Chapter -153: A Rod To Call My Own

The following day, back at his home, Sarajin gets up bright and early in the morning to join his parents at the living room for breakfast.

A healthy serving of milk in a stone cup, fried eggs, and wheat toast awaited him on one of his mom's custom-made plates. She decorated his with clouds.

The atmosphere in the house was docile for the time being but no one was talking to each other. Everyone just stared at their plates and ate what was given to them.

At one point following a light cough, Sarajin's mom glanced at both her men, lingering on her husband in particular.

"Dear, isn't there anything you'd like to say this morning?" She started with a gentle prodding.

"Actually, yes," He replied without hesitation, looking his wife straight in the eyes with a smile, "You've made another fine breakfast, honey."

Her smile sagged with a subdued hum before she replied, "Thank you dear."

They all then took a few more bites of their food before she glanced at her son and asked him, "You came home pretty late last night, Sarajin. Did you enjoy yourself down on the surface?"

His father flinched and clinked his fork against the plate, proceeding to lay it down as his tone shifted to a more awkward sounding mutter, "Y-Yes, I would like to know what you did as well."

Sarajin stared up at his dad, and could tell he was forcing interest. Then, he finished swallowing his food and whispered, "I went to Aquamoria."

"The Water Tribe?" Inquired his mom with interest.

"Yeah," Sarajin nodded, "I met a new friend named Brine. He's teaching me how to fish."

"That sounds like a fun time," His mom then turned to his dad and not so subtly prompted him, "Doesn't it, dear?"

He took a half-hearted bite of his remaining eggs and murmured, "Yes, I heard fishing teaches patience and builds character."

His mom's brows briefly slanted and a "Thud!" could be heard coming from under the table, followed by a subsequent flinch from his dad.

Sarajin felt plenty of discomfort just sitting here with his dad looking at him with a lack of any form of interest in what he had to say. He wanted to care more about the eggs on his plate than his own son.

Sarajin thus quickly scarfed down the remainder of his meal and then stood from the table, turning to give his mom her due bow, "Thank you for the meal, mom!"

He then turned and headed for the door, prompting her to ask, "Where are you off to in such a hurry?"

He stopped just long enough to tell her, "I'm going to go build my own fishing rod! See you later!"

He then waved and was out the door like the breeze.

Darnia let out a guttural groan as he laid his silverware on the plate and went to take them to the kitchen. Feeling rather tired, he wasn't up for hearing his wife prod him in the back with a restrained attempt at being relaxed.

"I know this is rough on you dear, but you could at least attempt to show interest."

"That boy's cut from my cloth...There's no way I could lie my way into his heart," Darnia said, and then after a long sigh continued, "I told you this would happen. We gave him just a little leeway, and he's now all too eager to head out the door."

"You could've...reeled him back in, ha-" Misty coughed the moment she tried laughing.

Though it was a weak one, Darnia's smile in that moment was worth the soreness in her throat, and she didn't mind the good-natured ribbing that followed, "You were asking for it when you made such a weak joke."

"I'm mostly serious, dear," She replied once her throat mellowed out, "Building a rod together? That could've been your moment to connect with something he's interested in."

Darnia closed his eyes and shook his head, exhausting himself further with a long-winded sigh, "I'd rather not go through that again."

"You're going to have to give up the line at some point, dear," Misty said with a mild expression of pity, "He's your only son after all."

"...Yes, he is." Darnia mumbled under his breath.

By the time they were done talking this out Sarajin was already well on his way out of Arc Hurricanos, gliding through the calm skies on his way towards his destination.

Not Aquamoria though. First, he had a detour to make.

After flying through the air for many minutes he started to steadily dive down towards the canopy of Tanglefae, glancing at it from afar.

Now that he could see it from this high up he saw the taller trees representing the village in the center of the forest. But that was the only part that stood out, which was not exactly what he was hoping for.

"I thought I'd be able to see Ividae's resting place from here." He bit his teeth down and then tried looking closer at the trees, starting from the entrance to the village.

"I bet if I remember where I went though, I should be able to dive down towards it!" Optimistically drawing upon his memories of a week ago, he remembered going a short distance out of the village and then heading north.

He couldn't use his fingers to glide along the path he took, so he just roughly estimated the amount of steps and proclaimed, "Ok! That'll work!"

