Gone Fishin'. (Mission) Complete

Age : 29 Posts : 1236

The crisp, salty smell fused tentatively with the gunpowder of the previously exploded fireworks. The sweetness of the ocean mixed with the bitter burning of ash - acutely different yet seemingly the perfect fusion of aromas. It was a beautiful bright sunny day, somewhat of a rarity in the land of cloud; however it has always been sunny on this particular day. Many of the local villagers stand by the belief that upon creation of the Annual Fishing Event of the small Fisherman's Port the creator of the sky made special permissions for this day to remain perfect and in it's hexi-decade history, it has remained like that. Subsequently, today was that particular day. The town, while usually a daub of brown and grey today was littered and splashed with red in celebration of the festivities. Banners, fliers and posters were scattered throughout the practically empty village with the congregation all over the port and docks.

A total of 23 different vessels were docked and each bore the red flag with a black fish in the middle of it signalling the participation in the event. However there was one flag that stood out from the rest. This flag bore 8 golden tiny fish on the sides of it signalling the winner of the event 8 different times - this ship belonged to the extremely famous and extremely effective, 8-year running champion Fumou who also happens to be one of the more wealthy Feudal Lords in the Land of Cloud. He participates in this event because of his love of fishing but more importantly to win. He demands it and his veteran crew of all 8 years know what is expected of each and every one of them. However because of his strong ties to the village of Lightning, Fumou also insists every year to have a new member in his crew - a green horn to do all the nitty gritty work and earn their pay whilst gaining valuable experience. This just so always happened to be a young shinobi of the village and for this particular year, it was Robin who was selected.

Upon learning of his selection to the mission, admittedly Robin was quite apprehensive. Fishing, like 6 hours worth of hard work. He dreaded the idea. However, it tagged with the possible incentive of extra ryo and admittedly, rent is too damn high. Plus, upon his first interview with old man Fumou he was pretty impressed with the set-up and the work he had to actually performed. Bring a new aspect into his life for him to experience and extra knowledge, especially if Robin ever needs to travel abroad; there's always water nearby and fish to be had! By the end of the day, he was absolutely stoked and for the following week and two training practices out in the open water - he was more than willing to be of service. However, that would be just a taste of what he would experience during the event.

The morning of the event, Robin awoke - downed a hefty two liters of water as instructed, ate a huge breakfast and got down to the docks at 10 to 7 to embark. The rest of the crew, which consisted of Burly Jake, One-eyed Tommy and Shifty Pete; were all on board and ready by the time Robin had arrived. As per routine of the boat, the shirt had to immediately come off and allow the sun to provide the energy for the next 6-hour haul. Every single member of the vessel had golden-brown sun-kissed skin and the scarring of many of years of fishing to show. Then there was Robin, toned, dark-skinned much like Burly Jake and flawless-skinned; unlike anyone else. Upon looking around at each of the crew's physiques, Robin knew that he would be in for it. So the Master of Ceremonies introduced everyone to the event and sent the vessels away.

Fumou at the helm and two crew members to each side and the vessel was roaring to the first fabled fishing spot - the wreck. Here, a 100meter long passenger vessel lay dormant at the bottom of the sea; a breeding and feeding ground for every fish alike and a surefire way to pull in a good chunk of haul. Subsequently, they were joined by at least five other vessels along the length of the wreck and it was a risk of not being able to pull in the best fish. On top of the great fishing here, the wreck was famous for its sharks and whilst they did count to the weight tally of the fish being caught; it was a pain to bring them in and deal with them accordingly. But if you got a big enough shark and brought it in, then there was no telling of what an advantage the size would make. For every year that Fumou had entered into this competition, he had always had the same 45ft ripper of a fishing boat designed to bring in literally everything with it's wave-dancing bow and fish-hauling stern, the boat was heads above all other competitors'. Now it was a matter of whether the fishing would be the same.

