Chapter 588: Smelt Running

Ronnie stretched her hands overhead in a long, satisfying yawn. She wore cut-off jean shorts that emphasized her slim brown legs with a mesh tank top that could easily be seen through. Her dark nipples brushed against the fabric, jiggling slightly with every step she made. When she constructed her Great Library, Ronnie had included a spacious attic apartment with an impressive deck that looked out over the river that ran through her property.

She smiled at Wilo who was buzzing near the banks with her favorite gecko perched on her shoulder; her dragon-fly wings reflected the light from the setting sun. "Something fishy is going on in the river, Ronnie."

Ronnie grinned at the laughing air elemental, who seemed to find her own words funny. Her sharp eyes turned toward the river, immediately catching the flashes of silver that were readily apparent. "Hey! I know what this is!." Without speaking further, she turned abruptly and ran into her apartment.

"No!" Nix fixed Soup with a fake glare as she reached into the bucket where he kept his bounty for the third time in as many minutes.

The jade hand jerked out of the bucket, her aquamarine eyes staring longingly at the assortment of fish that Nix had caught during the day. "Nom, nom, nom," she made chewing motions with her mouth and pointed.

"Going to eat you, Soup!" Nix reeled his line in slowly; he spent the latter half of the day fishing with Jun Li and Semmi after going into hardcore crafting mode for several hours.

Soup's quills lay flat on her head and neck as she walked around Nix's chair and sat next to him.

/Go Fish: Semmi: Can't you give her a fish?

/Go Fish: Jun Li: I tried to give her one of mine, but she wouldn't take it.

/Go Fish: Nix: Of course not, my fish are the best. Besides, there were seven fish in my bucket, and now there are only four...

"Soup! How many of my fish did you eat when I wasn't looking?"

Soup held up a slim finger, her round face curved into a wide smile.

Nix shook his head slightly. "Don't you mean three?"

Soup nodded and held up three fingers.

/Inferno: Ronnie: Nix! Interested in a smelt run?

/Inferno: Nix: No idea what that is.

/Inferno: Semmi: I do! They're small silverfish that migrate up small estuaries from lakes when the temperature starts to change.

/Inferno: Nix: What's the play here?

/Inferno: Ronnie: Not sure how big the run will be but back home, they fill the streams by the hundreds of thousands. My family would scoop them up with nets, and the whole town would have a giant fish fry.

/Inferno: Hyai: These are cooked in hot oil?

/Inferno: Ronnie: Generally dipped in some sort of batter and then deep-fried.

/Inferno: Nix: What kind of gear do we need?

/Inferno: Ronnie: It's most fun with just a regular scoop net. From the looks of the river, the run is just starting.

/Inferno: Mina: We have lots of those at Union City.

Nix stood up and folded his chair before handing Soup his fish bucket. "All yours, Soup."

/Inferno: Nix: I'm initiating a Guild-wide directive. All available members are to report to the Great Library.

By the time Nix arrived back at the Horse Ranch, Rand was already driving up in a horse-drawn wagon. It was a team that Nix had bought especially for transport; they were kept separate from the rest of his herd. "What is the wagon for? We should be able to carry all the pots and utensils in our inventory."

Rand shook her head slightly. "Hyai has four barrels of cooking oil."

"Right... I better help you get those loaded."

The sun had long since set by the time Haven's Great Library came into view. Nix had opted to drive the wagon, something he enjoyed doing. Hyai sat next to him with an arm entwined through his. The river banks already had more than two dozen Inferno members standing around in small groups, nearly triple that number of Aquarions were milling about.

/Inferno: Semmi: See Rico if you want a set of hip-waders! Milat or Zhava are handing out scoop nets. Does anyone want to help Hyai with the cookfires?

/Inferno: Nix: I'll lend a hand. Save me some waders, please.

/Inferno: Rico: I already made you a set.

/Inferno: Ronnie: We'll help with the cookfires too.

Nix was wrestling one of the large oil barrels down from the wagon bed when an extra set of hands lightened the load considerably. He glanced over the top of the barrel to see a familiar face. "Thanks! Glad you could make it."

Sharl's full lips curved in a smile that hid her shock. Nix managed the barrels by himself, something that should have required three people. "Maybe this is a ploy by Ronnie to snatch you up again."

"Hey! Don't give away my plans." Ronnie flashed a bright smile as she dropped an armful of wood onto the ground where Bali was building a cookfire.

Bali finished banking the wood inside the metal frame that Nix had brought and made a gesture toward Hyai. "Fire user needed!"

Hyai smiled at the tiny ranger before igniting the wood with one hand. "Thank you, Bali."

Bali blushed slightly; something in the InnKeepers smile reminded her of Ronnie. "Oh... That's fine; I'll get started on the next one. We're doing six?"

Hyai already had a pot over the fire and was slowly filling it with a large dipper. Within a few minutes, all six fires were going and the oil was heating up. "Thanks for the batter recipe; I had nothing ready for this."

