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The seven elements were quite excited when BoBoiBoy allowed them to split up and go around Pulau Rintis for the day. When Gempa asked why, being the caring mother figure he is, BoBoiBoy simply explained that the rest of Kokotiam Gang wanted to relax after a few long days of missions upon missions. Before Gempa could ask any more questions, BoBoiBoy further explained that he still wanted to look after Tok Aba and help him with whatever he needed alongside Ochobot. Satisfied with this answer - while also knowing the fact that they could all exist in the same realm as each other - Gempa felt that he didn't need to worry (much to the elementals' and BoBoiBoy's surprise as Gempa was always quite careful even when he was told to just relax) and then thanked BoBoiBoy along with the rest of his brothers... some of which he may have needed to throw a look at in order for them to properly thank the elemental wielder.
●◉○◉●
"So... what are we going to do?" Halilintar initiated the conversation, turning to the other elements. They were all at the table eating breakfast Taufan had made them when BoBoiBoy had called, so it was probably the most convenient place to bring it up - even if they were still munching on food.
"Hali's right," Taufan perked up, giving Halilintar's scowl a smug smile. "We can't just walk around Pulau Rintis all day!"
"Of course," Gempa agreed, taking a sip of his tea. "Especially after you, Blaze and Duri decided to spend a lot of Ori's savings when he allowed you three to leave the watch realm last time."
Trio Troublemaker laughed awkwardly at the pressed smile Gempa was giving them.
"Oh, c'mon, Gem," Blaze smiled a little too sweetly, batting his eyes, clasping his hands together and leaning over the table towards Gempa's direction. "It wasn't thaaaat much. Besides, after the lecture Tok Aba gave us - we don't plan on doing it again."
"Laze..." Ais muttered from beside him, his head leaning against his twin's. Blaze whispered a quick sorry and tried to keep still. It was a little out-of-character, but the elements chose to ignore it as it was probably better than the fire element spouting remarks at his twin.
"Do remind me - how much did you spend again?" Solar asked accusingly, raising an eyebrow but not lifting his eyes off of the book he was reading.
"-DON'T answer Duri." Taufan and Blaze exclaimed to their second youngest, who nodded quietly and backed away into his seat, taking a bite of his last pancake sadly. Solar nudged him and they exchanged a few words, most likely Solar checking up on his twin based off of Duri's insistent nodding.
"I only brought that up as a reminder of how we shouldn't be taking advantage of manifesting Ori's body," Gempa sighed. "We still need to come up with something to do. Any ideas?"
"OOH! We could take a train to the nearest theme park!" Blaze shot up, causing Ais to lightly hit him on the head and tell him to calm down.
"Ori said in Pulau Rintis, matchstick." Halilintar frowned.
"The library?" Ais and Solar suggested, for entirely different reasons.
"Trio Troublemaker over here can hardly sit around and stay quiet during breakfast, let alone the library."
"The park?" Taufan suggested. "No... we've been there quite a bit lately."
"...What about the river?" Duri asked. "We could go swimming, sit around, exploring... we could even fish!"
"That's... not a bad idea," Halilintar nodded. "It's away from many people as well, so even if we happen to get too loud - we won't be an immediate bother."
"Psh, who says we'll be loud?" Taufan cackled, slapping Halilintar on the back of the shoulder. In seconds he was thrown out of his chair and sprawled out across the floor. Gempa gave the eldest a look, but he simply shrugged.
"So, it's settled then?" Gempa asked around. There were collective nods and positive responses throughout the table. "Alright. Taufan, clean the table and Blaze, do the dishes. Duri and Solar can prepare the fishing equipment and Halilintar and I can prepare the extra things we need such as food."
"What about Ais?" Blaze retorted, jabbing a thumb at the near-asleep figure beside him.
"Ais will keep an eye on you and Upan to make sure that you actually do your chores." Gempa explained simply.
"Hey, the faster we get this done, the quicker we can get there!" Taufan spoke up cheerfully, pulling himself up onto his chair again and remaining seated as he watched the other brothers slowly start to dissipate. "Though, where are we gonna go and fish? I don't think I've done it before, and at most I've seen Captain Papa fish a few times. Fish don't just come out of nowhere!"
"I'll find a place," Solar announced proudly as he shut his book, causing Taufan to groan at the youngest's boastfulness. "I already know what some of the best conditions are, so - with a bit more research - I'm undoubtedly the most qualified for the job."
"There's only one river, Sol," Duri brought up innocently. "I think."
"There are a few, actually, but I'll try and keep us relatively close to the town," Solar assured him. "But I also don't want us to be completely unlucky. So, if I find a place that's a little farther - don't complain too much."
"That's good to hear, Solar. Just don't take too much time," Gempa reminded him. Solar nodded, and together he and Duri walked outside towards a shed whilst discussing what they were going to look for. "Ah, almost forgot, everyone. Let's wear those clothes that we used for the Planet Kadruax mission. They'd fit well with our activities for the day."
"You mean, "Let's wear those clothes that everyone but Ais used for the Planet Kadruax mission", right, Gem?" Blaze smirked, throwing a look at Ais who was still leaned up against him. Ais rolled his eyes, pushing himself off of Blaze and finally allowing his twin to get up and start working on the dishes.
"I'll finally get to wear mine, then?" Ais reiterated. He didn't seem exactly elated, but the smile on his face was definitely an indicator that he wasn't against the whole plan either.
"Exactly," Gempa nodded, beginning to leave the table with Halilintar. "We'll leave at 10, everyone!"
"10 in the morning or 10 at night?" Blaze called out from the sink, barely managing to duck past the near-empty bottle of maple syrup that Halilintar threw at him.
