abraxaslogs | (no subject)

Who: Altaïr and Sylvain
When: Some point in January
Where: Andromeda Bay
What: Quest McQuesting
Warnings: Nah

Altaïr doesn't consider himself much of an animal lover. He's not blind to the beauty found in nature, of course, and he values some creatures for the services they can perform and the sustenance they provde, but he's not a sentimental sort.

Watching the beached sea jelly nearly changes that. Certainly it stirs something in his heart, though little of it shows on his face. There are no eyes to look into, and he has no idea how intelligent the thing may be, but there is undoubtedly something pathetically sad about its presence.

He came here for exploration, coin, and a change of pace, not especially to help. He finds himself striding forward anyway. He can do something, so he will. It's as simple as that in the end.

It's not just a job for one person, though, or even a few. Spotting a familiar face amongst those gathered here, Altaïr strides toward Sylvain, nodding in greeting when he catches the other man's eye.

"I think the creature's survival is more likely if the people here make an effort in teams," he says. "Care to work together?"

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"Nothing to do but find out."

Not quite accurate — they could take the less questionable, more cumbersome method, but he's never shied away from pushing himself and that applies as much to rescuing stranded beasts as it does perfecting combat techniques, apparently.

Altaïr spots one of the merchant ship crewmates standing around, watching impatiently, and moves to have a word with him. A couple of minutes later, he returns with the large man in tow, who's carrying an anchor — a smaller one, perhaps meant for a dinghy, but possibly enough for their purposes.

"Try this." Altaïr nods at it and helps the sailor set it in place, then passes him some coin. "It should work."

He has no idea if it will work.

His eyebrows wing upwards when he sees what they bring up and he glances between it, his spear, and the creature before him.

"It's worth a try. Prop it here, I'll see if I can get it lifted. Although you might want to get into position, I don't know how long I can hold it like that."

Fortunately, once he'd deposited the anchor, the sailor seems inclined to stay and help, seeing they might need an extra set of hands. He nods at Altaïr and moved to one side of one of the tentacles as Sylvain braces the blunt end of his spear against the creature and uses the anchor to leverage his strength.

Which really was needed, that thing was heavy.

It works...better than he'd feared. Not as well as it might have in their wildest dreams, but this is reality and "good enough" is good enough. If the blunt edge is painful for the creature, it doesn't show.

"Perfect." Ish. "Hold steady."

Once part of the jelly has been shifted from its inert position with the spear, it's not so hard for Altaïr to slide it onto the canvas. He can feel the current, humming like a sign of life different from a heartbeat or breath, but just as strong. A zap of unpleasant sensation cuts through him despite the gloves, and he hisses but hangs on. It doesn't take long, though this is still only part of the job of getting the jelly back where it belongs.

He's got all his weight on this end of the spear and can't move to help - he makes a mental note to thank Jayce again for making such awesome weapons.

But the sound of that soft hiss has him glancing to Altaïr with a worried glance.

"You okay?"

"A small shock."

He pulls his hand back as soon as the bulk of flesh is where it needs to be and shakes it, although the pain has gone, leaving only an echo behind in its place. He's felt worse.

"I understand why the gloves are so necessary," he says. "Without them, I expect we'd have to put the creature out of its misery."

Edited 2023-02-23 01:50 (UTC)

"It didn't leave a burn or anything, did it?"

The limb settles into place where they were aiming it, which means he can leave up on the leverage now. Withdrawing, he stabs his spear back into the sand once more as he rounds the anchor to make sure the other man was alright.

"I doubt it. The pain is already fading."

Has already faded. Altaïr straightens and joins Sylvain. The creature is somewhat better situated now, but there's still so more to do. It's not a task easily accomplished by one person, or even two.

"Do you think it will live?" he asks. "If we continue on and shift the rest of it."

Sylvain gives the thing a searching look a moment before answering.

"I think so. It's made it this far and there are plenty of others here helping to get it back where it belongs. It probably feels pretty terrible, but the only thing that's gonna make that better is getting it back in the water."

Which standing here talking about isn't going to make happen any faster.

He glances back to Altaïr again. "Should we tackle another one?"

It's sound logic. That doesn't always make the difference between life and death, but in this case, he hopes it turns out to be true.

"Yes," he says. "Let's do what we can for as long as we can."

And the rest will be up to the creature and its will to live.