The Nature of the Serpent

The pirate captain could have been insulted by the curious way he looked at the fish, but she was starting to believe he had spent too much time alone and in the sun. He ate and didn't complain and that's all that really mattered. When he brought up the fire she sighed. It was somewhat comforting, but there was no need for it now.

"I'll just blanket it. Can make a new one in a better location tomorrow." Musetta then stood up and got to work on putting her cook fire out. She looked over at him when he mentioned his home. It sounded very odd for him to say, but she supposed if he had been living here for this long a shelter would become more a home. "Alright," she said with a grin. It would be starting to get dark here soon anyways.
 
The cooked fish didn't agree with his slightly pointed teeth and he ended up tearing it rather than chopping it with his teeth but it was sift enough for it not to be too much hassle. And while she put out the fire he stood and turned around and headed back towards the makeshift shelter discarding the fish bones on the way. It was far enough away to be out of sight bu still close enough to hear the gentle lapping of the waves on shore. One thing Aias hated about air was how poorly it conducted sound.

"Here we are..." he said nervously presenting his handiwork. "Home.. I should get something from your wreck to put over the leaves..." he turned and started walking towards the sea.. the stopped. "Where on the ship can I find something like that?"
 
"You're going to try to go salvaging now?" she asked in surprise. While she didn't nessisarily think he would be as exhausted as her, but it was getting late in the day to be doing salvage work. "While the best stuff might be in the captain's quarters, you have to be careful swimming around a wreck. Not only do ou have to worry about the debris, but there's the structure itself. You can't be sure what's sound and what is ready to fall apart."

She worried that he looked determined to go and while there were things she wanted from her ship, things that would be useful, she wanted to have a clear head to consider the benefits versus the risk. She also wanted a full day so she could swim out there and make a proper assessment of the wreckage. There was nothing on the ship worth dying for. Not unless they couldn't do without, and since Aias had lived here this ling alone she wasn't worried about that.
 
"Captain's qurters..." he repeated walking off into the fading light and getting got the beach and without pausing waded out and just kept going as the sun sank beneath the wakes. The darkness wasn't a problem for him any more than the water was as he swam out to the now familiar wreck and slipped in though one of the stern windows. There in the bed was a collection blankets and sheets. He'd take those and... That was pretty.... On the floor, knocked there by the storm was a decorated knife and he scooped it up before heading out of the window again breaking the surface to see if she was waiting on the shore before he made his way back and blankets over his shoulder and examining the knife in his hands started walking back towards the shelter.
 
Musetta tried not to worry about the eccentric castaway by glancing around at the structure. It was a shame about where the break was on the boat. There was little chance she'd be able to repair it and use it to get them off the island. But it made her mindful of the things she hoped to recover if at all possible, which in turn made her worry some more.

"He's lived here this long alone without getting killed," she muttered to herself and sat down on the makeshift bedding. It was not uncomfortable, but she noticed it was going to be a bit snug. It was that or deal with the elements, and one never knew when a storm might come down again. Storms that could sink ships. It was with these less the pleasent thoughts in mind that she heard Aias return.

Sitting up Musetta blinked. He had actually gone off to the ship and recovered a blanket. She was almost impressed. "You do realize that you're still going to have to hang it somewhere to dry, don't you?" How he thought this would be usefull tonight, she had no idea. In fact she had a few choice words to say about his impulsive behavior. No matter how foolish it was though it was a sweet gesture she reminded herself. "But I suppose tomorrow night it will be nice to have."
 
He looked at the blanket, then at the bedding and then settled for draping the blanket over the outside of the boat to dry. Being wet didn't seem like a problem to him but then he was also still wet from the sea... she didn't want to be wet? He unbuttoned his shirt and hung that up too looking at her to see if she objected. Then went back to looking at the knife. "I like this." he said holding it our to her. "But I think its yours." She had her dagger anyway so it wouldn't do any harm for her to have it. "It was in the cabin."

He looked at her and tilted his head. "It was your home..." he said as if he was just realizing this "Now its broken.. I'm sorry." He looked away and then he his feet. "I will try to make you as comfortable as I can here."
 
Surprised, Musetta took the dagger and looked at it. "It is. It was my father's," she told him in a soft voice. She then looked up as he spoke, and gave him a sad smile. "Thank you. It's been my home for very long time. I know other people usually have a home they go to when they're not sailing, or a place they grew up, but it really is the only thing I had."

Laying down, she held the dagger up and looked at it. "Sorry, I suppose I should be glad I'm marooned and not dead." Sitting up she looked at Aias. "That didn't sound quite right. I'm not saying I'm not grateful, because I am. It's just, I'm not sure what to look forward to. I've grown up on the sea. I don't know any other home, but now my crew is gone and even once I figure out how to get off this island, then what?" Flopping back down on the leaf bedding she sighed.
 
