Landing on Shore

3 March 2016

20:55 < GyroTech> So...where do we wanna start? I propose on the lifeboat after they've managed to be swept out to sea.

20:55 < EveningBreeze> Oh, what's happening in here, may I ask?

20:55 < Argyle> Sure, could do that, or maybe the storm

20:55 < Argyle> EveningBreeze, You know The Tempest?

20:56 < EveningBreeze> Is this a donner party situation?

20:56 < EveningBreeze> Vaguely, Argyle

20:56 < Argyle> It's like that :P

20:58 < GyroTech> I mean if you like...I just liked the idea of them waking up after the storm is over, and the two coming to terms with the fact that their relationship might be longer than they thought.

20:58 < GyroTech> Gets rid of a lot of needless background expanations :P

20:59 < GyroTech> But I'll leave it to you, what do you want Argyle?

20:59 < GyroTech> And then I'll write up a first post.

20:59 < Argyle> I'm fine with that. Literally just needs to establish there was a storm and then things get all Life of Pi :P

21:05 GyroTech blinks awake, feeling absolutly drenched from the storm. He's not sure how he managed to get to sleep, but he certainly was much worse for wear, his luxurious mane and tail was flattened and sopping and he could feel the heat of the morning sun. At least that raging storm had vanashed. It seemed almost magical, having come over them in minutes and quickly managed to knock one of the masts over before any sails could be put back up, punching a hole in the vessel. So much for a simple sea trial. Well...might as well get up and see where everypony... As the unicorn leans up over the edge of the boat, he looks around, and nothing. Not even the coast that they'd been only a a couple miles from, nor any of the liferafts. Only the rolling blue waves of the ocean, coming up and down, like nothing had happened. The only other spot of color was...his companion on the boat who seemed pretty well fast asleep. A dirty griffon....welll he probably ought to just leave it like that for a bit. I'm sure someone will come to pick them up...to find them. He wont be in the unpleasant company of this overbearing snobby griffon for too long.

21:06 < GyroTech> (Feel free to elaborate as much as you'd like ^^)

21:27 Argyle groaned and crossed his talons over his eyes and tried to wish away the light seeping through, as well as the rocking in the ground below him. It wasn't the normal slow roll of a ship at sea, this was more eratice and pronounced, another reminder that the howling that had filled his dreams wasn't, in fact, just a dream. The ship /had/ been abandoned. A magical maelstrom that came in from open water, stronger and faster than anything he'd seen before and so uncommon for the region. Inwardly the tiercel cursed himself for having ever taken a job from ponies. Sure work as a merchant's agent payed the bills but they always invited trouble wherever they went. An additional swaying and shuffling signalled to him that he wasn't alone in this boat, but in his haste to bail out the previous night the griffon admittedly hadn't gotten to see who else might have sought refuge with him. Not deigning to sit up fully the griffon resorted to splaying his talons and peering out through the gap at the world around him. It was bright, wooden, definitely a liferaft. A simple scan revealed the source of the commotion, a single blue unicorn looking rather scruffy from their ordeal, and about the last pony he could have hoped for for company. The biggoted shipbuilder's agent. Of /course/ it would be him, the one who even simple tasks were like torture to complete with. His contempt for anything other than his own pretentious boneheaded race seeped through into every interaction, and the tiercel had made a point of avoiding going near him whenever he could. It definitely wouldn't do well to throttle the representative of the shipbuilder his employer had hired. Giving a somewhat derisive snort, the first sign of life from him, the tiercel figured that it really wouldn't matter now, as they were unlikely to be rescued for some time if at all, but decided against it for the time being. Instead he settled for staying mostly still in the hopes that he could avoid any of what was sure to be a string of unpleasant interactions that would soon follow.

