ORIGIN

Attikias wasn't sure if he felt comfortable with trying to fish up a larger predator- no matter the size. Would it snap the rod? It seemed pretty strong. But, maybe it wasn't that big, and it could be a good meal.

The elf frowned momentarily. Back to the process, he supposed. He had extra lines, after all. Replacing the bait was an easy chore, and soon, Attikias was ready to return it in for a potential big catch. If it even went for bugs, at least.

Except, maybe he was rattled. Maybe he hesitated. When he flicked it, it flopped over the rocks, and then too close to shore, and it had caught on something. 'Shit.' He stood, holding the line and gently pulling, feeling the tension on it. He followed it down, putting the rod on the stool and pausing to roll up his pants. Okay. Might as well get the hook back, or at least try.

He followed that line like his life depended on it, carefully keeping it taught to follow it to where it had been caught. In the shallow water, it was easier to see, at least- and the bone had caught under a rock, the bait still intact. The elf huffed out. Great. Dropping the line, Attikias lifted the rock with one hand and retrieved the hook with the other, taking care not to poke himself. It seemed fine? Holding it up, ankle deep in water, he could see it was, and he nodded to himself before returning to the stool.

The rod was soon back in Attikias's hands as he turned around to sit back down. Maybe he could make a chair with a back next time- he wanted to lean, a bit, but this was comfortable too. He'd be fine for now.

Pulling himself back together, Attikias ran his free hand down the topside of the wood, huffing. He'd been sat here for, what, half an hour? No, that felt too long- he spent a lot of time trying to fillet the fish, but it didn't seem to have been that long. In any case, he needed to try again, and he flicked a bit harder this time to clear the shore.

Except, he cleared the whole river. He groaned out at that, before tugging it back, watching the far off hook. And-- there went the bait. He only had so many insects he caught for this! Leaning into his hand, he covered his eyes before reaching up and tugging the line the rest of the way back through the river.

Nice work, elf.

Soon, Attikias had replaced the bait once again, a little dull to the rhythm, now. He was excited for a catch, but this really was setting in-- this did not seem efficient. He should just be laying out a fishing trap and not using a rod. It's not like he'd catch a Greater, anyways.

Pulling back, Attikias aimed for where he did before- the swell of the river, in the middle, where he wouldn't mess up. Just do it like he had been doing it. And the hook went flying, and it plopped right where he was looking at, and he dropped his shoulders. 'Thank goodness,' his mind echoed his emotions, staring at the wooden bobber.

But, genuinely. This seemed to be a lot of work for little profit, so far, unless he somehow managed to get that big one. Were the silverlings still around, just deeper into the water? Would it go for the insect bait? Reaching up to gently tug at the line, Attikias watched the bobber move with his motions and hummed out. It wouldn't be enough to feed the whole camp- maybe four of them, if he cut it right?- if it was big enough, anyways. He could get some starches, maybe, but he had no clue what would go best with fish on the side.

In any case, he needed to wait once more.

It was a long, long while before the bobber moved this time. Long enough to worry Attikias, anyways. Had they all moved on? Nearly eleven minutes passed, filled with Attikias thinking about where he could maybe plant a trap, then how he should actually cut into the fish, contemplating with himself about what would be the best way to cook it. Could fish come poisonous? Other people ate them just fine.

But, the bobber. It moved against the current once- twice, then, then dragged along slowly, not particularly tugging. Was that another silverling..? Tugging experimentally, Attikias tensed his hand on the line before a strong pull jerked his other arm forward. 'Not the silverling!' Tugging back, Attikias wrestled with the fish as he dropped the rod, his focus fully on the line. It was tough, and it was a battle of strength, one that Attikias strained at as he tugged back.

The line was strong, but it wasn't strong enough for this. As he could see the fish's dark back breaching the water, the line felt like it had creaked under his fingers, and Attikias clenched his jaw. "C'mon, fucker," he hissed out through gritted teeth as he pulled back again.

The fish was at his feet, and as he surged down, the line snapped behind him. 'Fuck!' A slew of curses ran through his mind as he tackled the fish before it could swim away, grabbing it by the gills and tugging it to shore. Here, it couldn't do much- well, it could flop back in, but it didn't seem that big. Holding it up and tight with both hands hooked in its gills, it still battered at him and wiggled, but soon he laid it down on the rock he'd gutted the last one at and held it steady.