Ronnie leaned over the enormous pot of oil that Hyai had filled; it was already starting to bubble. "I'll keep making it, or we'll run out fast."

Nix turned when he felt a hand on his shoulder; Hyai was looping a checkered apron over her head and turned expectantly toward him. "Tie me?"

Nix tied a quick bow tie over her lower back before wrapping her up in a hug. Strictly speaking, the InnKeeper didn't always appreciate PDA, but she leaned back against him until he released her a few seconds later.

/Inferno: Pon: Where you at? Punk Bastard?

/Inferno: Nix: At the cookfires, some of us show up early to help set things up.

Nix walked toward the riverbank where most of Inferno was spread out over forty or fifty meters. A small table had been set up on the rocky shore, Rico was sitting comfortably while chatting with Vooni. "Got one for me?"

Rico looked up when Nix spoke and pushed a set of black hip-waders across the table. They were basically long water-proof pants that ended in boots and were kept up by shoulder suspenders.

The Inferno leader removed his shoes and stepped into the waders, pulling them over his shoulders before latching them. As with everything his dad made, it was top-notch. "Fits perfect. Thanks."

Fajii waved to him from mid-stream where she stood motionless while watching the silver schools of smelt as they flashed by her. She had a scoop net propped over one shoulder as she made designs on the river's surface with its two-meter handle. "I think we should start soon."

Pon, Semmi, and Wind were spaced a few meters apart from the Aquarion. The old mage was running off anyone who wasn't in Alpha.

/Inferno: Pon: This old man has claimed this section of the river!

Nix waded past them until he was on the far side of Fajii, no one had started yet, but everyone was moving into position.

[Whisper: Nix to Ronnie] You do the honors, Ronnie since it was your idea.

/Inferno: Ronnie: We have dozens of empty barrels just up the bank; once all of those are full, we'll call it! BEGIN!

Nix held up one hand, instantly lighting up the surrounding water with a green light. He could feel the fish moving against his waders; an easy swipe of his net filled it by half. Instead of trying to fill it completely, he waded past his friends and dumped his catch in a nearby barrel.

He grabbed the lone hold-out from his net and gripped it in his hand, and held it up.

/Inferno: Nix: Gotta bite the head off of the first catch!

Nix ducked his head toward his fist and pretended to chomp through the fish's head before tossing it into the barrel.

/Inferno: Jun Li: Eww...

/Inferno: Pon: Fuck if I'm doing that.

/Inferno: Semmi: How'd you get those waders over your skirt, Pon?

/Inferno: Wind: Heh... I'm in!

Wind shrugged and grabbed one out of his net before dumping the rest in the barrel. He bit off the head and spit it onto the river bank. As soon as he did, Semmi followed suit along with Jun Li and most of the surrounding members. Pon's wrinkled face looked at Nix with disgust as the pressure climbed past his tolerance point.

"Damn, Punk Bastard!" The old man bit off the head of one of his smelt and then emptied his net.

Fajii smiled as she walked past Alpha, her teeth flashing at her close friends. She emptied her net without commenting and started back toward her place in the river.

/Inferno: Pon: Not going to follow the leader, Fajii?

/Inferno: Fajii: Sure, I'll follow him...

Nix high-fived her, not even bothering to hide the wide grin on his face.

/Inferno: Semmi: Shit... You didn't bite the head off of yours.

/Inferno: Nix: Of course not. That would be gross.

/Inferno: Bali: Damn it! I've got fish scales in my teeth!

Nix laughed at his friends, the humor spreading as the Inferno leader became the high-priority target.

/Inferno: Jun Li: Get him! It's a smelt pelt!

Instead of fleeing, Nix used his friends as cover as their area was suddenly crowded with people seeking revenge. Smelt filled the air as the Inferno Leader quickly rallied Alpha into a rebuttal since they were getting hit as much as he was.

Despite several minutes of fish wars, filling all of the barrels only took a few hours. All of Inferno pitched in as they removed head and guts from each smelt and tossed the end product into large strainers. The strainers were then dipped in seasoned batter and plunged directly into the boiling oil.

Long tables were set up and lined with large ovular platters. The last table was filled with dark bottles stamped with Junie's Vineyard.

/Inferno: Nix: You donated the wine, Junie?

/Inferno: Jun Li: Yes. Most of this year's harvest is being aged in barrels, but I bottled quite a bit for consumption.

Near the cookfires was a large flat rock, where Alpha finally settled with a few plates of battered fish and several bottles of Wine. Nix found himself seated between Fajii and Hyai. He sampled a bite, closing his eyes while he chewed slowly. "My compliments to the Chef!"

"Ronnie told me how to prepare it; I wouldn't have thought to leave the bones in." Hyai leaned against him while stifling a yawn. "I didn't realize how late we would be up."

/Alpha: Fajii: Let's finish up and get her home.

/Alpha: Nix: Agreed.