Felix lunged as it sprang past him. He caught nothing but air and his nose jammed into Trent’s boot.

“You guys go ahead,” Felix said as he picked himself up. “I think I found dinner.”

Trent waved at the stairs. “Without me, too. I’m going to, uhh, ‘help’.”

Felix frowned. “I’m sure you’ll be real helpful.”

Trent grinned a humorless grin. “Absolutely. I’ll just make sure and block its exit.” He sat down on the stairwell after Koale and Renessa passed by.

“Don’t kill each other,” Renessa called down before she left them.

Felix set Trent out of his mind. It was a small ship, it couldn’t be that hard to finally catch that sneaky critter, right? The trick was to get it good and trapped before the contact numbing set in.

After a moment’s thought, he pulled off his leather jerkin and held it with both hands. If he could wrap it up, that should be that. Plan set, he crept towards the back of the hold.

He stalked with slow deliberation. It served to both ensure he stayed on his feet- the movement of the deck was going to take a while to get used to- and so he didn’t miss his devious foe.

As it was, he still nearly overshot the numb squirrel. The brown striped fur blended in remarkably well to the wooden deck. It was half hidden in the shadow behind a crate, deep in the hold.

Felix nearly leapt when he saw it. He steadied himself. He couldn’t rush it. He couldn’t spook it until it was too late. A few steps further, around the crate. Felix adjusted his grip on his shirt.

The squirrel wasn’t even looking at him.

He squatted down, taking careful aim. He had it this time. He leapt.

As soon as he was in the air, it registered what the squirrel had been staring at- Felix’s shadow. It sprinted away, chittering as it went. The damn thing was laughing at him.

It circled back after Felix crashed to the deck. It hopped neatly over the makeshift trap and ran up his arm. It paused long enough to bite Felix’s ear before scurrying across his back.

Trent’s laughter rang through the hold. He was still chuckling when the squirrel turned its mad dash to him. “Watch how this is done.”

He lunged at the furry blur and grasped empty air. The squirrel leapt between his feet and then straight up. It disappeared into Trent’s shirt.

Trent squirmed and swatted at the lump swiftly climbing up his shirt. A moment latter the squeaking critter popped out of the collar and took a flying leap. It landed near the top of the stairs and then escaped out into the daylight waiting above.

Trent rubbed his chest through the shirt. “Little bastard. I’m going to kill it.”

Felix hrumphed. “Welcome the club.”

Realization hit Trent and he groaned. “I’m going to have tell Renessa that two grown-ass men couldn’t catch a squirrel.” He threw a look at Felix. “One and a half grown men, anyhow.”

Felix, back on his feet, smiled wryly. “Again, welcome to the club.”

Trent stomped up the ladderwell. “This club sucks.”

Koale barely looked over at their glum faces once they emerged topside. “Successful hunt, I take it?”

Felix declined to answer. He pretended to be preoccupied with the new additions Koale and Renessa had made. Tied to the ship frames that jut out of the unfinished hull were several crude crates. The crates had scraps of cloth inside, presumably to collect condensation.

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Felix hoped it would rain often. He didn’t hold much faith that they would get a lot of water this way.

His thoughts must have been clear in his expression. Koale shrugged. “It’s the best we can do for now. We do, however, have a better plan for food.”

“That sounds promising. It’s not often we have better than “good enough, I guess”.”

Behind him Trent added, “It can’t hardly be worse than that, anyhow.” He hooked a thumb at the make-shift water catchers. “No offense, hun.”

Renessa eyed the crates and shrugged. “They are a bit underwhelming. For food though, that should be fairly simple. We make a few nets, hang them over the side. We catch food as we go wherever it is we are headed.”

It sounded simple, and feasible. Well within their abilities to manage. He was skeptical. There’s no way anything would be that simple.

Koale headed down to the hold to gather what supplies they would need and Felix leaned out over the railing. He hadn't taken a good opportunity to look out yet.

The small, unfinished deck was ringed by tall wooden frames reaching up from the keel. Eventually, once they procured more metals, this would be enclosed. Judging by the round hole in the center of the deck, the mast would eventually slot through to rest at the bottom of the ship. For now though, it was not much more than a large wooden raft.

Looking out in the direction they had been drifting, Felix could just about see a faint plume of smoke of their previous home. Or, he thought he did; it may well have been his imagination. What he did not see, however, was a ship full of angry pirates chasing them. That was good enough.

Putting aside the lack of supplies and that damnable squirrel, things were quite nice- clear blue seas, bright blue sky with a smattering of cloud cover. A nice breeze on which small flying critters circled and dove. He was hesitant to call them birds- they had no feathers and most closely resembled tiny versions of Earth’s dinosaurs. It was tranquil. Felix couldn't help but wonder when the shoe would drop.

The sound of Koale climbing up the ladderwell recalled Felix's attention. "I've already converted the vines to ropes and those to nets," said Koale as soon as his head emerged. "All that is needed is for someone to hang them."

Felix looked around the deck. He'd never been on a ship himself before, but he'd seen pictures before. The nets hung off the mast and over the side of the ship. He eyed the hole in the deck where the mast would one day be. Not exactly an option there.

He scratched the back of his neck. "We can hang them off the frames? We don't really have a whole lot of options, as I see it."

The rest of the group looked unconvinced, but offered no objection. That was fair, Felix supposed, he was pretty sure this wasn't an optimal idea either.

Felix grabbed one of the nets from Koale and climbed on top of one of the new water collection crates. The ship shifted under his feet and he grabbed at the frame to steady himself. Once the danger of falling in had passed, he looped the top line of netting over two of the frames and let it drop.

With careful grip on the frame, he leaned out to examine the job. He frowned as the inevitable problem became clear- the system made netting was a five foot cube, and it was further to the waterline than that. With a sight, he squatted and worked the netting up and off the frame.

"What's the problem?" Renessa asked as she walked over to help.

"Too short," said Felix as he wiped the sea mist off his brow. "We're going to need some way to lower it down."

Koale leaned over the side, digging his claws into the frame. "We probably would ideally find a way to hold the net perpendicular to the ship. Lying flat against the hull will likely simply result in a tangle and little more."

They hauled the net up and stored it in Felix's inventory. Renessa paced the deck, eyes cast to the sky. "We could tie two nets together. That does still leave the tangling problem, however."

Felix eyed the distance between the frames. "That's about two sticks across? Maybe we can tie a bunch together and then out from there."

Trent tapped Koale on the shoulder. "Lemme see the other net."

Koale handed it over as he studied the space Felix gestured at. "I think that would work. Additionally, we'd need to build an extension with a counterweight so keep it from collapsing."

"That should be easy enough," Renessa said. "We have enough stones, we can just pile some in another crate."

Felix nodded. "Okay, shall we grab the materials and get to work?"

Trent called from across the deck, "No need."

Felix closed his eyes and suppressed a sigh. "Look, the rest of us are trying to get stuff done. If you aren't going to help, you can at least-"

Koale put his hand on Felix's arm. When Felix looked, he pointed to the other side of the deck.

While the three of them had been planning, Trent had been working. Between two frames on the other side of the ship, a ramshackle wooden contraption lay. A long wooden arm extended over the water and, presumably, a net hung from it and skimmed the water beneath.

The group went over to examine Trent's work more closely. It wasn't quite what they had talked about, it was close. And it was completed, which was significant points in its favor. Felix spent so much time actively avoiding Trent, he couldn't really say if this is how the man always worked, but if it was, then it was no wonder he and Renessa had had such a better base. Not that he'd say that.

"Not awful, I suppose," he said to Trent.