Fishing Frenzy

Click.

The door to the Captain’s Quarters swung open and rattled the glass coverings of the surrounding sconces.

“Hemlock, you should’ve seen it, Hoks looks absolutely ridiculous after he paddled his way back to the boat! I swear, you miss the funniest stuff when you’re sleeping in late,” Athenias chimed.

“It isn’t funny!! I was soaking wet and cold; I felt ridiculous! Stop laughing!!” Hoks snapped back in a childish frustration. Hemlock was surveying the scene, groggily, as she saw the tall figure emerge from the Captain’s Quarters.

“Oh, Infir, you’re finally ready!” Ealure said warmly.

Infir was hastily fiddling with the upper two buttons on her white button-up, evidently rushing as she didn’t want to delay the day any further. “Have you told them the plan yet?” Infir asked, still fighting with the top button of her undershirt.

Ealure laughed, “I really haven’t been able to, these two have been at each other's throats for nearly thirty minutes.”

“Ealure, you’ve gotta agree that it wasn’t funny!! It wasn’t!” Hoks begged

Ealure’s gaze shot around the deck of the boat, trying to hold in her laughter at the memory of Hoks, having fell off the boat into the cold water below earlier this morning. Hemlock cut in, still in a half-daze, “I think anyone that saw that would agree it would be pretty funny.” Hemlock added a little jabbing snicker towards Hoks after she said that. 

“Of course you would find it funny…” Hoks grumbled.

“Geez, what did I miss,” Infir said, gliding over to where the rest of the group was chatting on the deck, Ealure sitting, Hoks standing, and Athenias and Hemlock in a half-kneel. “I don’t know if you’ve heard, but Ealure and I have a big day planned. It’ll serve sorta like a last final celebration before we hopefully find a way to get you guys all home, since we seem really close to finding our solution,” Infir slumped down next to Ealure. “Frankly, it’s long overdue. I can’t believe you guys have been here so long and never…” Infir quickly stopped before trailing off and she stammered in dismissal. “I should keep it a surprise. It’ll be super fun I promise!”

“We want to take you guys to a really pretty spot for the surprise. It’s a tad far but we should be there in a few hours!” Ealure said. “Infir and I found it a while back. We’ve taken you all to the Lifelight Underpass, it’s similar to that but out in the open! The water is super calm there, as a little bonus!”

“Do they still need breakfast, Ealure? I can make some if you need me to,” Infir offered.

“Oh, no worries. You should be setting sail to our destination, Athenias and Hoks already had something but I’ll go grab something with Hemlock!” Ealure said. She turned to Hemlock to the left of her, “Come on, I can get you some tuna to eat, there’s still some we have that’s cold. I could also grab you a glass of something, like I recently got some tea that I could prepare for you-”

“A glass of water is alright,” Hemlock said, a slight smile across her face.

“Great! Great. Let me know if you need anything before I’m back, Infir!” Ealure said, standing up and being followed by Hemlock to the stairs. Ealure’s boots made a deep clicking sound as her heels made contact with each stair. The two made their way to the end of the hall in the lower deck and passed the small storage room that Athenias, Hemlock, and Hoks used as their Sleeping Quarters. Hemlock began to trail behind, stopping in the doorframe of the first room they passed.

Hemlock’s eyes surveyed the small room, the wooden walls and neatly prepared blankets on the shelves that formed a make-shift bunk bed for the three. Hemlock slept on the top bunk on the shelf where Hoks slept on the lowest level, Athenias slept on the top shelf of the other bunk bed, the three deciding to use the lowest layer on Athenias’s bed for storage. Her eyebrows furrowed as a slight feeling of dread arose in her. Her fingers toyed with the dark scarf she had draped around her neck, newly having had stopped wearing it over her mouth at all times. 

Ealure noticed after having a considerable distance between them. “Hemlock, you coming?”

“Oh. Yeah, yeah sorry,” Hemlock said absentmindedly. She caught a glimpse of Ealure surveying her face, in turn shooting her an involuntary pitying glance.

