer a while."
Sammi: "Uh! Probably not! I've not really eaten much until I've gotten unto land! I didn't know that hunger was a thing, so I didn't need to eat"
Gareth seems more surprised by the detail that Sammi's not really experienced a lot of variety, rather than her just not getting hungry before coming up. "Well, that sounds like opportunity knockin', to me. If ye like food, there's plenty o' different kinds o' foods out there to try!"
Sammi: "That sounds great!" She picks up her ice-cream, and moves to a seat, waiting for Gareth before she starts her own meal "You've gotta start me off on your favourites"
Gareth accepts his bowl once it's ready and goes to join Sammi, taking a seat next to her. Once he's settled in, he starts digging into his snack. "That'll be easy enough. Comin' from the sea, me favorite's a nice, hearty seafood dish we used to make the first couple o' days after settin' sail, on me old ship. Made good use o' the fresh ingredients we had."
Sammi: "Ooh! Eating little fishies? That could be cool! Some of them are real jerks y'know" She starts eating the ice-cream happily "Wbat do you mix up with them?"
Gareth nods. "Aye, some o' those fish are mean little things. We usually mixed them with some vegetables and fruits, just fer flavorin'. Cook it all together, and ye get a nice, warm meal to tide ye over durin' cold nights."
Sammi would continue to make menu plans with Gareth for the rest of the evening, leaving off with a 'comprehensive plan'