Heretical Fishing

Book 3: Chapter 55: Adventure

When I woke the following morning, I could feel one of my animal pals nuzzling up against my chest. I smiled, taking a deep breath and stretching my arms.

“Good morning,” I said, not particularly worried about which of them it was. Whoever they were, I was glad they were here.

There was no response, and when I opened my eyes a moment later, my smile froze.

Claws’s face was only centimeters from mine, her ears pressed back in alarm. Blinking, I looked where I’d felt someone nuzzling up to me. My blanket had been peeled back, revealing my chest. Sitting atop it, Cinnamon held my shirt open with one paw. In the other, she was clutching something, paused midway through stuffing it into my pajamas. I glanced back at Claws, seeing her forepaws also hiding something she was doing her best to hide from me. Something yellow…

“Is...” I rubbed my eyes, clearing away the lingering vestiges of sleep. “Is that sand?”

Retreat! Claws trilled, turning and scrambling for the door.

Cinnamon panicked, jumping so hard from my chest that she slammed into the roof.

Thump!

Stunned, she fell back to the bed, wobbling as she tried to orient herself.

When she straightened, she let out a panicked scream and kicked away from the bed again, ricocheting off the far wall before rocketing out my bedroom door. If the second thump was a trustworthy indicator, she’d collided with another wall out there. Corporal Claws’s chittering laughter trailed off as they departed out the front door, skittering into the morning air.

When I sat up, a bucket of sand poured out of my shirt and pooled around me on the bed. I just stared down at it for a long moment, not even knowing where to begin. Deciding that a little sport would be a good way to start the morning, I stood, stretched, and sprinted outside. They’d had a good head start, but no matter how fast they were, the two little miscreants were no match for me.

The moment I stepped out into the morning rays, however, I found a menagerie waiting for me.

Every animal pal but Claws and Cinnamon were present, even half of the Buzzy Boys—those that weren’t off scouting—coming to say goodbye. I extended my senses, searching for the missing two. When I located them, I shook my head, peering over my shoulder. Two distinct half-visible heads poked up over the headland.

“Come down here, you little rats. I’m not going to punish you.”

Not trusting me, they retreated, ducking from view.

“What did they do?” Maria asked, smirking and raising an eyebrow.

“They graduated from putting sand under my pillow to putting sand under my everything.” I shook a leg, causing sand to cascade down onto the porch, and a laugh to pour from Maria.

She shook her head, her smile only growing. “So much for getting over it quickly. Claws seems to be holding a grudge.”

“I’ll forgive them if they clean it by the time we get back!” I yelled, loud enough for them to hear.

“Speaking of,” Maria said, hefting the bag on her shoulder. “We’re all ready to go. Need a hand packing?”

“Nope!” I grinned. “I packed after you went home last night—be back in a moment.”

I had the quickest of showers, got dressed in my traveling clothes, and returned outside, my oversized travel pack slung over one shoulder. When I got there, I found two unexpected forms cradled in Maria’s arms. Claws and Cinnamon, having apparently climbed down from the headland, averted their gazes from me.

“Girls...” Maria chided. “Did you have something you wanted to tell Fischer before we left?”

Both sighed, their haughty posture deflating. Maria stepped forward, preparing to hand them over, when I held up a hand. I knew Claws all too well, and she was being entirely too forthcoming with an apology.

“Show me your hands,” I said, pointing down at her.

Claws tilted her head to the side, then extended her paw-pads, letting me inspect them. I thought I might be being too paranoid, so I opened my mouth to apologize, then narrowed my eyes at her as another possibility struck me. “Empty your pockets, missy.”

Her smile grew tense, and she reached into the little pockets where she kept her favorite rocks and shiny baubles. From the left one, she produced an opalescent stone, smooth with use. And from the other...

Claws screamed a trill sound and threw her paw toward me, unleashing a spray of particles.

“Pocket sand!” I yelled, shielding my face. “I knew it!”

She made to escape, roaring with chittered laughter, but I caught her by the scruff of her neck. When I held her up to my face, she panicked, the whites of her eyes telling me she expected retribution. Instead, I pulled her into a hug. “I’m going to miss you. We won’t be gone long.”

She tensed but melted into my arms a moment later, letting out a soft coo. Cinnamon came to join her, leaning her forepaws on my chest and giving me a little bunny kiss on the cheek.

I held them a while longer before passing them over to Maria. “Okay, gang. Maria, Teddy, Borks, and I are off. We leave the village in your capable hands. I’d love it if you could all come with us, but it’s better to be safe than sorry.”