◆◈◇◈◆
"ARE WE THERE YET???" Blaze groaned loudly, his voice echoing into the vast woods ahead of him.
"I know that I said that we wouldn't be so much of a bother to others, but that doesn't mean we should be a bother to ourselves either, Blaze." Halilintar scowled at his sibling behind him.
"Laze," Ais came up to Blaze and spoke quietly. "You've been pretty hyper so far, and we haven't even gotten there yet - is something wrong?"
"I, uh-" Blaze stammered quietly, somehow making himself seem more suspicious than he intended. Ais raised an eyebrow at him. It was hard to hide things from his twin - he learned that a long time ago. "I... may have eaten about... 10 packets of lollies when I got up this morning...?"
"...And why did you do that?" Ais asked, amused by his twin as he stifled a low chuckle.
"...Do I have to explain?" Blaze mumbled, clearly embarrassed with his reasoning.
"You don't have to. But if I said yes, would you?"
"I guess," Blaze sighed. "After air head decided to chow down on my bag of party-size chips over a whole week without me noticing, I decided to get back at him by stealing 10 of the small packs of lollies he also bought. This morning, I had a pretty weird dream where Taufan had found out. He turned into Beliung and then got me involved the single-most terrifying game of hide-and-seek ever. When I woke up, I, on impulse, may have... eaten the lollies."
"Way to go, Blaze." Ais laughed quietly, patting his twin on the back.
"Yeah... didn't exactly go the way I wanted.
"Sol... Did you get us lost?" Taufan remarked, looking the youngest at the front of the group who had led the siblings here in the first place.
"Ish, do you really have that little faith in me?" Solar barked, swivelling around to meet Taufan's gaze and engaging in a stare down, causing the rest of the siblings to stop in their tracks.
"Hmph. Sorry, Mr Smarty-Pants, but there was a pathway not too far from here and - if I remember right - you were the one who told us not to follow it. Why?"
"Well, why didn't you fly up with your wind power or your hoverboard like I suggested?"
"Even if I did find the river, the forest here is too dense. I wouldn't be able to find you guys!"
"Do you have that poor of a sense of direction?"
"Fine! I'll go up there and when you guys get even more lost, you'll know that I was right!" Taufan turned around and jumped as he was ready to summon his hoverboard when Solar grabbed him by the arm and yanked him back.
"No need. We're here already - the river is past these bushes," Solar spoke nonchalantly. Taufan gave him an untrustworthy look, and Solar stared back like he was the dumbest person on Earth. "Can't you hear the water running, airhead?"
"How are we gonna get past?" Duri wondered, tapping his chin with his finger in thought. "I don't think it's a good idea to just cut through and ruin the greenery..."
"There should be an opening somewhere nearby..." Gempa thought aloud. "Maybe if we split up-"
"Found it." Halilintar announced bluntly, pointing to an area a little to the left where more light seemed to filter through the foliage. Trio Troublemaker was quick to rush to the spot and sounds of awe could be heard as they looked through the opening. As the other four followed suit, Gempa was met with the pleading faces of the trio directed towards him. He sighed.
"You three can go, but you can't get in the water, and you can't leave the opening until we find a place to set up, okay?" Gempa told them. There were collective sounds of agreement as TTM cheered and ran through the bushes, the other brothers soon following suit.
The opening wasn't immediately easy to pick out - masked with bushes and large trees - unless you listened and paid attention to the surroundings. The trees, bushes and shrubbery seemed to thin out as they got closer to the riverbank and (for a few metres) revealed an open area of green grass. The other side of the river had trees and shrubs growing right to the water's edge. The river seemed to widen in this particular spot, creating almost a lake in the middle of the forest. The riverbank was sparsely lined with a few waterlilies, weeds and rocks, and the water itself was still and almost crystal clear. The sun shone down from above, though slightly on an angle due to the time of day, further highlighting the natural beauty of the area.
"This is amazing..." Gempa gasped quietly, looking onwards as the group of four subconsciously agreed to set up under a tree closer to the water.
"I wonder how many people actually know about this place... It looks untouched," Halilintar commented, setting down the equipment he was tasked to carry. "Oi, light bulb - are you sure that we are allowed here?"
"Of course," Solar nodded. "I don't want us or Ori getting in trouble now. The river is completely accessible for anyone engaging in recreational activities such as swimming, kayaking, canoeing and fishing. However, we have to release some fish that we may catch because there are native species within the area that are dwindling in numbers."
"What if we release the fish only to catch them again later?" Ais asked, laying down a picnic blanket before proceeding to lie down on top of it.
"Then we release them in whichever direction the current is flowing away from us. That way it'll lead them in a direction that isn't where we are."
"So, what fish should we keep an eye out for?" Blaze asked, walking up to Ais and plopping himself down on the blanket next to him. Taufan and Duri soon followed, joining in with the rest who were standing.
"You've finished exploring already?" Gempa asked, slightly surprised.
"No, not yet. We wanna go up to the water and over to the other side of the river but you told us to wait first," Duri noted. "That and we don't wanna mess anything up."
"That's a first." Halilintar spoke.
"What?" Blaze rose an eyebrow.
"TTM listening to instructions." Halilintar elaborated.
"Well, wouldn't any of us if it were Gempa? Solar stated the obvious. Halilintar turned his head away at the fact, not wanting to admit that Solar's statement was true.
"Besides - it's a good day!" Taufan beamed. "Why ruin it now when it's barely started?"
"Alright, Solar," Blaze smirked. "So, which fish do we chuck back into the river and which fish can we eat?