He then turned his poncho wings to the right and shifted course. However, he had lowered his arm a little too much and his body made a full spin in place.

His eyes froze stiff with the confidence phased out of his expression as he began a rapid descent towards the trees.

It was at that moment he realized he still hadn't mastered making turns.

"OH NO, NOT AGAAAAAAAAIN!" He screamed as he plummeted towards the forest canopy.

But this time he didn't have to worry about using his powers to save himself. Yes, the trees were more than happy to "help" him land.

By him battering his way through a thicket of branches and getting pricked in the skin multiple times, he eventually slowed down and all that was left was the destined reunion between his face and the ground.

But he came to a very sudden stop, feeling a jolt in his right leg after his foot snagged on some small object.

He was now hanging upside-down a few feet over the ground, dangling around in place like a dandelion setting down following a breeze.

His heart was racing and his mouth was frozen agape from his scream, but overall he felt overjoyed to have made it down safely.

"Whew...! I need to stop having these close encounters with the ground!" He swiped his forehead and then tried to get his bearings straight. First, he looked at his foot and saw that he was stuck to some green object placed between two trees.

It was pretty tough, maybe about as strong as wood given it could hold his weight.

"Ok, first things first, got to free myself from this!" Sarajin tried to pull himself towards the plant but found it was a lot harder when he was upside-down.

"Ooof! Ok, not as easy as it sounds. Maybe if I compress the wind enough..." He started to hold his hand out only to withdraw and shake his head, "No, wait, if I did that it'd probably hurt Ividae."

So instead, he just kept trying to swing his hand up to grab at his foot, only to just barely be out of reach with his best efforts.

Gritting his teeth in a sour expression, he then puffed his cheeks and threw his hand up one more time shooting, "Come on! Reach!"

This time the force he applied pushed his whole body forward and caused his foot to slip out of the vine. He gawked with an expression of blank disbelief as gravity proceeded to drop him onto the ground.

"Ooof!" He shouted, a brief jolt running up his spine.

"Ooooow...!" He was able to stand and rub his back, groaning under the pain of his breath, "A-At least it wasn't my face this time."

He looked around and realized he was surrounded by a bunch of indistinct trees and a couple of bushes. The sun wasn't beaming down as strongly here. In fact the leaves kind of had this weird dark blue tint to them.

"...Where am I?" He wondered aloud.

It was eerily silent until it got broken by the soft jingle of a bell, followed by a tiny, tiny giggle.

Sarajin's heart skipped a beat and his head started turning faster. He couldn't see anyone nearby, even though the giggling had to have been right next to him.

"Hello?" He murmured, fearless in the presence of an unknown entity.

"Heeeeello." "HEEELLLOOOO." His voice was echoed back, in a voice with a diminutive and ghastly tone.

He cautiously took a step back only to be greeted by the presence of glittery lights before his chest. When he looked down he saw a creature so small it could fit right in his hand.

It had sparkly crystal wings as thick as leaves and a body as tiny and lithe as his pinky. Wrapped in a cloth of light-blue glass blades, it stared at him with two columns of three pin-sized black eyes, with everything else about it being as human as a young girl.

"Who are you?" He asked, entranced by its diminutive allure.

"Who are you?" The creature replied, its mouth not moving.

Sarajin grinned and bent down to look it straight in the eyes, "My name's Sarajin Stratos. What's yours, little lady?"

"Sarajin! Sarajin!" The little winged one did a backwards twirl and then rose up towards his nose, "Come with me! Come with me!"

"I'd love to, but I got to be somewhere." Sarajin was reluctant to stand and turn away, and the little one didn't really like it much either as it quickly zipped up before his face again and vividly shook its head.

"Don't go that way! This way! This way! This way!" It began fluttering its wings, releasing sprinkles of light-blue pollen upon Sarajin's face.

Sarajin's eyes began to feel glazed over. But then his nose wiggled, forewarning of a sneeze, one that when unleashed, blew the little one back like they were caught in a hurricane.

Sarajin rubbed his eyes and nose on his sleeve and then murmured, "That...didn't feel good. Sorry about that, I think I'm allergic to the pollen here."

The little one stared unflinchingly at him, and then two more of its ilk fluttered down, advancing upon Sarajin.

