Fisherman's Luck

The Foreigners (II)

"Whose fricking idea was it to go fishing?" Luc grumbled, having lost count of the number of his casts long ago.

"Let's go home," moaned River, rolling in the middle of the boat, rocking it back and forth. "There's nothing to do out here."

"It would be so much more helpful if you would do this instead," Luc muttered.

River scowled. "Do you want Uncle Varicar to come take you out this time?"

"Yes," Luc said wistfully. "This life is not worth living anymore."

River grabbed at Killer's matted fur. "You're such a baby. You complain about everything."

"Me?" Luc asked. "Actually...that might be true...but it's only because I've got so many things going wrong in my life!"
Killer began hopping up and down in the middle of the boat, barking excitedly. If it hadn't been one of Blaze's flawlessly constructed crafts, the boat would've capsized long ago.

"Shut your dog up!" a fisherman called from the distance. "You're scaring all the fish away!"

"Frick off!" Luc shouted back. "You're the only dog around here!"

"Who the heck brings dogs on fishing boats anyways?' the fisherman roared in response.

Luc shook his head and guided the boat around the corner of the island. He could faintly see the Dragon Shrine from here. Even though it was a perfectly clear day, the shrine was still enshrouded with a slight fog at the top of the island.

"You know a dragon lives there?" Luc asked River.

"Mhm," Luc mumbled. "That's big bro Reliqua. I want to be just like him when I grow up."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Luc asked, reckoning that it would be too cruel to tear River's hopes and dreams down by telling her that she looked nothing like a dragon and probably only thought she was a dragon because she had been dropped on her head one too many times as a child.

"I want everyone to look at me and say 'oh look! There's Riveriaejifjalajfijaivnbliaogieyiogjovnblxpzjpqjefijalsfjabcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz, the dragon that no one thought would be good enough to help the humans! But look at her now! She's so great and ladylike!'" River said wistfully, staring up at the Dragon Shrine.

"I'm sure they already say that," said Luc. This poor little girl was too far gone. The least he could do was try to assuage her worries.

"You're a big fat liar," said River. "They call me pathetic and worthless!"

"Whoa!" said Luc. "Let's calm it down! No need to make things personal here!"

River sighed and slumped back down against the boat. "I don't want to think about it. It'll make my forehead all wrinkly. And I can't look like a lady with a wrinkly forehead. What's going on over there?"

Luc glanced over at the opposite end of the bay, where there seemed to be an infestation of humans working on what looked to an extension of the docks from the mainland. Maybe more tourists wanted to visit the Holy Dragon himself. Who knew.

"It's none of our business," said Luc. "Our business is catching fish and we haven't quite done that yet."

"You aren't going to catch any," River mumbled, running her hands back and forth in the water. "You're not lucky enough."