The paradise Island (open, players need)

"A whore?" Why would any of us think that?" i Step a little closer. "Listen to me Aiya, you are not a whore, and there is nothing wrong with hugging a man, naked or otherwise. I am rapidly coming to the conclusion that there is nothing wrong with simple nudity in of itself. I haven't worn a thing since we landed here and I am not sure I WANT to go back to wearing clothes." ..
As far as what your family would think? ..
"First, they are not here. They are not a part of this adventure we are on. Secondly, You acted with bravery, courage and a killer instict. I am grateful for what you did, it probably saved my life.. If the sight of you hugging a naked man would be enough to destroy the courage and rightness of your willingness to risk your life for another, then they are petty and shallow and the opinion of such people should not drag you down.
Words can hurt, but here on this place, is a chance to grow beyond what you were. There are dangers here, adversity, and even pain, but is through those things that we burn away the non-essentials of our character and refine us to our best potential. what I saw in you today was not a meek timid girl worried about what others thought, but a woman, proud, fierce and beautiful defending her home against all dangers. You have done nothing to be ashamed of. Hold your head high and proud. ...
I am proud, proud of what you did, proud of what I did. I am sure it was as much if not more luck than anything, but still. We faced the monster and we won!"

Aiya felt better after Jay's speech and was washing off the blood on her face.

"Did you see Rom's face when he saw the boar I swear he looked so angry that he would have ripped its head off. When I first saw him, it was.like my dad checking on us with the first kill of hunting season... my dad is really strong. He just was there ya know. One time we went hunting feral hogs in Arkansas... my brother told me stand my ground.
I heard him again today."

Aiya wiped her eyes getting gor in them then dunked her face. It helped."I'm glad you're ok."

Aiya washed off as best as she could and lifted water to help clean Jay's hair. "What made that pig come to camp? You don't think it was the crabs cooking, do you?"

Steph mutely followed instructions, taking the alcohol and tearing strips from the clothes. She tried to tend to Jay and Aiya as best as she could, finding any breaks in the skin and disinfecting them, binding the more significant wounds. She was shocked back into silence, back to the trepidation and nervousness of before. It seemed impossible that just a half hour or so ago she was on her back being fucked by a relative stranger.

Aiya winced getting her arm cleaned up. " I'm sorry if we interrupted things with Rom and you
I can see why you two are good together."

Once she was wrapped up Aiya checked on dinner. Thankfully it wasn't ruined.

"He did look supremely pissed off.. On the other hand.. " I glance back at steph and smile, "I think our little adventure interrupted .. a developing relationship." I lean my head over letting you scoop water through my hair and scrub the blood away, and wince I as Was the sand and gunk off the scrape on my shoulder. "I think we are in what was his territory and he was circling through it and wanted to repel the interlopers.
After washing I sit by the edge of the water as Steph cleans the cuts and scrapes with the vodka and wraps strips of the shirt around it to bandage it.
"Are you OK steph?" You have been awfully quiet since you guys got back.

After getting washed up and cleaned up we head back to camp for what remains of dinner. In the growing shadows of evening I follow the ladies, my eyes on Aiya and I feel an even stronger attraction to her seeing her as not a helpless and lost woman, but seeing the core of steel and fire in her heart. And I admit to myself I am enjoying the view as the ragged bits of her wet dress cling to her hips as she walks.
I can tell I am going to be hurting pretty bad by morning once all the strain and pulls work themselves in overnight and am not looking forward to the next few days as I have too much to do to lay around while my muscles protest the treatment today.

"Hail the mighty hunters!" I say with a laugh, "No one killed, no serious injuries or disfiguring wounds. One dead pig. Gees almost like you planned it. What did you do? Go at like a couple of pitbulls, taking turns hacking at it?"

"Jay what's left of your spear is there with the tusks." I point out, "Nice ones. Three and half inches or so. That's a big pig for this part of the world."

(ooc: shit forgot to mention Rom has tats(all my avatars do), Norse, Germanic, Saxon, including, Ravens, Dragon/serpent and a Wild Boar.)

"Foods up. How about a vote on two slugs from the vodka each to celebrate still being alive," I continue, "I think we deserve and may need one or two."

"I wont argue with the need for a drink or two. For pain killer if nothing else. I guess tomorrow I need to work on making a new spear. I hadn't actually planned on using it quite this soon, but I am glad I had it." I take a slug of vodka feeling it burn its way to my stomach, "I don't think it was exactly planned, but i had already been thinking about how to handle the situation if it came up. I am not exactly bristling with muscle and I figured the best way to handle the situation was to let the pig use its own weight and motion against it. I just don't have the strength right now to drive the shaft through on my own. But while it was attacking I was reacting faster than I was thinking and was pretty sure I wasn't going to make it, but I had to try. There was no way we could outrun it and I had to make sure if it came after anyone it came after me so Aiya could have a chance to get away." i snagged one of the crabs that had been cooing away tossing it from hand to hand to cool it before sitting on the hammock. "Gdd I am hungry."

I nod toward Rom, You have quite a collection of Tattoos. **Did you ever get dressed again?**

I wash down a mouthful of crab with a pull from the bottle. Delicious!

