Heretical Fishing

Book 2: Chapter 10: Distasteful

The being within the light-blue tree stretched her awareness out as she woke from her slumber, thoughts addled and mind foggy. It hadn't been long since her last moment of awareness.

Despite the insignificant stretch of time, she immediately noticed something: the latent energy suffusing the world had increased. It was still far below the levels of old, but compared to that of the last few-thousand years, it was as a bonfire beside a smoldering log.

As she extended her senses further, feeling the ebbs and flows in the surrounding world, she made a delightful discovery: someone had brought her an offering. As with the morsels she'd found beneath the earth, the offering was of fish, with a single stalk of chi infused plant matter. If she had a mouth, it would have watered as she extended a thin root out, questing for the power offered.

Her root rose above the earth, tasted the air, then plunged deep into the fish's flesh.

She was immediately disappointed. The power within was paltry, nothing compared to the preceding chunks of fish. She redirected the root, twisting out of the fish and into the green stalk of cane. Her spirit shivered as she tasted the sweet juices within, drank of the will intertwined with its very fibers, relished in—

Power exploded from somewhere in the surrounding forest, and an unidentified creature flew directly at her.

***

Corporal Claws, wreathed in lightning and promising justice for the egregious slight of tricking her, trilled a battle cry as she flew headfirst for the light-blue trunk.

Sergeant Snips was fond of telling her violence wasn't always the answer. Sure—not always. Sometimes, however... sometimes swift violence was the only answer.

Claws grinned, exposing needle-sharp teeth as she rocketed at the invader, her chittering war cry not pausing for a moment.

***

What is this feeling? the ancient being thought as she watched the otter approach.

She tasted the emotion, rolling it around her consciousness. It had been so very long since she'd felt anything.

Ahhhh, she realized. It is amusement. I am amused.

The otter continued to fly, claws extending and teeth bared in a promise of impending violence.

Even having been asleep for millennia, her awareness was more than capable of keeping up with the pup before her—enhanced by lightning or not. The lightning element was what made the situation so amusing; the only thing she felt as the otter flew closer was anticipation.

The being bared her soul as the creature's collision neared, opening up her very core.

Come, then.

***

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Corporal Claws' battle cry turned into a laugh of glee as she soared at the blue-tinted trunk. She imagined herself obliterating the tree, tearing the wood to splinters, ejecting the creature, demolishing—

The lightning surrounding her arced out and touched the trunk—the moment it did, the power flooding her was drained away. Within the blink of an eye, her ability was sucked from her body and into the tree.

No, not the tree, she thought. The creature within.

While it had stolen her lightning, it had—unfortunately—done nothing to reduce her velocity.

Crack!

Claws' vision blurred as she bounced back from the tree and tumbled ass over whiskers.

***

Delight flooded the being as she cycled the lightning down into her core. The nature power tingled, nourishing everywhere it touched.

The moment she'd seen the lightning surrounding the creature, she knew she was in for a treat; lightning was of nature chi, and very much within her domain. What she didn't know, however, was just how much power the otter would possess. The mammal felt like a newly awakened being, and she had expected a matching level of essence.

What had occurred in the time she was asleep? She had been drifting in and out of wakefulness over what must have been a few days, and the revelations in that insignificant amount of time made little sense. Her memory was littered with gaps. She could not pinpoint exactly what was off about the situation she found herself in, but it felt wrong nonetheless.

The otter, having rolled almost out of the clearing following the collision, shook her head as she got back to all fours. The being hoped she would attack again, summon forth more lightning that she could absorb, but she was left disappointed.

The otter turned and ran, fleeing.

Using part of the energy harvested, the being within the tree extended a root through the humid earth. It lifted up right under the otter, just in time to catch her front paw. The creature tripped, tumbled, then stared daggers at the trunk as she got back to her feet. She chirped an insult before wreathing herself in lightning and launching herself away.

Exuberance flooded the ancient being, and her leaves shivered in amusement.

***

"Um," Maria said, staring down at the ray. "What part of this thing do we even eat?"

"The wings," I replied, poking the body and feeling the flesh. "They have a layer of cartilage running between the upper and lower sections of meat, so we cut off the wings, then remove the cartilage and skin."

"That sounds... complicated. How'd they do it in the video you watched?"

"Well, the bloke in the video went full Florida-man with an electric saw. I'm just gonna use a knife, though."

Maria narrowed her eyes at me.

"Do I even want to know what any of that means?"

"Not really, but the sentence was fun to say."

She lightly backhanded me, trying not to let her smile show.

***

Despite how sharp my knife was, it took well over an hour to separate all the flesh from the inedible bits. I had Maria to keep me company, so the time flew by as we joked and talked about small things.

With an absolute mound of fish on one tray and all the trimmings held in a bucket, we headed back to the campfire Sergeant Snips was tending.

My trusty guard crab had come and found us when the ray was half-processed, and I'd told her to gather the rest of our animal pals.

We were going to have a feast.

