Archive of Our Own ^beta

"Come on, you can do it, Zale!!"

"Ye can make it, awwk!"

"Use your paws, Zale, pull the reel!!"

The solar warrior grunted as he wrestled with fishing out the struggling Grass Haddock. This was a big one, now! He steeled his grip on the rod, watched for the wake of the water as he reeled in, then pulled back towards himself, trying not to break the line. They only had so much, and he didn't want to end up fixing it all himself - or depriving his friends of dinner because they took too long to fish!

With a grunt, the young man heaved the rod upward, and there! The fish flopped about on the deck near the lake, before Zale quickly took his blade to deliver a killing blow - swift and precise - before throwing it on a pile with the other ones, several Lunar Trout and other Grass Haddocks.

The smell was deplorable, he agreed.. but Garl would fix them up into a meal in no time!

Hungrily, the two newest team members - Gingertine, a cat who was one of the animal folk, and Falgos, some kind of metal-looking bird fellow - eyed the pile of fish, drawing near to it. It wasn't until Garl had come close, waving around a saucepan that had Gingertine scurrying off and Falgos flapping his wings in shock.

"Hey! These are for everyone!" Garl made a 'hmph' sound as he kneeled by the fish, unpacking his cooking supplies. "Zale, Seraï, a hand?"

"I can lend a paw!" Gingertine lifted her little paw, moving closer. Before Garl could react, she nabbed one of the trout with hooked claws, laughing as she tossed it to Falgos. The bird man sliced it clean in half, offering the head half to Gingertine and wolfing down the tail himself.

"Awwk! It be good, haha!"

"HEY!" Garl couldn't help but laugh, though if they kept it up, there would be nothing left! "Haha! You gotta wait 'till it's ready!"

"We're hungry, mrrow!" Gingertine huffed. She stood up on her hind legs, just about the size of a regular cat, her ginger fur blowing in the wind lightly. Falgos cawed a little in agreement, crossing his wings. "Aye! We been fightin' lots, caww!"

"I know, I know!" Garl sighed as he sliced the head off one fish. He held it in one hand, then looked up at the waiting beastfolk, smiling. "Here, maybe some appetizers?" Grinning, Garl tossed it to Falgos, who snapped up the fish head and licked his beak. "Haha! Good catch!"

"Hey!" Gingertine meowed, lashing her tail annoyedly and leaning on Falgos's leg. "Garl, you have to treat us all equally."

"Well, as a fellow blade user-" Seraï chopped the tail off her fish, slicing cleanly and tossing it to Gingertine. "-You can have mine."

Garl smiled as Gingertine leapt up to catch it, cheering as she chomped down on a mouthful of meat. "All right, enough! No spoiling your appetites, now." The cook worked on slicing some of the trout down the middle and removing the organs, while Seraï and Zale filleted the Grass Haddocks. He was already thinking on his recipes.. salt-grilled would be good for these ones, that he was roasting whole. Perhaps a meunière with the Haddocks..

He did buy a tartar sauce from Brisk the other day, which would serve the dish well..

..Garl grinned, and started his preparations on the meal.

"..And we just put it on the stake?"

Seraï winced watching Zale skewer the fish like he was stabbing a Fleshmancer minion. The young man frowned as it came out uneven, trying to readjust it to perfection.

"It's spoiled, Zale." Gingertine purred. "You have to hand it to us now." She padded closer to Zale and the mangled fish, reaching her paws out at her prize.. yowling as Garl whipped a wooden spoon at her, hitting the ground and sending her running off. Zale laughed as she went, her tail up like a bottle brush.

"It's all good!" Garl guided the blade dancer's hands, adjusting the fish on the skewer before he took it. It had been evening when they'd caught the fish, and now the sky was growing darker. Garl put the fish onto the roaring fire when he finished salting it, for a simpler meal. Salt and pepper and butter was good, anyways!

As for the other fish, Garl was working on filleting them as best as he could. Ultimately, Seraï was the best at it, making sure there was as little meat on the bone as possible before she handed them to Garl. The warrior cook took them gratefully, patting the pale, infirm meat with flour and seasoning the cuts with salt as Falgos watched, curious.

"Ye know it's good raw or boiled, awwk!" The bird man squawked with a tilt of his head. "New recipe?"

