A Ship Bobs on the Surface of Maraqua [CLOSED] (1,437 views)

[Raichi]

Talka imagined how the other would struggle with a butter fish and chuckled at how silly it looked in his head. The thought of struggle lead him to a more generous idea, to help the kacheek with fishing. Of course it would also be an interesting and relaxing experience for himself, but he didn't even think of that.

"Say, if you'd like I can help you out with fishing. I haven't really tried before so I'm not sure if I'm any good at it, but we'll never know if we don't try. Do you have an extra rod lying around here by any change?"

Of course if he didn't have an extra rod he'd be happy to just watch and talk.

[Maddie]

Cici appeared taken aback by this offer. He swallowed hard, not certain whether he was flattered or bothered by this. One on hand Cici considered fishing his private time, but on another hand he enjoyed the thought of showcasing his talent and being a tutor to someone. Cici shook his head at this absurd thought, however. There was no way he would be a good teacher, especially with his mediocre skills! But Cici considered that maybe, just maybe, Talka would be impressed with his skills. What an arrogant fantasy, though! He was nothing compared to every other fisherman on the sea!

"Uh..." Cici breathed amid his conflicting thoughts, instinctively curling up into a defensive position. "I... I do have a few e-extra rods... In case like... if a titanic squid were to- n-not to say I'm good enough to land a titanic squid!! -but if... h-hypothetically a large fish were to yank my current rod out of my hands... I'd have an extra." He nodded towards the small, indoor area of the boat. "I-In a cabinet... in there..." Cici had no idea why he was telling Talka this. He wasn't even certain if he'd let Talka fish with him.

[Raichi]

Talka downright assumed getting told where the extra rod was meant that he could get it and use it to help Cici fish.

"Okay, I'll help you catch some fish then"

He happily went inside the boat, which was a rather small area, and searched the cabinets until he found the rod. He was pretty excited and admired it as he returned to the Kacheek, handling it with care and holding it upright even as he sat down. His attention then returned to the other again.

"I'm sure your family will be so happy when you return with a super big catch! Unless of course I don't catch anything at all, then your catch will be as it usually is. But hey, I'll do my best to be of service"

The Zafara looked around for bait, but couldn't see any in his field of vision. Perhaps it was hidden in a box or on the other side of Cici.

"So what do you have for bait?"

[Maddie]

Cici had to refocus, his distracting thoughts getting the better of him. "Bait-? Oh! Uh, well..." he breathed, looking around as well before remembering an example of what bait he used was already on his line, obviously. He reeled back in for a second to show Talka. From his pole's hook, a plastic worm dangled. "I-I tend to use p-plastic bait... I guess to some it would be considered less reliable b-but... Well-! I like it! Y-You can reuse it, a-and your hands don't get slimy like with live bait..." Cici grinned, felt awkward in the moment's silence, gave a queasy frown and cast his line back out again.

It was weird... talking about his fishing tactics to someone. Even his siblings did not bother asking about the small details. They mostly asked questions like, "was it a good day for fishing?" which was understandable. Cici worried. Even though Talka stated he was new, everyone was a critic. Cici's paranoia began to crowd his rational thinking. "Oh, at one point he'll notice how sloppy my cast is! Or worse, maybe I'll fail to reel something in while I'm trying to demonstrate. That would be mortifying! Why am I still talking to him like I'm okay with fishing together? I'm just going to end up embarrassing myself again! Like I always do!" All the while, Cici stared distantly into the shoreline, silent and trembling slightly. If Talka had said anything while he was thinking, Cici completely tuned him out.

[Blue]

Below the surface, a chaosfish came swimming by, with a shiny necklace wrapped around its neck for some reason but seems unaware of that. B, wearing his air suit, had it in his sights, about to catch up to it but the fish swam away quickly. "Get back here!!! That's my sister's!" The kacheek swam as fast as he could, but the fish was faster.

"Ugh! That necklace should've fell off of it by now... but why isn't it though? It even won't sit still!"

The chaosfish suddenly stopped. Its eyes went for the bait. Slowly, it examined the plastic worm, just as B was gaining towards it. While trying to escape again, this time, the necklace was caught and got hooked, deep.

"No! No! You're going to break it!" B cried, as he tries to remove the necklace from the hook carefully while holding onto the line and tugs it repeatedly by accident, since the fish harshly keeps pulling itself away from where it's caught. It was too slippery for the baby kacheek to hold on to for it to stay still.

"Please... cooperate with me... fish! My sister... needs that back! And in... one... piece!!!"