"Oh yeah. Mid-life crisis. I had a mild heart attack ten years ago. Runs in the family. Though I'm the only one to survive theirs. Always wanted a tat. I had to lie to my tattoo guy about the recent heart attack when I got my first one." I reply to Jay, "This one on the right chest is a version of a Viking compass. I call it my metaphysical defibulator. The runes are of protection, healing and life force. The wild boar on the other side is pure totem. Tough smart fucking animals. The ravens on my back are Wodan's ravens Hugin and Mugin. Thought and memory. It's the old argument does human intelligence arise from rational thought or accumulated knowledge. The dragon armband is an infinity figure. Jorgumand the serpent at the end of the world."

Looking down I realize I'm still naked. Ooops. My clothes are down the beach. Oh well I'll get them tomorrow.

I will agree they are tough!
Now that,... is a fascinating question. I take another bite of crab.
"Human intelligence is a mixture of the two. The greatest intelligence are able to take a accumulated knowledge and process it through rational AND emotional filters to come to optimal solutions to the problems presented. Thought without knowledge is simply chaos, knowledge without rational thought is simply memorization and trivia. In fact intelligence seems to be the ability to take knowledge, and discern connections, patterns and outcomes and synthesize new knowledge from seemingly disparate kernels of knowledge. "

"as far as the clothes? "
I laugh,
"it certainly won't bother or offend me. Unless need compels me I doubt I will clothe myself again as long as we are here. I never realized how..."
I struggle for the proper word ..
"freeing? I guess is as close as I can get, but even that word doesn't seem quite to fit." how freeing, or, right, it seems to be to be naked, especially here."
I shrug,
"there is nothing to hide, no pretensions. I am who I am and it seems to be a part of who I am now. I have no shame in body, it is what it is. "
I wave my hand in your direction sort of taking all of you in.
"You certainly have nothing to be ashamed of."
I grin and dive back into my dinner taking another long swallow of the vodka and resolve to limit myself. I have never been much of a drinker and can already feel a warmth in my ears.

Aiya walked over and grabbed a crab and sat near the fire. It was nice hearing the guys talk about hunting and making sport of each other. It made her feel at home. Aiya passed the bottle back to Steph and notices her being real quiet. "Everything okay Steph?'

Aiya waited for a reply while Rom talked about his various tatooes. It was like a history lesson which Aiya loved hearing about the Vikings and Celts. They seemed so mystical which she delighted visiting relatives from the north

Aiya finished her crab and leaned against the table leg wondering if Rom's totem sent the boar as a test as she drifted off to sleep.

"Hugin and Mugin each day, fly the whole world over. I worry lest Hugin fall, but fear more for Mugin." I quote.

"I wonder if maybe pre-literate cultures thought more of knowledge and memory. The loss of elders with specific memories could be problematic. Logic and rational thought lose their frame of reference? Oral traditions might fill the gap."

"These days Wiki makes sagas of us all. You can look up anything. But now we have to apply logic and reasoning more in how to use the knowledge left to us in print and digital files."

Finishing my crab, I take a last big slug from the bottle.

"Speaking of thinking and shit. I would like to move the camp." I ask everyone.

"I really really don't like drinking that water from the creek. If we can find a fresh water source it would be much safer. I saw a rock face that no pig could climb. A vantage point could let us see ships on the horizon better."

You are probably right about the camp but we should get some sleep

I give Jay a hand to put both sleeping girls to bed. We put them in the middle of the sleeping platform. I get comfy beside Steph and drift off to sleep.

I curl up next to Aiya on the other side, the girls tucked protectively between us and fall asleep quickly, but don't sleep very well. The morning finds me curled next ot the warmth of Aiya pressing close with my arm at her waist. Moving slowly as my muscles are stiff and sore. I sit up slowly with a groan. THe others are still out, Steph and Rom practically entangled, then deciding I just really really don't want to move yet I lay back down listening to the sounds of a jungle waking in the gray pre-dawn light.

I join the others to eat, but I say nothing. A mixture of shock of what has happened, fear of what might happen, and embarassment at my earlier behaviour mutes me. I shouldn't be such a slut. I'll forge a chastity belt. A figurative one. Keep my legs closed, trouble at bay.

Aiya woke up and quietly untangled herself from the make shift bed. She checks the hens and finds they laid eggs as well as five other nests nearby. Aiya guessed one of her trapped ones was like a mother so the younger ones stay close or the cock is keeping his harem in one place.

She went to her bathroom spot and took note of distance to foods. . When she returned, she looked for the pig but didn't see it. So she grabbed the net and went to the beach to find more crabs.

To Aiya's surprise it was low tide and she found several tidal pools. However one of the pools contained a body. It looked like someone that worked in the kitchen. Aiya said a prayer for the person and dug a channel to drain out the water and heft sand over the body.

Aiya went back to the other pools. She caught some slender silver fish and knew they swam in packs. Aiya collected fish, crabs, and sea weed littered with mussels. It was a good find and she knotted the net and left it in the first pool while she walked the shoreline. If a table could come ashore maybe some other kitchen items could too.