"Yeah! It's called meunière-" Garl motioned to the fish. "It's a recipe where you fry them in butter and salt, after flouring them- and you season with lemon and coriander, it's got this light richness-" The young man rambled on he continued preparing the fish, grinning as he presented the strips to Falgos. "And now we fry- HEY!"

The warrior cook yelped as Falgos's winged arm shot out, talons gripping a cut of fish and smoothly yanking it from Garl's hand. The fish was shortly dropped into the bird man's beak, right down his gullet. "Good, awwk awk! Seasoning's perfect!" Garl huffed, dejected, just adding a slab of butter to his pan and then dropping the remaining pieces in it to fry.

This is going to be harder than I thought...!

"Ah-ah-ah! Not done yet!"

Garl held a hand out to the approaching Gingertine, eagerly eyeing the salt-grilled trout that were roasting in Zale's flames. Somehow, Zale's fire imbued the food with a richer taste, and made it all the more rejuvenating.. more so than regular fire. The scent of frying fish filled the air, and it was clear even their human companions were growing more antsy.

"Is it gonna be done soon? M'staaaaarving!!" Zale whined, rolling on the grass.

"It smells mighty good.." Yolande said, fiddling with her revolver.

"We'll eat well tonight, or my name is not Keenathan!"

"Yer right about that, pals, hahaha!"

Sighing, Garl could only guard the meal further and make sure that nothing else got in the way of it, and-

"Garl?" Valere's voice was gentle as she helped flipped the fish, seeing the browned cuts. "I think these are nearly done."

"Looks like these're done too," Keenathan lifted his eyepatches to check the salt grill.

Garl smiled, thankful and excited as he always was to share a meal with his friends, and his companions.

"Dinner time!"

"Awwk?"

"Careful 'bout the stick-" Gingertine helped Falgos, who was eyeing the fish awkwardly on its stake. She pulled it off and tossed it into the air, where the bird caught it in his beak, crunching down happily with a squawk. He licked his beak, flaring his feathers out in delight.

"It's delicious, awwk awwk!"

Gingertine sat on his shoulder as he took another, and she blew on her own before biting into it, growling as her tongue met the simple, addicting flavor. "Mmmrowrr!"

"I think they like it," Seraï chuckled loosely as she sat next to Garl and Teaks. Zale was eyeing the meunière, and gladly allowed himself to be served a cut of fish, topped with some lemon and the tartar sauce Garl had bought from Brisk. He cut a piece for Valere first and fed her the mouthful, grinning as she closed her eyes and savored it. Rich, buttery, crunchy where it had seared.. the light tang of the lemon, the umami flavor.. the creamy, refreshing, pickle flavor of the tartar sauce. "Zale," she said, mouth still full, "sho good..."

"Yeah?" Zale lifted a piece to his own mouth and bit in, groaning a happy "mmm!" and grinning. "M'h n'luv wih' thss rshipe!"

"Zale! Not with your mouth full!" Teaks squeaked, covering her eyes, and that made everyone laugh. "No one wants to see the inside of your cavernous mouth!!"

"Wonder what kind of fish we could catch in there," Seraï rolled her own eyes lightheartedly.

"Not the kind we like, bawwk!" Falgos chirped a laugh as he high-fived Gingertine. For their rocky start as enemies, they'd grown closer steadily as they'd helped with the party's various quests.. stuck by them in their times of trouble, like the whole situation with the Dweller of Strife and Mirth.. and now, they were friends, through and through. A feline bounty hunter and a lost birdman. Who would have thought, Garl mused internally as he served a plate and offered it to Seraï.

"Later," she said politely. "I had some milk, I have to wait before having something with lemon and all."

"..No problem," Garl said. She was always shy about eating in front of them, poor thing. He left the plate to cool on a nearby rock, turning back to banter lightheartedly with the pirates and his friends.. seeing Seraï take the plate out the corner of his eye and sneak off brought him a wave of satisfaction. Victory!

This is pretty perfect, isn't it? Garl laughed at one of Zale's jokes, and the air grew warm and mirthful with chatter. No monsters.. for now, they could forget their woes, the strife ahead of them. Dread and misery had no place here.

This really is the life...!