Baljin's Fishing Tale
or
The Time Baljin was caught by a Fish
Baljin hummed softly as he wondered through the bright forest around his home. Birds hummed over head, small animal scurrying across the forest floor. Fishing pole in hand, slung over his shoulder. All in all, the day seemed lovely.
Ahead, a shadow suddenly moved, darting from behind one tree to another. Baljin stopped for a moment, watching as the shadow tried to huddle down into a corner and stay out of sight. It took a moment for him to recognize the figure.
With a wicked grin, Baljin began to creep forwards, keeping his steps silent and his body in shadow. It only took him a minute to reach the cowering form. Holding his breath, he leaned around the tree and whispered in the figure's ear. "Boo."
Eregon jumped from his hiding spot, sword drawn. It would have been a very heroic and impressive pose, if his hand's hadn't been shaking and he hadn't slipped in mud and fallen on his ass a second after he jumped up.
Baljin, of course, fell into a fit of laughter. Literally. He was barely standing by leaning against a tree root as his normally brave brother shake mud from places best left to the imagination. The sound of Baljin's laughter seemed to strike a cord in Eregon, however, as he raced to cover his brother's mouth.
"Shhh!" he hissed. "She'll hear you!"
Coughing once, Baljin managed to quell most of his laughter, though a few chuckles still escaped now and again. "I see. So what did you do to your lovely bay sister this time?"
A sheepish look spread over Eregon's features and he muttered something incomprehensible beneath his breath.
"What was that?" asked Baljin with a grin, knowing if Eregon was unwilling to say it clearly the first time that he was indeed in big trouble.
Eregon sighed irritably. "I said, I accidentally let it slip in front of Aunt Marthenia that Darsk was pursuing Ari romantically."
Those word's nearly sent Baljin into another fit of laughter with only the understanding of his brother's position stopping him. An angry Ari was bad, but she was bound to be furious over this. Of course, nothing she did would cause Eregon permanent harm, apart from some mental scarring, but it was guaranteed that Eregon would suffer for this unintentional treachery.
Shaking his head, Baljin picked up his pole from where it had fallen and gave his brother a sympathetic smile. "Good luck Ere. Hopefully she won't slaughter you."
Eregon just groaned and turned to go look for a new hiding space now that his was compromised. However, Baljin's voice made him pause.
"By the way, " called Baljin, "do you know any good fishing spots around here? I'm looking for a new one."
Eregon paused then pointed down hill. "There is an alcove along the north edge of the lake where I often see fish swimming. You should try there."
"Thanks," replied Baljin. "There is a cavern I passed on my way down hill that looked abandoned if you want to hide there."
Eregon shuddered, remembering the bear and drake he'd found the last time he'd tried to hide in a cave. What the two creatures had been doing he still wasn't sure, though Ari swore they were simply having a friendly chat over a carcass. Somehow, that seemed worse than the other possibilities to him.
"No thanks," muttered the fearful Eregon as he slunk out of sight. Baljin just shrugged and went on his way.
Whistling casually, Baljin soon found the alcove his brother had spoken of and was overjoyed at the sight which greeted him. Fish leapt about freely and plentifully. Many kinds swam though the deep water and of many sizes.
Grinning like a dwarf who just found a vault of pure mithral, Baljin happily sat down and pulled out his line and tackle, settling in for an afternoon of fishing.
Nearly half an hour passed and Baljin just sat there, happily catching fish, only the biggest of which he kept. Everything else he threw back, knowing that otherwise he would get a nasty lecture from Ari when he returned home. Hell, he was already likely to be on the receiving end of one, but he was enjoying himself too much to care. His attention was so focused on his catch, the Baljin failed to notice the large shadow lumbering its way though the dark blue depths.
A tug on Baljin's line caused a grin to break across his face again and he began happily pulling up his catch. The line, however, would not budge. He tugged again, and again, the line did not move. Thinking he'd caught the hook on something under the water, he gave one more firm tug and found himself plummeting into the blue depths with a loud splash.
It took him a moment to orient himself under the water, his eyes adjusting to the diffused light. Rocks, logs, and other various shapes began to appear on the bottom of the lake, showing Baljin the mysterious depths where the creatures he so loved to eat spawned from. A cold current suddenly struck him from behind and he spun around...only to come face to scaled face with the largest fish he had ever seen. The creature had to be nearly four times his size and, while he was exceedingly small, this was still a rather frightening prospect. Its long body was more eel like than fishy and its side fins were strangely shaped and long. Greenish-blue scales sparkled in the dim light which broke though the surface from above.
The creature just grinned with a mouth filled with pointed teeth and held out his fishing line in what Baljin realized was a scaly claw. "Is this yours?"
Baljin gulped but nodded, fearing in that moment that he was going to be consumed by one of the creatures he so often caught.
"Wonderful!" exclaimed the fish in front of him, which caused Baljin to bulk a little. "I've seen you up above all day and my brethren, the ones who you have thrown back, have been ranting and raving about the bait you use, claiming it is positively the most amazing thing they have ever tasted. Of course, not wanting to be left out, I decided to try some as well and find that they are very much correct, you do have the best bait that any fisherman who comes this way has ever used. I simply must know what it is made from!"
A look of shock, then clear confusion crossed Baljin's face at the fish's words. At that moment, however, the need for oxygen struck Baljin rather uncomfortably and he motioned to his mouth and then the surface. The creature blinked for a moment but nodded none the less.
"Oh right, you're a surface creature. I forgot you can't breath down here. Of course, go to the surface and get a breath. I'll be right behind you."
Nothing thinking about the second part of the creatures statement, Baljin quickly kicked to the surface and broke free of the water, taking in a gasping breath. Beside him, the creature who had pulled him in surfaced as well and gave him another toothy grin.
"Better?" it asked as it reclined backwards in the water. Baljin nodded faintly. "Good, now you really MUST tell me what you use for bait. It is positively delicious and I would really like to use it when consuming my own fish!"
"Uh, sure," replied Baljin, still a little perturbed by the whole situation. "Well, I use..."
Baljin spent most of the rest of the day being questioned by the creature he had met, which Ari later identified as an eel creature, a colony of whom inhabited the deepest part of the lake. He also learned they loved to cook and tended to talk incessantly about the best ways to cook fish. Needless to say, Baljin decided he wasn't likely to return to that same fishing spot any time soon.
As for Eregon, Ari caught up with him not long after he parted from Baljin and was properly punished. He spent the rest of the week as a woman, punishment from his sister for opening his big mouth. That same week, Darsk lost interest in Ari and began to pursue another beautiful woman he caught sight of. Though the woman mysteriously vanished not long after. That, however, is another story.
