Dead Empress Backwater back to square one

"It is good," Viorel went on to echo, going even further to relay that their Uncle Vayko liked salt fish... The fish at their paws, however, were fresh. Oleander's brow creased, trying to make sense of the statement. Fish. Different? Without a point of reference, he couldn't really say. All Oleander knew was that the second fish thrown onto the shore was possibly just as good as the first one.

He watched as their father waded into the water. The initial interest in the still-flopping fish was lost upon the wildness of the water. Why was it doing that? Dad didn't say... but he did offer an invitation to join him.

"Would any of you like to try?"

Archer came forward, looking over his shoulder at Oleander and Eros. The way those dark ears flattened was not lost on the white-furred boy, but he watched with keen interest. First, Archer mimicked, then... there he went, down into the water, soaking wet.

Oleander's first instinct made him dive after his brother, but then he, too, was overwhelmed. All around his limbs and underside, he felt the strange fish fins slap and squirm about. One was even bold enough to snap at the boy's fair tail. He let out a yelp, spinning on his lanky legs to catch the beast that did it. And, while he crouched down into the shallows, legs splayed for balance and grip in the silt, he tried to fish. Sharp puppy teeth snagged on scale and fin alike and he eventually came up. Gasping for breath with a shake of his waterlogged head, he looked at his father and brother for guidance.

they say pray it away, i swear,
OLEANDER VALLE
that I'll never be a saint, no way

Eros felt his saliva grow thicker as his stomach revolted against him for delivering to it such a horrific meal. Thankfully, distractions were a plenty around him. Da' was still talking, and he mentioned Uncle Va' who the tawny boy was fond of. The rest was fish, fish, fish. That was way less interesting, because it had to do with that stinky water meat. Action didn't take long to kick in, however.

His father entered the water, as though oblivious to the boil of fish even as they pressed against his legs. He grabbed one effortlessly, and tossed it ashore where it used its whole body to struggle. They couldn't be out of water, was that it? Why? Eros' brow crinkled once more as his young mind struggled to piece together what exactly was happening to the foreign animal.

You?

Eros shook his muzzle back and forth one time, a distinct no thank you. He wasn't interested in having more fish... but Archer seemed to be, and he walked confidently into the backwater. Eros' ears pressed forward as he watched his first-brother intently. Would he scoop the big thing up like their Da'? Or would h- oh no!

Archer tipped and slipped beneath the water, and little Eros felt his heart stop for a moment. He yipped, urgent and panicked, and then saw his brother's legs emerge, thrashing. Eros lunged forward, but Oleander reached the water first. It attempted to consume him too, and the small pup thought his heart might beat clear out of his chest. Shrill barks cascaded from his muzzle, shaking his chest like relentless hiccups as he rushed the frothing water to fight for his siblings' lives.

With snarls and growls he bit and slapped at water and fish alike until he reached Archer. Promptly, Eros clamped his little jaws down on the dark pup's nape, determined not to let go, not even over his own dead body. With all his might Eros pulled backward, trying to rescue his brother by dragging him back onto solid ground.

(This post was last modified: Aug 10, 2021, 07:34 PM by Eros.)

Final round! This will be archived, August 11th. No post order.

Oh. He had not even thought that the boys would not know the difference between salt and freshwater, and therefore not salt fish and fresh fish. In fact, this was their first time even seeing fish. Looking down at the silvery fish at his paws he pondered for a moment just how he could explain this that would make sense. ”Um, well. You boys know that the Valles come from a place far away, near the sea which is like a giant lake that never ends. The sea is really salty which means it tastes funny and you can’t drink it. But the fish that live in salty waters grow much much bigger than the ones we have here in our fresh lakes. I've even seen fish so big it could swallow an adult wolf whole, and they sing really sad songs, almost like they’re howling. But, usually the salt fish we caught were about twice the size of these ones.” Would that make sense to any of them?

Archer promptly walked right in as deep as Viorel was standing, and the father watched carefully. Which meant he was quick in action the second that the boy’s feet went tumbling, creating a great splash and whirl of bubbles. Plunging his own muzzle in after Archer, he grabbed the boy round the middle, maybe a little roughly, and pulled him out of the water. Taking a few steps into something more shallow, he placed the dark pup down. His brothers were not far behind him, and Eros grabbed onto the nape of his neck, the moment that the father placed him down.

Shifting slightly on his paws, Viorel realized this all might be too much of a lesson for their age, but didn’t want to instill any fear in them of the water either. Nudging the children closer to the shore, so only their paws were wet, he retrieved the second fish he had tossed on the bank, which was now only limply flopping, completely exhausted. Dropping this down in front of Oleander, he smiled, ”Here, try catching this one, it won’t go very deep.” Once they had managed to ‘catch’ this new prize, he would herd them ashore, and tell them more stories of the sea, if they wanted.