Together they sang in a hypnotic tone "Come with us! This way! This way!" and flapped their wings to spread more of the pollen.

But before it could once more graze Sarajin's nostrils, the vine from above broke off and started whipping wildly at the winged creatures. They dispersed in different directions, shrieking quietly into the deeper parts of the woods.

Sarajin stared at their departure, missing out on the vine reaching out and tapping him on the shoulder. Thus he jolted back around in surprise, putting him a few feet looking distance away from the friend he made the last time he came here: Carmine Rose.

He was standing past a pair of trees but from where he was standing, the leaves in the forest were perfectly green and the sun was peeking through.

"Carmine! Hey! Glad to see you, friend!" Sarajin started to walk on over, with Carmine carefully raising his brows and smile.

"Seems like we got you at just the right time. You were about to become prey to the Lumafae." He replied, raising Sarajin's curiosity a peg.

"Lumafae?"

"They're the darkwood denizens of Tanglefae. Our side of the forest gets to enjoy sunlight, but where they live, it's always night. Hence why it's called the Grove of Eternal Night," Carmine explained with the tone of a man twice his age, "The Lumafae love to flutter around the border and try to lure ignorant children into their side. Then they'll sprinkle them with pollen to leave them wandering around uncontrollably, as they take turns sucking blood from their body."

Sarajin recoiled with a squeamish, revolted look on his face, "Eeaugh, that sounds...horrible."

"It gets worse," Was not what Sarajin wanted to hear from him, "Once they've drained you, your body will slowly turn to living wood. Unable to live, unable to die, you'll wander the woods forever."

"..." Sarajin immediately bolted over to the sunny side of the woods and didn't look back.

Carmine walked in front of him and wondered aloud, "Why did you wander into there anyways?"

After a few moments to dial down his heart beat, Sarajin chuckled and rubbed the back of his head slowly, "I-I didn't...I fell out of the sky."

Carmine closed his eyes and smiled, "Ah, that explains it. Ividae was wondering why they felt a tingle coming from one of their vines."

Sarajin raised his head and laughed at himself, "I'm really not representing my Tribe too well, am I?"

"I'm just glad to see you again, Sarajin," Carmine softly opened his eyes and then turned the other way, the two of them beginning to make their way through the calm forest, "So, how is your mother feeling?"

"She hasn't been as sick since taking it," He then looked up towards the trees with an appreciative smile, "So, thanks again for letting me have one."

The tree leaves rustled and Sarajin giggled with joy. He then looked at Carmine and asked, "How are you doing? It seems quiet in the forest again."

"That's generally how it is all the time," Carmine shrugged somewhat and replied, "But that's fine. I've been spending my days napping with Ividae, and talking about how the forest is doing."

Sarajin put his hands behind his head and let out a soothing sigh, "Yeeeeah, I loved laying on top of Ividae. It felt like I was back home in bed."

"Did you come back because you missed that feeling?" Carmine pondered.

Sarajin's eyes snapped wide open and with a rough shake of the head he remarked, "Oh, I wish I could, but there's something I have to take care of in Aquamoria, and I was hoping to get Ividae's help again."

"Our neighbors of the water, hmm?" Carmine rubbed his chin and then gestured his hand away from it, "So what seems to be the problem?"

In what short span of time they had before reaching Ividae's resting place, Sarajin summed up his troubles to his friend, who remained silent until the end.

Then, after Carmine took a seat atop Ividae's back, the mystical mare of the woods creaked its wooden neck around so that it could look at its two guests properly.

Carmine put his hand on his chin and remarked, "I understand now. You came back to Tanglefae to ask for wood to make a fishing rod you can call your own."

"I didn't want to take the wood without permission," Sarajin awkwardly rubbed the back of his head, "I'm sorry if I'm being rude though."

Ividae reared its head back and moaned, with Carmine tilting his head back to stare at them. Then during a calm laugh, he remarked, "There's nothing to worry about Sarajin. Ividae is more than happy to lend a little wood to you."

Sarajin flinched upright. It was weird to be thinking this way and all but, he was honestly half expecting the Titan to say "No".

"A-Are you sure? I kind of feel bad returning just to take something from you again."

Ividae's head creaked with a pair of nods and Carmine raised his brows in response. Carmine then looked straight at Sarajin, whose expression was anxiously awaiting a response.