[Maddie]

Cici bolted upright, once again alert. He felt disoriented and wondered if Talka had said something he missed. He decided it would be best to apologize anyway. "S-Sorry. Did you say something? My mind wanders a lot, ha ha ha... But hey! Looks like we have a fish here! Watch carefully... i-if you want to learn how to... well, at least how I fish. There is no universal way, a-and I'm not saying my way is the best way! Just-! Ugh ignore my dumb rambling and watch." Cici steadily rose to his feet and began to reel in the line with all his might, at once surprised by how hard his catch was tugging. "W-Woah! This must be a big one! Talka, come help me hold on! It might get away!"

[Raichi]

Talka's large eyes grew even wider with amazement, for he had no idea a thing as plastic bait could even be effective. It just didn't make sense to him before Cici told him about it. Though he didn't have time to give his opinion to Cici on how cool he thought that was, because it seemed like the other was about to reel in a big one!

He paid close attention to the kacheek's stance when about to reel in the fish, once again the watery neopian looking confident and self assured. When asked for help Talka almost jumped up with glee, he was going to actually be of help!

"Yes! Of course!"

He grabbed the rod near the bottom and started pulling, removing the majority of the strain on the rod so that the kacheek could focus all his might on reeling in the fish.

[Blue]

Back underwater, B and the chaosfish still continue their necklace tug-o-war, when suddenly...

"Wooaaahhhh!"

The line forcefully pulled the baby Kacheek and the fish out of the water, flinging the two into the air and crashing on to the boat with a huge thud. Luckily they weren't that heavy for the ship to sink. The boat shook a bit from the impact.

"Oouch..." B, now lying on his stomach, rubbed his head as the chaosfish flopped right next to him, gasping for breath. The baby kacheek, with a pout on his face, finally got the necklace off that rambunctious fish and noticed the other two Neopians on board facing him. It seemed that both the zafara and kacheek just stared surprisingly at him. B got conscious and sat up. He sees the water kacheek holding onto a fishing pole and felt guilty for messing up his catch. B is usually the outgoing one, but not this time, since also it's been a long time since he's ever met or spoken to another one of his species. He blushed out of embarrassment but shook his head and puts on a grin. "Hi there, neighbors! Come here often?" He chuckled nervously. "Sorry to disappoint you guys... expecting a bigger catch, huh?"

[Maddie]

Cici seemed to be at a loss for words. He exchanged glances with Talka, wondering if they were seeing the same thing. How was he supposed to explain this? Reeling in a local? This had never happened before! Today was just full of firsts.

"I-I'm so sorry!" Cici blubbered after his brain managed to process what had happened. "A-A-Are you okay? I didn't meant t-to catch you on my line! Oh, that must have been so frightening for you-!" Cici's face was practically steaming from his red, hot cheeks. He knew something embarrassing like this was going to happen! He knew it!!

"I'm sorry, Talka!" Cici apologized by instinct, grabbing the sides of his head. What he was apologizing for, he had no idea. All he knew was that he wanted to crawl under a rock and hide there for a few days.

[Raichi]

Talka had seen his fair share of strange events during his travels, and he could certainly count this as one of them. The surprise on his face couldn't have been any bigger when they fished a baby kacheek from the water, or at least, he looked like a baby, until it started talking like it was the most normal thing in the world to pop up in the middle of the ocean by himself, even making cheeky remarks.

The Zafara blinked to let it all sink in for a bit, looked at Cici who was apologizing frantically, and back at the baby kacheek.

"Hi, I'm Talka, and this is Cici. We were just fishing for a bit. I'm from down under, since we're faring above Maraqua" he winked

"and Cici here is from neopia central, he came all the way out here on his fishing boat. I kind of... bumped into it, seems like he's fishing for neopians rather than fish today"

He couldn't help but chuckle at the conclusion that sounded more like a joke. Though felt a little guilty over Cici feeling guilty and gently patted him on the shoulder.

"It's okay, you didn't do anything wrong, nothing to be sorry about"

His gaze turned back to B. "So what's your name and where are you from?"

[Blue]

B took off his air suit and placed it next to him. He had shook off all the agitation towards the chaosfish with a shrug. He seemed rather overjoyed all of the sudden, despite the ride he had earlier, after knowing that the two neopians seemed really nice. And after hearing where Talka lived, he got even more excited.

"Wow! Cool! You live down under too?" He slowly approached the maraquan Zafara, with a cheerful face. "Strange, I haven't met you before... maybe 'cause I don't usually go out so often anymore. I'm B! It doesn't really stand for anything... pretty weird, huh?" He suddenly goes into a deep though, trying to remember what it really means but his memory seems blurry, but then shakes his head. "Anyway... fishing's my hobby too! I fish at the underwater lake though. I'm not really a master at it, but I did catch a few I'm most proud of--" He paused for a while, with his paw in the air. "Oops! Have I been bragging now? I gotta work on that..." He blushed in embarrassment.

