The duo hadn't been home from Khrumbul-Dun long when Brownbeard came running up to Lily who was working on some project on the beach. "Brownbeard? You're getting rather brave, aren't ya?" Lily laughed as she wiped her brow and held a hand out for the bottle that the captain was carrying.

"This washed up, my little land lover!" He turned to leave Lily to her work, pausing only for a moment. "If it has information about a new island, just come see me!"

Lily nodded some as she opened the bottle, shaking out a note.

'Greetins from the fish fanatic's paradise!

Me an' me fishin buddy 'ave been livin' 'ere for bleedin' yonks now, nuffin but our rods an' the fish for company. We spend our days castin' off waitin' for a bite! It's 'eaven, I tell ya! There's just one fing missin' – a place for all our fishy friends to live! If a builder reads this, we need yer 'elp! Come to Angler's Isle sharpish an' build us an aquarium!'

Lily grinned at the sloppy handwriting as she turned the note over, seeing a crudely drawn map on the back. "Oh, Malroth! Wanna go on an adventure?!"

Malroth popped up from the sand nearby, not even upset that Lily had accidentally buried him. "Fuck yeah, I do! What are we waiting for!?" He sprang up, picking Lily up and tossing her onto his shoulder as he ran for the boat. "You've kept me pent up on this island for far too long, Lils!"

Lily let out a squealing laugh as she held tight to the note, handing it off to Brownbeard when Malroth launched onto the boat. "Angler's Isle, please!"


Lily and Malroth bounded off the ship when Brownbeard docked to the island. They looked to each other when they saw a tan girl with purple hair sitting on a hill that looked over the water below. The two trotted over to her, staying quiet as the girl mumbled to herself. "I can't believe that bloomin' plonker went an' carked it. 'E proper left me in the lurch this time…" She happened to glance over, seeing, but not seeing Lily and Malroth standing off to the side. Then realization hit her, and she fumbled with her fishing rod, gawking at the two newcomers. "Oi! 'Oo the bleedin' 'ell are you?! An' wot're ya doin' on me island!?"

"My name is Lily, I'm a builder. This is Malroth, he's my muscles. We read your letter and decided to come out here-"

"Wot the fu- Sorry, mate, but I dunno wot yer chattin', I ain't written no letters." She put a hand on her strong hip, showing off the strong muscles of her torso. "Look, I ain't really in the mood to natter – me mate's gone missin', an' me nets are knackered. Ya seem like a nice lass, but do us a favor an' jog on, yeah? I didn't come 'ere to make new friends, so just leave me be…"

Lily frowned when the girl turned away from her and went back to fishing. "I can fix your nets."

"I asked ya to leave me alone, but ya still wanna 'ave a chat. Don't nothin' faze you, eh?" The girl grumbled as she looked at Lily, a dark look over her shoulder. "Fine. If ya really are a builder, then prove it."

"Challenge, accepted." Lily grinned before bounding away and collecting what she needed to make netting, once she had some fixed up, she ran back to the girls' fishing hole where she happily jumped in.

Malroth stood next to the girl, smirking at how she watched Lily fix the netting up real quick like it was nothing. "So, about not wanting to chat…"

"Gordon Bennett's a barracuda's brother! Ya fixed me fish cage up good an' proper! Ya really are a builder…" The girl was slack jawed as a very wet Lily rejoined the other two on the hill. "Thanks for that. Ya might just 'ave saved me bacon there. But if I was a follower o' the Children, I'd be beatin' the livin' daylights outta ya right now."

Malroth grabbed his axe, frowning at the girl. "Are you?"

"Oh, fuck off wiv that shite! I ain't one o' them ninny headed- anyway, Gillian's the name. I fled me 'ome and came 'ere, as far away as I could get. There ain't nothin' to do on this island but fish." The girl shrugged, a put off sigh leaving her. "I guess this means I ain't getting' rid o' you any time soon, eh?"

"Nope!"

"Fine, wot're ya doin' all the way out 'ere, any'ow? Are you into fishin'?"

"Never fished a day in my life."

"I thought as much. You just don't 'ave the look of an angler. A fish is wot you are, danglin' on the 'ook o' fate, ya are." Gillian scuffed her old boot on the ground as she gave Lily a look, examining the smiling girl. "Tell ya wot, ya can 'ave this. Consider it a little thank you present for mendin' me nets."

Lily took the fishing rod, eyes sparkling as she turned to Malroth. "I'm gonna learn how to use this! Just you watch!"

"I never said you wouldn't." Malroth laughed as he sat on the ground, watching Lily and Gillian interact.