21:30 < GyroTech> (Woo collaborative novel time :D)

21:31 < Argyle> (Yeee

21:42 GyroTech shifts about, rolling off the bench and adding a little more sway to the wooden vessel, big enough for 5 ponies to fit comfortably, but somehow this one had only been occupied by the two of them. As he steps onto the floor, its with a rather loud splash, tossing up water and inevitably hitting his compantion. Great, it seemed like they'd takon on several inches during the storm, and this would only get awful if allowed to stagnate. He shivers in the cool salty breeze as his wet fur began to evaporate, taking his heat along with him. Grumbling to himself he concentrates his magic on his fur, slowlly warming himself back up to a reasonable temperature. Certainly a waste of energy, but they were going to be rescued soon anyways, so comfort in the now mattered more. His ears perk at the snort and he glances over at the gryphon. He'd forgotten the overgrown chicken's name, but its not like it had mattered until now anyways. He takes a deep breath and lets out a huff and turns to the container he'd been sitting on, and begins to dig into it, looking for food. Oh, oatmeal. A rather large conatier to...but nothing to flavor it with...buh. He poors a little bit out inot a bowl anyways and heats up some of the water reserves to hydrate his breakfast. "Buh...there isnt anything decent in here. The least they could have done is include some cinnomin or something..."

22:57 Argyle maintained his silent vigil while the unicorn tottered around, quite obviously displeased with the current state of affairs. Of course he would be, he wasn't being doted on hoof and tail like he was so accustomed to. Heavens forbid he had to eat something /bland/ to survive. It was survive too, now that he thought about it. The griffon had a terrible feeling that this was going to be a long... vacation. Waiting for the stallion's back to be turned once he had sufficiently cleaned himself Argyle finally decided he should sit up, given the position of the sun, and the prospect of food was fairly tantalizing. Not that he expected much from the hooved races but there was always a chance; if worse came to worse he could always fish. Stretching out as half his nature would imply the tiercel pushed himself up and wrapped his tail around his legs, watching the unicorn dig with an amused smile. He flicked his wings to remove some residual water, finding himself windblown but mostly alright, and cleared his throat to finally comment as Gyro turned around with meal in hoof. "Yes, well, it may be unpleasant to consider but something valuable like a spice isn't generally considered necessary for survival rations," he commented dryly, peering around the stallion into the small cubby, "It's about /surviving/. Which is what we now have to do. Or at least I intend to. You can decide whether or not the menu is acceptable enough to sustain you and make that call for yourself." Having found nothing of particular interest stowed away the griffon turned his attention to scanning the horizon, searching for any trace of land or life, and adding from the corner of his beak, "Not that I mind if you chose otherwise, just means I don't have to fish for as long." Despite his snappy attitude the tiercel was most definitely not feeling humorous internally, the patterns in the clouds not indicating any air patterns that lay close to shore. All he saw was indicators of water in all directions, as far as the eye could see. Thankfully he could get a literal bird's eye view of the situation but that could be done in a moment.

23:02 < GyroTech> (And I read finally!)

23:03 < Argyle> (I only just posted it it's fine Gyro)

23:03 < GyroTech> (5 minutes ago!)

23:03 < Argyle> (Oh that's fiiiine)

23:14 GyroTech perks up as he hears the scratchy cough and slowly turns about, sloshing water with his hooves as he makes eyecontact with the rather snarky feathered creatures. He rolls his eyes at the comment and sets his bowl back down where he'd been sitting. "Of course I'll eat it you dolt, but they could have been more cutious about what they put for food. If it was too long, I'd probably die of blandness, but we'll be rescued soon, so I can tolerate it for a day or so." He says, rather confidently. He had no notions of air currents clouds as he never ventured far out to sea, and they hadnt been too far out to shore eventually. "Why dont you put your one good feature to use and fly up there to tell me where land is. Then you can begin to paddle us to shore." He says, turning his nose up at the tiercel. With that he takes a seat and stares out over the water, slowly munching on the wattery meal, slowly taking each bite as if the lack of flavore was literally causing him agony. Now that he was out of the way, the tiercel would be able to see that there at least appeared to be some jerky and scones in there, some stuff a griffon could find edible enough. As he sits there, the stallion pulls a brush from his saddle bags, along with a pocket mirror, and begins to steadily brush himself, trying to get his mane back in order, as if he had somepony to impress out here.

