Chapter -155: Challenge of the Seas

Following a brisk walk through the village, Sarajin and Justek eventually caught up with Brine at his house. The stand-out thing about his place was that there were shells lining the front door in an arch.

Brine was in and out in seconds, carrying his own fishing pole. It was a bit smaller than the others and the wood was colored like the sand, but looked smooth and sturdy like a tree.

There was some metal cylinder at the bottom of the rod that the pull string looking stuff was rolled up around, and at the top of the rod was a simple metal hook.

"There we go, all set, chums!" Brine cheered, hoisting the rod over his shoulder with pride.

"Don't you need bait, too?" Justek pointed out immediately.

"No need for that! We'll just be tryin' to get Sarajin here all used to fishing, not overwhelm him with all the different types of lures and baits! Nah mate, s'long as we stick to shallow waters the fish'll come bitin'. They ain't got much rattlin' around in their skulls!"

Justek raised his brows and then upon pushing his glasses up, smirked and murmured, "No comment."

Sarajin then asked, "Where are we going to go fishing at, Brine?"

"Hmmm, lemme think about that for a moment..." Brine turned towards the shoreline and thought about it for a good while, "It's the middle of the day so the docks should be pretty dry of people. Nice elevation too, won't have to be worryin' about the tides draggin' ya both out to sea like wood."

"Both? What is this 'Both' you're talking about?" Justek murmured, causing Sarajin to look his way.

"You're not going to go fishing, Justek?"

"I do believe that's what my statement implied, yes."

"Well where's the fun in that?!" Sarajin tried to encourage him to give his decision a second thought with a sharp look and grin on his face, but Justek touted some rather impenetrable defenses.

"The answer's still 'No'. Plea all you want with that upbeat voice, I have no intention of risking making a splash in the water." He finished that off with a sour look, and a shudder of his gritted teeth.

Sarajin wasn't happy hearing that but that was when Brine stepped in with an idea, "I bet he'll change his tun-a little when he seas how it goes."

He had a strange grin on his face after that and chuckled, causing both Sarajin and Justek to tilt their heads in the same puzzled direction.

Brine's chuckle settled down and he glanced aside looking nervous, "N-Never mind, mates. Lets go!"

He guided them through the hustle and bustle of the village and towards the docks. Not long after stepping up onto the slanted portion, Sarajin heard a strange, clunky sound beneath his feet and paused for a moment.

"Hmmm?" He looked down and saw nothing going on that could've caused that sound, so he kept moving, only for that sound to pop up again by the time he reached the docks proper.

This time Brine turned around and remarked, "Oy, what's that noise I'm hearin'?"

Even though Sarajin stopped, the noise continued, this time coming from below Justek. Brine wagged his finger up at him and remarked, "How you doin' that exactly?"

"Huh?" Justek barely registered what he was saying as he tilted his head aside and then looked down below, "Oh, must be because of my foot protectors."

Sarajin looked down at his feet and then took one step forward, and when he heard that sound again his eyes lit up. He then looked at Brine and pointed downward, "Oh yeah, mine too!"

"Never heard a sound like that before, least not on the docks." Brine's comment was accompanied by more of those sounds rapid-firing one after another.

Sarajin was raising and lowering his feet in the general area of where he stood, smiling all the while, "Hey this is kind of fun!"

"Clackity clack!" Went his slats.

It didn't take long though for Justek to force a hand onto his shoulder and hold him down with a surprisingly firm grip. He then nudged his glasses into place and remarked, "Nobody needs to see or hear you do that."

"Awww." Sarajin slouched over a little and then put his hands behind his head, following Brine further along the docks.

"That's such an odd sound, mates..." Brine commented, "Must ya wear those...'foot protectors' ya called them?"

"Yeah, otherwise the sand will hurt our feet!" Sarajin said in a rather carefree manner.

"You for real? The sand ain't hurt anyone here before!" Brine said with a giggle.

"Yeah it has! How can you stand it?"

"It's never bothered me in the slightest! Sounds to me like ya got weak feet, mate!"

"No way, I can walk miles on solid ground before my feet hurt!" Sarajin boasted this knowledge as a matter of pride.

"That supposed to impress me? Whatever that word means ain't worth a shell's hind if ya can't walk in the sand more than a step!"

"I could walk barefooted if I wanted to!" Sarajin retaliated.

"No way!"

"Yes I could!"