"Actually, there's one thing Ividae wants to ask you first."

"What is it?" Sarajin replied, craning his head to give the Titan his full respect.

Ividae reared its head back and let out a moan, which Carmine translated to, "Were you able to get in contact with Aquamoria's Titan while you were there?"

"No, I haven't seen them yet..." Sarajin crossed his arms and with a look of both intrigue and worry he asked, "Why...Did something happen to them?"

"Ividae doesn't think anything major happened but," Carmine gestured his hand out and remarked, "They have noticed that there's not as much water flowing into Tanglefae's woods recently."

"Flowing...water?" Sarajin asked, tilting his head.

"You've seen the water stream moving between the trees, right?"

Sarajin had to think about it but his response was immediate and clear, "Yes! I saw it in the village last week!"

"Despite how each Tribe feels about each other, Ividae and Coralcea, Aquamoria's Titan, have arranged to provide a little of their elemental energy to benefit each Tribe's daily lives," Carmine said, speaking maturely like he WAS the Titan of Tanglefae, "The water helps the plants grow, while Ividae grows coconut trees for the people of Aquamoria to make rods with."

"I was wondering why there were trees in Aquamoria," Sarajin nevertheless had raised his brows with mild discomfort throughout the explanation because of how it started, "...About how the Tribes feel though."

"Hmm?" Carmine perked up slightly to listen.

"Did the people of Tanglefae ever do anything to upset Aquamoria in the past? Cause I...got this feeling they don't like you guys. Brine even called you guys 'green-thumbs'."

Carmine closed his eyes and began to murmur, "Well, wouldn't it obviously be because of-"

However, Ividae's whole body shook, throwing the normally resolute Carmine onto his back by surprise. Carmine then propped himself off on his hands and looked up at his friend, raising his tone a little, "That was a little uncalled for."

Ividae shook their head with a moan and Carmine let out a sigh, "Fine, if you insist."

He then looked back at a confused Sarajin to continue, "...To be honest, I don't know. I'm not too attuned with the history of the world outside our borders."

Sarajin hung his head and murmured, "It's just...How can you dislike someone you've never met before?"

Carmine smiled and shrugged, "Your guess is as good as mine, Sarajin. But me? I'd want to meet someone in person before I judged their character."

Sarajin grinned, "Yeah, same here!"

"Heh," Carmine's expression softened, "Well, I hope that mentality will help you against this hostile lady you're dealing with."

"I'm going to do my best to show her that I'm not a thief!" Sarajin proclaimed with determination.

"I can tell you will," Carmine then held his hand out and Ividae used him as a conduit to channel green energy, "We won't keep you waiting any longer."

From the ground two large, black wooden roots rose and twisted themselves together, binding so tightly that they could be heard cracking. They arched somewhere near the top, helping to give it that perfect fishing rod form.

Then, when it was the perfect length, the roots snapped free from the ground and into Carmine's hand. He then extended it towards Sarajin tip forward, remarking in a pleasant tone, "Here you go, a rod as sturdy as they come."

Sarajin grabbed hold of the wood and just gripping it told him how sturdy it was. He could put all his force into gripping it and not even make a splinter crack off.

"This might help me catch bigger fish!" Sarajin then looked up at Ividae and Carmine both and bowed his head, "Thank you both for doing this! I promise to repay you someday, Ividae!"

Ividae reared his head back and moaned, which Carmine translated to, "They said as long as you keep treating Nature well, it will treat you well back."

"Ok, I will!" Sarajin raised his head with a smile and then got moving towards the east, in the direction of Aquamoria.

He turned back and waved his hand up, shouting, "Next time I come around, we can nap and talk about our homes some more, Carmine!"

"I'd like that very much," Carmine began to lay back on top of Ividae, but had one more thing to say first, "But Sarajin?"

Sarajin paused and turned around. Ividae had raised a vine from the ground and used it to gesture to the South.

"Please don't go astray again." Carmine said with a humored chuckle.

Sarajin chuckled back and then started going towards the proper route out of here.

"Also," Carmine interrupted him one more time as he passed in front of him, this time sitting up momentarily with a bundle of these small, deep red fruits in his hands, "Have a snack to keep you going on your way out."

When Sarajin was tossed the fruit he had, "What are these?"

