A Second Try to Relax

[Rith Matou]

Rith needed to get out of the Kingdom, if but for a little while. His first attempt to unwind was thoroughly thwarted (See A Night to Unwind in the Tavern for Rith's previous "attempt".) Rith was tired from endless research and training, and so he decided to go back to his roots in the bounty of nature.

His leather cloak was folded back over his shoulders and disturbed every now and then in the wind as he moved. A large stick he had acquired along the way was being utilised as a walking stick to keep himself upright and continue moving. He had been walking for some time now and was quite tired, but refused to stop until he had reached the lake.

Then after coming up over a small hill, he had arrived, and his eyes widened and a smile crossed his face so bright that it would make the sun itself scream "Turn it down!"
"Beautiful..." He said enamored by the view, casting aside his makeshift crutch and ran to the lake shore like a new man. Sighing contently, his cloak flapping freely in the brisk seabreeze from the azure lake that shimmered brilliantly like it was riddled with diamonds. Surely this was the place for him to get the relax he needed.

[Rith Matou]

Rith was sprawled out wide laying down on the ground next to the lake, relaxing in the soft grass. Within a couple hours of being out at the lake, Rith was feeling more relaxed and recharged out by the beautiful lake. Though, he was also feeling hungry. Rith got up to his feet, patting off his back and such, and looked around himself before giving another nod.

"Right then." Rith said to himself as he proceeded to dress down into his undergarments, removing his "Bag of Tricks" and gold pouch from belt and tying them around a hole in the waistband of his undershorts which he had done for just such occasions just incase. Then turning around, he proceeded to dive into the lake after taking a deep breath, taking a moment to get used to swimming around again and look at all the Smelt and Trout that dwelled in the lake. A smile drew across his air-filled face as he took off to start catching fish to eat the fun way.

[Trixice]

Trixice watched - with a most amused expression on her face - from the shore. Her black cropped fringe flicked against her tattooed jawline, catching a faint purple shine to it as it danced in the breeze. Her boots pressed against the earth as she walked closer to the shore, the teeth and skull on her necklace rattling in the momentum of her pace.

In her gloved hands she carried freshly-baked loaf of warm bread; a quarter of it's end already dissolving in her mouth. Her old hat was tilting it's brim in the breeze, but the majority of it still covered her features; revealing only that one copper-gold eye to whomever chose to view her.

Her painted-black nails dug into the bread to break off another bite-size piece and she popped it into her mouth, the distant smirk on her rusty-brown-painted lips was quite visible if once looked long enough. Her cloak billowed out around her ankles as she walked, before she took a seat on the shore of the lake to witness the most-entertaining fisherman from land.

[Rith Matou]

For a while the occasional bubble or splash appeared on the surface as Rith continued hunting underwater. Then, suddenly a flurry of bubbles came up and stopped just as abruptly. There was nothing for a moment before Rith breached the surface, triumphantly shaking some excess water out of his hair like a dog might. There was a good sized trout in his right hand, and a slightly smaller smelt in his mouth faintly struggling for its life.

Despite the happy look on his face, he felt the odd sensation of eyes upon his back. Wading around to face the other direction, he saw the mysterious woman from the City Square. He felt a little embarrassed from how silly he looked, but what could he do? He was hungry.

[Trixice]

Trixice almost choked on her bread as she saw him surface. Not from the fish in his hand, but rather the raw fish squirming in his mouth. Swallowing the lump of bread with her eyes closed, she opened them again and raised both eyebrows at him before bursting out laughing and falling back against the earth on her back.

Regaining herself after a few moments she hoisted herself onto her elbows and cocked a brow at him in playful mocking fashion. "What on earth are you doing?" She called, before waving the bread in her hand at him. "For heaven's sake, come and have some bread if you're hungry." Then she resumed chuckling to herself, unable to remove the picture of him with a fish squirming in his mouth from her mind.

[Rith Matou]

Waiting until he climbed out of the water before dislodging the fish into his left hand, Rith looked over to her with an arched brow, drops of water racing down his body like they were trying to see who could get off him quickest.

