A Ship Bobs on the Surface of Maraqua [CLOSED] (1,435 views)

[Raichi]

Talka clearly felt sorry for the water Kacheek. He wasn't the most confident zafara himself, but Cici took insecurity to a whole other level. Talka spoke patiently and kind. "Don't worry about us Cici, me and B are enjoying ourselves just fine"

He was hoping his words would comfort Cici a little, but it was going to take more reassurance to help the other out. Talka gazed at his line, the sea calming and so was fishing. "I know what it's like to be insecure.. And that thinking the worst of myself is a part of that.. But I've learned to ignore it most of the time."

He looked back at the two kacheeks. "What I'm trying to say is.. You're not disappointing anybody. You're a nice guy and we like you very much" he smiled friendly "So please don't be so hard on yourself, you don't have to be sorry for anything. And thank you for being so kind as to let us fish with you"

[Maddie]

Cici looked up from his hands, tears visibly forming in the corners of his eyes. He sniffed and wiped them clean, and meekly asked Talka, "I-Is that true? You don't think I'm annoying? Because, well, I feel like I'm annoying you right now... f-for asking for reassurance. It's-! It's so pitiful that I can't just accept your kindness, right? A ha ha... Because, I mean, I know you mean what you're saying. I-I just..." He stopped short and flopped back in the chair, staring at the clouds with wide eyes. "... I just need to shut up," he finished with a sigh, closing his eyes.

There was a quiet pause before he turned his head to look at B, and squeaked in a small voice, "You feel the same way as Talka? It's true?"

[Blue]

B's eyes were full of wonder and concern at the same time. In the back of his mind, the baby kacheek knew that he went through something like this before, with his own brother... and probably knows what to do in a situation that's almost alike, but he's not totally sure.

Like an innocent little child, B slowly approached the sitting water kacheek and gave him a hug not too tight. "Yeah, Talka's right. Don't feel that way. You're really kind." After awhile B stopped hugging him, making sure that he didn't scare him. The baby kacheek then gave him a smile. He's never said something shorter than what he said in awhile.

[Raichi]

Talka smiled at the other two, completely distracted when he felt a slight tugging at his fishing rod. It wasn't when he heard the sound of the rod unpinning from the fish swimming off that he realized something had munched on the bait. His attention shifted to the rod with slight enthusiasm "I think I got something!"

He started reeling in the fish, getting quite the exercise in his left arm from spinning the reel. His gaze was fixated on the water, excited to find out what kind of fish was going to come out. Finally with a splash the fish emerged from the water, Talka reeling it back into the boat. It was a large lesser spotted fish. "wow! That was so exciting!" he said with a smile.

Though that smile faded when the fish was flipping frantically on the boat. He couldn't help but feel a little guilty as the fish was struggling without water, after all it was his doing that it was now going to die. In fact, it made him not want to do it again and smiled regrettably as he handed out the rod to B. "Here. It's your turn now".

Though he feared the baby Kacheek would decline, thus he spoke up before he even had the chance to "I insist".

[Maddie]

As B embraced him, Cici closed his eyes tight and squeezed out the last of his tears. Once the baby kacheek released his gentle grasp, Cici took a deep inhale for breathe and put on the best smile he could. "Thank you," he replied softly, exhaustion creased his face. Him and B shared a few seconds of solid, reassuring eye contact before Talka redirected their attention.

"Oh, you've got a bite?" Cici asked, getting up from his seat and peering over the bow to inspect Talka's submerged lure. He stepped back when the fish burst from the ocean and flopped onto the deck, and crouched down to inspect it. "A lesser spotted fish. Nice catch." He nodded. "Ah, not implying you didn't already know what it was called..." he added with some thought, looking slightly flustered.

"I'll just... return to my spot now," Cici mumbled while he whisked the fish away to the cooler. "A-And either of you can ask me for advice if... if you think I'll be able to help." He paused. "Hey, I guess this means we're fishing together now...!" he laughed uneasily. "Th-There's extra rods in the back." He swallowed hard and cast out his lure, exhaling slowly to try and relax himself. "They like me," he told himself internally. "Nothing bad will happen."

[Blue]

"Okay!" B cheerfully took the rod from Talka and casted out the lure into the water. "It's been awhile since I went fishing." He turned his head to face both the maraquan Zafara and water Kacheek and gave each of them a cheerful smile. "I can't wait to see what fish we'll catch next... just... not that chaosfish again..." He chuckled. "And yeah! Fishing buds!" He remarked at what Cici said about fishing together. The baby kacheek seemed happier than ever now that he's met new friends, though he's still a bit emotional over what just happened.

The waves gently rocked the boat as they wait patiently for a bite. The sea has been quiet, suspiciously too quiet. The silence went on for a few more minutes. Just the sound of calming waters can be heard. B then hummed a little tune while focusing on the lure. "I don't even know if I still got it." He shrugged. "I do have some skills, but I bet you're more advanced than me, Cici! Hmm, and I've never fished above Maraqua before! This will probably be something differe--"

"Woah! Woah! Woah!" B felt something strong tugging on his line. "Never. Have I. Caught something this BIG before!!!"

[Maddie]

"The fish are really, uh, biting today, huh?" Cici tried to joke. He laughed quietly to himself until he noticed how badly B was struggling with the line. Cici began to chew the inside of his cheek. He looked over to Talka, then back to B. "Should I say something?" Cici worried. "At that rate, the line might break..."

