@zinnea-castille said: Zinnea isn't sure if her first attempt at fishing could go any worse. Rather than catching a fish, Zinnea's line jerks sharply to the side before snagging itself firmly into Elias's jacket. Her eyes widen. "…" "…Well I caught something." For a moment she stares at the hook embedded in the fabric before hurriedly setting the rod down. "Elias, I'm so sorry!" After several awkward moments spent helping free the hook and trying in vain to ensure a hole was not created, Zinnea retreats a step, but remains determined. "You've been so kind to teach me how to fish. I will not let you down! Second time's the charm?" Chou lets out a chirp from her shoulder that sounds suspiciously judgmental. "Now, now. We won't know what'll happen unless I try again." The familiar remains unconvinced. With a small shake of her head, Zinnea glances back toward Elias. "Actually… there was something I meant to thank you for." One hand reaches up to gently scratch beneath Chou's chin. "For keeping him safe when we got past that military encampment." Her expression softens. "I know I more or less dropped him on your shoulder and disappeared. Things were moving quickly." A faint smile tugs at the corner of her mouth. "But he's important to me, so… thank you." After a brief pause, her gaze drifts out across the water. "The last time we spoke, you gave me some advice about magic. About finding my own way of understanding it." She absentmindedly traces a finger along the edge of her tome. "I've actually learned quite a bit more about it since then. More than I expected. Or perhaps more than I realized." "When I was younger, part of me always wanted to be more powerful. I thought if I had powerful magic or special powers then everything would work out." Zinnea lets out a quiet laugh. "It turns out gaining power and magical abilities is the easy part." She watches the gentle flow of the water drifting by before continuing. "The difficult part is deciding what to do with that power once you have it." Her grip tightens slightly around the tome. "Have you ever wanted to know the truth about something so badly that it consumed your thoughts… only to realize, when you finally got close to finding it, that part of you didn't want to know anymore?" She finally looks away from the water again and back up toward him. "That maybe the answer was scarier than the uncertainty?" / session.....seven i think?
Now, as wary as he is with a greenhorn fisher, he'd been far more concerned about the hook flying into his face than he was his clothing, but, as he suddenly feels compelled to lurch forward, even Elias manages to stare in surprise. "Oh. It looks like you did!"
And then, the fumbling ensues, but finally, the hook is freed with minimal damage and no pricked fingers. Okay. Surely, the next one will go into the water. "Second time's the charm! Just let go about a half a second before this first throw—then it should go straight over the water," he nods, fully confident. What was the worst that could happen? Chou doesn't share in their optimism, but nonetheless, the sorcerer grins for a moment, soon simpering as Zinnea continues. Reminded of the chaos that led them all here, he does remember Chou being such a still companion that he'd nearly forgotten that he was hitching ride between the collars of his coat.
"Ah, right! He was nice and safe and didn't make a sound. It was a safe ride," he beams, "But, I'm glad to hear you've managed to look through the tome a little more." While there's a small break in the fishing, Elias rests his arms on the edge of the ship, pressing his weight onto them. The hardest part about being a spellcaster was exactly as she had learned—what to do. Still, he cants his head, mulling over the question.
( to know the truth so badly... to get close enough to realize it may not bring relief at all to bear the knowledge... there were a few unanswered questions he wanted to survive long enough to find out—one of them had been the one he embarked upon prior to being arrested. the potential truth of that question... he did have his uncertainties )
"Yeah.. you could say that. The answer to what I want to know might change me in a way I didn't account for, or worse, could change me into somebody I don't want to be. I won't be able to take that moment back." He finds her staring back at him, his answer perhaps a long repeated cycle for folks like them. "Did you find something in there that might have been a little more sinister than just the average tome of spells?" The curiosity is too easy to give into, only such a short time between their last stop and their next travel period.