Following the direction of repeated, loud screeches led Jade and Skipfin to a sight that certainly wasn't what she expected. A pair of chums slapping and bashing against one another while their jaws both held onto a singular piece of meat. Jade's yellow eyes narrowed and her mouth was slightly agape in her unamusement; food was always a necessity, but was fighting and injuring one another for one measly slab of meat really necessary?
Apparently yes, for neither of the chums looked like they were about to relent anytime soon. "Wait here, Skipfin," Jade ordered as she set down the smallfry on the ground and walked up to the fighting chums. She picked them both up from the ground and kept their flailing bodies apart, in turn causing the meat to drop onto the dirt, and gave a glance at their displeased faces.
"Hey, cut it out you two. There's no point in fighting," Jade reasoned.
"My sustenance! He tried to take it!" One chum argued.
"Headbutt found it first before he came to steal it!" The second fired back. Jade tightened her grip on the two to stop them from yelling at each other again.
"I get it. Really, if I were hungry too, I wouldn't wanna give up my lunch. But there's a better way to go about this, and it's really simple too."
The chums both faced Jade with a confused brow, and she dropped them both on the ground and quickly snatched the meat before either of them could take it. She simply tore the meat in two halves and handed one to each salmonid. Both of them immediately got to work devouring their respective halves.
"See? Simple."
The chums nodded, and after a trade of friendly waves they went on their way. Skipfin hurried toward Jade again and leapt to her shoulder, and after a brief exchange the pair were on their way once more.
"Wut wussat yu did, Jade?" Skipfin asked, his eyes radiating curiosity.
"I let them share the food," The girl answered in a matter-of-factly tone, "Nothing special really."
Skipfin's oooing noise implied otherwise. "Shharrriing? So two salmon can eat one food and be happy?"
"Yes…? I thought they already taught you that. Sharing is caring after all."
The smallfry shook his head however, much to Jade's surprise. "When not enough food, salmons fight for it. Winner gets to have all of food."
"That's.. really dumb, not gonna lie."
"Ya.. Skipfin never get any food, even when trying to! Skipfin hungry…" The smallfry pouted sadly, a brief rumble soon coming from his belly.
"I can't help you there," Jade frowned, now cradling the smallfry in her arms. "But maybe we can find something while looking around!"
"Like dat fire over there?"
Jade took her sight forward, and sure enough she could see a bonfire in the distance along with a school of salmonids surrounding it.
"What the.." She approached it with cautious steps, and upon closer inspection it looked to be a roasting of sorts, with a few chunks of meat or smaller fish on sticks being dangled over the flame. The other salmonids either stared intently at the fire with hungry tongues or bashed one another impatiently. The apparent cook noticed Jade and immediately brushed her off with a fin and the phrase "No meat!"
Jade glanced at the five or so chunks of meat lying around next to the cooking salmonid, then looked at the fish itself and furrowed her brows. "Sure, and then you'll say that the water's frozen."
"Meat for waiting customers. Want some, tailpaws will have to wait," The cook replied, not taking his eyes off the fire.
"And how long that will take is..?"
"Two days! Now git in line!"
Jade scoffed. No way was she going to wait that long for just some food! But there didn't seem to be a way to get any, either. At least not on land..
But what of the sea? Surely she could grab something there, like a fish or two. Would the salmonids be bothered with what she could assume was cannibalism, though?
Eh. Probably not.
She walked up to the nearest shore, her gaze focused on the waves crashing below her feet. She knew what she had to do, but how to go about it..
"U-um.. Skipfin? Can you swim well?"
The smallfry nodded yes.
"Good. I'll need your help in these next few moments, and I want you to give it all you've got, ok?"
The smallfry nodded again, and after another apprehensive look at the waves, Jade leapt into the sea.
And not even ten seconds later threw herself back onto the shore. With shaky hands and legs, Jade picked her shivering self up from the sand. She craned her neck to take another long look at the sea; the stupid, annoyingly slick thing that can't help but get everywhere in her, and hesitated.
"What wrong, Jade?" Skipfin's sudden question broke Jade out of her stupor, his head poking out from the water.
"...N-nothing. I'll take a little bit of time, is all," The girl reassured with a fake smile, and Skipfin dived back down. That should keep him occupied for a little longer.
