08-12-05

Characters involved: Audri & Taye.

Western Shore

Its a cool night on the shore, a light breeze blowing while the stars slowly start to dot the evening sky. A small dingy floats about 15 feet from shore, Audri sitting in the very center while the little craft goes around in circles much to the squirrel's dismay.

Taye has just gotten off shift for the evening, and so he's deciding to take a little run on the beach. All that sitting leaves the young buck with a lot of energy to expel. And so, the night finds him passing out of the village and onto the sandy shore, heading towards the waterline. Nothing catches his attention on the beach itself, and so he looks out towards the sea. Hm. "What in the..." He stops at the point where the water just nearly comes up to touch his boots, and squints.

Audri's tail swishes violently while she desperately tries to make the little boat goes towards shore, only to end up in more circles. Giving an aggravated sigh, she throws her paws up in the air before flopping over on her back. "I /hate/ boats!"

Blink. "Audri?" Heedless of getting wet now, he continues forward into the water. "Audri! What're you /doin'/!"

Oo. Audri shoots right up at the voice, the boat rocking in result causing her to squeak. With a deathgrip on the sides, she peers off towards the shore, ears perked. "I was trying out a boat only its defective I think."

Taye sighs long and deeply, looking down at the water. "Can ya swim?"

"I dunno. I've never really tried ta swim." Audri replies, taking a quick glance over the side. "I could try 'n swim."

Taye's ears dip and he immediately shakes his head. "No - no. Don't. I'll... I'll come out t' ya." He makes a face at this thought, but nonetheless he wades out a little further. Once he's a little more than waste deep, he starts to swim.

Audri sighs, looking relieved as Taye begins to swim out. The boat starts to rock again, the waves moving it to and fro causing Audri to tighten her grip, fur frizzling. "This was such a bad idea."

Taye is a surprisingly good swimmer, though growing up right next to a large body of water may have something to do that. All the same, he doesn't appear to be enjoying it all that much. Soon enough, though, he's reached the boat and he grabs onto the edge of the boat. "A'right... so, ah... guess I'll pull you 'n' the boat back t' shore."

Audri eeps, tail thrashing as the boat rocks again, nodding quickly to Taye. "O..okay. It won't be ta heavy for ya will it?"

Taye shakes his head, "No, not in the wa-" And... his paws slip, and he dunks down into the water. A couple of seconds later, he comes back up spluttering and grabbing for the boat edge, which he finds. With his free paw, he wipes his face. Uck. "... not in the watah. It's lightah." He digs around in a pocket and pulls out a length of rope, apparently standard Patrol equipment. Heh. He holds one end out to her. "Secure it t' somethin'. He then releases the boat and paddles in place, waiting for her to do so.

Audri squeaks again, leaning over the boat when Taye disappears. She sighs quietly, taking the rope with a nod. "A'right. Sorry bout this Taye." Audri mumbles, moving back to tie the rope around one of the seats.

Taye doesn't bother responding - he's busy swimming. Which is considerably harder with a boat in tow. Still, it's working - slowly. The boat begins inching towards the shore.

Audri sits quietly in the boat, arms looped about her knees with her head resting on top. Her eyes quietly watch the shore, occasionally glancing towards Taye.

Tug, yank, pull. That's Taye's thing for at least a few minutes, until finally he feels one boot hit sea floor. Grinning, Taye stands up and turns, leaving off with the rope and just tugging the boat the rest of the way.

Audri lifts her head, peering over the side while her nose crinkles. Stretching out, she rubs her neck quietly before hopping out of the boat with a little squeak from the cold water. "I need ta rethink the boat idea." Audri mumbles, peering at her little craft with a thoughtful gaze.

After Audri has jumped out, Taye drags it the rest of the way up onto dry sand. Then, quite promptly, he collapses onto his back in the sand, laughing. "Where'd ya find it, Audri?"

Audri hms, glancing up at Taye, a grin flashing onto her face. "Oh, I found it just downshore aways. I waited for awhile before draggin' it down here since I didn't want no one yellin' at me for stealin' it. But I think it's defective or I'm doin' something wrong."

Taye slowly sits back up, heedless of the sand now plastered to his back. "Well, yer luck it's defect. Ya coulda ended up out in the middla the ocean."

Audri frowns, paws going to her hips. "I wasn't gone end up in the middle o' the ocean. If I got out to far, I was gonna just abandon ship 'n swim back. Or attempt ta swim back." Turning back towards the craft, Audri crouches down, fingers going over the wood carefully. "Anyway, I'll fix it up so it works right."

Taye looks back towards the village. "Ya could find ship-mendin' tools easy 'nough. Just about every house in Halyard's got 'em - the fishin' ones, anyway."

Audri glances over her shoulder, moving back to plop down beside the buck. "Well, maybe I can find some ta borrow then. I'm sure it's not ta hard ta mend up a boat."

Taye gives Audri a playful shove to the shoulder once she's seated. "/Attempt/ t' swim back, huh? How come ya nevah learned t' swim?"

