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Chapter Twenty: Catch of the Day
Connie wasn't sure what she expected, maybe to catch the fish right away? Well it had only been about twenty minutes since she started, and she still hadn't caught anything. Huffing now she pulled her line out of the water, and looked at the hook.
She sighed; maybe she should look for bait? She could dig for worms...
Deciding that was the best course of action she placed her makeshift rod on the side of the river out of the water and walked over to a nearby rock. It wasn't that heavy looking and maybe she could find a worm under it, or at least that's what you could do in Canada... She wasn't too sure however, the soil did look a little dry...
Deciding to check anyways she grabbed one end and heaved it up before looking underneath it. To her surprise there was a worm, or well you could say it was a worm, but it was rather small. Finding it however was still a coincidence. Grabbing it out of the dirt she dropped the rock back and walked over to her rod.
She was still pretty much wet from the river dive, but it didn't really bother her as it wasn't that cold so she was drying rather fast. What was bothering her however, were her thoughts.
She knew whatever way you looked at the incident earlier, she had... kissed Altair. She was pretty sure he knew what happened too, as he opened his eyes when she had her mouth on his... She didn't know why she was letting it bother her; it wasn't like she wanted to kiss him! Who would want to kiss him anyways? Who would want to... blushing, she quickly slapped herself and concentrated on the worm in her hand.
Stabbing the worm on her hook, she put it in the water again cheeks still hot.
Her rod was rather simple. It was just a pretty sturdy stick with her line tide multiple times at the top. She had then wrapped the line around the tip of the stick, it wasn't that efficient but it would do the job she hoped. Dropping the line further, she had it about a meter from the bottom of the river.
She got comfortable then, she was pretty sure she wasn't going to catch a fish anytime soon, this hobby took patience and she would give it th-
There was a quick tug on her line then and she jerked forward, something she wasn't expecting at all. She quickly grabbed the line however and gave it a quick tug, getting the fish caught and pulling it up.
Shit she should have gotten a better stick; this one was hardly strong and the grip wasn't so great either. Pulling it up now, she looked over the edge to look in the water. Her eyes widened at the fish she saw, the thing was huge! Does no one fish here? Geez!
Pulling the line up carefully as not to break it she pulled it up when the fish wasn't struggling giving it drag, she knew her line would snap otherwise.
She actually wished she had a net at this moment, because it would have been very useful if she had one.
The fish kept struggling then, but she kept pulling it up, letting it drag but still accomplishing her pull none the less. It was nearing the top now, she knew the water was making the fish look bigger than it actually was, but at least it was a half decent size from what she could see of it nearing the top; she was pretty proud of herself.
The fish was splashing at the surface now, flapping around and trying to get off. She quickly grabbed for the fishes head, hooking her fingers in its mouth, and then pulled it out of the water with the line and her hand. She moved it away from the edge of the river shore and waited for it to calm down and die. It wasn't long until that happened of course and she quickly put it back in the water and washed the sand off it. She wasn't too sure what type of fish it was, but she would ask Altair when she got back to him.
Putting the fish down again, Connie grabbed her forgotten sword and belted it on her waist, before picking up the fish after dunking it in the water again.
Pulling the hook out of the fish's mouth now, she put her fingers through its gill and mouth and headed back to their camp. She picked up her rod too, and was on her way to the camp a smirk on her face.
She would say it was a nice size fish, and it looked fine to eat, its scales glistening in the sunlight she was walking through, if she had to guess the time she would say it was about...a couple of hours past twelve. They could have this for dinner? It was a possibility, however she was feeling rather proud of herself at the moment, if it was up to Altair they would eat bread every day—they hadn't packed for this long a journey—and besides she was starving. They hadn't had anything for breakfast, and lunch was another story.
Boy did she take advantage of a groceries store; she really did have a life of luxury in the future that was for sure. She hadn't realized how far she went when she was running form Altair, but it was getting to be a long walk.
Brushing her still damp hair out of her face, she looked down to the fish. It was dripping water on the floor still, and she actually couldn't wait to eat it. She did go fishing a lot yes, but it was also because she liked to eat the fish; there was nothing better than catching your food. She laughed at the thought still walking.
She was nearly there she was sure, and she could see Altair by the camp fire; it seemed he had successfully lit it. It was excellent however that he was lighting the fire now, as they could eat the fish now, even if it was early.
Walking up behind Altair, she was sure he heard her coming a mile away. She wasn't in her home anymore and couldn't sneak around anymore, she just wasn't experienced enough. The only noise that could be heard from around them was the crackling fire, and her footsteps, she decided to start talking to him, see what kind of mood he was in.
"So, finally got the fire going?" she asked as a joke, walking closer to him still. He didn't say anything though, and just gave a nod as she approached his side. She continued talking none the less.
"Um, I caught a fish..." she said holding it up from her side, she was on his right and she was sure he could see it. She just wanted a response out of him.
"It seems you're not as useless as you have appeared to be." He said amused, turning to her.
...he was talking to her casually?... she thought he would be mad at her to the point of leaving her by herself. She smiled though, not caring for the reason of him not leaving, even if the reason for him to leave to begin with was stupid. Then again, she didn't picture Altair as someone who wouldn't get upset over something like that, she was sure he faced death many times... or so she was guessing.
"Not as useless as you have been; what have you caught hmm?" she asked smugly, holding up her big fish again, just as amused as him.
"More than you soon enough." He answered swiftly turning to her and giving her a smirk. She did not expect him to have such a change of attitude that quickly, but she wasn't about to complain, but she would question him.
