Shallows Edge Fishing for compliments

RE:Shallows Edge, your water supply seems filled to the brim with fish!
All welcome!

Shallows Edge

Carpe Noctem

Askan was pretty sure this wasn't supposed to happen.

The Shallows was just starting to freeze over, chunks of ice gathered around the sides of the Edge and yet, the water was white and churning with what had to be hundreds upon hundreds of fish. How had they even got here? The river that fed the Shallows stemmed from the Falls, which couldn't be an easy route to follow. Besides, with winter fast approaching shouldn't the fish be gone? Sleeping, hibernating, or whatever it was they did during the colder seasons. It just didn't make sense. He blinked in quick succession, wondering whether he'd hit his head a little too hard when @Reyes had playfully bonked him that morning. Nope, the fish remained wriggling and squirming, tantalisingly just out of reach.

If the Shallows wasn't so deep he might have risked trying to wade in and catch a fish or two, but seeing how well his last attempt as fishing went...Well, he didn't have a death wish. And Reyes might not to be so willing to warm him up this time. Instead, the Edge Lord paced back and forth, circling the shore as he tried to figure out just what to do. This wasn't an opportunity he could just let slip by, even a fraction of these fish could stock their caches for days and with winter on the way everyone needed a little more meat on their bones.

(This post was last modified: Oct 15, 2018, 07:42 PM by Askan.)

a dream within a dream

Lae sat by the den, watching Askan pace back and forth. She was not sure if he had seen her yet, but she didn’t greet him. She was wrapped up in a ball, cozy and warm. Getting up would disturb her comfort, and possibly disturb the man’s concentration. Her head was tucked between her thighs and tail, her dull eyes focused contently on his form. She had seen the fish this morning and done nothing about it. She was too old to hunt them, especially in the dangerous waters. Clearly the leader was less eager to move on. He seemed to be stubbornly fixated on them, half bewildered and half ambitious.




Lae understood why. Right at their doorstep was hundreds of meals, just out of grasp. She had seen plenty of fish in her life, but she had to admit this was odd. They were so plentiful right before winter, it didn't make sense. They would have made good dinner, but the old lady was not about to sacrifice herself for a few slippery lunches. If Askan couldn’t do it, she certainly couldn’t either. She watched him for a bit longer before closing her eyes, drifting off to sleep.

With a rough shake  of her coat she trotted to the den site with every intention of finding her own corner to nap. She'd done her morning exercises and had thankfully avoided a porcupine it seemed like she'd earned a rest.  It was evident Lae was doing just that. A picture that put a small smile on her lips. Once her eyes lifted from the white wolf they fell on Askan. He was sure looking at the water pretty hard. If it held something he wanted. Something told her she should just leave him be. It would be a lot easier, cause no doubt the rest of the Edge crew might arrive. The silver wolf flicked the thought aside. She didn't care who showed their face. Remi had to see for herself what was bothering the Edge lord.

She sauntered to the bank, her mouth falling open in surprise. "What the hell?" There were quite a number of fish. More, she was sure, than she'd seen her her whole life. How unusual. Sorta reminded her about curses and blessings. What one was this? "Least there's no bears this time, " she remarked with a smirk as she looked to him.

Shallows Edge

Carpe Noctem

Had he noticed Lae watching him like he was there for entertainment he would have no doubt shot her a sharp look. Sure, he didn't mind his subordinates resting up when they needed it, but was he seen as the pack jester? A source of merriment and amusement? No fucking thank you. His ear flicked as they noticed the footfalls of his Keeper, who was no doubt lured in by the splashy commotion. The Edge Lord  found himself agreeing with Rem, the bears had been a right menace last time and if they had to be schooled all over again he'd be more than a little pissed off. After all, he hated repeating himself.

"Yeah, least there's that." This was a good thing, but the way his brows smushed together made it seem anything but. He didn't know what to do and that bothered him, endlessly. "You any good at fishing?"

Hell, was there anyone here that was good at it? Despite all the fresh flowing water that weaved through the falls he'd never found more than a couple of fish in his caches.

"It's not everyday we get a chance like this, I don't want it going to waste." Which was to say if they didn't figure something out he'd be very pissy about it. Far more than usual, like the stick up his arse was pushed up so far it reached his throat.

