Gone Fishing - Part 1 (Patreon)

A/N: We are doing something a bit different this month for Patreon. Every day I will be posting a short that is a part of a more longform story. It will include all of the RO's and will be written in third person.

In this scenario, our lovely friends are setting out to sea together. There is a tear in the middle of the ocean that they must investigate and someone has put the RO's together as our intrepid crew. Join us while they navigate the Night Market waters, enacting a plan that was obviously not well thought through. Bella might eat them all before the end of the trip. Malcolm may just jump overboard. Who will survive what is supposed to be an afternoon sail?

Part One

Morning never shone in the Night Market. Occasionally there was a peach hue on the horizon that simulated the rising sun but it faded far before the light could truly take hold. The water never sparkled, because of this. The diamond encrusted waves never got a chance to show off beneath clear blue skies and a blazing heat. Instead, the tide danced with the moon, two lovers, ebbing and flowing through the darkest parts of night.

That is until the crack had formed.

It was a small little rip, really. Nothing to be worried about, or so everyone said. Just a dip in the sky where bright pink dawn flooded through and made the water almost purple in color. It became a tourist spot at first. Beckoning the adventurous type out to sea. For some, it was the first time they had experienced the light. It was easier to look at the tear in the sky with awe as opposed to abject fear and no one really wanted to talk about how the world could eventually suck in on itself, negating them all with a cut off gasp.

“This is going to be fun.” Hazel, ever the optimist, was rocking back and forth on her feet. Her skirts whipped around her ankles, brushing across the damp shore. Her fingers were working quickly, tying a knot on her scarf to keep her hair from her face.

Malcolm glanced at her, hands deep in his pockets. “We have different definitions of fun.”

A derelict boat was docked at the edge of a pebbled shore. It bobbed with the morning tide, salt crusting the dampened exterior. Faded letters in slanted red script read “Yeah Buoy”. It was the exact kind of vessel that Malcolm would have liked to take a match to and burn.

“Oh, don’t be like that,” Hazel told her brother. “When’s the last time you were out on a boat, huh? Don’t you want to go fishing?”

“You cry every time I catch a fish.”

“Because it’s cruel and barbaric,” she huffed. “You can at least throw them back.”

Malcolm rubbed a hand across his face. “You really need to become a vegetarian.”

Gravel crunched off to their right. It wouldn’t be just them on the boat. They needed a captain. Someone who knew enough about the tears in the sky. And, unfortunately, the authorities. Hazel was along for the magic portion and Malcolm was there to make sure everyone didn’t kill each other. His job was most likely the hardest.

“That cannot possibly be what we are getting in.”

Belladonna was the next to arrive, punctual as always. She was voicing the sentiment that Malcolm himself had. 

Standing in the most impractical outfit for an afternoon outing at sea, Belladonna had her hands on her hips, eyeing the boat as if it was some sort of joke. Really, it kind of was.

“It’s not that bad,” Hazel tried.

She turned gold glinting eyes towards Hazel. “Was it dragged from the Deep? This was certainly a wreck at one point, was it not?”

Malcolm sighed, stepping forward to leave the two women to talk. If he had known how bad the boat had gotten he would have tried to patch it before making this trip. At this point, they just had to hope that they didn’t spring a leak.

“It’s super sturdy,” Hazel was telling Bella. “I promise. And if it’s not, I can,” she looked around, making sure no one else was listening. “You know. Use M-A-G-I-C.”

Belladonna blinked at her. “I know the Velvet Guard are imbeciles, darling, but I am pretty sure they know how to spell.”

Hazel blushed, eyes landing on her feet. She heard Belladonna walking towards her, miraculously not falling despite her heels on the rocky shore. “How strong is your magic, little witch,” she murmured to Hazel. “Because we’re going to need the craftier spells if something goes wrong out there.”

“I really don’t think the boat is going to sink, Bella.”

“I’m talking about leviathan,” she said. “Creatures of the Deep. Bits and bobs who like to come up to the surface and eat pretty women like us.”

Hazel’s eyes went wide. “You think I’m pretty?”

Belladonna rolled her eyes but it was accompanied by a lascivious smirk. “Oh, hush now. You should come by the brothel. I could get you a job that would have you rolling in coin.”

“Stop pimping out my sister, Malady,” Malcolm called.

Bella whirled on him, making a show of looking him up and down. “You could join, too. Don’t be jealous now. Brother and sister combos go for quite the penny.”

“What?” Hazel squawked. “That’s– you can’t be… No. Just no.”

Bella was laughing. Oh the thing she could say to the youngest Albright to get her to squirm. There were maybe some upsides to this trip. “Hush, now,” she told her. “Of course I don’t abide by it in my sector. It attracts the wrong kind of clientele. But, separately you two would be gorgeous. All spread out and…”

Hazel covered her ears.

Malcolm was currently testing the resilience of the boat, making sure there were no rotted boards. He had his booted foot right at the side, just under the name. There was a split that looked like it had recently been repaired.

“Alright, little Albrights,” Bella clapped her hands. “What’s the plan? Because this boat is certainly not it. Who is even captaining this thing?”

Both Malcolm and Hazel froze. Now that was going to be a harder sell.

“Well, you see,” Hazel began, “there are not a lot of captains who go out to this area of the sea. Especially this time of year. The sea serpents are breeding you know and it makes it a bit dangerous.”

“Mmm. All the more reason why that boat will not do.”

“It’s all we have,” Malcolm said, not quite meeting her eye. It’s not like he was fond of what was to come either.

Belladonna looked between the two of them. “This little game is fun and all but clearly you two are not telling me something and I would rather like to move along with my day. Are we captaining this ship? Is that not actually our ship and we are taking a dingy?”

A throat cleared behind them, causing Belladonna to turn.

Milo stood at the start of the path, a white ship's cap at a jaunty angle. “Ahoy there sailors,” he grinned.

Bella just stared. “Absolutley not.”