RVA: The Red Vixen at Sea, Part Ten
Aug. 15th, 2016 01:30 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jeriendhal“We’ll need a fire,” he said. “A big fire.”
“Not hide in the trees?” she asked.
Rolas shook his head, wincing in pain again. “We have to assume they know the territory better than we do. They’re probably watching us right now.”
“This begs the question why they haven’t either introduced themselves or attacked us.”
“Indeed.” He looked around briefly. “I’ll start gathering driftwood. So you remember how to start a fire without flint and steel, like from the Vixen Guides?”
“I was never a Vixen Guide, Rolas.” She smiled at him briefly. “But I do know the trick you intend.”
While Rolas got firewood, she managed to assemble a windbreak with sand and rocks, to protect her work from the constant sea breeze. Into the small sand pit she dug out she placed several dried out fallen leaves from the fan trees, and shavings of bark she scratched off with her claws. Then she took the flattest piece of wood from the pile Rolas had gathered, put her precious kindling atop it, then got a stick and proceeded with her best “Rotate the flat end of the stick into the kindling until you heat it up by friction” technique.
A bit over an hour later she flopped backwards into the sand, paw pads blistered, with absolutely nothing to show for her efforts.
“Want me to have another go at it?” Rolas offered, as the sun began slowly sinking into the waves.
“Do you think it’ll work this time?” she asked.
He hesitated briefly, then shook his head. “It’ll be dark in a few minutes. We need to find somewhere to hide.”
“I thought you said they probably knew the territory.”
“Yes, but we can still find a spot that’s defensible. Perhaps at the top of the hill by that table.”
Which meant that they would have to climb the stairs. Again. But Rolas was right, she had admit. The top of the hill would be the most easily defendable position, assuming whomever was on the island with them lacked ranged weapons. “Right, let’s go,” she agreed.
By the time they reached the top of the stairs Melanie was utterly spent. She’d vomited again halfway up, forcing them both to pause for several precious minutes while she regained her breath. By the time they reached the top of the hill it was pitch black, save for the bright band of the Milky Way in the sky. Greenholme lacked large moons like Earth or Foxen Prime, making it difficult to see much beyond arm’s length.
“Rest on the table,” Rolas said. He carried a large stick in one hand to use as an improvised club, and his eyes kept darting around to look for intruders.
“I was planning too,” Melanie gasped, sitting on the edge, her arms wrapped around her stomach.
“We need to get you to hospital,” he said, glancing at her in evident concern.
“You first. There’s nothing wrong with me that can’t be solved by re-hydrating,” she replied. “Speaking of which, what are we going to do about that? All of the drinking water, and the desalinization unit, went down with your boat.”
“Plus the food,” he said gloomily. “I suppose given enough time we can rig a catch basin for water, assuming we don’t find a local spring. No wait; there must be one if there are other people, assuming they’ve been here for a while. Food…” He grimaced. “I know the glide lizards are edible, or at least the ones near the colony center are. I’d be reluctant to try anything else though.”
“I want to be out of here before food becomes an issue.” Melanie said. She tried lying down on the slab briefly, but it was impossible to get comfortable, so she sat up again.
“I wish I could see in this darkness,” he muttered. “If there is a bloody wazagan and a kinis in the group, they have better night vision than we do.”
She reached out blindly, touching his shoulder, and he sat on the table next to her, a large, comforting presence. “I should have brought a gun,” she said. “I was always armed when I was in the persona of the Red Vixen, and usually had Ali behind me as a backup. I got out of the habit once I gave them both up. Foolish of me.”
“If you’d had a weapon, there’s an even chance it would have been soaked in the storm anyway,” he pointed out
“That’s true,” she agreed.
After another brief silence, broken only by the whistles of the nocturnal gliders, he asked casually, “So, how long have you been pregnant?”
If she did have any water, she’d have been spewing it out of her nostrils in surprise. “How did you know? It’s not like I’m showing yet!”