With firmer steps, Jade approached the water, stopping at the bit of land closest to the sea. She closed her eyes, took in a deep breath, and reassured herself; There was nothing to lose, there was nothing to fear. The waves could harm, yes, but they held no power over her. This time, they would be her guide. All she had to do was believe, focus..
And dive in.
So Jade did as her conscious told. She felt different somehow upon entering the water; lighter, and as if she'd shrunk and her legs were bound together, not to mention having webbed stubs for hands. Wait a second-
She'd changed forms! She now resembled a small grey fish with orange fins on her tail and across the top of her body with a white underbelly, bearing a closer resemblance to the other salmonids. How she managed to achieve it was of no importance at the moment; She had a sea to roam and some fish to hunt, and this form w
The salmon zipped to and from all over the expanse of water, doing little twirls and spins every so often just because. Soon, she spotted a small fish minding its own business and dove towards it at full speed. Catching the fish with her mouth was no challenge at all, and though she couldn't quite gulp it down yet, the taste of its flesh on her teeth sure was sweet. Surprisingly, Skipfin managed to catch one all on his own as well, and upon seeing each other the two salmons chirped happily.
The rest of the supposed 'hunting session' went by smoothly, with the pair working together to catch more and more fish. By the time they got out of the water, Jade and Skipfin had collected so many of the buggers that their respective hands and fins were quite literally full. Jade couldn't help but snicker at the dumbstruck faces the salmonids by the fire had as she passed them. The cook, most of all, looked like he'd seen a ghost with the way his wide eyes were trained on the many fishes that Jade promptly dropped at his tailfin.
"Dinner's ready," The salmonling snarked in a sweet tone. With the cook unable to answer with anything more than a stutter, Jade held on to one of her fishes and took the stick with cooked meat, and seeing that there were no protests from anyone nearby she began to walk away.
She almost laughed after listening to the sounds of hungry salmonids scrambling to get as many of the fish as they could.
Satisfied with her handiwork, Jade departed the feasting site with Skipfin at her side. Where to go next was unknown to them both, however, and for some time they remained wandering aimlessly.
"Seriously.. I'm starting to think everyone here has the brain of a flea. How couldn't they have come up with my idea earlier?"
"Salmons not fleas.. why Jade say that?" Skipfin asked, looking up at Jade with his confused pair of eyes.
"Well.. seeing as how they didn't think of the most basic solutions to their little food problem and don't know of things like sharing or how to cook a fish the proper way, or the simple act of looking for more fish.. you just don't seem like a very smart folk to me."
Skipfin looked down and emitted a whine, and Jade in turn brought him to her eye level. "No offense, though! Really, with just a little more practice and.. studying.. you'll get better!"
"Really?" The smallfry wondered, to which Jade nodded with a small smile. The smallfry cheered.
The pair eventually made it to the entrance of a large canyon, with twin rocky hills looming high. They passed the entrance and continued moving forward, however they were not alone. From the shadows and behind a row of rocks, a Cohock lied in wait. With a dozen or so salmonids by his side, they watched the salmonling pass.
"That her, alright," one among the group said.
"strrrange finz she has," Another noted, furrowing their brows.
"Indeed... " The cohock nodded, his bulging yellow eyes narrowing at the girl. Studying. Assessing. "Tailpaws sour, stiff even.. but nothing some.. cooking up won't fix once she joins usss…"
It wasn't long before a loud yell reverberated all around Jade and Skipfin, even making them cover their ears. Once it stopped, she looked to see the school of salmonids in full and out in the daylight, the Cohock standing in front of his dozen or so lackeys.
"Tailpaws!" He called. All manner of noise and racket behind the fat salmonid ceased, and the raising of his fin to signal her out brought all eyes on her.
Jade froze. She'd been caught in the headlights of woe and intrigue called attention. Lucky her..
"Um.. me?" She pointed a claw at herself in a clueless manner, to which the Cohock followed with a deep hearty laugh. "Yes, yu!" He confirmed, "Yu look a little pale there, Hen," The Cohock noted, it's bulging yellow eyes probing Jade in a suggestive manner, "Nothing a little shake-up can't fix tho, eh boys?"
The other salmonids nodded and cheered eagerly. Some eyed the salmonling with suspicion and vice, others with simple curiosity.