◆◈◇◈◆
Once all the important things had been said, the siblings split up. Being allowed to finally roam around, Trio Troublemaker went on their way to their first destination of interest - the river.
"Hey, hey - what if we find that Zesteammon fish that light switch had mentioned earlier?" Blaze snickered as they walked over to the riverbank.
"Do you really think we could find a fish like that in Malaysia, let alone on Earth? Especially with that name?" Taufan chuckled back.
"I don't think you hang out with Sol enough." Blaze looked straight-faced at Taufan.
"Whaddya mean by that?" Taufan questioned.
"Dear, dear Taufan... Do you happen to know what sarcasm - WOAH-" Blaze cut himself off as he suddenly slipped and was heading towards the water's surface, shutting his eyes. Before he could touch the water, a gust of wind enveloped him and hoisted him into the air above. When he lifted an eyelid, he met the gaze of Taufan, who was hovering above the water on his own mini cyclone.
"For your information, Blaze, I do just so happen to know what sarcasm means. I simply wanted to play along with what you said." Taufan spoke smugly. Blaze wanted to talk back, but as he noticed a brown-clad figure coming towards them he resorted poking his tongue out at the Wind elemental. When Gempa stopped in his tracks, he briefly looked up at Blaze and Taufan with an unreadable expression before looking down at the two freshly made grooves in the damp mud.
"I figured that this was going to happen..." Gempa spoke to himself, though his voice didn't seem to hold any malice towards the two in the air. "Stay up there, you two. And stand back Duri." Within a few moments, a few dry, solid rock platforms formed and rose out of the riverbank. "Alright, this should make it easier and safer to get closer to the water."
"Thanks Gem!" TTM called out collectively as Gempa started walking away. Gempa held a thumbs up out towards them and smiled back. Duri walked over to the edge of the platform, sitting down and swinging his legs over the water. Taufan set himself and Blaze down before also heading to the water's edge. The water was definitely cooler up close - shimmering under the sun and crystal clear to where they could see the riverbed up close. Small aquatic freshwater plants could be made out in between varying sizes of rocks, stones, pebbles and dirt. Sticks, branches and leaves of the nearby trees could also be found either underwater or floating on top.
"Woah..." Blaze spoke in awe.
"Look - there are tiny crabs under the water!" Duri cooed, pointing at a few brown blobs on a log underwater that dipped in and out of crevices in the bark.
"Cool," Taufan agreed. "You wanna take a closer look? Gem said that we were allowed to swim whenever we want, so..."
"Nah, I don't wanna disturb them." Duri decided. Taufan shrugged.
"Anyways, imagine if we actually catch the Zesteammon fish?" Blaze brought up the topic again.
"I don't really mind," Duri shrugged. "There aren't any venomous fish said to be in the water here, so all good."
"Says the one who owns a whole bunch of freaky plants." Taufan scoffed.
"All my plants are beautiful, thank you." Duri pouted. "They aren't venomous, either. Plants can't be venomous - just poisonous. It's easier to avoid poisonous things than venomous things, anyways."
"Hanging out with Sol has made you smarter?" Blaze questioned, though by his tone of voice and facial expression he seemed uncertain as to whether or not he was insulting Duri.
"Thanks?" Duri shared the same sentiment. "I dunno why it's called a Zesteammon fish though. It's still pretty cool that it smells like a lemon and even tastes like a fish already seasoned with lemon when it's cooked, so if we do catch it that'll be interesting."
"...And I take back what I just said." Blaze sighed, both he and Taufan internally facepalming themselves at the Nature elemental's naivety.
"Aw..."
"Duri. Do you really not get why it's called that? Even after what you just said?" Taufan asked.
"...No?" He answered genuinely.
"Zesteammon. Zest. Eammon - sounds like 'lemon'. Zest lemon. Lemon zest. Duri?" Blaze broke it down. Duri just stared at them for a few moments.
"OOOOHHHHH-" The light bulb in Duri's head finally seemed to flicker on. "Lemon because it smells like a lemon and tastes lemony and zest because lemons have zest."
"Not just lemons, but yeah." Taufan smiled, patting Duri's back proudly. "At least you got there in the end."
"I dunno. Seemed pretty obvious to me." Blaze shrugged.
"You do remember how Daun was manifested, right?" Taufan reminded him.
"Yeah, yeah."
"What now?" Duri asked.
"More exploring?" Blaze asked. "We haven't checked out the other side yet."
"Well, Sol said that if we wanted to fish, we should set up sooner rather than later," Taufan recalled. "I heard it can take a while to catch even one."
"True..." Blaze hummed. "If we set our rods up and then swim later, do you reckon we could lure the fish to them?"
"I dunno, but we've gotta set up now if we wanna try it out."
"Well, duh."
"Just saying."
"Let's set up then?" Duri suggested.
"Sure." Taufan nodded, getting up. "Let's go."
◆◈◇◈◆
"That was... something." Taufan sighed, controlling the two mini cyclones which carried Blaze and Duri high above the water. He wouldn't typically, but Solar had said something about the wind possibly ruining the conditions.
"Sol's just trying to help." Duri shrugged. As they hovered above the trees, Duri created a woven leaf blanket (thankfully not made of thorns) and as the cyclones disappeared the trio fell onto the blanket softly. Duri lowered them onto the ground, and they looked out at the lake from the opposite side to where they were a good minute ago.
"You say that as if he's just the youngest and not the elemental whose first tier was literally manifested partially due to Ori reading books." Blaze frowned.
"He's still trying," Duri reiterated. "He even asked me to help him look through a few books this morning just to make sure that what he would end up saying wouldn't be completely wrong."
