Redhawk Caldera dusthouse

the world had settled into ease.
teya fished placidly along the river. she had little reason to return to the lake, let alone the island. it was a beautiful place, but now the raven avoided that part of the caldera.
three trout lay upon the bank. she stood ankle-deep, challenging herself with a fourth attempt. her eyes were trained intently upon the water.

Teya was hunting!  Which meant she was focusing, intently.  Which meant she was the perfect attack target for Jay.

He wasn't subtle about his approach.  The pup came charging in with all of the grace of a rickety minecart and let out a series of loud barks.  Then he started giggling madly as he ran in a tight circle, crowing.  I gots you!!!

rickety minecart haha

jay's voice rang out. teya's head snapped around in surprise. how had he snuck up on her? the surface of the water stirred with a dozen fins thrashing to the depths, and then was still.
the raven sighed and stepped back. she could not be mad at jay. she simply should not have been so greedy. "you scare me!" teya exclaimed, pretending to run after the boy.

Jay yelled as Teya began to chase him, but clearly in fun.  No!  Not gonna...  he crowed, laughing.  He definitely wasn't going to let her catch him!

Except that running away completely wasn't fun either, since everyone was busy and he didn't know what to do afterwards.  Teya let him interrupt her which meant she might be up to playing.

You're all wet!  He called out, whirling and wiggling his butt playfully.  Translation was that he wanted to know why she'd been hanging out in the river.

"yes! you know i always fishing, silly boy," teya hooted, before quite an idea occurred to her. she scuffed a little mud at jay, laughing gently and dancing away as she waited to see how he would engage.
"you want to learn how to fish?" she asked a moment later, pausing.

Bluejay giggled again, harder this time, and ran in a hectic circle around her.  He was distracted by the blowing of an early autumn leaf and jumped on it, tearing it to pieces before his head and ears shot up at her offer.

He looked at her dubiously, a few leaf-bits still clinging to his chin.  It's not just starin?  I don't wanta just stare.  Fishing looked boring, a lot of standing in water when they could be playing in it instead.

she laughed. "no. it a lot of staring. but you do more. you swim. you go into water with feet. you learn how to hold breath longer." she shrugged. "you get to play in mud." teya grinned at the boy, wondering if that would sway his opinion.
"also sometimes you hunt big monster fish in lake," she added in a whisper.

He was still skeptical until she mentioned big monster fish.  The other things had definitely piqued his interest, but this last one he couldn't hide.

Does it hunt?  Jay looked at the water as if he'd happen to see the monster fish lurking in there now.  Does it have spikes 'n big teeth?!  He wanted to know how scary it was!  So he could tell his brother and sisters that he'd seen it, of course!  And that he'd kicked its butt.  Monster fish probably had butts.

teya nodded eagerly. "spikes on back! big teeth that stick out of mouth. and one eye." she closed her right for effect, imitating a fish for jay's amusement.
"we not eat him. we just make sure we know where he is."

sorry to let this go! We can def fade if you like

Bluejay’s eyes widened at the telling, but with more open enthusiasm than fear.  That was so cool.

I’m gonna catch him!!!  He proclaimed, running towards the water and stopping short on the shore in a way that likely spooked Teya into thinking he was going in immediately.  Then I’m gonna be the lake monster!  Because if he caught it, that’s what happened.

Despite his genuine gusto, Jay’s plan had one minor flaw.  He didn’t intend, at any point, to actually get in the water.  Once he sorted out that this was a necessary part in the process, he’d settle for hearing Teya’s stories and scouting for it instead.