"Oh good grief..." Justek pinched the space between his eyes and once their attention was on him he groaned, "Is this really worth arguing over? Tuna trousers here is simply used to the sand and you aren't."

"Tuna trousers?!" Brine scoffed.

"...But I could walk in the sand if I wanted to." Sarajin bragged.

"Uh-huh," Justek said with a dull nod, "And you're welcome to prove that silly boast later, but we're not detouring back just so you can dance in the hot sand."

He then held his arms against his chest and glared at Brine, "Now you, are we almost to the fishing spot?"

"Tuna trousers...? I have a name..." Brine was really letting that get to him, so much so it took him a rough scoff from Justek to get him to answer.

"Yeah, we're almost there. Just a few more steps and we ought to be in a prime spot to cast a line."

They were already a few yards off the coast and the water was still looking crystal clear and sparkly this far out. They could see the sand continuing to act as the bottom of the water, but it was now too deep for even the tallest people on the planet to stand in.

Hundreds of small shadows darted around in the distance, and when they swam their way exposed themselves as crowds of tiny fish. Each was as long as Sarajin's hand and didn't seem to have any scales to speak of. Just lithe silver bodies, and weird stiff looking eyes on the sides of their heads.

Brine went to the edge and sat down, hanging his legs off the side and leaving his toes dangling just a few feet over the water's surface.

He then patted the spot to his left and told his company, "G'ahead and sit down here, chum!"

Sarajin plopped right down and almost sat on Brine's hand. He then hung his legs over and found that sitting here reminded him a lot of how he did it back home, just without the fear of plummeting long distances.

The water gave off some cool air similar to the wind he used to keep cool with. So for the time being, he gave himself a break focusing on that and directed his attention to what Brine had to say.

"So there's a few pointers I feel I oughta go over before you begin." Brine gave his fishing rod over to Sarajin, who held it in one hand and stared up and down at it while the boy spoke.

"First, the way you grip it is very important. If ya don't get a firm grip on it, your catch is likely to keyhaul you off the dock and into the water. Or worse, your rod can be lost to sea!"

Sarajin squeezed his hand around the bottom of the rod and waggled it around over his head, "Like this?"

Brine's stomach curled and with a nervous looking on his face he murmured, "N-Not quite mate. Here..."

He reached out and grabbed hold of Sarajin's wrist, first to get him to stop, then to carefully guide his hand a couple inches higher. Then, he reached out for Sarajin's other hand, gesturing to get him to help out.

Sarajin's hand was then guided to below the first one, leaving only a couple centimeter gap between the bottom of his hand and the air.

"Now try squeezing it." Brine remarked as he let go.

Sarajin's hands tightened up and once his knuckles were heard cracking, he felt a sense of pride swell up inside of him, "I got it!"

However, Brine was scratching the side of his face and remarking, "Eh, it's a start. It'll come second nature to you eventually."

"Next, you're gonna want to flick the line out." Brine aped the way Sarajin held the rod and pulled his hands behind his shoulder, swinging them forward in the blink of an eye.

Sarajin stared at the motion Brine was making, hypnotized by how swift and fluidly he was performing it.

"So this is how someone trained by an expert does it..."

"-too hard." Brine had just finished saying something. Sarajin's eyes flinched open and stared at the boy's smiling face as they asked, "Did you get that?"

Sarajin felt compelled to nod and smile. Brine then gestured out towards the water and said, "Then try it out real quick before we move on!"

Sarajin turned towards the water and pulled the rod back over his shoulder. The motion was ingrained into his eyeballs. Just pull back, and then swing forward. Easy enough...He just had to do it.

He gripped the rod and then with a big, eager smile on his face he began to swing it out.

"W-Whoa there, chum!" Brine's sudden remark ground Sarajin to a halt, and the rod suddenly slipped down out of his hands, where Brine reached out to catch it from hitting the edge of the deck.

Brine's eyes were wide open, both astounded and panicking in their gaze, "Y-You tryin' to fish the sun outta the sky?!"

He waved at himself, basically telling Sarajin to hand the rod back over for a moment. So he did, but didn't know why.

"Here, let me show you." But Brine was patient and kind, choosing to lead by example even if Sarajin's eyes were presently as wide and blank as a guppies.

He pulled the rod back, then with one quick and hard but not too hard swing, the hook at the end of the rod was cast off, uncurling the string from the metal cylinder. There the hook went flying in an arch for a few seconds, then splashed down into the water.