Ealure rushed ahead and began scrambling to gather the slices of tuna that were still cold and being stored in ice, a flute glass, and a half-empty glass pitcher filled with water. Hemlock swung her legs onto the dark wooden stool on the far right, mirrored by Ealure standing across from her, plating the meat onto a flat dish with intricate brown and warm pink detailings along the rim of the cream colored plate. The two heard faint bickering from Hoks and Athenias, still going on, and they laughed with each other. Ealure continued meticulously preparing Hemlock’s breakfast, now also getting out a teacup and pack of matches.

“Do you really think we’re getting close to finding a way back to our old dimensions?” Hemlock asked.

“...”

“Ealure?”

“I do, Infir’s been the one mainly scanning through all of those books and journals though, you’d really have to ask her if you’d want a completely accurate answer,” Ealure said, eyes conveying a bittersweet smile. She slid over the neatly laid out plate of tuna, and handed Hemlock a fork. “It’s going to be so strange without you all,” Ealure sighed.

“I’ve been thinking, though,” Ealure trailed while she lit a match to heat up a teacup of water. She paused and took in a breath that came out as a wistful sigh. “Infir and I don’t really have anything for us here. Ever since my Dad was killed I haven’t felt any attachment to this place. Infir’s talked about her life before, granted not as much as I, but she’s never felt any attachment to The Caverns. We’ve always dreamed that there was some way we could start anew somewhere other than here if it exists.” Ealure folded her claws in front of her. “You guys have made this desolate place feel a lot less lonely. Truth is, we’ve been apprehensive to let you all leave. Your dimensions seem much too dangerous for you all and… I know this place is rather desolate but I don’t know what it will be like without you.” Ealure looks up from her claws and smiles at Hemlock. “It finally feels like the family we’ve both never really had. I just can’t in good conscience have you go back to your dimensions but… I can’t let you stay here either. Having to subject outsiders to dying in a deteriorating world without any future, a fate of being forgotten I’d say is worse than simple death… And with Louis out with no saying where he is…” Ealure stopped. “I don’t know what we should do. But, either way we’ll find a better future, I’m sure of it.”

Hemlock looked down at her glass of water. “I’m not going back. I-I just can’t. Please…” Hemlock squeaked.

“I know. Don’t worry, we won’t force you to do anything you don’t want to. I had a feeling you weren’t going to want to go back to your old dimension. I mean, honestly I’m not even sure if it’s really possible. Admittedly, Infir and I wanted to make this-” she motioned around the air with her claw. “This place feel a bit more… fun than it is. I know Athenias is still rather set on going back to her dimension. She’s the only one who would know if any other dimensions even would exist because of her close relation to Athena. We have superstitious prophecies, folk tales, legends, but there’s never been any definite evidence of any other dimensions other than the ones you came from existing. But, I’ll have to ask Athenias. God, I’d love to get out of this place. Maybe like how we dreamed, there really is some dimension out there that shines with shimmering lights and stars. I’d do anything to see light like the one she has everywhere.” Ealure took the bag of tea she had left next to her and placed it into the now hot cup of water. 

Hemlock smiled. “Yeah, it’s a nice thought.”

“I’ll talk to everyone else about this later, alright? It can wait for a bit though, today is supposed to be all about you guys.” Ealure said with a smile before taking a sip of her tea.

“How close are we now?” Ealure asked, now sitting on the steps to the upper deck, where Infir was steering from, with Hemlock leaning against the pole of the rearmost mast.

“You don’t recognize it?” Infir asked, in genuine shock.

“Not all of us are sailors who could recognize practically any point in the ocean, hon,” Ealure slighted lightheartedly.

“It’s starting to look really pretty here,” Athenias added, Hoks and Hemlock nodding in agreement.

“We’re off the shores of the Eminence Isles, It’s pretty substantially South-East of the Southernmost point of land. Don’t even know how I found it, to be honest,” Infir said, excited to share her sailor prowess. It’s rather rare to find anywhere here with ceiling vines, especially ones with glowberries. You’ll see when we get closer. Personally, I think it can be even better than Lifelight Underpass, depending on the time of day. One time Ealure and I were here, and we got to see as all of the bioluminescence began to shine even more brightly as morning broke.”

