Wings of Fire: Revenant

Chapter Eleven

"I said go right!"

"I am going right!"

"My right, not your right!"

"Why would you tell me to go your right? That's asinine!"

"Will you just do it already?! We're about to –"

SPLASH!

"Crash," Peacemaker finished as they dropped like a pair of stones into the lake.

Cliff popped up from the surface of the water, snorting as though he'd sucked half the lake into his nose. "That was your fault!" he insisted.

"My fault?" Peacemaker replied incredulously. "I told you, you were getting too close, and you didn't listen to me."

"Well, you give extremely unhelpful instructions," Cliff said, pointedly shaking the water from his ears.

The two of them then did the paddle of shame all the way to shore, each gripping one side of the large fishing net that they'd been holding.

"That was a good try," Auklet said from her perch on a nearby boulder, making a concerted effort to hide her amusement.

Seeker, meanwhile, had completely keeled over in a fit of unrestrained laughter.

"I'm glad someone is having fun," Peacemaker told her wryly.

"That was hilarious," she said, wiping tears from her eyes.

"It takes a little while to get the hang of using a net," Auklet said in that eternally patient way she had, "you just need a bit more practice."

"Well, can I please practice with someone else next time?" Cliff said, plopping miserably down onto the shore. "Maybe someone who actually knows left from right?"

"Don't make me kill you," Peacemaker growled.

"You can't do that," Cliff replied matter-of-factly. "Do you have any idea how boring your conversations would be if I were dead?"

"I'll take my chances."

Cliff wrinkled his snout and lashed his long tail across the water, splashing Peacemaker's already sodden wings.

"Cliff, be nice," Auklet scolded him.

"Me?" Cliff replied without lifting his head from the ground. "Did you not just hear him threaten my life?"

"Tattletale," Peacemaker muttered, shaking water all over Cliff.

"Honestly, how old are you two?" Seeker inquired. "You know, Auklet and I didn't complain nearly this much."

"Of course you didn't complain," Peacemaker returned, "you got to work with the one dragon who actually knows what she's doing. Cliff and I have no clue what we're doing. Do we, Cliff?"

"Not even a little bit," Cliff replied, flopping onto his back like a drowned pigeon.

There had been a rather intense game of rock paper talons to determine who would get paired with Auklet as they tried out the fishing nets for the first time. Needless to say, Seeker had won that battle, and had had a much more pleasant experience as a result. She and Auklet were now perched atop the large boulders framing the mountain lake, contentedly enjoying the fat trout that they'd caught.

"Auklet, can we please just go back to fishing normally?" Peacemaker beseeched her. "I don't think Cliff and I are cut out for this."

"Aw, but you're both doing so much better," she replied genuinely.