"Well, how was I to know you were there? Besides, I'm all wet now, I'd ruin your bread. Not that it isn't pleasant to see you again in the first place." Rith replied in a "Matter of fact"-like tone as he made his way over to one of the outermost trees in the nearby wood and began collecting stones, sticks, and short branches from around and on it. After a while of this, he arranged the stones in a circular pattern, laying most of the sticks in the middle, tearing out some grass and sprinkling it over the top for kindling. "What brings you all the way out here by the way?" Rith asked as he used the last two sticks to spear the fish through the mouth and out the tail barely and plunging the other end into the ground by the makings of a fire.

Lastly, he knelt down by the pile of sticks, and retrieved a Puffer from his damp "Bag of Tricks" which was more like an ivory lump in his hand thanks to his little aquatic escapade. Having to concentrate on it harder than usual in its wet state and for he was to summon a more complex creature, Rith focused hard on the Puffer before it exploded in its signature "BAMPF!" now in the form of a fledging Red Dragon, about the size of a puppy, it'd be adorable if it wasn't a pocket-sized flamethrower. Rith petted it for a short while before the little critter let out a belch of fire which sent his pile of sticks and grass ablaze in a radiant campfire and began to cook the fish. With a moment taken aside to thank Mother Nature for making all that had just occurred possible, he pet the Dragon whelp again before dismissing it and returning it to its home. Clearly, he had done this sort of thing before.

[Trixice]

What she would have given to see him accidentally drop both fish was priceless, but he did not. Instead he raised his brow back at her and she lowered hers, bringing her lips together in a bold smirk. He explained himself thoroughly, and she let out a cough of a chuckle once more and nodded briefly. "As you wish then." With that, she sank her teeth into the bread again, chewing on it contently.

She dismissed his comment about seeing her again, and instead observed with mild curiosity how he rumaged around in the wood for stones, sticks and branches. Adding grass to his formed collection, spearing the fish, and pulling a figure from a pouch - which suddenly burst into a rosette Dragon -, he lit up quite a successful fire, and she patted her hand against her thigh; clapping with a lack of effort.

Doubling back in his movements, she tore his question from memory and answered it right after swallowing another piece of the bread. "Most likely the same thing that brings you all the way out here." Then she hipped over to her side, leaning on one arm and picking lazily at her bread with the other.

[Rith Matou]

Hearing her attempt at an applause, Rith turned around and playfully bowed spouting "Thank you, thank you, you're too kind." Letting his fish sit to cook, he sat down by Trixice with a respectable distance so he didn't get her wet. He took notice of her half-hearted actions with some amusement. " I must say, when it comes to taking it easy, you certainly are no slouch." he commented with a laugh and a bright smile.

[Trixice]

Trix couldn't help but break a faint smile at his comment, but she hastily disguised it with that trademark smirk. When he sat down, she slipped the last portion of bread past her lips and chewed for a little while, tapping her painted-black nails against her tattooed jawline before toying with the miniature skull pendant hanging from one of the many piercings in her left ear.

"Yeah?" She said in response to his comment on her taking it easy, "Well I have no need to stress myself." She explained simply, before putting her hands behind her head and laying back on them, jerking her hat to sit over her face entirely. Now she was the picture of relaxation.

Perhaps this trait of hers would rub off on him soon.

[Rith Matou]

Rith watched her lay back, taking her reply under consideration. Shrugging, he let himself teeter onto his side so that he could more easily reach the fire, where he rotated the fish over to cook the other side. Then, with a content sigh, he repositioned himself flat onto his back by Trixice, looking over to her. "Would you like one? I'll be sure you dont get the one that was inside of my mouth." he offered gesturing over to the fire as the smell of cooking fish began to waft through the surrounding area..

[Trixice]

Trixice smiled, no, in fact, it was more of an out-of-place grin, and it only appeared on her face because she knew he could not see her. Wiping it clean off her features, she lifted the side of her hat up slightly to peek out, just in time to see him gesture to the nicely-cooked fish upon their sticks.

As utterly polite and genorous as he was, Trixice rested her head back flat against the earth and dropped her hat over her face once more, re-placing her arms behind her head. "I thank you deeply, but that bread has filled me quite well already." She said from under the hat, listening carefully for whatever it was he would do next.

She had to silently admit in her mind: he was very kind.

