Bayou

Old bio:

The heavy twine rope net fell beside Tackle with a thump. It caused the Imperial that had been looking at the every moving water beneath the boat to jump. She made a noise of surprise before giving Bait, her mate, a steady look of annoyance. The fisherwoman huffed before she grabbed the single rope on the one end of the net to tie it to a post. They shouldn’t lose the net this time.

"You cannot still be mad at me?” questioned Bait as he moved to help her tie the rope tight to the post. “It’s not as if I purposely lost the last net, Tackle.”

"This is our last net until somebody can make another one or we stop somewhere to buy one,” the Imperial muttered as she tied a knot to it. “How do you lose two of them anyway?”

"There was a mighty whale that had gotten entangled in the net,” began Bait. “It had gotten tangled in the net while trying to eat the fish and other creatures that were trapped within our twiny friend beneath the ocean …”

Tackle glared at the other fisherman before pulling the knot tighter than she had intended with the strength of her annoyance. She let go of the rope before rounding on Bait. “I’m not here to listen to your tales, Bait. We are the ones that must gather the seafood for dragons aboard the ship. With the appearance of starfish and floating lettuce lilypads, we can also help the gardeners by giving them something else to grow on the ship.”

Bait made a noise of fear before bowing his head. “I realize we have an important job, Tackle. We have one of the most important jobs on the ship. We’re helping to sustain the life that roams it’s vast halls and rooms.” He smiled at his mate. “But, there are things under this water that not even we have learned to comprehend. I should know. I almost lost my life to it once.”

"I know,” Tackle said. “I saved you.”

***

Bait stared into the abyss as the ship moved farther away from the show. He had only been a young adult at the time, and he was excited to find new adventures and explore. The clans ship had begun her second maiden voyage after all the years of being stuck on that boring shore. The Imperial hopped onto the rails on the side of the deck before he began to walk across them. He wanted to explore the ship to its fullest. Bait wanted to know every nook and cranny of the incredible vessel. He began to move to another rail when the ship rocked, and he plummeted off the side of the ship. It had happened fast, and Bait didn’t have time to spread his wings when he plunged into the freezing water below. He gasped as the currents tumbled him around as he tried to find his footing in the water. His head broke the surface for a gasp of air before it pulled him under once again. He panicked. The water had too much of a strong hold on him. He couldn’t break free of the underlying currents caused by nature as well as the moving ship. He struggled to breathe (he was no water aligned dragon) before a light blue light caught his eye. It twirled around him before stopping in front of the frantic Imperial.

A dolphin swam past Bait before nudging its head against him. He made a noise as the animal started to nudge the Imperial toward the surface of the water. He managed to wrap his wings around the marine mammal as it started to swim upward. He didn’t know what was going on. Why would a random animal help him when it had no idea who he was? His eyes stung from all the salt in the water, but Bait kept his eyes open as he looked around as he managed to keep his breath. Many different creatures and critters swam past him. In his panic, he hadn’t noticed them until that moment. Bait was mesmerized. Then, the dolphin got away from him ...

A rope was thrown over him as Bait started to panic once again. What was going on? Where did the rope come from? He coughed before looking upward to spy an Imperial staring at him. She didn’t look at least a bit amused before she gathered up the net and went to toss it out again. Bait gasped before bounding over to the Imperial. “What are you doing?”

"Fishing,” she replied to him. “We have seafood eaters aboard the ship.”

"But what happens if you catch some of the magnificent creatures beneath the waters?” he asked her concerned. “Such as the Dolphin. I saw.”

Tackle paused before looking at him. “You saw a Dolphin.”

Bait nodded. “Yes. And such other amazing things. Seriously, I want to explore beneath the waves not other lands …”

Tackle"Tackle shoving it at his snout. “Then, you start by helping me fish.”

***

"I still think you didn’t actually meet a Dolphin” Tackle muttered as she began to lift the net. “I think you were delusional from lack of oxygen.”

Bait huffed as he helped her pull the net up the side of the ship onto the deck. “I don’t know why you can’t believe me, Tackle. After all these years, and you don’t even trust your own mate’s words. I’m hurt.”

Tackle rolled her eyes before she made a noise as the net lurched forward. She caught herself on the railing as she placed her paws on it. What was pulling the net toward the water again? She moved her eyes to stare at Bait who had done the same thing as her. They weren’t going to let go; this was their last net.

"Pull harder, Bait.”

"I ’m trying,” he huffed with rope clenched in his jaws. “Do you think I’m not?!”

Tackle went to pull harder before the net had been let go and both were flung to to the other side of the boat from the force of them pulling and something letting go. The net came with them. The untangled themselves before heading over to that side of the boat. A whale surfaced to blow the water out of its lungs before diving beneath the waves.

"Told you it was a whale!” Bait said with a grin.


;- Lore by SilverOtter