Jaune and Courage the Cowardly dog
Chap 18: Fishy Business
We were currently in the living room watching a monster movie. But the monster on screen I saw before as it was the same hydra that nearly burned me and the same one I saw in New York. Eustace was in his chair annoyed. I was on the couch resting a bit. Courage was next to me holding a small hoop. He was trying to get his new pet fish to jump through the hoop. But the fish just ignored him and grew annoyed as Courage kept tapping the bowl with the hoop. He then pulled out a poster with the fish jumping through the hoop to try and get the fish to do the same. The fish only seemed to sigh and turned away.
"Courage, that is not going to work." I told him as I took off my fishing vest.
Seeing as today there was nothing to do and Blake had a vacation day from Beacon, we decided to go fishing today in Nowhere Lake. And to my surprise, we caught nearly one hundred fish in the matter of a few hours. And since we spent nearly the whole day there, we had quite a lot of fish that we had to have Courage pick us up with Eustace's truck to be able to transport it back to the farmhouse. I also had to keep Blake from immediately eating some of the fish raw. After a half hour drive, we made it back to the house. Muriel was waiting for us to return and helped us bringing all the fish in. Now, Blake and Muriel in the kitchen making all kinds of fish related dishes. Though, after a bit, it turned from just making the fishes into food to Muriel teaching Blake all the different recipes she knew on how to cook fish.
'Then what do you suggest I do?' Courage asked irritated. He turned back to the bowl and kept trying to get the fish to jump through the hoop but failed.
"You can't train a goldfish to jump out of the water Courage." I told him. He was about to say something but the kitchen door opening caught our attention.
"I've got a special treat." Muriel said walking into the living room while carrying a wooden tray.
"What's that?" Eustace demanded.
"Sushi." Muriel answered. Eustace then grabbed a bite of it only to spit it out a moment later when Muriel told him it's raw fish.
"Yuck! Lousy stinking raw fish." Eustace complained before turning back to the tv.
"Is there anything he does not hate?" Blake asked as she came to stand next to me while holding her own plate of different fish dishes. It was going quickly by the way as she seemed to love the recipes that Muriel taught her.
"Money, his truck and himself." I answered while shaking my head at Eustace. I then leaned in and grabbed a piece of sushi from the plate Muriel had and eating it. Courage did the same but put it back when his pet fish gasped when it saw him pick a piece up.
"Can't believe you have to put up with him daily." Blake said shaking her head in disbelief. "Can you move over a bit?"
"Sure." I said and moved over so Blake could sit on the couch as well. She nodded in thanks before sitting down next to me and resumed eating her fish in peace and joy. Hearing the tapping continue, we looked over and saw Courage keep on tapping on the fish bowl with the hoop.
"Does Courage realize that the fish that do tricks are specially trained by special trainers?" Blake asked as she watched Courage grow increasingly frustrated at trying to train his fish.
"Nope." I answered while trying not to laugh at him.
Courage growled a bit at us before going back to his fish. Everything remained calm for a few the next few minutes. Muriel and Blake were eating the fish while Eustace began to read his newspaper. I was watching the movie and enjoying another monster defeat the hydra. The calmness was only interrupted when Courage suddenly hummed in confusion.
'Hmmm?' He said in confusion before looking around the fish bowl and to the window before screaming in terror.
"What's wrong Courage?" I asked worried. Instead of answering, he went up to Eustace and started trying to get his attention. But he got annoyed and pulled out his mask.
"OOGA BOOGA WOOGA!" Eustace shouted with his mask on.
'AAAHHHH!' Courage screamed before jumping in fear. Unfortunately, he jumped so high and hit the ceiling before falling down and landing in the bowl.
"Ha, ha, ha." Eustace laughed while taking off the mask.
"One day, he is going to get what he deserves." Blake growled. I nodded in agreement before getting up and helping Courage out of the bowl.
"I got you Courage." I said as I pulled him out of the bowl. "You okay?"
'Yeah, I'm fine.' He answered before shaking the water off him. I was about to ask him what scared him but a knock on the door caught our attention.
"I wonder who it could be at this hour." Muriel wondered as she placed the food down on her chair. She then walked up to the door to answer. But when she opened the door, we grew confused and worried when we saw a giant purple fish with a hat on her head standing there.
"Do you know her or seen that before Jaune?" Blake asked turning to me.
"No, I have not." I answered suspiciously. I got up and went to stand next to Muriel. Blake looked between her food and us and sighed. She then got up and walked up next to us well. But not before grabbing another two pieces.
