"PFX One twenty-three. Period three. String four. Segment one.
The shortcut Jay suggested put us back on schedule. I always enjoy the view of a waterfall, regardless of how many times I see it. I plan to take over again and lead her through the argia valley, I'm hoping the light show will boost the mood considering what–"
Nathaniel looked around before continuing. Ava, Jay, and Chrissy were still down by the bank of the falls. Travlack had meandered somewhere unknown.
"Amber–there's so much going on. Fighting off poachers, DLF Inspectors fighting a rabid Therian, and then there's the fact that I heard he ate someone alive–yes you heard me correctly, alive–and I just don't know how Miss Sinclair is taking it.
The fact that Chrissy knew we were trespassing is one thing, but civilian involvement in combat is how you lose a job. And swiftly so! I fired a PRAC for the first time in ages–I did not miss that feeling–and came close to having to use–"
There was a moment where Lanon–that's the feral's name, I believe–charged at us and my only thought was–"
He pursed his lips.
"Moving on, she's safe. That's all that matters. I didn't have to use that technique, I know you'd hate it. Perhaps after this is over that single fact will at least keep me in the RRET building with you. When you transcribe this, trim out the ramblings please."
Nathaniel opened the transcriber and took the pocket vinyl out. As always, he put the recording into a neat plastic container, and stored it in his saddle bag. Just as he closed it, Travlack came into view with an assortment of kindling. He set it down a ways away from the edge of the water and rubbed his hands on his shirt. Without a word, he marched back into the forest.
Something caught Nathaniel's eye now that he stared at the treeline. A faint orange and yellow between the verdancy of the leaves. He made his way to the tree and began climbing.
"I see you Boshy," called Jay, "You climb almost as well as a herrera beast!"
"It's actually herrera's beast. A large number of publishers make that mistake," he replied. "I think there are papayas in this tree–"
As he reached for one a blur of fur snatched it from him. Stabilizing himself on a branch, he recovered in time to see Neville viciously devouring the fruit. Now wary of Neville's greed, Nathaniel plucked another plump papaya from the tree.
He had held it in his hands for a moment before he felt an impact from the base. At the base of the tree was JJ pushing himself against it.
"Hey–HEY–stop that–!"
Nathaniel lost his grip.
Fortunately he landed on the backside of JJ.
Unfortunately JJ's technique to bring the papayas down worked too well. Scattered waves of fruit rained down, landing on Nathaniel's head, chest, and legs. He remained on JJ's back, covering himself the best he could. When he heard the sounds of fruit being crushed open by hooves he slowly removed his guard.
Only for a single papaya to land squarely on his forehead, and fall to the ground.
Nathaniel heard Jay, Ava, and Chrissy footsteps approach in between the sounds of a feasting capridae.
"I forgot to tell you, JJ loves papayas more than anything," chuckled Jay, "And I mean ANYTHING. One time while swimming in a flood, I got swept down river. I called out for JJ, and guess where he was? Swimming toward the fallen papaya trees."
Ava and Chrissy chuckled. Nathaniel adjusted his glasses and rolled off of JJ's back with a sigh. With his eyes closed, he reached down for a papaya and took a bite.
A small smile appeared.
His shoulders sat just a little lower.
After a moment he opened his eyes again to see everyone eating. He turned his head to see Travlack walking by with another pile of tinder before setting it down, grabbing a papaya, and vanishing back into the forest.
Jay spoke with his mouth full.
"You know what would go great with this? The moss from the cave. And you know what else that goes well with? Fish. And guess what I saw while I was swimming?"
No one answered. Jay kept glancing between all of them with his head tilted. Ava broke first and laughed.
"Fish?"
"You are so ever observant, Ava," Jay bowed, "Come on, I'll show you how I do it."
Jay and Ava returned to the water, papayas in hand. Nathaniel took another bite of his and saw Chrissy gathering a small pile by Travlack's stack of wood. Loud slurping sounds pulled his eyes toward Neville, who cleaned his paws with his tongue.
Nathaniel took another bite and kept watching. Seconds later Neville stopped, looked up at Nathaniel, and started chittering.
"Hey says he doesn't like being watched clean himself," said Chrissy, tossing more fruit into the pile, "It's like watching someone bathe."
"He's a bat."
Neville squawked and turned away.
"I raised Neville like a person," she sighed, "He'll have an attitude if you keep standing there."