[Rith Matou]

"Fair enough." Rith replied with a shrug as he looked up to the gradually darkening skies. He waited for a moment before he rose back into a sitting position and scootched over to the fire. Grasping ahold of the sticks, he pulled them from the earth, putting one in the ground away from the fire so that it wouldn't burn.

"Aaah, very nice." he said with smile, blowing on it a couple times before taking a bite out of the trout he caught, savoring the natural flavor for a moment before swallowing it and making short work out of the rest of the meat. Another satisfied sigh passed through his lips before he rose back up to his feet, figuring he was dry enough to get himself dressed again. So he did just that after walking around the water's edge for a ways. Leaving his cloak off, not really much point to wearing it at a time like this after all, and finishing up by reattaching his money pouch and Bag of Tricks to his belt.

[Trixice]

Trixice closed her eyes after watching the black underside of the hat for long enough, her ears perked to listen to Rith preparing his fish and standing to re-dress himself. Although at peace with her surroundings, Trixice couldn't help feeling the urge to bent her leg and slip her dagger from the thin pouch in her boot, perhaps just to feel it's hilt in her gloved palm. Just to be safe.

So she did this. Her heel slid up to her rear and she plucked the dagger from inside it, laying her leg flat once more and tapping the sharp metal edge of the blade with her other hand with precautious agility. Opening her eyes again, she was faced with the black underside of the hat again, except now it was darker, signaling the outside light was dimming too.

Trixice inhaled deeply and peeked out from the side of her hat to spot Rith attaching a small bag to his belt. She immediately grew curious. "What's in that?" She asked, turning back to stare pointlessly at the roof of the hat.

[Rith Matou]

"In here?" Rith asked gripping his Bag of Tricks, quickly realising the futility in it since all she was doing was staring into her hat. "It's where I keep my Puffers, they're what I use to summon with. Case in point with the fire." he added, answering her question as he walked back around the lake edge and back to his other fish. With a plop he sat down beside Trixice again, picking up his fish, and taking a few minutes to strip it of the meat on its bones. Satiated, he pat his stomach a couple times, stifling a burp which caused his cheeks to flare out briefly.

Nextly, he released what was left of the fish he caught from the sticks and thought for a moment as he rose to his feet. He snapped his fingers in a triumphant "Ah-hah!" manner and proceeded to take the fish into the treeline. Walking in a distance, laying the fish on the ground, and leaving to once again lay down at Trixice's side. At the very least some birds would be able to get at the remaining meat inbetween the fish's ribs or some rodent could use the bones to gnaw down their incisors. Rith wasn't one to just waste things, there's a purpose for everything in his book.

[Trixice]

Trixice nodded as he repeated her question. She was indeed staring into her hat, but she was also listening to the shuffle of material that was the bag, every movement he made, and any quiver in his voice that might tell her he was approaching or planning something. She was never one to trust easily, in fact, she trusted nobody, however nice to her they were.

Pulling the edge of her hat to the side, she let her cheek roll to the dirt to watch him again, in time to see him wander to see him sit beside her and demolish one of the fish. She simply blinked as he burped, and continued to watch through that one copper eye, noting the way he took the leftovers of the fish to the trees nearby. He left it and came to sit by her again, clearly with the intention that some other animal would dispose of it.

Trixice smirked now, and sat up to stand. Pulling her hat snug over her cropped black hair, she flicked her dagger around in her fingers before winking at him once and wandering over to the remains of the fish he'd left by the trees. Picking it up, she wandered back to the lake shore and dipped it under the water to moisten it. Once wet, she began skinning bits here and there, whatever scales might have been left behind, whatever meat, the head, the slippery fins and the tail, until the entire thing was just a skeletal collection.

She walked back to Rith and sat near him, tucking her dagger back into the pouch in her boot and presenting the clean skeleton of the fish in front of her with a 'look' expression on her face. "You'll attract hungry creatures if you leave it around, some perhaps bigger than you might like. The smell of the fish will fade in the flames of the fire, but if you leave remains around and stay here, you're putting yourself in possible danger." And with that, she smashed the skeleton on her knee, and began collecting up all the tiny ribs of the fish and dropping them into her pockets.

It would make a nice bracelet one day.