Spinch and Yuri go fishing.
Characters: Spinch, Yuri, Lune, Daji
Warnings: None
Wordcount: 1,850
Vibe: sneaking out into the woods with your bestie only to be caught
AN:
hi idk where i was going w this i just wanted 2 do smthng for the prompt.
i havent slept so theres probably more typos than usual in this but wateva..
yes lune swears in front of children #girlboss
“What do you keep looking over there for?”
“I wanna make sure they’re gone…”
Spinch ducked back behind the couch.
“Can’t you just ask your parents if we can go out?”
“They’d just say no!”
“I thought they let you go out into the woods…?”
“…They don’t. I just sneak out anyways.”
“Spiiiiiiiinch, are you sure it’s a good idea, then?”
Spinch just huffed.
“I WANTED to show you the spot!”
“Fine, just let me finish sketching this, ok?”
Yuri continued to draw, as Spinch continued to watch for any sign of their parents. Spinch was confident that their fathers were busy doing something or other down in the lab, and while they didn’t know where their mother was, they hadn’t seen her all day.
Yuri finished her sketch, and stored her tablet in her bag before jumping to her feet.
“OK! Let’s go! You lead the way!”
“Mhm! But try and be quiet until we leave the gate, ok?”
“Got it!”
The two made their way downstairs, and Spinch peeked their head briefly to make sure the lobby was empty. After confirming nobody was there, they exited the mansion and quickly shifted to all fours, shedding their human form and running towards the estate’s main gate.
Yuri wanted to call out to Spinch to remind them that she couldn’t keep up on two legs, but remembered Spinch’s request to stay quiet. It took her a minute to catch up to Spinch at the gate, and though she was huffing from the run, Spinch still shushed her.
They slowly pushed the shrine-style wooden gate open, and slipped through when the gap was big enough – which Yuri followed.
“…Can we talk now?” Yuri asked, still trying to catch her breath.
Spinch nodded with a smile, as they grabbed an old fishing rod that was propped against the high estate wall.
“Yea! We can walk there slow if you want.”
“Thanks… what’s with the fishing rod, though?”
“Wellllll, I wanted to keep it a secret, buuuuuuut… it’s my fishing spot!” Spinch said, swinging the rod around. “It’s kinda boring when I’m all alone, so I thought it’d be nice to have my BFF with me!”
“Oh, ok.”
“You don’t seem super excited, what’s up?”
“You know I’m not super outdoorsy…” Yuri said, her eyes drifting to the forest floor.
“I know… but you said you wanted to try getting out more!”
Yuri sighed and nodded.
“I guess I did… I just gotta commit to it, don’t I?”
“That’s the spirit! Let’s go!” Spinch said with their toothy smile.
So the two friends were off, and while Spinch seemed familiar with going through the ferns and fallen branches, Yuri was new to this type of terrain. She’d only been on forest walks rarely with her father, and even then, it was on trails. This was no-man’s land to her, and every single noise sounded menacing. She’d heard stories, after all – of how dangerous Lostlorn was for those unprepared.
But…
Spinch was a good guide. They confidently stepped and hopped past every obstacle, and would point out landmarks that they’d seen time and time again. Yuri noticed their tail was wagging the whole walk.
They eventually made it to a clearing, where Yuri would see and hear both a river and small waterfall.
“Oh wow… is this it?”
“Yea!! Pretty cool, huh?”
Yuri was in a bit of awe. She knew there was a river nearby, thanks to the marvelous bridge, but she’d never been up so close. She looked over the rest of the clearing, and pointed to the distance.
“Look! Spinch! Sawsbuck!”
The sawsbuck that were grazing in the distance lifted their heads at the noise – but upon seeing two human children, returned to grazing.
“They’re pretty neat! I just let them be and they don’t bug me. They hang around here a lot, too.”
Spinch stared at the sawsbuck for a little while longer with Yuri, before running over towards a boulder that made an overhang above the river. Yuri followed, and could see Spinch had presumably set up here previously – there was a worn-out looking bag that Spinch took some bait hooks and berries out of. But what really caught Yuri’s attention was one of the nearby rocks – it was covered in deep, long claw-like slashes.
