sixthiterationlogs | 12 Building A Boat~! [OPEN MINGLE]

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12 Building A Boat~! [OPEN MINGLE]

WHO: Moana
WHERE: 7i Beach Area [Also around the 7i Boat House & Town looking for stuff]
WHEN: Month of September
OPEN TO: EVERYONE [Feel free to make top posts if you'd like as well. Moana will hit everyone up but this is open to whatever people want.]
WARNINGS: None

Throughout the month, Moana was at the beachfront assembling different parts of a boat. She had the design sketched on few pieces of paper though the sketches were not very good.

She had spoken to a lot of people about building a boat and will accept everyone's help with its construction. They needed pieces of wood, someone to build the hull, stronger materials for the sail, which meant that Moana was back to collecting reeds and stalks that wouldn't absorb the water as it sprayed up from the ocean. She really needed a better drawing of the boat and its design, even if she was bad at trying to explain what she wanted to build. The hull needed to be shaped from a single piece of wood to avoid leaks. As well as the side-canoe that would help keep the craft balanced on rocky waves.

Everything had to be collected from the new parts of the island since it would take too much effort and time to try to carry all the pieces through the now small breach between the canyon walls. When Moana wasn't working the boat she'd watch others work and encourage those around her to join. It was something like an event. If there were enough people come night fall Moana would start a large bone fire and cook fish. She would welcome others to lend a hand in any part of any process. Much like her home, she wanted to build a community of people working together and helping.

She could be spotted around the 7i boathouse looking for any useful materials, as well as rummaging through the other houses on the way back to the beach. She also brought a handful of tools from the inn, including a grappling hook that she had found in the inn's storage closet. Moana wasn't sure how anyone might use it but it looked useful enough to take with her.

Image References: Moana's Boat, Boat One, Boat Two, Drawing One, Drawing Two, Drawing Three, Drawing Four.

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Moana's eyes followed the curve of the wooden structure. The more she saw Owen work, the more she saw the boat that was hidden inside of the long piece of wood. It was exciting and it reminded Moana a little bit of home. They will probably have to test its buoyancy and make sure that it will not only float but also hold the weight of the sail, trimmings and another person.

She nodded her head in agreement before stepping closer and holding the plate of grilled fish and peaches in front of him. "You still need to take a break and eat." She would fetch him water too, even if he didn't drink it, he'd at least have it available to him.

Moana had been digging holes in the sand to keep things cold. It wasn't a perfect solution but the chilly underside and the wetness from the water was enough to stop the sun from warming and spoiling all the fresh water that she had collected from the river a few days before.

"You don't have to tell me twice," Owen answers, taking up the plate gratefully. He picks at the hot food with his fingers--the second it's cooled enough to pinch between, he puts it in his mouth. Maybe some people react to upheaval with some loss of appetite, or work themselves into starvation--but Owen loves to eat. He probably misses his stack of takeout menus for long nights more than a lot of things.

At least this tastes like something he'd have at home. "This is delicious," he tells her, not wanting the effort to go unappreciated.

Sitting down with the plate, he rests his back on the side of his crude boat. "How's your sail coming along?" He doesn't plan for his boat to be anything but a simple canoe, but he also doesn't plan to do more than explore the shoreline.

Moana was glad when he took the plate. She was growing accustomed to people skipping meals to work, only to find themselves hungry a few hours later. It was easier and sensible to eat when food was available.

"Thanks." Moana grilled the fish while it was wrapped in leaves, much like she did on her island, giving it a familiar taste of home. The fruit from her island was the only thing that Moana couldn't replicate but peaches were close.

She took a seat next to him, waiting to take the plate back with her. "It's coming along. I've been collecting materials during the day and weaving it together in the evening." At this point she's able to weave without looking at what she's doing and that works in little lightning. "I'll take the month to finish." Soonest she'll be out on the water will be early October.

"You'll need some good, warm clothes," he says between bites, the heat of the food keeping him from eating it too quickly. Skipping meals isn't one of his habits, but they're not always in ready supply, and he's sharply hungry whenever he sits down to eat. Today is no exception, the food disappearing as it cools.

"You're dead set on going it alone, huh." He still isn't pushing the issue: it isn't something to solve with an argument. All he can do is work on his own boat, having something ready in case of disaster. All he can do is keep her in mind.

"The water's already cold, it's only going to get colder. A lot more could go wrong than drowning."

"I know. I was going to pack some clothes but these dry faster than the clothes I found inside of the backpack. They're better for the water." Her palms ran over her grass skirt, watching as the thick dried stalks pushed between her fingers. She loved her outfit and it had taken her over a month to make it. "I have a cloak I was given too and there are a lot of those blankets with sleeves at the inn." She's thought of a few options.