"Yes?" Muriel asked the fish.
"I am a missionary fish. A fishionary. And I represent the official organization of deeply moral fish." The fish answered before batting her eyelashes.
"Deeply Moral Fish? I never hear of that organization before." I asked through narrow eyes. She seemed to glare at me at this.
"We are... a... uh, might I trouble for a glass of water." She began but started to cough heavily before asking for some water.
"No trouble at all." Muriel said before turning to me. "Jaune, be a dear and go fill a glass of water for our guest."
"Okay. Be right back." I told them before running to the kitchen, filling a glass full of water before running back. "Here you are."
"Thank you dear." Muriel said before grabbing it and handing it to the fish who seemed to be dying from lack of air.
'Can't stay out of water for too long.' I surmised as I saw her splash the water on her face and instantly feel better.
"I'm here to offer you all the opportunity to return from whence you came." The fish announced.
"Ooh! Scotland! I haven't seen uncle Ron in ages." Muriel said happily at the thought of being able to see her uncle again.
"I take it Scotland is where she is from but you never heard of it before nor been there?" Blake asked in a whisper. Her eyes never leaving the fish. "This seems too good to be true. And out of nowhere raises more flags,
"Your right. Best keep an eye on this. That is, if they plan on doing the trip." I agreed with her as I did not trust this one bit.
"I ain't paying for no trip." Eustace announced angrily.
'Well, that's a relief.' I thought as we would not be able to go as Eustace was too greedy to spend any money. But that went out the window by what the fish said next.
"There's no cost." The fish said before pushed to the side by Eustace who somehow is already packed.
"Works for me." He said as he walked towards the bus the fish presumably used to get here. Which kind of surprised me as I did not think that fish could drive. Courage then came up to Muriel and tried to warn her but she mistook it as something else entirely.
"Of course, you can come Courage. Would you like to come as well Blake?" Muriel told Courage before asking Blake. She seemed a bit hesitant but nodded anyway.
"I would love to. Thank you." She said while glaring at me and the fish.
"Marvelous." Muriel said while clasping her hands together.
"I have my van waiting right over there." The fish said pointing over to her van that Eustace was trying to open. Muriel walked over to the van which gave me a chance to talk to Blake.
"Are you sure you want to come Blake? You don't have to if you don't want to." I asked her.
"I'm sure Jaune. Besides, while it may be nice see a new place, I do not trust this at all. And I'm not about to let a friend go in this alone." She answered.
"Thanks Blake." I said with a smile.
"But don't tell the others I said that." She added with a hiss. I nodded in understanding and slight fear. She nodded before heading over to the van and entering.
'She's a feisty one.' Courage said watching Blake sit down in the van.
"That's just how she is. But also, if word gets out, her teammate Yang will tease her nonstop." I explained.
'The one that makes all the bad puns?' Courage asked.
"Yup." I answered and from the corner of my eye, I saw Courage shiver at that. I shook my head and held in a laugh. "Come on Courage."
Walking up to the van, we got in and took our seats. Eustace buckled himself in and instantly fell asleep. Muriel pulled out some cloth and two giant needles and started sewing whiling singing a song. Blake and I sat next to each other while Courage sat down in the seat behind us. The trip was long and boring, And I could tell that Blake was missing her book right about now as she was getting pretty bored right now. After about another half hour, I spotted something that I did not like.
"Um, why are we going into the ocean?" I asked the fish as the van entered the ocean and was soon completely underwater.
"All questions will be answered soon." The fish curtly answered.
Turning to Blake, I saw that she was growing angry and anxious when she saw the van go underwater. Once under water, the van started to move around freely as if it was a submarine instead of a van. We navigated through the waters and eventually came upon what looked like a landing strip.
'Victor-Echo Clear to land.' A voice on the radio said.
"Does your family not even notice the fact that we are underwater?" Blake asked looking at Muriel.
"Eustace does not care about anything and will only think of something as bad if it tries to harm him or his money. And Muriel will either just think she is dreaming or part of the trip." I answered.
She seemed taken back by this but nodded either way in understanding. Soon, we landed on the landing strip and hit what seemed to be a plastic tunnel. But instead of going through fully, we only went in halfway. My guess was that so water does not come in and we can breathe. The fish put a bowl on her head filled with water before opening the van door. We unbuckled ourselves, got up and proceeded to get off the van followed by Muriel and Eustace.
"Where's my peanuts?" Eustace demanded.
