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4 - There are some fish here, but they're crafty! It takes some doing, but you do manage to catch one. +1 point
Einarr had made a proper fool of himself when he'd gone out fishing with Silke. With only one fish (albeit a large and meaty fish) to show for his efforts, not to mention the assortment of bite marks on his leg that the fish had got in before he killed it... he was sorry that he didn't have more to show for his work. No matter how large his pike was, it wasn't enough to entice the merchants that set up shop for the fishing season. He'd tried, but been turned away. The cape that Silke wanted was worth three fish, not one large big one!
So, he set more and more time out to go fishing. If he wasn't going on a venture, he was going fishing. If he wasn't eating, or being with the lovely Silke or sleeping, he was fishing. Today was no different. While he'd had good luck going out at the crack of dawn, it didn't take Einarr long to realize that despite it being a good time to fish, he hated getting up that early for anything. Even for his precious Silke and the knowledge of how happy she would be with that fish bone cape... He couldn't make himself get out of bed for it. Yet he did go out that day, after his knightly duties were done. Sneaking away from the group, off he went to fish.
By the time he got down to his favorite spot in the river, he sent out a small wish to the universe that he didn't come across another pike and then went into the water. He stood in the shores, letting the water run through his fur and around his legs. He stood there, noting that it was certainly easier to see now that the sun was up, but.. He couldn't see any fish. So he waited. And he waited some more. Finally, he was deciding that he would leave and go back later when a flicker of movement caught his eye. A shadow of a tree covered the water and among the shadow... a ripple of water that marked... a fish! It was using the shadow of the tree as cover!
Indignant with the fish's cleverness, Einarr charged ahead with little regard for the fuss he was stirring up behind him. The fish turned and twisted, swimming in the opposite direction and--he plunged into the water after it. His jaws opened and closed around scales and meat and bone and he raised his head triumphantly! He got the pesky thing! He moved to the shore and plopped it on the ground, turning back with every intention to go back in and search the shadows, when he realized that the water had gone still. Not a creature was in the section of the river he'd hunted in. Lowering his ears, he sighed.
Not again. He was always an eager fisher, but perhaps in this case, too eager. Ah, well, he'd pick up his fish, toss it on his growing pile until he had enough for that cape for Silke and then go about his day as usual. After all, he could always go fishing again, in a different part of the river.
(WC: 537)