DoA Trappers: Jellybell | Tatlitli, (Laugom), (Vozgall)

Fishing entry for Tatlitli aq696

Adventure December 2023 for Laugom if108 and Vozgall if113

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The net descended through the water, slow and steady, widest near the top and wide open at the bottom. It looked like a jellyfish bell. Sardines flashed and glimmered below, believing themselves safe from Tatlitli high above, but Tatlitli was the one who'd woven the net.

 

"Ooo!" said Laugom.

 

"Mruphep?" asked Vozgall, bubbling curiously.

 

"You know, I've been thinking - the port's all done up with decorations, but the rest of the bay isn't. Of course I don't fault your kin, mate, knowing as you can't breathe underwater, but there ought to be some decorations down here, maybe some that you surface-dwellers can just toss down to, well, hang up - and that. That! Look at that, mate."

 

Vozgall was looking. It was the very reason she was down here, clinging to Laugom's graceful neck with her beefy arms. She'd wanted to see Tatlitli's cast net in action - and what a sight it was turning out to be!

 

Tatlitli had allowed the net's line to drift in the water, letting the net itself descend without interruption. The wide ring of the opening fell down around a smattering of sardines, and then Tatlitli pulled in the slack with a great heave that swept the opening closed. The unluckiest sardines of the school went from swimming in baffled circles to thrashing within their crudely-woven prison. A few managed to escape, darting away with all the speed they could muster.

 

Vozgall's arms tightened around Laugom's neck. "Mmphmrr!" she informed him.

 

"What? Oh, breathing. Why didn't you say so, mate?" Laugom erupted from their carefully obscured vantage point in the seagrass and swam for the surface with powerful beats of his tail. Vozgall was large, but large or no it was only a little difficult to haul her dead weight back to the surface where she belonged.

 

Vozgall gasped and sputtered and wheezed, and when she finally managed to stagger upright, she shook furiously to rid her fur of as much seawater as possible. "Glug. Ack. Hrehblech. Geck."

 

"Marvelous, stupendous, excuse me for a moment, mate," and Laugom promptly dove back down, swimming directly for Tatlitli. 

 

The trapper was examining this attempt's bounty, frowning severely as another sardine slipped through a hole and made good its daring escape. "Thing's more hole than net," she groused. "Best to toss it and start over."

 

"Mate, that's perfect!" Laugom crowed.

 

Tatlitli squinted at him. "What?"

 

"Can I have it?"

 

Tatlitli squinted harder. "Why in the boiling end of a volcanic trench would you want a broken-up net, jellybrain?"

 

"To decorate! It's perfect, mate, just look at it! Well, not now, but before, when it was all wide and round. That's exactly what we need!"

 

Tatlitli squinted so hard her eyes nearly closed. "...you can have it after I've got the fish out."

 

Laugom whooped and whirled about, back to the surface, where Vozgall had finally managed to catch her breath.

 

"What-" Vozgall started.

 

"We've got our net!" Laugom cheered. "Soon as Tatlitli has her fish, the net's all ours - but we'll need something to keep it open. Any ideas?"

 

"I - wh - you-" Vozgall blinked a few times. "You want to use a fishing net as a Frost Festival decoration?"

 

"Yes! Mate, haven't you been listening?"

 

Vozgall tilted her head and thumped it with a massive paw, waggling her ears to get the water out. "Yes, well, I was a bit distracted, all things considered. But I do... think it's a good idea? I suppose to keep it open, we could just push some sticks through it?"

 

Tatlitli emerged from the sea, carefully dragging her battered net in tow. With slow and careful precision, she hauled herself up from the water and pulled the net up after. Without preamble she began sifting the fish from the net, slaughtering them, and stacking them in a tasty little pile.

 

Laugom grinned. "I know exactly which booth can get us a whole haul of sticks! You help Tatlitli with the fish!" He hauled himself out of the water and slapped forth into Evergreen Port, either completely ignoring or genuinely forgetting that Vozgall was the obvious choice for embarking on quests across land, what with having four legs and all.

 

Vozgall stared after the ship breaker, wondering if she ought to go help, or at least follow along to mitigate the inevitable stumbles, oopsies, and disasters. But... ah, it wouldn't be that bad. She ambled over to Tatlitli. "How can I help?"

 

Tatlitli looked her up and down, and said, "You untangle the fish, I'll do the rest."

 

Never mind that untangling the fish was most of the work. But... Vozgall gave Tatlitli a once-over in return, noting the lack of nimble paws, or nimbleness in general. Fair enough. Vozgall sat down and got to sorting, doing her best not to damage the net any further. 

 

By the time Laugom returned, proudly dragging a large pile of used popsickle sticks behind him on a hastily-repurposed tarp, Vozgall and Tatlitli had cleaned out the decoration-to-be and assembled a lovely little stack of sardines, which Tatlitli was now carefully wrapping with wide strands of seaweed. Tatlitli eyed Laugom and his tarpful of sticks, squinting in suspicion.

 

"So, what's your plan?" asked Vozgall. "I think it's a nice idea, decorating underwater as well as above, but a used fishing net and some sticks aren't quite on par with," she gestured vaguely at Evergreen Port around them, festooned with lights and flags and ribbons as it was.

 

Tatlitli, who plainly wanted no part of Laugom's latest scheme, quietly picked up her neat little parcel and rolled back into the sea with a less-quiet splash. She'd take this and bury it somewhere nice and cold, as backup in case her other traps yielded poor hauls... and because she'd need a snack handy while weaving a new net.

 

"Oh, mate, the net and sticks are only the beginning. See, we'll use the sticks to hold the net open nice and wide, and then on the outside we'll put some of those pretty flags, and on the inside, one of those magic udin lamps. You see? The light will shine out everywhere and illuminate the flags-"

 

Vozgall nodded along. "You know, there's some leftover paint from making the target signs for the tossing games in the booth section - we could paint the sticks too?"

 

"Mate, you are brilliant!"