Brine then grabbed onto the handle attached to the cylinder and turned it back a bit, then continued to hold on to it while glancing aside at Sarajin.

"Once you got yer line in the water you'll want to be paying close attention for the rod to stiffen. That'll mean a fish has snagged your hook and is ready to be reeled in."

"How long will that take?" Sarajin inquired.

"Dunno, could be done in a couple minutes, could be waitin' an hour," Brine shrugged and then lowered the rod down between his thighs, "That's assumin' I'll even be able to reel one in afterwards."

"What's it mean to 'reel' something?"

"You saw me turning the handle there, yeah? Just keep doin' that when the fish bites and you'll reel it in to the dock," Brine had a lot of energy to spare when talking about this, never letting his smile waver for a moment, "Though be warned. Tryin' to reel it in too quickly or too loosely will let the fish slip away."

Sarajin crossed his arms and found the way he explained it to be...lacking. Specifically, as he was quick to point out, "Then what is the right way to reel in a fish?"

"That's what you gotta figure out on your own, mate!" Brine pleasantly patted him on the back a couple times, "Everyone's got their own methods, and that's what separates the guppies from the sea kings!"

Brine then put his hands behind his head and leaned back, soaking in the sun's ray beating down from up above with a smile.

Sarajin found himself paying more attention to the fishing rod than he was, and though the line wiggled Brine didn't seem to react to it.

Sarajin was tempted to reach out to the rod and try to fish it up, only for Brine to cheerfully snap at him, "Don't fret over it, chum! Trust me, I've already graduated these waters, I know when the little ones'll be bitin'."

As Sarajin backed away he stared out towards the sea. The water rippled with the occasional breeze passing over it, so tranquil, and yet, brimming with life.

He had never even seen this many birds in the sky as there were fish in the sea at present. And there were probably hundreds of kinds of fish, just like there were that many kinds of plants in Tanglefae.

Sarajin's smile continued to widen as he settled into the atmosphere of Aquamoria. He then began paddling his feet in the air, and holding his fingers over the edge of the dock.

"Brine, how long have you been fishing for anyways?"

"Hmmm, I think it's been about 5 years now?" Brine didn't seem to consider it worth remembering too much, as his immediate move after that was to remark, "I was pretty young for an up and coming fisherman, but certainly ain't the youngest. That'd go to my teacher! She was haulin' in guppies since she was seven years old!"

"You really worship this teacher of yours, don't you?" Justek remarked.

Brine gleaned over his shoulder and declared, "Of course! She's the kind of person I want to be when I grow up! Strong, brave, able to reel in the biggest fish with ease!"

He then looked back at Sarajin and told him, "Did ya know that she won her first competition when she was only 12 years old?! Against the grown-ups no less!"

Sarajin smiled but his rapidly blinking eyes suggested a different emotion he was feeling, "What's a competition?"

Brine reeled back in place and proclaimed, "Oh yeah, ya wouldn't know about those!"

He then raised a finger and began to go into detail, "See, every couple of weeks fishermen from all around Aquamoria gather on these 'ere docks to see who can reel in the biggest fish! Whoever gets the biggest fish gets some new clothes and a special kinda fishing rod. Second place gets a spear personally crafted by the best in the market, and third place gets free pickin's of some of the largest fish in the market!"

The last point got Sarajin's mouth watering as he vividly recalled the fish Brine's father laid out in front of him.

"Don't be flooding the dock with yer saliva, chum." Brine said humorously, snapping him out of it.

"Hundreds of my fellow men are on the docks competing at a time. Even if we got ya reelin' guppies by sundown, you'd be lucky to not place on the bottom."

He then crossed his arms against his chest and proclaimed, "Yer heart's in the right place though!"

The rod then began to jerk around and Brine turned his attention to the handle in the blink of an eye. Sarajin watched him try to reel it in for a bit, but then quickly looked over his shoulder to find Justek standing there not up to much at the moment.

"What do you think, Justek? Could I compete in the fishing competition?"

Justek glanced out from the corner of his eyes and got blunt, "Do you want me to be honest?"

Sarajin sighed and surprised him by responding, "That's a 'No' huh? Well..."

Sarajin glanced forward with determination and declared, "Then I'll have to try my best to get that good!"

Brine clicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth and let go of the rod slacking his shoulders in defeat, "Shoot! That was a large biter. Must've been comin' to feed on the guppies."

Sarajin asked him, "So you must plan on winning the competition one day, right?"

