Sirius split from the main group to head to the lake, seating himself on the edge of the water, he looked out across the great expanse. He could see others trying their luck in the distance, but the titan had picked a spot relatively empty, and snarled his fangs at any wolf who happened to glance his way.

Turns out being in such a large crowd of wolves he didn’t know didn’t do great for his mood. There was so many chances of threats, so many things that could go wrong. He couldn’t keep his eye on both Zee and Belle forever.

Now , here he was, at the side of the lake, knowing he had agreed to participate in this silly festival. He growled under his breath as he looked back to the lake. He still vividly remembered his attempt at bird-catching, the incident that had tipped him into the lake. There was no Zee nearby this time to calm his stupidity if it happened again. What did he know about fishing?
Nothing

And then she was there, he looked up at the familiar blue form of the woman who shared his den, and felt his fear and agitation melt away. He offered her a partial smile, before turning his head back to the water. He braced himself, and then acted before the fear could return. He pounced, landing just at the edge of the water, and swiped his paw into the lake, an attempt to grab at a fish as it swam lazily by.

The nearby scent was unmistakable, and Zee's face broke into a smile as she realized Sirius was nearby. No amount of troubles they'd had could dull the almost natural way she lit up around him, and it was easy to ignore the negative feelings brewing within her during this happy time.

"Sirius." She greeted, walking up to him to give him a brief nudge of her nose upon his cheek. It was polite enough that it could be taken as any two friends saying hello, though she wished she could give him a more intimate one.

The titan swiped a paw at the river, and Zee's brow rose curiously. "You know, your fangs might prove an advantage here too. Why not just bite at them? They'd have quite a ways to go around you if you were to miss." As if to demonstrate, the slave stepped towards the lake and peered down at the clean water. Seeing a fish meander close enough, her muzzle shot downwards to snap at the thing before it could escape.

He turned and looked down at the smaller wolf as she nudged into his cheek, and offered her another smile. His face was free of the grimace it had displayed earlier, as her presence chased away the migraine that came with being in such a large gathering of wolves. He liked that he had both found a quiet spot by the lake, and that she had joined him here. Needing a break from the noise, did not mean distance from her.

Zee had something to say about his fishing style (what a surprise) and he shook his head at her, there was fondness in exasperation. “And if I fall in now, and everyone sees that the Empress of the Ashen Empire’s protector has one tiny little flaw?” he ventured. Not saying exactly what the flaw was, but then it was rather obviously. Almost teasingly spiteful, the giant pushed another paw into the lake in another attempt.

Zee gave a soft laugh as he worried on his reputation, nudging his shoulder briskly with her forehead as if to say 'cut it out.' Her head shaking in amusement, she faced the water once more. "You know, I don't think failure as a fisherman makes you less fearsome as a protector. I mean, unless a shark decides to try to nibble on Deathbelle I think you're covered."

His reasoning was silly, and Zee looked on as he pawed the water once more. She cheered him on mentally, hoping he'd catch something but seriously doubting his technique. It was hard to fault him for it though, she knew he was afraid of swimming. But come on, he had to be able to stick his face in without falling in, right? With a quiet exasperated exhale, she dipped her face into the salt water once more her eyes squeezing shut as she prepared to hit the water.

Regardless of what Zee said, he had no desire to let himself fall into such a situation, especially here in front of these people. He knew the fear, the anger, that would come from him if he did so. He he didn’t want to be anywhere near the water. Zee had promised him swimming lessons, but that had been just before their friendship had fallen apart, and then been rebuilt again.

Zee stuck her head under once more, and Sirius watched her for a moment. With a sigh, he placed his belly on the ground, so he was lying flat by the water, before pulling himself forward, back legs braced against the ground, and ducked his head under the water. His teeth snapped against the blue liquid as he sought to grab his prey, and pull his head free again. He shuddered a little at the sensation of having his head fully submerged. “Foolish method” he grumbled at Zee.

Zee looked on with carefully contained laughter as the titan crawled towards the shoreline, as if getting very low would help him to not fall in. He snapped at the water as she had, and while his head was submerged she let a small chuckle escape. Her friend looked properly grumpy as his face withdrew, water dripping from his thick fur. More laughter belted from her, unable to keep it in when faced with his expression.

"Oh Sirius." She chided fondly, lifting a paw to place upon her muzzle as if it could stop her from giggling. "If you keep insulting my methods, I might just push you in the next time you look away." Soft eyes glimmered with amusement - her threat was only playful. "Alright fair is fair, I'll try it your way." The she-wolf got closer to the edge so that her shorter legs might reach the water, ducking low and swiping at a nearby fish in the same attempt he had made previous.

He looked to Zee as laughter escaped her, and he flicked his tail towards her. He didn’t move any closer, so it was a very lazy attempt at retaliation. He harrumphed at her, especially when she joked about pushing him in. “I’ll remember that next time we spar.” he warned her. He still needed to wrestle her into another match. He hadn’t anticipated her being so cunning in her attempt to get out of them.

