PART II - A FRIENDLY INTERROGATION

"Good idea," Feldwin said. He looked down sternly to Vanis. "Remember, nobody must know who we are. Do you remember your name?"

"Harrin," Vanis replied, remembering.

"Excellent. Don't forget that."

Feldwin left the road, followed by the other two. He approached the Beastkin, shuffling through the grasses to make some noise. It would be rude to startle him, and potentially dangerous if he was a damage caster of some kind. "Good afternoon," he called out once he saw a reaction.

The fisher held up a paw, giving them a 'wait a moment' gesture, choosing to focus on the float in the river. It bobbled in the slow current and then disappeared beneath the water. Instantly the Tigerkin jerked the pole to set the hook. It seemed to take, and he started to work the line in, furiously reeling to take it up. After a few moments though, the line went slack and the pole went straight. "Damn!" he scowled.

"Bad luck," Feldwin said.

"There's a big one out there, I can sense it," the fisher said. "I just can't get him to bite." He sighed, and used his hand to continue cranking the small spool attached to the pole, which in turn took in the rest of the line. Once it was all brought in, he finally turned to address the newcomers. "Good afternoon," he said simply. "Is there something I can do for you? I don't recognize any of you."

"We are travelers, passing through," Ruvan said, "taking the slow route to Marindine."

"Marindine? Really? On foot that's probably three weeks, at least."

"We'll ride when we must, but if the weather is as pleasant as today, walking suffices. We are in no hurry, and it allows us to meet wonderful new people and see beautiful sights." Ruvan gestured generally towards the river to indicate such a sight.

The Tigerkin looked the travelers up and down a second time, before shrugging. "Well, walk if you want to, it's no fur off my tail."

"Are you out here recreationally?" Feldwin asked.

The fisher smirked. "I enjoy it well enough, but right now I'm just trying to catch some dinner and have had no luck to speak of, besides a few tiny ones that need to go back. Depending on what I can come home with, my wife will make a stew or some such from it. If nothing, it'll be egg and vegetable soup, I suppose." Then he realized something. "Oh, sorry, I've been rude. The name's Yovel." Then he wiped his paw on his overalls and held it out.

Feldwin reached out, clasping wrists. "Kellner, and this is my son, Arshall, and the young one is his grandson, Harrin."

"Father, son and great-grandson? You've brought the whole family along with you, haven't you. Good for you. Family is important. Are you doing … what do you Elves call it … your cycle? The innkeeper last year decided to do that. Suddenly sold his place and then headed off to Imor. Place hasn't been the same since. New owners are nice enough, but their food isn't the greatest, honestly."

"I don't really practice that, although at times I've thought about it," Feldwin said. "No, Harrin wanted to see the Colossus of Marindine, and I've never seen the statue either. None of us have. It seemed like as good an adventure as anything. Honestly, I think his father was just happy to get him out of the house for a while," Feldwin chuckled, rubbing the hair on the young prince's head.

Before the Beastkin could inquire further, Ruvan interrupted. "Speaking of Harrin, I don't believe he's ever tried to catch a fish before. Would it be an imposition for you to briefly show him your craft?"

It surely was a bit of an imposition, but Ruvan wanted to quickly change the topic away from them and to something the villager could resonate with, as it was the best way to get him talking. Plus, Vanis, in fact, had never been fishing, and hardly needed the Regent's prompting to get an excited look on his face.

Yovel's eyes looked down at the boy. "Sure, I have a little time." He gestured. "Come down here and I can show you. It's a good skill to have if you are going to be wandering the countryside. Fresh fish is always delicious, except for the black ones with the blue stripes. You can eat them if you have to, but they have a nasty, bitter taste. They also eat too many of the smaller fish, so I just toss them into a bucket to use as garden fertilizer if I catch any."

As Feldwin and Ruvan sat and watched, the Tigerkin showed off his fishing getup, and then demonstrated how to cast out into the river, the line unspooling as it extended. "Now, if that is pulled under the water, that means there's a fish trying to take the bait. You want to give it a quick flick so it hooks them, like this." He made a quick snap of the end of the pole. "At that point, turn this handle to bring it in."

