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Gone Fishin’

Chomp. Gulp.

Nudge. Nudge.

Nudge.

The bear sighed and turned to peer at the dragon over his smoking pipe in mock exasperation. Jrain’s eyes went wide as his paw froze in the air after bumping it against Galro’s shoulder. His gaze continued to linger on the dragon with a raised eyebrow, so Jrain rumbled in an apologetic way and lowered his paw slowly. His head followed suit as he nuzzled the bear’s side as gently as a dragon like him could.

Galro chuckled warmly and rubbed the top of Jrain’s snout in return.

“You know, lunch takes time when you’re not the one fishing,” Galro said. “But patience, my friend. I want you to relax. You deserve it.”

Jrain happily whined and leaned into Galro’s body more firmly, pushing him on his side as the dragon affectionately licked him several times over.

“Ha, whoa, now!” Galro shouted amid laughter. He struggled to hold onto his fishing rod as Jrain’s wide, blue tongue tickled him and doused his vest in spit. “You know these fish aren’t going to just hop in your mouth!”

Jrain ceased licking Galro and delicately bit the edge of his vest to pull him upright again. He rumbled and nuzzled Galro appreciatively one more time before lifting his head to gaze out at the sea. The duo was resting on an old dock that had seen better days, and from the way it occasionally groaned underneath them when Jrain shifted his weight, it was probably a bad idea. But they didn’t care.

Galro laid back against Jrain’s stomach again and looked out to the sea as well. There wasn’t a soul out on this side of Nui Island on such a brisk, windy day. A small, forested mountain range lay behind them, and a town beyond that was uniquely suspended over the largest section of shallow water amid the island’s shorelines. It was a fishing town that largely sustained itself with its reliable sources of seafood, vegetables, and spices, but its people traded with a town on the mainland for fruits, meats, and textiles a couple times a year. However, that rarely happened since seafaring was a risky affair. And since water was easy to catch and store with weekly rainfall, there was little they needed.

Besides, associations with the mainland’s people were professional at best given the unusual social makeup and carefree lifestyle of Nui’s inhabitants. Galro had told Jrain predatorial mammals were a secluded population unto themselves on the mainland, but other species had arrived on Nui in times past with prey mammals and avians among the majority populace of canines, bears, and the like.

All these people and customs were new to Jrain, and Galro could tell. It wasn’t like his folk didn’t feel the same way toward a whale-sized dragon strolling around their town, who had knocked several people off the walkways with his tail and wings. At one point, he got scared of people yelling at him in a collective mix of fear and anger, making him roar and snarl at everyone. A child in the throng ran away crying while others stood frozen in terror. Moments later, Jrain had quickly bumbled his way out of the town and flew off over the mountains and forest. It’d taken over an hour of strenuous hiking for Galro to arrive on the other side of Nui to find Jrain, who had been lying in the tide off to the side of the dock. Upon the sight of him, Galro decided to catch his breath for a couple minutes … he wasn’t so young anymore.

The dragon couldn’t speak, but he’d learned over the past few days that Jrain was an intelligent creature. His facial expressions and body language said as much, and he was clearly capable of understanding reason and speech since he’d written his name in the sand shortly after they met. Galro had heard the rumors of scaly creatures living in the unexplored regions of the mainland, but he didn’t expect Covent’s leaders to ever find out if it didn’t relax any of its isolationist policies anytime soon. That is, if what he last heard of them was true. Galro sighed.

Still, it was unheard of for a beast to be intelligent like Jrain. There were animals and there were animal people. He knew plenty of rational, thinking bears like himself, but there were wild ones as well. Why that was, he and no one else knew, but this dragon was an unheard mix of wild and rational. It was no wonder how alone he must feel, and why he acted the way he did in town.