He would then watch as she scooted closer to the edge, and attempted to fish with the paw method. Honestly, he didn’t know why - it wasn’t like he knew what he was doing. When had he learned to fish? In Ashen? The waters had dried up, and the famine had set in. no, not then.

He ducked his head back into the water, determined to show her he could face his fears, and held his breath for longer this time, eyes open to the cool blue world beyond as he snapped his jaws in another attempt to snag a fish.

(4th attempt)

Sirius continued to fight his fear and fish the proper way, and Zee beamed her pride at the back of his furry head. She decided his method was stupid and silly, and so when his back was to her she made her own third attempt - shoving her face into the water after another fish. When they both came up from the lake, she looked once more to him to finally respond.

"The next time we spar I'll make sure to find a boulder right in the middle of the lake. It'll definitely prove a more challenging fight for you seeing as if you fall in you'll drown." She gave him a smirk, poking fun at his lack of any ability to swim. "That way we both have something to fear." The last time she'd ran for cover from his spars she'd picked a shallow portion of the lake - next time he'd not be so lucky.

He snorted and shook his head at her words. He wouldn’t be taking her to spar near wolfpaw lake any time soon with that attitude. He would stick to the ravine, which only had the very shallow, gentle stream that ran across its belly. She would be hard pushed to find any part of that water source that came over his knees. He hadn’t known what she would do at the time, but he was glad he had brought her to spar in the Ravine in the first place.

As she ducked her head under the water to fish, he would try once more himself. He still hated to put his head under the water, but he could strike with his fangs quickly, and it would only take spearing a fish on the end of his monstrous canines to catch and kill one. “This festival is… strange.” he commented to full the silence as he rose his head back to clear air.

Zee scoffed at his remark, shooting him a pointed look of amusement. "That's because you don't know how to have fun." She teased. It wasn't like she could blame him, however. The titan had spent most of his life in slavery guarding Deathbelle and Zee had a strong feeling that with how serious he took the position, he'd not devoted much time away from her side for simple enjoyment like a festival. "Don't worry," She added softly. "I saw Deathbelle with Luce, and Archon and Hannibal are around too. I'm sure she's fine." Whether or not he was worrying about her Zee didn't know, but she wanted him to be able to enjoy himself too.

She paused to take a deep breath - slightly winded from the exertion of the fish catching - and shoved her face back under the water to try and snag another one. When she came back out of the surface, Sirius had a fish in his mouth. "Oh man, that one is huge." She marveled.

He cast a look at Zee, and managed to refrain from grunting again. He didn’t want to put on a grumpy face around her, especially once she had cooled his exasperation at being around so many people. “I know how to have fun” he counted, flicking a tail as she mentioned Deathbelle with Archon and Hannibal. And didn’t he know it. It was part of the reason he needed a break, and had come to the sidelines to fish.

His latest catch seemed to be one of the largest around, and he tossed it lazily to the side, though there was a hint of a grin in his maw. “Bet you can’t do better” he teased, and now of course he had to grudgingly admit that sticking his head in the water seemed to do well for fishing. He used that method again, feeling the liquid around him as his face submerged, and he attempted to use his fangs once more for another catch.

Zee gave a brisk laugh at his challenge. "Well of course not, that fish is the size of my head and I don't have built-in spear to catch with." Even though she knew she had nearly no chance to top his prize, the feisty slave did not like to be shown up. She eyed the shore with determination, gaze passing over the smallest fish that swam by and moving to the next. Finally she saw one that seemed bigger, though it was out of reach of the ground she stood on.

With a quiet 'harumph' the small wolf dove into the lake, aiming to come down directly on top of her prize. Hopefully she'd catch it, but there were many others swimming beside the largest and there was always the possibility that her aim would falter and she'd catch one of them instead. Regardless, she didn't want to stay in the salt water for long and as soon as she hit the water she turned tail to swim back to the shore, dragging herself up and shaking the water from her fur deliberately hard to splash her friend.

He challenged her, but she shook her head and dismissed it. Still, the Titan eyed her knowingly, a hint of a smile on his lips. He knew very well by now that Zee didn’t back down easily. A fact that had almost gotten them both into trouble on occasion. He watched her as her eyes flitted from fish to fish, wondering what she would do.

When she dived into the water, he tried not to look anxious as he followed her movements with his eyes. She returned to him, shaking out her coat, and ensuring he looked like a drowned rat. He got to his paws and shook out his own fur, which only made parts of his coat stand on end. At least he wasn’t the only one.

He stepped closer to her, and licked down the fur on her forehead that was trying to imitate a mohawk. “I would lend you my spears if I could” he said, stepping back before the moment could get to intimate, and dipping his own head back in the water in yet another attempt.

