Fic - Fireside
Mar. 2nd, 2008 01:07 am![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
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shadowknightTitle: Fireside
Rating: PG
Universe: Alternate Universe
Timeline: Summer, 2018.
Written: August, 2006.
Summary: An officer and her guide are stuck camping outside of a settlement.
Note: While unnamed, the characters are Enrico and Nancy
The view of the lively valley should have a splendid, welcome change from the harsh journey through the surrounding mountains. The town filled up most of the clearing along the river bank, a big difference from the few scattered, barely standing shacks that dotted the meadow a few short years ago. The simple act of building a rail station along by the clearing's edge and the promise of free, easy to work land in an friendly community lured curious people in, but the immigrants had been toughened by in the years in the wilderness and stayed even after they discovered that nothing was going to be quite as easy as they were told. The starry street lamps down below were a testament to their determination.
On the craggy, untamed cliffs above, a black clad officer stuck up her middle finger while scowling down. Her work uniform blended into the twilight shadows, making her little more than a trick of light on the edge of an outcropping. Giving the community a good butt waggle was the next task on the officer's mind. As she turned around, a lone, deep voice from the nearby campfire finally spoke up.
“You shouldn't being doing that, you know.”
The officer lifted up her head, looking back over across the flat stretch of rock and at the campfire, where she knew her guide was still sitting. The fire had grown bigger since she had last looked over. Not quite ready to cook on, she knew, as it would still take some time to get the coals ready for cooking, but was the extent of her weak cooking skills. Yet, she now noticed that it was beginning to light up the shadows cast by the tall trees that surrounded this rough piece of land.
“They booted me out of their stupid town first!” she said, bunching her fists. Despite the harsh tone, she looked at the ground as she spoke to the man.
“And they'll chase us even further away if you don't come over here and talk to me in a normal tone.” His voice remained flat and unwavering, devoid of any rise of emotion.
The woman stormed towards him, freezing as soon as she could feel the warmth from the firelight. Her dark brown eyes fixed themselves sharply on her companion and her muscles tensed, like a predator about to pounce.
The coals were faintly glowing and the man kept pushing his long tree branch around in the fire, not bothering to look up at the young woman. The only response he offered to her was the shake of his head.
“My wonderful reputation precedes me. Some people just don't know how to deal with fame.” she said, breaking the silence. As she relaxed, her gaze fixed itself back on the ground, noticing a few loose pebbles scattered across the rock shelf that they claimed as their campsite. She grumbled as she kicked them off of the ground and into the camp fire. The flames flickered as they were disturbed, but returned to the full form a moment later. Still, the man watched the fire carefully out of habit and held tight to the stick he was using as a poker.
“Do that again and you might put the fire out,” he said and dragged out one of the stones with his stick. His tone remained the same, neither impressed or annoyed as far as the woman could pick up.
The woman lifted her foot in a high arc and kicked a few more pebbles, this time harder and in the opposite direction. The strike sent them off of the the edge of the rock shelf and bouncing down the cliff towards the town.
“And for all we know those pebbles could have gotten wet because some animal pissed on them and might explode if knocked into a fire.” She stopped and listened to the sound the rocks tinkering down, fading in the distance. The echoes remained in the air a while longer. “Why don't we toss some into town to test them?”
There was a weary sigh from the old man as he looked over his poker and then at the distance between him and the woman. From what he could judge, the stick was barely as long as his arm. He pulled it fully out of the fire and rested it on the ground beside him, keeping still burnt end closer to his hand.
“You know you would if you had the chance.” The woman folded her arms and straighted her back. “People like that beloved Mike Long don't have to think twice about dinner and bed. Put him on government payroll and it'll change overnight.”
The man reached over and lightly, but firmly clipped the woman's leg with his stick. “I'm not going to send either of us down to that town tonight.”
“That's because you've gotten soft with anyone but me.” Rubbing her leg, the officer noticed that her uniform was still cool to the touch, despite that the stick was her guide's fire poker.