The bear slightly frowned and tightened his hold on the fishing rod’s leather grip. He shouldn’t have been so eager to introduce Jrain to his people. He should’ve done it slow and steady, but it was too late now. Spending some alone time with his dragon friend was the least he could do, and he smiled then. Jrain’s mood had improved considerably over the past hour since they’d sat together on the dock.

Galro turned his head subtly to look up at Jrain. He was staring out at the horizon with a content grin, yet there was a heaviness in his deep-set, amber eyes. Galro rested his hand on Jrain’s paw.

Jrain blinked and looked down at the furry hand resting atop his paw. The lower half of his tail was in the water and began swaying in response to Galro’s touch. He looked down at the water below him and saw his distorted reflection. Jrain suddenly frowned, closing his eyes and rumbling somberly before looking away from Galro, his head slumping against the dock.

Galro intentionally straightened and turned his body toward the dragon, patting his paw tenderly.

“Hey, buddy, what’s wrong?”

Jrain didn’t move for a short while.

Then, the dragon hesitantly turned his head toward Galro. His eyes were welling with tears.

Jrain didn’t have to tell him what those sorrowful eyes already said:

I killed him, Galro. I’ll wind up doing the same to everyone else. I need to stay away.

Galro let out a slight gasp. His eyes suddenly welled with tears as Bond’s death flashed in his mind. His lifelong friend was lost on that fateful day he and the dragon met under very different circumstances.

The bear looked down at the water and saw that his wet eyes flashed with anger, and he too frowned and closed his eyes. He let the silence play out for a moment between them.

“Jrain, you know I don’t hate you, right?” Galro said calmly, keeping his voice steady to project the real confidence in his words. He softly tightened his fingers over Jrain’s paw. “I’m not scared of you. I know who you really are, and my people will as well. You’re more good-hearted than you realize,” he said, grinning warmly.

The smallest of smiles slowly crept back on the dragon’s face after he looked out at the sea for a minute, seeming to contemplate Galro’s words. Jrain eventually took his other paw and gently laid it on top of Galro’s hand. He leaned closer to the bear and opened his mouth with a quiet, heartfelt moan.

“Jrain, they’ll see you like I do. Give them time. And I’ll give you time. How does that sound?”

Jrain softly rumbled in agreement as he took his right paw off Galro’s hand. He leaned in gently once more and touched his forehead to Galro’s, and the bear obliged in turn, raising his now free hand to caress the side of Jrain’s snout.

“If they could see you now, th—” Galro began to say, but he was suddenly cut off as he felt the line of his fishing rod violently tug, nearly knocking him off balance; however, Jrain bit the back of his vest in time to prevent him from falling in the water.

“W-wow, impressive!” Galro said, chuckling as he grabbed his fishing rod with both hands and leaned back against Jrain’s chest. “Now, I believe I was feeding you lunch, right?”

As if on cue, Galro felt his back vibrate as Jrain’s stomach loudly growled. The dragon stiffened and peered down at his belly with a grimace, then draping a wing over his head in embarrassment.

Galro bellowed a sonorous laugh as he reeled his catch in. Soon, a small fish flopped in the air before him, and he grabbed and placed it a small bucket to his left.

Jrain peeked over his wing and made a pleading sound when he heard the fish dancing about in the bucket.

“Ha, oh no!” Galro said emphatically, wagging a finger at Jrain. “You’ll need to wait until I have a couple more before you go and take your next bite. It’ll be much more satisfying if you have a mouthful of fish than a meager sampling! You should know that,” Galro harrumphed before casting his line out once more.

Jrain nodded begrudgingly. He plopped his head back on the dock. Galro felt Jrain go lax as his breathing slowed; his chest rhythmically rose and fell against Galro’s back.

The bear smiled at the sight and looked out to the horizon. The feel of the salty breeze, the sound of birds, and …

“Ah,” Galro softly gasped. He reached down and grabbed his pipe again, placing it in his mouth once more and puffing out a plume of aromatic smoke.

“Just a little longer now, friend,” he said to himself.

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