Clouds and Currents - VoK & HW 2021 Event Prompts

   Tamaya sighed, butting her head against Nahia's side as she flopped down onto her stomach in a huff. "I'm sorry," she said again. "If it helps, you've got a friend now, at least." It might not be much help, but that was something, she hoped.
   Luckily, Nahia seemed to see it at least somewhat in the same way. "Yeah," she agreed, moving her head to rest it on Tamaya's shoulder. "Thanks."
   The plain lion hummed softly. "Mmm... we should do something," she said. "Get our minds off this stuff, yknow?"
   "Heh, yeah, probably," Nahia acknowledged, though she didn't exactly go spouting off any ideas of her own for once.
   So Tamaya set to thinking. She was in no mood to deal with any of this hero business right now - Sure, she could have taken Nahia and hunted down some of the small rock monsters as stress relief, but as the same time... No, she wasn't feeling that right now. Or continued their work on the dummies... No, that was still more of that hero work. She wanted a break from it, and even aside from that, it hardly seemed fair to drag Nahia further into her mess when she was clearly still busy with her own problems for the moment. Then...
   Her thoughts were cut short by a growling noise from next to her. Not the growl of an angry animal, but rather...
   Tamaya giggled a little. "That's a thought," she mumbled.
   "Hmm?"
   "I don't know about you, but I haven't had anything to eat today," she remarked. "I know you've talked about land prey and all before, but I'm not much of a hunter, exactly? No real experience in it, anyway. But... have you ever gone fishing?"
   Nahia raised an eyebrow. "What kind of fishing are we talking about? The slow and boring kind with nets and lines, or-"
   "You ever go diving into the ocean and catch a bass or a mackerel or a cod or something in your bare fangs?" Tamaya grinned. "Put up one hell of a fight, you know that? Have to chase the little guys down half the time, and even once you catch em, the way they slap at you with their tails? Crazy how hard they try to get away." She smacked at Nahia with her tail a few times for emphasis, and the other lioness laughed a bit despite herself. "But it's great exercise, and they make for good eating once you manage to catch one. I can teach you, if you want! Not to brag, but catching those suckers is one of the things I'm actually good at."
   "Pfff, you say that like you're not good at other stuff, too." Nahia stretched out and rose to her feet again. "But you know what? That sounds like a great time, actually. Know any good spots to find some fish around here?"
   Tamaya leapt up in turn and nodded brightly. "For sure! A lot of them are deeper in, but there's a couple by the coast you should be able to take advantage of even without being able to breathe underwater," she said, and started to head off towards the sea again. "This way! Follow me, I'll show you my favorite spots."

   It was a bit more than an hour later when they finally sat down to eat, but it was quite the feast, even if they were both sopping wet as they bit into their meal. And, with all the effort they'd put into catching their prey, both were in much higher spirits now. It's hard to focus on your problems and on chasing down fish with your bare paws, after all - Even for one as experienced in the field as Tamaya.
   She might still not have a lot going for her as a hero, but, as it turned out, she was good for other things. Like cheering her friend up. And teaching her how not to get jabbed by a snapper's spikes.
   She would take those.