Sirius pelted her with his own discarded water, and Zee eyed him carefully considering if it was worth risking his wrath to push him in. As she thought on it, the titan stepped towards her to fix the fur upon her head and she threw away her consideration. He knew she liked to keep her appearance tidy, and appreciated his help too much to ruin the moment. The she-wolf gave him a smile of gratitude and watched as he tried to fish again.

When he lifted his head back from the water, she gave her reply. "I hear at the end of the festival that they have a witch doctor who if you earn enough tickets you can drink a mysterious brew to mutate you. Perhaps I can roll the dice and get spears like yours so you don't need to share." She gave him a crooked smile. Really she wasn't planning on taking the tonic, too much could arise from it that she hated. What if she grew longer ears, or her tail fell off? The thought made her shudder.

Finished her thought she moved back to the lake, this time not diving in and instead just snapping at the water to hope to catch something. The water was chilly, she'd not want to go for another swim anytime soon.

He turned his attention back to her so fast he got whiplash. He left a soft growl grow on his lips, peeling back the skin around one of his fangs to properly show the full length of it. “If you think it’s wise to knock back some witch brew, your crazy” he said. Never mind the fact that he had been considering it. He was a warrior. He was supposed to take risks. He didn’t want Zee taking something that had unknown consequences. He couldn’t protect her from something like that.

Zee moved back to the water edge, and more lazily attempted to snatch at the fish. She was shivering a little, so he came up beside her, and pressed his coat, which was mostly dry, against her. He didn’t say anything, he just stood there a moment, silent, protective, and weary, before he stepped forward and ducked his own head under again.

When he finished his next fish attempt, he kept his place beside the colder wolf.

Zee scoffed at his over-protective response, muzzle still plastered with a playful expression. "And what about you? You telling me you don't want to risk it and maybe grow something cool like horns?" She waggled her brow, imagining her friend with something silly like a bunny rabbit tail. There was supposed to be a brew that would also remove a mutation - in case you got something you hated - but Zee imagined Sirius taking that shortly after being de-tailed and then losing his saber fangs instead. She held back a burst of laughter at the thought.

His warmth beside her was welcome, and she leaned into his oversized form with a soft sigh. His head ducked to catch another and Zee mimicked his movements, making sure to keep still close to him as her head leaned forward to hit the water once more.

“Maybe” he admitted quietly, leaning into her as she clearly let her thoughts go down the path of her words. She found something in the idea amusing, because she was bursting out in laughter a moment later. He shook his head at her, tempted to ask… and also tempted not to.

She seemed to appreciate his closeness, or at least she wasn’t pushing him away her head ducked down at the same time as him, and he offered her a toothy grin as his head popped back out again. He had to admit his face and ears where getting chilled, at least to himself. He wasn’t about to give up yet, determined to keep going and to use this method until the end. He could be a stubborn ass when he wanted to. “Horns might be neat, someone else here mentioned they knew of wolves with horns. Or perhaps a thicker coat for defence.” he mused.

Zee thought on his considerations for a moment before speaking. "Well, if you do take it and you get something like porcupine quills, you'd better get it removed because while it'd be awesome for battles I don't want to lose my personal heater." She pushed against his side harder, feeling his heat come through to her. "Maybe you'll get double saber fangs, this time from your bottom jaw. That'd look funny." She snickered again.

Fishing was becoming exhausting, and Zee this time glared at the water in exasperation. Her pile was growing though, and with the limit being 10 caught fish she knew it wouldn't take much longer. With a grumble, she put her head back into the cold water to try and snatch another stupid fish.

He pretended to pause and look thoughtful for a moment. “That would be an excellent ability…” he mused, before offering her another sly grin. “But I suppose its not worth it if it upsets my bunk-mate” he agreed.

He grimaced as she mentioned a second set of fangs . “And walk around looking like a warthog. No, thank you” he shook his head, and grimaced again. He turned and buried his head against ee’s coat, but with her wet fur, it wasn’t much of a heater. “What say we find somewhere to dry off after this?’ he suggested. They were so close, but she was definitely not the only one sick of fishing. He ducked his head back under, knowing the sooner he got this over with, the better, and attempted for another fish.

Zee pulled away from his wet head playfully, lifting her head to bop it down onto the top of his muzzle in reprimand as he nuzzled into her coat. "Hey, I'm chilly enough." She laughed, leaning her head down atop him to rub her cheek against his head as if to tell him her reprimand was just for fun. The slave pulled back then and faced the water once more.

Her shoulders moved as she loosened her limbs in preparation to strike. "Just one more." She told him, eyes not leaving the shore. Finally, a fish of decent size swam past and she darted forward to aim to close her jaws around it. Pulling back, she stepped away from the store to face her friend once more. "Alright, there. Yes please lets go dry off." She shuddered as the breeze hit her wet fur.