"That's Solar for you," Taufan sighed. "On another note, we were lucky to convince Hali to look after our rods - with Sol's help - for the time being." They looked over to Halilintar, who was sitting on another picnic blanket laid on the rock platforms that Gempa had made earlier. He was speaking to Solar, who was setting up one of those large beach umbrellas for him. They didn't seem to be arguing, for once - just talking.
"He is the fastest out of all of us." Blaze nodded.
"We're not too bad ourselves. Even Ais is pretty fast." They then looked over at the Ice elemental, who had stopped laying on the ground and was helping Gempa set up a small fire. Blaze, for a moment, felt that he would be more fitted for the job, but honestly? Getting out of responsibility was much more fun.
"Whenever he wants to be, that is."
"Ais isn't exactly slow - he's just sleepy a lot of the time." Duri pointed out.
"You do mean all of the time, right - DUCKS!" Blaze screamed out excitedly, causing Halilintar to nearly drop the small remote which would alert him if any of TTM's fishing rods had possibly caught something. Blaze chuckled awkwardly at Halilintar's clearly directed death stare, but words from Solar seemed to distract him. Blaze looked back at the strangely unbothered ducks - white with orange beaks and fins - and his face went from nervous to completely fascinated. He slowly came up to the water's edge, careful not to slip again, and he squatted down.
"Do you like all birds, or just ducks and chickens, Laze?" Duri asked, mimicking Blaze's movements.
"Eh, not all birds." Blaze shrugged. "But chickens and ducks are up there."
"What, the birds that people usually eat are you favourites?" Taufan chuckled lightly under his breath.
"Excuse me?" Blaze turned his head, glaring at Taufan.
"Y-You didn't hear anything-" Taufan waved his hands in dismissal, clearly terrified of Blaze's mood change.
"I think I heard something, alright." Blaze frowned. Little flickers of flame started forming in his hand.
"Calm down, everyone - ah, look! One of the ducks caught a fish!" Duri attempted to distract them. When they looked over, they saw a duck with a smaller, silver-coloured fish in its beak.
"Awesome!" Blaze cheered silently.
"If they stick around for the entire day, we might not be able to catch fish though..." Duri thought aloud. Blaze looked to him, back at the ducks, and then at him again.
"I guess that's true..." Blaze sighed. "But how do we get them out of here...?"
"We could always scare or chase them away." Taufan suggested.
"You? Not a chance." Blaze disagreed.
"I'd do a better job than you would, hot head," Taufan rolled his eyes. "I could blow them away with my powers - get it?"
"You wanna bet?" Blaze smirked, standing up to meet Taufan's gaze. "Who needs powers anyways?"
"No, and I'm not doing this because I'm chicken," Taufan lightly poked his finger into Blaze's chest. "I'm just being considerate and preventing you from saving you making a bad bet."
"Acting cocky, eh?" Blaze inched his face closer to Taufan's. "And I thought that was Solar's job..."
"Alright then." Taufan sighed, clearly enjoying the challenge. Meanwhile, Duri stood off to the side, a little concerned with what could happen soon, but he was taken off guard by some rustling in the forest behind them. He squinted a bit, and then-
"HUWAAAAHHH!!!" Duri cried out as something, or rather some things came out at him from the foliage, causing him to run into Taufan who bumped into Blaze who... tripped again. Since no one was really prepared for it to happen a second time, Blaze tumbled straight into the water with a large splash. It not only sprinkled water everywhere, including on Duri and Taufan, but it also scared the ducks away, who left with collective squawks and flew further down the river. That, and Solar got surprised this time, throwing a book he had into the air. Halilintar was quick on his feet and caught it, much to Solar's relief. Gempa could be seen gawking at them from a distance, and Ais seemed pretty uninterested as per usual. Blaze soon surfaced, coughing and gasping for air.
"Are you alright, Blaze?" Taufan asked, summoning his hoverboard and hovering above Blaze.
"Sorry!" Duri called out from the land. "A bunch of bats came out and spooked me."
"*cough* Are you *hack* gonna help me or *cough cough* what?" Blaze managed to choke out.
"Right," Taufan nodded, hovering over to Duri. "Duri, prepare a non-thorny vine please."
"You don't have to tell me twice," Duri grumbled, creating a vine and carefully climbing onto Taufan's hoverboard. "Ever since Solar and Ying complained about our adventures on Planet Kadruax..."
◆◈◇◈◆
"Hm..." Taufan hummed aloud, sitting next to Gempa and Halilintar under the beach umbrella. As he went to take a sip of his leftover mixed berry thick shake, its existence courtesy of Ais, the crunching sound of watery-ice sloshing around could be heard in the Eski not too far behind him which made him jump subtly. Gempa laughed lightly at his older brother's antics, and Halilintar seemed like he was trying to hide a snicker. Taufan rolled his eyes playfully.
"I'd move the fish, but Solar, Duri and Blaze insist on keeping them safe. And Ais didn't want them to disturb him while he's napping." Gempa spoke gently, looking at the water below.
"Ah, it doesn't matter," Taufan brushed it off. "The fact that those three alone managed to collectively catch five edible fish already is pretty good. It's only been, like, two hours!"
"It would've been more if I had stopped catching all the species that we can't keep." Halilintar sighed, looking at his rod not too far away.
"That huge Raincour fish you managed to catch was still pretty cool, Hali," Taufan reassured him. "At least, we all think it is."
"Most of the fish Solar said you've been catching are more common than that one, so seeing it of that size - 75cm, I think - was definitely impressive, Halilintar," Gempa backed Taufan. A small smile appeared on Halilintar's face, though only for a few moments. "At least luckier than I've been so far today."