Using a 250meter long, 60pound mono-filament line spooled onto a sturdy wooden handreel with a 6/0 sinker and hook to match coupled with the use of a cocktail of pilchard and squid as taught; Robin and the rest of the crew were prepared to bring this competition home. Burly Jake was the only one with a different set-up and using 100pound line with a metal trace and 8/0 hook with a whole ganged pilchard, Jake was in charge of bringing home the sharks and removing them from destroying the potential catch. And he didn't get his name for nothing - he was damn good at his role. The five of them dropped their lines into the water, Fumou at the bow, Shifty Pete and Jake on the starboard side whilst Robin and One-eyed Tommy took the Port-side. The current was going out bow side which removed the problem of line entanglement and the hook was fastly anchored in the mud next to the wreck. On the count of three by Fumou and the laying down of the intra-fishing competition rules between them all, the hooks delved deep into the abyss of the 30meter wreck.

Age : 29 Posts : 1236

A huge yank of the line and half a second later reaction time then was needed and Robin had lost what could have potentially been the first fish of the day. Needless to say, a round of 'aww so close' and 'nice trys' went around the boat and it was back to business. He re-hooked the bait and tried again. Shifty Pete was the first to bring something in, an undersized coral trout and a taunt from Tommy suggested it looked a lot like what Pete was packing. It took a few seconds before Robin caught on to the joke and he amusingly chuckled to himself. Fumou brought on the first legal fish and a fat looking Nannygai was thrown into the freezer - the man was a machine at fishing and without any remorse, he sunk the knife into the gills of the fish and sliced its throat. Sure it was gruesome, but if Robin were to be a ninja like his plan, the blood should be something he would be used too and he had to draw his attention from the dying fish.

Over the span of the next few minutes, the crew had brought in a total of 13 fish before he was successful in his first catch. AND it was a ripper. A mackerel that smashed his cocktail of bait and fought him for a solid 15 minutes was gaffed and brought on board for the largest catch of the day so far. A huge applause went around and a respectful congratulations from Fumou cemented his success with that catch. But it was vastly overshadowed when the leather gloves came on Jack's hands and he was onto an absolute monster of a fish. To be more precise, it was a shark and it was angry. Fumou immediately yelled for everyone to bring their lines up to stop line entanglement and sure enough, the shark spun circles around the boat and would have surely have caused a commotion. Wise move by Fumou. Burly Jack with ferocious hand over hand movement wrestled the beast towards the boat quite advantageously. Lo and behold and with two other boats sitting patiently by to watch the commotion, Jack, Pete and Tommy dove their knives through the cranium of the monster Tiger Shark and attempted to subdue the beast. It flicked and thrashed around and one of the knives released itself from the flesh of the shark and wizzed through the calf of Robin. It got the meat of it, but it also just missed the large portion of the rest of the calf. It was a gash, it didn't sever any arteries nor nerves and it wouldn't bleed out - but fuck it hurt like a bitch.

Another 2 minutes and the shark was killed and stored. One-Eyed Tommy pulled out the first-aid kit and worked on fixing the injury. He was swift, efficient and worked meticulously on the injury with perfection. It was cleaned and would not be a problem anymore - the only problem would be that it would leave a scar, quite a big one. However, fishing was more important and it was back to business. One hour turned into two hours, a change of spot meant shallower water on scallop beds, and Robin had brought in a solid 21 legal fish on board, however only a minuscule amount to what the boat brought in. Fumou brought up 42, Jack pulled in 2 other sharks including the monster shark as well as 10 of the largest fish, Pete and Tommy hauled 30 respectively. It was damn obvious the success they had and upon returning to the docks at the end of the day, victory was neigh.

The record shark weighed a record total of 700pounds and that alone beat most competitors. By the end of the competition, Fumou's boat created a new record that would be extremely difficult to beat in years to come. Fumou personally congratulated Robin and rewarded him generously including a personal invitation to go fishing with him whenever Robin pleased as well as paying for all hospital costs. Fumou donated an excess of money towards the village and Robin went on to be cured of all ailments with only a large scar to show. Mission Accomplished.

Age : 29 Posts : 1236

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