23:35 < GyroTech> (Oh just occured to me...I never pinged Argyle)

23:35 < Argyle> (It's fine Gyro :P)

23:35 Argyle took the unicorn's retort with a bemused grin as he went about primping himself, managing to look so completely disdainful while he ate that one could swear it was being forced on him. Waiting until he had made some progress the tiercel then got up and stepped from bench to bench, leaning uncomfortably close to the stallion while he stretched a talon into the cubby to retreive something for himself. Returning to his spot with a brush of feathers on fur he resumed his previous position but now with his eyes set firmly on Gyro as he tore through a surprisingly decent piece of jerky. "Row you back? Oh how novel. No, if I fly up and spy land I think I'll just be heading there myself, I've no obligation to come back down here to you," he stated matter of factly and letting his eyes wander skyward, "Not that I expect to spot anything. From the looks we've been swept out far as it is." He kept his gaze on the few scattered clouds now, seeming to fall into silent thought while finishing his "breakfast". Popping the last of the cured meat into his beak with the flick of a talon Argyle shifted his eyes back down to the stallion and concluded, "Shame I couldn't have ended up out here with one of the sailors; would have been a damnsight more useful than you, even for a pony. Ah well, try not to drown before I'm back. Might as well try to keep you alive as a project." Without awaiting a response the tiercel spread his wings wide and crouched, launching himself into the air with a powerful sweep of his wings which only /just/ propelled him abouve Gyro's head. Whether it was intentional or not his departure caused the boat to rock rather harshly and his wake mussed the stallion's mane again. Beating up into the sky the griffon rapidly gained altitude until their vessel was but a speck upon the great expanse of glassy blue sea, no sight of land even from this perspective out to where water and sky met. That was... decidedly bad, and so he increased his circling pattern, hope sinking until... was that? It was! Far off in the distance, barely visible to even his keen eyes, the tiercel spied a solitary dark speck: an island of some sort. It wasn't much, but it was something, so he wheeled around and headed back to their bobbing refuge, settling in with a delicate touch that could raise suspicion about his earlier methods. "Good news, and bad news," he explained flatly as soon as his wings were tucked, "We are nowhere near the mainland. In fact we're not near much of anything. Good news, there is /something/ but it's not close and it's not big. I for one intend to head for it, the question is, what are you going to do?"

23:36 < Argyle> (Just in time!)

23:50 GyroTech glances back over his shoulder to give Argyle one of his trademarked disdainful scowls at the threat of being left out to sea. The stallion then grimaces as his eyes fall to the piece of meat that he was eating. Griffons were such disgusting creatures. How could they live with themselves, eating the flesh of once living creatures? It's just wrong. "You decidedly would not do such a thing. You're under a moral obligation to come back and save your superiour, or actually...yes you do that and send the pegasi or something...It'll get both of us out of here much quicker than anything." He snorts and shakes his head at the tiercel's claim. "How could we have been swept out that far? There's no way. We were easily within sight of shore when that freak storm happened. You're just trying ot get me quaking in my hooves. And I wont stand for that." At that he turns his head away and returns to his brushing, making quite a bit of progress, despite the salt spray. As he's forming a response, he's instead met with a blast of wind, undoing all of his progress, and causing his main to fall back down. He gives a loud cry of frustration as he watches the figure disapearing up into the air. "I can make things, and light a fire. You're the useless one!" He calls as Argyle disapears up and out of sight. Still his eyes keep watching forever skyward as he resumes his grooming. By the time Argyle comes back, he's finally managed to get himself in perfect order, almost as if he was showing up for a day in the high court instead. Gyro has to admit to himself, he feels a sharp relief as he sees the gryphon finally come back into sight and then land beside him. He hadnt taken off afterall. Good maybe he wasnt completly useless. GyroTech folds his ears flat as he hears the report and then turns to look at the tiercel with a much softer, and more forlorn gaze. "YOu....didnt see...the mainland?" He asks with worry in his voice. "But...but...if we;re taht far out, how are the pegasus teams supposed to find us?" He sighs and deflates, looking down at the pool of water. "I guess we have no choice other than to head that way then. I think there's an oar under your seat there."

00:09 < -> VoidShadow is now known as Small-VoidShadow

00:20 < GyroTech> (Boop Argyle?)

