We open at early morning in a stony clearing. A lone figure by the remains of a fire, wisps of smoke and small flames still apparent in the early dawn's light. A figure emerges from an airship a few meters away and sits near the fire. It is Mor, now joined by Breen, until recently known as Baldo Rheen or, in the southern colloquial; "Rat Shit."
"So, I trust you slept well." Mor smiled as Breen sat on a nearby rock.
"Well, yeah, but I've got a hell of a headache."
"Finish your tea, it'll take the edge off. How's your foot?"
"Fine, I mean real fine, no pain at all." I was genuinely amazed; it seemed like a hell of a burn last night. "How are you doing? You must be tired."
"Well, I have felt fresher, but I can go for days without sleep. I think your wave blaster took something out of me, though. I'll probably take a nap later." She rubbed her eyes.
"What would you like to do in the meantime?"
"We should hunt, if we're going to head south. It is a good idea to have as much food as we can carry, just in case. What do you think?" She turned to me with those sparkling dark eyes. They looked almost black, even in the light of morning.
"You're the boss. You seem to have a lot better idea of what's going on than I do"
"Then hunting it is. I have scouted a couple of good trails nearby. We should be able to get a deer or two, maybe an elk. Once the meat's hanging, we'll head down to the beach and get some seaweed, maybe some fish, who knows, maybe even a seal."
"Big day."
"Well," she said, looking at me with a smirk, "If you're not up to it, I'll go on my own."
"Oh, I'll be fine, it's just that I don't really hunt. I usually steal or trade for food, but I'll do my best." My ego a little stepped on by that one, but, well, what can I say? I'm more of a thief and drifter than anything else, and haven't been doing that for all that long.
"Then it's settled. Piss on the fire and we'll be on our way before the animals bed down for the day. When you're done with that, get your kite out, it'll make a great vantage point from which to shoot."
"It's a hover catamaran, for your information, and it'll hover stationary at five to ten meters depending on what's under it and how much weight it carries. The harder the ground, the higher she hovers." I was rather fond of my cat. Obviously, I didn't like calling it a kite. Children fly kites.
"Take it easy, I was only joking. I love it. In fact, I'll love it more riding in it unbound." Beaming a huge smile at me smoothed everything out.
Pulling out my 'root', as she called it, I pissed on the fire. What a thing to call it, I thought. Root?
Mor lashed a bunch of branches around the deck of the cat for camouflage. She equipped each of us with guns and knives, a saw, some rope, etc., and we were off in no time
It actually worked very well. We lashed the cat to a tree on the edge of a meadow and waited. Within 30 minutes, we had killed a couple of big deer. "Now, aim behind the shoulder in the middle of the ribcage. You take the one on the left. Be very still, breathe slow, and even. Are you ready?"