Nathaniel watched in amazement as Neville checked over his shoulder, chittered, and turned back around.
"Alright," resigned Nathaniel, "Here. Peace offering."
He set the papaya down and walked toward Jay and Ava, who were wading in the wave pool. He took two steps before he heard the sounds of a fruit being slaughtered.
Jay held bits of papaya in the stream while explaining fishing tips to Ava. She settled into the water in the same stance as Jay with a focused expression on her face.
"And now we wait," smiled Jay, "If you feel a nibble, don't move. We want it to commit first."
Nathaniel sat by the stream and cleaned his glasses. When he put them back on he saw a bright orange fish swim past.
He followed the orange streak by the side of the river. It swam past Ava and Jay, instead opting to settle by the rocky bank. The reflection of the scales hit Nathaniel's eyes, causing him to struggle in his inspection. He dipped a finger in the water just a few feet away and wriggled it around.
Initially, the fish was not interested. After a minute of swimming around his finger it decided to come a little closer. Still cautious, however, it nibbled at the tip of his finger repeatedly. Nathaniel did his best to replicate the behavior of harmless prey. He danced his finger just far away enough to feign helplessness but ensure its interest.
A wave of the fin.
A nibble on the nail.
A full bite around his finger.
Nathaniel collapsed his other hand around the fish and brought it out of the water. His arms buckled for a moment as he adjusted to the weight of the fish. While it was no longer than his forearm, it possessed twice the thickness of it. He let loose a dry chuckle as he secured his fingers underneath the gill. He then freed the finger from the mouth of the fish and held the underside in a gentle caress. Nathaniel carefully lowered the fish back into the water as Jay and Ava waded toward him.
"What fish is that?" asked Ava.
"I didn't know they made goldfish that big," laughed Jay, "But that's enough for the five of us–"
"We can't eat this one."
Nathaniel raised it from the water.
"The Latent Bulb Fish," he started, "It's protected. Years ago it was poached near extinction."
He laid it back into the water, careful to maintain his hold.
"It grows to fit the size of its environment. See the bulb?"
He tilted the fish toward them. The small knot rose above the surface of the water, disturbing the current.
"Many people found out the hard way that stress will cause it to secrete the hormone responsible for its growth in unsafe amounts."
Ava stepped over and placed her face near the bulb.
"What about the ones that are in the ocean? What's the biggest you've seen one get?"
Nathan adjusted the fish for better viewing. He displayed its scales toward the sun, amplifying the golden luster.
"I once saw one that had grown free its entire life," said Nathaniel, "I remember my entire body could fit inside its pupil and have room to spare."
Ava snapped her fingers.
"Of course!" she smiled, "It was in one his books! The Titan of the Twin River Taelus! Is it true he rode on top of it?"
Nathaniel took a moment to formulate his answer. He nodded slowly, and spoke even slower.
"He definitely was on top of it. For an amount of time. Longer than I had seen anyone before him do it."
Ava continued to marvel at the fish for some time before turning wading back to the spot Jay showed her. Nathaniel kept holding the fish for some time before realizing Jay was still there, staring at it with him.
"Beautiful, ain't it?" Jay sighed, "Little guy has so much more inside him and doesn't even know it."
"I think the little guy is acutely aware of the titanic growth it possesses," remarked Nathaniel, "And as long as he remains here, this should be the extent of it."
Jay playfully rolled his eyes.
"Boshy, come on. To have the potential and not use it? That's a waste."
"It's management. The fish needs to–"
"Who said I was talking about the fish?"
Nathaniel looked up to see Jay's face in a wide grin.
"You didn't think I caught that, did you?" Jay chuckled, "You know a little something, don't you?"
Though Nathaniel clenched his jaw, his grip on the fish remained calm.
"I don't know what you're talking about."
"Boshy, just because the afro covers my eyes doesn't mean I don't catch everything. When Lanon charged, I counted five spikes in resonance. Myself, ready to brace for Ava. Travlack and Chrissy, attempting to stop Lanon. Then of course Lanon himself–poor dude. Now I wonder who makes that five?"
Silence from Nathaniel.
"Okay, I won't push it," said Jay, reclining into the river. "What's so interesting is in that one moment, you were only second to Lanon."
Nathaniel opened his mouth to speak but a screech from Ava made them turn their heads. The head of a fish was enclosed around the entirety of her hand, flopping energetically.