Without giving it a second thought, the man dropped the stick back onto the ground. He rubbed his slightly stinging hand against his knee. “It's like an old fox hunt. Many years ago - this was before your time - it wasn't uncommon for fox hunts to be held--”
She cut him off and replied with a snarl. “Maybe you didn't see them on the trails, but they still had them when I was a kid. That's how we got our fur so we didn't freeze our asses off. The hunters would go out with their bows--”
The man shook his head again and jumped back into the conversation. “Not hunting teams from the settlements.”
“Then what the hell are you talking about?” The woman's teeth were still bared, ready to strike out in defense.
“Keep your mouth shut for a second and I'll explain.” The man stared hard at the woman. It took a moment, but she managed to loosen her fiery expression and allowed her fists to open up and drop down to her sides. As she relaxed, the man began his explanation.
“Before humans had to hunt to survive, hunters from the higher social classes would ride horses and drive large packs of hounds to chase after foxes for sport. The chases would often end with the captured but still alive fox being tossed to the hounds and torn to pieces. Even though it agonizes your poor little ego, I don't intent to leave you to the hounds when they're baying for blood.”
“If I'm the fox and the unsavory people we meet are the hounds, then who are the hunters directing the chase?”
The man directed his attention back at his fire. The flames were burning themselves out and leaving the hot coals behind. “Nevermind. Just think about the rest of it for a while.”
The woman lowered her head down and let her bangs fall across her face. “What about the town? I can't report back to the south about nothing.”
“You can deal with that in the morning when we're both thinking straight.” He reached behind him and into a coarse burlap sack. It took him only a few scant seconds of fishing to produce a dented and tarnished kettle out of the bag. Still on the ground, he lifted it up to the woman. “There was a stream about seven minutes back on foot. If you get us some water, I'll make you some tea.”
Not saying anything in return, the woman snatched up the kettle and headed off of their camp site and into the woods. She paused a brief second to push back her long auburn bangs, taking the moment to glance back at the older man. It passed quickly and she continued on, pulling out a clunky flashlight from her side uniform pocket to light her way.
Rating: PG
Universe: Alternate Universe
Timeline: Summer, 2018.
Written: August, 2006.
Summary: An officer and her guide are stuck camping outside of a settlement.
Note: While unnamed, the characters are Enrico and Nancy
The view of the lively valley should have a splendid, welcome change from the harsh journey through the surrounding mountains. The town filled up most of the clearing along the river bank, a big difference from the few scattered, barely standing shacks that dotted the meadow a few short years ago. The simple act of building a rail station along by the clearing's edge and the promise of free, easy to work land in an friendly community lured curious people in, but the immigrants had been toughened by in the years in the wilderness and stayed even after they discovered that nothing was going to be quite as easy as they were told. The starry street lamps down below were a testament to their determination.
On the craggy, untamed cliffs above, a black clad officer stuck up her middle finger while scowling down. Her work uniform blended into the twilight shadows, making her little more than a trick of light on the edge of an outcropping. Giving the community a good butt waggle was the next task on the officer's mind. As she turned around, a lone, deep voice from the nearby campfire finally spoke up.
“You shouldn't being doing that, you know.”
The officer lifted up her head, looking back over across the flat stretch of rock and at the campfire, where she knew her guide was still sitting. The fire had grown bigger since she had last looked over. Not quite ready to cook on, she knew, as it would still take some time to get the coals ready for cooking, but was the extent of her weak cooking skills. Yet, she now noticed that it was beginning to light up the shadows cast by the tall trees that surrounded this rough piece of land.
“They booted me out of their stupid town first!” she said, bunching her fists. Despite the harsh tone, she looked at the ground as she spoke to the man.
“And they'll chase us even further away if you don't come over here and talk to me in a normal tone.” His voice remained flat and unwavering, devoid of any rise of emotion.
The woman stormed towards him, freezing as soon as she could feel the warmth from the firelight. Her dark brown eyes fixed themselves sharply on her companion and her muscles tensed, like a predator about to pounce.