Claws’s bottom lip protruded, having one last crack at making me change my mind.

“I know it’s sad, Claws,” Maria said, using one hand to pet her head. “But Fischer knew Barry would request that most of you stay behind. Besides, on the off chance that someone is foolish enough to attack us, who would be better at defending the village? They say the best defense is a good offense, and you are, without a doubt, the strongest among us. Other than Fischer, of course.”

With each word, Claws sat up a little straighter. By the end, her chest was puffed out and her pout had been replaced by a proud grin.

“She’s right,” I said, not needing to bend the truth. “I have no doubt you could take out an entire army with your lightning boulders alone. I can’t think of a more devastating offense than you and Cinnamon’s combo attack.”

They were both preening now, Cinnamon’s mouth curling up, and Claws making little ‘oh, stop it’ gestures with one paw.

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With everyone as reassured as we could make them, we made our way down the line, saying goodbye to everyone in turn. When we passed Pelly and Bill, I couldn’t help but smile at their body language. Though they weren’t touching, they were closer than I’d ever seen them before, both comfortably occupying the other’s personal space. Their possible future together made me feel a great sense of compersion, and I bent down to pet both of their necks.

“I’m proud of you two,” I whispered, and though their skin was covered in thick plumage, I could tell they blushed.

When I stood, I took one last glance at the coast. The sun was just threatening to rise over the distant horizon, its rays casting a glow into the pink and purple sky. I could hear the softly lapping waves from here, their incessant murmurs filling my soul with a great calm. I took a deep breath of the salty air, locking the memory of its scent firmly in mind.

And with that, we were off, heading for the road leading west from Tropica. We took a path where no one would spot Teddy, and the sun finally breached the horizon as we strode through the forest, casting long shadows where it found gaps in the canopy above.

“No word from the other two?” I asked, shooting a questioning look Maria’s way.

She shook her head. “Not a peep.”

“That’s a shame. I was hoping they took us up on the offer. Deklan in particular would have loved...” I trailed off as I sensed two cultivators ahead of us in the forest, and the moment I recognized them, a wide grin came to my face.

Maria leaned over in front of me, overtaking my field of view. “What would Deklan have loved…?”

“The secret we kept from them.” I shot her a wink. “Which he’s about to learn firsthand.”

“What do you... ohhh!” Her head darted in the direction I was facing.

Right on queue, Deklan popped out from behind a tree, trailed by the other person I’d sensed.

“You guys came!” Maria said. “We thought you’d... Oh, Dom! Hi!”

Deklan smirked, raising an eyebrow. “What about me? Do I not earn a hello? And what’s this about a secret?”

“Sorry! Hi to you too!” She swept a loose strand of hair behind her ear. “I just didn’t expect to see Dom, is all.”

“She assumed you were Trent,” I explained. “We invited him too. You haven’t heard from him, have you?”

“We did, actually,” Deklan replied. “I dropped by and encouraged him to come along, but he wasn’t feeling it.” He gave us a slight shrug, then jolted straight as he remembered something. “Oh, I wanted to ask if Dom can come along instead? It’s fine if you say no, but I figured it couldn’t hurt to—”

“Of course!” Maria and I both interrupted, sharing a delighted glance before returning our attention to the brothers.

“You’re more than welcome, mate,” I said. “We had to limit the numbers just because we don’t want to leave New Tropica vulnerable, but you can definitely replace him.”

“Honestly,” Maria added, “we probably should have thought to invite you. Sorry.”

“Not at all.” Dom gave us a carefree smile that mirrored Deklan’s. “I get it. As relaxing and calming as things have been since we arrived, they’ve also been kind of intense?” He shrugged. “I feel like you probably have a lot going on behind the—bear!”

Deklan leaped backward as he also caught sight of Teddy, scream-yelling, “There’s a giant fracking bear behind you!”

Teddy, not anticipating their reactions, just lumbered casually from between the trees, followed by Borks. I laughed so violently that my legs immediately buckled, and as I looked at the incomprehension replacing the fear on the brothers’ faces, I cackled even harder. After a few attempts at explaining myself that ended in choked fits of giggles, I could finally speak. “You asked about the secret, remember?” I wiped tears from my eyes as I sat up, shaking my head. “He’s the secret. Deklan, Dom—this is Teddy. Teddy, meet Deklan and Dom.”

As polite as ever, my newest animal pal dipped his mighty head in greeting.