00:20 < Argyle> (Ye)

00:20 Argyle craned his neck and groped beneath the bench, his talons eventually lighting upon something narrow that stood out from it's surface. Giving a bit of a tug it came free and the griffon carefully looped his arm back out now bearing an oar, one which he imagined would have a similar copy under every seat, and turned it over in his grip to regard for a moment. Despite his overall disdain for the haughty unicorn even he couldn't keep the gravity of the situation from leeching in to temper his mood the prospect of being stranded out... somewhere, not an appealing one to the griffon either. Looking up from the turned piece of wood he stared back at Gyro with a determined firmness in his gaze then shoved the oar between his forehooves. "They wont. They'll assume we went down with the ship like... well, like the rest of the crew I assume. Not sure if any others made it," he explained, voice holding the same firmness as his eyes, "But that doesn't matter. Point is if you want to get to that island, you're going to start rowing. Make some use of that magic other than to clean yourself up for some date you may never reach. I'm going to go aloft and make sure you keep to the right heading; cant see it now, can you?" Turning in what looked like readiness to take flight again the tiercel spread his wings, this time facing away from the unicorn, and hesitated just before the moment of lift. Staying like that for a moment he then slowly turned his head to gaze back over his shoulder at the stallion, single visible eye filled with steel and muttered, "Make no mistake though, I am under /no/ obligation to return for you. So make your choice right now: Do you suck it up work with me and try to get out of this, or, do I fly off right now and leave you here to whatever fate awaits? I am /not/ going to serve you like your kind so seems to think they deserve. I can survive with just my talons, can you say the same? I will help you, but only as equals." He knew it was a heavy ultimatum to throw down but at the same time felt obligated to say it. Though he seriously doubted that the stallion would so readily hold to it once they reached land, this moment would be telling to see if this could even work.

00:33 GyroTech smirks as he sees the gryphon pull out the oar, and leans back int he bench, getting comfortable, though soon he finds the wooden paddle in his own hooves. He regards it with a frown as it sits there, as if it might suddenly become a snake and bite him. "They probably just didnt get swept out to sea and are cosying it up on the mainland, getting money for lost time injuries I'm sure." He says with a disdainful snort. "Wait...you're leaving me here to paddle this boat alone?" He asks, stunned. "You dont know how magic works do you? I can lift things, but I cant create the sort of force to push a paddle. " He lifts it up into the air, giving it a feel. "You cant expect me to push this whole Tartarus damned boat by myself now can you?" He narrows his eyes at the gryphon's gaze. "Anyways ,its not like you can just leave me alone. I've got all the supplies right here. And you need my help to get to this thing to shore." He asserts. He didnt agree to be equals, but he did just agree to provide assistance, perhaps as good as it was going to get for the moment.

00:42 Argyle let out a pained sigh through a tightly clamped beak, resisting the urge to simply take off without another word. "You don't seem to understand that I dont /need/ the supplies, or the boat; griffons can /hunt/. I could easily sustain myself on caught fish. But I'm not so entirely cold hearted as to just leave someone, even as stuck up as yourself, to die out here," he forced out, barely above a hiss, "So FINE. Starting rowing, Argyle and use your hooves if you have to. We'll take it in turns. Right now I am going to make sure you at least get us headed in the right direction." A flick of the wings and he was gone, the wind through his fur and feathers a welcome and calming sensation as the griffon soared up to spot their destination again. Once he had it spotted he set a slow, weaving pace, high enough to be visible, and waited for a while before heading back to help with the locomotion. He might not have /liked/ this stallion but that didn't mean he deserved to be left for dead. Settling down in the now too familiar boat once again the tiercel fished out another oar, took a position slightly behind and opposite Gyro, and set a measured pace. "Looks far," he muttered, focusing on the task and hoping to avoid further argument, "Will be lucky to reach it by sundown I'd imagine."