"Wha-ha-hat? Nah, I'm fine! Better than fine!" Jade waved off. A misstep back caused her stance to wobble and slip briefly, but she was able to remain standing.
"Fine, yu say.. but yer quivering like a snatcher says otherwise, Hen."
"I-I just.." Jade looked down for a few seconds, but her stare only hardened upon facing the Cohock again. "I just need a little practice."
It was nerve-wracking. She couldn't drop her brave face for even a moment, or else these ruffians would surely commit terrible and filthy deeds onto her.
The cohock chuckled once more, "Then yu came to the right place! Let's give the new fish a warm welcome, boys… with some SPICE!"
At that, 4 salmonids rushed Jade all at once, each swinging their frying pans wildly at the salmonling. With quick sidesteps and even quicker dodges Jade remained unharmed against the salmonids' advances, and a wide swing of her fishy tail swatted all of them away. A yell from behind alerted her, and she ducked under another salmon's sneak attack just in time to then kick him away with the brunt of her leg.
"GIT THAT TAILPAWS!" The cohock ordered, his lackeys already descending on the salmonling.
She in turn picked up Skipfin in her arms and began running, though her digitrade legs were too slow to outrun the chums and smallfry that soon encircled her. Any that dashed or lunged at her were swiftly kicked away, and Jade managed to succesfully dodge or duck out of the swings of some chum's frying pans.
A hit from the back caused Jade to stagger and drop Skipfin, creating an opening for another chum to rush in and bite on Jade's abdomen. With a pull, he tore off the girl's ruined t-shirt, while another did the same with her shorts. In retaliation Jade used her tail to slap the attacker behind her before swinging a claw and slashing at the pants ripper.
Yet another salmon charged, bashing it's head against her chest and pushing Jade to the ground, where upon a few more chums all jumped in and began 'kicking' her down with their tails.
"Knock it off.." Jade demanded in a low growl, pitifully shielding her head with her hands. The fishes would not relent, however. The cohock merely watched from where he stood while skipfin, who had fallen off Jade's back, was left helpless to do anything to stop his larger peers.
"GET OFF ME!" Jade threw the chums off her with great strength, scattering them in the air to different directions. Awe and surprise permeated through the crowd backed away, some even murmuring worriedly amongst themselves. Jade merely looked back, her stare furrowed and piercing, as if silently taunting them to try again. No one dared to step forward.
Jade smirked before turning and walking away. Of course they wouldn't, not unless they were dumb enough to want their faces smushed up by her. She'd slash them, bite them off, mash them into paste, utterly rip out these stupid fishes and feed on them. Yes, they'd be very delicious..
She stopped and shook those thoughts away. Only savages would dare to do any of those things, and she definitely wasn't one, nor would she try to be even if her own senses demanded it. Still, it was hard to not wonder just what they tasted like..
Jade shook her head again with a whine. Yet the moment she took another stop, a sudden heavy weight dropped onto her back and caused Jade to buckle under it. It was none other than the cohock that started this whole charade, who now stood triumphantly over her splayed out body.
"A feisty Hen yu arr.. but still lacking in taste," The Cohock surmised like a critic.
"I don't understand half of what you're on about!" Jade complained while struggling under the large salmonid.
"Soon you will see. The earth boils, it yearns for new sustenance. Through the heat of battle, we grow ever succulent, ever stronger, until our flesh is ripe for the soil to feast on. You too can gain strength; and with your flesh, nurture the earth. Given enough time in the heat, that is.."
"Is this guy for real?!" Jade practically screamed in her mind, her eyes going as wide as dinner plates. 'Hen'? 'Heat?' 'Lacking in taste'? 'feasting soil?' All these terms and meanings she didn't understand being thrown around all at once, she was sure her head would explode by the end of the week. And it was only noon…
At the moment, the salmonling desired nothing more than to get this looney Cohock out of her sight, and after taking a few seconds to ponder how, the answer was clear in her mind.
Jade simmered down and with a bit of effort shifted into her fish form to slip out under the Cohock while he wasn't looking. Once he finally noticed her absence under his weight his bulging eyes widened and darted around from side to side, looking for where the salmonling had slipped off to. It was too late, for Jade had already sneaked up behind the salmonid.
