Not a great day for a swim

[andrend]

WHO: Kylo Ren
WHERE: The Mill on the river, south side.
WHEN: August 3rd
OPEN TO: All
WARNINGS: None yet
STATUS: Closed

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The wheel on the mill didn't spin or connect to anything anymore in a meaningful way. It was easy enough to realize it was meant to do something and that the slow, repetitive thunk of the wheel as it tried endlessly to continue to spin was not by design. Even from the house he had settled into, Ren could hear the dull repetitive thud like the endless open and shut of a door on the ship. At first it had been a surprisingly welcome sound. There was something almost familiar in it. But after the flood, the predictable repetition had been altered, the wheel jammed up with bits and pieces of driftwood that turned a slow and methodical thunk into a series of irritable clunks and straining groans.

The current on the river was never really slow, but it was slower now that the flood waters had receded some. Ren left all but a pair of his black trousers on the bank of the river, near the front of the mill and dove into the river to try and get a better look at the large wooden wheel early into the afternoon.

Even with the water levels receded, the current still required a steady effort of swimming against it to keep from being pulled downstream, and that made getting a good look at all the debris difficult. In the end it meant Ren had to hold onto the thick wooden rim of the wheel and try to pull at the debris. He was smart enough to not blindly stick his hand into the mess of sticks, logs and questionable objects. He didn't have much use of the force left to him, but it was enough to feel for and tug individual branches loose a few at a time. It was so much more effort than such a simple task should have been for a powerful force user like him.

One particularly thick branch came loose at the wrong time, and the entire wheel snapped forward with a crack of the wood trapped within it and a loud, straining groan, jostling its passenger free. The snapping and cracking of wood continued and for a moment it seemed like the wheel might finally be free, but the massive wooden waterwheel just spun a few short twists more before catching again and dropping old driftwood that had settled on one of the slats back into the river with a series of loud splashes and a curse from the man they nearly would have buried on the way down were it not for a push of the force and a quick backstroke out of the way.

The repetitive clack and creak of the wheel didn't improve from the shift, changing into a back and forth splash and groan rather than just the thud of failed turns.

Another curse in huttese and Ren pulled himself back onto the bank and used the force to fling a few small rocks as hard and fast as he could at the wheel before laying out in the dirt. He had nothing to vent his frustration on or with and it was slowly driving him insane.

Comments

[thekittenqueen]

Returning from one of her walks, the strange sounds from the mill had managed to catch Margaery's attention and curiosity. Following the noises, she arrived at the bank in time to witness Ren pulling at several branches and the wheel managing to snap forward. Whatever work he was doing, it seemed for a moment to be successful.

She was about to call out to him when the wheel caught, causing driftwood to start raining down on him. Without thinking, she dived into the water, intent on helping him until she realized he had somehow managed to evade the driftwood. It was a quick reaction. One moment he was close to being buried and in the next, he was safe.

"Are you all right?" She asked, still deep in the water. He was forever jumping into lakes and fountains, it seemed. Remembering his less than personable attitude, she watched him warily, deciding not to move too close.

[andrend]

"I'm fine." Irritation bled into his tone but it was not at her so much at everything else. Kylo Ren had a memory like a steel trap when it came to faces he encountered. He remembered her as one of the people who had come later to the fountain. He heard the separate splash of another body hitting the water, and as soon as he reached the surface he picked her out in the deeper middle.

"The currents like to shift there. You shouldn't linger in the deeper waters." His cautionary words almost sound concerned and he slowly moved back to his feet, the drain of using the force here pulling on his limbs even as he offered a hand to help her out onto the bank. She presumably had jumped in after him and not for a casual swim. He could at least offer her a hand getting back out. The flooding had made the banks on the eastern side a bit steeper and slicker than an easy exit.

Wariness was fine, even smart when dealing with Ren. On the banks, though, he was unarmed and dressed in nothing particularly made for hiding weapons and his soaked black scrub pants clung to him like wet wookie fur.

[thekittenqueen]

She had come to expect him always being in a sour mood. It seemed to just be a part of who he was, even if the rest of him was a mystery. While she doubted he'd be pleased to see her, it didn't change her level of concern or worry for his safety. However things had gone during their first meeting, they were both part of the same community.

Margaery glanced around at his warning, kicking a bit back so that she was closer to the shore and in safer waters. He seemed to be uninjured and managing well on his own. It left her feeling a bit embarrassed for having dove in so quickly.

At his offered hand, she accepted it, pulling herself from the waters. Her grey scrubs clung to her skin, cold and damp. It was the same as stepping out of the fountain, leaving her smelling like foul water and all manner of grime covering her skin. She was going to have to get used to being constantly dirty.

"What were you trying to do?"