00:44 < GyroTech> (showering)

00:45 < Argyle> (Kk)

01:21 GyroTech snorts and rolls his eyes. "There are plenty more supplies than just food in here. Fresh water, first aid, some basic survival things. Gonna light a fire without matches?" He asks with a snort. Still, reluctantly, the pony put the paddle in the water and began to row in long strokes, straining his mucles as he wasnt used to so much manual labor. He was a designer, and when he smithed, it was all with magic. He tries to keep a course towards the griffon, watchign him up in the sky and keeping the boat angled right. By the time the tiercel returns, the unicorn is panting hard and practically dripping with sweat. His forehooves ache from the effort, burning. He only gives the tiercel a glance, but is actually silent for once other than that. Ahh...the good for nothing tiercel has returned. Maybe he can shove off and leave me the rest of the supplies once we hit land. His ears perk at the comment...and then lets out a long sigh, letting his ears fold falt against his head. "Great...just great..." He mutters, too out of breath to add on much else.

01:36 Argyle leaned into each stroke, finding their progress on the surface almost unguageable, wishing he could just fly all the way there and fend for himself as best he could. It beat this anyways. Still, this more... strenuous method of travel gave the tiercel plenty of time to sit and think not to mention keep a watchful eye on his forced companion. Through all the complaints and attitude he did actually seem to be trying, matted coat glistening tellingly in the sun, and the griffon couldn't fault the will to survive there. It could be tough, but this might just work out; he'd just have to find a way to keep talk to a minimum and work to a max. "Keep at it. We'll get there. I'll check heading again in a while, then we can take a break," he offered in some attempt at encouragement, not getting tired as quickly as the unicorn but definitely feeling the burn all the same. Not much else happened as the sun crept across the sky, the griffon making a number of trips up into it's light blue expanse to assess their progress; the little island growing undeniably larger. He could start to make out colour and form now, green edged with a pale strip, sort of bumpy. Up close it would probably be a decent size. While a motivating goal the landmass did however fail to provide any sort of reference to where they actually were. Returning from the fourth trip of the day as the sky had begun to burn a darker hue the griffon landed with noticeably heavier force all of the effort starting to take it's toll. Turning to his haggard looking compatriot (he figured he didn't look much better) Argyle gave a little nod and informed, "We're getting there. It's... if you'd let me I could reach it on wing in an hour, maybe two. In this boat it'll likely just have gotten dark, but we'll get there." That was all he had at the moment really, taking the little time in which they conversed to rest.

01:45 < GyroTech> (Ehh I'm gonna call it a night rather than post. I'm a bit fried.)

01:46 < Argyle> (Yeh I understand that. I'm not super pleased with the last things I've written x.x)

23:30 GyroTech 's strokes got weaker and weaker throughout the day as the stallion was in no way used to this level of exhertion, finding himself having to take many more frequent breaks than did his companion. The effort left him out of energy and not in the mood for talking much with his companion, probably a good thing two lest the unicorn wind up getting himself thrown overboard. At one point while ␡Argyle was gone, he took the time to look over the stocks they had in the cubbys ␡that made up every seat. Seemed they had enough food and water ␡to keep 5 ponies alive for 3 days. In addition, there apeared to be a first aid kit, a knife, a hatchet, some matches, flint and steel, ␡blankets, a couple flares, and a large tarp. Just the basics for a lifeboat. None of the rations looked particularly tasty, but they'd do in a pinch. He took a little bit of a breather every time the gryphon went off to verify their heading. As much as he despised the race, he was glad to have some sort of companion with him, even if he was a big lumbering oaf. When the tiercel finally tries to draw him into a bit of a converstation, he narrows his eyes at the offer. "And leave me hear by myself in the water? No...I think it best if you just keep this thing rowing with me. Besides, its boudn to be a cold night without any of these blankets and no fire. I think I'm just about dead though...I'll be glad when I make it to taht blasted shore. I cant believe this damn storm went and stranded me...Did you at least get a good look at the island? Is there grass and other greenery? How big is it?" He inquires. Dropping onto his back, he lays, resting and staring up at the deep blue sky, not a cloud visible all around in the slowly dimming light.