Brine glanced aside at him and chuckled, "Of course, mate! That's one goal of mine in life. But teacher's already won so many of those that she had to be banned from competing..."

He closed his eyes and then stretched his legs out as far as he could, "Nah, if I ever want to be better than her, then I have to aim for the one catch neither she nor any man or woman of Aquamoria have made!"

"The Golden Reefquiem!"

Immediately Justek snickered and that made Brine look over his shoulder and ask, "Catfish got your tongue, mate?"

Justek then pressed his fingertips against his forehead and sighed, "Another Tribe, another fairy tale."

He then gestured his hand out and closed his eyes, trying hard not to smile, "Next you'll be telling me you talk to the water."

"What? That'd be dumb, mate," Brine said, pitifully shaking his head at Justek, who found himself looking a tad offended by that, "The Golden Reefquiem IS real! It's a golden fish that weighs more than any other sea life! Its legend speaks that any who can make it appear beneath the sun shall be granted a wish of their choosing!"

"A wish?" Sarajin asked, curiously tilting his head.

"Supposedly, it can make any dream you want come true," Justek chimed in, "But that'd be assuming this fish was real to begin with."

"It IS real! I've seen it with my own two eyes!" Brine proclaimed.

"Well I don't see it, so how am I supposed to believe you?" Justek adamantly refused to budge.

"That don't mean nothin'! It's enough to know that I've seen it! Your 'books' are full of bilgewater, mate." With that sharp retort, Brine returned to concentrate on the sea, leaving Justek with mouth agape and a huge desire to fight back.

"...No. No, I'm not arguing this silliness any further." He crossed his arms like a massive grump and then shut up.

Leaving Sarajin to ask, "What would you do with your wish?"

Brine craned his head back and murmured, "You know I ain't really given it much thought. Maybe..."

The rod jiggled around and Brine latched onto it once more. This time he grabbed hold of the handle and pulled the rod back, with Sarajin stiffening up to pay close attention to how Brine reeled the fish in.

There was a small shadow thrashing about at the end of the line, splashing water around everywhere as it was getting dragged closer to the docks. Brine gripped his rod hard and continued to reel the fish in until it was just below their feet.

"And it's at this moment, that you GIVE IT A TUG!" He pulled back hard to the right of his body and the fish was ripped out from its watery home and dangled before the two aspiring fishermen.

It was one of those small fish Sarajin had seen earlier, now wiggling around with its mouth wrapped around the hook.

Sarajin gasped and tried to reach out and touch the fish, only for Brine to get there before him and pull it off. He pulled his rod back to dry land for now and then let the fish wiggle around atop his palms.

"Yep, ain't a bad size for a guppy. But..." Brine then bent forward and let the fish slide off his hands to return to the water, where it immediately darted away into the distance, "Back to the sea ya go, chum."

Sarajin watched the fish swim until it could not be seen, then glanced aside at Brine to ask, "I thought we were going to catch it and eat it?"

"Nah mate, those fish aren't worth that much," Brine said, happily placing his hands behind his head, "There's many of them out there for larger fish to gobble down. They also help guppies like you and me learn to fish."

"I get it but," Sarajin's face squirmed as he raised his fists up and mumbled, "I REALLY wanted to try one."

"You'll get your chance soon enough," Brine said, extending his fishing rod towards Sarajin, "Your turn, chum."

Sarajin took the rod in his hands and, after assuming the proper stance, looked straight out towards the sea and remarked, "This time, I'll do it right!"

He pulled the rod back and then cast the line out. Quick and hard, but not too hard, just like Brine said. The hook arched out and then dipped into the water, floating comfortably on the surface.

"Niiiice, you're a quick learner, Sarajin!" Brine leaned back comfortably in place and whispered, "And now we wait."

Sarajin wanted to lean back with the type of confidence Brine had, but the desire not to mess this up overpowered that. And so, he kept his hands on the rod and stared out at sea.

"So Sarajin," Brine quickly remarked, "What's it like where you live?"

"Uhhh, well, we have a lot of birds," Sarajin hesitated for a moment to think of anything good that really stood out in comparison to what Aquamoria had to offer, "Our city floats up in the sky..."

He hung his head and lingered on a long, drawn out "Uhhh" before grinning awkwardly at Brine and saying, "We got cows that produce milk?"

"...What's milk?" Brine said, donning the same curious eye flutter Sarajin tended to use.