"I lack 'taste', huh?" Jade asked threateningly, grabbing the Cohock by the cusp of his head and bringing him down and around to her eye level, "How about this, then?!"
The salmonling kneed the Cohock in the head, disorienting him, and with his belly exposed Jade then threw a powerful punch at his chest.
She didn't count on her right fist to instead tear through the salmonid and leave a gaping hole in the middle of his belly.
The gathered Salmonids went wild at this, with shouts and yells hogging the air and many faces of shock and awe transfixed on the pair. Jade let out a gasp, her eyes wide and panicked, and hastily pried her forearm off the Cohock. She could only watch in disbelief as he fell on his back, gurgling and bleeding green ink, and his subordinates rushed to his side.
"O-oh my gosh.. I'm sorry, I-I didn't mean to-!"
The Cohock's crazed laugh interrupted Jade, however. Even as ink dripped from his cavity and snout and his tiny fins slowly went limp, he continued to cackle as if having the time of his life. Her body tensed as she watched; what was it with this guy?! His body was dying, his consciousness vanishing and he was laughing about it?! How could he?!
"That's it. Your taste, your fire.. doubtless it will grow with each step you take… This first deed of yours has already refined it. Yes, the soil will be most pleased with your progress-!" The cohock's sentence couldn't finish as he entered a coughing fit.
Jade glanced uneasily between the Cohock's eyes and the hole on his chest. "S-save your strength, ok? I'll call a doctor, they'll be able to… to.."
Jade didn't speak further. It was no use. No one and nothing here would be able to heal the cohock, let alone stop the bleeding.
As the school of salmonids gathered around the Cohock, he continued. "Ah… Do not trrrouble yurself with me, Hen, this is merely the next step in life. Soon I will be.. one with our soil…"
Not a second passed before the Cohock gave his last breath and his eyes fluttered shut. The deed was done.
The salmonids glanced between one another and the now lifeless body of the Cohock, while various mutters fluttered between their ears and the gusts of wind. Jade's body stiffened and her mind raced; What would they do to her now? Some form of punishment?
One chum swam closer and peered through the empty chest of the dead salmonid before facing his kin and remarking, "He's left us…"
"Tailpaws did it.." Another from the crowd added.
"He.. he has passed on! He has achieved unity with the land! Praise be to Headtrout!"
The salmonids then began a sort of chant, bowing up and down repeatedly in the process, all the while four chums from the crowd picked up the lifeless body of Headtrout, holding it high for all nearby to see.
"O Headtrout, much feasts there are to be had~ May your tailfin and beak swim evermore~" They chorused solemnly, as the 4 carriers began to haul the Cohock back to the village.
Jade remained silent, however, her stern gaze also fixated on the departing quintet. Skipfin's small frame soon skittered over to her side and looked up eagerly at her. "Are you o-k, Jade?"
"I'm.. I'm fine, Skipfin. You can, uh, go on without me," Jade said with a shaky breath.
The smallfry tilted his head at this, but nonetheless acknowledged Jade and skittered off to the village with the rest of the fishes. Alone once more, Jade looked down at her dirty, stained right arm; the arm that plunged into Headtrout's chest and took his life. Perhaps some more care was required if she were to hone her strength. Scratch that, a city's worth of care was needed if she truly wanted to keep control.
Dusk was rapidly passing, and the salmonling had left for a small reserve of water near a cluster of huts to once more make sense of the myriad of worries that plagued her head. It's not that she actually cared for 'Headtrout' or whatever his name was, he was just another Cohock. She's beaten plenty of them before. Truthfully, her main worry was if the others would bring any punishment unto her because of her action. Anything of the sort sounded dreadful, moreso if she receives some sort of exile.
Jade really didn't want to be kicked out..
But those worries were for later, she reminded herself. For now, she was still thirsty. So she took another sip of water. And another, and another, and one more after that. As many as necessary. The water would surely wash away her troubles if she kept at it.
It's rancid taste caught up, however, and Jade spat out a long stream of water at the nearby dirt. She gagged, disgusted.
"Jaaaade!" The shrill, raspy voice of Skipfin called out. "Come village! ce-re-moh-nee about to start!"
Jade raised a brow. A ceremony? That sounded unusual… still, perhaps it was worth a look. She stood up and walked away from the reserve, and with Skipfin leading the way she returned to the village.