"JAY–LOOK–IT WORKED! I CAUGHT ONE–!"
The fish surged again, causing her to lose balance and fall in the water. She rose again, attempting to keep it in her grasp.
"Great job, Ava!" cheered Jay. "Now keep it! That's dinner!"
Jay lifted his afro and turned to Nathaniel, showing his light pink irises.
He winked.
Jay waded off to assist Ava, laughing with every step.
The bulb fish wriggled vigorously in Nathaniel's hands. It took advantage of the gap in Nathaniel's grip and splashed free. With a final push of its tail a modest amount of water splattered onto Nathaniel's face. The moment Nathaniel looked back, the bulb fish had fled.
He took a moment to gather himself before standing. Down river, Ava and Jay had caught a second fish. Jay raised it above his head in celebration while Ava–
Ava, the Zenith elite, was joyful while her clothes were ruined. Nathaniel stared at the gem in her head, now foggy with condensation. She laughed, splashed, and reviled in the mess she was making.
Gears turned in his mind. He swallowed the words forming in his throat and walked to his saddle bag. On his way there he noticed Travlack and Chrissy sleeping underneath the stretching shade of a tree. He fetched the last of his fire starter and knelt beside the pile of tinder Travlack had set.
A tiny trail of smoke started to rise. He stooped down to eye level with the fire, encouraging its growth with a gentle blow. The tiny cinder started to emanate a gentle warmth, catching on to the rest of the fire starter.
Satisfied, Nathaniel walked back to his saddle bag and began to put away his overshirt. He placed it on the saddle and adjusted his tank top. When he reached for his overshirt again, a gust of wind blew it onto the ground. He picked it up, dusted it off, folded it, and placed it in the saddle bag. When he turned around, Nathaniel expected to see a gentle fire. Instead, he was met with the remains of an attempt.
"Of course," he sighed.
The wind had started to pick up. Jay and Ava were hauling their catches from the river when the breeze hit them. They shared a jolted reaction followed by a laugh as they approached Nathaniel.
He faced his back to the wind and rearranged the tinder. With his left hand he reached and took a scrap of the fire starter. With his right he pressed his thumb and index finger together, and swiped them against each other.
Nothing.
He tried again.
A small flame rose from his finger tips.
He lit the fire starter and placed it at the hearth, extending his hand into the base. Within seconds a modest flicker rose from the campfire. He turned to see Ava clutching her fish, eyes and mouth wide open. She blinked once before Jay broke the spell with a comment.
"Thanks, Boshy! Ava was just getting cold. I'm gonna find some flat rocks so we can cook this."
Jay laid his fish down next to Nathaniel and strode into the forest. Ava maintained her eye contact with Nathaniel as she set her fish down as gracefully as she could. She was soaked. Her frizzled hair falling down to her shoulders on top of a ruined sundress.
"You can do that?"
"It's just another way to start a fire–"
"You made fire from nothing," she marveled, "That's a pressure art, right? I've read about them but never had the opportunity to learn."
"Yeah but–"
"What do you know? Can you teach me? Could you have helped with Lanon–?"
Nathaniel watched her bite her tongue in real time. She took a breath, straightened her shoulders, fixed her hair and started again.
"Sorry for the barrage of questions, I just…"
Her eyes drifted to the fire. Ava adjusted her seating as Vae came to coil by the cozy blaze.
"How about this, Miss Sinclair," Nathaniel started, "I'll answer your question first but I have a couple of questions of my own."
"Please, Mister Bosh, you can call me Ava."
"Like that–and call me Nathaniel–that there. I've talked to Zenith high society before, but never on a first name basis. I've led tours and such before, but none dared to travel without at least a month's attire, their personal entourage, and tailored safari clothes. And, to top it all off, the gem in their forehead was cleaned meticulously. They'd die if a speck of dirt, dust, or droplet touched it."
Ava chuckled lightly and stroked Vae.
"Oh I'm very familiar. They had Saint in their name, yes?"
"Especially those with Saint in their name. Saint Seigler, Saint Forae, Saint Zedir–"
"Rich beyond rich, elegance beyond elegance," sighed Ava, "It's exhausting to be around them, admittedly. Everything is performed, everything is curated. But my question still stands, the fire from your hands–pressure arts–how?"
Nathaniel pressed his thumb and index finger as he did before.