Attikias straddled the fish as it threatened to slip out of his grip multiple times, reaching for a stick with one hand while holding the gillplate with the other. "I'm sorry, bud," he hissed out before bonking its head, stunning it, before killing it fully with another hit. Its body twitched still- nerves still firing- but with nearly a foot and a half of meat on this thing, perhaps that was expected.

This time, Attikias knew what he was doing. Standing, he reached down and cut the red gills with his sharpened knife, blood spurting out in pumps. This may be easier than he accounted for- and he brought it to the river, setting it in and facing it upstream. He jostled it quickly- then ran his fingers down its back, trying to get all the blood to the head before it coagulated. He worked at this for a minute or so, working it as he squatted, letting the blood flume out in this rockier place of the river.

He glanced up, looking for his tools. He'll have to grab them after he's done, he supposed- he wasn't sure how much more he wanted to fish, right now. He might not even like it.

Waving off the slimy texture of the fish and then wiping his hand on his pants, Attikias rolled it over and examined the Lesser carefully. It seemed healthy? What was unhealthy, for a fish? He wouldn't know, but he dug in the knife near the tail and drew up, attempting to just edge along the skin carefully. As he tugged, he revealed more of the fish, and inside were-- eggs? The concept was foreign to Attikias, but he slowed as he looked at them, just barely missing cutting into the sac. They were small, cherry red things, and they intrigued him as his eyebrows furrowed. These seemed edible, maybe.

Pulling them out carefully, he made sure to lay them on the rocks, looking back at them briefly. Other Lessers didn't carry eggs with them- and he was rather dimly aware of bird eggs existing. Was there a gem on this one? Twisting it back around as he looked on the fish, he didn't see one, and he let out a curious noise. It wouldn't be the first gemless being he'd hunted, but something settled strange in his gut about it.

Well. Might as well ignore it, as he cut the rest of the way and up to gillplate, The guts were extracted quickly and tossed down the river, and fresh meat was now available. Sure, he had to get it off the bone, but that would be easy- digging in behind one pectoral fin, Attikias cut up near the head and angled back, letting the metal of the knife rip down the spine of the creature and free a fillet then and there. The meat inside was a nice orange- odd. Most meat was normally pink, wasn't it? He investigated it for a moment (which was really just sniffing at it like some kind of animal) before shrugging, placing it gently beside the roe. The other side was easy, and he did the same, putting the flesh together.

The rest of the fish was discarded for the ecosystem, and he retrieved the roe and meat after sheathing his knife, standing and returning to the pack. With this roe, this'll be more than enough for a few meals. Some seasoning, maybe, was in store- he had no clue what he'd use but he'd try to make it good.

It didn't take long to wrap up the food and stow everything away. Soon, with fishing rod in one hand and stool in the other, Attikias was beginning to trudge back home.

It wasn't a long walk back home. The meat might be getting warm, but that was fine- it would be cooked soon enough, anyways. The roe, he had no idea what to do with- but the fish? Oh, he'd cut that bad boy up and serve it. "I'm home!" he called out, cupping one hand up after he'd placed the stool down. The fishing rod was leaned next to the table, and he plonked the satchel down by the stool. "I got fish!" That might draw them out.

Settling in, Attikias extracted the fish and placed it on the table, unfolding its casing and laying it out like a mat. He'd have to get that skin off. Pulling out the metal knife, Attikias turned to the side and sharpened it with a sharpener he'd left at the table. Nice. Holding it up so it can glint in the light, he gauged the tool before getto to work, digging in just enough into one slab of meat before evening out his knife. He sawed forward an inch or so- just enough to grab a hold of the skin, and hummed. Carefully, slowly, he grabbed the skin and tugged at it, and the meat slide too, cutting it evenly.

He just had to hold the knife still. Perfect. Wrapping a bit of the outside on a finger, he started to wiggle it and saw with the flesh itself, keeping the blade steady and getting a relatively clean cut along the meat. 'No more slimey feel, maybe,' he assessed mentally, putting the skin off to the side. Someone might want it- who knows. He doubted he could make something out of it.

The other side went much the same way. Cut, grab, saw. Soon, he had two slabs of meat, and he could probably divvy it up into six or so meals, if the last two were a little smaller in portion than the others. He'd need a side, yeah- starch? Did he think of starch earlier? Well, he was thinking of it now, as he cut into the meat and pulled away the thin ribs on both sides. All that's left to do was cut it- and he did, thick pieces ready to grill.

He had the roe, too. Curious, he pulled that out too and laid it flat on the table next to the meat, wedging his fingers into a sac that partially slipped open somewhere in the process. The eggs weren't hard to grab, and he pried one free and popped it in his mouth, testing.