"Awh, don't bring yourself down either, Gem!" Taufan smiled. "I'm sure you'll catch something sooner or later. Though, it's the adventure that counts, right?"
"You're right," Gempa smiled. "Even if the other three are the only ones to catch anything, that's still quite lucky! Hopefully they'll share..."
"You know Duri would. Blaze and Solar might be a bit more hesitant. Solar might even experiment on his fish if he gets 'creative' enough." Taufan rolled his eyes.
"Have to agree with you there, Upan." Halilintar sighed.
"You tired, Hali?" Taufan asked. Halilintar averted his gaze for a moment.
"I suppose." He decided to say. When Halilintar went to close his eyes, there were a few rustles and footsteps before he felt warmth on either side of him. Strangely enough, he went to lean into it - being much more comfortable than sitting up against nothing. He briefly opened his eyes he saw none other than Gempa and Taufan sitting right beside him.
"...Thank you." Halilintar mumbled. The other two didn't say a word.
While Gempa also went to close his eyes, Taufan kept his gaze ahead of him - not really minding as both of them had been working hard to keep everyone in check for the day. He noticed the fishing pole in front of him move once. It didn't move again after that, so he decided that it might have been the wind or something. But as Taufan went to distract himself by looking at whatever Solar and Duri were doing in the distance... it moved again. Taufan sat up a bit. It was Gempa's rod, if he remembered right. Slowly, he got up (as not to disturb Halilintar or Gempa) and walked over to the pole. The actual bait was casted over towards the centre of the river, so he couldn't make out anything in the water. Then, the bobber dipped down again, tugging the line slightly. Then again. A catch? Taufan took the fishing rod in his hands, and started reeling it in. After a few seconds, the slack got tighter and a tug from the other end could be felt. Taufan's eyes widened, but as he pulled the rod back so that he could also tell Gempa that he had caught something, a rod off to his right moved suddenly and slipped off of its makeshift stand. Taufan yelped, taking his hand off of the spinner to grab the other rod. This was Halilintar's rod. He fought against the strength of two fish as he leaned over to Halilintar. He didn't want to disturb them, but they were also so hopeful to catch a fish, too. So, he may have decided to make a decision he probably would regret later as he kicked Halilintar in the side.
"OW!" Halilintar cried out, pulling back and causing Gempa to wake up startled. When his eyes met Taufan's, he was livid. "TAUFAN - WHAT WAS THAT FOR?"
"YOU'VE BOTH GOT FISH ON YOUR LINE, PIKACHU!" Taufan argued back, trying to hold their fishing pole out to them. "SO HELP ME, DAMN IT!"
Halilintar and Gempa's eyes widened as they stood up and took their respective fishing poled off of Taufan, beginning to reel their catches in. Taufan summoned his hoverboard and waited at the water's edge, ready to catch the fish in case they tried to escape last minute like one of Solar's catches had before. Gempa's fish was first to surface, where Taufan quickly took the line and squirmy fish into his hands and 'gently' chucked it onto the grass further behind them. Halilintar's soon followed, but just as he hoists it up into the air and it suspends there for a few seconds as if in a cutscene - the line snaps! Taufan acts quickly, thankfully, and surrounds the fish in its own wind sphere before also chucking it onto the grass near Gempa's.
"Upan, you've got to be more careful," Gempa warns him. "If either of them are one of the fish we're not allowed to catch, they should be alive and well when we release them."
"I helped you catch your first fish today and this is how you thank me?" Taufan feigns offense, sobbing dramatically. Gempa rolls his eyes at the Wind element, before joining Halilintar at taking a look at the fish they caught. Taufan soon followed. "The one on the right is yours, Gem, and the one on the left is Hali's."
Gempa's fish had shiny, glossy, silver-blue scales and fins which made it seem like it was made of diamond, and Halilintar's fish was violet in colour with wavy fins. They flopped around on the grass.
"Hm, not bad. Congrats on catching catchable fish, both of you. Though, you can't eat yours, Halilintar." Solar announced, coming over to inspect the fish after all the commotion.
"So, I still failed?" Halilintar sighed.
"Not necessarily," Solar replied. "The Violentore, which is what your fish is called, is an invasive species. It typically overfeeds on the natural weeds and plant life and preys on the offspring of the naturally occurring aquatic species here, reducing the biodiversity of the river and, in larger numbers, be somewhat the cause of unnatural erosion. While those other species like the Arkine's Chadeanzi and the Raincour that you caught earlier also should not be eaten, that's only because they're endangered. In the Violentore's case, it cannot be eaten because of the toxins in its system."
"Which means?" Halilintar asked, not fully understanding what Solar was trying to get at here.
"This means that you're doing the fish in this river a favour by removing it. Not just the fish - the other aquatic fauna and flora alike - but still. They're usually in groups of about 7-10 at least, so perhaps we could use it to track down those other fish, if you're interested in a little change-of-pace." Solar suggested.
"What would you be doing with them anyway?" Gempa asked. "We can't eat them, after all."
"We could always euthanise the fish appropriately," Solar suggested. "Though I'd like to study them and perhaps do a few tests on them first."
"Why not find the place that they originally came from and send them there?" Taufan asked.
"It'd just increase the population there, too. It isn't right to just move fish from one place to another like that," Solar explained. "I don't know if these fish have simply migrated here and acclimated to the environmental conditions, or if they have been born and existed here since they were eggs for who knows how many generations, as records of their presence here started in 2013. If the latter is the case, then moving them back to their original location may allow them to breed with the other fish and influence their offspring to move to areas like this where living conditions are much easier due to the lack of natural predators."