"I dunno wot was written in that letter ya read, but wotever it said, I can tell it's lit the fishin' fire in yer belly. I guess I could teach ya the ancient mysteries o' fishin'. It ain't like I got nothin' better to do." When Lily nodded her head faster than Gillian could track, she laughed. "That's the answer I wanted! From now on, yer me apprentice. I'll train you up into a first-class fisher, you'll see!"

Malroth shrugged his jacket off, the sun wasn't cooking him like it did in Khrumbul-Dun, but it was hot enough that he was sweating as Lily and Gillian ran off to one of the rocky shores to fish away the day.

An hour went by and the girls were cheering and giggling, the noise making Malroth grin in his moment of shut eye. He slowly opened one eye, seeing Lily was holding up a decent sized fish. "Hey! You caught one." He rolled over, barely dodging the rock Lily had thrown. "Hey! That could have done damage!"

"Oh, you'd recover!" Gillian waved him off as she took the fish from Lily. She let out a sharp whistle as she handed it back. "This ain't no beginner's luck – you've got the angler's touch! Now ya know 'ow to use this puppy, ya can cast off any place there's water. I'm sure you'll find a fair few 'oney 'oles where the fish don't never stop bitin'!"

"Hey, Gillian… why'd you choose such a remote island when you could fish anywhere in the world?" Lily turned and let the fish go in the pool Gillian had been fishing out of.

"It's cos o' them stinkin' Children o' 'Argon, innit. All their 'buildin's bad, destruction's great' nonsense was proper startin' to peck me 'eah!" She growled, crossing her arms over her chest. "There's no bleedin' way I was gonna live in a world like that, so I said, 'I ain't 'avin' it!' an' I legged it. This is where I ended up."

"You know, we have an island that you could come live on, there's plenty of water that you could fish in. There are people there too, I think you'd enjoy the company of Digby and Dougie. And Babs!" Lily sat next to Gillian when the girl sat above the fishing hole.

Gillian glanced at Lily, clearly catching where Lily was trying to take this conversation, but she only leaned back, slowly kicking her feet as she did. "I can see it in yer eyes, Lily – fishin' 'as got you 'ooked. But 'ow'd ya like to catch somethin' that ain't mackerel? Word 'as it there's somethin' to the tuna forty different kinds o' fish out there. If ya thought it finished at mackerel, ya don't know the scale of it."

"Looking a little dreamy, Gillian. You're sure you don't wanna travel the world and find more fish?" Lily teased the more muscled female.


Hours had passed leaving Malroth starting to become mind numbingly bored. He rolled over, seeing Lily was having the grandest of time fishing. "Oi! Lils, what do you say to moving to this island with Gillian and forgetting about the world, huh?"

Lily looked over at Malroth, a slow smile spreading on her lips. "Maybe once I'm done building on the Isle, yeah?" She ran over to him, giving him a quick kiss before rejoining Gillian on the shore. "You've talked about your mate a few times, what was their name?"

"Finn. 'E went out on a fish-findin' mission an' never come back. Good bloke 'e was an' all. Bit of a nosy so-an'-so, but a mate, nonetheless. I'm sad to see 'im gone, to be 'onest." The two girls jumped a bit when Gillian's stomach rumbled out loud, and then another rumble from behind them turning, seeing Malroth rubbing his stomach with a frown as he lay there on the ground. "Guess we're gettin' 'ungry."

"Guess so! I'll go cook up some fish." Lily grinned at Gillian before jumping over Malroth and over to a little fire nearby. She prepped the fish she had caught earlier and started to work on cooking them when she stifled a yawn.


The sun was setting as Lily placed a sunfish, rockfish and a clown fish into the fishing hole. She grinned when Gillian and Malroth leaned over the edge of the hole, beaming down at the fish down there. "My, o' my! Look at the size o' that sunfish! I ain't never seen one that big!" Gillian gawked at the large fish before looking to Lily. "Ya know wot I just realized? You've caught five different kinds o' fish already. You picked up the basics faster than wot I gave ya credit for. I gotta say, I'm proud o' ya, Lily!" She relaxed, a small shrug in her shoulders. "That's all the different fish that live in these parts, sorry to tell ya."

Gillian shot up, shielding her eyes to try to see better. "Oi! You see that!?"

Lily whirled around, searching the darkening waters as the sun started to set behind them. "I think you're going crazy, Gillian, I don't see anything."

"Right over there! There's something… golden?" Malroth was kneeling next to Gillian, eyes narrowed in the same direction as the angler.

Lily hopped up to their level, still not seeing whatever it was that they saw. She let out a sigh and followed them as they raced down to the shore as Gillian shouted about what kind of rare fish it might be. When they got to the rocky shore, Lily cast her line, gasping when something immediately caught her hook. "Uh! Guys! A-A little help!"

