Esme cocked her head, obviously not understanding the problem.

Just then, Armin came gliding back over in hawk form, carrying a freshly-killed fish. He shifted back as he approached the group, looking quizzical. 'I forgot about the... lack of trees around here. Hmm, if we can find a big flat-topped rock, I can cook it on that.'

Dianne: "Ok. Barnabas, see what you can find."

{Barnabas doesn't appear, but Dianne knows he's looking.}

Dianne: "After dinner, we're getting back in the truck, so stretch your legs while you can."

Armin eyed the cramped truck with a slight grimace.

'Yeeaah... we need to enjoy this little bit of fresh air. Or rather, salty air...'

Bored while waiting for Barnabas, he left his fish in the back of the truck for safekeeping, and shifted into the wolf form he'd used while sparring on the mountaintop. He then started running full speed across the dunes, startling a group of seagulls. Esme squeaked excitedly and began to chase him, though she was nowhere near as fast.

Dianne: "Esme, no."

{Dianne scoops up Esme before she could get too far.}

Dianne: "You shouldn't go too far. If you want to look around we'll do it together."

Esme pinned her ears back and growled at Dianne, frustrated at not being allowed to run freely. Armin ran in a wide circle around the truck, then slowed and began to head down to the water's edge.

//You two should come closer to the water. I bet Esme's never seen the sea before,// he suggested telepathically.

Dianne: "Good idea."

{She walks down to the water's edge and sets Esme down.}

Dianne: "If she goes too far out, you're going to need to get her. I can't swim."

Esme edged towards the water, immediately leaping backwards when the tide came in. She started playing with the waves like a dog would, chasing them and then scampering back again.

Armin shifted back to human form, watching Esme to make sure the tide didn't sweep her away. 'Wait, really?' he said, raising his eyebrows. 'You'd think that after three thousand years, you'd know how to swim.'

Dianne: "It's not that I didn't learn, it's that I physically can't. This human form is negatively bouyant. In simple terms, I don't float. My dragon form can, but it's very unwieldly in the water. Could you just get her if she gets swept away?"

'Oh...' said Armin. 'Yes, of course I'd save her. I'm not gonna just stand here and let her drown, am I?'

{Dianne sighs at that, continuing to watch Esme.}

Dianne: "I didn't mean it like that. I just wanted it to be clear that I can't swim to save her."

Armin nodded slightly. 'I know. I'll get her, don't worry,' he said reassuringly.

As Esme continued to play chase with the waves, Armin turned away for a moment to gaze across the dusky expanse of water as nightfall drew close. //It's beautiful. I'd almost forgotten what the sea looked like...//

{As the pair continued to watch Esme and the waves, Barnabas appears.}
Barnabas: "I couldn't find a flat rock, but I did find some driftwood. And this really big crab."

{Barnabas holds up a massive red, spiny crab.}

'I don't know how well driftwood burns, but... I guess it'll work well enough,' said Armin, eyeing the enormous crab as he spoke. 'And put that thing back, you don't need another pet.'

Dianne: 'Hold on, we could eat it. Any idea how to cook it?"

'Uh, no. I've never prepared crab before. We didn't really have seafood in Riverside.' Armin eyed the crab, rubbing his jaw thoughtfully. 'Honestly, I'm surprised people even eat those things. They don't look appetising...'

{As they spoke, the crab was reaching out, trying to pinch whoever it could grab.}

Barnabas: "I can cook it. I grew up by the sea."

Dianne: "Ok, Barnabas, go for it."

'Let's go back to the pit and start a fire, then. I can start preparing the fish while you do... whatever it is you're going to do with that crab.' Armin glanced around, looking for Esme. She was playing in the sand about twenty feet away. Ignoring her growled protests, he picked her up and started to lead the way back.

{Dianne followed Armin. Once they arrived, Dianne piled the driftwood into the pit, shifts, and lights it. Barnabas gets a pot, fills it with water, and sets it up on the fire to boil.}

Armin retrieved some cooking supplies. He then opened the back doors of the truck and sat down on the edge, where he proceeded to decapitate and gut the fish, watching Barnabas out of the corner of his eye as he did so.

Esme seemed awestruck by all the new things she was seeing. Eventually, she sat down to watch the pot boiling over the fire.

{Dianne, still in dragon form, lies next to Esme and nuzzles her. Once the pot was boiling, Barnabas chucks the crab into it, eliciting a squeal from it, and closes the lid.}

Esme swiped playfully at Dianne's snout like a kitten might, before clambering up onto Dianne neck and balancing there, seeming pleased with her new vantage point.

Armin, almost done gutting the fish, looked up in surprise. '...Did that crab just make a noise?'