Sarajin could more comfortably sit up and explain himself from there, "Oh, it's a creamy white liquid that's nice and cold and helps you fall asleep. Apparently it's also good for your bones and teeth!"

"Huh, creamy white liquid..." Brine raised his eyes and wondered, "Y'know I think I sort of remember drinkin' that when I was a baby. I sucked it out of some round, pink object...And my mom was watching me do it too!"

"Oh good lord please shut up." Justek murmured with a faint blush in his cheeks.

After the two exchanged a brief look at Justek, they looked at each other and Brine remarked, "Don't sound like there's much to do in your Tribe though, mate."

"Definitely not compared to here and Tanglefae!" Sarajin proclaimed.

"Ah but you can be honest with me, chum..." Brine put his hand onto Sarajin's back and leaned in closer, "We're cooler than those green-thumbs, yeah?"

"W-Well..." Sarajin got a little nervous having him this close to his face, "I'm having more fun here..."

"Good 'nuff for me mate!" Brine pulled away and not long after that, Sarajin was pulled forward by the jerk of the fishing rod.

"It's movin'! Now's yer chance!" Brine cheered him on and Sarajin gripped the rod as hard as he could and began to tug.

The fish was fighting back, whipping left and right in the water and thrashing around everywhere. Sarajin's muscles tightened and throbbed in pain as he struggled to fight back, reeling the handle as much as his little hands could manage.

"G-Got to...hold on!" He grit his teeth and continued to reel the fish in.

"You got it! Keep goin'!"

"Hurrah..." Justek dully remarked.

Before Sarajin knew it, through sweat and struggle, the fish lay just below the docks, and with one final tug he found himself falling onto his back with the rod slapping down by his side.

After briefly being dazed, he opened his eyes to the sight and sound of a guppy landing on his stomach, flopping around with its slimy, watery body.

"Ah...!" He shouted with both excitement and fright, reaching out and fumbling to get a solid grip on the fish. He wound up tossing it back and shouting, "Justek, catch!"

"W-What?!" Justek found himself forced to throw his hands out and flail them around, trying to prevent the fish from touching him or his clothes. In the process he pushed it back towards Sarajin while shouting in a panic, "T-Take this slimy thing away already!"

This time the fish landed in Brine's grasp, and he held it out towards Sarajin for him to see as he rose.

"Not bad for a first time go at it, chum!" Brine proclaimed with a grin.

Sarajin stared at the fish and its dead, black eyes and realized...He did this. He managed to bring it up to the surface with his own two hands, and the help of his friends.

But as sweet as victory tasted, he could bet the fish tasted even better. He licked his lips with ravenous appetite and wanted to reach out and take a bite out of the fish raw.

But partway through he paused, causing Brine to blink and remark, "What's the matter?"

"...I don't know," Sarajin felt a heaviness in his chest the longer he stared at this small creature staring blankly back at him, "I feel like...I should return him to the sea."

"Not good enough for ya?" Brine deduced.

"Not that," Sarajin didn't know how best to explain this feeling in his heart, and so said, "I just think it'd be better if another fish got to have him."

"Eh, your catch, your choice mate," Brine respected his wishes and helped put the fish back into the water, "Do you want to try again then?"

Sarajin breathed a sigh of relief and then with a hearty grin declared, "Sure! I still want to eat fish! I'll try going for a better one this time!"

He hoisted up the rod in both hands and prepared to cast it out, with Brine bursting into jolly laughter, "Oh ho ho! Already ready to reel above your weight, eh?"

He then sent it out to sea ready to wait for another fish to come bitin'.

Justek, having shaken the fish slime off his clothes, remarked in a drab tone, "At least someone is having fun."

Sarajin looked over his shoulder and asked, "Why don't you want to try this out?"

"I told you before, physical labor is beneath me." Justek said, his arms against his chest.

"Ah! I bet he's just afraid he'll be pulled into the sea and soaked head-to-toe!" Brine said, having a jolly good laugh at Justek's expense.

Justek glared at him and murmured, "Maybe I should send you into the water."

Brine's skin paled a little as he replied, "P-P-Please don't do that, 'tis not even a funny joke mate..."

"Heh heh!" Sarajin chuckled, and gazed out towards the water. All of a sudden, he was something moving rapidly towards his line.

It had size and speed and seemed to be tearing up the waters in droves. Sarajin couldn't make out the shadow of the creature but what he did see was it had a puffy, scaly top poking out from the surface.