"Acai berries. They're my favorite fruit." He replied with a smile.

"Alright, thanks!" Sarajin then turned but quickly flipped back around when he thought of something else.

"One more thing."

Carmine stopped himself from lying down to look his friend in the eyes, "Hmm?"

"At night, do you see the moon as blue or white?" Sarajin asked, eager to find the answer.

"That's a silly question..." Carmine said with a smile, "Its green, of course."

"Oh yeah, green..." Sarajin lingered on what he said for a moment before his eyes bulged out of their sockets at Carmine. He stared at him for a good long while, then slowly and silently turned away, shaking his head like he wanted to pretend he didn't hear that.

He followed the route out of here while nibbling on those berries. They were tart but very juicy, which was a sensation he would never not enjoy. By the time he ate all the berries he had made it to the familiar dirt road and then not long afterwards, outside of Tanglefae.

From there he was free to give his feet a little rest by using the wind to fly to Aquamoria, keeping low to the ground so should he mess up again, the landing won't be as rough.

The rod provided a bit of trouble but he managed to get close enough to the village before it became an issue. He then dove and made a careful landing on the rocky portion of the surface outside Aquamoria. Now all he had to do was put on his makeshift shoes and step onto the sandy shore once again.

"I hope I didn't keep Brine waiting too long!" Sarajin began running across the beach in a hurry to make it to the docks, where he suspected his new friend awaited him.

And sure enough once he got close enough he could make out Brine sitting off the edge close to the ramp, dangling his fishing rod over the water.

Sarajin ran on up the ramp and without a second thought raised his hand up and shouted, "Hey Brine! I made it back!"

Brine was almost spooked out of his trousers and had to catch his fishing rod before it fell into the water.

He then sat the rod between his legs and turned to Sarajin with a wobbly frown, "Ya scared the kelp off my trousers! Don't be doing that to a fisherman, mate!"

Sarajin sat down beside him and quickly spat up an apology, "Sorry about that. So hey, take a look at what I got!"

He held out the tangled wood and Brine could only sit there and stare it, "...Sarajin, that's just a big stick."

"No, it's my fishing rod!" Sarajin said with pride.

Brine raised his brows and had to resist not smirking and chuckling, "It's a fine piece of wood, mate, but it ain't gonna catch anything lookin' as bare as a skinned urchin."

"I know that," Sarajin replied, his grin growing ever-wider. He carefully put the wood on the docks and then reached into his pockets, pulling out a roll of the same type of material used for his pull strings, "Take a look at THIS!"

Brine's expression got a lot more excited and he could hardly contain it, "WHOA! Where'd ya get a hold of all that line, mate?!"

Sarajin dangled it proudly before his chest and remarked, "It's the material I used to turn my poncho into a glider! I got tons of it back home from all the tests I tried on it!"

Brine forced his hand onto the end of the roll and tugged a bit of it out. He tried to bend it around his finger but it took a while to get all the way around.

"Holy shrimp, mate! This stuff's pretty tough!" Brine then knocked on Sarajin's stick a couple times and gasped, "Between that and this wood, you're gonna be reelin' in some mighty big fish!"

Brine then pulled his legs away from the water and slapped them atop the docks, "So ya gotta tell me mate, where'd you did this wood anyways? Is that why you're so late?"

Sarajin rubbed the back of his head and grinned, "Promise not to tell anyone?"

"Ah, secret's sealed in my lips, mate!" Brine replied, miming the motion.

"Ok, I know this is going to sound crazy but..." Sarajin leaned in and whispered to Brine's attentive ear, "I have a friend in Tanglefae who knows their Titan, and I was able to get their permission for this wood."

Brine pulled away and looked solidly confused. Sarajin nodded to affirm he was serious, but turns out that wasn't his problem.

Brine glanced aside at the wood and then back to Sarajin, firmly crossing his arms to tell him, "I don't think ya can trust this wood then."

"Huh? What are you talking about?" Sarajin murmured, his face twisting in confusion.

Brine shrugged and his answer was simple but added more confusion to the conundrum, "Just sayin' mate, yer expectin' a lazy good-for-nuthin' green-thumb to know what's good enough to fish with."

"...Why are you saying that about someone you haven't met?" Sarajin said firmly, feeling a bit disturbed by Brine's tone.

