Bigger Boat! [Mission]

Age : 34 Posts : 591

The old boat rocked slightly as Henri shifted his weight as they sailed along the bay in search of the perfect fishing spot. Fumou and he had been out since dawn and in that time they had caught only a few small fish and that simply would not win the competition. A few days ago the notice had appeared on the door to his family’s home and Henri had been requested to work the fishing vessel Saiga with Fumou during the course of the competition. His desire to win and his ability to hire shinobi to work on his boat had led to several victories in the contest for the past few years. This year the old man planned to once again be victorious so had sought out to hire a ninja specialized in weaponry. Now Henri, acting as hired hand, was set to help the old man once again win the competition and catch some fish.

As the wind took the sails of the boat and allowed it to cut across the harbor, the Kumo genin was dragging wire attached to a hook behind the boat and relaxing in the morning mist. Time seemed to stand still for the pair as Fumou guided the boat’s path and Henri was left with catching fish. Despite the lack of ‘The Big One’ Henri had dredged up several average sized fish. The dreadlocked shinobi kept his hooked wire in the water and waited for a fish to bite.

”So young’n, do you know how many fish I caught last year with your villages help?” called the captain of the vessel. His voice was strong despite his frail appearance. In truth Henri had been shocked to learn the man whose face was so wrinkled and aged could man a boat this size by himself and only required shinobi to do the fishing. Once they had set foot on the boat the old man had shed his shirt and shown off a body carved from years working the sea and all of Henri’s doubts were promptly shattered.

”The way I hear it,” Henri began ”You caught thiry seven fish including one thirty five pound tuna that simply awed your competitors. I managed to do some research before getting thrown so far out of my comfort zone.”

”Well good to know that you did your homework. I just can not seem to stand lay abouts too satisfied with themselves to do a little hands on work.”

Henri could only nod to the old man and resume his careful watch of the hook in the water as fish began to trail the boat looking for the bait. The ones that could not keep up with the swift pace of the boat were usually too small to bother with catching because their weight was simply too lacking for the competition to take seriously. They were out here for the big fish and a dreadlocked genin on his first real competitive fishing trip was not going to settle with the small fries. Carefully he lowered a second hook and wire into the water with chum attached. If the fish of the lake decided to become latched to both at the same time he would regret the decision to take such a risk but for now it seemed the most efficient way to attract both the big catches and speed along catching them.

The boat sailed on and Henri finally saw what he was waiting for as bigger fish approached the hook tethered to his right arm. Readying his grip, the maw of the beast opened and clamped down onto the chum and seemed to swallow the hook whole. Planting his feet firmly, he turned and called out to the captain of the boat.

”Sir, I think we’re about to get a big bite. If you could, steer the boat as straight as possible while I try to real it in…”

Age : 34 Posts : 591

Henri clinched his teeth as the mouth of the fish closed over the hook tethered to his right hand. Everything seemed almost too easy in holding it until the fish turned around and chose a direction to swim opposite of the boats current travels. Sandals skidded across the deck of the fishing vessel and a growl slipped past the pursed lips of the dreadlocked shinobi. He could not tell how much the fish weighed but it was far stronger than he honestly wanted to deal with.

The boat's speed decreased as the captain caught sight of the monstrosity the boy was attempting to reel in bare handed with ninja wife and a hook. Already Henri's hand was turning colors and quickly showing signs of blocked blood flow. If the struggle went on much longer the wire itself might just tear though the flesh of the boy's fingers and palm and leave a fresh paint of blood red on the floorboards of the boat. The low growl from Henri's lips slowly grew, muscles tensing and the slow slide towards the rear of the deck finally halting as he gathered himself and readied to bring the fish in, until finally it became a roar and he hoisted with all his might despite the pain in his hands and the slickness of the blood droplets that were falling to the deck. The other hook and wire were released, left at the mercy of the ocean as the Bijous boy's hands clasped together and gave another mighty heave that brought the fish thudding against the boat. It was closer but not out of the water yet and Henri's physical strength was absolutely spent. He briefly considered himself lucky he could hold the fish at all as he tried turning and marching forward towards the front of the boat as he used the railing as a primitive pulley.

A wet splat and a sudden release of tension on the wire brought Henri's attention to the space where he formerly resided and he noted a new occupant in the boat. That occupant happened to be a rather large fish waggling its tail while opening and closing its mouth. Not one to see anyone truly suffer, Henri quietly and quickly dispatched the creature with one of his Kunai as he readied himself to win the competition for the man. Wounded hand or not, he needed some guarantee that the old man would succeed in winning the contest again.

"Hang with the captain, I'm going to go make the exclamation point...."

Uninjured fingers worked quickly to thread several wires through several Kunai before winding those cords together. The ending braided concoction was a mess of Kunai and wire wound to a single point that the Dreadlocked boy could hold. He waited for the natural waves and wind to push the vessel into shallower water while he held the Kunai by the holes in their handles. A deep breath, a careful eye, a slow lean to either direction to count correctly; these were the things that were focused on in the moments before he threw the weapons into the crashing surf an towards a school of silver finned fish. Each Kunai found its place in a fish and a smooth and powerful yank from Henri allowed him to drag another half dozen fish from the ocean and into the boat. When the count came later both he and the captain were sure that they would win.

As the boat turned and headed towards shore the captain left his hired help to clean the deck and move the fish into the proper ice chests to be weighed by the officials at the docks. The mission was accomplished and Henri could not be prouder that one of his first missions had gone so well. The boat was quickly tethered and Henri was the first to step foot on the planks of the docks while holding an ice chest in his arms full of the day's smaller catches. Responsible for it or not, it was the captain who hoisted the biggest of their catches from the day and slung it over his shoulder to lay claim to the glory that his money and a shinobi had brought him.

Age : 34 Posts : 591

[End Mission]