a/n; hey all, this is part of the alphabet challenge on the code Lyoko forum Xanas Lair.
Aelita felt a sharp tug on the pole, she cried out and pulled the pole back and up, like Nikolas had shown her- setting the hook he had called it. The fish on the other end tugged again, harder this time, nearly wrenching the pole from her hands.
She braced herself against the pier, trying to keep her grip on the pole as she fought against the fish. A wrenching sound filled the air as the line began to be forced to play out, letting the fish get even further away from its captor.
"Reel it in Aelita! Like I showed you!"
His shout broke her out of her panic and she dragged the knob on the real around in slow, agonizing circles. Slowly the line began to fill the spool. As the fish was drawn struggling up towards the surface it began to struggle again, trying to pull the line out and retreat deeper in the water.
In desperation it jumped out of the water, the bright moon light glinted off its scales as it soared through the air before plunging back in the murky water.
Aelita turned to face Nikolas, a look of awe upon her face, she pointed to where it had been and opened her mouth to ask if had seen it to when he jumped over to her, grabbing for the pole, shouting for her to keep the line taut .
He was too late, the lie had gone slack, and the fish was able to break it and go free. Aelita looked dismally down at the loose line as Nikolas reeled it back in the rest of the way.
"I'm so sorry; I forgot… can you fix it once it's been broken like that?"
Nikolas shook his head at her, and smiled, instantly she felt a little better.
"Of course you can fix it; all it needs is a new hook. It's all part of the fun."
She looked at him sideways, confused;
"Its fun to be beaten by a fish?"
"Yeah sure, is your heart beating faster?"
She nodded slowly
"It's the adrenaline, the thrill of the battle; you never know who's going to win. Come here; ill show you how to retie it. It's easy to fix after it's broken."