"Cause it's the truth, mate! Those green-thumbs ain't ever fished before in their lives!"

"Neither did I before yesterday," Sarajin suddenly blurted out, causing Brine's eyes to widen and stay that way, "But you still trusted me and taught me how."

Sarajin then laid his hand on the wood beside him and remarked in as firm a tone as his young voice could muster, "I trust my friend Carmine, so could you please trust him too?"

Brine gave a long-winded sigh and then rubbed the side of his head, "Alright, fine. Guess it ain't worth causin' a fuss over."

He then took this matter more lightheartedly by folding his arms and remarking, "So ya got wood and ya got a line. But you still need the metal parts to bring it all together."

"Where would I get those?" Asked Sarajin.

"That's a good question actually," Brine pulled his head back and seemed to be really deep in thought, "The most valuable part of a rod's well...the rod. Then comes the line, but the metal parts ain't really worth much since they can be reused for other rods."

"Reused?"

"Yeah, say a rod snaps from a failed snag. You'll take the rest of the parts to a fishing rod shop as scrap that can be used again."

"Oh, I understand. It's like when I wear the same clothes multiple days in a row."

"Ehhhh, I guess?" Brine then rubbed the back of his head and murmured, "Whatever works for ya mate, but the point is, since you've already got a working piece of wood and line, you'd probably be fine just asking someone to finish building yer rod."

"Really? Then who would you suggest I go to?"

"Name's escapin' me at the moment, but they're the third stall to the right as you go into the tool section. You'll recognize the place by the pile of old fishing tools in the back." Brine made an effort to point out towards the market but Sarajin didn't need the help to figure out where to go.

"Third stall on the right..." He stood up with wood in hand and line back in his pocket and proclaimed, "Got it! I'll be back shortly, Brine!"

nsfw-woha

"Alright, I'll be right here, practicin' my catches!"

Sarain had the directions repeating in his head as he ran off the docks and towards the market. It was busy as before, but it felt easier to navigate through the crowd.

"Its not fun traveling alone like this," Sarajin let out a brief, melancholic sigh and wondered, "I miss Justek, I hope he's doing ok."

He did eventually get to weave through the crowd and make his way to the designated stall. There, as Brine suggested, there was a pile of metal cylinders, rings and line in the back. But standing close to the front was a burly man with hair on his chest and a bald head. He had tiny anchors dangling off his earlobes and his vest was wrapped around his waist.

"Yer a new face," The man said with a gruff but pleasant accent, "Must be that 'Buzzard' that's got the village all clammin' their mouths."

Sarajin was mildly discomforted as he asked, "That's...not going to be a problem, is it?"

The man crossed his hairy arms and shrugged, "Business is business, guppy. Ain't matter to me if you're from the sky, s'long as you got work, I work."

"And it seems to me like you've brought a very interesting piece of wood t'make a rod with." On that prompting, Sarajin raised his piece of wood up and pulled out the string, laying them both on the counter before the man.

"I just need some metal to put it all together, sir. Brine told me you're the one who can help."

"The Aqua's boy, eh? Sure, let's see what we got 'ere." The man took to the materials before him with interest, first massaging the wood and then tugging the line much like Brine did.

"Looks pretty remarkable, 'specially for an outsider and all," He bent down and some metallic rattling could be heard, after a few seconds of it he rose with a cylinder and some rings, "These oughta fit well, just gimme a few minutes to put it together."

"Sure, I got all day!" Sarajin bowed his head, "Thank you for doing this, sir!"

Sarajin just stood in front of the stall while the expert got to work. To pass the time for the both of, the man struck up a conversation.

"So I heard yer gonna be facin' off against 'lil old Lulu tomorrow morning. Ya nervous?"

"...A little," Sarajin replied, "But not cause I'm having to face her. I just...don't want to have to leave this place forever."

"Yeah, she's a bit of a hard-ass that one." The man said, nodding his head and also, strangely, chuckling a bit.

Sarajin peered over his shoulder and asked, "Do you know how she got that way?"

"Heh, I probably know that better than a lot of men on this shore," The man kept working as he regaled Sarajin with what he knew, "The story goes that she was originally born into a marketing family, someone who works on fishing rods, if I recall correctly."

