Underwater Fishing

      We usually do this. My owner is rather cheap, always getting omelette and jelly. Only when discounts are available, do we get something good.

      So here we were, walking along to Maraqua. My owner went on and on about how we could get a paint brush or something rare, like a paint brush, or maybe we'll accidentally fall in and find a paint brush. I didn't like the way she said "accidentally".

      We soon arrived at the Fishing Vortex. We could finally breathe and I looked around carefully. I didn't know what we could end up fishing up. I've heard all these crazy stories.

      "Welcome to the underwater fishing cavern!" A Krawk in a fishing hat approached us. He had a large smile that seemed a little creepy. "This trapped air pocket has created an underwater lake with all kinds of strange and wonderous sea creatures, as well as some... other interesting things." I gulped as he flashed his white, sharp teeth at us. "Well, go grab a fishing rod and let's get fishing!"

      I stepped back a bit. "I don't know..."

      My older brother, Tiger, laughed rather cruelly. "Are you a Peadackle, Kougra?" he addressed me, jabbing his elbow in my stomach.

      "Ow... no!" I contradicted, rubbing my sore stomach. "Heck naw! I'm braver than Nicky and Prince combined." I gestured at my two younger brothers. Nicky, the Baby Kougra, and Prince, the Red Kyrii. The two glared at me, crossing their arms stubbornly.

      "Well, come on, we haven't got all day!" my owner cried out. She was pretty young, which I guess explains how she isn't good with feeding us and all. Heck, she'd probably be twenty by the time we got that Desert Paint Brush my brother wanted.

      We grabbed some fishing rods and sat down. "Okay, now, this step is VERY hard. So you need to be careful and mind your movements," the Krawk in the fishing hat warned us. "Now here's what you do... you slowly let your arms go down... and carefully adjust the hook so that it will hit the water."

      I rolled my eyes and put the hook in the water.

      "Kid, you're a master!" The Krawk slapped me on the back, making me lose my grip on the rod. We watched as it sank down. "Never mind then. Here ya go." The Krawk handed me another rod. "By the way, you're paying for that." My owner sighed heavily and handed over some money. "No one drop any more rods," she demanded.

      After a while of sitting, Tiger got a huge grin on his face. "I don't like that smile," I commented, switching my grip on the rod. "How about we have a contest. Whoever gets the best item will win and get to... have everyone's dessert tomorrow," Tiger said. We all gasped. Dessert was the best part of dinner!

      "Whoever gets the worst item..." Tiger smiled sinisterly. "...will have to drink the Nicky Combination."

      The Nicky Combination was a drink Nicky had made up for a dare. It had mustard, ketchup, orange juice, and salt, all in a tall, huge glass. I had to drink it once. Was stuck in the restroom for three hours straight. And you could still taste it afterwards, even if you brushed your teeth. You would pretty much get a phobia of seeing mustard, ketchup, juice, and salt in one place, which is why my owner went shopping by herself now.

      "No, no dares. I don't need that drama," my owner immediately said.

      "Uh... whoops." Prince dropped his rod into the dark blue water. We watched it as it sank rapidly.

      "OKAY! You can do your little dare!" My owner sighed as she went off to pay.

      "Ooh, I think I got something." Tiger grinned. His level was fifty-six. He could get pretty good items...

      Up came a Broken Toy Sailboat.

      "Good job, kid! Your fishing skill has increased to fifty-seven!" The Krawk announced. Scattered clapping was heard. My brother's cloud colored face turned red. I laughed out loud, my brothers rolling on the floor in hysterics.

      "If no one gets anything worse, you're going to have to drink the Nicky Combination," I reminded my older brother. Tiger rolled his eyes. "I get it, I get it, Kougra. But you never know." He threw down his rod and sat, watching us as my owner sat down next to him.

      Three minutes later, they were both asleep, leaning on each other.

      I heard Nicky cry out in surprise and everyone looked. Tiger snapped up, leaving my owner to fall to the floor.

      The Baby Kougra reeled up his hook and we watched with pure excitement. But when it reached up... we saw a Bombfish. "Ooh... a... bowling... ball?" my brother muttered, confused.

