"A wolf with a fish in its mouth? That would look silly."

[lonewolflives]

She still had sucker marks running virtually all the way up her right arm but they were fading, and Arya had never been one to let a thing like that get her down. Quite the opposite, in fact; she wasn't going to let a little thing like a squid attack keep her out of the water

Comments

[giftless]

Edmund, for his part, had managed to avoid the attack of the giant squid, much to his disappointment. But he arrived at the beach that afternoon for much the same reason as Arya. Ever since the event, Susan's fear of jellyfish and the like only increased in strength and in volume, until Edmund could think of nothing else but trying out the sea to see just what it might throw at them.

Honour, not so eager to dash into the waves as Ed, detached from his side before his paws even touched the sand. Surely he picked up the scent of Nymeria on the wind, and he padded over to greet his mother. Which left Edmund to dive into the surf and swim out to Arya. He thought for certain the sound of his splashes would alert her to his presence far before he could say anything.

[lonewolflives]

They did, although they didn't do much to tell her who the splashes belonged to. There was only so much a pair of ears could do.

So she twisted upright in the water and turned herself about to face the new arrival, pushing a hand above the surface to greet him. There wasn't much point in saying hallo until he'd arrived and stopped splashing. He wouldn't have heard her.

[giftless]

He came up for air and stopped, unsurprised to see he hadn't taken Arya unawares. He'd acted like such a git before that, even though a full month had gone by, the last thing he wanted was to get on her bad side.

"Hello," Ed said, managing a watery grin. "You're not hunting squid, are you?"

[lonewolflives]

"Not with my bare hands I'm not," Arya said, raising both hands and keeping herself afloat with her legs. She smirked a little in return. "Why, are you?"

[inktest]

There was always a crowd of people in the compound. Rorschach hadn't taken off his face yet and didn't want to go into the compound with the crowds of people. They'd inevitably ask about his "mask" and it'd do little more than remind Rorschach exactly why he thought the bulk of humanity was a group of vile, dense creatures not worthy of living.

This made it tough to get food. Rorschach heard the kitchen was in the compound but his stomach yelling at him loud enough to force him into the kitchen and face all the questions.

Instead, Rorschach stood, his pants rolled up, feet in the water, eating a fish. It was raw, but he didn't mind. It wasn't poisonous and it was nice to have something in his stomach.

[lonewolflives]

Arya spotted the man when she was on her way back in, close enough to wade. She paused, staring for a moment. She trusted her eyes, so she knew the mask was moving, but she couldn't work out how. Magic wasn't supposed to work.

The fish she was less surprised by. She felt a little sympathetic. She knew what it was like to have to eat whatever you could scavenge, sometimes raw. "If you take that up to the compound they'll cook it for you," she said, kindly. "Do you know about the compound?"

She thought he might be new.

[inktest]

The sound of someone walking up. Rorschach looked at the woman as she approached and swallowed a small sliver of the raw meat. His mouth was exposed and he wiped the unknown liquid dripping from his lips.

"People are at the compound," Rorschach noted, dropping the exhausted fish carcass back into the water. At least his stomach wasn't empty anymore. "Sometimes, don't want to be around people." Sometimes wasn't entirely accurate. Rorschach never wanted to be around people. Each time he did encounter someone, he was only convinced they should be punished.

This one seemed different though. She was smaller than him. A woman. Somehow available. Rorschach remained still but took note of the fact that she wasn't repulsed by him. This was in his favor.

[lonewolflives]

As she adjusted to not being in the water she noticed the smell, but again Arya was inclined to sympathy. She'd smelled pretty bad sometimes herself.

She nodded. "Well, you could make a fire, then you wouldn't have to eat it raw." She indicated the fish. "I can show you how if you don't know."

[babyviper]

O-Ren stood on one of the rocks that was lodged in the shoreline, staring down at the water like it happened to be a hugely complicated puzzle. She could swim, of course, but there was something about jumping in and swimming for enjoyment that baffled her.

She spotted Arya, and was content to watch her quietly for several long seconds. She liked the way Arya moved, for one, and it made her stomach turn over pleasantly to see a flash of her face. Besides, she might have been able to glean some understanding about recreational swimming.

[lonewolflives]

Arya didn't immediately notice O-Ren, the shore being out of view as she backstroked through an idle circle. Then she tipped backwards and dived under, legs kicking above the surface for a moment, and when she resurfaced, there was O-Ren.

She stuck one arm out of the water in greeting, called out a "Hallo," then propelled herself towards the rock.

[babyviper]

Her stomach flipped over again. "Hi," she said, dropping into a crouch, and then sitting on the rock, moving her skirt with her. After a second or two, she let her toes touch the water. "You're very good."

[lonewolflives]

Arya folder her arms and rested them on the rock, leaving the rest of her body stretched out in the water, since it was warm enough.

"Just so," she agreed. "My mother was a Tully, and the sign of their house is a fish, so it's only natural."

[maybe_youll_die]

Wednesday was standing barefoot in the surf, her long black dress suggesting she didn't have any actual plans to get in the water any further than she had already. Which was just far enough to get the hem of her dress wet.

"I missed the squid," she said a little bleakly, looking over the calm water as Arya began to emerge from it. "Again."

[lonewolflives]

"There were a lot of them this time, too," Arya said, somewhat apologetically. She wouldn't have wanted to miss all the action either, even if their inability to finish the thing off for good irritated her. She rubbed her arm. "You'll probably get another chance, we can't seem to get rid of the frakker."

[maybe_youll_die]

"I would need to spend more time on the beach," said Wednesday after a moment, considering that option. "I'm not sure I want to spend more time on the beach. It's hot, and sunny. What I need is a boat."

[lonewolflives]

"That's for sure," Arya said, squinting disapprovingly up at the sun. She could see the appeal of it, for sure, but she still couldn't help but feel it wasn't proper weather. "Someone built one, didn't they? There's enough wood, we should find out how it's done."