Donations to the Loft: Chapter 1

Published Apr 28, 2022, 12:34:11 AM UTC | Last updated Apr 28, 2022, 12:34:11 AM | Total Chapters 1

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Crayon and Tide go fishing

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Chapter 1: Chapter 1

As the morning sun rose higher in the sky, cloud cover began to roll through. Thus, the daylight felt dull. To Tide and Caryon, however, the white blanket over the sky was not a sign that they should stay in.


Instead, it signaled that today was the perfect day to embark on a fishing trip. Their motives were not self centered, but instead quite charitable. Or, at least Crayon's was.


The brightly coloured raptor often enjoyed assisting the loft where he could. The young Stryx brought him endless joy, even as his heart equally broke for their situations. Tide, on the other hand, wasn't so selfless. While it was true that he cared and wished the best for those left abandoned and alone, he rarely went out of his way to help. As someone who prided himself on his feathers, childcare was not for him… and he had his reservations about this trip as well. Still, it was good publicity that he'd take.


As the two Stryx padded further towards the beach, the dirt beneath their talons gradually shifted to sand. Crayon looked up at the sky. The clouds were darkening. It was Tide, however, who broke the silence between them. "I hope it doesn't storm. The sea salt is bad enough without the addition of wind. Not to mention, I hardly want to be zapped by lightning while we're out."


"You don't have to stay," Crayon offered. Although he had no malice, the response was testy. Tide couldn't piece together why.


Nevertheless, Tide huffed a sigh and continued on by his friend’s side. Well… ‘friend’. The silken raptor hardly knew Crayon, but he seemed nice enough. If not for the fact that it took two raptors to best net fish, they may not have worked together at all. To Crayon, Tide was too pompous… to Tide, Crayon was simply bland. They couldn’t have been more different.


They came up upon the dock that they would be fishing from. They weren’t so lucky to have a ship to use for the trip, instead having to hope - and rely on - there were fish to be caught near the shore. Crayon walked out onto the wooden board, bobbing up and down with the waves beneath his feet. Tide, however, hesitated. The blue raptor looked back to the tan and grey one, giving him a confused look. “What are you waiting for? You’re the one with the net, aren’t you?”


“I… would rather not fall in,” Tide admitted. He did dare to step onto the dock, but it was clear he still had his reservations about going any further.


“You’re named after the ocean and you’re afraid of water? Come on, you won’t fall in. Besides, the sooner we’re out here, the worse these waves will get.”


Tide scrunched his face together in a mildly frustrated manner, then continued to walk. Whether it was a self fulfilling prophecy, or simply a coincidence, his legs wobbled beneath him. “You know, if I were a chicken I’d say that is even more reason not to walk out here.” As the pier widened out into a larger platform, he was more confident. Crayon rolled his eyes.


Still, the silken raptor wasn’t a complete deadweight. He pulled a net off his back and unrolled it across the platform. Crayon meanwhile began to tie the bait to a section meant to lure the fish into it, ensuring that only the small fish could escape through the holes once they began to reel it in. They’d be doing traditional line fishing as well, but the net took the longest to prepare - and the longest to gather enough fish to reel it back in.


Once the net was set to cast, Crayon took one end and Tide took the other. They moved to either side of the dock, then heaved the tool over the side. With that being done, each raptor secured the net to the dock poles. It was easier than they’d expected, but whether or not their work would pay off remained to be seen.


With that done, Crayon stepped over to a tackle box. He flipped the lid open and smiled towards Tide. “Any particular fishing technique you prefer? I have supplies for just about anything your heart could desire.” He chuckled.


Tide moved up to the bue raptor, peering down at the tackle box with a rather blank expression. “I don’t fish,” he answered simply. “I only know the basics: put bait on a hook and wait for the fish to bite.”


“There’s a lot more to it than that, but for today that method will work,” Crayon said with a nod. He’d picked a lure out for himself, but made sure that Tide’s wasn’t quite so fancy. It would help him know what to do if a fish did bite, rather than flounder and potentially lose the line. He glanced over to the beach coloured raptor, who seemed to be fluffing up in irritation when he realized he was the underdog of this activity. “Did you need help casting the line?” Crayon asked. He hardly meant it in a condescending way, but tide thought otherwise.


“I don’t need help, thank you very much,” he said, snatching away the now prepared pole.


From there, the pair tended to leave each other alone. Tide’s pride had been wounded. They caught a few fish, however, before the waves began to pick up. The dock wobbled even more beneath their feet as the swells turned to whitecaps. “We… should get going,” Tide commented, swinging his head over to his companion. “I can smell rain coming… and I'd still rather not get caught in a storm.” Indeed the clouds had grown darker, casting the world in shadow.


Crayon was working to reel in what seemed to be a big - or at the very least strong - fish. He shook his head at Tide for now, grunting as he struggled with the line. Tide, despite his reservations, watched with rapt attention at the skillful Stryx. It took a few more tense seconds, but the fish was finally on the surface of the water, thrashing about wildly. It was too big to safely bring in with the line alone, and so Tide jumped into action. They’d brought with them a pole net, which he used to scoop the angry fish up and help bring it aboard the dock.


Once the fish had been squared away in their cooler, Tide’s feathers looked somewhat more tattered and Crayon looked exhausted. After taking a moment to catch their breaths, the bright blue raptor looked at the nets they’d set up. “Well, I think we should pull these up and take whatever we’ve got. I don’t have a problem with the rain, but you’re probably right that we should get going before it gets worse.”


As if on cue, thunder rumbled from the distance. It had already begun to sprinkle, so no doubt stronger weather was on its way. Tide took a breath to calm himself, then nodded. “Let’s do it. The Loft will appreciate anything. Every little bit counts.”

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