“Dearest, even if I didn’t guess from the constant fatigue and vomiting, I can still smell it.” In the star lit darkness she could just make out Rolas tapping his nose with his finger. “I’ve known it for about two weeks. Why do you think I was so adamant about taking this trip? I wanted to get everything out in the open between us and finally settled, before you had to make a decision on whether to either go ahead, terminate the pregnancy, or have the zygotes transferred to storage or a gestation tank.”
“Shit, I should have known you’d figure it out,” she said.
“When were you planning on telling me? I thought we’d agreed that we were going to wait on starting a family until after Salli returned to take the colony back.”
“She was back, and…,” she gulped back a sob, “and you were growing so distant. I know how idiotic it was to just turn off my contraceptive implant without warning you, but I just thought if I could have presented it to you as a surprise…”
“You could convince me to stay, even if I really wanted to go?” he asked softly.
“Yes,” she admitted, her voice bleak. Then she frowned, turning to glare blindly at him. “Wait, what do you mean you’ve known for two weeks? I thought you were still an amnesiac!”
Rolas cleared his throat uncomfortably. “I got my memory back, most of it I think, when I woke up this morning. At any rate I remembered being married to you, and everything about your life as the Red Vixen and Alinadar.”
“And you didn’t tell me?” She punched his chest with her fist. “You utter, complete, ass! I was quite literally worried sick for you!”
“Well you didn’t tell me about being pregnant!” he said defensively. “And… well… I wanted to see if you were going to be as honest to me when you thought could tell me whatever you wanted.”
She hissed through her teeth. “You didn’t trust me.”
“Do you think you’d given me much reason to?” he asked, his tone not angry, but so very, carefully, neutral.
“No,” she admitted. “No, I hadn’t.”
“Thank you,” he said. He scooted closer to her, wrapping his arm around her. He was warm, easing the chill from the night breeze coming off the ocean.
She rested her aching head against his chest. “How am I doing now?”
“Better,” he allowed
“Was it worth losing your boat over it?”
His arm tightened its grip on her. “Windskimmer can be replaced, you can’t.”
“Not hide in the trees?” she asked.
Rolas shook his head, wincing in pain again. “We have to assume they know the territory better than we do. They’re probably watching us right now.”
“This begs the question why they haven’t either introduced themselves or attacked us.”
“Indeed.” He looked around briefly. “I’ll start gathering driftwood. So you remember how to start a fire without flint and steel, like from the Vixen Guides?”
“I was never a Vixen Guide, Rolas.” She smiled at him briefly. “But I do know the trick you intend.”
While Rolas got firewood, she managed to assemble a windbreak with sand and rocks, to protect her work from the constant sea breeze. Into the small sand pit she dug out she placed several dried out fallen leaves from the fan trees, and shavings of bark she scratched off with her claws. Then she took the flattest piece of wood from the pile Rolas had gathered, put her precious kindling atop it, then got a stick and proceeded with her best “Rotate the flat end of the stick into the kindling until you heat it up by friction” technique.
A bit over an hour later she flopped backwards into the sand, paw pads blistered, with absolutely nothing to show for her efforts.
“Want me to have another go at it?” Rolas offered, as the sun began slowly sinking into the waves.
“Do you think it’ll work this time?” she asked.
He hesitated briefly, then shook his head. “It’ll be dark in a few minutes. We need to find somewhere to hide.”
“I thought you said they probably knew the territory.”
“Yes, but we can still find a spot that’s defensible. Perhaps at the top of the hill by that table.”
Which meant that they would have to climb the stairs. Again. But Rolas was right, she had admit. The top of the hill would be the most easily defendable position, assuming whomever was on the island with them lacked ranged weapons. “Right, let’s go,” she agreed.
By the time they reached the top of the stairs Melanie was utterly spent. She’d vomited again halfway up, forcing them both to pause for several precious minutes while she regained her breath. By the time they reached the top of the hill it was pitch black, save for the bright band of the Milky Way in the sky. Greenholme lacked large moons like Earth or Foxen Prime, making it difficult to see much beyond arm’s length.