00:03 Argyle could tell that despite his stuffy demeanour the unicorn was just as desperate to survive as any other, including himself. This was an almost nightmarish situation to be stuck in even for the tiercel and he felt his animosity ebb somewhat as they shared similar trials for the foreseeable future. This was going to be an ordeal and he only hoped things could stay civil even if that was only through constant hard work. Heaving a sigh he slumped against the edge of the raft and joined Gyro in staring up at the sky, feeling the ache in his body that must have been so much worse for the softer unicorn. "I did, yes. It's a decent size. More than a day's walk around by my guess. Mountains in the middle, forest cover. Seems to have a smooth shoreline, but I can be overly sure from here," he explained, idly gesturing with his talons as he described each feature. In his head the tiercel was sorting out what they might find there and how their current supplies would have to supplement but through lack of energy or further information he was coming up with a lot of blanks.

00:03 < Argyle> A slight groan escaping him the tiercel then sat up proper to peer over the end of the bow, past the reclined unicorn, at the vague speck of the island in the distance. They were so close and yet so far with not much left in the way of daylight or energy. At the very least the sky seemed clear but that also meant there wasn't even wind or waves to marginally help them along. Turning his eyes back down to the wooden hull of the raft

00:04 < Argyle> Argyle shook his head gently and ran a talon through his damp crest, feeling the stiffness of the salt that had gotten into his feathers. "We have to keep going," he stated bluntly if not somewhat tired, "A night out here is going to be cold as well, and who knows where we'll drift. Not to mention the chance of another storm." Turning to look directly at the stallion now he grasped his oar in one talon and continued, "I know you're tired

00:04 < Argyle> but we're nearly there. I don't have to check position anymore either, so I'll stay until we hit shore, alright?" There was no more talk of leaving; the two of them were in this together however it may end.

00:05 < GyroTech> (Holy moley that post :P)

00:06 < Argyle> (This is what you do to meeee)

00:19 GyroTech groans and turns to face the gryphon who lies opposite of him, feeling every one of his upper muscles aching with pain, telling him they couldnt go on much longer. Still, he finds cause to smile as argyle describes the island to him. Good, even if it was absolutly undignified, there'd be plenty of food for him to be able to graze on, so that and water shouldnt be much of an issue. "Hmmm...well that couldnt be the absolute worst type of island to get stuck on...but still I'd certainly much rather be back home..." The stallion's groomed mane and tail had long since fallen down flat again from the sweat and the sea spray and he could feel parts that were drying crusted together. "Ugh...you didnt see any real water there did you? I've got my mane mane and coat products in my bag...but I'll need a good scrubbing to get all this blasted salt out..." He gives a snort and a strained chuckle. "At least there's nopony around to see me like this...such an undignified look for a pony such as myself. What would the others think?" He goes silent again, and then hears the tiercel's words. He casts him a weary eye, sparing only enough energy to turn his head. "I...dont know if I'll be able to do much more this evening...there are some heavy blankets in the boxes...cant we just sleep out here and then get there in the morning?" A lazy shift causes him to knock a paddle over board which hits the water with a splash. He turns to watch it begin to float away for a second before it registers. He suddenly finds the energy to sit up, and then grabs in a dim green glow before it floats to far, settling it down in his hooves, as if to row some more, though that certainly wasnt his intention unless his companion grew rather insistant.

00:33 Argyle could feel the exhaustion in the pony's voice and sympathized to a certain extent, though he tried not to feel too much lest he start to fade faster himself. Hearing Gyro talk so longingly about the potential ammenities he felt a small smile start to tug at his beak, even snorting mirthfully at the mention of his appearance. "Oh yes, because heavens forbid you look like some scruffy castaway. Oh, wait," he quipped, though the momentary jovialness departed as the oar was knocked overboard. Sitting bolt upright the tiercel was moments away from leaping after it when the unicorn managed to secure it, closing his eyes and taking a breath before he berated him for it. The mood was tempered by the near loss though and he shook his head again, shuffling about to get ready to row again.

00:33 < Argyle> "No, staying out here isn't a good idea no matter how tired we are," he stated somewhat gruffly, "Like I said, we could drift some unkown distance and loose all the progress we've made today. You'll just have to keep at it." Dipping his oar back into the sea the griffon fixed his eyes on the dark dot on the horizon and added, "I also couldn't make out any water, though I'll imagine there's some. Just please don't go soaping it up until

00:33 < Argyle> we figure out just how /much/ there is."