"Shouldn't there be information on this stuff if it started in 2013?" Taufan frowned in disbelief.
"I thought there would be, but no," Solar shook his head. "You'd think that they'd at least track them, but I guess that was just something that researchers didn't seem to care about."
"You seem like you do, though." Gempa pointed out a bit.
"Not really, but any scientific discovery that I can be a part of is great to add to my name," Solar smiled proudly. "Might become even more popular."
"Try if you will, Solar." Halilintar taunted.
"I digress," Solar looked to the fish, Taufan now cleaning it and placing it in a separate Eski. "As I offered, Halilintar - your help would be greatly appreciated and useful in finding the location of the group this Violentore is a part of."
"Why not?" Halilintar shrugged, taking Solar's side. "Not like I've been able to catch any other fish."
"I'll explain the process in a moment," Solar said. "By the way, Gempa, the fish you caught is a Diafaux. As the name suggests - it looks like it's made of diamond. Though since it obviously isn't then the word faux gets put into place. It's edible - tastes like milkfish but also lacks in as many bones. Granted, milkfish don't really taste like anything to begin with, but that just means you get to be more 'creative' with what you make with it."
"I'll keep that in mind." Gempa nodded slowly.
"So, you've basically just turned our day-off into a secondary mission?" Taufan deadpanned.
"Well, Halilintar agreed," Solar shrugged. "And you can join in as well if you really want, but I'm not going to force you."
◆◈◇◈◆
"Taufan, what are you doing?" Gempa sighed, watching Taufan looking at his phone screen with a mischievous grin.
"I know we already sent them a lot of pictures of today's activities - courtesy of you, of course - but I just wanna send a couple of pics from the one and only Ahmad Sobri!" Taufan snickered.
"...Are you experiencing memory loss from this split?" Gempa asked with concern lacing his tone. When Ori normally did an elemental split, after a long-enough time memory loss was bound to happen. It didn't seem to be the case with this split since Ori was also in the same realm as them, so Gempa tried not to worry too much about it. Sure, they had split like this a few times, but it was only with three of five of them at the same time and not for as long as they planned today to go.
"No, no - I promise that my memory is still as bright as ever," Taufan winked. "I just think sending something with that caption to them would be funny since no one else would get the reference except Fang. Well, him, Blaze and Duri. Uh, Api and Daun at the time. But it's not like I'd send them picture of themselves when they're right here..."
As Gempa allowed Taufan to ramble to himself, he saw Blaze and Ais walking up to them from the same picnic blanket Ais had been laying on all day.
"Whatchu doin'?" Blaze asked, keeping Ais up and steady.
"Hehe, nothing much," Gempa laughed lightly. "I just cut a few fruits as snacks for whoever wants them."
"I'll just..." Ais reached into a small container of cut watermelon pieces, taking a few pieces before handing one to Blaze and keeping the others for his own consumption. "What's everyone else doing?"
"Well, Taufan's planning to take pictures of whatever he wants, I suppose... Duri is still waiting to catch the Zesteammon fish, though I hope that he doesn't get too disappointed if he doesn't end up catching one... And Halilintar and Solar are trying to catch some invasive fish since they're bored. From what I've heard, they've been pretty close to catching all of a large group, but they lost them last second. They're pretty perfectionist and want to do well at just about anything, you know, so it's likely that they won't stop until they catch them. At least, until we have to leave."
"What do you say, Ais? Let's go check out what 'Duo Popular' are up to?" Blaze offered.
"Why not?" Ais shrugged. "See you, Gem."
"Have fun, you two." Gempa smiled, watching them walk away with Blaze's arm around Ais's shoulders. A few minutes later, he felt a tap on his shoulder, only to see Taufan.
"I'm gonna go over to Trio Cool and Blaze, Gem," Taufan informed him. "Will you be alright here?"
"I'll be fine, Upan," Gempa smiled. "I need to start packing up anyways."
"Well, if you need any help, let us know."
"I'll be sure to."
Taufan nodded, and with a hop, skip and a jump he was heading towards the group of elements on the right-side of their set up. Blaze and Ais sat at the top of the riverbank, Ais just sitting there and Blaze resting the tackle box on his lap. Halilintar stood cautiously at the edge of the water, staring intensely at the crystal-like floor with a fishing net in hand. Solar crouched not too far from him, holding his hand in a finger-gun position like he normally did whenever he was...
"Sol, I know that you're a man of 'culture', but what makes you think that aiming at the water is going to do anything to help you guys catch those purple fish?" Taufan muttered, genuinely believing that Solar had lost it.
"Ish, if you must know - I'm simply using my powers to allow us to see below the water easier and identify things more distinctly, so that, when I find the Violentores, Ais can freeze them in place and Halilintar can catch them with the net," Solar explained. "Unless there was really supportive evidence, I'm not idiotic enough to actually shoot the water with my powers."
"Fair enough - but answer this," Taufan hummed, going along with Solar's words for the time being. "Why do you have to aim at the water like you're going to shoot the first thing you see? And wouldn't a bright light like the ones that you create possibly spook them away? Especially in the dark?"
"This is the easiest way for me to control my powers... Aside from that, the brightness shouldn't bother them too much unless any of us actually make contact with the water. If they're explorative enough, they could make our jobs easier by actually approaching the water."
"You said you were gonna use that other fish you caught. What'd you do with it?" At this point, the conversation was becoming more of an interview.
"I put a tracker on the Violentore specimen. And, before you say anything else - it's tied onto a fishing line that Blaze has hold of - right, Blaze?"
