Ever since everyone accepted that Mother and Bael were not going to be coming back, things had gotten weird. After the meeting, Sparrow ordered all the pups to stay on the ship, and that was fine for a while. However, the tight space and so many other pups were really starting to wear him down. He often found himself searching- or hiding rather, deep below the ship. And on one of these excursions, he found a wad of thin rope that had been buried under a bunch of stuff. The discovery immediately made him think of Calico Jack’s net, and it set the gears in the back of his mind turning.

After a day or two had passed, he pulled the rope out and off the ship. Coming to settle on the beach as he got everything untangled, and began the tedious process of back a net of his own. How? He wasn’t really sure. But he was confident that he could figure it out as he went along.  

He was tired of being stuck on the ship. Since mom and Bael disappeared, things had changed, and not so much for the better. Dad had gone out searching almost every day for them, and still, there was no hide or hair of the two. "Stupid Bael..." He muttered under his breath as he kicked a small piece of wood that lay rotting on the ground. He was probably out on adventures with mom while the rest of them were stuck here! Dad said he'd take them out soon, but that felt like it was taking forever to happen! Why was he so hung up on finding them anyway? It was obvious they didn't want to be found, right?

He decided to hell with the rules. Dad's companions were hanging around somewhere, probably watching and making sure they didn't disappear like mom and Bael. He headed out to the beach, and not long after arriving, he spotted his brother handling something. He cocked his head as he watched for a moment. "What're you doing? Do you need some help?" He asked as he approached, curiosity drawing him in as he sat down and watched his brother struggle with the rope he had.

Though, he wasn't alone for long. Just as he was starting to get in the rhythm of strategically knotting the rope to itself, to make little loops small enough that tidepool creatures couldn't escape, Diablo's voice caught his attention. Gently setting the rope down so he could talk without making a mistake, he thought about how best to explain. "Calico Jack said he made a net, and it worked well for catching fish and stuff." He started, amber eyes unwavering as he watched for his brother's expression. "I found some rope on the ship, so I thought I'd try." Aresenn explained, looking at the few rows of loops he had already made. After lingering a moment, he looked back to his brother to continue. "I don't really know what I'm doing, but you can help if you want." He offered. Not really sure of how to instruct his brother to do what he himself didn't either. "I've just been tying knots in it to make little loops. Small enough ones to catch stuff in the tidepools."

That was really all the information, so with a nonchalant shrug, Aresenn picked back up where he had left up, and continued chaining the little loops together. Hoping that whatever mess he was making would be successful.

He cocked his head as he listened to his brother explain what he was doing. Or at least, what he was trying to do. He had to admit, he admired his brother for attempting what seemed to be a difficult task. After all, as far as he was aware, none of the pirates had paws quite like his. His toes were different, easily able to grasp things that normal paws couldn't. At least, that's what his dad said. He often compared his paws to the others in silence, wondering if there was something wrong with him. He supposed that even if there was, his dexterous paws sure allowed him to do things others had trouble doing without help. He looked to see what his brother had already accomplished, storing away what he was looking at for future use. "I can help you, I'll start on this side. That way we can finish faster so we can see what we catch!" He exclaimed as he picked up the other side of the rope. He took another peek at what Aresenn had already done, and carefully got to work. His finger-like paws looped the rope and tied it off, crossing here and there as he tried to make the holes small enough to prevent the tidepool creatures from slipping through.

Honestly, he was grateful for his brother's help. As Diablo pledged to start on the opposite side, he continued working his way through his own side. Every now and then, he would catch a glance as to what his brother was accomplishing. But with the two working towards the same goal, they were actually making awesome time. "I don't think it's going to be as big as the one Jack made. But it doesn't have to be big to catch stuff in the tide pools." He said out loud. Partially to Diablo, but also in part to reassure himself.

Methodically he made one loop after another. It didn't seem like one little knot would back that much of a difference, but all of them together looked impressive. As he went from row to row, he got more and more excited with the progress of their work.

He had his tongue out in concentration as he carefully made loop after loop and knot after knot. Their work wasn't perfect, but that was okay. The net was still useable, and he couldn't wait to see what they'd catch if anything. He had seen the tidepools, and explored them a bit but only on the surface. There seemed to be many interesting things living in the small ones, so surely the larger ones had things he didn't even know about yet, right? Good thing he had found his brother making this net, because he doubted he would've come up with this idea on his own, to be honest. "It's okay, we don't need a big one! Even with this, I'm sure we'll catch something cool, huh? Like...I dunno...a starfish? Do those things swim?" He had no idea! He had never seen one outside of the tidepool, they were always just...plastered to the rock and he wanted to poke at one, dammit!

He rolled his shoulders and neck, flexing his toes as he finished the last few loops and knots. His tail thumped in the sand, grinning as he looked at their handiwork. "I think we're done? Not too bad for our first net, huh? Bet it's better than Calico Jack's!" Okay, so that last part he wasn't so sure. He hadn't seen Jack's net to compare, but it was nice to think the net the brothers made was still better!

As Aresenn made the final knots on his side, he checked on Diablo just as he was doing the same. However, the question about starfish made him laugh. After a moment of serious thought, he finally admitted defeat. "You know ... I don't know if they swim. Surely they just don't live their lives stuck to rocks ..." He replied. If they did, that was a really boring life, and he did not envy them for it. Quickly making a decision in the back of his mind, he gave a stiff nod, looking back to Diablo. "We'll find out." In the name of science.

As Diablo finished his side, Aresenn also stepped back. Looking at the entire thing, he was definitely pleased with the result. "Not too bad at all. I bet it'll work just fine!" His tone conveying genuine enthusiasm. But he had enough standing around gawking at it. He wanted to go see it in action. "Let's go see."