Sergeant Snips, Private Pistachio, Rocky, and Cinnamon were arrayed around the fire, and I beamed a smile at all of them.

"No Corporal Claws?"

Snips shrugged and blew bubbles I understood—she hadn't been able to find her.

"No matter," I said. "I bet she'll come running once she smells the food."

I seasoned the meat with a mixture of herbs and spices that I thought would go well with the unique flavor of ray, then placed it on a hotplate atop the flames.

Maria stroked Cinnamon's fur as I sat down next to the campfire, and I reached a hand over, scratching right between her floppy ears. Cinnamon leaned into it, arching her neck in delight. Snips hissed, demanding a scratch from my other side. I happily obliged, letting out a soft chuckle as I rubbed the top of her sturdy carapace.

The scent of ray and spice wafted up from the hotplate, and my mouth began to water.

I'd placed sections of cartilage atop the fire, and Rocky leaned down before one of them, leaking anticipatory bubbles.

"You know, Rocky—you can eat those whenever you like. You don't have to wait for them to cook."

He turned to face Snips, his bubbles increasing. She hissed a sigh and nodded, giving him permission. Rocky became a blur of movement as he snatched a section from the fire and began crunching.

"Same goes for you, Pistachio. Help yourself if you like."

The giant lobster shook his head; he was content waiting.

I stood and started turning the chunks of ray with my trusty tongs. The cooked sides were a deep, golden brown, and the uncooked sides would only take a few minutes to complete. The herbs and spices had a savory punch, packed with an umami hit that made my mouth water even more.

Everyone was silent as I lifted a chunk from the hotplate and split it open, checking to see if the inside was cooked. The flaky meat parted easily, and steam rose from the white flesh. I removed the ray from the hotplate, but just as I was about to dish them out, something made itself known from the west.

My head darted to the side, peering out into the dark to see what approached. I only felt a moment of worry before I recognized who it was.

Corporal Claws, wrapped in lightning and babbling an incomprehensible series of chirps, slammed into my chest. She dismissed the lightning just before hitting me, and I caught her easily, wrapping her in my arms.

"What's wrong, Claws?"

Tears sprung from her eyes as she pointed toward the forest, hissing and chirping at me so swiftly I only caught a few words.

I clenched my jaw in response.

"Show me who hurt you."

***

From her perch in my arms, the aggrieved otter directed us through the forest. As we traveled—and I recognized the path—my confusion grew. Surely we weren't headed where I thought.

Eventually, we emerged into the clearing where I'd planted my lemon seeds—just where I'd suspected. I raised an eyebrow at a pile of fish on the forest floor. Claws leaped from my arms and chirped her indignation, completely ignoring the fish as she pointed at the light-blue tree, accusation clear on her fuzzy little face.

I looked at her, the tree, then back at her.

"Uhhh, Claws? Are you sure the—"

A presence exerted itself on the world, and the words died in my throat. Something within the tree stirred and wielded its will. A hole opened up under the pile of fish, making it disappear into the earth. Roots churned underneath, and the patch of grass was pressed back up to obscure the hole.

I gaped, and Claws strode forward, puffing out her chest.

She babbled a series of trill sounds, pointed at me, then mimed punching the tree. She slid to the spot she'd punched, then extended her arms and splayed her fingers in the approximation of an explosion.

"Stay here, Claws," I said, bending to pat her head. I glanced back at everyone else. "You guys, too—keep clear, just in case."

"Fischer..." Maria took a step forward, but I shook my head.

"I'll be okay—I promise. Just keep your distance, yeah?"

She chewed her cheek, but nodded, her eyes serious.

As I strode past Claws, she shadow boxed the air and cheered me on with high-pitched chirps. I stopped walking as I got to one of my lemon seeds and I dug my fingers into the earth. The seed was still there, ungerminated, but just as I'd suspected, the fish fertilizer was completely gone.

"So, you found my fish to your liking?" I asked the tree.

No response came, so I crept forward on light feet.

"You know, I put that fish there to help my trees grow. I'm not upset that you took it, and I'd be happy to bring you more."

Still, the tree made no reply—not that I knew how a damned tree was supposed to communicate.

"If you want more food from me, there's a cost. I want you to help cultivate the seeds I planted into fruit trees. Can you do that for me?"

***

The ancient being looked on at the procession of strange creatures littering its clearing. A myriad of newly awakened creatures, one of which was one of the humans that had been present earlier.

Weak, she thought, remembering the human's power.

The man strode forward, speaking to her. She understood the language, but found his words... distasteful. He compared himself—but a sapling on the path of ascendance—to a mighty spirit of her station.

Using some of the power she'd harvested from the otter, she raised a mighty root, thick around as the man’s arms. The ground shook and the earth split to allow its exit. She held it up before him, letting him inspect its magnificence. His face registered surprise, but his spirit was unshaken.

This annoyed the spirit, so she flicked the root at his chest.

It should knock him away, but given he was a cultivator, it wouldn't hurt him... probably.