"Was there ever a moment he does not think about himself and only himself?" Blake asked as we followed the fish to another room.
"The day where he cares about someone else that is not him will be the day the Ozpin fully gives up on coffee." I answered.
'What do you think will be waiting for us?' Courage asked scared.
"I have no idea Courage. Have any ideas, Blake?" I answered before asking her.
"I just want to get back to dry land as I hate being wet." She answered while looking around. Only to stare at the schools of fish the swim by us.
"They are making these airport terminals spiffier and spiffier every year." Muriel said not realizing that we are not at an airport.
"Bah." Eustace merely complained in response.
'AAAHHHH!' Courage suddenly screamed catching my attention along with Blakes.
We turned around and saw Courage become scared when a pufferfish inflated himself to scare him. Shaking our heads, we followed the others while Courage ran to catch up with us. After a few more minutes of walking, we came upon another room where the plastic tunnel ended. Going through the sliding doors, we looked around saw that we appeared to be on the inside of a giant rock. There was also a giant desk on the other side of the room with three fish with wigs sat on top. To the side, there was a giant octopus with a glass bowl on its head standing next to a curtain covering a small part of the wall.
'What could be behind that?' I mentally wondered.
"What?! Huh?!" Eustace said surprised at what he is seeing and where we are. But then, decided to go up to the fish with wigs and demanded to know where his peanuts are.
"Is this Nowhere international airport?" Muriel asked confused.
"Then where are we?" Blake demanded.
"Silence airbreather. This is the undersea tribunal to educate and re-educate land-dwelling humans." The fish answered while walking towards the fish with wigs.
"I don't see what any of this has to do with going home to Scotland?" Muriel asked confused. Turning to Blake, I saw that she was about to ask a question but I already knew what she was going to ask.
"She is a very pure and naïve soul. And because of that, she does not think anyone is capable of having bad intentions until she actually sees them." I answered her unspoken question. She nodded in understanding as we continued to watch the conversation between the fish and Muriel.
"You're not going to Scotland." The fish said to her.
"But you said I was going back to "from whence I came." Muriel asked.
"Yes. Yes indeed. You are going back to whence you came-from whence all life came—the sea." The fish explained.
"The sea." The fish with a wig on the right said.
"The sea." The fish with a wig on the left repeated.
"The sea." The fish with a wig in the center repeated as well. But as soon as the last fish said that, the curtain that was behind them opened up to reveal many different fish swimming about.
"Wow." Me and Blake said at the same time but for different reasons. Me because of the different but beautiful fish that was there while Blake drooled a bit at what she could cook if she gets her hands on them. Courage was next to us shivering in fear at what could happen to us.
"You got peanuts." Eustace asked getting our attention.
Looking over to him, we saw that he asked that to the giant octopus. In response to that, the octopus flicked Eustace's hat off his head before lifting him up into the air using the suction cups on his tentacle. The octopus then moved over to us and did the same to us. Blake managed to escape his first grab at her using her semblance. She managed to escape the next few attempts but was still eventually caught as the octopus started using its other tentacles. Once he had all of us, he moved us over to stand before the fish with wigs. He then let go of us for some strange reason.
"Your scalinesses...I have observed the ways of these land-walkers and have found them to be highly uncivilized." The fish announced. The fish with wigs started muttering amongst themselves.
"Wearing shoes, sipping tea, blinking... it gets worse. Using household appliances, sitting for extended periods of time watching the noise and picture machine." The fish continued on.
"The television?" Muriel asked confused.
"Where is the television?" Eustace quickly asked when he heard Muriel ask about the television. This caused us to roll our eyes at him as even in danger that could end someone's life, he only cares for his own and his own things.
"And, worse of all. Imprisoning fish for their own amusement." The fish added lastly. The other fish began muttering excitedly at this. "We cannot ignore such vile behavior. Your puffinesses, I petition the court to pronounce these four, guilty."
"Oh my." Muriel said worriedly while Courage gulped in fear.
"It is the fining of this tribunal..." The fish with wig on the left began.
"That the accused are frighteningly uncivilized..." The middle fish continued.
"And therefore, must be found..." The fish on the right finished before a short pause was made.
"GUILTY!" All three fish declared while banging their mallets.
"Oh my." Muriel said shocked.
"Oh, this ain't going to be good." I said already preparing for the worst.
'What do you think is going to happen Jaune?' Courage asked worried.
'I have no idea." I answered.
"They shall...' The fish on the left began.
