lapping currents

[drinkupmehearties]

Who| Jack and Roland, then Jack and Brock
What| Lake monster funtimes
Where| Around the lake
When| Early week 3
Warnings/Notes| Nessie-related incidents


The days had started to bleed into one lengthy, hellish nightmare -- sleep was elusive, the weather was unbearably cold and capricious, and the search for food had become a constant concern. So in an attempt to find a better and more productive place to fish and stave off that ever-encroaching hunger, Jack followed the river upstream and eventually ended up at a lake.


(Closed to Roland)

The beasts that Jack finds monopolizing the lake are massive and inconvenient. He'd rather not get too close to one, particularly because he'd had more than enough experiences with terrible beasties in the past, but he'd already expended the energy to make it to this lake. He needed to try.

Ten minutes into it, and nearly waist deep in the remarkably chilly water, and he's having absolutely no luck. Frustration causes him to smack an open palm against an incoming wave and curse beneath his breath. The monsters' big, lumbering presence in the lake was scaring off any potential food.

His eyes briefly roll skyward, settle back on the nearest creature, then slide down to catch sight of a rock sitting on the lake bed. Oh. Hold on. The creatures looked to be fairly docile and harmless, maybe he could scare one off.

Jack retrieves the rock, rolling it around in his hand to get a feel for it, then casts it at the beast. It skims through the air and strikes true with a wet thud, and a grin slips onto his face -- then immediately drops as the beast angrily howls, swings around in his direction, and charges. His eyes grow wide, and it takes a moment for his body to catch up with the sudden, rising panic that hits him.

Turning quickly around, the pirate sloshes through the water towards the shore and shouts more curses. The loud commotion could garner the attention of any nearby Tributes, sure, but that thought is far from his mind at the moment.


(Closed to Brock)

Most of Jack's interactions with the Tributes in the Arena thus far have been, thankfully, unexpectedly nonviolent. Someone had even been kind enough to offer him food and fire in the first few days of this madness. But, of course, it'd be foolish to abandon caution because of it.

So when the pirate catches sight of someone wandering around the lake's shore and watching -- analyzing? -- the creatures, he doesn't immediately approach. It takes a few minutes of silent observation, but eventually Jack recognizes that the man is not only familiar to him, but from his own District. The two of them had met in passing, here and there, but hadn't ever managed to graduate their interactions into an actual conversation.

It makes him wary, but it's a fleeting leeriness when Jack realizes that Brock is gearing up to actually go after one of the monsters. He emerges from the treeline waving his hands. "Oi! No no no, hold up, mate!"

Comments

aaaand that'll do it?

[ka_sera_sera]

Roland's big, strange grin does not return - likely will not for some time - but he does smile, mouth thin and wide and pleased. He watches the grass closely for a moment, adds a very tiny bit of grass very carefully, and leans back. "Good," he says to the Captain, cautious and relieved, but doesn't bother trying to manage anything else. If they watch the fire carefully they may be well soon, well enough to talk of kraken and gunslingers and anything else in relative comfort. For now Roland only rubs his hands up and down his arms, keeps sitting close to the other man, and waits to finally be warm.