“This is like her favorite spot for what we’re going to be doing. This place has a ton of glowbeetles as well. Some of the fish will jump out of the water to catch them and it’s such a gorgeous display. So many of the fish here also are absolutely stunning, glowing blue fins and scales-” Ealure stopped. “We’re close enough to tell them now, right, I already slipped a bit on what we’re going to be doing.” 

Infir laughed and rolled her eyes, “Yeah, we’re close enough. I know how excited you’ve been about this. You can go grab-'' Infir shot Ealure a look, still trying to keep up the veil of mystery. “That for them if you want to,”

Hemlock, Athenias, and Hoks looked around in even more confusion than prior. Ealure scurried down to a storage room on the lower deck

“Nearly seven months and we haven’t taken you guys fishing.” Infir scoffed. “That’s really ridiculous,” she said, arms folded in front of her. She was leaning on the left side of the upper deck’s side, next to the wooden stairs. She left the ship’s wheel, now mere minutes away from their destination. Ealure was stepping up the stairs and handing Hoks, Hemlock, and Athenias long fishing poles. The poles were dark in color and towered over the three. 

“We only had three since one is mine, one’s Infir’s, and one is an extra,” Ealure said. “But, don’t worry, we’ve been here countless times before, so we can just help you out instead of fishing on our own. Come on, let’s go to the deck, I left the tacklebox down there and we can get the hooks ready while Infir docks the ship in a bit.

“You look kind of ridiculous holding that thing, Hoks,” Athenias snickered.

Hoks let out an annoyed grumble and made his way down to where Ealure had already hurried off to. The three huddled around Ealure as she rummaged through the dark wooden tackle box, claws clinking against the golden and silver fish hooks, glittering lures, and array of bait. 

“You guys can choose whatever you want from the tackle box, I tend to go with the more golden and shimmery hooks, lures, and flies, but you can choose anything!” Ealure said, hardly able to contain her excitement. Athenias reached for a lure with a dark blue base, ranging from hues of turquoise to a royal blue, with golden accents around the faux head, scales, and fins. She took the fishing line and began tying the lure, which was attached to a golden hook, to the nearly black fishing pole. Hoks and Hemlock followed Athenias’s lead with Hoks choosing an orange and deep ochre yellow, nearly gold, pre-tied fly and Hemlock reaching for a shimmering lure that resembled a small purple shrimp. 

“My father fancied himself as an angler, he had a display of flies that he had intricately tied by hand in a display case. I must say, this is rather expertly tied. Highly impressive and it resembles one of the shimmering beetles we had in our dimension,” Hoks said.

“Really? What a coincidence,” Ealure laughed. “Infir’s had that fly for a while now, she tends to try to fish with flies and lures that don’t look like any creature we naturally have here. She thinks it brings more attention to it since it’s so out of place”

“It works like a charm too!!” Infir yelled from the upper deck, now actively making an effort to dock the boat.

“Wait, your father was an angler you said, did he ever take you fishing?” Hemlock asked as she tightly secured the hook onto her fishing line.

“Only once. He was much more interested in the technical and mechanical aspects of it rather than the fishing itself. You know that many people in my dimension didn’t often eat fish, so it was somewhat rare for anyone to fish rather than as a sport. He used to tell me stories of how when he was younger one of his first serious inventions was a collapsible fishing rod.” Hoks began reeling the now-tied fly to the top metal guide of the fishing rod, waiting for the go-ahead to begin the actual fishing itself. “He loved designing fishing rods. Well, at least when he was younger. When it came to a point where our dimension began to… suffer to say the least, he had to leave behind much of his more recreational inventions. The last memory I have of that house and… one of the memories before he was… you know… was when he was rushing to pack a small leather bag, my bag, with some of his blueprints and essentials. Some of his fishing rods were behind him as he was packing it.” Hoks hugged the fishing pole. He smiled to try to lighten the mood. “I wish I could’ve tried it out at some point. I still have a distinct memory of how it looks, so maybe sometime I could reverse engineer it.”

