Fish

Fish
by SmartBomb

The sun was setting over the docks of Kamadan leaving a fiery array of light that cast over the skies causing the few, separated clouds to reflect bright orange. One peer reached far out into the glistening water and a man named Grim Mortbane sat on the end. Grim sat with his legs crossed and extended while his arms supported him sitting up. Grim tried to sit here on the docks every evening. He found it relaxing and peaceful; it gave him time to think. He heard the sound of the small, rushing waves crashing against the beach, the flying, squawking birds of the air and the steady hum of the crowds not far behind him. Grim absorbed these sounds as if they were the most blissful things he has ever heard.
After a few minutes the sun could no longer be seen over the horizon and a multitude of stars shown across the sky. Brightly lit lanterns studded the shorelines in order to light up the beach for the night. Grim was now lost in his own thoughts. For the first time in his life, everything seemed to happen perfectly. He had no troubles, no stresses, no worries. Best of all, he had recently accepted an offer for a new job. This job would pay enough to live lavishly for him and his son.
Grim loved his son, Roan. The fact that his son was a Charr made others feel uneasy about knowing him. However, this only strengthened Grim’s relationship with his son. Together, they had formed a trust and understanding for each other that most families never knew. They needed that kind of relationship to make it in such a judgmental world. Fortunately Tyria had been settling down from all its wars and people felt more lighthearted toward the Charr.
The new job Grim was about to take on required a week in the lands of Kryta where he would finish some disclosed business with several independent fishermen. Grim did not know to what extend of work this job required but he was lucky he even randomly ran into the offer. He decided he should leave the docks and head back home for the night.
Grim pushed himself up from the wooden boards of the dock and turned around only to see a mysterious silhouette standing at the other side of the peer. Grim looked at the figure with a puzzled expression on his face. The silhouette appeared to be a lightly armed assassin. Grim was used to seeing foreigners in such a big city. However, the person seemed to surprise him. Nobody else usually came to this spot during the evening. Grim moved on and walked toward the end of the peer. As he came closer to the figure he realized that the assassin was a young woman, probably in her mid-twenties. She had dark brown, shoulder-length hair and bright blue eyes. She was looking out into the ocean thinking to herself. Grim swiftly continued to walk toward the dock’s exit. The woman looked back at him while he walked away. She was sure to take note of his sense of awareness, the way he moved and his attentiveness to the rest of the crowd. She left the dock shortly after he disappeared into the hundreds of people at the heart of Kamadan.

* * * * *

Roan spent most of his time studying and playing with his friends. His friends were all humans but were very accepting of him and they studied Sunspear criteria in hopes that they would someday be able to serve their nation to their full potential. Roan, however, chose to study along his own interests. He studied the ways of arcane magic and necromancing. He learned very quickly and could achieve anything he put his mind towards.
Grim was walking through the door of their home while Roan finished making a special fish stew. The aroma was far too much for Grim but he certainly did enjoy the stew. Roan, however, loved the scent of boiled fish.
“Hello son!” Grim greeted with a smile on his face. He felt content whenever he came home.
“Hello father. I just finished making my special fish stew.” Roan’s voice was far deeper and grizzlier than Grim’s. “Since you’re leaving tomorrow, I figured I could at least make dinner before you go.” Roan was constantly trying to prove that he was a responsible boy. Grim often saw Roan’s willingness to be helpful while keeping up with his studies. Grim knew his son would take good care of the home while he was away for his business trip.
“Thank you, Roan. I must admit that I’m starving.”
“How was your day father?” Roan asked as he had everyday when his father came home. He was genuinely interested in the stories his father had to tell. However, some days Grim had no significant stories. Today was one of those days.
“My day was alright I suppose. I met with plenty of people who I will be leaving with tomorrow.”
“Father, when you go to Kryta…” Roan paused to think, “can you bring me back some fish?”
“Fish?” Grim chuckled. “Don’t we have plenty of that here in Kamadan?”
“Yes Father, but I heard from one of my friends that Kryta has all sorts of different types of fish. Many fish Kryta has aren’t available here.”
Grim thought about this for just a moment with a smile. “Sure, I’ll bring you back some exclusive fish.”
Roan smiled and proceeded to put the stew into bowls. “Father, can we eat outside, under the stars tonight?”
“Sure we can.” Grim replied.
They took their bowls of stew outside and onto the small patio. Grim’s home was very small and built on the side of a short cliff over the ocean. When they stepped outside, everything seemed bigger. The moon and the stars reflected on the waves. Kamadan was visible in the distance across the water. From there, they could see a plethora of lights and buildings. They could hear the faint hum of people talking, trading and bartering. It was quite a beautiful sight and Grim knew he would miss his home and his son for the week that he was gone. Grim knew that one week was not a long time but ever since his life started settling down, everything stated to seem more precious to him.

