Heretical Fishing

The blade of energy continued on, cutting into the water before dissipating when it struck the sandy floor below with a loud
. The attack was like a mixture of Pistachio and Snips’s original powers, the precision of the former combined with the deadly edges of the latter.
What remained of my rod clattered to the rocks. The bamboo pole hit with a hollow sound; the two pieces of hardwood reel drowned it out, bouncing until they finally rolled to a stop.
All else was silent.
Even the waves seemed to pay their respects, their endless assault on the jetty momentarily ceasing. In that stillness, I knelt and picked up my favorite… how to best describe it? ‘Tool’ felt too impersonal a word for something I’d shared so many moments with. Its power leaked out and lingered in the surrounding air, trapped by my shielding. But there was no putting it back—it couldn’t be fixed.
I let out a slow breath, torn between processing or letting go of the complex emotions welling up within.
The one who’d destroyed it scuttled into view, a picture of remorse. She lowered her entire body to the rocks, claws and legs outstretched, kowtowing to place herself in as vulnerable a position as possible.
, her hiss said.
.
I gave her a reassuring smile. “Not your fault.”
She lifted her gaze, intent on debating my dismissal, but I forestalled her with a raised hand. “Before we get into all that, are you going to keep the ray?”
She was at its side faster than a lobster had any right traveling. She let out a questioning hiss as her vision lingering on the severed barb.
With a nod to herself, she slipped under its massive body, scuttled to the water’s edge, and let it slide into the darkened waters. She didn’t need to say anything—we all understood why she’d chosen to set it free. She considered her attack a lapse of judgement, so the only equitable outcome was to allow it to live.
Maria’s giant trevally had gathered enough oxygen with its gills, so she pushed it gently out into the river mouth. Both creatures were beautiful in their own regard. The trevally’s powerful tail sent it sailing away with ease, and the ray’s wings undulated across unseen currents, its blue spots contorting hypnotically.
When they were gone, Pistachio’s lady friend picked up where she’d left off. She whirled, hitting the deck with splayed limbs. Even if I couldn’t physically see how remorseful she was, I’d have felt it in her core. Earlier, she’d easily forgiven herself for past errors, but she no longer had the justification of being an unawakened animal. Her actions were now those of a spirit beast—an ascended being.
I shook my head. “It really isn’t your fault—Don’t give me that look, missy. Either stop kowtowing like a chastened disciple or stop glaring at me. You can’t do both.”
She declined my suggestion, both glare and posture deepening.
“I mean it! Show yourself the same grace you did earlier. You have the knowledge, sure, but you’ve yet to absorb and process it all. I also specifically told you to try fishing despite your worry of damaging my rod. Besides...” I bent to grab the severed pieces. “I’m extremely grateful for the adventures we had together, but at the end of the day, it's just an object. One I loved, for sure, but an object nonetheless. There’s nothing anyone can do to fix it.”
My arguments were chipping away at her reasoning but had yet to convince her. I grinned and launched my final strike. “You should be proud of your choice. Not only did you defend Pistachio when you sensed killing intent, but you also did so with care, not overdoing it despite the perceived threat.”
Like someone had flicked a switch to an internal light, she got up, nodding along as she released a few bubbles, their meaning clear.
Pistachio translated just in case. “She agrees it was your fault. Being a vastly superior being, you accepted responsibility for any damage done to the fishing rod when you dismissed her concerns.”
A laugh exploded up from my chest, booming out into the night to join the sounds of waves once more slapping against the rocks. There was no accusation in her response—she was simply stating a fact. As the de facto leader of this little troupe, it was, indeed, my fault. A recently awakened spirit beast couldn’t be held accountable in this situation.
Her antennae, objectively long but comparatively small to Pistachio’s, waved around, tasting the air. She seemed to consider something.
“Ah-huh,” I said, which drew a curious look from her. “Go ahead. If you can consume it or whatever, have at it. Otherwise, it’ll just drift away when I drop the walls.”
Needing no more permission, the two appendages extending from her head shifted even more, twitching as she felt the System-sourced chi that had flowed from my severed fishing rod and gotten trapped by the protective shielding. I’d not yet lowered it for this very reason.
With a sudden inhalation—made all the more impressive by the lobster’s distinctive lack of lungs—she sucked every last strand of the essence in. I marvelled at the process. Her core rejoiced, and not only because of the power it was harnessing; the very act of absorbing chi felt in alignment with who she was. Who she would
.
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Maria, Pistachio, and I shared a joined glance, each of us knowing that insight could well lead to a future breakthrough. But we were wrong. The breakthrough was happening
.
I shrunk the protective walls so the subsequent explosion didn’t damage any of the fish we’d caught for dinner. There was no need, however. A small wave of force pulsed out. It was… minor? I still had no idea how to classify these things, but it wasn’t a complete advancement—it was only the beginning of one.