Athenias sighed, “Yeah, that’d really be something. I really do miss… some part of my life before this. I- I can’t face Athena though. It’s not like an understudy of hers to die so young. I can’t even…” Athenias bit her tongue for a slight second, preparing herself to lie. “I can’t even recall why I died, and if I’d have to tell her that I would have died had I not been transported here… I- I couldn’t do it.”

Ealure’s eyes flicked up, closing the tackle box a mere second before. “I think I should ask, it seems fitting now but-” Ealure sighed. “Do any of you really want to go back to your previous dimensions?”

The three froze. Hoks’s tail wrapped around his legs, Athenias’s lips pursed, Hemlock’s gaze shifted. Ealure’s head tilted knowingly. “You don’t, do you?”

“I have to go back… I have to do what my father couldn’t,” Hoks mumbled, a look of guilt staining his face, both for the inevitable disappointment he would caused to the friends he loved but also for the possibility of not being able to better his own dimension as he so wished so deeply to do.

“And I have to face my fate… I must fulfill my purpose here and return to her,” Athenias sighed, gaze now locked with Ealure’s, Ealure’s gaze shifting to Infir who had stopped in her tracks as she was letting the anchor down.

“I’ve- or well we’ve been meaning to ask… Athenias, is there… Are there any other dimensions? Infir and I won’t have any need to stay here after you all leave, and well after Louis is… taken care of.” Ealure paused expectantly

Athenias stood like stone, broken only by her hand moving to grace her own arm. “I did… hear stories,” Athenias let out a small pensive grunt. “But, it wasn’t… I don’t know if I can…” She pauses. Athenias takes in a quick sharp breath. “It was abandoned. It was where the gods all used to rule before-... I’ve said enough.” Athenias stammered, “A-and I didn’t really know all of it anyways, honest. Athena was always rather… secretive over her relations and holy duties before she created my dimension.”

“But, you’re saying it does still exist?” Hemlock asked.

“Yes.”

A flicker of hope shot across Hemlock and Ealure’s faces.

“It might be real… Could the legends be true?” Ealure whispered. Maybe we’ll get our dream together after all.

“I might want to go to this dimension. I-it may be better than any of our own dimensions.” Hemlock sped up and began to stumble, desperate to cling onto this farfetched idea of starting a new life and leaving nearly everything behind. “If no gods rule it then… maybe it will be better. F-from first hand I know how disastrous a world appointed by gods can be.” Her tone began to rise into desperation. “And all of your dimensions seemed so awful to, a-and none of the gods ever tried to step in to keep order, or peace, or happiness, or-”

“Athena did.” Athenias said coldly, but with a hint of apprehension. “She created everything in her image and she kept order.”

“But from how you’ve told us, it seems like nobody would have complete free will, why live in a world where you could be easily discarded if you act out of line according to some goddess?!” Hemlock began to shout.

“It’s simply what Athena wants. She wants order and I am there to maintain it. I am her understudy, I act for her,” Athenias hissed.

“But do you ever not think about what Athena wants? She. isn’t. here”

“Umm? Maybe… um?...” Ealure mumbled, trying to break up the escalating tensions. 

“She’s here because I am here and I act for her,” Athenias said, tears beginning to well.

“If she’s a goddess why doesn’t she just come here herself and save you, save this dimension, carry out what she seems to be too stuck-up and cold to do herself. Why doesn’t she do anything?!” Hemlock yells.

“Because she is a goddess. Us mortals who were created under her must carry out what she wants. I was meant to be immortal, a mistake made me mortal, I must fulfill her wishes, it is my duty to.”Athenias’s water magic began to rise up her hands and hair, involuntarily, as she grew more disgruntled. Hoks began to shuffle to Infir and Ealure, all unsure what to do to handle the now blossoming fight.

