The True Endgame

"I guess helping you gave my Standing a big boost," Fenrir theorizes to Nehalennia.

"Of course it would! You are being a hero, my hero," Nehalennia says.

"Let"s see how much this b.a.s.t.a.r.d rod likes you," he says, handing the rod over to her.

"What causes you to demean it so?"

"It didn"t listen to me at first, and it hooked my ears on purpose. That gem in the bottom of it is one of those partner gems, so the rod is alive and only likes people with positive Standing as best as I could guess."

Nehalennia looks at the rod curiously before taking it into her hands. As soon as her small, gentle hands are wrapped around its handle, the gem excitedly pulsates and shines brighter than it has in either Corwin or Fenrir"s hands!

"Wh-what does it mean if it is shining so brilliantly?" she asks.

Fenrir glares at the rod. "It means this b.a.s.t.a.r.d really likes you, I guess."

The gem pulsates a single time.

"Yeah, told you that this rod is a b.a.s.t.a.r.d. You remember what your Standing was the last time you got it checked by any chance?" he asks her.
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"Umm… I believe that they only put it down as one hundred on my old card, but they told me that it was high enough that it could not be properly measured," Nehalennia explains.

Fenrir blinks a few times. "Seriously?"

"Is – is it that surprising?"

"I just – first time I"ve heard of it being that high, and if they said they couldn"t properly measure it, then I guess it"s actually way higher. Anyways, you ever fish before?"

She shakes her head.

"Alright, then I"ll show you how to do it."

Fenrir goes through the same process of showing her how to fish as he did with Ca.s.siel. Without realizing it, this means that he has his body just as close to Nehalennia"s as he did with Ca.s.siel. However, since he is focusing more on her hands, posture, and the rod, he doesn"t notice the gentle blush on Nehalennia"s cheeks.

Nehalennia casts the rod for the first time!

She doesn"t do it properly. In fact, her attempt at casting the rod might be the single worst attempt he has ever seen in his life. By all means – by all laws of logic and nature, this attempt should be a complete and utter failure.

Instead, the gem shines brightly as the lure flies out over the water and only finally drops down when the rod runs out of line!

"I did it! Did you see that, my hero?" Nehalennia asks, looking up at him with her childlike excitement.

Fenrir looks down at the gem. "Yeah, you… did it. Good job," he says, patting the top of her head which causes her to close her eyes and widely smile.

The gem pulsates a few times. It may not say anything, its pulses may not look any different, but Fenrir gets the feeling that the rod is mocking him.

He doesn"t even know how the gem could affect the line seeing as how the line is technically separate from its "body" that is the rod.

"Now what?" Nehalennia asks.

"Well, I don"t know if you"ll get any bites at this hour, bu—" Fenrir cuts himself off when he sees the rod get tugged. It isn"t just any weak tug, either. It"s a hard tug that bends the rod to the point where it looks like it"s about to snap in half!

Fenrir immediately wraps his arms around her to hold her hands on the rod.

He"s starting to get jealous from how everybody but himself gets their first fish so easily.

"I haven"t seen anything tug the rod this hard before, so it"s going to be a fight. Keep holding on as tightly as you can, alright?" he orders.

"Got it!" she replies, tightening her firm grip on the rod.

Fenrir lifts one of her hands from the rod"s handle and places it on the reel. "Start reeling it in, like this," he says, moving both of their hands to spin the reel. He"s telling her to do it, but it ends up being mostly him doing it as his hand overpowers her own.

Eventually, he focuses so intensely on reeling the catch in that he stops explaining what to do and just does it for her. She is left pressed against him with his hands over her own, moving her however he needs to in order to get their catch.

Nehalennia blushes when she feels herself being pressed back against his crotch, but is relieved that he doesn"t seem to notice.

Though, part of her doesn"t know if she should feel insulted or not that he apparently doesn"t notice at all. Here she is, essentially letting him manhandle her and getting pressed back against his crotch, and all he can think about is the fish!

