Ink Stains (MCYT Oneshots)

[R] Fish On A Hook (Fundy & Sally)

(A/N: req as a pic. i am. so sorry for this akjjjsdajskajs :3)

It was supposed to be a normal day.

Fundy had returned from Drywaters a few days, but despite having already taken a few months' worth of a break, he quickly found himself becoming stressed by the current state of the SMP. He tried pulling pranks, but they only have him temporary euphoria, before yet another problem popped up that he just knew he would inevitably get embroiled in, despite knowing nothing beforehand.

Everything was exhausting, and there hadn't even been any real conflict yet. His stress levels were rising, so he had to let them out somehow.

So here he was, fishing. And not doing a good job at it.

The bucket at his side remained empty as Fundy groaned. He had been sitting at the docks for hours now, and yet he hadn't caught a single fish in that time. Had all of them been killed or something? Did Sapnap decide to go on a massacre or something?

Suddenly, there came a tug on his hook. He glanced down at the waters, and felt the beginnings of a smile pull at his lips. The fish was stuck, so he quickly reeled his fishing hook.

He cheered as he pulled the line up, smiling brightly at the thought of finally getting a catch. And then he actually got a good look at the fish he fished up, and his smile dropped quicker than L'manburg blew up.

Now, normally one would be happy at meeting their mother who had been away for years now. And don't get him wrong, Fundy was still very happy, but it was marred by the horror and fear that came with, well, accidentally fishing up his own mother.

Fundy would forever deny the squeak that he made as his mother turned to him, eyes staring dead right into him. His mother looked disappointed, which was way worse in his opinion.

"Hi, mom...?" Fundy spoke awkwardly. If he had a choice, he would rather be everywhere but here, and preferably not facing his mother.

His mother only stared at him, and Fundy was faced with the sudden realisation that, oh yeah, fishes need water to breathe. He had never threw a fishing rod into the water quicker.

Then he realised that his mother was still stuck to the hook, and peered down from the dock. "Mom?! Are you okay?!"

He sighed in relief when he saw his mother swimming around, peering at him from under a water. There was a deeply unimpressed but fond look on her face that really shouldn't be able to be shown from a fish's face, but then again, Sally Soot never did anything by halves.

"Sorry," he apologised a little sheepishly. "For realising so late and, uh, yeah. I've just been really stressed."

His mother swam to the side a little, almost as if she was tilting her head. Taking it as a gesture for him to continue, Fundy did just that.

"It's just," Fundy sighed. "I mean, I took a long break from this hellhole already, but I only returned a few days ago, and already I have to deal with so much new information, the prospect of a war on the horizon, and... there's just a lot, and with what happened last ni- nevermind. I- I'm just really sick of all of this."

His mother seemed to huff, swimming around languidly. Fundy sighed, staring at how peaceful she looked in the waters.

"I wish I could run away again," he confessed, knowing full well nobody would be around L'manburg in a time like this. "It- it wouldn't be so bad, would it? I mean, just getting away from this in general. Maybe you did have the better idea when you left. I just- I don't know, mom, I don't know what to do."

His mother glanced up at him, something like sympathy on her face. Fundy sighed again.

He was just so tired.

He watched as his mother swam the water, and realised that he had just spelled out a word, 'W-A-I-T'. Then, his mother took off, leaving Fundy to just... wait at the docks, apparently.

Eventually, she returned, much faster than he had expected — not that he really expected her to return at all. There was something held in her mouth, and Fundy yelped and barely caught it as she leapt out of the water to throw it at him.

It was a glowing diamond, along with a small note stuck to the middle of it, surprisingly untouched by the water it had been under.

"'If you ever need help, break this,'" Fundy read out. He glanced down at his mother, tucked the diamond away, and smiled. "Thanks, mom."

His mother nodded, and for a moment, everything was right in the world.