"Funny story how I got here uhm..." The kacheek scratched his head. "Me and my two brothers were... kinda playing catch with our big sister's necklace, but that's another story." He smiled awkwardly at the though. "Wasn't so right for me to do and I'm supposed to be the model and the big brother of the two... So there was this chaosfish which came out of nowhere, joined in and swam away with the necklace around it. I don't know how that even happened. And that's how we got caught up in this fishy situation. Get it? I changed sticky to--"

He paused again, as Talka and Cici were just standing there, but still seem to be listening to him anyway. "Oh! Have I been talking too long? I apologize for that..." He then glanced at the water Kacheek, who probably seemed to have not yet gotten over the whole bizarre experience. "And I'm sorry if I made you worry, Cici. Don't be sad anymore..." He said in a caring tone of voice. "I'm alright now... Really! I'm okay!" He giggled. "See?" The baby kacheek happily opened his arms, showing that he was still in good condition and trying to cheer Cici up.

[Maddie]

Cici was holding his breath the entire time Talka and B were speaking. He thought that maybe, if he said nothing, the problem would go away. After the duo both tried their hand at comforting Cici, he decided to sit back down and try to relax. His social anxiety was beginning to crank up into high gear. No matter what, Cici always believed he was in the wrong. It was nothing against B or Talka.

"Thanks," Cici managed to exhale as he lounged in his chair. "That's... huuu.... unfortunate, B. But, a-at least... you think it's funny... I'd tell you my name but... Talka already told you. Sorry. I-I'm not always so... well, high-strung. I was just... j-just worried. About a lot of things." He tried to offer a smile, but it was more pitiful than happy.

[Raichi]

When B said it was strange they hadn't met before even though they both live in maraqua Talka scratched his head and smiled. "Actually, it's not that strange since I'm on the road a lot, I work as a delivery boy, you know.. long distance"

The little kacheek babbled on a lot and even apologized about it, especially after seeing how panicked Cici was. Actually Talka thought it was a nice change, he rather enjoyed being around talkative people. That didn't mean he didn't enjoy Cici's company, he just had to put in a little more effort to get him to talk.

He patted both kacheeks on the shoulder to offer some comfort "Well, all is forgiven and forgotten, what say we get back to fishing then"
Even though the sentence was formulated as a question, it was more of a command really since he basically put Cici in fishing position and reeled out his own line. "Will you join us..? Oh sorry, I don't think I got your name"

[Blue]

"Hmm? Ohhhh!" B said in awe. "That would explain why!" With that revelation, it does make sense. "That's really cool, Talka! I guess I'm just a 12-year-old adventurer." He shrugged with a smile. "Maybe that's why we don't see eye to eye. I don't think I do that much but explore. But my sister is a shopkeeper!"

The baby Kacheek observed his surroundings. Seemed like a good day for fishing indeed. "Sure! I'd love to join you guys!" He beamed, responding to Talka's offer. "Oh and my name? Well, it's literally a letter... B!" He blushed in embarrassment once again, due to the fact he can't explain why that wasn't a nickname. "But I don't have a fishing pole? Or I could help you guys with the gear instead!" He leaped. "Wonder what we can catch today... a Tyrannian Mechafish... no, no not another one of those Chaosfish again...Ooh! Ooh! Maybe a giant GIANT squid! Or even better!"

B's enthusiasm had been gearing him up for some action, but then his main focus went back to Cici, who clearly still is shaken after what happened. B was thinking what was bothering him. He never felt so concerned over a stranger before or acted this way. Probably 'cause of the long period he's never met another Kacheek in a long time. That look on Cici's face is something B wouldn't just neglect. "Hey, Cici." He approached the water Kacheek calmly. "May I ask... is there something wrong? It's alright too if you won't say, but I'm just concerned about you, okay?"

[Maddie]

The two strangers were so enthusiastic about fishing that it actually started stressing Cici out. With his timid temperament, there was no way he would make the job as interesting as they were making it out to be. Fishing was tedious, and boring, and slow-paced. How would he make it fun for them? He would just end up letting them down, and it would be terrible.

Cici seemed to be in a daze, caught up in his own troubled thoughts, but quickly regained focus after B approached him directly. His eyes shot in multiple directions, wondering what to say. He wanted to say he was fine, or dismiss his apparent anxiety in a lighthearted manner, but he couldn't bring himself to lie. "Yes, B... Th-there is something wrong..." Cici sighed, looking between Talka and B to indicate he wanted their attention. "I-I'm just... I'm afraid I'll disappoint you two. I'm boring, and a screw-up, and a-a wet blanket. I'm sorry... I-I'm sorry-!! I'm ruining your fun... I'm ruining your enthusiasm. I-I'm ruining everything!" Cici leaned forward in his seat and pressed his paws against his face, struggling to keep himself from tearing up.