The coals were faintly glowing and the man kept pushing his long tree branch around in the fire, not bothering to look up at the young woman. The only response he offered to her was the shake of his head.
“My wonderful reputation precedes me. Some people just don't know how to deal with fame.” she said, breaking the silence. As she relaxed, her gaze fixed itself back on the ground, noticing a few loose pebbles scattered across the rock shelf that they claimed as their campsite. She grumbled as she kicked them off of the ground and into the camp fire. The flames flickered as they were disturbed, but returned to the full form a moment later. Still, the man watched the fire carefully out of habit and held tight to the stick he was using as a poker.
“Do that again and you might put the fire out,” he said and dragged out one of the stones with his stick. His tone remained the same, neither impressed or annoyed as far as the woman could pick up.
The woman lifted her foot in a high arc and kicked a few more pebbles, this time harder and in the opposite direction. The strike sent them off of the the edge of the rock shelf and bouncing down the cliff towards the town.
“And for all we know those pebbles could have gotten wet because some animal pissed on them and might explode if knocked into a fire.” She stopped and listened to the sound the rocks tinkering down, fading in the distance. The echoes remained in the air a while longer. “Why don't we toss some into town to test them?”
There was a weary sigh from the old man as he looked over his poker and then at the distance between him and the woman. From what he could judge, the stick was barely as long as his arm. He pulled it fully out of the fire and rested it on the ground beside him, keeping still burnt end closer to his hand.
“You know you would if you had the chance.” The woman folded her arms and straighted her back. “People like that beloved Mike Long don't have to think twice about dinner and bed. Put him on government payroll and it'll change overnight.”
The man reached over and lightly, but firmly clipped the woman's leg with his stick. “I'm not going to send either of us down to that town tonight.”
“That's because you've gotten soft with anyone but me.” Rubbing her leg, the officer noticed that her uniform was still cool to the touch, despite that the stick was her guide's fire poker.
Without giving it a second thought, the man dropped the stick back onto the ground. He rubbed his slightly stinging hand against his knee. “It's like an old fox hunt. Many years ago - this was before your time - it wasn't uncommon for fox hunts to be held--”
She cut him off and replied with a snarl. “Maybe you didn't see them on the trails, but they still had them when I was a kid. That's how we got our fur so we didn't freeze our asses off. The hunters would go out with their bows--”
The man shook his head again and jumped back into the conversation. “Not hunting teams from the settlements.”
“Then what the hell are you talking about?” The woman's teeth were still bared, ready to strike out in defense.
“Keep your mouth shut for a second and I'll explain.” The man stared hard at the woman. It took a moment, but she managed to loosen her fiery expression and allowed her fists to open up and drop down to her sides. As she relaxed, the man began his explanation.
“Before humans had to hunt to survive, hunters from the higher social classes would ride horses and drive large packs of hounds to chase after foxes for sport. The chases would often end with the captured but still alive fox being tossed to the hounds and torn to pieces. Even though it agonizes your poor little ego, I don't intent to leave you to the hounds when they're baying for blood.”
“If I'm the fox and the unsavory people we meet are the hounds, then who are the hunters directing the chase?”
The man directed his attention back at his fire. The flames were burning themselves out and leaving the hot coals behind. “Nevermind. Just think about the rest of it for a while.”
The woman lowered her head down and let her bangs fall across her face. “What about the town? I can't report back to the south about nothing.”
“You can deal with that in the morning when we're both thinking straight.” He reached behind him and into a coarse burlap sack. It took him only a few scant seconds of fishing to produce a dented and tarnished kettle out of the bag. Still on the ground, he lifted it up to the woman. “There was a stream about seven minutes back on foot. If you get us some water, I'll make you some tea.”
Not saying anything in return, the woman snatched up the kettle and headed off of their camp site and into the woods. She paused a brief second to push back her long auburn bangs, taking the moment to glance back at the older man. It passed quickly and she continued on, pulling out a clunky flashlight from her side uniform pocket to light her way.
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