Gillian wrapped her arms around Lily, barely holding the builder to the rocks. She let out a shriek when Malroth easily picked the two of them up and yanked them back away from the edge. She caught whatever had snagged Lily's line, her eyes wide. "'Ey… wait a minute… this ain't no golden fish – it's just a grubby yellow mask. But… but I've seen this yellow mask before…" She looked up at Lily, eyes round with the threat of emotions. "Finn… there ain't no doubt about it. This is Finn's mask. 'E loved this mask, 'e did. Never took the thing off, not even when 'e was kippin'…" She got up, dropping the mask as she moved away, her head hanging in defeat. "If it ain't on 'is 'ead, it can only mean one thing – geezer ain't in the land o' the livin' no more…"

"Gillian…" Lily watched as Gillian made her way back to the hut she had been staying in before Lily and Malroth had shown up. "Well, shit."

Before Gillian got too far away, she turned and spoke. "If ya fished up that mask 'ere, Finn's boat can't 'ave sunk too far away. If… If ya don't mind, Lily… I'd love to give the bloke a proper send-off…"

Lily and Malroth gave the girl a nod as she resumed her path, Lily leaned down, snagging up the helmet. "Let's go, Mal. Maybe we can find him, yeah?" The two made their way along the shore until the reached some drift wood. "Down here?" Lily went to jump in when Malroth grabbed her arm. "What?"

"You hear that? I hear someone talking." Malroth was looking around, trying to pin point it.

"Is Gillian talking to herself?"

"No, I can hear her whimpering. This is a muffled noise, like someone is talking in a cave."

The two stared at each other before nodding and jumping into the water, looking for something that resembled a cave. Malroth grabbed Lily again, pulling her into a hole and pointing to something that looked like a cave in beneath them. He watched as his builder took her hammer out and easily took out the rocks. He grabbed her when the water rushed down, yanking the two down into the hole. A man was there, his soft featured face distorted in shock as he watched Lily and Malroth cough up sea water, the same water that was quickly filling his hole. "My good lady, please do not sneak up on me like that! You gave me such a nasty fright that I nearly had a little accident!"

Lily looked up at the man, her head tilting from curiosity. His body was well built, like the miners back on Khrumbul-Dun, but his face was closer to Perry's. "Oh… that's not right." She pushed herself up, gasping when the man rushed her.

"Hold on a second! What's that you have there? That doesn't belong to you!" He yanked the helmet away from her, glaring at her.

"Finn?"

"Now that you've seen me mug, I'm afraid I can't let ya leave 'ere alive-"

"Gillian misses you, Finn!" Lily jumped back when he went to swing, though Malroth easily caught the strong fist, stopping the burly man in his tracks. "She sent us down here after we found your mask to bring up your body, but luck is in our favor, I suppose. Seeing as you aren't a corpse!"


Gillian was still speechless as she stared at her old friend, not sure if he was really alive as she poked at his muscled chest. "Finn?" She let out a growl when the male wrapped his burly arms around her, squeezing her against him. "I'm back, Gill! I could never live wiv meself if I died an' left ya all alone! Blimey, it ain't 'alf good to see you again, me darlin'!"

Gillian lashed out, easily knocking Finn out. She stepped back, dusting her hands off as she glared at him. "'Oo're ya callin' 'darlin'?! Well, Lily, as I'm sure you've 'eard, that's Finn. Me an' 'im go way back. Bloke's always kept an' eye out for me. When I ran away from the Children of 'Argon, 'e followed me. Said I'd need protection. I told 'im 'get out of it', but then 'e started cryin', so I let 'im tag along.

'Ere, another thank you present for savin' my friends bacon. I reckon if ya put that swimsuit on an' sorted yer 'air out, you'd look even better wiv a fishin' rod in yet 'ands!" Gillian laughed when Malroth stared at the piece of cloth she handed to Lily. "I ain't never gonna wear it, can't be givin' this one any ideas, ya know?"

"Oh. I know." Lily looked at Malroth, seeing the confusion in those ruby eyes of his. She put a hand on her hip and started to say something when Finn looked up at her. "So, the lass 'oo saved me bacon says she's really a builder… wot a loud o' tosh! I know I owe ya one, but I ain't buyin' that story for a second!" He pushed himself up, glaring at Lily. "If ya want me to trust ya, you'll have to show me yer skills. If ya can make me a newfangled kind o' fishin spot, there's a chance I might think abaht believin' yer a builder."

Lily shrugged, rolling her eyes. "Your loss. I don't care what you think. A builder doesn't have to prove nothing to anyone. I know what I am, if you don't believe me, then that's on you."

"Wot! Fine! Maybe ya can prove yerself as an angler instead! I want ya to go to the underground lake on Khrumbul-Dun an' bring me back some fish! A trio of Angelfish to be precise! An' I don't wanna see yer mug back 'ere till you've caught 'em, GORRIT!?" Finn stomped in place, pouting at Lily.

