Heavy Tugs and Dropped Eggs (Side story) (WIP)

Yellow leaves blew in the face of Ningel as he took his bi-daily trip from the market. He was in need of eggs, as any chicken raised in the woods would be at the mercy of the wolves, or worse. His old friend loved a good fish, so he may as well take a quick stop at the pond to try his luck. Though it was a bit tedious, there was a comfort to living reclusively, a comfort that urban life never gave him.

Ningel whipped out his polished wooden rod. Then he pulled a fishing pole out of his thick leather backpack. It was almost an impulse of his to fish when he saw water. He muttered an incantation whilst grabbing the tip of the rod, causing a large, juicy shrimp to appear. He flicked the line into the water, the fish being concealed by countless waterlogged leaves painting the pond a pleasant shade of gold.

Ningel felt a heavy tug on the rod that nearly sent him flying into the water. Being a gnome, and a shorter one at that, he had little upper body strength, so the fish often took control of him. Ningel engaged in a rod-to-mouth wrestle with whatever beast had caught his bait, when he heard a loud roar from behind him. Losing his grip, Ningel fell into the water, his rod sinking beneath the leafy ripples.

“Stask! You cheeky bastard!” Ningel shouted at the dragonborn behind him. Stask fell to the ground laughing at the sight of his friend’s fumble, his yellow whiskers wiggling like worms.

“Oh, I got ya good!” Stask laughed as he pulled Ningel out of the water.

“How’d you know I was here, mate?”

“Yer eggs, they were tumbling out the purse!” Stask said as he waggled his scaly finger at the busted open and now empty satchel that Ningel carried on his shoulder. “I was followin’ the trail yah left behind.”

Ningel laughed. "Oh godsdammit!"

"So, uh, you wanna go down to the pub?" The boys did this often in the afternoon.

"Sure, I need to take some edge off anyway."

Stask hoisted Ningel up on his shoulders, and they began to walk. "So didja catch anything?"

Ningel chucked. "Afraid not. In fact, you could say one almost caught me!" Their hearty laughs echoed throughout the forest.