Barnabas: "Yup. they always do that when they boil." >:D

{Dianne lifts her head to give Esme a higher vantage point, chuckling to herself.}

Armin just looked mildly disturbed. 'I just didn't know /crabs/ were capable of making sounds...'

Esme stumbled a little as Dianne raised her head, and flared out her short wings for balance. Armin glanced over at them and chuckled slightly. 'Aww, she looks tiny next to you.'

Dianne: "Well, she's just a hatchling."

Barnabas: "...Crab is best with butter. Do we have any butter?"

Dianne: "How could we? We don't have refrigeration."

'We should have gotten Triticum to pack a mini fridge,' Armin mused quietly. He then looked up. 'Is the crab done yet? I need to put this fish on a spit, and you're taking up my fire space.'

Esme remained perched on Dianne's head, showing no sign of wanting to come down.

Dianne: "And how would we power it, Armin?"

Barnabas: "Nope. It'll be a little bit, but you could just put it next to the pot."

'The truck works, doesn't it? Maybe we could have powered it using the truck's electrics or something.'

Armin knelt beside the fire, swiftly assembling a spit and placing the fish over the flames to begin cooking. He remained sitting there to watch its progress, holding out his hands to warm them.

{Dianne just shakes her head slightly, watching the fire from where she lay. Barnabas phases his head through the pot to check on the crab.}

(...

Meanwhile, somewhere in the northern lands...

Goon: "How are we supposed to beat Delilah if we lose the light weapon? She'll just do that smokey thing Sam told us about."

Paxton: "If that happens, I'll bait her into a choke point, Cairn will put down the null zone, and bam. She can't avoid the bullets anymore. We don't necessarily need the lamp to win.")

(Hunterrrsss)

Armin kept a close eye on the fish, sometimes turning it to make sure it cooked evenly. Esme, after a while, got bored of where she was sitting, and took a massive leap off Dianne's head. As she jumped, she stretched out her wings to glide, eventually tumbling onto the sand about twenty feet away.

//Hmm, she's getting better at being airborne...//

(Null zonesssss)

{Dianne just smirks at Esme's attempt to fly. She walks over to make sure she's ok.}

(Anti-magic bubbles i n c o m i n g)

Esme picked herself up, shaking sand from her scales, and began to walk back to the fireside in a very dignified manner, as if nothing had happened.

Armin was gazing out across the coast as he waited for the food. 'This is so weird,' he murmured. 'I haven't seen the sea this closely since I was... twelve, I think.'

(Does Luxia know how to create null zones?)

Barnabas: "Really? Crazy. I can't remember a time during my life when I couldn't see it. Anyway, the crab's done, if anyone wants to eat that."

(I think so.)

Armin shook his head. 'I'm not sure about the crab. I'll just wait for this to be done.' He continued to stare across the water, lost in thought.

{Dianne shrugs and shifts back.}

Dianne: "I'll try the crab, Barnabas. Just show me how to eat it..."

{Barnabas pulls the crab out of the pot and puts it on a plate.}

Barnabas: "Well, first you tear off it's claws....CRACK....Like this....And then you.....CRUNCH......break the claw and suck out the meat. Here."

{Dianne tries the crab with a quizzical face.}

Dianne: "Hmm...It's not bad..."

'If you say so,' said Armin, avoiding looking at the crab. 'It doesn't look like something that's meant to be eaten, to me.' He poked at the fish with a knife and, finding it cooked enough, cut off a small portion for himself.

Barnabas: "Wow...does seafood just not exist in this...Vallis?"

Dianne: "I can't say that I've seen very many seafood restaurants over there..."

'Of course it /exists,/ said Armin. 'I just never ate crustaceans, they look weird. Besides, I was born in a small village in the countryside, where we mostly had river fish and game. So I wasn't brought up on seafood like you probably were.' He tried some of his food, looking pensive.

Barnabas: "Ah, you were a land lubber. Ok, that makes sense."

Dianne: "Hey, could I try some of that fish?"

'Yep. I've never even been on a boat.' Armin glanced up as Dianne spoke. 'Help yourself. Take the rest of it, if you want. I won't be having any more.'

Esme was sniffing the air a bit suspiciously, not sure what to make of the odd food scents.

Dianne: "Thank you."

{She takes the fish and puts it on her plate, atop the mutilated remains of her crab. She takes a piece of fish and offers it to Esme, to see if she would like it.}

Esme snapped up the offered fish - seemingly by instinct, as she was hungry - then narrowed her eyes. She liked it more than red meat, but decided that she still preferred fruit. However, she continued to sit by Dianne, looking expectantly up at her as if waiting for more.

