Fishing Lessons

Cade stood in the middle of a creek running through the heart of the Big Aspens. By his side was a little piebald pup. The water was only deep enough to cover Cade’s legs up to his dewclaws, but the puppy was in nearly up to her chubby belly. The little pup’s name was Antimony. Most called her Kohl. And today was her first day ever of salmon fishing.

It was late summer, the time when the aspen leaves begin to show a tinge of yellow and the red-backed sockeyes made their run upriver from the sea to spawn in high mountain lakes. It was the sockeyes that the two tokotas had their hopes set on, and Cade has done his best to coach his little puppy protégé into success. 

It was late into the afternoon, and the pup had already let five fish slip from her grasp. She would have made more attempts, but she’d scared off dozens of others before she even had the chance, bouncing around as puppies do and scaring the fish away.

It was hard for such a wiggly little ball of energy to hold still. Kohl was doing her best to stay focused and keep her body from moving, but her hind end still wiggled slightly as her tail waggled with anticipation. Cade growled softly and the puppy stopped moving. She flattened her ears and licked her lips submissively, wanting to show her teacher how sorry she was.

Though he corrected her mistakes, Cade couldn’t blame the little one for making them. He recalled his own time as a pup, learning to fish under the watchful eye of Sweet Feet. She too had growled at him when he could not hold himself still. It had been the hardest thing Cade had ever tried in his young life, but it was all worth it when he had caught his first salmon.

Speaking of salmon, another group came swimming up the stream, their olive tails pumping in slow graceful movements, propelling their bright red bodies through the murky emerald waters. Cade nodded to Kohl who snorted softly. The pup trembled all over with excitement, but she didn’t move, instead keeping her eyes firmly fixing on the salmon.

Closer and closer the fish came until two of them, one small female and one large male, headed in the direction of the two waiting tokotas. Cade and Kohl did not make their move until the fish were practically beneath them. Then they pounced.

There was much splashing as water flew everywhere. White fangs flashed against green water, tearing at fins and piercing flaked flesh. Cade, who’d set his sites on the hook-jawed male sockeye, skewered the fish on one of his canines and dragged the squirming creature from the water. It was one of his many successes that day.

Cade was almost afraid to look over at Kohl. He couldn’t bear to see her disappointment if she’d once again let the salmon get away. This time, though, when he looked down, the little piebald pup had something in her mouth. A female salmon.

The fish flopped about, making it hard for Kohl to stay on her feet. She stumbled a few times, falling into the creek, but she kept a hold on the wriggling sockeye until it finally stopped moving.

Looking down at her, Cade beamed with pride. He remembered how proud he had felt when catching his first salmon. Now, looking on at Kohl’s success he understood how proud Sweet Feet must have felt those many years ago. He was so proud of her, his heart was fit to burst. There was a pride in one’s own success, but at that moment Cade was certain that the pride in the success of one’s pupil was equal to, if not greater than, achieving one’s own success.    

________________________________________________


Eagle Rite of Dominance Prompt #8
Knowledge grows even more powerful when shared often. Depict your tokota teaching the next generation important life skills, so that they might use their learning to better themselves.

Second of three RoDs for HayleyWolf’s Cade, with my Antimony making an appearance.

=Antimony 16905=
Fullbody Colored & Shaded +3HP
Background +2HP
Non-Commissioned +2HP
600 Word Count +3HP
TOTAL: 10 HP