Heretical Fishing

Chapter 64: Intentions

I blinked at Roger, and he scowled back at me.

"What are your intentions with my daughter?"

"Dad!"Maria yelled, running out of the house after him. "You are so embarrassing! Fischer invited me to go camping because I've been feeling down!"

Heat rose to my face; I felt poleaxed by the accusation in Roger's voice.

"Uh, yeah, that. Maria said she needed something to keep her busy, and I thought going on a trip would be a welcome distraction..."

"Uh-huh. Just you and my daughter, right? Alone? In the forest?"

"Dad!"

"Roger!" came another voice.

Where Maria's complaints had no effect on him, Sharon calling his name made Roger go bolt upright.

"Dear," she said, her voice sickly sweet. "Could you come speak with me for a moment?"

Roger audibly swallowed and started walking into the house.

"You shouldn't be out of bed..."

"I wouldn't need to be out of bed if a certain someone wasn't..." Sharon's voice trailed off as they retreated further into their home.

Maria covered her face with a hand.

"I am so sorry."

Glad to be rid of the belligerent father, I breathed a sigh of relief.

"It's fine. You're his only daughter, so I understand him being overprotective."

"Leto's modest veil—he's so embarrassing."

"You know, I think it's kind of sweet."

She shot me an incredulous look.

"I've heard my dad called a lot of things when he wasn't around, but sweet was never one of them."

"Just to be clear, I'm talking about his actions, not the man himself. It shows he cares about you. Better to be over-protective than not care at all, right?"

She shook her head, pouting.

"If he could keep his caring to himself instead of embarrassing me, that'd be great."

I grinned at her petulant expression; it was inexplicably adorable.

"So, when do you want to leave?"

She turned to me, her petulance forgotten.

"As soon as possible."

"Like... today?"

She nodded.

"As soon as we're packed."

***

We were discussing what we needed to bring with us when Roger reappeared.

He cleared his throat, leveling a moderately cowed glare at me.

"No fishing."

"Dad!"

"That's enough, Maria. I can accept that you're old enough to choose your own company, but the idea of you eating food that goes against the gods is where I draw my line in the sand."

I gave Roger a disarming smile.

"You know I can't promise that, mate."

Roger's eyebrow twitched, and he opened his mouth to call me something choice—likely some creative mix of heretical and foolish—but I cut him off.

"I understand you're just trying to protect your daughter, so why don't we meet in the middle—any fish I catch will be returned to the water. I won’t force Maria to partake in any heretical food."

Roger's glare deepened, and he made to speak, but was once more cut off.

Sharon poked her head out the doorway behind him.

"That sounds like a lovely compromise, Fischer."

Roger started and spun.

"Sharon—you agreed to go back to bed!"

She smiled sweetly at him, but her eyes held a gleam of danger.

"And we agreed that you'd let our daughter make her own decisions, sweet husband, yet here we are."

Roger took a deep breath, letting it out in a rush as he turned back toward me.

"You swear to not let her eat any fish?"

He extended a hand, and I winced.

"I can't shake your hand on that, Roger."

His blank stare transformed into a mask of indignation.

"And why is that?" he asked, his words clipped and halting.

"Because it'd be treating Maria as property to be bargained upon. I give you my word that I won't force her to do, well, anything. I won't force her to not do anything, either, though. She's her own person, and she has complete autonomy over her choices—even if her choice is to catch and eat fish."

Roger's eye twitched, but before he could blurt anything out, Sharon spoke.

"Well said, Fischer." She gave me a beatific smile. "The only thing we ask is that you keep her safe. Isn't that right, Roger?"

A vein in Roger's forehead pulsed with such intensity, I worried it might explode. He nodded his acquiescence to Sharon's words.

"That, I can promise." I extended a hand. "I'll protect Maria with everything I have."

Roger grasped my open hand, and judging by the way his wiry muscles knotted, he was squeezing rather aggressively; I couldn't really tell, given my improved body.

"Well, I have some things to organize before we set off—you still want to leave today, Maria?"

I turned to her as I voiced my question, and her expression brought me up short.

Maria stared down at the ground, her face hidden. The skin I could see—that of her cheek and neck—were a bright pink, even through her sun-kissed tan.

She nodded, making a small noise of ascent.

Ah, damn. I embarrassed her...

I grimaced at my stupidity.

"I'll see you soon."

***

"Sergeant Sniiiips!" I called, having looked almost everywhere for my favorite crustacean.

"Where has that little scamp gotten off to...?"

Corporal Claws chirped her own confusion from atop my shoulder.

"Have you seen her at all today?"

Claws shook her head from side to side, letting out a soft coo.

I rubbed my chin in thought.

"If I were an adorably cute, yet violently capable crab, where would I be?"

***

Sergeant Snips sat beneath the pool in a state of complete calm.

She was neither awake nor asleep, existing in a state of limbo that she found entirely enjoyable.

She'd thought she may have been imagining it previously, but now, she was sure: there was a power coming from the opalescent stone.

Faint wisps of its magic poured into her even now. She knew not where they went, yet it felt right; the slow accumulation made her more whole.

Something tugged at her awareness, so she slowly opened her lone eye. Light flooded in, and she held a claw up as a shield.

Her missing eye itched under its patch, and a spike of annoyance ran through her at the interruption.