I woke up again and realized Aiya had gone. I stood slowly and began to try and move around going through some stretches and just moving to try and work the stiffness out of my back, arms and shoulder. Once everyone was up I would need the shoulder cleaned and re-dressed. In the meantime, I got the fire going again, and decided to find a tree for a spear and try to figure out a way to start storing and even heating water. We needed something for plastic jugs, or bottles were bound to wash up eventually, but what to do for heating water?

I barely slept all night. How could I, really? We're trapped here. I sit up. It's quiet, Jay and Aiya are gone somewhere. It's cold and the silence is unsettling.

I went inland following the stream back through the jungle to see if I could find the rock shelf Rom had mentioned. I held my knife firmly as I threaded through the jungle and stopped listening, was that a waterfall? I pushed on and found the ground getting rougher and rockier. I stepped gingerly through the creek where the rocks were most rounded and pushed past a large leefy plant whose leaves were larger than me. There it was, a pool with what looked like about a 30 foot waterfall coming slumped shelf of volcanic rock. We'd have to build a ladder or something to make it easier to get up and down the face, but it looked like there was a decent overhang, something we could turn into shelter. There might even be a cave, an old lava tube or something. I turned to head back to camp and then I saw it. A good sized Koa tree. There it was, the hull of a canoe. Of course this would be a weeks long project, but if we could build a canoe we would have fishing and much greater mobility.
I headed back to camp excited by my find.

Aiya returned to camp with her catch. She made sure to remain quiet so she didn't disturb Rom and Steph.

Aiya found some shells that could be used as bowls and a few cracked coconuts. Aiya was stirring the fire and roasting the crabs. She worked on the shells to clean them out so they could be used for dinner with a make shift gumbo

You are working with the shells and the coconuts as I come back into the camp. "I found the rock face Rom was talking about, its above a waterfall that looks to be coming out of the rocks and becomes teh stream, up at he rocks the water should be more sure of being clean. There is an overhang and maybe a cave, that should give better shelter. And.. I found a Koa tree. Straight trunk almost 20 feet tall. It's what the Polynesians used as the hull for their outrigger canoes. If I can get it down, and hollowed out we will have transport around the island."
I pause and just watch you for a moment taking you in as work. "What are we going to do Aiya?" I sit down and look at you again.."Here we are, stranded, surviving, trying to build an existence and life, and any day we may be rescued, going off to our separate lives. I know we should work toward rescue,.." I sigh.." part of me feels so much more alive here than I have ever felt. I feel like part of something here with you, and the others." I wave toward steph and Rom, "They have found each other it seems.. Is it wrong that we don't seem that eager to leave?"

Awaking I go to the beach for a swim. Feeling refreshed I go pick up my clothes from the spot of Steph's and mine interrupted tryst. Gathering up my clothes and mat I head back. Aiya is busy foraging. Jay is gone somewhere. Steph still looks lost. I had thought she had come out of her shell, at least when she was on her back. She worries me.

Along the way back I gather a load of firewood. Always an endless task while camping. Dumping the load by the fire I turn to uncover the pig's body. It needs butchering and cooking ASAP. How to butcher a two hundred pound pig is another matter. Rabbits I've done many times. Big thing is not to perforate the intestines. My knife is still sharp but not big enough to use as a butcher's blade. Cut flesh and skin maybe.

I'm going to need something heavy. The rocks I brought back from the interior include a nice round chert piece. Ten minutes of staring at it and five minutes of knapping and I have a round stone with a triangular wedge side. I'm surprised how well my hand axe turns out. It should be able to break bones.

I haven't bothered to get dressed. This part is going to be real messy I'm sure. Taking my knife I start at the throat and start to cut working down to the abdomen. Carefully I slit the carcasses gut. Then taking my time I cut around the anus. moving up to the head I cut the throat open even more than Jay did. Then tackle the backbone with the hand axe.

Messy job. I'm covered in blood, sand, sweat and flies. The head comes free. I reach inside the body cavity and start pulling out offal and guts. Scooping out a hole in the sand I bury the guts for now. With the hand axe I remove the feet and tail then start to skin it. Rabbit is easier. I lay the skin out and start butchering. It's not pretty. The hand axe more splinters bone than cuts it.

I pile the pieces on the skin. Maybe a hundred pounds of meat. Tossing lots of wood on the fire I take an entire side of the pig and thread it on to a several green pieces of wood. Driving sticks into the sand I hang the ribs over the fire to cook. Then head to the beach for a good wash.

Rom had been busy with the pig, I was glad I really had no clue how to go about butchering the hog. As he worked, I set about to make myself a new spear, this time with an obsidian point. I was still trying to figure out the best way to bring down the tree. I knew once it was down I could use coals to slowly burn it hollow since we didn't have a good Adze or other scraping tool as yet. But I still had to get it from where it was to where we were going to camp AND find a way to get coals into it.
It didnt take too long to find the sapling I could use for another spear. I resolved to be more careful with this one.

Aiya cooked the crabs and baked some tubers for the morning meal. She acknowledged Jay's efforts with a knife and decided to help Rom deal with the pork. It was long and tedious work but worth it in the long run.

She listened about the new camp site and remained quiet about staying in this paradise