SKILL hunter 1/5
backdated to around a week after this thread! for Ishmira

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his teeth clamp always a second too late. this was the fifth fish to have slipped just in time from ghelan, and the young man was starting to get frustrated. all of his legs were submerged in lake, three paws splayed to clutch the sand beneath. it did not matter how cold of a morning it had been, or if he'll be named "snotnose" for the rest of the day.

he was actually frustrated since the first fish slipped from him, but each one tested his patience further. a sixth glimmer of silver tensed his muscles. seconds turn to minutes as he waits for it to burst. but akiak still was not ready. the fish leaps gracefully, mockingly. they'd gotten cocky — as its tail gives the boy a hearty slap across the cheek. patience worn thin, akiak gives up all hope for catching the fish when he dives headfirst, reaching for whatever he could grab.

emerging again only with a chunk of kelp caught between his jaws, and an unamused, expectant look in his on red eye for whatever ishmira has in store for him. his face seared, but when did it not.

perhaps it would better serve her to hold her tongue. the lanzadoii boy is, at best, her only company. at worst? her only company. but alas some part of her is a girl still, clinging to childish wit which rears its head as ghelan misses for the thousandth time.

"so," she speaks, blue eyes dull and humorless. "are you trying to catch the fish? or remove every drop of water from this place with your splashing?" she shakes free a few lingering droplets from her pelt before slipping into the water beside him with a grimace.

SKILL hunter 2/5

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if i drained this lake, we'd feast for days. fishing would be no more than a memory, and their bellies full. his one eye watches as she joins him, pale fur flowing gracefully with the gentle tide of the water, only disturbed by the pair and the occasional jump of teasing fish. wouldn't that be a good thing? he raises his head, wet beard hanging from his chin.

she's a sight for sore eyes, but akiak doesn't let himself linger on her. on her or any girl he may meet. even with the scar, he was still son of a bad man and he still had a price to pay for it. it didn't matter what ishmira said to him, or if it hurt him.

he could still be a little frustrated though! look, i'm trying! he whimpers under her piercing gaze, her disappointment with his catch pricking his spine.

she scoffs, tail twitching.
"go on and empty the lake, then. your paws are big enough to do the trick." the ice in her gaze melts, though, at the sight of his waterlogged beard. she bites the inside of her lip to stifle a laugh at the unruly sight of him. "you look like you lost a battle with a rainstorm. badly."

and then she tries her own hand at it, remembering bittersweetly how gjalla once taught her to fish. a stern teacher she was, but a brutally efficient one. ishmira traps one of the writhing, wriggling things under one paw and looks expectantly to her companion. she has caught it, but she will not kill it.

..perhaps because the feeling of scales between her teeth makes her skin prickle.

SKILL hunter 3/5

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snorting an i will, but there's no energy left in him to try even an idea as stupid as that. he sits while submerged, shoulders sinking further and white beard dripping and drying in the wind.

ghelan lets her take a step forward, his attention gazing outwards before it sneaks a peek: he finds a smile trying to wriggle free, lips caught by ishmira's teeth to not let any more of it slip through. but ghelan sees it, sees the stifled laughter in her blue eyes and pale face.
and though he knows she laughs at him, the tension that clogged the air between them lifts. instead of a retort, he gives her his fullest smile and heartiest chuckle. it's worse, i'm losing to fish.

there's silence again. he does not move to ruin ishmira's hunt. instead, he watches carefully, observing as much as he could while both were submerged. like heron, each step close is deliberate and careful. and, somehow, when she snatches her paw forward, the water ripples and protests. and by the snarky look she passes him, ghelan frowns.
ishmira never finishes the hunt, though. well? he cranes his head low. kill it already, don't torture it.

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oh, but some part of her is a spoiled girl still, and this part of ishmira rankles when the man before her does not bend immediately to her will. she hesitates for a long and painful moment, ears flat against her skull at the prospect of killing the wretched thing. and then, in a burst of what she calls courage (but is more accurately spite), ishmira's teeth meet soft, chunky flesh at the back of the fish's neck. she drops it and steps back, jaws parted and tongue lolling as if to rid herself of the feeling.