00:46 GyroTech gives a long sigh and rotates to position himself to where he could begin to stroke. "But...but a well kept body keeps a happy mind...I wouldnt want to go mad out here or anything..." His eyes foxus on little dot that seemed almost endlessly out of reach ot the poor stallion as he gives another long sigh. His muscles quiver and shake as he begins to row once more, dipping the heavy oar into the calm sea and pulling it through the water with much effort. Once again the two drop inot silence as they exhurt all their energy towards just dipping forward. The sun fully sets as the island begins to approach in front of them, looming. on the ␡east side were some cliffs and what appeared to be a couple caves in a limestone rock which gave way as the island moved further west into a steady sandy shore that rose up to connect with a forrested area beyond the shore. They were almost there, perhaps another hour of rowing would bring them to landfall. "Oh...my...I wasnt sure that we'd actually make it here...look at those caves over there. Nice safe shelter from the wind, and on the offchance that it should rain tonight...we should head over there. I'd rather not spend another night roughing it under the stars." Of course, not being much of a sailor, the unicorn didnt notice the tell tale signs of the tidemark, which rose above the entryways in the cliff face.

01:04 Argyle settled back into the task with an almost grim determination, knowing that it was fairly make or break at this moment as to whether they got there or not. All he hoped was that the unicorn could keep going for as long as necessary; rowing by himself was not an appealing prospect. To his credit he kept at it though the strain was obviously starting to take it's toll and the tiercel silently willed him on as they both sweated towards their goal. The sun dipped and lowered as the island grew larger almost painfully slow, the griffon grunting every so often as he stroked, eyes searching for details. He did take not of them eventually, seeing the same cliffs, caves, shore, and forest as the stallion though different details stood out to him. Part of him longed to agree with the ideal of such simple shelter once it was pointed out but his experience on the water proved stronger and so Argyle grunted a negative, "No good. Tide will rise to likely fill those while we sleep. Could drown us, or crush us if we tie off in there." Swivelling his head he squinted into the darkness as he continued to work his oar, eyes plying down the softer shoreline visible farther on. There wasn't any sign of a sandbar or reef which was heartening and only an expanse of sand and scrub seperated the

01:04 Argyle beach from the forest beyond. "Over there," he instructed, leaning forwards to point so that Gyro could see, "On the shore. We'll beach and then make the best of it, even if it means turning the raft over."

01:17 GyroTech feels ␡his heart sink and lowers his ears flat against his head as the gryphon rebukes his suggestion...with admittedly a rather decent point. Still he gives another longing look towards the caves, before letting teh gryphon steer them off towards the shore. He provides what little muscle he has left in the endeavor. "Fine....fine...mother nature ␡could let us have that much at least....bah I dont want to have to sleep out in the open...this is bad enough. And...I dont think you and I are going to be able to flip this thing over...it looks to be pretty hefty." With that he settles back into silence and powers along once again. Its quite dark when the boat finally slides up onto the sand, bottoming out in the shallow wake. A total surprise given that it was pitch black on a moonless night. Oh Joy! They were on the land once more. THe stallion lets out a happy cry, sounding more energetic than he had been even mometns before and rolls off the boat wath a splash and a soft thump as his body hits the wet sand in the surf. He lays there, srpawled out, kissing the eart, glad to have left the balsted water. "We're safe...we're safe...no more damn water...I think I'm going to give up sea trials when I finally get back and just stay on shore." Finally the stallion wobbles up to his feet on shakey legs and climbs up the shore until he's a little bit into the dry sand. With that he collapses with a sigh, his legs giving out before him. Yes this would do nicely...this is where he was going to sleep for the night, shelter be damned.

01:29 < Zuthal> (So, GyroTech, what would you have wanted me here for? Or did I misunderstand you earlier?

01:29 < GyroTech> (you uhh misunderstood)

01:29 < Zuthal> (then what did you want?)

