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It was an important day for Gordon and his little guppy. Joshua's first hunt was today since he was now of hunting age. An essential step into becoming a proper siren. Non stop had the smaller moray been talking about finally going on his first hunt. Any siren parent would feel proud about their guppies hunting their own food for the first time. And Gordon was no different.
Joshua, with his sire's help, worked hard on his harpoon. It was about half the size of Joshua, his little speckled hands gripping tight onto the pole. The rock that Joshua picked out- Gordon had shaped it for him into a point- was wrapped tightly around the pole with string Gordon collected from scattered shipwrecks he'd come across. And finally, Joshua was ready to go.
With both clutching onto their harpoons, Gordon led Joshua to a quiet spot he knew Joshua would have the easiest time with. Normally a leviathan would follow the sire sirens and guppies on first hunt to ensure that sires were not hunting for the guppies and the food was obtained by the guppy itself. But Gordon and Joshua had no school. They had no leviathan. So it was just the two of them together alone. Gordon didn't mind. He actually preferred this to be intimate between his guppy and him.
Crouching behind a large rock, Gordon turned to Joshua and smiled. The guppy was practically bouncing, a sharp toothy grin across his face. Gordon nodded as he motioned for them to peer over the rock. "Okay Joshua. This is your big day. Do you remember the first thing papa told you to do when you hunt?"
Joshua put his little hand on his chin. Poking his tongue out to think, he hummed. "Hmm… check for danger…?" Gordon nodded.
"That's right! You always want to make sure there is no danger. Because a no check hunt…?"
"Is a deadly hunt." Gordon chuckled.
"You got it. So let's check. Do you hear anything? Do you see anything? And do you feel anything change in the water's energy?" Joshua turned his head slowly, pupils slit in suspense and brows furrowed in concentration. Gordon couldn't help but smile. Joshua's pupils soon dilated normally and he whispered an 'all clear' to his sire. "Good job. Now let's get started."
Soon after going through all the necessary steps, a couple reminders and pointers, Joshua was in a ready position. Stalking a tiny octopus. Gordon watched from a supervising distance so his guppy could do it himself. After a couple long lasting moments, Joshua grunted and went to stab the octopus. But before contact could happen, the octopus flooded Joshua's vision with ink. Gordon immediately swam fast towards Joshua, the little tentacle creature swimming away. After wiping his eyes frantically and sputtering, Joshua opened his eyes. Gordon was wiping any ink left over off Joshua and checking all over him.
"Josh are you okay?! Can you see?!" Joshua frowned and nodded before looking at the floor below them. His little yellow tail wrapped itself around him. Gordon cupped his guppy's little face and looked at him with concern. "Bubbles what's wrong?"
Joshua sniffed, looking up when he heard his sire's pet name for him. "I'm not good at this papa… I'm never gonna be as good as you!"
He swam out of Gordon's touch and sat on a rock before throwing his harpoon into the sand and crossing his arms tight. Gordon frowned. He remembered when he went hunting with his own sire, how difficult it'd been for him. He didn't exactly get it on his first try like all his friends bragged. Gordon swam gently to Joshua, wrapping an arm softly around the guppy's shoulders and sat down, hugging Joshua close to him. "Hey… it's okay buddy… hunting isn't easy."
Joshua looked up to Gordon and sniffled. "But papa. I wanna be like you. I wanna be good at it like you! I'm never gonna hunt good! Then I'm gonna be hungry and starve!"
Gordon listened to his little guppy's vent before lifting his chin to look up at him. "Hey… you're not gonna starve. And you will be a good hunter. I promise. Hunting is only one part of a whole when it comes to being a siren. You come from a strong line of incredible morays, Bubbles. Every single one started out just like you. Small… but fierce and determined. Don't ever let one failure slow you down. Okay?"
Joshua smiled and hugged Gordon around his torso as far as his little arms allowed. Gordon kissed the top of his head and got up, taking the little harpoon out of the sand and handing it to Joshua. "You've still gotta hunt. Remember?"
"Okay papa!"
Soon Joshua was back into a hunting position. Gordon was supervising a good distance away to let him do it on his own. Joshua was now stalking a crab. Gordon was kinda worried. Crab shells were difficult to pierce if you were an inexperienced hunter. But he hoped the pep talk he gave Joshua would keep him from disappointment. Pretty soon Joshua pounced at the crab, using all his strength for the harpoon. The sand flew up a bit around Joshua's face from the force of the strike. Gordon swore he heard a crack and inched closer in concern.
"Joshua? You okay?!" He heard Joshua's little coughs as the sand settled. Just as the sand finished floating down, Gordon saw Joshua waving his little harpoon. The poor dead crab had been stabbed, it's legs still twitching. Claws flailing with Joshua's excited little wavings.
"PAPA! PAPA I DID IT LOOK LOOK LOOK. I GOT A CRAB PAPA! I GOT A CRAB!" His eyes were wide and shining, pupils dilated in joy. Gordon laughed before swimming up to Joshua, scooping the little guppy and spinning around. He planted kisses all over the little one's yellow spotted face and hugged him tight. Joshua returned the hug, harpoon with crab still in hand. "Papa I did it! I hunted! I hunted!"
Gordon touched his forehead to Joshua's, still laughing. "I know! Joshua, my little Bubbles, I'm SO proud of you."
His little guppy was growing up.