"there. it's dead. happy now? eat your damn fish." there is irritation in the twitch of her shoulders, but amusement lingers still. his sopping beard and wide eyes are difficult to glare at.

he wasn't too sure where he'd slipped up with her. he watches as her brow furrows, dissatisfied with something, before finally killing her catch. red seeps but he can't linger on it for long until the fish is tossed at him. he's lucky enough to catch it, its flesh crisp on his tongue but ghelan couldn't savor it. not when ishmira seemed cross with him.

whash wrong? he babbles, the carcass flopping in his grip. ish yoursh! with just a bit of his strength ghelan tosses the fish back at her. stretching his aching jaw, he repeats: it's yours! it was heavy, the damn thing. and ghelan hadn't exactly thought through throwing it at ishmira.

her eyes widen, but there is no time to move. the fish strikes her face hard, and she yelps, falling backward in her shock. she resurfaces after a moment, now sopping and with fur hanging flat over her eyes. for a moment rage simmers beneath her skin. what had he been thinking? or had he been thinking at all?

and then the absurdity of it all dawns on her, and a strangled laugh slips from her lips. it is entirely unladylike— a snort here, a ragged inhale there. but she can't quite stop herself either, even as embarrassment settles heavy in her gut. when at last her laughing fit subsides, she begins sheepishly to pry each scale from its skin.

SKILL hunter 4/5

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his breath halts, and his one wide eye stares at her, ensnared by fear and regret. i'm uh- he stammers, blinking rapidly as if that would undo what he had done. but before he could even blubber the words out, she bursts into laughter.

for a while, it is just her and her spritely laughter. akiak stares stupidly and shocked. and he waits, waits for when this laughter unveils anger and she lunges at him. but it never comes.
had he ever heard something so lovely?
hah. he tests. hah, hahah- hahahahh! but laughter spills and spills after a skip of the heart. and it was not his restrained chuckle like before. it fills out that stiff silence, that awkwardness between them if just for a moment. it is not her that he laughs at, but at his ridiculousness. their ridiculousness. while she had her face covered, he gave a glance at his reflection and this whole time he looked like an old geezer with his long white beard. it was if the ice cracked. it didn't break but that was fine.

i'm so sorry.. akiak musters anyways through his laughter. i, hah. i wasn't thinking. his voice weakens, and he looks back at the mountains around him. he thieves a quick glance at her before he turns back to the lake for his own catch.
she was beautiful. her smile would stop anyone with eyes in their tracks, and her voice anyone with ears.
but there's beauty in her anger too! even when he got the brunt of it. not that it made it any less lethal. but the fire in her eyes was just as charming and engulfing as the beauty in her smile — snort and all.

but even if he wanted her, loved her, he must never have her.
for he is son of cen.

with a lazy smile, ghelan returns to the bank. this time her wisdom in mind, and less pressure to provide for her. if he could not catch something, he would be fine skipping a meal.

he looks at her for a fleeting moment, and she finds in his single red eye a deep and penetrating sadness. some hopeless, forlorn part of her wants to go to him then— to take ghelan into her arms and soothe whatever ails him so.

she notices, too, the gentleness with which he conducts himself. he does not tower over her, domineering, as sun eater once did. there is an easygoing, well-intentioned slope to his muscular shoulders, and she decides then that ghelan, for all his mystery, is not cen lanzadoii.

would cen stand by her side when the winter bit harsh? would he feed her, catch her fish with desperate, flailing paws when food grew scarce? she squints, and can see the faint outline of akiak's ribs through his thick fur. ishmira knows her answer.

she follows him out of the water with a shining, dripping fish in her mouth, eyeing him with both amusement and interest as he resumes his fishing. not once has he asked her to help— to provide as she has seen him do.

"thank you."

content more than she will admit to him now, ishmira bows her head to eat.