"In general, how has the fishing been? We passed someone from here on his way to Imor, and he indicated he hasn't been taking as much with him of late."

"Yes, he's right," Yovel said as he guided Vanis through a casting practice. "Eight months ago, I could come down here, catch four decently sized fish and get back home in time to help my wife with the garden, or play with my boy." Yovel frowned. "Now I'm happy with one or two. It's been rather odd, honestly."

The fisher gave an approving nod to Vanis as the boy did a solo cast, quickly getting the timing down on when to remove his thumb from the spool to allow the line to extend. "Good job, son."

Vanis grinned at the praise. "Thanks!," he said as he focused on the float being gently carried by the slow currents, willing it to disappear beneath the water.

Yovel switched his attention to the two elder Elves, his demeanor relaxed and friendly. You could tell he enjoyed chatting with people, and doubly so the newcomers passing through the village. "The lack of fish is affecting other things. Others haven't really noticed yet, but I'm starting to see it. My wife, too."

"How so?" Ruvan asked.

The Beastkin hiked himself up on the bank taking a seat on the grass next to the younger Regent, which would allow him to keep half-an-eye on Vanis and the float in the river. "Less fish means there's less for some of the fish-eating animals in the area to feed on. Bears and wolves and the like, mostly. There's a spot not far upstream from here where the fish jump the rocks, and they can catch them out of the air. But with fewer fish, they've started to move on. That means they are also eating fewer of the small game, so more of the mushrooms and plants we gather from the woods are being eaten." He sighed and ran his hand over his furry head. "It's all a balanced circle. No fish, no wolves. No wolves, more critters. More critters, fewer plants. Fewer plants, less to gather. Plus things get more aggressive about getting into everyone's gardens, too. Keep knocking my fencing down or going under it."

If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

There was a quiet for a bit as the three watched Vanis and enjoyed the warm, late-afternoon sun beaming down on them. The Prince wasn't having much luck, though, and after three castings, the float hadn't so much as twitched. "It's not working," Vanis groused.

"You must have patience," Feldwin said before Yovel could say the same. "Fishing is supposed to be relaxing."

"Oh."

"The young ones don't appreciate the quiet," Yovel chuckled. "My boy would probably call this 'boring', if he was old enough."

"Enjoy the young years while you can," Feldwin said as he watched Vanis. "They grow up faster than one would wish, before becoming time you can never get back." To make his point, he jokingly gestured towards his grown son, who chuckled in return.

"My mother tells me the same thing," Yovel said with a sigh. "There are days, though …"

The three elders sat and talked, really about nothing, simply enjoying the day and each others' company. Feldwin and Ruvan steered the conversation, seeming to have a way to interrogate the Tigerkin, without actually doing that. Quickly they got him to open up about the struggles the village was facing, beyond just the fish issue. Mostly it was just gossip. Just everyday feuds between people, or whispers about who was sleeping with somebody they shouldn't be sleeping with, and who wasn't sleeping with somebody that they should be. Simply the drama of village life where everybody knew everybody and not a lot was much of a secret.

Ruvan pressed more about food issues, mostly to see if the lack of their fish staple was going to lead to a larger hunger problem. It didn't seem like it would, at least not anytime soon. As the high-private had said, the village was self-sufficient, needing little or nothing from outside the valley. Gardens would handle any short-term problems the issues with foraging or the river might cause, and several people had small herds of animals that could be eaten if it reached that point. Plus, they could easily adapt to trap or hunt the smaller creatures that were starting to become prolific. More than anything, the village would be lacking tradeable items for those few supplies they did need, which could lead to a longer-term problem.

Once during the discussion, Yovel interrupted Feldwin, stood and approached Vanis. "Watch the float," he warned, refocusing the Prince's straying attention. Sure enough, within less than ten seconds, it disappeared beneath the surface. Vanis flicked the pole as he'd been shown, and the tip began to wiggle and bend. He quickly began to reel the line in. Yovel's shoulders sagged almost immediately, though, and the reason was soon apparent. The fish Vanis eventually landed was small, smaller than someone's hand. Worse than that, it was covered in multiple black and yellow lesions.

"Bah," Yovel snarled as he unhooked the undersized fish.