* * * * *

The next day Grim had left the house before dawn. He headed to the docks where a large boat awaited him and the rest of the crew. It took several hours for the crew’s entire luggage to be put on board and for the boat to be completely ready.
Just as the boat was about to leave the dock, one more crew member came running up the dock. She just barely made it on board and the ship began to drift away further into the ocean. The woman looked familiar once he took a second glance at her as she got on the boat. This vessel was rather large and had many other various business people aboard so finding her would be difficult. Instead, Grim simply sat on a bench next to the main cabin. He reclined himself and let the cool ocean breeze calm him. He shut his eyes but only for a moment. He didn’t want to fall asleep despite the fact that he was tired from getting up too early.
He looked back up at the crowd standing on the main deck. He saw many different people from many different classes. Some were very wealthy and others appeared to live modestly. He soon noticed that woman again. She was scurrying through the crowd as if she was desperately looking for something. After a few moments, she fixed her eyes on Grim. She had dark brown shoulder length hair and blue eyes that peered straight at him. There was no doubt that Grim knew who this was now. She was the assassin standing on the peer last night. She was no longer wearing the same armor she had on then. Instead, she wore simple merchant clothing that made her blend into most of the people rather easily. She walked toward Grim quickly now. He didn’t know what to expect.
“Come with me.” She told Grim. Her voice was quite and soft. She tried to avoid eye contact with him and she periodically looked over her shoulder as if she was afraid someone might be watching.
“Who are you?” Grim asked cautiously.
“Don’t ask questions. Just follow me and try to keep a distance.” She left before Grim could reply.
Grim wasn’t sure what to do but he had several more hours before he would reach Kryta. He figured he might as well see what this is about to at least pass the time. He slowly got up and started to follow the mysterious woman before she disappeared into the crowd.
Grim found it difficult to move among the people. He awkwardly bumped into other businessmen in the middle of their conversations. He squeezed past others who were unaware of his presence. Fortunately, he never lost sight of the woman. They finally got past the crowd and she went into a cabin. Grim entered the same cabin only a few moments later. When he entered through the door he was surprised to see that no one was there. He cautiously moved down a small hall that led further into the boat.
“Hello? Is anybody-” he was cut off and the woman swiftly pulled him into a small side room.
“Don’t be so loud.” The she sternly told him.
“What’s going on? Why are you following me?” Grim now spoke quieter.
“My name is Alysia Meloni. I tried to catch you before you went on board but I thought you were leaving later. I came too late.” She now appeared to be in distress.
“What are you talking about?” Grim continued to question her.
“Do you know who you’re working for?” Alysia wanted to see what Grim knew about the job.
“Well, it’s more of a freelance type of thing.”
“No, no, no. You don’t know the whole truth.” She stopped and looked at him. Grim didn’t know what to say. He just stared at her in silence. All he knew now was that something was wrong. He expected Alysia to explain herself but she never did.
“Forget about it… for now.” She said. “I’m not even supposed to be here. I’ll meet you later.” She walked out of the small room. Grim wasn’t sure how to process what just happened.
“Wait! Hold up!” Grim quickly leaped out of the room and into the hall but Alysia was no where to be seen.