Moana watched Owen eat a few more bites before nodding her head. "Yes. I am." She wasn't going to risk someone else's life on what might amount to nothing. There was no telling what was out there. "I've faced a lot of things on the sea. Storms and these monsters that used coconuts as armor." It was very strange.

"I'll bring my spear. It'll be okay." She had spent a lot of time trying to convince people that this was a good idea.

Owen takes it in with the same gently blinking acceptance that he's trying to afford everything else. Oddly sapient foxes, coconut monsters. Sure. Doesn't mean she's prepared to be alone on the water, going into winter. "I'm not really worried about self-defense," he says, though the food in his hands and mouth speak to her ability to fend for herself.

"It just seems different, in a place that doesn't really play by any rules. I'm not saying you shouldn't go, just--don't underestimate the good you could do here. Don't think there's anything to prove out on the water, if it might cost your life."

Moana looked out at the waves, watching as they rolled gently against the shore. "I know." Her voice was softer and more considerate than it had been the last time this topic came up. She got defensive and terse with most of the people she spoke to but Moana believed that Owen might understand. "There might be nothing out there but if there is something... an answer, a way home, anything... then I want to find it. I think I can find it."

She turned to look back at Owen. "Don't you think I should at least try? If not I'll come back and continue what I've been doing here." Moana had to try because this was something that she can do. She wasn't the only one but she wanted to do it. It was a way that she could help.

She felt it in her heart.

"Of course you should try; we should all be trying." He just thinks maybe she shouldn't be doing it alone, but--that's why he's out here, isn't it? He could have set up closer to his home, he could have cut down his own trees and hollowed them out, eaten his own food, left her and her pig to their own devices. It's not like he wants a reminder of home, that calls so far back.

The healed lines under his sleeve speak to how much he'd love to wash that island empty with the waves, until there was nothing left but the real snakes.

But he already knows the limitations of going it alone, weighed against the price of involving others. "I'm glad you want to go. I'm glad you aren't happy to just play with your pig in the woods."

Moana knew how to take care of herself. She could do more than most who lived in the canyon and spent a far amount of time teaching others about weaving, fishing and gathering. Her teachings were wide spread because she had to know everyone's roles on her island and be able to assist if they needed it. She would never be completely useless while in the village but she wanted to try and help find a way out of the village.

She knew two people who could sail and then assumed Owen could too. That made four of them in total. She was most likely the youngest of them all but somehow she thought that meant she could go even more. It was difficult to explain her reasoning, even when she tried to rationalize it to herself.

"You are?" Moana was a little confused by the statement since it was counter to most of what she's heard from people. "I've been told I'm reckless." Since she tried to climb the canyon wall and ended up falling almost six stories. Her spear had saved her life but it took over a month to heal fully from the bruising that the fall had caused.

"You are," he agrees, because the two are anything but exclusive. "Honestly, you're an idiot to do it alone, and you're probably going to be lucky if you just get hurt. But if any number of people telling you that hasn't changed your mind, what am I going to do? Lock you in a room, set your boat on fire and let us learn nothing?"

There are moments he's thought about it: cutting a few ties, slowing the progress. It's her life to waste, and while he finds himself--surprisingly enough--annoyed that she's ignored any number of warnings, that's not who he is.

This is the last he's going to say on it, he decides: making her well-being his problem isn't like him, and isn't helping anyone--even Moana.

Corralling a teenager just wastes time spent on bigger questions. "I can appreciate that you have the drive to go. And I can appreciate that everything I say to you is probably bullshit. I'm a stranger, you're a young woman with an ego. You should do this, but it's selfish and stupid to do it alone."

"I don't have an ego." She replied stubbornly. She wasn't going to argue with his other points because he was right. This was probably stupid and she might get hurt but Moana didn't think that she would. She had a good feeling about this. It was a step in the right direction.

Moana curled her legs to her chest, resting her chin on the crest of her knee. "I don't know who I would ask to go with me. It would just be dangerous for them or they'd get in the way." She ran her fingers along the sand as she spoke.

"I'm so used to people telling me that it's dangerous or that I can't do something. I've always done what I thought was right and I'm still here. I'm still trying." She frowned. "I don't understand why that's a problem. I'm not going to be reckless. I've been in a boat like this and on rough seas before. I've found monsters and came out on top. Yes, I don't know what this ocean will throw at me but it's nothing that I've done before."

She wasn't as reckless as everyone seemed to think she was. If there was someone who was familiar with sailing on the ocean in a small canoe than she'd bring them with her but Moana didn't know anyone like that and one wrong move on the water could flip the boat. She didn't want to have to worry about the boat, the supplies and another person.