(This post was last modified: Aug 01, 2021, 11:44 PM by Viorel.)

The moment Archer's head went under the water, he panicked. The press of scales and thrashing bodies was all around him and even as water rushed up his nose he instinctively knew that he could no inhale.

And then he was out of the water, his Da's teeth around his middle and dropping him closer to shore. Archer's ears pressed tightly to his skull with his tail tucked firmly between his legs in embarrassment. Both his brothers had clearly charged in after him, though Oleander had already turned to snap at a fish that came too near. Eros, bless him, immediately latched onto Archer's nape and started hauling him backwards, once again unbalancing the youngest Valle.

Thrashing with angry squeaks, Archer tried to free himself. "Eros!" he piped in exasperation, trying to regain his footing and keep his littermate from dragging him to shore. He was already embarrassed enough; he didn't need to be pulled from the water like some newborn.

When Da dropped the second fish he'd caught back into the water near them, Archer made a final effort to escape Eros' teeth. He wanted to learn. He wanted to make Da proud and catch a fish!

[size=x-small]Archer is very haggard and thin; it is obvious he is not doing well.

The information Viorel had given the boys about their family's homelands was a lot. Words like "sea" and "lake" and "salty" were strange to Oleander, but his growing mind drank them up all the same. The fact alone that big fish could eat wolves like Dad in one bite was what sent the boy into the water after his brother. These were small and, ultimately, not scary at all.

It never occurred to the pale boy that they were in danger of drowning as Viorel nudged the boys to shore. He was still a little too young to process the whole fight-or-flight instinct. Besides, Dad was with them... what risk was there?

Eros, though hesitant, found his way into the fray when Oleander's head had been amidst the fish in the water. Snatched from the feeding frenzy, Archer found himself in the shallows and Eros' teeth at his hide. Oleander, meanwhile, plunked his rump into the silt. The wave of his tail managed to stave some of the fish away as he stared up into his father's face.

"Here, try catching this one, it won’t go very deep."

White waterlogged ears once weighted back found their way to the sides of his head. His eyes watched for a moment as the dizzied fish tried and failed to get its bearings back in the water. The pup's head tipped to one side. A single fish separated from the 'swarm' didn't seem too bad. In fact - he raised an ashen paw - it seemed almost helpless. Oleander slapped the water, droplets flying through the air as he landed a "cushioned" blow to the scaly's head.

From the corner of his eye, Oleander could just see his brothers tousling with one another. Rivalry aside, he gave Viorel another look, wanting to soak up a little more assurance for what he was about to do. Then, with a squeaky bark, he jabbed his nose into the water, his forelimbs bending at the elbow. The fish's fins brushed against his snout and he felt it swim between his legs and underneath him. He stood up and shook the water from his neck, looking again to his siblings in confusion. The commotion had cleared a visible ring around Oleander, but the boy had yet to realize it was using the shadow of his tail for cover...

they say pray it away, i swear,
OLEANDER VALLE
that I'll never be a saint, no way

Archer was fighting him, but that didn't make much of a difference. Eros thought it quite plain that his brother was likely fighting the water, not his savior, and was scared and confused by what all was happening. It wasn't until their paws were all firmly on the ground, even if still a touch underwater, that the boy let go, and immediately regretted it. Archer was lunging toward the water and the fish all over again and Eros was already exhausted from the struggle of rescuing him the first time. He couldn't keep doing it over and over.

So he did what he had to. Eros plopped down into the silty water on his rump and began to howl, a heart-torn, crying sound to let the world know; they were dying.

(This post was last modified: Aug 10, 2021, 07:40 PM by Eros.)

The father smiled at the sight of one of his sons trying desperately to haul the other to safety, even if Archer did not seem to much appreciate the help. They had avoided drowning no problem (thankfully, he wasn’t sure his mate would ever forgive Viorel if he took their sons fishing and came back with only one). But, the fishing lesson was not going nearly as smoothly as the young leader imagined that it would.

Nodding encouragingly at Oleander as he at least attempted to catch the waterlogged fish he had handed to him, he did his best to ignore that the fish swam directly beneath the pup’s legs. And then, Eros started to cry a song of mourning. And with that, the father accepted that the fishing lesson was over, and it had been almost a complete failure.

Keeping the disappointment from his expression the best he could, Viorel painted his muzzle with a bright smile. ”Alright, that’s enough for today huh boys? I’ll finish catching that fish, and then we can go back and show your moms what we learned today.” And, the father added silently, avoid telling them about the near drowning experience.

Plucking up the now floating fish from underneath Oleander’s tail, Viorel waited for each of the boys to reach the shore before stepping out himself. They were all soaked, but at least they had two more fish for the caches to show for it.

FADE