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Summer was a joyous time in La Noscea. The heat warming the backs of many a sailor was a welcome sensation, as did the calm waters that came with it. Not only that, many residents would find themselves visiting the beautiful resort of Costa Del Sol, where there were beautiful women to behold, and wondrous drinks to be had.
But, what the Xaela Batu was most excited for was the prospects of fishing in La Noscea’s summer.
On the docks of Costa Del Sol, a small party were casting their reels into the ocean for anything they might be able to wrench from its depths. The party consisted of Freya and the five kids she took care of at her orphanage, along with her friends: the Moonkeeper huntress Lunarae Starseeker, the Sunseeker bruiser Rev, and the ever-enthusiastic Batu.
Batu was rather popular with the kids, mostly due to his zeal and playful spirit. It gained him plenty of smiles from the little ones, who found him to be akin to the fun uncle that comes by to regale them of his tales and share the fruits of his adventures. Many of the latter decorate the orphanage, like the fish in the aquarium, and the stuffed Takitaro that watches over the main room.
Batu was rather proud lugging that one in.
That same pride he felt when guiding the kids in their fishing, giving little pointers to the small Moonseeker Miah as her line was being pulled by a fish. Her stature was so small she might be pulled from the pier if a fish too large were to take her bait, so he had his hands ready to grab her.
And yet, without much further help from Batu, she managed to pull a fish right from the water. With widened eyes, she watched as the fish soared through the air for several moments before landing on the pier next to her.
The rest of the group erupted into cheers for the good catch, with Batu walking over to unhook the fish and present it to the Miqo’te, her fangs revealing themselves in her wide smile.
“A Bianaq Bream! That’s a great catch, Miss Miah!” Exclaimed Batu, before putting it in the bucket with the other fish they caught.
As the other kids came to check out the fish that Miah caught, Batu gave the little one a pat on the shoulder before leaving them to walk back to the opposite side of the small pier they were sharing. Someone was waiting for him there.
Sitting with her legs dangling off the side of the pier was Rev, her amber eyes staying on the torso of the pale blue Xaela as he walked past, looking him up and down. She raised a bottle of something to her lips, taking a swig as Batu settled down with his rod, which had been set up straight, its line still in the water. He sat beside Rev, his legs also hanging off the edge of the pier.
“Anything yet?” He asked, taking the rod into his hands.
“Not a bob. Been still since you left it. It might need a little of that magic Batu touch.”
“Not magic, Rev. Skill.”
“Yeah, yeah.”
Another swig. She looked over to the kids, where Freya and Lunarae were both praising Miah for her catch. The little Miqo’te was grinning ear to ear.
“So why didn’t you join us over there?” Batu asked.
Rev turned back to the Xaela, her brow raised. “Well…I just don’t think the kids would be into my…personality, I guess. Plus, I don’t think they want some drunk layabout around them. All that shi—uh…crap.”
Batu chuckled at Rev’s attempt to censor herself. “I think if you just dropped the bottle and came over, they’d be fine.”
Rev let the bottle hang from her two fingers clenched around its lip, it dangling over the water. “I…I don’t know Batu.”
“Well, I won’t force you. It would be nice, though.”
Rev was about to speak when suddenly there was a tug at Batu’s line. The Xaela sprung to his feet, gripping the rod and holding tight as he began to reel them in. Rev watched him, at the determination in his face represented in a grin as he eventually pulled back, ripping the fish from the sea. He caught it before it could hit the pier floor, and added it to the rest in the bucket.
“Nice catch,” Rev said, putting her bottle down to clap for him.
“It was a Little Thalaos. Perfect for dinner.”
As Batu settled back down and sat down to continue fishing, a question sprung up in Rev’s mind.
“Say Batu…why do you like fishing so much? You were a part of the Ura tribe right? Wasn’t that just a lot of mining?”
Batu’s focused look was displaced with wonder as he pondered the question. “Well, when you mine something, you know what you’re getting. You break off the coal with your pickaxe, and you get coal. With fishing…it’s a mystery what you get. Everything you pull out of the water could be something entirely different from the last. And I enjoy that variety, that…randomness, you know? Kind of why I started adventuring. Who knows what you'll come across on your journeys, right?"
Rev stared off into the middle distance as he spoke, her left brow lowering further and further on her eye until he stopped. She turned to him to ask.
"I thought you started adventuring because you enjoyed suplexing Morbols?"
"Well…yeah, that too,” he said, looking at her, “Want to give it a try?”
Rev’s eyes widened at the offer, holding her hands up. “Nah…no, I’m only good at two things: drinking and fighting. I only really came because you invited me along. Needed some time away from Ul’dah. The dirty back alleys and the…everything else.”
“Come on…you know you want to.”
“I…I don’t, really.”
“Come ooooon.”
As Rev turned to face him, she saw he was using that look. The really cute one that turned her to butter in his hands. His eyes were wide, making his crimson eyes shine in the afternoon sun.
Gritting her teeth, she sighed and reached a hand out for the rod. “Fiiiine.”
“Great!” Batu exclaimed, getting up and pulling Rev to her feet, putting the rod in her hands, but with his arms around her so he could guide her arms. The entire move was so sudden, she didn’t realize it until he was around her, her cheeks blushing a deep red.
“Okay, so it’s mostly just waiting. That’s the most serene part. Waiting for the fish to bite. Sometimes you could move the hook around, but mostly you should just let it be.”
Rev was finding it hard to focus, so she just stammered. “Uh…uh, right.”
At the moment, the line was loose, the hook having yet to catch anything below the surface of the water. Though it was calm, they could see the life teeming beneath. Fish swimming past each other, an entire ecosystem of different lives.
Suddenly, Rev felt something. At the end of the line, a small weight began to pull upon the hook. The tip top of the rod began to dip, and the line began to straighten and tighten.
“Woah!” Rev tried to steady the rod.
“You got a bite! Now, just bend your knees, steady yourself, and start reeling them in.”
Rev followed his advice, bending her knees to steady herself as she gripped the fishing
rod tighter. She began to turn the reel, the tugging fish coming closer with each pull. Though she’s never fished before, it did feel like this fish was pulling hard. It must be a big one!
Eventually, through enough of reeling it in, Rev pulled back, the fish shooting out from the ocean.
“I got it!”
As it flew towards them, Batu reached out to catch it. Rev quickly looked to see what she caught. When she saw it, her ears turned down a bit.
It was pretty small, smaller than she expected it to be. A fish with multiple colors adorning its small body. It looked a bit silly, but Batu’s face was no less proud of seeing it.
“An Angelfish! That’s a good first catch!”
Rev looked between Batu and the fish multiple times. “Is it?”
Batu released a hearty chuckle. “It’s not always about what you fish out, but the idea of fishing in of itself. Like I said, you never know what you’re going to get.”
With that, Batu tossed it into the bucket.
“Now, why don’t you keep that up while I check on the kids.”
Rev glanced over at the group. The kids were all happy, some of them getting fish while Freya and Lunarae were encouraging them. It looked…nice.
“Actually, is it okay if I join you guys?”
Batu looked back to her, brow cocked. “Are you sure?”
Rev hesitated, peering down at the bottle on the pier, then back to the group.
She gave a wide smile. “Yeah. Yeah, I’m sure.”