"What's that thing?" Sarajin poked Brine's brain for answers.

"What thing?" Brine leaned his head out and upon catching sight of the creature speeding through the water he remarked, "Uhhh, I can't quite see it all the way, mate. Looks like a whopper of a fish though. Definitely above MY level of skill."

"I should probably pull the hook back then?" Sarajin asked.

"Yeah, but hurry, it's comin' in fast!"

Sarajin was ready to reel the line in but the next thing he knew, the creature had snagged hold of the hook and pulled on it with all its might.

"OH NO!" Sarajin felt his butt being dragged towards the edge of the docks, where the sea would soon await him below.

"Oh no is right! Hold on, chum!" Brine stood up and quickly pulled Sarajin from behind.

Sarajin was now trying to reel the fish in, to which Brine proclaimed, "Are you crazy?! Let the line snap, it's too late for it, mate!"

"I don't want to break your rod though!"

"A line's easily replaced, I ain't gonna be able to rescue you if you take a dip!"

Sarajin held on for a little bit longer, but then relented on the reel when he saw it to be a desperate losing battle. But by the time he did, the fish he snagged started to behave oddly.

It was moving towards them, with the hook attached not to their mouth, but to the strange protrusion coming out of the water.

Sarajin felt Brine's grip loosen and following a meek sounding "Uh oh" indicated that something was very, very wrong.

Sarajin looked over his shoulder and saw Brine cautiously taking a couple steps back, "What's wrong?"

"Sarajin, mate, please hurry up and reel my hook back in." He replied in a haste.

Sarajin grit his teeth and remarked, "Did I attract a dangerous fish?"

"Worse, chum..." Brine gave a solid gulp and grit his teeth, frozen in fear.

Before Sarajin could act on his friend's request, the surface was breached with a huge burst of water almost splashing Sarajin whole. The line was attached to a large shadow at the peak of the water, which spun forward and descended onto the docks, landing so hard it shook it whole.

Sarajin flinched and then quickly stood upright, watching as the figure stretched their arms high above their head and jutted their chest forward...A rather perky one at that.

It was a woman, one between Sarajin and Justek in height. Much like Brine she had glistening tan skin and discolored hair, though hers was a more darker shade of blue. The style of her hair was short but there were two long bangs of hair that hung beside her cheeks and stopped below her chin.

Her top consisted only of the same green stuff on Brine's shorts, all of it bound around her chest. Was was wearing puffy shorts made of prismatic scales, and there was a fish hook hanging off every inch of her waistband. She walked around barefooted and her feet looked pretty roughed up to boot. Finally, attached to the back of her shorts was a strange, small holding object made of the same wood as the fishing rod, wrapped up in one giant leaf. There seemed to be a sharp object inside of it.

After stretching her arms the woman shook her body dry and then plucked the fishing rod's hook off her shorts, lifting it up and spinning it around, causing the string to wrap around her finger.

"Alright, who be the wise guy tryin' to reel me in like a deepwater trout?" She said with an accent thicker than Brine's. Looking around with her bright blue eyes, she immediately locked her gaze onto Brine.

He was hastily rubbing the back of his head and grinning, "H-Hi, teacher..."

"Oy, you gotta be bitin' my bloomers, Brine..." The woman sighed and then unfurled the line from her finger so that it'd go flying into Brine's hand.

She then leaned forward, putting her chest at level with his gaze, even though he should've been looking at the firm look of disappointment in her eyes, "How many times do I gotta tell ya not to be castin' a line when its my swimmin' hour?"

Brine bobbed his head and remarked, "I'm sorry teacher! I forgot again..."

"Ah," She grabbed a firm hold of Brine's hair and ruffled it around all over the place, grinning all the while, "No harm done ya little goober. Yer were just out practicing again, weren't ya?"

"...Aaaactually," Brine chuckled nervously, "I wasn't the one who cast the line."

"Oh?" Her eyes perked up, "Then who snagged me shorts?"

Brine slowly raised his finger in Sarajin's direction, unaware at how glazed over the boy's eyes were at the moment.

Something forced Sarajin's gaze onto this woman's body. She was so shiny and supple, with her arms and legs looking as tough as wood. She stood tall and had this presence to her that left Sarajin feeling weak in the knees, and his heart as hot as the sun's rays.

His smile wobbled as the woman's gaze met his, and against his will he mumbled, "You're pretty..."

