Quote:
Tikahn's Fishies

18 - A small or dull fish. How disappointing. 1 point.
17 - This is a curious fish! The strangeness alone has to be worth something! 7 points.
7 - A small or dull fish. How disappointing. 1 point
8 - This is perhaps the most astounding fish ever captured. 10 points.
16 - A small or dull fish. How disappointing. 1 point.

Total: 20


Tikahn gazed out over the ice, watching other lions fish. They were all doing so well! The time he had tried before he had only landed normal sized fish and a few tiny ones, coming up short of Ezen, who had pulled some crazy-colored fish from the deep. The challenge had gone unanswered and, while Tikahn knew that being an awesome fisher wouldn't have actually impressed Ezen, he felt badly for falling short. Ezen was Elsa's claws and teeth, her protection, and he didn't want her body guard to dislike him. It would make things incredibly awkward for...well. Ever.

So here he stood once again, wondering if he should give it another try. Ezen wasn't around, but it was more to prove to himself that he could fish, that he wasn't useless as that grumpy lion had accused him of being, that he was important to more than just Elsa, but to the pride as a whole. A determined look on his face, he stood and walked out onto the ice. He had to do it. Plus, whatever he caught would be brought back for food, so it wasn't as if he was wasting time in doing this. Tikahn walked around a few other clusters of lions fishing to find an empty hole and, once he did, he sat down and waited. The lions to his left were a bit loud, and probably were scaring all the big fish away. Once they were done and headed back to the island with their haul, he crouched down over the hole and waited a bit more. Silence fell over the lake and the sun even began to set a bit before he tried his luck.

Slipping his paw into the water, he waved it around a few times to get his toes used to the cool temperature. Flexing his claws a bit, he saw something move under the ice and made a swipe for it. His paw hit but didn't catch the fish, stunning it for a moment. He took the opportunity to grab it and pull it up, but the moment he touched it he knew it was a rather awful fish. Indeed, when he pulled it out, it flopped weakly in his paw before he set it down on the ice. Grey in color and very small...wonderful. Maybe he was an awful fisher and should just stop.

No! a little voice in his head shouted at him. You can do this! Do it for Elsa! Do it for yourself! The voice was quiet but persistent, and finally Tikahn turned back to the hole. Something flashed in the water very quickly, scooting past the hole, so quickly that it startled him. Whatever it was it had been very quick and didn't seem to have the normal fish shape. There really hadn't been any fins to speak of, except for one along its back. Lowering his head, Tikahn readied his paw and reached forward quickly when the odd fish slipped past again. He pulled it out and was shocked at what he found. It was long, slimy, and had teeth! Big teeth! He gave a yelp of surprise and dropped it on the ice, where it wriggled and squirmed until it became too exhausted to do anything else.

"What...is that?' he asked weakly to no one in particular. He leaned in to sniff it, wondering if it would taste good, and got a slap to the nose for his efforts. Well...at least it was interesting. Maybe it would get him some extra points? Returning to the hole after making sure his two catches wouldn't get away, he began to wait once more. Again he saw something move, but this time he darted his paw in directly, catching the tail of the fish. He pulled it out and sighed once more at the size. Another tiny fish! That weird long, slimy one might be worth some bonus points, but these little dinky things certainly weren't.

Setting it aside, he waited by the hole longer this time. He watched more little fish dart back and forth as if teasing him. He didn't take the bait, though, biding his time. The sun had nearly set when a huge shadow approached his hole, making Tikahn's fur stand on end. Oh...gods...

The moment the fish swam under his hole, Tikahn dove in with both paws, sinking his claws into the surprisingly armored back. The fish began to thrash back and forth as he pulled up, getting stuck in the hole a bit. The fish was too big to take out as he had the others! This was a monster! He reached down with his mouth to adjust the fish, all the while murmuring quiet pleas to actually land this thing. Finally the ice gave way under the thrashing fish and the hole broke open bigger, letting Tikahn pull the huge fish from the water. Once it was on the ice, Tikahn too a moment to look at it. As long as his kind leg, perhaps, and as thick as he was around the middle. Not only that, but it was a beautiful silvery blue, shining in the dying sunlight like some kind of precious metal. He stared at it for so long that it was dark by the time he remembered he needed one more fish, and he wasn't too upset when he pulled out another tiny thing. It didn't matter. This fish was so huge it completely redeemed his awful attempt the other day with Ezen.

"Gods...how am I going to get these back to the island?" he asked with a weak laugh before piling the four smaller fish onto the larger and dragging it by its tail. It took a bit of work but he knew, in the end, it would be worth it. He would show Ezen and prove he could catch fish, he proved to himself that he wasn't useless, and maybe even Elsa would be impressed with his catch. Even if it didn't bring him any fame and prizes, he knew he had done the best that he could, and a snuggle with Elsa would be his perfect reward.

FIN
WC: 1035