Cici swallowed and wiped the sweat from his brow. "Um..." he coughed, pushing himself up and approaching B uncertainly. "Th-That buzzing sound from the reel...? I-It means the fish is pulling, or "dragging." See, you don't try to reel it in when the fish is dragging." He crouched down next to B and began to guide his hands. "When the buzz stops, lower the rod and crank the line as fast as you can," he explained, demonstrating and sounding more certain than before. "And when the buzzing returns, you raise the rod, a-at a vertical angle, and give the fish some slack. The technique is calling "playing the fish." E-Eventually, the fish will get tired! Aha, a-and will stop dragging. That's when you're in the home stretch!" He pumped his fist to show his enthusiasm, but he felt silly and cracked a nervous grin. "Do you understand?"

[Blue]

B nods in understanding, with a determined look on his face, focused on the water. "So I lower the rod..." The baby kacheek follows the technique repetitively. "C'mon, B... you can do this! You can do this!" He psyched himself up, reeling and unwinding his line at just the right time, until finally, with all his strength, a bombfish submerged, soaring out of the water. B had a startled look on his face. "Huh... I-I was expecting a bigger ca--" It landed right on B's tiny arms. "--aatch!" He inspected it for a moment until he realized what kind of fish it was. "Yikes!" He threw it to Talka. "Is that gonna ignite?"

[Raichi]

Talka catched the bombfish and stared at it with wide open eyes "Ah! I don't know!".
His gaze then turned to B and Cici. Unsure if he should throw it back into the water or if Cici wanted to keep it he tossed it over to the water kacheek. He immediately regretted it once he had done it because he knew how fragile the other was and put his hands in front of his mouth in shock "I'm sorry!"

Though tossing it on the ship was definitely not an option, for it would be a disaster if the bombfish would destroy the ship. Talka just wanted to avert or close his eyes, but he couldn't for he was too curious to what Cici was going to do with it. After all, he was the fishing expert.

[Maddie]

Cici scrambled to catch what was suddenly chucked in his direction, his sweat practically jumping off his skin. "I-It can't hit the boat or else it'll-!!" he screeched before managing to catch the living hazard. He sighed a breath of relief and wrapped the flailing bombfish tightly around his arms, certain that a crisis had been averted. However, with all its being jostled around, the bombfish quickly grew agitated and ignited its fuse.

The three neopets on board shrieked in unison as Cici began to fumble with the squirming bomb. "Not the boat, not the boat!!" he cried, the fish nearly slipping from his grasp. Fortunately for them, the water kacheek managed to keep a level head and, thinking quickly, converted his hands into their water form to douse the bombfish's fuse with a dying hiss.

For a moment everything was dead silent while the three exchanged wide-eyed glances. Eventually, Cici began to laugh quietly, his shoulders jumping with each little breath. He was grinning a real, genuine smile, his hands trembling with the remnants of panic. "WOW. Aha ha ha..." he laughed, shaking his head. "That... that could have been bad," he nodded with an exhausted look in his eyes.

[Blue]

B couldn't help but feel really happy to see the water Kacheek laughing, as if all the emotional occurrence from awhile ago drifted into just happiness and excitement. Maybe was it because it's been awhile since he's met another kacheek and talked to him or her? Perhaps, but he's never had an adventure quite like this before, or felt so much care for another Neopian in awhile, besides his siblings and an old friend. 

"Can those kind of fish be eaten?" B asked, rubbing his belly, feeling uncomfortable. "That's weirder than the chaos one..." He chuckled. "At least the boat is safe! And we can continue fishing again! Never had this much thrill in awhile!" He jumped, as he casted out the lure once again. "Can't wait to see what we can catch next!"

So many questions came into his head, though he had only met these two friends just now and would be too much to ask so much from them any personal stuff. He wanted to bond more, but he just kept it to heart, admiring the blue sky. "I wonder what my brothers are doing right now though. Staying a bit longer won't hurt. After all, my sister's bound to get home from our shop at Mystery Island any time soon! And I got her necklace back!" He mentioned gleefully. "So Talka, where in Maraqua do you live?"

[Raichi]

When the bomb fish was about to blow Talka covered his eyes. Instead of a loud explosion he heard a splashing. He moved his hands down to see what had happened, relieved to see that Cici had dealt with the situation. He wasn’t sure how he did it, but he was glad that all ended well, even more so that the other was able to smile about it.

He shrugged when B asked if bombfish could be eaten, he rarely ate Maraquan cuisine as he was on the road most of the time. Hearing the boy talk about his siblings made him realize that they all had siblings. He wondered if they would get along with each other if they ever came together, but figured something like that would probably never happen.

The question about his home caught him off guard, causing him to shyly scratch his head. “Well.. I don’t really own a house or anything.. As a delivery boy sleeping arrangements are taken care of depending on where my deliveries go, so I guess I could say that the post office is my home. But my family owns a farm in the farm lands at the southern border, I lived with them before I got my job”

[Blue]

"Oh cool! A delivery boy! Living on your own, huh? Bet you've been travelling around and met new people!" B exclaimed. "As an adventurer, I, too, have also met a lot of new friends!" He giggled. "But it has been awhile since I came across with another of my species. Maybe I've been repeating myself, but yeah. And he's a really skilled fisherman nonetheless." The baby Kacheek placed his tiny hands on his hips, inspecting the look on Cici's face."How're holdin' up, Cici? You okay?" He asked, concerned. "You've been quiet for awhile."

[Maddie]

"Huh? Oh, I-I'm fine," Cici said with a shy laugh. "I was just listening to you two talk. H-Hope that isn't weird. I'm, uh... I'm going to put the bombfish away now."

Cici turned around rather briskly and carried the fish to the cooler. When he pulled away the lid, however, he was surprised by how little room there was. "This thing is getting pretty full," he observed. Then he smiled to himself and quietly added, "Dude will be happy."