“Stop it. Stop acting like you’re just some tool for that cruel goddess,” Hemlocks voice broke. Athenais’s magic dropped for a second. The tears began to break onto her cheeks. “I’m… I don’t think that… I…” She paused in shock at Hemlock being able to see right through her. “I… don’t want to go back.” Tears began to fall out more steadily. “I remembered… w-why- or well, how I got here. I remembered the other night. I just couldn't bring myself to tell you all. Athena she… she stabbed me in the neck.” Ealure, Infir, and Hoks stepped back in shock. “She purposefully did it so I would fulfill what she… didn’t do herself. I don’t recall exactly what it was but… I know it had something to do with the abandoned dimension and why the Water Division split,” Athenias cried. “Hemlock I-I’m sorry. I just… I can’t…”

“I’ve known for a while now… I assumed that that was what happened based on… everything you’ve told us.” Hemlock continues, “I know what it was like only living as what someone saw as only an extension of their power. I’ve noticed it for a few weeks now. Just… please stop only acting in Athena’s interest.” Hemlock leaned closer to Athenias. “I’m sorry for yelling, I just can’t bear seeing myself in others. You deserve yourself.” Hemlock took a breath in. “And well, here, we can all have the slight chance of starting anew. We could make our lives better than they ever would have been. You never have to see Athena again, you can just be your own self from now on, not just made in a goddess’s image. I’ve wanted to shift our focus for a while now to all leaving our old lives behind I just… I needed to get through to you.” Hemlock leaned in and tightly hugged Athenias, feeling her cold tears fall in splashes onto her scarf and shoulders. Hemlock leaned down with half of her body to pick up the two fishing poles the two had absentmindedly let fall to the ground as they began to raise their voices. 

“I just want the best for you, and from how you talked about your life with Athena, you seemed miserable. I don’t want to lose you or Hoks or Ealure or Infir… I’ve been the happiest in my entire life these past months and it seemed like it was the same for you two as well,” Hemlock said, motioning to Athenias and Hoks. “I’m sorry I didn’t mean for a fun day to bring on so many… emotions.”

“So do… you all really want to stay with us? Do we want to try to go to this other dimension together?” A beam of hope shone in Infir’s now large pupils.

Athenias pursed her lips into a bittersweet smile, I think I do. Hoks hesitated before giving a slight nod of affirmation. Biting his tongue, a nagging of wanting to return to his dimension to do what his father was unable to bubbling inside of them.

“Maybe this really will all work out like we hoped,” Infir said, glancing with a wistful smile at Ealure. And with that, what was originally meant to be a day celebrating the close future of the three traveling to their prior dimensions turned into a day in which the five celebrated just how close they had grown in the past months, and how much they all valued each other’s company.

Some time passed, enough to where it could barely be noticed that Athenias and Hemlock had been crying earlier. The three began to cast their lines over the sides of the Glistening Pearl and Infir and Ealure hovered around the three, helping them along every step of the way.

Infir was crouching over Hoks, hands loosely cupped over theirs to guide their movement. “Okay so you just move the rod back like this and fling it forward, full force, like this,” she said quietly while guiding his hands in the motion. “You think you’ve got it?”

Hoks snickered, “Of course I do.”

Hoks then followed the motion that Infir had taught him and the line extended out nearly to the end of the line that was wrapped around the spool. “Ooh!! Nice, nice!” Infir exclaimed.

“It’s really gorgeous out here, you know,” Athenias said. “The vines look so gorgeous here.” The boat was docked along a small beach along a tiny dot of land. The land attached to one of the towering Columns of The Caverns, on which a haven of bioluminescent biodiversity was thriving. 

“Ealure loves coming here to pick berries from the vines for her tea or for garnishes. One of the few places that’s rather untouched by anyone in The Caverns, likely because it isn’t on any maps.”

“Not any?” Athenias asked

Infir shook her head. “Nope, not a single one I’ve come across,” Infir said. “And maps tend to be rather standardized everywhere you look. Only places that aren’t ever on maps are those that people want to keep secret or are regarded as too insignificant to take note of. Wouldn’t shock me if a cartographer ages ago was also a sailor and just didn’t want anyone to overrun this beauty with anything inorganic.”

The blue glowing vines and berries shone against Athenias’s skin, a light-feeling water from her magic creeping up her hair and limbs in utter wonder.