"That works for me. I'm sure Babs would like to see Goldi again." Lily purred as she looked to Malroth, seeing the gleam in his eyes, excitement to see Khrumbul-Dun again.


Babs lifted her chin, breathing in the hot air that belonged only to Khrumbul-Dun. "I think I'll stay 'ere for a few days, if tha's alright?" She looked to Lily and Malroth as they headed towards the mines.

"I figured you would, that's why I insisted you come along." Lily gave Babs a wink before waving up at the Golden Bar. "Hiya, Goldi!"

Lily! Malroth! Babs! Hello!

"Long time no see, Goldi." Malroth waved before turning and following Lily down into the mines. They wandered around for what felt like hours trying to catch the three angelfish, but with Malroth's help, Lily gathered what she needed. When the two got back to the surface, they checked in on Babs who was sitting at the top of the Golden Bar playing a card game and talking to Goldi. They worked out a plan to have Brownbeard come get her in a few days before they headed off to Angler's Isle once more.


"Oooh, Finn! I got your fish!" Lily called out, seeing Finn perk up from where he was fishing above the hole.

"Blimey, Lily! You only went an' 'ooked a trio of Angelfish! Ain't they just adorable? Oh, I'm over the bleedin' moon! Now you've proved yerself as an angler, I think I believe yer story abaht bein' a builder. It just so 'appens that I've been lookin' for one o' you!" Finn threw his arms out only to wrap them around Lily in a tight hug. "While you was away fishin', Gillian told me abaht a letter wot ya read before ya come 'ere. Well guess wot? The one 'oo wrote it was me! I shoved it in a bottle an' chucked it in the sea. Ya must 'ave stumbled across it when you was aht on yer adventures."

"Actually, our captain found it and brought it to me."

"I'm glad 'e did! Fing is, ever since we run away from 'ome, Gilli ain't never been the same. I fought that if I collected up all the rarest fish in the sea, she might remember 'er 'appy-go-lucky old self." He gave her a pout, hands tucked behind him as he nervously twisted his torso. "I was 'opin' ya could build an aquarium so I can stick a load o' fish in it."

"Count it done!" Lily ran over to a spot near the fishing hole where she began to work away. It was a small blueprint and took her no time at all, as she worked though, Finn sat nearby and watched her. "Miss Lily. I've been thinkin'."

"Of course, you have."

"I wonder why Gilli taught ya 'ow to fish. If ya knew 'er back in the day, you'd be wonderin' the same. Troof is, that lass is from a famous family 'oo was known for preachin' the teachin' o' the Children of 'Argon-" He went still, staring up at Lily with wide eyes when she looked at him. "I've said too much already! If Gilli catches me talkin' abaht 'er past, I'll be in for a right royal rollockin'! Maybe anuver time…" He got up, pressing his mask against the glass as he looked into the aquarium while Lily released the angelfish into it. "Oi! Gillian! GILLIAAAAN! Come an' 'ave a butcher's at this!"

Gillian set her rod down before joining the small group, pausing when she saw the angel fish in the tank. "Wot is this?! Cor blimey! Is this wot I- an aquarium?! It ain't 'alf bad… for a first attempt." Gillian gave Lily a playful push when the builder let out a huff. "I love it, Lily. But if yer tryin' to impress me, yer gonna 'ave to try 'arder than some angelfish."

Gillian turned to Lily, a hand on her hip as she gave a lazy shrug. "I know ya lot went to a lot o' trouble to build this, but there's somethin' important missin' – a whopper showstopper of a fish. This is yer chance to show me yer a true master angler. I want ya to catch a fish that'll knock me socks off!"

"A big fish ya say…" Finn put his finger to his masked chin, suddenly deep in though. "Well, I've 'eard of a snow-covered island where the people are locked in a never-endin' war. Ya might be able to catch a king salmon there…"

"King salmon! Now that sounds like a fish! Catch me one, will ya, Lily?!" Gillian grabbed Lily's hands, eyes round with need.

"If only it were that simple." Finn cut the builder off before she could respond to Gillian. "Ya see, the spot where ya can catch the king salmon ain't easy to reach by any stretch. But if ya need an 'int, I might be able to 'elp." He saw the twinkle in Lily's eyes as he watched her. "Alright. Anyway, on this island, there's a place where an 'owlin' blizzard blows day an' night, an' right in the middle o' this snowstorm is a river. That's where you'll catch yer king salmon."


And that's how Lily found herself looking back at Malroth and Warwick who were following her in their powie yowie selves as she made her way down to the river, picking her way around the ice and broken ledges. Looking for something that would bring back the memories of a silly adventure that she would hold near and dear to heart.