The Misfire: Book 3 (Newt || Safe and Sound)

2. Salmon and Romance

I was frustrated the next morning since I begged papa to let me come with him on their daily scouting around the island but he always turned me down. Even Finn wanted me to come. Papa almost got angry everytime I insisted. So I just accepted my defeat and stayed behind as they left for their ventures. Mrs. Tram was arranging stuff on the living room of the guild house when she noticed me standing by the door, staring outside.

"Beau found a river a few kilometers from the village," She stated, "Maybe you want to go with Frypan later. I told him to try fishing. Trust me, it's fun."

I smiled and nodded before ambling to the kitchen.

"Yow Maya!" Fry greeted as soon as he saw me. He was getting ready for his hunt, bringing a pair of spears and two buckets. He asked me if I wanted to join him and I excitedly agreed. He handed me a spear and we set off to the river.

"Where you guys going?" Thomas waved at us. I was almost tempted to tell Frypan to ignore him.

Sometimes I wish this boy would just stop minding other people's business.

"Fishing. By the river." Fry replied. Thomas curled his lips before joining us.

Couple minutes later, we reached the woodlands. The dapple shade of the trees seemed inviting for some reason. It was calm and still, not a breeze stirred, only the sound of the dead leaves and sticks each time we took a step. We followed an almost rutted path while carefully avoiding the low hanging branches.

We finally reached the river, smoothly flowing onward without a fuss. Along the sides; trees, roots, brambles and bushes grew, adding final touches to this beautiful work of nature. I stared at the glassy water and almost yelped when I saw something swimming in it.

"Oh shit!" Thomas screeched as more of the fishes appeared and kept arcing as they swam upstream. He took the spear from Fry's hand and aimed for a single fish by slowly moving it back and forth, before shooting it towards the prey -- missing.

Secretly sneering at his failure, I walked nearer towards the bank, crouching on the damp soil and aiming the spear on anything that was moving. I inhaled sharply before darting it. It dove on the water and I saw something squirming and splashing, indicating my target was hit.

I smiled proudly as Frypan waded in the water and retrieved the fish, placing it on the bucket. It plopped as soon as it landed on the bucket.

"Show-off." Thomas hissed.

"Stupid." I retorted.

It took a while for Thomas to get the hang out of spearing fish but he eventually learned. While I, on the other hand, was surprisingly good at this. It was like discovering a new skill. Although I had no idea how I knew how to aim at these moving animals, in the first place, but shuck yeah I felt so overwhelmed. After Thomas and I could hit a fish, Fry would then collect them and it didn't take long for the two buckets to be filled.

"We go'n be having salmon for dinner." Fry said as he rubbed his hands excitedly while looking at our catch. He was now soaked but thankfully he didn't mind it since he was thrilled how we managed to capture fish using only spears.

"Just so y'know, I caught more than half of these." Thomas bragged, even if he knew himself that it was a big, shucking lie. I huffed in annoyance before sitting down on a large stump.

Falling leaves started to tumble from the cluster of intertwining branches above, branches that grow so thickly only bright rays from the sun broke through. I observed as they fell to the ground, some landing at the river. It was weird how entertaining it was for me to stare at twirling leaves hit the ground. My daze was cut off when I noticed Thomas snickering. I looked at at him and raised an eyebrow.