Alaric got home and did his usual duties.
He fed the fish, and washed up in the river. This time he decided to wash his clothes. He felt rejected by the fishing, so he wanted to do something with even a little meaning in the day.
Alaric needed to confront the reality of failure. The example that was before him the previous day was a small one, but it ignited Alaric's brain into thinking about the future.
Alaric headed to bed and started thinking as he fell asleep.
"I need to have mental stamina. If I eventually end up sacrificing much and gaining nothing, I need to prepare myself for a comeback. Life could bring me through many ways. There are two polar opposites in which I will likely fall between. Extreme success and extreme failure. There is another range however that I need to consider. Extreme sacrifice and extreme safety. Sacrifice can take place in many forms for me that would be able to lessen the impact of the success no matter how large it is. Intangible things like happiness and time are things that are still important to maintain with success." Alaric continued thinking about it.
"Risk calculation is what I need to improve. There is innate stupidity and risk in Esoteric Fishing. But that doesn't mean that I should become a degenerate gambler who brute forces through the fishing. understanding when and where to pivot and recalculate is important. And of course taking risks is important. I'm not even opposed to taking immense risks. I just need to have foresight and the ability to pivot off of failure to get back on the path of success." As Alaric was thinking to himself, he eventually drifted off to sleep. He didn't check if Absalom was next to him as he slept.
Rip Rip Rip
Alaric woke to the sound of a strange noise. He felt like he had heard it before in his life but wasn't exactly sure what it was. Looking around the room, Absalom was sleeping on top of a box in the room. He quickly grabbed his machete and prepared himself.
The noise was coming from Alaric's fishing rod. He went over to it and was met with a familiar sight. On the end of the hook, there was a skeletal fish. Except this time it seemed to be alive.
Alaric remembered seeing this fish back at Cornelious' inn. It was dead when he had left it overnight, so it seemed that since he had found it when it had appeared it was alive. Alaric was currently tired out of his mind, but his urge for this new fish was greater than that. Alaric brought out a jar and filled it with water. He then gently unhooked the skeletal fish from the hook and placed it into the jar. It started swimming around in it.
Alaric was tired yet so he went to sleep.
When Alaric woke up, he checked back in on the fish. it was still swimming around in the jar. Alaric wanted to experiment on it later. Since it was just a skeleton it was clear that it would have some unusual properties.
It was now morning and Alaric got ready for the day. He did his routine and got ready for fishing. He decided to continue on his journey to get the shotgun. Alaric had thought about it and decided to spend some more time looking for the fish.
Alaric got the same supplies that he brought onto the ship from the previous day and went out to the boat. Absalom did follow him, but there seemed to be some apprehension. Alaric really did want to figure out what was wrong in their relationship for now. He really did appreciate the companionship of Absalom and wished to remain with him.
Yet they remained together on the ship. Alaric decided to just start fishing. He lowered the rod in the water. And left it to rest.
Shiiiinnneeeeee
A sudden feeling jolted Alaric backwards. He was still holding the fishing rod, but he was blown back into a laying back position. A beam of yellow light came out of both of his eyes at once.
The light filled the space around him, and Alaric entered a new vision, entranced. He was stuck in place staring at what was happening around him.
The yellow light formed into clouds around him. Two figures appeared in front of him.
On the left was a winged figure. They were tall and lanky, and had four extensively large wings protruding from their back. They were wearing a white robe and were standing with their arms stretched out. They had a dark complexion, and had flowing white hair surrounding their body, going down longer than their legs. There was a glowing aura concealing their face and any other attribute that would identify them.
The other figure was a bulky figure. They had a large, round shape, with large horns protruding from many areas. They were more stocky, standing at a shorter height but weighing more. They were about five feet eight inches tall, but looked to weigh about five hundred pounds. This was due to their intense muscle mass as well as the large horns everywhere on their body. They similarly had their hands stretched out to the side of their body. Their skin tone was bronze, they had strong orange undertones in their skin.
Alaric looked at the two figures. He couldn't tell the reason for this vision. It seemed just to be to show him something. There was nothing fishing related to this vision. It seemed to be something separate.
The figures both faced Alaric and reached out one hand each. It seemed like they wanted Alaric to grab their hands. Alaric was still laying down, taking in what he was seeing around him. But he now seemed to regain some agency in his movement.
Alaric decided to grab their hands. He was pulled up and assumed a standing position. He was back on the ship.