“You need me to bait your hook?” Infir asked

“No, no worries, I can do it myself! Hemlock looks to be struggling though so maybe you should help her as I get my hook ready to cast it.” Hemlock gave Athenias a warm smile and Infir took her rod to begin to help her place a wriggling blue worm on the tip of the sharp, silver hook Hemlock had chosen.

Hoks jumped. “Infir, Infir!! I think something just bit!!” Infir rushed over next to Hoks.

“Pull the line up and hook the fish, remember! Yes, yes, like that! Okay, now slow and steady reel it in and don’t let the rod get under too much strain…” Infir exclaimed. “It’s coming in pretty fast with barely any resistance it might not be-”

“Got it!!” Hoks shouted with pride, now having frantically reeled up the fish to his hands. “What is it? Is it good? Tell me, tell me, tell me!!” Infir tried holding in her slight laughter at Hoks’s enthusiasm.

“Well it’s not crazy special…” Infir started.

“Oh, Hoks caught a carp!! Those things are super common here!” Hoks face dropped. 

He began to grumble under his breath. “Hrm… at least it looks cool I guess.” His face turned from disappointment to annoyance at the small greyish fish that he held in his hands.

“You can just release it, it’s not big enough to eat or rare enough to sell,” Infir said. Hoks’s grumbling continued and grew louder. Infir turned to Hemlock and Athenias, now having prepared Hemlock’s bait and Athenias having prepared her own. “You guys good to cast it on your own?” The two nodded in confirmation. Hoks had already released the carp and placed another piece of bait on his hook by the time Infir asked this. He had hastily re-cast his line before the other two had cast their lines even once.

“When do you think we’ll get another bite?” Hemlock asked.

“No clue. All we’ve really gotten is small common fish. Are you sure this is a good spot, Infir?” Athenias asked.

“Oh, trust me. Absolutely. Sometimes it just takes a bit for all the common fish to clear out after they’ve all eaten their fair share of bait.” Infir looked to Ealure. “But… maybe we could try out…”

“You mean…?” Ealure asked, to which Infir nodded. Ealure once again began to rummage around in the tackle box, taking out a large blue glowbeetle covered in a golden flaky powder. “The fish love this stuff here. And typically due to the poisonous properties of the glowbeetles, the common fish will tend to stay away from this bait since, well, it could kill them. But, the rarer fish absolutely love eating glowbeetles so it can help to whittle down the possible fish that are caught,” Ealure said. “But it can be hard to find glowbeetles this big because many of glowbeetles never live to maturity, so it can be hard to find making it a rather limited supply that we have. We could always raise them ourselves but it also takes quite a long time for them to reach maturity so it feels kind of pointless when you can instead just have a sharp eye for larger glowbeetles in the wild. But I digress, here one is for each of you! We have maybe about six or seven left after this so you’ll have a few more chances to catch a good one!”

“We usually use those to catch some really big or rare fish so we can make some money selling them to some chefs on the Eminence Isles. It’s how Ealure and I have scraped by these last…” Infir paused and made motions trying to calculate the number of years they had been together. “Six years, give or take.” 

“These things are also pretty fragile, so make sure you set them on the hook in exactly the center… Yes, like that!” pointing at Athenias’s hook, making her smile with pride at being made an example for even such a minute task.

Athenias once again cast her line and began to wait, alongside the other two that were to both sides of her. Athenias had cast her line out the farthest out of the three, having gotten comfortable and quite skilled with perfectly casting the line.

Athenias shot up, feeling a tug amidst the otherwise rather uneventful last minute. “I got a bite, I got a bite!!” Athenias then followed the same instructions Infir had given her when she first reeled in her first fish, which turned out to be just a common bass. “This one is really giving me trouble.” 

Infir leaned over the side of the deck. “Oh wow, it really does look like it’s going to be a big one.”

Athenias gasped. “I’m losing it, I’m losing it!!” she panicked. Infir, understanding what she was asking, immediately rushed to move in between Athenias and Hoks, helping to support the rod, in which Athenias was losing grip on.