      "That's a Bombfish, silly," Prince corrected, grinning.

      "Oh, a Bombfish." Nicky nodded. The Bombfish was hissing as its fuse began to lower. "So... why's it called a Bombfish?"

      Everyone was silent. Then we all erupted in screams. "THROW IT BACK! THROW IT BACK!" Prince commanded. Dazed, Nicky prepared to throw it back, but the fuse reached its end and we all braced for the explosion.

      Nothing happened.

      Prince looked, then laughed. "Guess it was a dud, Nic-"

      Then it exploded.

      We were all left with black soot in our faces and or ears pointed backwards from the blow. We all coughed, sending black soot flying everywhere. My owner growled. "Okay, next time you see a Bombfish... GET RID OF IT!"

      That Krawk came up again, his fishing hat torn from the blow. He held out his hand and my owner placed some neopoints in it.

      Now it was Prince and me. So far, Tiger's and Nicky's items were bad, but who would get the worst?

      Prince watched me as I whistled a little out of tune. It was quiet, all the other fishers around us fishing in silence. The silence was broken by Prince's yell.

      "Hey, I GOT SOMETHING!"

      He lifted his hook to see a thrashing fish at the end. "Cool. I got a fish!" He yelped. I got out my fish book and leafed through it to find what kind he got. "Cool, look its so excited!" Prince announced. The fish seemed to struggle to get to Prince. Then I found the description. I gasped.

      "Prince! That's a Neopet Eating Carp!"

      "WHAT?! How is that possible?!"

      The fish opened its mouth wide and attempted to lunge at my brother. He yelled, blocking his face with his arms. I yelled too and my other brothers were screaming at the top of their lungs. Nicky backed up in fear, knocking over a fisher who was standing next to him. The fisher was plunged into the water and came up, sputtering.

      The fish unhooked and jumped to Prince. He yelled, then a Grarrl came up and swallowed the fish whole. Everyone was quiet.

      The Grarrl shrugged. "It doesn't eat you if you eat it first." He laughed.

      Prince was panting heavily. He got up and stumbled away from the edge of the dock. Meanwhile, my owner was paying the fallen fisher some neopoints. "So sorry," she apologized. The fisher sniffed and left.

      Now it was all me. I had to get something good. If it was really bad, well, we all knew what would happen. I tried to relax and looked at my rod. Waiting... waiting...

      Then I felt a tug.

      "I GOT SOMETHING!" I yelled out, grinning. Prince, Nicky, and Kougra watched expectantly. My owner frowned.

      I saw something come out of the water. It was colossal. I smiled as it rose higher and higher... and higher... and HIGHER...

      My mouth dropped open and my brothers were also surprised. I was overcome with fear and confusion and happiness all at once.

      It was a Titanic Giant Squid. Its angry yellow eyes glared at me as it moved its tentacles around. I held my breath. What were we supposed to do?

      Then the Krawk in the fishing hat spoke up.

      "RUN!"

      And we ran.

***

      Nicky and Prince were in Nicky's room, discussing who had fished up the worst object. I was biting my lip at the thought of fishing up a Titanic Squid. My owner had to pay more for the damage it caused.

      Oh, here she comes now.

      "Well, at least we got a free dinner." I spoke up as she passed. She looked at me as if I asked to jump off the roof into the garden.

      "Free?! What dinner?! I had to pay a bunch for what all you guys broke!" she yelled, crossing her arms. I sheepishly grinned and she stomped off, going to her room.

      Nicky emerged from his room. "We have come to a conclusion... it's a tie."

      "At tie?!" Kougra and I yelled in unison.

      "Tiger had the best thing fished up since... well... it didn't try to KILL anyone." Nicky rolled his eyes. "But we all really did the same damage."

      I bit my lip. "So... yeah... we're all happy, right?"

      "I guess," Prince answered, stepping out of the room.

      "Yeah, well... I kinda brought something home," I murmured, just as my owner stepped out.

      "Yeah? What is it?" my owner asked.

      A huge tentacle burst through the ceiling and everyone screamed.

      "Can we keep him?"

The End