"You seem sure, do you believe you will get more than me?" she asked, not asking the question yet.
"I don't need to believe." He answered arrogantly standing up from his crouch beside her and turning to face her.
"Sure," she paused; this seemed like a good time to question him. "Did you forget what happened earlier?" she asked him suddenly.
"No," He answered simply, giving her a look for bringing it up. "Well you don't act hindered by it at all..." she said looking at him directly, she couldn't see his eyes however, as his hood was in the way.
"Why would I be?" he said looking up at her eyes now, giving them eye contact.
You sunk like a rock and almost died perhaps?
"...you almost died maybe?" she replied narrowing her eyes, was she more upset about this than him? Well that's messed up.
"I do not fear death Connie, you know this." He finished looking down at her fish. "Do you even know how to clean that?" he asked pointing to the fish in her hands changing the subject, stopping her from replying to the previous question, her eyes diverted to the fish still in her hand.
"Oh, yeah I know how, its common sense." She answered looking back up to him again, she then walked passed him to her mat and dropped the rod beside it.
"Well that's good." He answered, watching as she continued walking away from the area of their camp site. He smirked a little at the limp he saw in her walk, most likely from the horse.
"Yeah can we cook it now, I'm starving..." she said stopping in her tracks and looking back to him from over her shoulder.
"It's your fish, do what you want." He answered not caring, and watched as she continued to walk away. He saw her stop at a big rock and place the fish on it.
Using the rock Connie pulled out a knife and began to clean the fish. She cut off its head, and then brought her knife down to its exit, sticking her blade in it and cutting up across the stomach all the way to where its head use to be. Once that was done she gutted it and got rid of the vein.
Leaving the guts on the floor now, she left the fish on the rock; it seemed she would have to go wash it at the river again. Huffing, she got up from her crouch with a wince, and picked up the fish heading away once again.
It didn't take long for her to get there, and she wondered why it felt longer last time. Not really caring she walked to the edge of the water and dunked her knife in and washed the blood off it, along with washing her hands.
It was rather nice to have a river this close, maybe Altair knew this and this is why they camped here? It didn't really matter to her and she put her knife away quickly.
She looked around the river then. It was almost like all the trees halted from getting close to the water, it was just plants and then water, the tress being a couple of feet back. It was nice to have the treeless space though, and she wondered why they didn't just make camp beside the water. Oh yeah, he can't swim. She quickly chuckled before getting back to what she was doing beforehand.
Grabbing the fish now, which was on the floor headless and full of fish blood and slime, she dunked it in the water and rinsed it off. She was hoping the fish would be good but she wasn't too sure, not to mention she had nothing to season it with, it might be bland tasting.
"Aw who cares, at least it's not bread." She commented with a laugh, pulling the now clean fish out of the water. The only problem now to solve would be the fact that she wasn't sure how she was going to cook it.
Heading back to the camp spot she shook her free hand free of water and placed the fish on top of the same rock she cut it on. Turning to Altair now she asked the question she had been thinking about on her way back.
"How the heck are we going to cook this?" she asked looking over to him from his spot besides the fire, he turned to look at her.
"You can use a stick." He said simply, giving her a confused look like it was obvious.
"How?" she asked still a little confused, the fish was heavy how was a stick going to help?
"Get a sturdy stick and spear it through its spine." He replied, throwing her a stick, had he gotten that when she was gone? She caught it nonetheless and walked back over to the fish. She guessed spearing it through the spine would work; she could cook it like a rotisserie after.
Grabbing the fish securely, she grabbed the stick and stuck it through its body; where his head use to be down to its tail, close to the middle. It was pretty much sturdy, and she was sure she could cook with this; her only problem now was that it wasn't seasoned, but there was no way she could do that anyways, they had nothing.
Walking gingerly over to the fire with the fish stick in hand, she plopped down next to Altair who was sitting on his mat; she sat on hers which was close anyways.
"Do you even like fish?" she asked him, she was leaning forward to the fire now and holding the fish over it; she would rotate it slowly and cook all over.
"It doesn't bother me." He answered, watching her turn the stick every now and then, she gave a simple nod.
"What do you like? Don't you have a favourite food?" she asked suddenly, she didn't know what his favourite thing was, and maybe he would tell her.
"I don't have one." he said simply, turning to face her from the fire.
"What? Everyone likes one thing more than everything else." She answered looking at the fire while cooking the fish; it was starting to smell nice.
"I don't care enough to have a favourite food." He answered looking at her still, she wasn't looking at him but rather the fire and he could only see the side of her face.
"Well then I'm going to find your favourite food." She replied giving him a glance before turning back to the fish.
"Be my guest." He answered waving her off and looking up towards the sky where no trees were blocking his view, there was hardly any light now, and the sky was covered with purple and pink clouds.
"Why do you make things so difficult?" She huffed out, propping her head on her knees and turning the stick.
"I'm not being difficult." He replied, looking down from the sky over to her. She glanced at him again before looking back.
"Whatever." She answered not bothering to continue that discussion; she was more focused on her fish at the moment.
So that was chapter 20. Wow, chapter 20? I guess that means this stories been out for 20 days XD I'm also beginning to think I spoil you guys :P maybe I should take a break? :O
Thank you everyone for the reviews! They mean a lot to me really, and I thank you all for taking the time and writing one :D
So anyways, I don't think much happened in this chapter, sorry for that! But I can say this now, climax will be coming soon...ummm actually i think it's a little too early to say that yet :P
Anyways! Leave me a review to let me know what ya think! :D i would love to hear from you, whether it be good or bad! :D