The Edge Lord resumed his pacing, back and forth as his tail lashed in frustration. The ice wasn't thick, he didn't want to risk anyone freezing to death in those icy depths, so what then? The log perhaps? Maybe they could balance on it's length and try to reach whatever fish happened to swim by? He pursed his lips as he approached the fallen tree, it had been there ever since he'd found this place. Even the freezing and thawing of the Shallows hadn't moved it an inch, come drought  or heavy rain it was a constant in the lake meaning...it had to be sturdy, right?

a dream within a dream

Sigh. Sleeping was nearly completely off the table with all the talking going on. Though the woman was old, her hearing was annoyingly good. She couldn’t stay asleep for long with the banter. It was obvious that Askan and Remington were going to be there for a second. They weren’t going to give up until they had caught a few fish at least, so the old lady opened her good eye and sighed. Of course she could go inside the main den, she’d be peaceful in there. It was a dreary idea though. The excitement was out here, by the water. Slowly, careful not to put too much pressure on her legs, the small, straggly elder made her way over. She didn’t move quick, but she tried, listening in to the conversation. When she arrived, she sat down near the multicoloured woman, facing Askan. A yawn escaped her lips, still slightly fatigued from her nap. “I am small,” she stated, her breathing soft and steady. “I can fish.” Her words were dry and emotionless, observant only. She wasn’t trying to win brownie points with her bravery, it didn’t mean that much to her. If they didn’t think she could do it, she’d go and lay back down.

Maybe it was ridiculous, but the eight year old girl didn’t have any better ideas. She weighted nothing. She was a feather. These two wolves? They were fat. Younger yes, possibly quicker and better at hunting, but not any better at balancing. The log would break beneath them long before it would break below her. Maybe she’d fall in, maybe the log would break or her good eye would fail her, but she wasn’t afraid of death. It seemed like a better option to sacrifice herself than the leader of the pack. She genuinely believed herself capable.

Thanks for waiting for me. Sorry about lame post.

She was still trying to gauge his mood. Obviously he did seem bothered by something and she was pretty sure it was the odd number of fish and how to get them. "Yeah, we had a creek where I grew up." Though she wasn't as talented as her brother Savage, she'd done all right. Better than a non fisher? But that wasn't quite the same here. Still seeing, and hearing him she thought it was probably better if they could do something or he would get really ornery. No one wanted that.

When he seemed transfixed on the log, she moved in his direction. Was he going to go on it? She was caught wondering if she should stop him or if she even had reason to when Lae made her way over. The woman volunteered by her size and skill to be the one. Though that didn't exactly make her feel a whole lot better. If she did fall in was that something she could recover from? She'd have to be able to swim out, and it was already too cold. It was clear in her look as she met Askan's gaze she wasn't that was a better idea but she wasn't going to say it since she didn't have any other ones.

Had Askan known what Lae was thinking he would have no doubt been awfully offended. Him, fat??? He was short and stocky, there was no denying that, but there wasn't even a bit of chub on his form! He was in fine shape, though that didn't mean he was light in any sense of the word... Knowing his luck though, the log would likely snap beneath his weight and yet again he'd be plunged into icy cold water. Not an experience he wanted to go through again anytime soon so perhaps it was for the best that the old lady offered to take the proverbial plunge.

The Edge Lord glanced between the women, back and forth as he debated what to do. It was a tricky situation indeed. If Lae fell in they'd have real trouble fishing her out, was this a risk worth taking?  Ah...probably. He settled his gaze on the feeble old woman, if she said she could fish he'd take her word on it and put her skills to use. She was old and maybe she had a few screws lose but did he think she was stupid, a danger to herself? Hell no.

"Listen. If you think for a second you're going to fall in you back off. Jump to shore if you have to, we'll drag you in." He looked to Rem, he knew she'd follow his lead. She hadn't given him a reason to doubt her yet. "You. Show me how to fish by the shore, we might be able to grab a few."

At least this way they'd all be doing something and would be close enough to help out the old hag if she needed it. Sheesh, the things he did to ensure everyone had a full stomach.

a dream within a dream

It was her time to shine. Askan was giving her the go ahead. The job was simple: balance and catch the fish. Any healthy yearling would have been able to do that in a heartbeat, but Lae? Lae barely knew how to walk these days. She relied on muscle memory, her limbs acting out of habit. Her memory was growing worse every second. Sometimes she’d forget how to speak, the words gathering in the back of her throat but not going anywhere. It wasn’t very often. Some days were better than others. Some days she felt three years old again without a care in the world. Other days her mind was foggy, unclear, hard to focus. She’d forget how to walk straight on those days. “Got it,” she replied, her dull brown eye blinking.