Armin used his knife to spear pieces of fish, eating while gazing at the sea. He held the knife with his right hand, despite missing fingers on that side.

{Dianne splits the fish in half, cutting one half into strips for Esme, and leaving herself the other half. She begins to offer Esme the strips.}

Dianne: "You did pretty good with this fish, Armin. It does taste a little different, since it's a sea fish.

Clearly hungry, Esme took the strips of fish one at a time, eventually seeming to not care that it wasn't fruit.

'Yeah, it tastes... odd,' said Armin. 'Not like the river and lake fish. But it's alright.' Done with his portion, he tossed the remains into the fire and watched them turn to cinders.

{Dianne continues to feed Esme. Once her half of the fish was gone, Dianne starts to eat her own. As Armin watched the fire, Barnabas began to creep up behind him with a small crab, looking to drop it on his head.}

Esme padded off a short distance and began playing in a damp spot of sand. She was drawing something with her claw, though it seemed to be nothing more than unrecognisable squiggles.

Armin continued watching the fire, head slightly tilted, seemingly lost in thought and unaware of Barnabas's presence.

{Dianne was too preoccupied with watching Esme to see what Barnabas was doing. Barnabas drops the crab onto Armin. It tumbles down the side of his head, then pinches his ear, latching on for dear life.}

Armin jolted out of his musings with a yelp of pain, his hand shooting up to his ear to find out what the thing was. //Is that... a crab? Oh great, Barnabas uses crabs as weapons now?//

Wincing, he wrenched the crab's pincer open, then tossed the offending crustacean twenty feet away onto the sand. Esme didn't even glance up at the small commotion.

{Barnabas runs away, laughing hysterically. Dianne just shakes her head and continues to watch Esme.}

Armin threw Barnabas a disgruntled look, then returned to staring at the fire, rubbing his sore ear. //I knew it, even if I try to be civil with him, he's still going to mess with me.//

{Dianne, catching Armin's disgruntled look, speaks up.}

Dianne: "Barnabas, apologise."

Barnabas: "...Ok...I'm sorry, Armin..."

Armin just sighed. 'Sure...' Leaning back in his chair, his expression slowly turned more contemplative. 'I guess we'll be getting back in the truck soon?'

Dianne: "Yup. After we clean up, we should probably get going."

{She stands up and begins packing.}

Armin slowly got up and began to help, throwing some water over the fire to extinguish it. Esme watched curiously, still drawing squiggles in the sand. 'Well, I guess this is pretty much all we're going to be doing until we get home, huh?' he remarked.

Dianne: "Sucks, doesn't it? But, this is our only choice."

{Dianne finishes the packing, then walks over to Esme. Kneeling down, she pets her back.}

Dianne: "What're you drawing, sweetie?"

Esme squeaked, then looked over at the sea, before looking back at her 'drawing'. And sure enough, if one used a bit of imagination, the squiggly lines did look a little like waves of water.

{Dianne chuckles.}

Dianne: "That's nice, Esme. I'll have to get you some crayons later on..."

{She then picks her up and heads to the truck.}

Esme glanced back at the sea as they entered the truck, but allowed herself to be carried in without protest. Armin was already inside, sitting on his blankets and leaning slumped back against the wall, considering going to sleep.

{Dianne gets into the truck and closes it up. Then, she gets under her blankets and lies down with Esme.}

Dianne: "Well, unless there's something you want to talk about, I guess I'll just retire to bed now."

Armin shook his head. 'No... not particularly. Might as well just sleep.'

He climbed into his blankets and settled down, facing the wall. //I hope Titan can get us back quickly. It's boring, not being able to visit any towns. And even though I'm sure we'll get home before Paxton does... I can't help worrying about everyone...//

{Nodding, Dianne rolls onto her side, with Esme in her arms, and settles down to sleep.}

(I suppose we skip, but I have a midterm rn so I'll have to reply later.)

(Alrighty, good luck!

Do you have anything specific planned for the next day or two? Was thinking of maybe doing one of my ideas, but only if you have nothing else scheduled.)

(I was thinking about throwing a nightmare of my own at Armin, but other than that, nope.
Off to fight the midterm.)

(Ooh OK, let's do that. >:)

One of my ideas is for Esme to get attacked by some random dragon guy, so Dianne will have to protect her. I was considering doing that when they camp, so I might wait until we have an opportunity to make that happen.)

(Don't die to the midterm)

(The professor said the midterm would take two hours...

THAT WAS NIIIINNEEEE

DX)

(So, I guess I'll start the nightmare?)

(Biiiig RIP. DX

Yes! I'll post a new room first.)