The Spirit Guardians Book 3: Fated

Chapter 9

Cassie wandered alongside Conny in the woods. The warm air felt good against her skin. Now that May had arrived, the weather would only continue to warm until the summer months returned. For now though, the temperature was comfortable, and the sun was shining brightly.

"Through here," Conny said, pushing the dense brush aside. He was holding two fishing rods while Cassie carried their tackle box. Fishing was apparently on the agenda for joy training.

Joy training was much different than Cassie had expected. There were fun activities scattered here and there, but there was also a lot of meditation and frustrating activities as well. The bright side was that it usually gave her a break from the physically-exhausting task of training with Marc.

"Oh, I can hear the river," Cassie realized, her ears picking up the faintest sounds of trickling water.

Conny nodded, beginning to head downward toward the rushing water.

Cassie had feared that things would be awkward between the two when training began, but it had been two years since Conny's unfortunate confession. Conny had assured her he had gotten over his little crush from the years prior. There were still a few times when Cassie noticed him glance her way, but he usually corrected his glance almost immediately, as if he were reminding himself that he wasn't hers.

Cassie glanced ahead, now noticing the rippling currents of the river. Conny crouched down near some damp rocks and began assembling the bait while Cassie patiently waited to the side.

"Remind me why we're fishing?" she wondered.

Conny chuckled. "Part of being a joy spiritkeeper is being able to detect something happy in everything, even if it's an activity you've never done before, or something as boring as fishing."

Cassie raised an eyebrow.

Conny shrugged. "My instructor made me fish too."

Cassie pouted. "Of all the trainers I've had, none made me fish."

"You're not being too joyful right now," Conny teased, tossing his line into the river. He handed the second rod to her. "You try."

Cassie took a deep breath, and careful not to get her line trapped in the foliage behind her, she threw it forward. She paused and stared ahead at the water, wondering how long it would take for a fish to grab on.

"I can already tell you're impatient," Conny said.

Cassie slowly relaxed her shoulders. "Sorry...I should get back to meditating. Francesco will be upset that I've stopped."

"You stressed?"

Cassie weakly laughed. "When am I not?"

"What's it today? Or is it just everything?" Conny asked.

Cassie frowned. "My immediate family is visiting this afternoon. I'm going to tell them about all the danger I'm putting myself into."

"You'll be fine," Conny assured her. He made a sound of surprise and began reeling his line back in.

Cassie watched, shocked, at the scaly fish hanging from his rod. She narrowed her eyes at her companion, and he gave her a weak smile.

"Beginner's luck, I guess?" Conny said, shrugging his shoulders.

"I'm a human-spirit. This shouldn't be difficult," she complained.

Conny chuckled. "I don't think that works for stuff like fishing."

Cassie huffed. "I wish."

"I wouldn't stress about your parents," Conny said as he gently released the fish from the hook and let it leap back into the river. "They already knew this was coming, right?"