[tooktheblack]

Jon had spent much of his time over the last several weeks building snares and stringing them up in the woods to be able to keep them supplied with game. If he'd had a bow, he could hunt something bigger than the small rabbits that were plentiful enough but for the moment, they would do. Those, along with fish from the river, would keep them from starving even if they weren't terribly creative meals.

On his way back, he saw Ren dive into the water beneath the mill and Jon watched for a moment, hesitant. He presumed the man knew how to swim considering he hadn't drowned on his way in but he was still primed to jump in if necessary. When he managed to crawl back onto the bank, Jon approached.

"I don't know if we'll get it working or not. I don't know anything about mills."

[andrend]

Ren glanced up from the bank as Jon approached, pushing himself off the mud caked ground and slowly getting back to his feet. It was far more exhausting to draw on the force here, and his muscles and hands were sore from the physical labors of the day. Better he waste his energies on the mill than the lost cause of salvaging the building he and Hux had foolishly claimed. There were disadvantages to living so near to the water source, as the flood had proven.

Brushing off his pants he raised a brow at Jon and glanced back at the mill again, staring at the infuriating building with a mix of stubborn determination and frustration.

"I refuse to be beaten by such an out-dated technology. It can not be that complicated a thing to repair." Though the lack of tools, knowledge or general working understanding of most of the building was proving to cause significant issue in his progress.

"At the very least, it seems powered in some form by the river." And despite nearly impaling himself with falling wood he was determined to make it work. "And fixing it will put an end to the noise." Meditation could only get the clack-thunk out of his mind for so long before it began to drive him to madness again.

[tooktheblack]

"The issue is to find out why the wheel won't turn completely. Are there stones under it?" Jon didn't exactly know much about mills but he had been on the Wall with sons of millers and they tended to know their fathers' craft. It was enough to have a theoretical knowledge, if nothing else, though he didn't know if that would help in this instance.

"But, judging on how wet you are, you've probably already dove down there and ruled that out, right?"

[womanofvalue]

She's been seeing activity and hearing sounds coming from the mill recently, which has sparked her curiosity and driven her to find out exactly what on earth is happening. When she arrives to find a very wet man (Ren, was it? Her mind eludes her when it comes to the name) and can't help the sympathetic and yet amused look on her face. "I'm beginning to think we'll only ever meet when one of us is soaking wet," she says, reaching out a hand to help.

Peggy is glad to see that it's him, though. Ever since her conversation with Kira, she's had a little thought niggling at the back of her mind and he seems like the best resource to help with what she wants to know.

[andrend]

Ren's head jerked up when she spoke, seeking out the source before relaxing. He took her offered hand as he got to his feet, less out of need then out of some stubborn determination to make the people here trust him. On the Finalizer fear and intimidation had been the tactics to build up a level of respect among the crew. But here he couldn't rely on the Force or a mask to make him more intimidating or keep holding his guard up from becoming exhausting. He knew his face, even scarred as it was now, was not imposing enough to accomplish the same methods on the isolated and under-developed town he was now trapped on.

New methods were necessary, and currently he was pulling from Sam's influence while carefully guarding his emotional responses as much as possible. Venting his anger and frustration was best saved for training and fighting to get his grasp on the force back.

"If the environment of this planet keeps on the way it has been, that might actually be the case." His response is far more even than the frustrated tones of his first meeting with her, when irritation and a loss of control and access to the force were still raw enough to keep him unbalanced. He has had time since to try and compartmentalize the emotions that aren't useful to gripping as tightly as he can to what little of the force he can still access.

"What are you doing this side of the river?" As far as he was aware, most of the other prisoners of the town kept to the larger side. A wise decision, as it turned out, but he wasn't ready to give up on the Eastern side yet. Or be constantly surrounded by unpredictable people.

[womanofvalue]

"I live a little north of here," she says, indicating the houses just out of view on the horizon. She doesn't think she wants to let him know that she's been making sure that the area is secure and doing regular patrols, but she's fairly sure that he'll figure that out soon enough. It's not like she's been keeping it a secret, after all. "What are you doing here?" she asks, thinking that's the more pertinent question.

"Are you trying to get it working?" That garners more interest and she gives him an encouraging smile. "If you need the help, I'm more than willing to lend a hand." At least it will give her something to do and occupy her mind and time.

[seekingvinland]

Thorfinn was making his way home via a different route today, he heard the snap and groan of the wheel before he even got close enough to see the mill. He knew of it, he had passed it before but never got to close. Someone lived there and he didn't have the greatest knowledge on mills and water wheels.

Still when he got closer he dropped his pack and the wood he was carrying moving to the waters edge, watching the other man fling the rocks without touching them. He tipped his head knowing. Magic. That was magic. So, why was the man having issue if he had the craft at hand?

He moved closer, looking down at the man once he was laid on the dirt, his shadow casting over the other despite being a shorter man himself. "Need help?" He asked in his bad English. He didn't know how he could help but he knew frustration and it seemed best ot offer a hand rather than just collecting his things and heading off.