“He’s...” Deklan licked his lips as his eyes went wide. “You’re a spirit beast, Teddy?”

“Of course he is,” Dom answered, letting out a self-deprecating laugh. “Look at the size of him!”

Deklan stepped forward, his legs seeming to move of their own accord. His vision was locked on Teddy, and as he reached out a tentative hand, it came up just short. “Is... is it okay if I touch you, mate?”

Teddy, his head still slightly bowed, nodded.

Deklan ran a hand over Teddy’s broad skull, amazement bubbling up into his core.

I marveled at the ever-increasing awe as Deklan continued petting him, finding the spot on the side of Teddy’s neck that made the bear sway. It was the exact reaction I’d expected from Deklan, and Maria and I shared a knowing glance as we saw our plan coming together.

“Why didn’t you tell anyone?” Dom asked, watching Teddy with only a little less amazement than his brother.

“Because we wanted to leave on this little excursion, mate. Do you think Ellis would have let us leave otherwise? I had to tell Theo because he would have seen through my subterfuge, but he agreed to keep it a secret. Until we’re too far away for Ellis to come find us, at least.”

The brothers laughed at this. “Yeah,” Deklan said. “That makes sense. So what exactly is the plan, then? You mentioned fishing when we spoke last night.”

I grinned, hefting my backpack and the rods within it. “That’s right, mate. I only told Barry and the other leaders why we were going on a fishing trip. I guess now is as good a time as any to let you know.” I held up a finger. “First, you know about the quest I’m on, yeah?”

Deklan nodded. “It doesn’t tell you the details, but keeps updating when you make things with others, right?”

“Exactly. It’s called Group Project, and it’s updated twice from cooking. I have a feeling that we’ll get something cool when it’s finally finished. Not that we know when that’ll happen, given how the System just keeps saying, ‘Insufficient power.’” I held up a second finger. “The next reason is because of what happened to us yesterday.”

I’d only explained it in vague terms to everyone but Barry and Theo, knowing that revealing too much would make Ellis trail after us like a dog chasing a tyre. I quickly ran through it in more detail, doing my best to put the transcendent experience into words. Deklan and Dom were suitably shocked, their eyes darting between Maria, Borks, Teddy, and me as I explained.

“We knew something sank into the ground,” Deklan said.

Dom nodded. “Everyone felt it. Even I did, and my cultivation isn’t that advanced.”

“Right,” I said. “Well, what I left out is that it felt like it wanted something from us. The more I considered it, the more I understood what it craved.”

They both leaned in, their curiosity obvious.

“It wanted power, but not the power I, or anyone else for that matter, could give it. It doesn’t want chi from our cores. And of all the things I’ve encountered in this world, there was one type of fish with way more chi than any other.”

“The one we’re going to fish for?” Deklan surmised.

“That’s the one, mate. I reckon if we have a chance of powering whatever that weird latticework is, it’ll be with a bunch of the giant fish we came across on our way to Gormona. The potent alligator gar are just as the name suggests. The chi filling their flesh is potent.”

The brothers stole a meaningful look at each other.

“Let me get this straight,” Deklan said. “We’re fishing for what you’ve described as giant fish, doing so because it will possibly impact the very land, and it’s effectively a secret mission?”

“A secret mission...” Dom repeated, a glint entering his eyes.

“I’m glad you’re as excited as I am.” I took a deep breath, then held up a third and final finger. “The last reason for us going is Teddy. He’s only just awakened, and after our awareness was joined, I understand exactly how laid-back he is. I reckon you and he have similar personalities, Deklan, and I wanted to give him at least a few days of relaxation before Ellis starts harassing him for details about his entire, er, everything.”

Deklan slung an arm over Teddy’s neck again. “A laid-back bear, huh? I think we’re gonna get along just fine.”

Seeing the change in Deklan since his arrival in Tropica had been a constant source of joy, and watching him immediately click with Teddy made my core sing. Maria looped an arm through mine, also watching them.

“What are we waiting for, then?” Deklan asked, straightening and petting Teddy on the head. “The sooner we leave, the sooner we can fish, right?”

“Couldn’t have said it better myself.” I checked if everyone was ready, and after a series of nods and verbal confirmations, I turned to Borks. “Can we store our stuff in your dimensional space, buddy?”

Yes! He barked, his tongue lolling as he ripped a hole in space.

With our packs stowed, we were off, moving at a leisurely speed. Well, a leisurely speed for cultivators. Trees and grass sped by in a blur, adventure fueling each step.