[ToxxicRenegadeAngel]

Teryn shook his head. "I must have been desperate to take this gig - I swear, I'll be out on the streets before I come back here."

Iilanthys chuckled, knowing full well how close Teryn had come to keeping that promise this time - part of their deal had been for him to pay three months' worth of Teryn's rent. It was just as well their client had paid handsomely, and had paid a third up-front for their services.

[ToxxicRenegadeAngel]

Iilanthys shook his head slightly; it was no good going over past clients who had stiffed them before they learned to demand part-payment up front, as collateral in case the client was unable to hold up their end. Sure, they had made the money by selling their quarry on to the next customer, but there was always a period of hardship before the transaction was finished where they went hungry and cold, and Iilanthys was determined that he, at least, would not wind up in that predicament again.

[ToxxicRenegadeAngel]

Teryn brought him back to the present with a loud yelp, and Iilanthys chuckled as he saw him on his back at the bottom of their little boat.

"Lost your footing, did you?" he asked, leaning down to offer him a hand.

"Bite me" groused Teryn, taking the hand to pull himself upright. "I slipped on the side - was climbing in to get dinner out."

Iilanthys murmured his agreement, and slid into the boat himself, hearing a grumble from Teryn as he landed calmly on his feet.

[ToxxicRenegadeAngel]

Iilanthys assessed their situation as Teryn began rooting around in one of the packs which were strapped to the bottom of the boat. They would not be able to cook up here, with both the tree and their boat being made of wood, but they had salted jerky and preserved vegetables, and a hunk of bread each - he was sure they could make their preserved rations last until they were able to find a rock or piece of land big enough to cook on.

[ToxxicRenegadeAngel]

Iilanthys sniffed the warm, muggy air. Water would be the more pressing issue; each had a full filtering waterskin of course, and additional empty ones were strapped to the outside of their packs, but if they drank too much it would mean climbing down and scooping up some water. He cursed himself for not thinking ahead when they first found the tree, having thought only of the immediate need to raise the boat - and themselves - out of the water.

[ToxxicRenegadeAngel]

Teryn meanwhile was busy pulling out the food, dividing it between them as evenly as he could. His stomach gurgled its approval, and he took a quick swig from his waterskin before looking up at the darkening sky. He squinted his eyes, and sniffed the air, and turned to Iilanthys with a scowl on his face.

"It smells like rain" he groused, voice thick with disgust. "Do you remember which pack the tarpaulin is in? Otherwise we may as well have swam here."

[ToxxicRenegadeAngel]

Iilanthys snorted, but agreed with the young male - the swamp was warm, damp and muggy, but they didn't want to get too wet - there would be no way to dry themselves properly until they left the swamp itself. He made his way over and unwrapped the tarpaulin, first draping it over the length of the boat and above their heads before fixing it to the small hooks that spanned the sides of the boat with a cord which ran through the eyelets.

[ToxxicRenegadeAngel]

"Help me put the ribs up, and then we'll see about setting up some catchments out of this thing" Iilanthys said, panting as he pulled the cord taught, sealing the tarpaulin to the edges of the boat. One side had a laced flap above the cord line, so they were still able to exit if needed, but as long as they closed it well they would not need to worry about the rain, assuming it fell down and not sideways as sometimes happened in a storm.

[ToxxicRenegadeAngel]

Teryn grabbed one of the wooden ribs which had been tied to the bottom of the boat under the seat, and set it up in the notches on the sides of the boat as he had watched Iilanthys do the other one, securing the tarpaulin to it with the laces before moving on to the next rib. All together, there were four of them to set up, and the two men worked together as the rain began pelting the outside of their rigged shelter.

[ToxxicRenegadeAngel]

"Here, take this bucket and secure it to the bough outside - we can use it to collect the rainwater, and fill our waterskins from it in the morning." Iilanthys handed the bucket to a scowling Teryn, who disappeared through the flap on the side of the tarpaulin, returning moments later looking like he had stuck his head under a tap.

"I thought the idea was to keep ourselves dry, groused Teryn, reaching for a cloth to dry himself off with.

[Wild Pet Found]