Another strange sight greeted Jade; A big open barbecue grill at the center of the area, with a ring of fire encircling it and two rows of stairs in front and behind it. And so many salmonids out and about, It was as if the entire village came together around this thing. Definitely seemed like a big deal.
One of the fishes, wrinkled, frail and likely old, hopped to the top of one of the stairs and addressed all gathered. His words were little more than drivel, and Jade zoned out two or three times while the elder salmonid droned on. The others seemed interested, however. Eventually he raised and slammed what seemed to be a staff held in his fin two times, and all immediately fell silent. Jade looked around; the sky was darker now, yet no lights have been ignited yet. What was going on?
The answer soon came. With torches in fins and a load behind their back, three salmonids advanced in unison, the crowds parting to make way for their approach.
"What the.." Jade trailed off, looking over to see the trio. Those things they were holding looked awfully familiar, the large one especially. Their squirming and shifting was also unnatural. Almost as if they were bodies.
They stopped at the top of the frontal stairs and dumped what she now identified as salmonids onto the grill, and upon placing a small torch near it the grill heated up. The dead salmonids- Headtrout among them- were being literally cooked up in the grill.
Jade looked on, a mix of curiosity and fear present on her widened eyes. The villagers didn't even flinch, and while a set of drums began to play out of nowhere the fishes on the stairs began another chant. The air suddenly felt hot, and the fishes in the grill resembled less and less normal salmonids as the grilling continued at an ever faster pace.
Jade could feel the waves of heat brush against her scales and skin, even having to wipe off a few beads of sweat on her face, and the fires around the grill seemed to intensify. Though her sight was trained on the tall machine, another object was noticeable from the corner of her eye.
Up in the air, a pair of propeller hat-wearing salmonids (Chinooks, as they were called by Grizzco) held a wide black pot lid and began to gently lower it down.
"Wait a sec. Is that..?"
The smoke that formed around the machine made things a bit hard to see, but she could still make something out. Three large pinkish tails poking out, and together with the grill and the descending grill created an all too familiar image. Once the chinooks reached a low enough altitude, lid and grill linked together, closing the contraption. It whirred and trembled, until it abruptly stopped.
At the sound of a high-pitched loud whistle, steam rose from the bowel of the grill-like machine. A small lens suddenly ignited with a crimson light, and after the metal rods that supported the grill extended and rose it to it's tallest height, a deafening screech that sounded like the rubbing together of two jagged pieces of metal pierced the night air and ensnared the ears of all present.
With a large pink tail poking out from inside, the machine rolled out of the pedestal and into the crowd.
"It's a Griller," Jade said in disbelief, "S-so this is how they're made?"
The newly activated Griller was met by a standing ovation from the gathered salmonids, cheering and hollering loudly in celebration of their new protector. At least that's what a few of the chums near Jade mentioned.
Strange. As it paraded around the crowds, it seemed to return some of the greetings and high fives the salmonids gave with a few twirls and spins of its wheels, although in a very stiff manner. Wasn't it made from the deceased salmons? Did their.. wandering spirits or something guide the machine,gave it a will of its own while hunting down salmon runners during the shifts?
A mystery to be sure, but one that Jade didn't feel like finding the answer for right now. During it's rollaround the griller stopped right in front of her and Skipfin. Though the smallfry greeted the machine with joy in his face, hopping up and down and reaching for the Griller with his fins, Jade instead froze, daring not to move a muscle and her yellow-green eyes looking up in fear at the machine as it's red optic bore down on her. It aimed a thin laser at her, and remained that way for an unnaturally long amount of time. Others even stopped to look at the supposed stand-off and wondered what was wrong. Did the Griller feel inclined to attack her?
And yet, nothing happened. The laser vanished and the Griller rotated in place- a nod perhaps?- before continuing on its parade.
"Uh..? Wut was that about?" Skipfin wondered aloud.
"I think.. I think it just wanted to say hello."
"But rolley grill said hi to everyone. Why focus on us?"
"Whatever it is.." Jade took a look around the lively square, the griller that moved about, and then moved her gaze to the night sky and the new moon overlooking everything below.
"I'm sure it's a sign. A sign that everything's gonna work out."