It... Didn't seem poisonous? Other Greaters probably ate it, anyways. It was so much of the fish that it'd be hard to avoid in truth. Shrugging, Attikias took out a few more and ate those, too, thinking on their flavor.

He decided he liked it. But, the fish needed something, and as he stood and looked around his camp, he frowned. There were a few plants he knew that might help, but he wasn't really the plant person of the clan. Putting his hands on his hips, Attikias made his way to the storage place and peered around, opening pots and digging inside of them in exploration.

He didn't have much of anything. Huffing out, Attikias shook his hand free of some black dust from something or other (probably charcoal) and wiped it away before standing, looking into the jungle.

He could try his luck there, and he shut his eyes, sighing under his breath.

Gathering up his satchel (after emptying it out), Attikias made his way to march back into the jungle, on a mission. Luckily, he knew vaguely what tasted good, and he remembered vaguely what they looked like and where to find them. 'I bet that Nedies would have seasoning. I bet he has real good seasoning, too,' he gruffed in his mind, hands balled as he pushed through the underbrush.

He paused. Would Nedies have good food supplies? Maybe he can set up a trade- but that was something to think of later, and he shook his head. Routine brought him around to normal paths, and he plucked off various green plants (and a red flower that was pretty good, too)- even pulling up a few starchy roots and putting them in his satchel. All said and done, he had enough for the rest of the camp, and he made a pitstop on the way back to wash off the plants before returning. "Back home," he said under his breath and returned to the table, placing everything down on it and examining his work.

He took a few more eggs to eat before grinding up the seasoning, rubbing them over the meat. That'd be good. The mix was something he particularly liked, and it should be good on the fish, balancing out the flavors he'd tasted before with the raw snack. He was excited to try this!

Picking up the meat cuts with the paper, Attikias maneuvered his way to the firepit, laying the meat out on a nearby stump as he retrieved flint and steel. Getting a fire ready wasn't hard- there was a bit of firewood stockpiled in place, though he could do with some starter, maybe. But, it seemed to have caught after a few strikes- and, he blew on it, and it was soon a flame.

Attikias hummed. Glancing to the meat, he thought for the best way to handle them- the pan? Yeah, probably. Stepping back, Attikias went and retrieved a flat piece of metal that he'd affixed a handle to, raising his hand up to hold it over the fire. It'd need to heat up for a while.

He had a cooking knife with him too- it worked just as well as a fork as a knife, and he was ready to put the meat on.

After a few minutes of waiting, Attikias stabbed a piece of meat, sliding it onto the pan. He would reach for another--

But, as he did, he tipped the pan too far, and the meat slid right into the fire. Attikias yelped at the noise, twisting and shoving his knife forward, stabbing the poor fish meat and retrieving it from the hot wood. "Shoot- crap," he hissed out, blowing off the bottom of it. It was fiiine, probably. Huffing out, Attikias shook it out before putting it back on the pan, careful to keep it level so no more meat fell off the lip of it.

And now, he just needed to wait. Hopefully that one meat wouldn't turn out that bad, but he still held his arm out, shaking slightly to let the meat move around. It was more oily than he'd expected. That was probably good- and it sounded good, the way it sizzled. As he watched, the meat tanned a bit, cooking through- and when he turned it over, the side was a bit burnt. Hm. Probably not good. He frowned, turning the other piece over and continued on with the rest of the meat, slowly learning just how much he had to cook. It smelled good.

He couldn't wait to eat this. But, it needed to cool, and he huffed out. After everything was said and done, Attikias got up for the starchy plants and plates, retrieving both. The starches he'd smash and season with the same stuff he'd used on the fish (he really wanted to try it...) and cook after he poured out the fish oil into dirt outside the camp. He really was flying by the seat of his pants, huh? In any case, he used the heel of his palm to break down the starched before putting them on the hot pan, letting them sear for a shorter amount of time before pulling them out and placing them alongside the fish. Plates were stacked up, too. It was probably enough, he wagered.

He took in a deep breath, before calling out, "Hey, supper's done!" If any had accompanied him in that whole time, he'd have chatted with them, showed them the fish he was cooking, and probably bat them away from trying it before it was ready. The roe, though--

The roe! Scrambling up, Attikias retrieved it and placed it along with the spread of food, ready to be picked at and taken for whoever wanted whatever. Hopefully he'd instilled some manners in some of them, so they didn't take everything at once.