The woman's brows briefly raised, only to narrow down in a slanted glare. Her firm, once full of vigor, took on a harsher and firm tone as she uttered one word, "Brine..."

Brine jolted upright and let out a drawn out, "Uhhhh, teacher?"

She turned aside and with a lofty gesture of the hand towards Sarajin spoke, barely holding off the discontent in her voice, "Why's there a Buzzard on our docks? And why in the name of the salty seas has he been allowed to handle a fishing rod?"

Brine's eyes widened right up and he stuttered out his answer, "I-I was just teachin' him how to fish!"

"Ah, yes, just teachin' 'im how to fish..." The lady bobbed her head and then raised his right hand up, dislodging spit onto her fingertips and then rubbing it around.

Brine's eyes widened more and he stuttered, "O-Oh no...Not the Fin Flapper!"

The woman bent right down and started using her wettened fingers to lightly slap Brine back and forth across the face, "You been dippin' yer brain in salt water lately, boy-o? You ain't teachin' that boy to fish, yer teachin' him how to steal from us!"

"What?!" Both Sarajin and Brine proclaimed together.

The lady looked up as Sarajin ran over and tried to aid in Brine's defense, "That's all we were doing though! Why do you think I'm stealing?!"

The lady crossed her arms below her chest and snarled her teeth into a scowl, "Don't be tryin' to pull your wool over my eyes, Buzzard. If it wears wings it flies and lies."

She then swung her hand out and pulled the fishing rod from Sarajin's grasp to hold over her shoulder, out of his reach.

"H-Hey!" He shouted.

Justek, meanwhile, couldn't help but smile as wide as possible and chuckle, "Took long enough..."

The woman raised her brows and scoffed, "What? Ain't enough yer foul-feathered flocks snatch up our well-earned catches, now ye be thinkin' you can just waltz right onto our docks and go fishin'?"

Sarajin's eyes wobbled and then, gritting his teeth, swung his hands down and declared, "This is a big misunderstanding! If you let me speak to your leader, I'm sure we can-"

"Oh, you be speaking to her alright," The woman grit her teeth in a confident smirk and declared, "Name's Lulu Coraline, the best damn fisherman this side of the sea, and leader of Aquamoria!"

With Sarajin stunned by this revelation, Lulu was able to reach down and grab hold of his wrist, "And you, little birdie, are gonna fly away home before I feed ya to the sharks!"

She pulled him beside her and then let go, sending him stumbling along the dock. She then thrust her finger up and shouted, "Get to it! Scram!"

Sarajin's heart was racing and the tension of this moment only made him feel defiant and confused. He turned around, threw his arms down and shouted, "What have I done wrong? I just wanted to fish!"

"You got water in yer ears boy?" Lulu grit her teeth and shouted, "I said get! And don't be lettin' me catch you plannin' to steal from our lands again, or I'll get nasty!"

"I have no idea what you're talking about, honest!" Sarajin pleaded from the bottom of his heart.

Brine swung his head around, conflicted on where he should stand. When he tried to get even one word out there, Lulu glared at him from the corner of her eye and remarked, "Don't be speakin' up boy, lest you want me flappin' yer bum next."

Brine then lowered his head and went silent.

Sarajin took a couple steps forward and continued to go down the road he thought would work, "Please! Can we just talk it out?"

"There ain't no talkin' to be had!" Lulu shouted, "I speak the language of the sea, and its spoken of the fair share of disrespect that it's gotten from yer kind!"

"You don't know nothin' about what it's like to fish from the blue waters!" While her declaration came from a place of pride, Sarajin just couldn't see why she had to act this way towards him.

His feelings may have guided him one way in regards to her, but it's clear that she's just like all the other grown-ups that have given him trouble.

He narrowed his eyes and reached down deep inside of himself to lunge his head out and shout, "I DID catch a fish, and it's all thanks to Brine's help! So I can catch a fish just as well as anyone in Aquamoria!"

The tension broke with a sudden but ominous silence. Lulu's face contorted into a look of surprise, while Brine's face went pale as he began to murmur, "Y-You shouldn't have said that...!"

"Oh, can ya now?" Lulu grinned from cheek-to-cheek and started to march towards Sarajin, who had this feeling in the pit of his gut that he should've kept his mouth shut.

She stood inches away from him and then bent down to put her face against his, revealing the fire swelling deep within her eyes, and a grin that looked like a beast's.