"I had no formal training so bear with me, everything I know is from the longest surviving of my father's assistants, Mala."
He snapped them again. A small fire appeared from the friction.
"She told me that I'm not making fire so much as creating the opportunity. Academically, I'm sure there's a better explanation, but that's what I remember. It's creating the chance and using resonance to amplify it."
"How long did it take you to learn that?"
"Two cave ins. It's colder than you would expect."
Jay strode back into view with long smooth stones. He placed one down by Ava and took the rest to the river.
"That one is pretty clean," said Jay, "I'm gonna wash these off and come back."
"May I borrow your knife?" she asked, "I'm gonna start preparing the fish."
He reached in his pocket and handed it over. She flicked the knife open and began to make surgical cuts.
"My turn," Nathaniel said, "Not every Zenith has a gem in their head. And I for certain have never seen a Nadir with one. They either bow to every Zenith they see or ignore them."
Ava rolled her eyes and sighed. A long draw of the knife in the fish preceded her response.
"It's an Avyric thing. If you're confused about it, that means it worked. Zenith and Nadir, Nadir and Zenith. We need each other but can't agree how. Some say we're divine and some tend to agree with that–the Saint families, mostly. Others don't care. They see themselves as equal to one another. The gem is just an indicator on what side you stand. Or what side you were signed up for."
"You're not born with it?"
"Heavens no."
She stabbed the knife in the fish, wiping her hands on her dress. She stuck a hand in the side of the fish and continued.
"It's an implant. They give it to compliant families as a baby. Just a mark that gives you access to high society connections is all it is. It's the only reason I owned my airship at the age of ten. Here you go Vae, your favorite part."
She pulled out a small organ and set it by Vae, who took it a couple of steps away.
"But don't get me started," she sighed, "My turn. What other arts do you know? Ice? Lightning? Stone? Wind even? How advanced?"
Her eyes lit up in anticipation of his answer.
"It's less elemental than you're thinking. Mala used terms like opportunity for fire, absence for ice, connection for lightning, attraction for earth and flow for wind. It was only later I realized pressure arts were just that–pressure. Heat, cold, ionization, density, and zones."
"I like Mala's explanation better," Ava said, removing more guts from the fish.
"Oh I adored her," Nathaniel sighed.
He pressed his fingertips together and focused. Slowly pulling them apart, small connections of lightning flickered between them. Ava leaned over and gasped in wonder. She hesitantly poked a hand near Nathaniel's, and a small bridge of light kissed the tip of her finger.
"She was the only person bold enough to tell my father anything otherwise" he chuckled, "Of course, that made things a little complicated between them. If anything, she raised me more than–"
He clenched his fists, severing the connection.
"I digress. I have another for you, if you were raised in high society, how do you know how to do that?"
He pointed toward the neatly dissected fish. Every part of it was laid out in exhibition upon the rock Jay laid for her. His knife stuck out of the fish's head, perfectly upright.
"Huh–oh," Ava waved it off, "I was raised on the airship. I wasn't just reading the entire time though. I was a proud little girl who loved every inch of her flying home."
They shared a chuckle. Ava let her hand caress a filet as she spoke again.
"Jules and Wilma–the captain and head chef–they taught me everything I know. Anything they didn't teach me I learned from their son, Soren. We spent so much time running through the climbing on the masts, running through the hallways and cooking food. I was determined to make it the best airship ever. That was before of course I realized the massive amount of engineering maintenance required."
The two shared laughter again as Jay came back with the rest of the flat stones. He set up a small makeshift griddle.
"So, that fire trick, do I just snap?"
Ava mimicked the motion Nathaniel did to start the fire. No flame appeared from her fingers, despite her snapping sound being crisp.
"You have to focus the resonance on the point of friction."
Nathaniel snapped once.
Nothing happened.
He snapped twice.
A small flame appeared.
"I was never able to do it the first try."
Ava started snapping fervently.
Jay, Nathaniel, and Ava all chuckled as she went on for a couple of minutes. Over the course of which, Ava swore she saw a spark.
Nathaniel prepared the rest of the mangos, embedding slices in the filet where Ava had cut. Ava retrieved the moss she collected from the cave and placed it over the fire, drying it out. Jay tested the heat of the cooking stone with a finger, and pulled away after a second of touching it.
"Alright! Let's cook some fish!" he cheered.
A figure rose from the side of Nathaniel's eye.