"catching stars" - 1x1.

[lavender moon]

She nodded and before he left said, “Luka and I will go get food.” The young woman looked to Luka and smiled. He was Ana amazing hunting companion. Hunting was another skill picked up from Camp and living in the woods during her escape. She picked up her staff and pulled a cap off one end to reveal a spear head. She placed the camp on the ground before heading out with Luka in pusuit. With Luka’s help, they were able to stay out of trouble. He was swiftly alert to another coming near, giving her enough time to hide in the trees and for him to hide behind a rock or the like. They were able to successfully hunt a rabbit and a few wild turkeys. In the end she was able to return with two wild turkeys and two rabbits. It was a little much but she knew they wouldn’t go to waste. On their way back she found a blueberry bush and stopped to pick some of the berries before finally returning to the cave. When she got there she laid her jacket on the ground before setting the game and berries down onto it. She started by skinning the rabbits because that was the hardest part for her. She sighed before cleaning the rabbits and starting on the turkey. She was able to do all of it relatively quickly and was ready for the fire in no time. In the meantime she decided to attempt to coax her powers out as she would be needing her fire powers to light the fire. She did her best and was able to warm up her hand a bit, even getting a small flame to burst from her palm. It wasn’t much, but it would work. “Luka sat beside her as they waited for Steve and his own furry pal to return.

[ethium]

"lets get back to the cave henry." he whispered as henry's head shot up alerting rogers that he needed to get out of sight and fast. Immediately steve flattened himself against the ground, pushing the kindling to his right with one arm still draped over it. Henry soon after dropped to his stomach his nose twitching in the air. It was then that the captain could hear how close the men actually were, footsteps and the crunching of leaves, along with the soft drone of a communication device. Pressed against the forest floor behind a bush, rogers slowly positioned himself in an easier way to get up and move, if that be running or getting into a fighting stance. He'd be ready. Slowly however the footsteps faded and henry finally sat up, moving forward to give steve a quick lick on the nose. "alright, now lets get back to the cave." rogers chuckled softly and began the silent trek back to their secret hideaway. He likely wasn't getting his shield, or his cabin back. If they had stalled around long enough to have patrols in the area, they must have found it secured under his mattress or they still assumed they'd be in the area after he gave that poor guy a good beat across the face. As he finally entered the cave he was caught off guard by the appearance of raw animals, skinned and all. Charity had clearly gone out while he was gone. He raised his eyebrows. "well clearly you've earned your keep." he chuckled dropping the kindling by her. As rogers moved to begin making the fire he noted the appearance of some berries as well. She knew these woods better than he did, and he had been here for nearly eight weeks last summer. Finishing up placing the kindling in the proper place he glanced at charity. "will you do the honors?" he grinned.

[lavender moon]

She smiled softly as she cleaned the skins in the water. The furs could used for something later. And, she had saved two rabbit feet, one for herself and Rodgers. She had heard that they were good luck. As soon as they were able to return home she would fix them up so they could be carried around. She brushed a stray piece of hair behind her ear and nodded. Alright, she could do this. All she needed to do was conjure a flame big enough to set a leaf of straw on fire. She held out her right hand to the fire. “Come on...” she muttered, focusing on the image of a flame, feeling it’s warmth, and seeing its light. She could feel her hand beginning to warm up a bit, accordingly her eyes began to flicker the warm and cool tones accordingly. And, as her right had heated, her left cooled. She focused harder, her eyes narrowing as she focused. It had definitely been a few minutes and, if she was in battle, this amount of time would enough for someone to kick her ass. Fortunately, they had nothing but time. That’s when it happened, a small flame flickered from her fingertips. As the flames began flickering small icles began dancing on her fingertips. A small ice blast flew towards Luka. The dog skillfully dodger it some it hit the wall where it began to melt. A flame finally burst out and hit a piece of straw in the pile. It caught, and the fire started. Charity couldn’t help but smile proudly at herself. She sat back with a small sigh of relief. She had been terrified that she wouldn’t have been able to do it. And, even though it took forever, she had done it. That at least meant that it was possible. She gazed at the fire for a few moments before sighing. One of the curses of her powers was that she couldn’t feel the heat of the fire or how cold ice was. She could tell when her powers were at work because there was a tingling, but still. “How does it feel?” She asked him, pausing before realizing he might not understand her question. “The fire, how does it feel?” She clarified, now looking across at him as the colors of the flames threw shadows across his face.