But then, the real source of her alertness made itself known.

A muffled voice called from above.

"Hey! I can see you down there, Snips, you scoundrel! Stop ignoring me!"

Her entire body tensed.

Master is here!

She caught sight of him on the side of the pond, peering down at her. She bent her legs, and in a single, full-bodied effort, launched.

***

With my hands on my hips in mock affront, I stared down at the inattentive crab.

"You might need to go in after her, Claws. I think she's sleep... wait, what is she—"

Snips flew from the pond, her orange carapace aimed directly at my chest, a stream of water and ecstatic bubbles trailing in her wake.

My improved body easily caught her, and I spun around, letting the movement absorb her momentum.

Corporal Claws jumped from my shoulder, puffing up like an indignant cat as she hit the sand.

Snips simply ignored the otter, rubbing her hard shell against my chest as a stream of joyous bubbles continued flowing.

"Where have you been, Snips? I've been looking everywhere for you!"

She gestured at the pond, then out to sea, then back at the pond again.

"All over the place, huh? Well, I'm glad I found you before I left."

Both Snips' and Claws' heads darted back, their eyes going wide, so I held my hands up placatingly.

"I'm only going on a trip, girls. Don't stress. I'll be back in a few days."

Snips blew bubbles of firm curiosity, demanding where I was going.

"I'm going on a little fishing and camping trip with Maria. She needs some time away, so I'm gonna go with her."

Snips narrowed her lone eye, pointed at herself, Corporal Claws, then me.

I shook my head.

"Sorry, girls. I don't know how she'd react to learning of you. You're so strong and graceful, after all—she needs a break from life, and I'm not sure learning of sapient mini-gods would help."

They both stared hard at me, but after a moment, nodded their acquiescence.

"By the way, Snips—who's your friend?"

She cocked her head in confusion, so I pointed down into the saltwater pond.

"That's one of your Rock Crabs, right?"

She scuttled over, peering down into the water. Just below where she'd been sitting, a hint of brown could be seen. The crab was doing its best to hide from sight, huddled into a crevice as it was, yet it was still quite visible.

Snips took a few steps down to the water and slapped her deadly snipper on the surface. The crab didn't respond, so she cocked her claw back, ready to shoot an aura attack down at it—the crab responded immediately.

It sprinted from the pond, prostrating itself on the sand before Sergeant Snips.

She glared down at it, imperious.

With one claw, she spun it around.

Letting out a hesitant squeak, it lifted its body from the sand.

Poor thing has accepted its fate, I thought.

Snips released a hiss and a gout of angry bubbles as her right clacker shot under the body of the crab, and with a swift uppercut, launched it out to sea.

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee—

Plop.

"Damn." I raised an eyebrow. "Nice arm, Snips."

She shook her head and shrugged, blowing bubbles of reluctant acceptance.

"It's hard being a leader, huh?"

She nodded.

I bent down and stroked the top of her head.

"You're doing good, Snips. I'm proud of you."

She preened—an impressive feat for a crab—and sidled up to me.

Corporal Claws joined on my other side, rubbing her body up against my leg.

I sunk my fingers into her fur, a deep well of contentedness enveloping me as I pet them both.

"I know it'll only be a few days at most, but I'm gonna miss you two."

A hiss and a chirp answered me as they returned their feelings.

"Oh—I just remembered!"

I reached into my back pocket and withdrew the drawing Theo did.

"Check this out."

I placed it on the sand between them, and they both leaned in, curiosity overcoming them.

"I got it from a man I met yesterday. His name was Theo, and he found me fishing on the shore near Tropica."

Snips' eye darted up at me; it held a dangerous gleam—I'd explained how frowned-upon fishing was, and she knew the risk it presented.

"Don't worry, Snips. He was also a fisherman and was beyond pleased to find a kindred spirit—as was I! He even gave me this little drawing so I could show you guys."

Her worry assuaged, Sergeant Snips’ attention returned to the sketch.

"Impressive, right? Theo said he drew it while in a short meeting. It would take me an entire day to make something so detailed, and it would look way less impressive."

They both nodded, transfixed by the piece of paper.

"Maybe I'll store it in the house so it doesn't get ruined, but feel free to have a look whenever you like! Our home is sorely missing some decorations, and I'd love to collect some art to spice up the place."

I stood and stretched.

"Have you fed the lobster today, Snips?"

She shook her carapace, still looking down at Theo's drawing.

"Are you okay to keep feeding it while I go on my trip?"

She nodded, and spurred by my request, scuttled towards the ocean, a stream of confident bubbles flowing in her wake.

Snips returned not even a minute later, a large fish held in one pincer. We walked over to the side of the pond, and with an underhand toss—er, underclaw toss—she lobbed the fish out over the water.

It hit the surface with a belly-flop that made a loud slap.

The sound was enough to spur the enormous lobster within, as its single long antenna soon exited the cave.

As it came further from its den, I raised an eyebrow.

"Is it just me, or is the severed antenna healing...?"

Where before there was only a small nub, a ten-centimeter length of the appendage had grown back.

Snips leaned in, getting a closer look.

One claw rubbed her eye patch absentmindedly, and with a tentative tug of the other claw, she slipped the leather strap off.

I stared down at the revealed section where her other eye had been.

My mouth dropped open.

"No way..."