“Rest on the table,” Rolas said. He carried a large stick in one hand to use as an improvised club, and his eyes kept darting around to look for intruders.
“I was planning too,” Melanie gasped, sitting on the edge, her arms wrapped around her stomach.
“We need to get you to hospital,” he said, glancing at her in evident concern.
“You first. There’s nothing wrong with me that can’t be solved by re-hydrating,” she replied. “Speaking of which, what are we going to do about that? All of the drinking water, and the desalinization unit, went down with your boat.”
“Plus the food,” he said gloomily. “I suppose given enough time we can rig a catch basin for water, assuming we don’t find a local spring. No wait; there must be one if there are other people, assuming they’ve been here for a while. Food…” He grimaced. “I know the glide lizards are edible, or at least the ones near the colony center are. I’d be reluctant to try anything else though.”
“I want to be out of here before food becomes an issue.” Melanie said. She tried lying down on the slab briefly, but it was impossible to get comfortable, so she sat up again.
“I wish I could see in this darkness,” he muttered. “If there is a bloody wazagan and a kinis in the group, they have better night vision than we do.”
She reached out blindly, touching his shoulder, and he sat on the table next to her, a large, comforting presence. “I should have brought a gun,” she said. “I was always armed when I was in the persona of the Red Vixen, and usually had Ali behind me as a backup. I got out of the habit once I gave them both up. Foolish of me.”
“If you’d had a weapon, there’s an even chance it would have been soaked in the storm anyway,” he pointed out
“That’s true,” she agreed.
After another brief silence, broken only by the whistles of the nocturnal gliders, he asked casually, “So, how long have you been pregnant?”
If she did have any water, she’d have been spewing it out of her nostrils in surprise. “How did you know? It’s not like I’m showing yet!”
“Dearest, even if I didn’t guess from the constant fatigue and vomiting, I can still smell it.” In the star lit darkness she could just make out Rolas tapping his nose with his finger. “I’ve known it for about two weeks. Why do you think I was so adamant about taking this trip? I wanted to get everything out in the open between us and finally settled, before you had to make a decision on whether to either go ahead, terminate the pregnancy, or have the zygotes transferred to storage or a gestation tank.”
“Shit, I should have known you’d figure it out,” she said.
“When were you planning on telling me? I thought we’d agreed that we were going to wait on starting a family until after Salli returned to take the colony back.”
“She was back, and…,” she gulped back a sob, “and you were growing so distant. I know how idiotic it was to just turn off my contraceptive implant without warning you, but I just thought if I could have presented it to you as a surprise…”
“You could convince me to stay, even if I really wanted to go?” he asked softly.
“Yes,” she admitted, her voice bleak. Then she frowned, turning to glare blindly at him. “Wait, what do you mean you’ve known for two weeks? I thought you were still an amnesiac!”
Rolas cleared his throat uncomfortably. “I got my memory back, most of it I think, when I woke up this morning. At any rate I remembered being married to you, and everything about your life as the Red Vixen and Alinadar.”
“And you didn’t tell me?” She punched his chest with her fist. “You utter, complete, ass! I was quite literally worried sick for you!”
“Well you didn’t tell me about being pregnant!” he said defensively. “And… well… I wanted to see if you were going to be as honest to me when you thought could tell me whatever you wanted.”
She hissed through her teeth. “You didn’t trust me.”
“Do you think you’d given me much reason to?” he asked, his tone not angry, but so very, carefully, neutral.
“No,” she admitted. “No, I hadn’t.”
“Thank you,” he said. He scooted closer to her, wrapping his arm around her. He was warm, easing the chill from the night breeze coming off the ocean.
She rested her aching head against his chest. “How am I doing now?”
“Better,” he allowed
“Was it worth losing your boat over it?”
His arm tightened its grip on her. “Windskimmer can be replaced, you can’t.”