"Be sentenced...' The middle fish continued.
"To be civilized in..." The fish on the right finished.
"THE BOWL!" The declared at the same time before looking to the octopus.
We turned to him and saw the octopus pull a string which caused the curtains to move apart and reveal a giant fish bowl behind it. Inside the bowl there was someone already swimming. But the octopus grabbed him and pulled him out of the bow. The guy tried to get out but failed. The octopus then moved to the wall and pressed a button which opened a passageway outside of where we are into the ocean. With him gone, the octopus then brought the bowl over to us.
"But we can't breathe underwater." Muriel told them.
"And some of us hate getting wet." Blake added but took a step back when the fish glared at her. At that moment, the octopus came from behind, grabbed us and placed something on our necks before lifting us up so we couldn't try and take them off.
"These temporary gills will allow you to breathe underwater until you become fully civilized and grow gills of your own." The middle fish explained.
We tried to say something, but the octopus raised us higher into the air before dropping us into the bowl. All except for Blake as she somehow, like a cat jumped in fear and clung onto the tentacle of the octopus. He tried to get her but struggled to do so. Once he did, he tried to get her into the water again, only for her to somehow, get herself to the curtain behind the fish with wigs. This process continuing for about ten minutes. With the octopus trying to get Blake into the bowl while Blake tried everything in her power to not get sent into the bowl. But eventually, the octopus finally managed to catch her and place her into the bowl. Where she slowly sank to the bottom in a sitting position.
"Not one word." She threatened us. Me and Courage were actually watching the show while eating the popcorn the Courage pulled from somewhere. We just nodded trying not to laugh while she growled at us. Looking out the bowl, we saw the fish with wigs leave the room via the plastic tunnel.
"I hate Scotland." Eustace complained still not understanding anything that just happened.
"I don't think I'm quite suited to this." Muriel said as she began to swim around.
"How about you Blake?" I asked smirking. She just growled at me and I swear, if she had claws, she would have shown them to me in anger. This however, just caused me to burst out laughing along with Courage. Blake hissed at us and was about to pounce at us but a sudden tapping noise caught our attention. Looking over, we saw the octopus tapping on the glass with a canister he was holding.
'EEEIHHHH!' Courage shrieked in terror before swimming into the toy castle that was in the bowl.
"This Scottish t.v. Stinks." Eustace complained again. Turning to him, we saw that he was sitting in front of an opening and closing treasure chest and thought that it was a Scottish television.
'Really?' Courage asked annoyed at Eustace.
"He is just unbelievable." Blake added.
"Huh?" Eustace suddenly asked surprised. He then swam up to the top along with Muriel. Looking up, we saw that the octopus had put fish food into the bowl and now both Muriel and Eustace were eating the flakes.
'AAAHHHH!' Courage screamed in terror when he saw this. He then swam to them and tried to stop them.
"That is disturbing and unnerving." Blake added when she saw Muriel, Eustace and now Courage started eating the flakes.
"Your right. Anyway, it's time to get out of here. But first." I said while swimming towards Courage who was now in front of the treasure chest.
"Courage, get a hold of yourself." I shouted as I shook him. He seemed to realize what he just did and started screaming in terror and fear. But stopped when I smacked him on the head.
'Thanks, Jaune.' He said as he rubbed the back of his head.
"No problem." I said with a smile.
"Sorry to cut off this moment, but how should we go about getting out of here?" Blake asked.
"Right. Courage, you go up and grab onto the octopus's tentacle to distract him. Blake, you and I grab the curtains over there and use it to blind him." I told them.
They nodded and we swam up to the top. Courage then jumped up and grabbed the tentacle of the octopus distracting him. As he tried to get Courage off of him, me and Blake got out of the bowl and pulled down the curtains. Hearing a scream in pain, we turned around and saw that Courage had grabbed the mallet and smashed flat one of the tentacles of the octopus. With him in pain and distracted, we quickly ran over to him and wrapped the curtains around him and tangled/tied the curtains so he would have trouble getting it off. Once he was taken care off, we each took off the fake gills.
"Okay, now we have to figure a way out of here." I said looking over to the bowl, knowing that it was too heavy for us to pull and that getting Muriel and Eustace our was not an option.
"Wait, how about we use the octopus's tentacles and use them to pull the bowl using the van." Blake suggested.