The power settled into her core, its surface shivering as it came closer to what it would eventually become. It felt wonderful, but it was the look of dissociation and abject confusion on her face that made me smile.
I picked her up and set her atop Pistachio’s mighty carapace. “Would you take her back to the house, mate?”
He blew bubbles of assent, his visage stoic and unreadable—well, that was his intent, anyway. Maria and I could both feel how his lady friend’s proximity was affecting his thoughts. “What will you do?” he asked, seeking distraction of any kind.
“Just gonna process these fish. This’ll be her first proper meal since awakening, so I want to start off with the basics.”
“I’ll help!” Maria leaped up onto the walkway, where the half dozen mature shore fish waited.
I joined her, and together, we strode back down the jetty’s length, both beaming with contentment.
“Are you sure?” Maria asked. She leaned down to hug me from behind, her hair falling to tickle my neck.
I thought about how to reply, then decided there was no need. Actions spoke louder than words. I flexed my arms. The bamboo made a horrific sound as it broke in half, and an even worse sound when I did the same to both pieces.
I dropped them into the fire, along with what remained of my reel.
Already the frayed splinters were turning black. The reel’s hardwood wasn’t so fragile, but it would only be a matter of time until it, too, was consumed. I didn’t look away as the flames surrounded my favorite rod. Rather than sadness, it filled me with a sense of excitement.
.
did
Maria rubbed my back, checking in despite my smile, so I stood and wrapped my arms around her, squeezing tight her lithe form. “I’m fine. I promise.”
“Good, but to be clear, I wasn’t asking for your sake—I don’t want you to bottle up your emotions and turn into a ticking time bomb again. With how powerful you are now, you might blow up the whole damned planet.”
“Hmm. That would look pretty cool, though…”
She gave me a fiercely theatric glower. “No blowing up the planet.”
I sighed with just as much excess. “Yes, dear. I’ll write it down so I don’t forget.”
To her confusion and my enjoyment, I removed a notepad and pencil from my back pocket. I scribbled swiftly in the written language Snips had taught me so many months ago, then showed Maria.
She squinted at my messy handwriting. “
,” she read. I braced, ready to flee, but she just shot me a wink. “And don’t forget it.”
Dual hisses interrupted our merriment, and as I looked the lobsters’ way, I found two very different moods. Though both were ostensibly expressionless, neither feeling guilt for interrupting us to say the barbecue was hot, Pistachio’s core was flustered, barely containing the blush hidden just below the surface of his carapace.
Maria spoke in my head. “
so
—” she cut herself off. “
”
I smiled at the prospect of Claws arriving and teasing the absolute shit out of the otherwise-stoic lobster. In the end, even the thought of her caused a similar effect—Pistachio interpreted my smile as being at his expense, and his antennae twitched in annoyance.
“Okay!” I said, marching over, trying to convey an apology with my eyes. “Let’s get cookin’!”
I’d seasoned all the fish fillets with salt, and some few with pepper as well, keeping the flavors plain. I scooped a dollop of tallow onto the hotplate. It sizzled and spread, bubbling as it melted across the metal.
“
,” Maria swore. “It already smells delicious.”
Pistachio and his lady friend both hissed in agreement, the former cutting off as he shot a furtive look the latter’s way.
Maria let out a great sigh into my mind. “
”
“Right? He keeps setting up setting himself up, and it’s taking all my strength to not slam one down.”
Her forehead bunched, a line forming between her brows as she considered something. “Do you think that reflects poorly on us? That our friend is experiencing feelings of attraction for the first time in his life, leaving him confused, and our initial instinct is to publicly tease him about it?”
My frown joined hers and we pouted at each other as we did the math.
“
!” we both decided out loud, drawing confusion from our crustacean compadres.
Before either could question it, I laid a filet on the barbecue, using it to spread the melted tallow across the metal surface. It only took me a second to add the rest of the fish. I took a moment to express my gratitude as had become customary, extending my appreciation toward the strange world I now called home.
“Thanks, fishies,” Maria agreed, hugging me by the waist. “And thanks, world.”
Fat bubbled up around the meat, juices dripping out to hiss when combined with the tallow. Steam rose as a result, the vapor rising skyward before swirling in the breeze, further spreading the potent scents. Mouth watering, jaw aching to bite down into the succulent flesh, I forced myself to wait before flipping the filets.
When I finally did, my patience was rewarded—the skin was brown and crispy, cooked to perfection. I ran my metal tongs along them; the scraping sound made a delightful shiver run down my spine.
I wondered how I was going to distract myself for the minutes required for the other side of the fish to cook, but then the answer arrived. A warning drone resonated from every single one of the Buzzy Boys, sounding their alarm for the second time today. “
” their wings declared, echoing the call of a single armored insect far to the northwest. I couldn’t sense a cultivator, but that didn’t mean one wasn’t there.
Meal forgotten, I launched my awareness to the outskirts of Tropica, honing in on the Buzzy Boy that had raised the alarm.