Red herring

Several weeks before, the Armada’s food storage room had been flooded from the near constant storms that seemed to plague the continent. It had ruined all of their food stores, leaving them destitute especially before facing winter, and the boy felt he needed to do something in order to help. Sirius had been so kind as to take him on as an apprentice and train him and the princling considered the man an honorary grandfather. He couldn’t leave him out to dry. Plus, with the leaving of his aunts and cousins, Ashen was several wolves lighter and, therefore, their food stores were stronger with less mouths to feed. He could afford to hunt for their offshoot pack and not be a detriment to their own stores.

The first place he thought of to go to was the Kamui Delta. It was a quick trip from Ashen and through the Armada territory, past Weeping Woods and Lover’s Mangrove. The Deltas was a messy place, his large paws sinking down in the sandy land and threatening to hold him captive in some areas. He practically had to high step the entire way, making his shoulders and hind quarters burn with exertion, but he grit his teeth and bore it. It would only make him stronger, he reminded himself, and anything that would make him stronger would put him one step closer to redeeming himself in the silver, cold eyes of his father.

There wasn’t a day that went by where he didn’t wake up and think about his father’s words and his disappointed expression. All the boy wanted was to make his family proud and happy, and even though the majority of his family was happy and proud of him, he couldn’t help but be hung up on his sire. Perhaps it was the boy in him that wanted to impress his father most, that most primal need within to prove oneself to those who helped create you. Especially to a big softie like Take.

There was a specific sand bar toward the inside of the Delta that help a small pond in the middle. The bar and the pond were swallowed whole during the high tide but appeared during low tide, the sudden decrease often leaving sealife trapped in the pond that formed and making for excellent fishing. However, with the recent rainfall, the tide had grown higher and, now, instead of being entirely cut off until high tide came back around, the small pond now had an outlet toward the sea. It wasn’t super deep, just up to his ankles, but it made it so that fish could swim to and fro from the pond back to the depths. This both hindered and helped him. It allowed fish to swim back and forth, increasing the traffic of marine life that he would have at his disposal. However, it did leave room for error, aka for the fish to swim around him and to freedom. It was the best spot on the delta for fishing, though, so he would make do with what he could.

The glowing bow had brought along a bucket to toss his prizes in, fully intending not to venture home until he’d filled it to the brim. It would be hard work and he would likely be there until the tide grew high enough to force him out, but he was determined to do it. So, he set the bucket in the sand and squished it down a little so that it wouldn’t blow away with the wind, before stepping toward the end of the small inlet.

Takeshi closed his eyes and focused, working out something he’d been practicing since his confinement due to his migraines. It had been a pleasant discovery he’d made while having nothing else to do. He pictured a little red flame in his mind, flickering wildly to and fro. His brows pinched in concentration, standing stock still for several minutes. Slowly, the flame in his mind’s eye began to dwindle until it was barely visible to him. To anyone watching from outside, they would see his bioluminescence begin to dwindle in tandem to the flame in his mind. Eventually, the glow all but completely disappeared, leaving just a vague sheen to the scales embedded on his body. This would help him avoid startling the fish with his bright colors, which normally told all animals with any sort of basic instinct “stay away, dangerous”. Hopefully it would work. It would certainly put his mind to the test, as he had to keep concentrating in order to keep his glow down.

He waited and watched, bright red gaze scanning the small stream of water for any sign of movement. After a couple of minutes, he was able to see a flash of silvery scales. He gathered his powerful hindquarters behind him, preparing himself before leaping forward, jaws gaping before snapping closed on the fish. It flailed in his jaws, its tail smacking him in the face a few times and he snorted. The boy waded back to short before dropping his prize, repositioning his teeth over the spine before giving a rough jerk, feeling the spine snap. The fish went still, dead, and he plopped it in the bucket with a metallic ‘plunk.

The boy returned to his post, a sense of pride filling his chest as he started his goal. As he figured, the princling stayed out until the high tide began washing in, threatening to swipe his bucket filled, in the end, to the brim with fish. Later, he would salt them and dry them to be sure they wouldn’t rot, then he would deliver them to Sirius. He was happy with his progress, coming far from his confinement, but he had a lot farther to go still.