"I haven't been home in a long time." he said. "I can't go back." Most pirates couldn't without being hung but his tone made it sound like he wouldn't want to even if he could. "I chose wonderment and the promise of adventure of my family and people." He may down of the sand near the shelter and looked up at the sky. "Then I found myself here, I remember very little of the time between leaving home and coming here or know how long I've been here. There are ships, sometimes, far away, I ignore them. I have nothing left out there and the island is food to me. I can swim, I always have fish..."

He stopped and looked at her. "This is my home and I pulled you here from the sea so you are my guest... of sorts. You want to leave, I see it in your eyes, maybe you can, but what is there for you to find?"
 
Turning onto her side, Musetta looked over at Aias. This was not the ravings of someone slightly demented. If anything it sounded more like someone that lost hope a very long time ago. She wondered if that had happen even before he got marooned or if was the development of all the years of solitude.

"I wasn't ever good at philosophy. I do know there are things I need to do. Someone needs to rid the world of that damnable sea serpent if nothing else," she frowned, unhappy to have brought it up. She should have kept her own council, but she was tired and angry. It did make her question if that was all there was to life. "Revenge, justice, call it what you will. It is not something to live for, but until I've accomplished that I can't distract myself with whatever there is in life."
 
He was looking at her, still now joining her under the shelter. "So if you ever found it you'd kill it, and nothing would persuade you otherwise." it was a statement, not a question and the tone in his voice was sad. "You're not the only one looking for it's treasure,.. its the way of hu.. people." he curled up on his side hugging his legs.

"Kill to gain, or just to kill, I think I've seen a lot of that in my time. I never want to kill unless its to eat. Maybe thats why i can be happy here. I saw the serpent once, didn't see it kill anyone though." he sighed as if he didn't want to talk about this. "But the beasts have their own laws, so what you want isn't justice."
 
"The treasure? I don't think I believe there's any treasure and even if there is that's not my goal. My father and brother both died because..." too much, too much informing about herself, too much emotion, it was too much, at least for right now.

"This is why I don't do philosophy. I'm going to get some sleep. Tomorrow we can discuss how to get off this island." It wasn't so much a command as it was the need to sleep before she let anything more slip. It was bad enough having to wonder about her men, knowing her ship was gone and she was trapped. Thinking about the damnable serpent and those it killed, those that were so dear to her, she wanted to cry or scream or both, but she'd suck it up and bottle it up inside and by the dawn there would be little chance this Aias would ever hear so much as a mutter about these sensitive topics. Rolling onto her back once more she looked up at the roof that once was a boat.
 
He edged closer and looked at her face. "The more you hold onto something the more a part of you it becomes. Out here its of no use to you. Here its just you." he sat up and looked in the direction of the sea. "Sleep, dream easy. Tomorrow we will see what we have." he was idly petting the sand beneath him as if to comfort it. "Nothing out there matters so long as you are here."

He shook his head. "Or so a man with a lot of time on his hands says."
 
Musetta didn't answer, she just closed her eyes tightly just as she frowned. Troubled would have been the easiest way to explain how she was feeling, and while it was correct it missed all ths subtle layers that brought her to that point. She of course would have been just as happy if no one, including herself, looked too deeply into all the currents of her life.

Her mind could have easily kept her up, but her body was exhausted and beyond and once she was lying still sleep speedily came after her. Her dreams however were not the type that made for a restful slumber, for in her dreams she fought. She fought the formless and the changing, the unnamed but familiar. If her whole night was filled with such struggle she would be better off awake.
 
Morning, the sky was clear but the water was at the same level, there were no real tides on the island, and anomaly that would take time to explain. Aias was in the water, undressed and splashing around his skin shining in the sun. He hadn't been back to the wreck but he was over it, diving down and coming up able to jump almost entirely into the air. He always swam in the mornings, but then he sometimes slept in the water too, land was safer but there were not many dangers in the water either.

He didn't notice her wake up nor what she did after she did, but what he did notice was the sun in the sky and he moved to swim to shore, wading out and picking up his clothes to put them on carefully. Beach sand in pants wasn't fun.
 
Captain Musetta Aquitainia awoke with a start. The dreams of last night quickly escaping back into the shadows, but the feeling of unease was still there. Slowly turning from being on her side to on her back she looked at the broken boat that was her cover. Marooned! Crewless! Shipless! Alone!