[ethium]

"ha! yes!" he grinned as she lit the fire after some struggling. "it feels great, thank you" he smiled softly as he watched her like a mother praising their child for a small achievement. He watched her proudly, she was growing and it was working well enough that his heart was beaming with pride. "see? you manage to light the fire, without lighting anything- or anyone- else on fire! That's improvement if i've ever seen it." he commented noting how she looked slightly odd, especially with the flames dancing across her complexion. She looked like she was birthed of flame, in it's own way it was beautiful. "Is something the matter?" he asked, suddenly concerned. Though the majority of the question's tone was curiosity he was slightly worried something had occurred in the few minutes he had taken his eyes off her. "did i miss something?" he asked leaning forward and clasping his hands together. He tapped his foot lightly as henry settled himself to rogers's left his hazel eyes watching the mesmerizing fire. Once again rogers was reminded of prince. "He's still out there you know- prince i mean. I told him to guard the groceries because i didn't know what was going on." he sighed. all the guilt he felt over a canine, he didn't think it possible.

[lavender moon]

The small smile stayed for a bit as he praised her, but he didn’t understand the question. She wanted to know exactly how it felt. Was it warm? How did it feel to be close to it? Was it really like a blanket of warmth? Since she was incapable of feeling the heat on her skin. In fact, she couldn’t be burned by a flame. If it wasn’t fire then she could feel the warmth and become burned but a flame couldn’t cause her harm. Her grey eyes were caught by the fire, both finally returning to their stormy grey. She was trapped by the flickering flames as her smile faded. She sighed deeply as he asked if she was okay. She realized that she had forgotten to put up that wall to hide her expression. “Yeah... I’m fine... just tired... I guess.” She told him, though it was a lie. She wasn’t tired physically but she was tired mentally. Blocking people out actually took a ton of energy. She looked up at him as he looked down at Henry. He answered the question she had never asked about Prince. She had seen people put their hand on someone else’s shoulder when they felt down or need encouragement, so she decided to try that. She stood up and moved over beside him, putting an arm on his shoulder gently. “It’s alright. I’m sure he’s fine. They wouldn’t hurt him. Once it’s dsrk we can go out and look for him.” She told him, forcing herself to meet his gaze even though she wanted to look away from him. Eyes really are the doorways to the soul and she knew that meeting his gaze would allow him to see right through her walls. Still, she trusted him and forced herself to meet his gaze.

[ethium]

her act of comfort was appreciated and he lifted his left arm to pat her hand that rested on his shoulder. "thank you, for everything." he added glancing back at her before turning his eyes to the sparking fire. knowing that she was willing to assist him in finding prince helped boost his spirits and calm his mind. Together they'd be capable of rescuing or finding the second coon. And just in time too, for it seemed that the longer they sat in the silence of the cave, the more restless henry became. Rogers watched as the hound rose from his curled position at steve's foot to pace the front of the cave. Rather desperate to either get out or find prince. Regardless, they couldn't leave. Not until dark and it was then that steve grit his teeth and averted his eyes. He felt bad for the coon, the brothers had never been separated for long. Rarely had they been separated this long, and it was the absentminded actions of himself that had separated the two. They could use prince's nose and his body heat now anyway, steve ran a hand over his face. Things seemed to always be his fault, first bringing charity in. Then leaving for town without a proper scout beforehand, and finally the two coon dogs being separated. He sighed and forced a facade of relaxation over his anxious form. He'd need to appear come, and keep his composure. He didn't want charity becoming anxious and loosing control. With that he sent a glance at the girl, quietly checking in on her and her canine companion.

[lavender moon]

His hand on hers made her flinch gently. She was still getting used to not punching anyone who reached out to her. A small smile once again graced her lips as he thanked her. He had been giving her relatively high praise lately and she didn't really know how to respond to it. It was still greatly appreciated though, she simply didn't know how to show it. Once he looked away and the conversation seemed over she stood and moved over to the game from the hunt. She grabbed her staff and put one of the rabbit's on it. Afterwards she cooked it until it was a nice golden, rusted red. Her eyes glowed a bit as she was pretty proud of herself. She getting stripping the front paw and tossed it to Luka. He happily snatched up the rabbit foot. The dog began to drool which made her cringe. "Luka, that's disgusting." She said, but the dog just panted happily. She tore off another small strip at took a bite. It wasn't bad. Not bad at all. If she had some honey glaze it'd be better, but still. She noticed Steve looking at her out of the corner of her eye and looked up to him. "Is everything alright?" She asked, worried that something was going on that she didn't know about. Did something happen when he and Henry were out?