"Then why don't we put yer claims to the test? If ya say you can fish as good as anyone in me home, then how's about you take a crack at me?"

Sarajin's body trembled save for his feet, which kept as solid as a rock in the face of this overwhelming presence.

Lulu pulled her face back a little and chuckled, "Two days. That's all I'll give ya to prepare. Then, at the crack of dawn, you'll come on out to this here dock and face me in a one on one competition."

She stood up and with confidence seeping out of every tanned pore, she remarked, "If ya somehow manage to win, which ya won't, I'll admit I was wrong and you can fish here to yer heart's content."

Her eyes slanted fiercely, enough to make Sarajin feel he was facing an entity that rivaled the Titan's, "But when ya lose, yer gonna drag yer sorry hindquarters out of my village...forever."

Sarajin gulped, and froze in place staring into her eyes...But he did not back away.

He felt the feelings of good times and experiences he's had in this Tribe support him from behind and give him strength.

It didn't matter to him how strong her feelings were, to him, what she was saying felt wrong, and he was determined to prove that to her as best he can.

"...I-I'll do it." He whispered.

Lulu perked her head up, "Good. 'Least one of ya thievin' birds' got some backbone."

She then turned aside and clicked her tongue, causing Brine to run on up to her like an obedient pet, "Ye better hope you can shape him up into a decent challenge boy, cause if I utter out a yawn during that competition, yer gonna be givin' me foot massages for the next month."

Brine shuddered.

Lulu then handed him her rod back and stretched her arms above her head as she marched past Sarajin. With one last look aside at him she remarked, "I look forward to crushin' ya like all the rest."

Sarajin turned and watched her make her way off the dock, his heart still racing, but leaving him with a frown.

"I don't get what I did wrong..." He murmured to himself.

"Well this is a load of barnacles," Brine murmured, waltzing up to Sarajin with his hands behind his head and the rod against them both, "This wouldn't have happened had you reeled that hook in sooner like I said."

"Sorry, Brine..." Sarajin sighed and shook his head, "I dragged you into this."

"Ah, water off me back, chum!" Brine turned his head and winked, "Sure, you stand no chance of winnin' and all but it takes some really big bobbers to stand up to my teacher like that."

"There has to be some way to convince her to let me stay." Sarajin tried thinking but Brine quickly interrupted that train of thought.

"It's like she said, she only speaks the language of the sea."

"Then do I have no choice but to beat her?" Sarajin said, a statement that should've been made with some degree of hesitation given the gravity of who he was facing.

"Haha! Yer enthusiasm's welcome, mate, but be real a little...I can only train you so much in two days."

"Sounds to me like Aquamoria's going to be a failure," Justek remarked, joining up to the two's conversation, "If I were you, I'd leave now and avoid the humiliation...Though, it does seem like you enjoy it."

Sarajin glanced back at him and asked, "Do you have any ideas, Justek?"

Justek raised his brows almost humored by the request, "No, I do not. And even if I did, you requested my aid for knowledge of the Tribes, not to solve a dispute between you and their leader."

"Ugh, you're right," Sarajin groaned and then folded his arms against his chest, "I'll have to figure this out on my own."

"Well, good luck with that." Justek said, weakly waving his hand up as he turned and began to walk away.

"You're leaving?" Sarajin inquired.

"Well the sun's starting to set, and I'd rather not be wandering out when it does."

"I'll probably be here tomorrow to train with Brine. Will you be back here then?"

Justek only briefly stopped to raise and twirl his hand around in the air dismissively, "Likely not. But I'll be here on the day of the competition to, ahem...cheer you on."

He then tucked his hands in his pockets and murmured to himself with a smirk, "When the reality of this world finally hits you head-on..."

Once Justek was off the docks, Sarajin at least still had Brine by his side. The eager young fisherman pounded his fist on his palm and declared, "Ok! Knowin' teacher, she's probably including today as one of the days we got left to train!"

"If we really want to get the most out of our time, we're gonna have to do a little night fishin'! That alright with you, Sarajin?"

Sarajin poked his head up out of thinking for a moment to say, "S-Sure, I can do that."

"...Not like dad will care if I'm not home tonight." With that thought off his back, Sarajin perked up with a smile and extended his hand to Brine.

"Let's do this, Brine!"

Brine slapped his hand and then raised them up before their faces, eyes locking with determination, "Yeah, lets show that teacher of mine that we're worthy men of the sea!"

Next Time: Fishin' Under the Moon