She wasn’t sure what kind of brain-day today was. She had spent most of the afternoon sleeping, totally unaware of herself and others. She was confident- foolishly confident. Sometimes she forgot she was blind in one eye, nearly blind in another. Her age went over her head. It did not cross her mind to even reconsider, to try and come up with some other idea. She was sure she could do it. She moved towards the fallen log with a prideful strut, taking large strides with a bit of a jump in them. She didn’t look back at Askan or Remington, focused completely on the task at hand. When she reached the log, she glided across it like a dancer. It did not take her long at all. Her small figure made actions like this easy, her paws finding the right places to balance her weight. She was petite enough that the bark barely groaned beneath her. She reached the very end of it in rapid succession, a smile plastered across her odd appearance. The hardest part was over, she was capable of walking back and forth with little danger. It was sturdy.




It was short-lived. She had stood there for a moment, gathering herself into position before tensing up. Her eyes widened out of fear, her grin vanishing. Her body seemed to coil in on itself, her confident stance replaced with pure fear and confusion. Her tail darted beneath her hind legs, ears pinned against her head. The recognition in her face was gone. She froze, momentarily frightened. Her good eye moved around desperately searching for some sort of safety or familiarly. It landed on the distant forms of Askan and Remington, barely lightening up from her panicked state. “What am I doing?” She called, her short-term memory failing her. “How did I get here?”

Oh Lae xP. Do you get guardian points for this? xD

She could tell he quickly analyzed the situation and made the best choice. With careful instructions she nodded her head. Hopeful it wouldn't come to that, but glad they had a plan if things went south. More confident now in this endeavor she took place by the shore. At the edge she studied the fish for a moment. There were so many of them she was sure they could get quite a few.

"Right so, shouldn't be too hard. They're pretty thick so it's just 'bout timing. The tricky part is you gotta sink your teeth in them good, and not inhale water. So when you go to grab one blow hard out your nose. Once you got one its better to kill it and than put it on the bank."

By the time she finished explaining, she looked up to check on Lae. She had made it across the log successfully. Remi about went to work, there something was wrong. Her eyes drifted over the woman more closely. There was obvious fear upon the woman's face when moments ago there hadn't been. That wasn't good. There was no doubt she was suddenly confused, and frightened. Shit. But Remi didn't want to freak her out more. She placed her smile on her facade with ease, if there was nothing wrong whatsoever, and moved to her packmate. They needed to get her back to shore. "You were thinking about fishing there. How bout you help us instead?" She motioned to the bank, then began easing closer to the older woman. Steadily standing on part of the log, ready to help her to safety. Appearing entirely confident even if deep inside she was a bit scared too.

(This post was last modified: Jan 03, 2019, 09:22 PM by Remington. Edit Reason: ooc tag )

Askan knew that fishing wasn't too difficult of a premise, but understanding how it worked didn't mean he had the skill required to actually catch a damn fish. He'd tried a handful of times but after his last attempt at the river-where he met Reyes- the Selwyn hadn't tried since. Maybe it was petty of him to just throw the towel in, but honesty Askan didn't give a shit. He wanted to try here and now because it would be stupid not to, but was he going to try again after this? No fucking way, he'd leave it to the others. If they wanted fish in the caches they'd have to get it themselves.

Standing beside Rem, he squinted down at the rippling water, all shiny and grey with wriggling fish. He was grateful that his Keeper's instructions were short and sharp, right to the point. Anything more and he would've shot her a look as though to say 'really?' Instead of putting her instructions to work, Askan's attention was directed to Lae as she wobbled atop the log. His brows knit together at her obvious confusion as his ears angled back just a little, what the fuck? He knew she was old, a few of her screws a little loose but this was pretty fucking bad. Awful timing too.

Rem beat him to the punch as she ever so casually responded, making a clear show of the fact she was pretending that everything was hunky dory. Askan strode towards the end of the log, his paws breaking the thin ice that had gathered by the shore. He didn't care, the water was only up to his ankles at that point, though within a step or two the bottom would be way out of his reach.

"Yeah." He rumbled, lacking the caring grace that Remi had. "Come back. Slow."