[ethium]

"yeah, just checking in, never know what might happen when you zone out for a bit." he muttered into his palm which was right no covering his face as he turned his gaze back to the fire. "sometimes i just tend to blame myself for everything, but it seems like this entire predicament is my fault." he huffed. "first you, then i left to go the store and everyone was put in danger, then i punched the guy which kept them around, we could have been at the house now, instead of living in a cave. Then i left prince to guard the groceries like an idiot. We could have used his teeth, and his nose." he spat throwing his head in his hands. "maybe once this is all over i should find her a place somewhere without me, she'd be safer and she'd still have luka." he mumbled, mostly to himself, he didn't know if she had heard nor did he really care at this point. When he was around, things tended to get worse. So if he let her go find a place to stay on her own, maybe she'd be far safer than alongside him. He muttered some more things under his breath before closing his eyes his head still in his hands. He couldn't even think about eating right now, now his thoughts were on prince and going to grab him as soon as possible.

[lavender moon]

She pursed her lips as she looked at him, her head slightly tilted to the side. She didn’t believe that for a moment. Still, she didn’t want to push. She knew that he would tell her when he was ready. He had already been so patient with her, it wouldn’t take anything for her to return the favor. She nodded and looked back at the fire before he finally broke and spoke out. She closed her eyes as she listened, finding it easier to understand if she was fully focused on who was taking. She was listening so closely that she could even hear every word her muttered about her after he was done speaking. Her eyes snapped opened and lightning seemed to strike the storm clouds in her eyes. Her look was extremely serious as she thought about what to say. Luka was already rushing to steve’s side as he could sense stress and anxiousness. He licked at Steve’s hands and dug his head under Rodger’s arm, looking up at him with understanding, friendly amber eyes. That’s when Charity finally got a hold of herself and began to speak. “I’ve been in much worse situations, and I knew that I wonuldn’t be able to hide out in that apartment forever. In the eyes of the government, SHEILD, and Camp, I’m an escaped criminal. In fact, this is much, much better than what I thought I would be dealing with. Now stop feeling sorry for yourself. We’re going to figure this out. There’s no reason to complain about something that we can fix.” She told him, standing up and grabbing her staff and leather jacket. She slipped into the jacket before snatching up her staff. “I’ll go fine your dog. You stay here and lookout. Alright?” She asked, ready to go as soon as he gave her the go ahead. She needed to get out for a bit anyways. The fire was starting to get to her.

[ethium]

he fell silent as she did, he assumed she hadn't had known how to respond and was totally prepared for the silence. before a furry wet nose nudged it's way under his arm and lapped at his face for a moment, reminding him that despite his feelings he wasn't truly alone. When she spoke it felt as if she was chastising him, as if he were a child and though he grit his teeth at this, ready to defend himself. He felt himself pausing and accepting the scolding, he deserved it. He had acted like a child, in truth he wasn't one hundred years old, he wasn't some wise man. Sure yes, time wise he was one hundred years old and counting but mentally? Mentally he was still twenty three to twenty four struggling in a war and wanting to do what was right. He was so incredibly young and he suffered for it every day of his life. Expected to be some public figure that everyone could rely and trust upon. He was thrust into the spotlight at such a young age, he felt certain he'd never escape it. It was small moments like the moment before, when he had whined about his issues like a four year old. Where you could really see how fidgety and young he truly was mentally. Yes he had grown, grown tremendously than when he had gone down in the ice. He knew how to be an adult, he was a master at this stuff. Having to grow up faster than normal with both of his parents gone. Rogers looked up suddenly as she said she was going to go look for prince. "no, we'll go together. There's no reason to hide out in the cave if one of us doesn't make it back. Better we go together, have more eyes and ears." he puffed standing up and brushing the light dust off his faded blue jeans attempting to meet her cloudy, storm ridden gaze. Clearly she had heard his final remark. "I realize I was foolish, i'm sorry." he sincerely spoke watching her with his cerulean eyes. "it'll be safer for you if we stick together, at least for right now." he couldn't tell the future, and wouldn't claim too. He wouldn't promise things that might not happen in the future, no matter how his heart longed for it to be true. To have a nice peaceful life in the countryside. It truly didn't seem plausible anymore.