An afternoon at the beach. {Jack}

[Lan]

pre-hatching

Calin was very happy with himself. Strolling along, whistling a few bars with Klah and Spinner adding in their harmonies (although Spinner, as always, was a hair off key), the apprentice fisherman turned candidate was quite glad to have weaseled his way out of the rest of the chores he was supposed to do today with his magnetic charm. And what was he going to do with his day? There would be no questions about it... he'd go fishing. So he slung his make-shift fishing pole over his back and grasped a bucket full of all of the essentials in his hand (primarily grubs he'd captured just a few hours prior) and set off in search of the ocean the only way he knew how. After he had climbed out of his cave of a bunk, he had charted his course to the "lake" (he still thought it looked more like a river) and was following its course down to the ocean, as he had a few times before.

It was truly a shame he didn't have as many opportunities to go fishing as he had had before in Ista. He did attempt to as often as possible pad his way down to the ocean, but it was still a uncommon occurrence. Still, this made those days that he was able to get away all the more special. Klah yawned in Calin's ear from his usual shoulder perch, tickling the fine hairs that lined the adolescent's skin and making him giggle. Spinner snipped out a couple of quick bites of chirrups, letting it be known she would stand for no such foolishness on her beautiful, gloomy day. Yet, even though she was a bit snippy it was clear that she was excited to see the ocean again. Even if she was singing off-pitch, at the very least she was singing.

On the road Calin saw a fellow traveler heading the same directions and quickened his strides to meet up with him. After all, what was a day out fishing without company? As he got closer he plastered a grin on his face and called out.

"Hey! Wait up!" Whether the other young man waited up or not, Calin caught up to him and settled into a gait that kept them side-by-side. "Hello! The name's Calin. I was headed off to do a bit of fishing and wondered if possibly you'd like to join me." If the other boy was equipped already with fishing gear, Calin didn't notice. Already he was sizing the young man up before him for age and, perhaps inadvertently, attractiveness. He came to the conclusion shortly that if the other boy was older than he didn't care. From his peer's countenance, he could tell that he was going to enjoy the company. The idea that Bambi would refuse such company never crossed his mind.