Chapter Text
It was a very calm and peaceful Tuesday. The sky was a bright, aquamarine blue, and the Sun shone its rays on the small, quiet and isolated village down below, which was hidden through thick forests and murky waters. Stone houses topped with straw roofs sheltered those who lived in this small community. Their homes were small, but it was enough to get them through harsh winters and sweltering summers. The locals of the village lived routine lives, that which nothing out of the ordinary ever happened. The children played, the women tended to them, and the men worked out in the blazing Sun. Some fished in the dark waters which surrounded the village, and some hunted small game in order to feed their families and support them through winter. Despite the routine nature of their lives, everyone was content. No one ever ventured beyond the forests that boarded the small village; there was no need to. Everyone had a place and a part, and there was never any need for anything else.
As the Sun rose higher into the sky, two young men with fluffy, light-brown hair, began to gather their things in order to prepare for the day’s fishing. They walked out of their small home and into the warm morning weather, around the same time as always. The men walked with each other, as they always had, as they reached the small dock where most men in the village fished.
“It’s a nice day, isn’t it, Tom?”
“It sure is, Henry! Perfect day for fishing,” Tom replied with a smile.
The two young men took their usual positions on the dock, and each threw in their lines in the same two spots as always. They each sat down in silence, taking in the peace and warmth of that quiet morning. Birds sang sweetly from the nearby trees of the thick forest as dragonflies glided near the top of the slow-moving water, looking for a safe place to lay their eggs. Nearby, children could be heard leaving their homes to play with their friends in the village, discussing the games they would play with each other that day. Men said goodbye to their wives as they prepared to travel to the edge of the forest and hunt small, unsuspecting critters, as they did every morning. And women tended to their gardens as they picked ripe vegetables from the ground, considering what to make for the evening meal of that day. Both men sat patiently for any movement of their lines, waiting to reel in a catch. After a few minutes, Tom perked up.
“Looks like I caught somethin’!” He said reeling in his line.
As he slowly pulled the fish towards him, a terrible odor spread through the air, and took both men by surprise.
“Phew, what in the world is that smell?!” Henry asked as he clenched his nose and gagged slightly.
“I have no idea,” Tom replied as his face scrunched up. “Maybe a rotten catch?”
But sure enough, the fish he had caught was still moving and struggling to breathe as he pulled it out of the water. He held it up to his face to inspect the creature he’d caught to figure out what the heck could be wrong with it.
The fish’s eyes were glazed over and pasty white. Its scales had a vile green tint to them, and the creature’s gills oozed a brown-colored sludge. Its fins seemed way too large for its size, and the fish seemed to bleed from small puncture wounds that covered its body.
“Woah..” Henry said breathless, as he came over to Tom to look at the fish as well. “Something ain’t right with that fish.”
“Yeah, no kidding,” Tom replied, his eyes still locked onto the fish’s disfigured body.
“Well, what should we do with it?” Henry asked after a few moments.
“Let’s bury it, it’ll be good food for the grass. It was probably just sick anyway...” Tom decided, though a sense of unease remained in his eyes.
The two men remained at the dock until sundown, soon forgetting the incident that had occurred earlier in the day. As the sun began its descent behind the forest and stars began to appear in the dusk sky, the young men began to walk back to their home. Neither was old enough to marry yet, so they lived together in a small, stone house on the opposite side of the village. Tom and Henry had known each other since they were children and had never left the other’s side. They were well known within the village for their good natures and humorous attitudes. Both bid goodnight to the town’s folk they passed as the men made their way to their home. Fires began to dim in every house, as the village prepared to sleep for the night.
At the crack of dawn, Tom sat up from his bed. The Sun hadn’t fully risen yet, but most of the village would already be up and beginning their routine days. He stretched for a moment, his back sore from his rough bed, and then stood up, preparing to gather his things for another day of fishing. Tom heard Henry stir and get up from his bed as well in the other room, as their home was so small that it wasn’t difficult to decipher what each of them were doing around the house during the day. The two men dressed, ate, and gathered their gear in order to begin their daily regiment. They stepped outside of their house and were greeted by the warm rays of the Sun. The grass was coated in a small layer of dew from the humid night, and birds could be heard chirping as they scampered on the ground, looking for food to feed their young.
“Another nice day, isn’t it?” Henry asked after basking in the peace of the morning.
“Yeah, it sure is Hen-”
Tom was quickly cut off by the wailing of a woman that could be heard throughout the entire village. It was filled with utter distress and agony, and it was sharp enough to break glass. Surprise and concern washed over both men as the color drained from their faces. Nothing like this was ever heard in the village before.
“What the heck was that?!”
“I don’t know, Tom, but we need to check it out.”
Both men began to quickly trot over to the source of the noise. Once they reached the center of the town, a small crowd of villagers was seen surrounding a familiar home within the village.
“Wait, that’s Mrs. Becky’s house!” Tom pointed out.
Mrs. Becky was a kind, middle-aged woman who was known by everyone in the village. Although she had a husband, she was never able to birth children, so she spent the time when her husband was away baking sweets and reading books to those who often felt lonely as well.
Crying could be heard from within the small cottage and murmurs spread throughout the crowd.
“...husband hasn’t come back…”
“...he’d been fishing…”
“...two days...”
“...went missing, she said…”
“Did you hear that, Henry?” Tom whispered.
“Yeah, yeah I did…” Henry replied, a stern look plastered on his face.
The worst thing that had ever happened in their quiet village was someone had stolen two apples from the food market they had every week. But that’s it. Nothing of this magnitude had ever even come close to happening. For someone to go missing? That was unthinkable.
“W-what should we do?” Tom asked him.
“I don’t know if there’s anything we can do.” Henry replied, a sense of unease in his eyes.
There was a moment of silence between the two men, as the sounds of murmuring and wailing continued.
“We need to go to the dock.” Henry finally said.
“What? You still want to go fishing?” Tom asked.
“I’ll explain, but I need to check something at the dock. Come on, let’s go.”
Tom and Henry made their way over to the dock in a hurry. Henry promptly took out his fishing pole, latched some bait onto it, and slung the line into the water. After a few moments of silence, something had caught onto it. Henry quickly reeled back the line, anticipation in his eyes.
He pulled up the line to his face, staring at the creature he’d caught. It was a fish, of course, but the fish’s eyes were, again, glazed over and it’s gills oozed a familiar brown-sludge. Worry washed over Henry’s face as he showed the disfigured fish to Tom. He gave a small gasp in surprise.
“That looks like what I caught yesterday…” Tom said, confusion in his voice.
“Exactly.” Henry replied.
Without another word, he stuck more bait on the hook, and threw it again into the water. After a few more moments, another fish had caught onto the line. Henry repeated the process four more times, and each time he pulled out a fish, it had the same sick, mutated look. Henry looked up to Tom, concern in his face.
“Something’s wrong Tom, I’ve never seen anything like this…”
“What’s going on? This isn’t like a normal sickness. It’s almost as if something’s…attacking them or something.” Tom replied.
“Maybe… But I don’t know what to do. Without fish, the village could starve!”
“Well, there’s gotta be something we can do!”
Both men fell silent. Neither of them had any idea about what was going on or how to fix it, and a sense of panic began to settle over them.
After a while, they began walking home, as the Sun had started its descent into the horizon. Both stayed silent through the trip back, deep in contemplation of what to do. The night air was cool and soothing however, and it seemed as the commotion of the morning’s events had mostly dissipated. Though friends of Mrs. Becky checked on her and comforted her throughout the day, a faint sense of unease remained within the village. However, soon enough, night fell and the village became silent as it slept.