"Good idea Blake." I told her. She smiled and we began. Courage grabbed one tentacle and placed it on the bowl. Me and Blake then grabbed another and ran to the van. We placed it on the front of the van. Going around, we saw that the doors were still open. I turned on the van and began to close the doors but stopped when I saw Courage run up to us and enter the van. Once he was in, I closed the door and put the van into reverse.
"Um, do you know how to drive Jaune?" Balke asked concerned.
"Yup, I learned a long time ago when I had a job repairing vehicles in that job I had before going to Beacon." I explained. She nodded but still seemed worried.
Looking around, I stepped on the gas and the van immediate sped off in reverse. All the while I prayed that the tentacle would hold to the bowl and van. As we continued to drive backwards back to the house, we passed by the fishes from earlier and saw that they were getting massages from lobsters. I had hoped they did not notice us but they did and were now giving chase to us by riding the lobsters.
"Come on! Can't we catch a- WATCH IT JAUNE!" Blake began before shouting when the van started to drift a bit uncontrollably.
"Hey, it's not easy driving in reverse while trying to keep an octopus stuck to the vehicle." I defended but instantly felt weird saying that.
Soon we were back on dry land which Blake sighed in relief at. I would have laughed had we not been in a chase. After a few more minutes, we reached the farmhouse again. Hitting the brakes, the van came to an immediate stop. And causing the poor octopus to get smashed flat in between the van and the bowl which came in at such a high speed like a bullet. Opening the door, we got out of the van and ran to the bowl. Courage tried to get Muriel and Eustace out of the bowl by showing them a poster on how to do it. But a second later, we heard the sound of the fish on lobsters getting closer. Knowing we only had a few seconds left, I picked Courage up and tossed him into the bowl while Blake helped me into it as well. Once in, we grabbed Muriel and Eustace and tossed them out of the bowl. Eustace hit the floor hard while Blake caught Muriel and gently laid her on the ground. The started to flop around like they were still fish but stepped when we removed the fake gills of them. They immediately started gasping and breathing air again. But at this moment, the fish reached us.
"Stay where you are." One of the fish demanded. Courage screamed in terror and ran back to the house. But got a surprise when he opened the door and saw inside.
'Huh!' He said shocked. Curious and concerned, we all went up to him and looked inside and got a shock as well. The purple fish from before that started everything was in there being fanned by two men while eating some sushi and watching the tv. Hearing muttering behind us, we turned and saw that the fish with wigs had puffed up in anger. However, the one on the right puffed up so much and caused a lot of pressure, that the water inside the bowl on his head gushed out and left him a thin fish.
"Are you alright?" The fish on the left asked.
"Yeah, yeah." The other answered.
"Um, here. Let me fill the bowl again." I told them as I moved and grabbed the bowl from his head and removed it.
"Thank you, young man. Clearly, you are not as uncivilized as our fishionary declared you to be." The middle fish said.
"Um, thanks." I replied unsure.
"You all are free to go as we have bigger fish to fry. Retrieve the fishionary, clearly, she has fallen to uncivilization and must be recivilized. Take her to the bowl." The fish on the left declared. The octopus went inside the house to grab the fishionary. I went in as well and quickly filled the bowl before coming back out and placing it on the fish who breathed easily now that he had water again.
"Thank you, sir." He said before all three went into the van along with the lobsters and drove off. The octopus though, wined a bit before attaching himself to the van and bowl.
Nighttime
We were in the living room. Blake and I were on the couch eating the fish we made earlier. Muriel was in the tub that we brought down and filled with water. Eustace was in his chair reading his paper.
"I think I am getting pruny. That must be a good sign." Muriel said as Courage used a syringe and splashed some water on her.
"Something I never thought I would hear ever." Blake said eating some of the fried fish from her plate.
"AH! I'm hungry." Eustace complained. He lowered his paper which allowed Courage to feed using a giant container containing fish flakes and shake them which caused them to come out and into Eusta's mouth.
"Nor see that." Blake added.
"Well, you're going to have to get used to things you never expected to hear or see while in Nowhere." I told her which she nodded. Though, in the back of my mind, I realized at how true those words are and are only going to get truer the longer I am in Nowhere. But as long as I am with my new family and Courage, it will be fine.
Note:
(1) Dome of Doom with Peach. (2) Son of the Chicken from Outer Space with Winter. (3) The House of Discontent with Oobleck. (4) Human Habitrail with Coco. (5) The Quilt Club with Coco.
Here is a question, should I make there a place where Rwby characters can use to stay in Nowhere to experience more crazy things while not having to continuously travel between Vale and Nowhere?