Audri shrugs, returning the shove with a poke to the ribs. "Dunno. I've always been scared o' water y'know. But I couldn't pass up that boat so I thought I'd give it a try."

Taye grins at shies away at the poke. "Well, y'know, ya could always learn. 'Specially with those boat now, 'n' all."

Audri nods, drawing her knees up to loop her arms about them. "Yea. I probably need ta so I don't drown. Need a teacher o' course."

Taye draws his knees up as well, his chin resting atop them. "Well, I could teachya. We could throw it in with yer... othah trainin'." Hee.

Audri grins, sliding her footpaws into the warm sand. "Sounds good ta me. Maybe when I get the boat fixed, ya could go out sailin' with me. It wouldn't be far out mind ya. Just a little ways off shore."

Taye looks towards the boat thoughtfully and nods. "Yeah... that'd be fun. I'd like that." He turns his head and rests his cheek on his knee, looking at Audri.

A faint crimson slowly starts to creep up Audri's ears as Taye looks at her, so she stares off towards the waters. "How big do ya think the ocean is?"

Taye grins at Audri's blushing but doesn't look away. "I dunno... pretty big, I guess. What I wondah is... what's beyond it?"

Audri's blushing remains while she keeps her eyes on anything but the hare beside her. "Othah lands probably. I mean, it'd be awful silly ta have it 'n not have it go no where. Some o' those rats on ship use ta talk about othah islands with lots o' odd stuff on em.

Taye frowns thoughtfully. "They talk t' ya a lot, the rats?"

Audri shrugs, reaching down her paw to cover her footpaws idly. "Sometimes. But mostly they forgot I was there cause they were ta drunk ta notice."

Taye nods somewhat. "Well... s'pose it's bettah that they didn't notice ya very often."

Audri nods. "Yea. They had really nasty tempers so it was best ta stay hidden."

Taye's frown deepens somewhat and finally he turns so that he's looking towards the sea again. "It's good yer here now instead."

Audri glances for Taye for a brief moment, resting her head on her kneecaps. "Yea. It is." Audri grows quiet, chewing her lower lip thoughtfully before taking another look towards the runner. "Taye, how long have ya lived at the mountain?"

No actions attached.

Taye looks over at Audri again, smiling slightly. "... Long time. I was 'bout half yer age, I guess. Still, I remembah some stuff... like m'mum, 'n' the village."

Audri nods, turning back to the ocean. "Thats good. Always nice ta have good memories o' things."

Taye nods and clasps his paws on the back of his neck, staring down at the sand beneath his knees. "Yeah..." He rubs absently at his neck, his fur still wet. "Sometimes I see 'er in m'dreams, but mostly I don't remembah what she looks like. I think she was tall... I dunno. D'ya remembah yer folks at all?"

Audri goes back to burying her footpaws, ears flicking while she listens. She shakes her, a small smirk appearing. "Not really, though sometimes when I'm dreaming it seems like I do. Or at least how I'd have liked my parents ta be. Do remember this one squirrel though. Least I think it was a squirrel.. Always tried ta keep the rats from hurtin' me. Course he went away like the others."

Taye is silent for a long moment. When he responds, his words are soft, but just loud enough to be heard. "I won't go away, Audri, not evah."

Audri smiles, resting her head back down. "Good. Cause I'd hurt ya if ya did y'know."

Taye laughs, softly, and his head dips in a nod. "Yeah... I know." He hehs and sits back up, paws moving up to his ears, which he wrings out.

Audri glances over, holding back a giggle at the ear wringing outness. "Ya probably should go dry off for ya get sick."

Taye sighs a little and nods, moving to stand. "Guess I oughta... 'least get cleaned off. Sand all /ovah/ me." He shakes his head and tries to brush some of the clinging stuff off, then holds a paw down to her. "Ya comin'?"

Audri nods, grabbing hold of the offered paw before rising to her footpaws. "O' course. I don't want ta stay out here all night." Reaching over, Audri wipes away some of the sand from his back before looking off to the village. "Ya ready ta go?"

Taye nods quickly, then turns, heading over to the boat. The rope is still attached, which he plucks up from the sand. Turning, he begins dragging the boat, though it's a slow process. "Best t' stow this in the village so no one steals it..."

Audri stifles a yawn, watching Taye carefully before following after. "That's probably best. I don't wanna lose it after findin' it. Ya want any help?"

Taye grins and looks over at Audri. "You c'n push if ya want." He returns to yanking the boat along.

Audri nods. She moves off behind the boat, pushing it along as Taye pulls it.

Taye pauses long enough to reposition the rope so that it falls over his shoulder and back to tugging he goes. He calls back over his shoulder, "If ya get tired, yell."

Audri pushes the boat along, tail slowly swishing behind her. "Okay."

"Good," is all Taye says. For the rest of their journey up the sands, he keeps his silence. The only sound is that of the boat scraping along the sands.