“Geez, you weren’t kidding, this thing is a beast!!” Infir grunted out. “Hoks, Hemlock, I need you two to slide in here and try to crank the reel in. Ealure, you keep watch and tell me how close it is, it’s hard to see it from here, alright?” The three immediately sprang to help Athenias and Infir. The two of them both begin to have their arms shake trying to hold their grips. “I really hope this rod doesn’t break…”

Ealure lets out a sharp gasp. “I saw gold!! It shimmered gold!!”

“No way…” Infir mumbled

“What?! What is it?!” Athenias panicked

“I never thought I’d see the day when someone would reel up one of these,” Infir laughed, still struggling to maintain her grip. “I-I’ll tell you later,” beginning to run out of a steady breath to hold onto. “Keep reeling you two!! It’s fighting back like crazy…” The grunts and struggling continued until they managed to reel the fish so that its head just barely grazed the surface.

“That’s it!! Infir, that’s it!!” Ealure exclaimed.

“No way! Come one everyone!! Just a bit more”

Athenias’s grip began to loosen, the metallic base beginning to burn against her hands as it slid in harsh stops out of her hands. “I’m losing it! Help-”

“Gotcha!” Infir dragged the rod down in a forceful tug, back to where Athenias could once again comfortably grasp at it. Her heels began to dig into the side of the deck. As the fish began to fully emerge from the water, tail fins and all, it began to thrash wildly. “Ealure, get your dagger ready!”

“Got it, ‘Firs” Ealure scurried off to prepare her stance above the fish with her dagger.

“As I say so, everyone fling the line back, okay?! It’ll be too much strain on the line to just leave it dangling from the top. Okay… NOW!” All four of them that were holding shakily onto the fishing rod flung themselves and the line behind them. Infir and Athenias, having done most of the heavy-lifting, collapsed to the ground both frantically catching their breath. 

Ealure in an instant, felt the gargantuan fish slam in front of her feet, rattling the wooden planks around her, and dove the silver dagger into the violently thrashing fish. 

Infir gulped after a few more rounds of hyperventilating breaths. “I can’t believe you caught a Goldie on your first time out fishing. Those things are probably one of the rarest fish in The Caverns.”

“What can I say, you’re a good teacher I guess,” Athenias laughed, still catching her breath. 

“You’re really strong, you know that? I’ve heard stories of those things being an absolute pain to get a handle on, even for up to dozens of people.”

Athenias laughed in disbelief. “Really??”

Infir let out a quick, breathless “Yeah.”

“These things are really poisonous to most fish,” Infir winced, still barely able to take a deep breath. “But, it’s an absolute luxury to Jellyfish. Doesn’t hurt them and apparently it tastes delicious. Would probably give us maybe even enough money for a few months with absolutely no other income. I’ve seen an older angler haul it into a restaurant and they made so much money that I’ve barely seen anyone that wasn’t a Blueblood with that much money at once.”

“In that case I’d love to sell it. It could probably let us do a lot more fun stuff before we try to go to that abandoned dimension I heard about.”

“You think?” Infir asked. Athenias nodded in return and Infir sighed, finally starting to peel herself off of the deck. “You know, I’m really glad we met you guys, even if it wasn’t really from the best circumstances. What matters now is that we’re here together and we’re all some of the happiest we’ve been.” As Athenias began stumbling up, Hoks and Hemlock both extended a hand to Athenias. She grabbed onto both their hands and pivoted up onto her feet and stretched. 

“Hey, we’ve still got some more of that bait. Maybe we could fish up some big fish that I could prepare for dinner tonight. Hopefully it’ll be less intensive than…” Infir shifted jokingly, hands now crossed. “That.”

“I’m going to catch the best fish for dinner tonight, you guys won’t even believe how scrumptious it will be,” Hoks said, with absolute vindication in his voice

“Yeah sure, Hoks,” Hemlock joked.

Athenias laughs. “I think I need to sit down… that thing took a lot out of me,” she sighed with a now-tired look on her f ace. Infir sits down next to her on a small stool near the other three, Ealure now fishing with Athenias’s rod. 

“It’s nice seeing you have fun, ‘Thenias,” Infir said warmly. Athenias tilted her head and smiled.

“It’s nice to have fun.”