Grim had difficulty sleeping that night. He felt as if something bad was about to happen but once the boat had reached Kryta, everything was moving along smoothly. Maybe that woman was mistaken, maybe she wasn’t thinking right. The next day was a productive day. Grim met with a few clients and made a few deals, everything was happening as expected.
Kryta, unlike Kamadan, was lush with green scenery. There was plenty of rich grass covering entire fields and hills. Trees were so dense in some areas that they appeared to become forests and jungles. Grim grew a fondness for the wildlife and atmosphere of this place. After a hard day’s work he would enjoy taking a stroll just outside of Lion’s Arch or go and visit famous landmarks such as the Temple of Ages. He felt very calm now. He often wondered what exactly that Alysia was talking about but somehow that thought had a tendency to drift away quickly.
Grim entered Lion’s Arch and started to head toward the ship for the night. As he did so, a strange man who appeared to be a merchant came running out of the ship.
“Fish! Fish!” he kept screaming.
Grim had no idea what was wrong with this man but it sparked curiosity. The man went running through the streets desperately trying to get attention. He ran up to business people but they would just shrug him off. He went to people who were simply trying to relax but they would just tell him to leave them alone. Soon enough, the man disappeared into the masses and Grim continued on inside the ship.
The further Grim went through the cabins, the darker it got. He figured he must have came in much later than usual and most of the people were probably asleep. He fumbled through the halls and finally found his assigned cabin.
The cabin was made up of many bunks for the people aboard to spend the night. Grim tried not to disturb the others who were sleeping so he moved very slowly as he searched for an empty bunk. He finally found one that had no luggage around it so he assumed no one was using it. He plopped onto it and closed his eyes. He didn’t realize how tired he was until actually got the chance to get some sleep.
He laid there for about a minute before he realized that there was a strange scent coming from the other side of his bunk. The first thought that came into his mind was the resounding “Fish! Fish!” but Grim quickly laughed that idea off… until he soon realized that there was a fish on his pillow.
He quickly jumped up in surprise and fell backwards onto another bunk. He sat on that bunk for a few seconds until he realized that there was yet another fish on that bunk. Once again, he jumped up in surprise. He stood between the two bunks with a puzzled look on his face. He slowly started to walk backwards to get away from the fish but just as he did so, he slipped and fell. Before he knew it, he was flat on his back. He distinctly heard the sound of a flopping fish out of water at his feet. Soon enough, another fish was flopping at the side of his head. The fish’s fin slapped him in the face. Grim got up quickly in shock while trying to avoid stepping on the fish.
Grim noticed another person in the room get up quickly in response to all of the ruckus. That person sprinted toward the nearest lantern which was on the other side of the room. Once the room was lit, Grim let out a yelp of surprise and jumped onto another bunk. There was fish everywhere! They were on the bunks, on the floor, in the luggage. Grim turned to look toward the lantern where the other person was. Once again, it was Alysia. Grim jumped from bunk to bunk to get to her.
“Oh good! You’re still here.” She told him with a sigh of relief. She was now wearing her light armor as if she was prepared for some sort of battle.
“What happened?” Grim had a difficult time speaking. Too many things were going through his mind and he didn’t know how to process them all.
“I was hoping you would have come back here for the night later than most of the people.” She spoke rather calmly considering the circumstances. “I suppose you’re probably concerned about what happened.”
“Yes! Yes I’m very concerned!” Grim was now shouting with frustration.
“Be quiet. We can’t let-”
“Be quiet? That’s what you told me last time!”
“Calm down!” She snapped back and quickly covered Grim’s mouth with her hand.
Just then, a loud crashing sound echoed throughout the ship followed by a few creaks and snaps coming from the ship’s wooden frame.
“Come with me.” She then took Grim by the hand and pulled him with her out of the cabin door and into a small hallway. She carefully took note of the surroundings. She turned down another hall and leaped into a small storage room.
“Don’t say anything.” She harshly told him.
They heard footsteps. They didn’t sound like normal human footsteps. They sounded like the large, heavy footsteps of a beast. A shadow appeared out of the storage room door. It was hard to see exactly what the shadow was but Grim could see that it was big and moving down the hall. Soon, Grim could see the figure in full view outside of the door. It appeared to be some sort of giant frog. The creature was about as tall as Grim and unlike most frogs, this one stood on his two hind legs. The frog stopped in front of the door and looked as if it was sensing something. It soon decided to move on.
Grim looked at Alysia. She was next to Grim and on her knees hiding behind some luggage. She waited for a few seconds once the frog had passed by and then determined that she should move out once again.
She cautiously peered out the door and moved down the hall. Grim was sure to stay close. As they moved further, Grim noticed puddles of water on the floor and soon there was water leaking from the ceiling. Later, there was fungus growing along the walls. It looked as if they were entering some kind of different world. And soon enough, they did.