She shakes her head. This isn"t the time for those sorts of thoughts.

"I see it!" Nehalennia announces, tracking the fish with her eyes. It is long, fat, and has three rows of sharp fins running along its back. Its head is elongated and features several sharp fangs lining its mouth.

"That"s one ugly fish," Fenrir says as an excited smile spreads across his lips. He was already excited, but seeing just how dangerous the fish looks makes him even more so. "You ready? Pull up on three!"

"R-ready!"

"One… two… three!" Fenrir shouts! Both him and Nehalennia pull up on the rod as strongly as they can. The gem rapidly pulsates as the rod"s tip is bent down past the base of the handle. All three of them struggle to bring this fish overboard. "Keep pulling!" Fenrir shouts, obvious strain in his voice.

The fish"s head is lifted up over the side of the ship, letting them sees its ugly and very, very upset face. Fenrir has never seen a fish as expressive as this one. He"s pretty sure that this fish is wishing for the death of his family and everybody he cares about just from the look in its eyes!

"Almost got i—" Fenrir is interrupted by the line snapping, sending the fish flopping back down into the water to swim away with one of his lures!

The sudden loss of a counterweight sends both Fenrir and Nehalennia stumbling backward.

Nehalennia trips which causes her to knock over Fenrir.

Fenrir feels the back of his head hit the ship"s deck. He winces in pain and reaches up to rub the back of his head. "d.a.m.n it, the line wasn"t able to handle that much weight," he groans.

There"s something wet on his face.

Something warm and wet is brushing against his face.

Fenrir turns his head and opens his eyes to look at what it is.

Rock is standing next to him and lapping at his face with her now-semi-fleshy tongue. "Sorry, did the fall wake you up?" he asks her.

She barks, but she does it quietly so as to not disturb the others sleeping. It"s more of a "ruff" than a bark.

Fenrir turns his head to look up.

Nehalennia is lying directly on top of him, her face but inches away from his own with a soft blush on her cheeks. The tips of their noses rub together now that he"s looking up at her.

Fenrir never noticed it before, but now that he"s looking directly into her eyes so closely, he can see that her amber eyes are slitted like that of a snake"s.

The closeness makes him blush as well. Even his ears twitch a bit out of nervousness.

"I – I am, thank you for catching me, my hero. But – umm, do you think you could release me so that I may get up?" Nehalennia asks.

Fenrir looks at where his arms are. One is wrapped tightly around her back, and the other is resting halfway on the base of her tail and halfway on her rear.

She blushes even more when she notices that he realizes it.

Fenrir immediately lets go of her and waits for her to get up before getting up himself.

"Sorry, I didn"t mean to—" Fenrir starts talking.

"It is alright, my hero. I know you simply wished to catch me," Nehalennia rea.s.sures him, straightening out her dress and hair.

Rock walks to her feet, sits down, and looks up at her.

Nehalennia looks down at Rock and blinks. "How – how have I missed such a cute puppy? I swear that I did not see him on here before!" Nehalennia says.

"That"s Rock, and she"s a she. She also blends in with the ship pretty well, and she was sleeping over there," he points near the front of the ship, "when you first came here, so that"s probably how. Oh, and she"s friendly."

Rock ruffs.

Nehalennia crouches down to pet the top of Rock"s head, instantly gaining the rocky pup"s trust and affection. "A wolf, an orc, a rock puppy, an energetic girl engineer, and now a serpent! This is quite the crew you have a.s.sembled, my hero."

"Oh? You"re part of the crew now?" Fenrir teases.

"You did promise to save me, after all! That means you are stuck with me for as long as I am saved."

"Guess you"re stuck with me forever then."

He cringes when he realizes just how rape-y that could sound, but Nehalennia is smiling just as kindly as ever at his words.

At least one of them is seemingly unaffected by cringe.