"Uhm- Y-Yeah! Mhm! Definitely! Yup." Blaze stammered, fumbling with the fishing reel that was actually just placed beside him the entire time. Solar rolled his eyes.
"Aight, well, have fun, I guess. Good luck." Taufan shrugged. He was about to start walking away when he remembered that he was going around taking photos of everyone. He quickly slipped from one elemental to the next, snapping selfies with them in the background. They stared at him once he did take the photo but didn't really care afterwards.
Blaze's photo was him slightly sticking his tongue out as he fiddled with the tackle box and reel. Ais's was him hunched over with half-lidded eyes as he tried to stay awake enough to do what he was told to. Halilintar's displayed him staring at the back of Taufan's head with the net in hand as if he was ready to throw it at him rather than the fish. Solar's was just him aiming his finger gun at the water. Taufan also gave them, in his opinion, very fitting captions:
[ laze: protector of fish food ]
[ trying his best to stay awake lol ]
[ someone tell him that i'm not a fish ] ; and
[ sol's unique way of 'fishing' - shooting them ] (respectively).
As Taufan made his way over to Duri, he realised that he didn't take a selfie with Gempa yet. He decided to just take a quick snap of him while he was walking past, quickly captioning it with [doing all the heavy lifting - ty gem]. As he came closer to Duri, he could hear some musical sounds which he soon found out was Duri humming. He was nodding to his own beat casually, holding his fishing rod and staring down at the water happily. Duri heard Taufan's footsteps in the grass over the louder flowing of the water.
"Hai Taufan!" He beamed, waving at him.
"Hey, Duri," Taufan greeted back, patting his younger brother on the head. "Still waiting on that catch?"
"Mhm. Solar was helping me with what the best would be for finding a Zesteammon fish was, so I should have a better chance of catching it now."
"Well, don't spend too long on it. We plan on going for quick dip before leaving."
"I know... I promise I won't be stuck here forever."
"Alright then. By the way - quick photo?" Taufan asked, nudging Duri's arm with his elbow. He chuckled lightly, nodding affirmatively. Taufan held his phone with the camera in selfie mode towards himself and Duri. After a quick press of a button, Taufan tanked Duri and went on his way, wishing Duri good luck. Under his photo, Taufan captioned: [wish duri luck!]
◆◈◇◈◆
"GEMPA! TAUFAN! I CAUGHT IT!" Duri had called out. It had only been about fifteen minutes since Taufan had last spoken to Duri, in which he spent that time helping Gempa collect and pack up the rest of their equipment. They were quick to come to Duri's side, container in Gempa's arms, showing equal awe as they saw the medium-large fish at the end of Duri's fishing line. Golden-brown scales, yellow fins, black head and tiny eyes... it checked out alright. Duri had caught a Zesteammon fish.
"Awesome, Duri!" Taufan exclaimed excitedly, giving the Nature elemental a thumbs up.
"Well done, Duri!" Gempa congratulated him too. "Let's put it inside this container here, shall we? Or do you want to release it?"
"It is pretty cute..." Duri frowned, looking closely at the wriggling mass. "But I'm still curious on how it tastes... I think I'll be okay with us eating it."
"Alright then." Gempa nodded, holding the container under the fish. Duri created a leaf blade and was ready to cut the line-
"WAIT! Let's get a photo first!" Taufan remembered. Duri unyielded his blade, choosing to use his free hand to keep the line steady, and Gempa lowered the container and stepped out of the way. Duri smiled proudly, and with Taufan saying "Cheese!" - the photo had been taken. They began their process again, Duri finally cutting the line and the fish falling in with a light thud. Gempa placed the container on the grass and Duri was going to remove the hook when he looked to the side and -
"MY OTHER LINE IS MOVING!" Duri yelped, quickly but carefuly removing the line before creating a vine and beginning to swing over to the other side of the river, where another fishing rod happened to be.
"You had another line?" Taufan called out as Duri swung over.
"Just in case!" Duri replied. As he sorted himself out, Taufan quickly typed the caption [jackpot!!!]. When he returned, Duri had the pole in one hand and the fish in the other.
"It's one of those purple-y fish that Sunflower mentioned earlier." Duri spoke. "Still pretty cool. I'm sure he'll want it."
"Y'know, Duri - you were the first one to catch that Zesteammon fish today." Gempa told him.
"Really? Awesome!"
"You want me to take a pic of this one, too?" Taufan asked.
"Eh, why not?"
Taufan aimed his camera at the fish and Duri. There was some yelling in the background.
"IT GOT AWAY!"
He adjusted the zoom...
"AIS, YOU NEED TO FREEZE IT IN PLACE!"
The brightness...
"Can you guys be quiet over there?" Taufan sighed.
"NOW'S YOUR CHANCE, SOLAR!"
The angle...
"WAIT, HOLD ON-"
...And got it-!
Taufan lowered his phone. There was a glowing red circle in the centre of the fish. It faded. Gone. In its place was a hole. On the ground - another fish. Same deal. Duri and Gempa stared dumbfounded. Taufan turned around. Slowly. Solar. On one knee. Hands frozen in place. Finger gun. Ais. Halilintar. Blaze. Not too far behind. Just as surprised. All just as surprised.
Taufan could only imagine what his own facial expression was.
He looked back to Duri. He just stood there, staring at the now two dead fish in front of him. He sighed quietly. He removed the fish from the hook, putting the pole on the ground and holding the fish in both hands.
"Aw..."
Gempa and Taufan came to Duri's side, looking at him sympathetically. Gempa placed a hand on Duri's shoulder.
"You okay?" He asked.
"Yeah, I'll be fine." Duri pouted.