Alysia turned a corner and they instantly found themselves in a different hall. This part of the ship was not made from wood and nails like most of the place was. This part had various types of vines and plant roots making up the walls. Large flowers bloomed on the vines and a dense, blue fog prevented them from seeing much further. Alysia stopped and appeared think to herself for a few seconds, as if she was debating with herself whether to continue on into the fog or not. After those few seconds they heard the same beastly footsteps again and they continued through.
Once they entered the fog they wouldn’t have been able to see their own hand in front of themselves. Grim struggled to reach out for Alysia so he wouldn’t get lost. He soon grabbed her shoulder. And held on as she ran fiercely through the mist.
“Hold up!” She yelled out. Grim didn’t process this and within a split second he halted too late. He bumped into Alysia and they both fell to the ground. The ground was soft and covered with moss so they slipped further and further until they started spiraling downloads as if the ground had turned into some kind of slide.
Soon enough, they stopped and slammed into a small, shallow pool of water. They stayed there for a few seconds trying to catch their breath. However, Grim soon realized this wasn’t possible because his face was in the water.
Grim got up quickly and took a deep breath of the fresh air. He wiped the water from his face and opened his eyes to the amazement that was before him. They were clearly no longer aboard the boat. All around them were shallow waters, swampy plants and trees and the fog had cleared up a bit. The aqua-blue aura remained throughout this entire swampland. Once again, fish appeared all around them in the water.
“Poor fish. What a shame.” Alysia said under her breath with a tone of disappointment.
“Poor fish?” Grim exclaimed. “What about us? Where are we?”
“I suppose I should explain myself.” She then paused, thinking of how to tell Grim exactly what was happening. “I tried to tell you but there was never a good time.”
“What are you talking about?” Grim was just as curious as he had been this entire time but now he was glad that he would finally get some answers.
“All your business partners are gone.” She somberly told him. I was hoping I could get an entire group together to fight back but now we only have each other.
“Where are they?” Grim was afraid to ask. Alysia simply looked at him with a slight frown. At that, Grim knew what had happened. Ever since he had entered the ship he had experienced unreal circumstances. He knew that all or at least most of the people onboard where now nothing more than fish. Oddly enough, this didn’t seem so weird to believe after what he’s been through within the last few minutes. Grim looked to one of the fish swimming around in the water, pointed to it and looked to Alysia. He was about to speak but Alysia simply nodded knowing the question he would ask.
“Yep. None of them started out in life as fish.” She added to her expression. “This isn’t the type of business trip you would expect.” she went on, “That frog-thing we saw… he’s one of the most professional fishermen in the business. Only me, and now you, know how he’s become so successful. Most people don’t even know he’s an actual beast! They believe he’s a human. He never actually fishes, he just transforms unlucky people into his finely assorted fish products.”
“Is this where he keeps all of them?” Grim asked.
“Yeah, the ship has a leaky portal. That beast put it there and this is where he stores all of those unlucky souls.”
“Did he get everyone?” Grim was hoping that at least a few people have escaped as witnesses.
“Well, he didn’t get you and he didn’t get me. There was also another guy who saw what happened but he just ran out of the ship screaming.” Of course, Grim knew Alysia was referring to the crazed guy he saw just before he entered the ship. “I’ve been observing you for a while now. You are very attentive and I knew you probably wouldn’t hang around the ship too often. You had a lesser chance of being around when the beast transformed everyone into fish.”
“So what do we do now?” Grim hoped this would be that last question he would have to ask before they could actually do something.
“We have a responsibility now.” Alysia told him. “We must restore these fish to their natural form. It’s not going to be easy. The only way we can do that is by harnessing the beast’s skills. They are all contained within a certain staff he carries around with him.”
“A certain staff? I’ve never heard of skills being contained in a portable object before.”
“It’s very weird, I know. But I almost got to the staff once before. He had it attached to a bag he slung over his shoulder when I saw it. I reached out for it then because I knew that once I had it, he would be powerless. Even if he did notice me I would have been able to defeat him.”
“What if you’re wrong? How do you know the staff is that powerful?” Grim was excited to take on a new adventure but his concerns were very real.
“I’ve seen how the beast uses the staff before. I’ve seen him turn innocent people into weird looking sea creatures. I’ve thought about it for a long time and it only makes sense.” After she told Grim this, he knew it would take nothing more than trust to believe what she was saying. Soon after, Grim had no choice but to believe her.
“I suppose you should see if she was telling the truth!” A harsh, raspy voice came from behind the two.
They both turned around to see none other than the beastly frog himself. He had his staff raised as if he was about to do something drastic. The staff was in Grim’s reach. He quickly looked over to Alysia. She nodded. Grim knew what to do and he set his eyes on the staff. Meanwhile, the only thing that was going through his mind at that moment was “I don’t think I’ll bring Roan any fish after all.”