No, the last part wasn't true. There was Aias, the strange hermit that rescued her. Though thinking of him as a hermit didn't seem quite right in her head. He was far too young among other things to fit the picture of a crazy old recluse. Finding herself smirking ever so slightly at the "other things" she shook her head. She really needed to wake up and focus on the important things, like how to get off this island.

Before she could do that though she needed to attempt to salvage what she could off her ship. Getting up she didn't immediately notice Aias, something she was somewhat glad for. She wasn't fully awake and her dreams made her irritable. She rather not inflict her bad mode on another. Especially someone who seemed to have trouble with human interaction.

Wandering around, waking up and trying to stretch out aching muscles, Musetta eventually found herself by the water. It was sparkling with the sun glistening upon it. Once such a sight always made her smile. Now, she wasn't sure what the sea was to her any more.
 
He was sitting on the shore when she arrived then waves just not reaching him. The water was at the exact same level as yesterday, still on tide. "You slept well?" he asked without looking, he was in fact looking at the ship under the waves. "It didn't look like you did, so I didn't wake you. But you should have a blanket tonight so maybe you'll sleep better. I know its hard to get used to life out here alone, but you're leaving soon so you won't have to."

he stood, still not looking at her but eying a tasty looking morsel out close to the reef. "Should I gt breakfast?" without waiting for an answer he dashed into the swells and dove under cutting the water like a knife as he swam all too fast to be normal under the water.
 
Looking over she saw Aias sitting. She might have politely lied about how she slept, but it seemed it was far too obvious that she didn't sleep well. When he brought up that she wasn't planning on staying long she lifted an eyebrow. Was he being sarcastic, it sure sounded that way. She bite down the urge to make a retort, recalling he had been here a long time and had given up any and all hope of escape. It would be good to remind him he wasn't alone anymore, but he quickly changed the subject to breakfast and then disappeared into the water.

Musetta visibly gasped when she saw him move in the water. She had never seen anything like that. No, she had, just not from any person. Shaking her head she stepped backwards. He had to have been a fanominal swimmer before, and now that his very life was at stake if he didn't catch fish, well... Then it dawned on her he was catching fish with his bare hands!

If she could have she would have turned away, started a fire, but she was captivated. There was no other word for it. She even found herself holding her breath once. How was he doing it! Then she remembered pearl divers were said to have amazing ability to hold their breath. Maybe it was happening a lot quicker then it seemed to her.
 
He was at the roof beyond the wreck in no time and grabbing hold of a large bright blue fish and with a deft motion snapped the spine just behind the head. Then he was stuffing the fish under his shirt (so thats what they were for) and ... he really shouldn't but he couldn't help but leap out of the water and grab hold of a spar that was sticking out of the waves and pull himself up.

He pulled the fish out and took off the shirt and tying it around the fish to hang it from the spar.. then dive back into the sea and swim up to the reef to run his hands over the rough formation. Barnacles.. to tough to pry loose.. seaweed, maybe but not over a fire like humans seemed to do it.. eww... a few muscles though... Leaping back out he grabeed the shirt and then fell back in, the fish still int he makeshift sling he started pulling muscles from the rocks and putting them in there as well, about two dozen in all. That should be enough, he had seen how much she ate at a meal. All that was left was to swim back and hand her the bundle.
 
When he came up for air, or so she thought that's what it was, she couldn't quite figure out how he got up to that spar. He was down again for a bit then he took his shirt back into the water. Musetta was just shaking her head by all of this. Here she thought he was a simple, if strange, man. That he was some sort of marvel in the water was incredible. She blanketed each utterance of "impossible" she made, thinking of people and stories that could help make sense of what she was seeing, because otherwise he couldn't possibly be a normal human.

By the time he walked back to the beach, water dripping off his bare chest, Musetta had stopped gaping, but she still watched him intensely. When she was handed the bundle that had been his shirt it took her a moment to stop staring at him and look inside. It was the food he caught. "Thank you," she said. She then realized she was falling behind on her bargain, she had promised to cook after all. "I'd better get the fire started," she said already walking along the beach. That's when she noticed another oddity, the reminence of last nights cook fire hadn't washed away. She didn't get it, but it was useful at least.
 
He didn't look as tired as he should be but he was looking pleased and ready to go back out there just for the fun of it.. but instead he was walking after her. Walking, so slow and limited and complex. "Fire.. you always make fire?" he asked before quickly putting a hand on her shoulder to stop her. "Move it closer to home. Further away from the sea.. more convenient there."

He picked up a few of the stones and cradled him in his arms before moving towards the shelter, no too close though he didn't want the shelter to catch fire. Dumping them down he retreated to let her do her work, he didn't like it when she had a knife in her hand... he had never had one, they were tools and weapons used by humans.