"No good?" Ruvan asked.

"Barely big enough to eat," the Tigerkin said. Then he showed them the fish. "We've also been seeing more and more of this, too." He indicated the sickly blackness. "If it's just on the surface, you can still eat them, but these here are deep, so the meat's rotten and they aren't going to live very long. I'd let it go, but I don't want to see this spread." The fisher sighed, snapped the fish's neck and then tossed it into one of two buckets. "I'll cut it up for garden fertilizer, at least. Can't eat it, though."

Now encouraged that at least something was biting, Vanis re-baited the hook with a little assistance, and then cast it out again, this time paying much closer attention to the telltale float. Yovel returned to the bank, retaking his chatting spot while still half-watching what was happening on the water. They were quiet for a while. "This is a good village," Yovel finally said to break the silence. "A good place to raise our cubs."

That was all that needed to be said. Wixwind was a good village, full of good people. They were happy, or largely so. They were able to support themselves, or largely so. Save for the herb-eating critters in the forest and the mystery of the diminishing fish, there was no real danger. From all that, this place seemed almost perfect. Still, Feldwin felt something was off, and seeing the look on Ruvan's face, he could tell the other former king felt the same way.

Yovel suddenly leapt to his feet, rushing for Vanis about three seconds before the float suddenly disappeared from sight.

"Set the hook," Yovel said, a sense of urgency in his voice. "Hang on tight."

Vanis snapped the pole back, and immediately the end began to bend and wiggle, much more than it had for the last fish.

"Don't try to pull him in yet," the Tigerkin coached. "Just hang on to the handle and try not to let it swim too far. You want it to tire out." On the bank, the two Regents had stood, both grinning wildly as they watched Vanis struggle to follow instructions, while still awkwardly maintaining control. When it looked like the pole might slip away, Yovel grabbed it about halfway down its length just to reduce the wobble a bit. "There you go. You've got it, Harrin."

Yovel carefully guided Vanis, telling him when to slowly wind the spool to take up any slack, and when to just wait, all the while helping to support the fishing pole with his paw. "Alright, Harrin. You can start to bring it in. Don't force it too much, or it might get away."

Slowly, Vanis used the handle to wind the line into the spool. The fighting was much less now, the fish only making occasional runs for deeper water. Finally it broke the surface, leaping fully out of the water, before diving back in and making a hard last attempt to get away. Vanis lost control of the spool's handle for a moment, but Yovel used his paw to grab the line, apparently not noticing as the friction burned into it. Finally, the fight left the fish. Vanis furiously wound the spool, excitement on his face. The two on the bank beaming with pride, Yovel let go of the pole, stepping into the shallow water to lift out the fish.

As fish went, it was big. Not necessarily huge, but still much larger than the first small one. It was about the length of Yovel's forearm, weighing in at around four kilograms or so, and the Tigerkin held it up with one arm.

"Nice catch, Harrin!" Feldwin said in praise. "Very nice catch, indeed. Is it edible?"

Yovel was slowly turning the hanging, wiggling fish so he could look it over. Then he pointed to a spot, before rubbing it slightly with a claw. "It's got a bit of whatever this black blight is, but it's not deep, so it's good to eat. May need to cut around that part, that's all." Quickly, so it didn't suffer, Yovel snapped the fish's neck, before tossing it into the second bucket. Then he looked up the bank at the two smiling grandparents, and then back to the boy, who was grinning with a giddy glee.

"Join us," Yovel said. He looked at Vanis. "Be our guests for dinner. You caught it, you should help eat it."

"Oh, we couldn't impose," Ruvan said, waving the smiling fisher off. "I'm sure we can find something at the inn."

"You can find a place to sleep, but trust me, neither of the couple that now owns the place can cook like my wife can, or at all, for that matter. Please, we'd be happy to have guests, and I'm sure she'd love to meet all three of you."

Ruvan shot a glance at Feldwin, but the look on his face told him what he already knew. You couldn't turn down an invitation like this without being rude, and more importantly, no wandering traveler would ever pass on the promise of a home-cooked meal. If anything, they had to accept, if only to keep their cover.

"We'd be delighted," Feldwin finally said, making the decision before it became a discussion.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.