Aresenn grabbed his side and hesitated. Giving his brother the opportunity to get his side. Once they were set, the Praetor boy motioned to the closest tide pool. And once they were close enough, he heaved his part out into the shallow water. He didn't really know for sure how it worked. But sure it was as simple as letting it sink to the bottom, and then pulling it back up. It covered almost the whole pool, so they were bound to catch something. Even if it was by accident.

He frowned when Aresenn said he didn't know either if they swam or not. Did they really just...live stuck to a rock? He couldn't imagine living like that. Just sitting in one spot their whole lives. Watching the world go by. Wait...did they even have eyes!? "We'll find out." "Yeah!" He was curious to find out, standing up and shaking the sand off his rump as he and his brother admitted their handiwork. For first-timers, they didn't do a bad job at all! At least he thought so anyway! "Wonder if we can use this to pull a prank on dad or Rivin after..." He mused absentmindedly. A grin spread as he picked up his end and trotted along with his brother to the nearest tidepool.

He peered into the tidepool for a moment before letting his end drop into it, then he stood there and stared. Watching. Waiting. He had no clue how a net worked, or how things got caught in it, but they were about to find out! "So...how long do we wait?" His brother had been with Jack and his net, right? Surely he had some idea of the process, because he sure as hell didn't considering he had never used one before!

The idea of pranking Dad and Rivin with the net brought a cheshire grin to his features. He could just imagine their surprise now ... a net being dropped on them. "I bet we could! Good idea." They would have to work out the logistics of it later. For now, they had bigger fish to fry.

After he and Diablo got the net in the water, it began its slow descent into the tide pool. Thankfully, it was only a couple of feet deep, so it didn't take too long for it to reach the bottom. After a few more moments of silence, his ears perked at Diablo's voice once again. "Uhh ... well, I think it should be okay to pull it out now." He started, trying to see if he could see any movement in the water. "Here, you grab your two corners, and I'll grab my two corners, and we'll drag it out." Aresenn said. He didn't wait for his brother to make a mood before he reached into the water to grab his part of the net. Luckily, the edges didn't go to the bottom as well.

The thought of pranking their dad and sister was now at the top of his list. After they were done fishing, of course. They waited a few moments after his brother thought about his question, and although Diablo was the more stoic and silent type, he couldn't contain the wiggle in his body at pulling the net up to see what they had caught, if anything. He had no idea how fishing worked, or how long was normally the time to wait, but...maybe fishing with a net was different? He moved to grab his side of the net and began to pull it out, and as they dragged it out, he almost dropped it again when he caught the sound and movement of something splashing.

"Look! We got somethin'!" He exclaimed, now hurrying to pull the net out to see what it was. He swore he saw a claw, and there was something else that looked like it had a bunch of spikes stuck and tangled on the net."Is that a crab!? And what is that thing?! This was, of course, the only two things he could see so far, and already he was glad he had come along to help his brother with this task!

As soon as they began to pull the net out of the water. They were met with the sounds of movement- splashing at the water's surface. He saw what could only be a crab and a weird spiky ball thing. "Yeah, that's a crab. But I don't know what that is. It looks sharp though, be careful." Aresenn warned his brother. But as they pulled the net all the way out, there were a couple more things too. Not one crab, but a couple of them. Some grass that had gotten tangled in the net. And a Starfish! But he was met with immediate disappointment. "Aww, I didn't see if he swam or not, though!" He said, motioning to the five-pointed shellfish. Would it be worth throwing him back to see?

All and all, he considered it a successful first cast! "Wow, this worked out better than I expected though. We caught some cool stuff!"  He finished, looking back to Diablo with delight.

He was curious about the ball of spikes. It seemed to be alive, but he wasn't about to try and touch it without knowing what it was. "Maybe we should drop that one back in the water, that is unless we can figure out what it is and use it for somethin'!" Those spines looked like they hurt, but for now, he'd shake it off the net and let it fall to the side so he could poke it with a stick or something later. It seemed they had pulled out more than they bargained for to his delight, and that even included a starfish! Much like his brother though, he was disappointed that neither of them had seen if the starfish had swam or not, but he also didn't want to throw it back. "Nu uh! Let's keep it and use it to decorate! It's not every day we catch one, but now we know how!" He grinned.

They had quite the haul now, and now all they had to do was prep them somehow so they could use them. "Dad said his sister used to dry herbs in the sun and he would make um...jerky? By drying it out, too. I dunno about the crabs, but we can eat 'em and use the shells for something. And the starfish we can dry in the sun, huh? It'd look pretty cool if we strung it up on something..." He eyed what they had caught and an idea popped into his head. "what if we used that piece of seagrass? Or even the net itself to hang up for decoration and attach these things to them after they dry? Even that spiky ball thing once we figure out how to grab it without getting poked! I can help ya make another net later. We are pirates after all! We gotta show off our prized catches!"

He watched as the spiky ball was discarded to the side. "Yeah, we'll stab ourselves trying to get it back to the ship." Aresenn agreed. Not giving it a second thought. But on the topic of the sea star, he tuned back in. "Okay, fine by me." They'll just have to find another one to see if starfish swim or not.

"Yeah, that works! We can just use the net to show them off." He said excitedly. As the net lay stretched out on the obsidian beach, he could already envision displaying their prizes for decoration. Each and every piece. But then an idea struck him. "We can use the seagrass to attach things to the net if we need to." It might possibly make things more secure. It would be a little extra work, but might be worth it. No matter though, it would take time for the stuff to dry out like Diablo had said. So in the meantime ... it would just be a waiting game.

-end thread-