"Thinking you're the only person who can do something is the definition of ego," Owen says, more sigh than force behind the words. He sets his plate aside and loosely folds his arms over his knees, keeping to the ground, projecting ease rather than defensiveness.

"Have you asked the people helping you build your boat? Do you think I'm out here every day carving a canoe because I've never been in one? I know what can go wrong out there because I've grown up around boats, and I know you're being stubborn because I've been the same way."

It can be a blessing at times, when reason is applied in equal quantity. "If you doubt the people here, teach them. What are you going to do if you find something, ferry us one at a time, taking the same risk with every voyage?"

"I know four people who can sail. Killan has only sailed on large ships and while he's helping with the rigging it isn't exactly the same." She was planning to alter anything that was to much like a large ship and not like a small boat where she'd be controlling more of the sail. "Finnick wasn't able to sail on the ocean." They had talked about it once.

She paused and looked over at Owen. "Do you know how to sail on the ocean? How to navigate using only the stars?" Her people had been Wayfinders, it was in her blood to sail and she'd been learning more and more each day.

"And I don't know. We have to find something first. Then figure out what to do. Maybe build a bigger boat. Something that can ferry a few people at a time. Killan could steer it and we could help with the large sails." She had given this a lot of thought.

Her thoughtfulness is not what shone through to Owen--but maybe it was his short time here, maybe it was the way he'd consumed every scrap of information left at the inn so recently. If you didn't look at things every day, if you didn't stay on your toes, maybe things did start to blur together. Maybe things seemed like they made sense, and could be bested in direct and logical ways.

Climb a wall. Sail toward the horizon. Follow the stars.

When he speaks, it's quietly, still trying to avoid anything that could be misconstrued as a fight. She needs to have these questions asked of her--if not to change her mind, then to at least highlight what else she needs to be prepared for. "I know enough about following stars to tell you these don't behave like the ones at home. This isn't your ocean from home, Moana. Even if it's an ocean at all, it's so far north, and things change. The star you choose to follow one night might be behind you the next. Are you really prepared to be alone in the dark, unsure of where you are? Can you really not understand why people might not want that for you?"

It was nice to be talked to instead of being talked down too. Moana knew that most people didn't mean to but it always sounded like that's what they were doing. Owen was different. He spoke to her like she was an equal and when he voiced his concerns it wasn't to convince her not to go but to see if she's thought about it. It was a stark contrast to other conversations and Moana noticed the difference.

Her lips remained slightly bent in a frown as she listened and thought about what Owen had said.

"I know." Her voice was very soft. "I don't know if I am prepared for that. I've thought about it but I don't know if it scares me." It wasn't something that she's truly experienced before. "And I understand why people don't want me to go. It's because they care about me but staying here isn't going to change anything."

She paused, sorting through her thoughts. "I'm happy to have met so many wonderful people here. To have people I care about but I want to protect them too. This isn't my island but I can't shake who I am. The person I am is someone who will always do things to protect the people I love. Even if it's scary or difficult. I won't be reckless." She rolled her eyes, her lips twitching into a small smile. "Okay, I won't be reckless on purpose but I'll do what I think is right."

Her hand moved to rest over the locket around her neck. "I'll follow my heart." The way her grandmother had told her too.

"Well, as long as you know what you think is right is something I think is wrong." There's no reasoning with follow my heart sentiments. Heart and ego are the same thing at that age, and maybe--maybe she needs to go alone. Maybe whatever is going to happen needs to happen, the way it happened to him.

Well, going alone will maybe ensure it won't put her face to face with a dead body, but it might put someone here face to face with hers.

Even in a normal setting, he'd worry about someone sailing out into the cold water alone. In this canyon though, forces seem mounted against them, and he can't imagine success on these terms. He just hopes it isn't as catastrophic a failure as he can imagine.

"I know." Moana's voice was very soft. It wasn't difficult to sense Owen's restraint however, she was thankful that he wasn't actively trying to talk her out of it. It might be foolish and stupid but it was something that she had to do. "Thank you."

Maybe she would never make a good chief, maybe her story ended in this canyon or out in unfamiliar water, but she didn't know the future. All she knew was here and now. This was what her heart was telling her to do.

She reached towards the plate that she had brought and grabbed one of the fuzzy peaches. Her dark eyes were distant and thoughtful as she looked out over the ocean, nibbling on the bit of fruit. She wanted to think about what Owen had said. It was true that she was reckless and rash but she wasn't going to risk her life without thinking it through first. Maybe after a good night's sleep, something will change.

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12 Building A Boat~! [OPEN MINGLE]

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