Taufan took a glance at the other elementals. Halilintar had come up to Solar, who was now standing up. Halilintar's usual disapproving frown was casted down on Solar, who just chuckled awkwardly as light still formed at his fingertip. 'Not helping your case, Sol.' Taufan wanted to say. Ais and Blaze just stood side by side. Soon, Solar paced over to Duri.
"Sorry for firing a laser at your fish, Duri. I never intended to; I swear. But that doesn't mean that it still isn't my fault." Solar apologised sincerely, hand playing with his hair.
"Heh, it's okay," Duri nodded, smiling. "I hope you didn't need these two fish for your studies."
"Ah, we've caught plenty already. It's probably better that these ones are dead than still in the river, though I wish I could have done it more ethically..."
"Hug?" Duri offered, opening his arms out to his twin. Solar hesitated for a moment, before reaching in and leaning into Duri's hug. They wrapped their arms around each other, and just stood there for a moment. Gempa had to prevent himself from saying anything about how adorable they were in the moment.
"Well, what are we gonna do with these now, Sol?" Duri raised an eyebrow.
"The safest option for the environment would mean to cremate them," Solar concluded. "As in burn. Hope you're not too bothered by that."
"If it's for the environment... sure." Duri smiled.
"I'm glad you could sort it out, you two." Gempa smiled. "But that was pretty reckless of you, Solar..." Then Gempa went on a little rant to Solar about how dangerous it was for him to just shoot lasers at things, and that situation could have been more serious if he had missed and potentially shot Duri himself. Solar wasn't going to argue - he was entirely right. Halilintar came back with a paper bag, and he and Duri placed the dead fish into it. When Gempa had finished with Solar, there was just a sort of uncomfortable silence wafting in the air. Taufan wanted to change that.
"Guess what?" Taufan prompted, gathering everyone's attention. "Duri caught a Zesteammon fish literally minutes before he caught that Violentore!"
"Really?!" Blaze exclaimed, clearly surprised. "Lemme see!"
"It's in the container next to Gempa." Taufan directed him, and - soon enough - everyone surrounded the container. The fish was definitely there, flopping around and all, and not just some figment of their imagination.
"Huh, good job, Duri. I'd take part of the credit, but that's not very nice of me." Solar smirked, though it quickly disappeared when he heard Halilintar tsk behind him. Halilintar then came up behind Duri to remove his bucket hat and ruffle his hair. Duri giggled.
"Hm, who woulda thought?" Blaze laughed, elbowing Ais which earned him a bothered hum. "Seems like Solar was right."
"Of course I was right." Solar frowned, offended.
"Eh, who cares?" Blaze shrugged, before running up to Duri, wrapping both arms around him and lifting him up in the air. "Awesome job Duri!"
"Hehe, thank you. Could you, um, put me down now please?" Duri smiled apologetically. Blaze nodded, putting Duri down onto the grass carefully.
"Since you're done - who's up for a swim? We've still got about half an hour." Gempa brought up. There were collective sounds of agreement, and Duri went to put his fishing rods away.
●◉○◉●
The elementals had gone home pretty smoothly - having packed everything up and trying to return the area to as close as what it was before they came as best as they could, with the only issue being carrying all the fish they caught (which was soon sorted out by Gempa's strength and Taufan's mini cyclones). The day's 'scores' were as follows:
Halilintar: 7 Catchable -> 0 Edible || 5 Uncatchable
Taufan: 0 Catchable || 0 Uncatchable (bonus points for helping Halilintar and Gempa though)
Gempa: 1 Catchable -> 1 Edible || 0 Uncatchable
Blaze: 3 Catchable -> 2 Edible || 1 Uncatchable
Ais: 1 Catchable -> 0 Edible || 0 Uncatchable (only because he froze one fish for Solar)
Duri: 2* Catchable -> 2 Edible || 0 Uncatchable
Solar: 4 Catchable -> 2 Edible || 0 Uncatchable || 2 Shot (*courtesy of Solar)
This time they found the path and then followed it to exit of the forest which led to an open road and pathway only a few minutes' walk from the mainly inhabited areas of Pulau Rintis. As they looked around, they really did realise that no one knew of the fishing area they had gone to. At least, based on the signs they saw. Perhaps they would bring the others along, BoBoiBoy almost definitely, but that decision would be left for another day.
When they got back - luckily with the sun still peeking over the horizon and the sky an array of oranges, pinks, purples and blues - BoBoiBoy was found talking to Fang in the living room (a definite surprise to them even when Fang explained that he was told to stay on Earth for the time being) whilst Ochobot was said to have been recharging and Tok Aba was resting. The elementals shared their day with Fang and BoBoiBoy as briefly as they could, eliciting a mix of gasps and laughs all aournd - before ultimately having to return to the watch realm. They offered to give them at the very least one edible fish that they caught, but BoBoiBoy and Fang politely declined and said that it was their catch. Of course, they were going to find a way to give BoBoiBoy a fish nonetheless, but everyone was tired and to bring up something like that now would just make them all grumpy when they went to bed.
The elementals bid the two goodnight and returned to the watch realm, deciding to have quick snacks since it was already late into the night. Solar dealt with the caught fish and dead fish adequately, though Gempa had to remind him not to spend all night conducting tests on the Violentores. The end of a pretty good day, they had decided.
*☆ The End ☆*
[ Fanart below created by @PVACraftGlue_EX (me on Twitter / X) - There are some inaccuracies since I made this art long before writing this fic. Especially in the design of the fish that Duri is holding and the placement of the characters - Halilintar and Solar are supposed to be on the right side of Gempa, Duri and Taufan. ]