01:30 < GyroTech> (I didnt xP nat at the moment)

01:38 Argyle hefted and rowed arms back and shoulders burning as they traveled through the water at not nearly as fast a pace as he would have liked. The raft was built for more than two but... even still. By the time they finally hit shore the tiercel was drenched in sweat and nearing even his breaking point, giving a jolt as the shore met the bottom of their craft. Even as Gyro was exclaiming their salvation and clambering over the side he sat in stunned silence, oar still held at the ready as his mind parsed the solidity of the ground below. Moments after the stallion splashed down into the surf he came to, casting the oar into the bottom of the raft and dragging himself over the edge, heaving a shaky sigh as his paws met the soft giving sand. Leaning hard agaisnt the side of the raft the griffon gulped air and his head swam for a minute as all the exertion finally caught up with him. He was sorely tempted to join the unicorn, sprawled upon the beach but some last sliver of determination saw him staggering to the front of the raft to grab it's bowline, and with great effort heave the raft far enough up the beach that the tide wouldn't carry it away. Rapidly fading now he stumbled back and leaned over the side, digging in one of the lockers until he found something soft and bundled,

01:38 Argyle and pulled out two of the blankets. Turning with a robotic drive he proceeded up the beach until he reach Gyro where he nudge the unicorn with a talon muttering between panted breaths, "C'mon... not here... a little further..." He was prepared to carry the stallion if need be but at the moment he stood swaying before him, hoping that the equine could dredge one last burst of energy to see them to a more sound refuge where sleep

01:38 Argyle could then blissfully take them.

01:39 < GyroTech> (Darn...I liked the idea of them two collapsed, naked on the shore :P)

01:40 < Argyle> (No deal :B You get them huddled together in the trees instead!)

01:40 < GyroTech> (Its not as cute!)

01:41 < Argyle> (It totally is! And they'll feel just as undignified for it in the morning!)

01:42 < GyroTech> (And I appologize in advance for shortposting you...because Gyro is totally going to need to be carried :P)

01:42 < Argyle> (Hey that's fine :P)

01:47 GyroTech lays on his belly in the soft sand, feeling the grit press into his wet dirty coat, addind a scratchy surface to his fur. His ears swivel and twitch as he hears the commotion of whatever the gryphon was up to, but he didnt care at the moment, as he was way too exhausted to do anything. Boy was he going to be sore in the morning, maybe even unable to walk. Still at least they made it, and salvation maybe wont be too far behind. He hears the sound of footsteps in the fine sand approaching him and then casts an eye up at the dark shadow that towers up above him. The urging and rpodding only ears Argyle a grunt before he turns his head. The stallion was not going to move another muscle before dawn forced him out from where he lie. Not even his tail moved, nore could he muster up the energy to cast a light over the expanse around them.

02:00 Argyle had figured this was the response he'd get, not that he truthfully blamed the stallion, and grit his beak as he stooped to awkwardly scoop him up and shift the unicorn onto his back. Overworked muscles cried out in protest as he settled Gyro's weight across his shoulders but he took a few steadying breaths before marching with shaky steps up the remainder of the sandy beach. Fine sea-washed sand gave way to light bristly scrub then a more damp earthy texture as he approached the treeline. Things were non-descript but the gryphon had good enough night vision that he could still see to plot their course, making for what looked like a couple of bent trees they could seek refuge under. Once he had approached Argyle stopped to carefully slide his cargo to the ground and get him situated beneath the overhanging trunks. Task nearly at an end he unceremoniously unbound one of the blankets and cast it across the twin trunks, providing some sort of rudimentary cover, then stooped beneath them himself. It wasn't dignified but the tiercel all but fell limp beside the pony, scooting so he was pressed up against him, and using what last of his waking moments he could to drag the other blanket across the both of them. He was spent, and there was no denying it. The tiercel's

02:00 Argyle head fell to the earth and in moments he had passed into a dark desperate slumber. The new day would bring it's own travails but that was future-him's problem.

02:01 < Argyle> (There you go :P)

02:02 < GyroTech> (Hmmm I'm almost loathe to post with that wonderful wrap up line there :P Should we /scene it and start the morning some other day?)

02:03 < Argyle> (Whatever you want to do Gyro, it's your call!)

02:03 < GyroTech> /scene then