"But she wasn't born for that life. Nah, she was a lady of the sea and wanted to fish to her heart's desire..." The man temporarily closed his eyes and his tone got serious, "Her old man didn't like that. Demanded she follow the family business."

He shrugged and remarked, "Everybody assumes that out of spite, she made herself the best damn fisherman in Aquamoria to separate herself from her old man as much as she could. And heck, what better way to do that than to become the leader?"

"But that ain't the truth," The man's tone got more optimistic, "The young lass loved to fish with all her heart. When she held a rod in her hands, her eyes sparkled like the sleekest pearls. You'd never find a greater amount of enthusiasm than in her wee heart."

"Somewhere along the way though, I'd guess that fishin' became more than fun for her. It became her entire way of living."

"She still loves fishin', but I don't think she remembers what it's like to have fun."

That last remark caused Sarajin to reflect for a moment, after which he looked at that man again and wondered, "Did she ever get along with her dad again?"

The man closed his eyes and sighed, "Nah, mate. He tried to deny her dream. So in her eyes, he's beyond forgiveness."

"..." Applying that to his own life, Sarajin could only think about his relationship with his father. Though they didn't see eye-to-eye these days, the thought of never talking to him again made him feel...really sad.

"Well, anyways..." The man interrupted his melancholy by planting the newly made rod on the counter. Sarajin turned and looked and it was all put together, and it was perfect in his eyes. It was obvious this man treated this work with the same equality he would any other fishing rod.

When Sarajin held it in his hands he felt powerful in the moment, like he could catch ANY fish that came his way...Maybe even that legendary Golden Reefquiem.

His fantasizing was interrupted by the man telling him, "That's a pretty fine rod, kid."

Sarajin looked up at him and he crossed his arms, flashing a smirk, "You go make sure to have as much fun as ya can with it for me, alright?"

"I will sir, thank you so much!" Sarajin started to leave with the rod embraced against his chest. But he had one last thing to say, "I hope that Lulu makes up with her dad someday..."

Thus he left the store behind. A store that went by the name of "Coraline Catches". And the man, left by his lonesome yet again, uttered a long sigh.

"...Heh, the naivete of youth, eh?" He whispered.

Sarajin scurried back to the docks with his fishing rod and found Brine having reeled in a couple of blue fish with red stripes on their backs, each the length of his upper arm.

The lack of water meant they were already out to try, fortunately preventing Sarajin from having to see them take their last breaths. Though their dead presence did leave him stiff for a moment.

"I-I'm back!" He mustered up the energy to shout.

Brine cocked his head over his shoulder and his eyes immediately looked like they're going to bulge out of their sockets.

"Damn, chum...If that rod were a woman, I'd be wantin' to marry it!" He stood up and took a nice long look at it, but Sarajin wasn't paying attention.

He was happily holding the rod against his body. It felt real, but at the same time it didn't. It was his rod. Sure, he didn't get to make the wood or put it together, but he still went out and made an effort to make it his own.

Because fishing was something he enjoyed doing. It was something he didn't want to stop doing.

Thus, despite Brine practically salivating in front of him, Sarajin looked him straight in the eyes and told him, "Brine, we need to keep fishing."

"Eh?" He replied curtly.

Sarajin nodded and then said, "We only got a day left before the competition, and I'd like to at least have fun fishing while I still can."

"Yeah, true. Time's runnin' out and we've barely made any progress." Brine could restrain himself, giving a little push.

"So..." He then raised his head high and confident and proclaimed, "Shall we get started, chum?"

"Yes! I'm ready when you are!" Sarajin proclaimed.

The two then sat down, grabbed their respective fishing rods, and got to work.

Brine would continue to drill random trivia about the species of fish in Aquamoria into Sarajin's head, along with testing out baits and hooks.

They would fish into the afternoon, and then well into the night. And though the day seemed to drag out longer than expected, Sarajin had a lot of fun just talking with Brine about fishing, and about his home as well.

Ultimately though, Sarajin could not catch as many fish as he would've liked, but as he returned home that evening the number was the furthest thing from his mind.

Tomorrow, he was going to be facing Lulu Coraline, the leader of Aquamoria. But to the bitter end he vowed to go into that competition with one idea in mind...To have fun, even if it would be the last time he'd get to do so there.

Next Time: Opposing Reels