“Spinch… are you sure you’re the only one who uses this spot?” Yuri asked, pointing to the rock.
Spinch paused for a moment.
“Yea…?”
“Alright…”
Yuri was still a bit uneasy, but tried to brush it off.
She sat down on the boulder’s flat surface, which had been pleasantly warmed by the sun. Spinch sat next to her, and cast their hook.
Yuri tried to get out her tablet to draw alongside Spinch, to perhaps use the landscape as inspiration – but the glare from the sun was too bad. Not that she minded much, though. She was making good banter with her friend.
“What do you do with the fish, anyways?” Yuri asked.
“What do you think I do?” Spinch replied a bit sarcastically, before suddenly flinching upon feeling a tug at the rod.
They got to their feet, and soon the light tug turned into a strong pull, and Yuri could see Spinch struggling to keep grip on the rod.
She reached out her arm to try and help, but Spinch insisted they got it handled.
After one last triumphant tug, Spinch lost grip of the rod and it flew upwards – along with a rather large goldeen flying directly in Yuri’s way. Yuri help her arms up to protect her face, but almost as if they’d done it before, Spinch swiftly grabbed the fish in their jaws… without changing form.
Admittedly, it was a bit odd to see a human child sinking their sharp canines into a freshly caught fish like a wild animal, but Yuri was familiar with these types of antics from her friend. She was more impressed by the size of the thing and how Spinch managed to reel it in, so she gave an applause.
“I wanted to just get a snack for later, but I think this may count as it’s own meal…” Spinch said, wiping their mouth off.
“Maybe Daji-“
Spinch’s words were cut off by the panicked calls of the sawsbuck in the distance. Suddenly, the mood shifted.
“What’s wrong?” Yuri said with concern, as Spinch quickly grabbed her hand.
“We gotta hide! Quick!”
Spinch tugged Yuri down to the underside on the boulder, which, while a good hiding spot, obstructed the view of the clearing.
“Seriously, Spinch, what’s going on?!”
Spinch paused.
“Well… you know that my family isn’t the only group of zoroark in Lostlorn, right?”
“Right…?”
“Well… sometimes the other packs come hunting here. And I know that they’re scary… we just have to wait until they’re gone.”
Yuri wanted to say something, but knew she should probably keep quiet.
The friends kept huddled in fear below the overhang, until…
“Can you hear that?” Yuri whispered.
“Hm?”
“There’s footsteps on the rocks above…”
With that, the two friends froze completely. And in their silence, they could pick up a conversation…
“That was needlessly cruel, by the way.”
“So what! If they graze all day with no spice there won’t be any grass left.”
Yuri felt that one of the voices was a bit familiar – but for Spinch, they were both all too recognizable.
“Hey, was someone here or something? That’s a bigass fish for someone to leave lying around… you think they smelled me and ran with their tail between their legs?”
“This is…”
There was a pause.
“We’re not alone.”
A shiver went down Yuri’s spine as she gripped Spinch’s hand tighter.
“This is a human fishing rod… poachers haven’t gotten this deep, have they?”
“No, it’s…”
“Wait.”
There was a long pause as footsteps could be heard directly overhead of Yuri and Spinch.
“What is that? Is that one of those human devices? It looks a bit like the one your mate carries everywhere.”
“It’s… god fucking damn it.”
Another pause.
“Come out.”
The words chilled Yuri to the bone. They’d been discovered. She was so scared she had no intention of moving, but Spinch just gulped and got to their feet.
“Come on.” they whispered to Yuri, who, still gripping Spinch’s hand, followed them up to the top of the overhang.
There, the familiar voice suddenly was pieced together in Yuri’s head.
It was Spinch’s mother, Lune. And alongside her, was another woman with long hair and zoroark-like ears.
The terror of getting mauled by a wild animal was out, but Yuri’s fear had now been completely replaced by fear of being told off. While she’d only seen Lune a few times in all her years of knowing Spinch, she’d always gotten a very intimidating and powerful energy from her.
“Spinch…! What on earth are you doing out here…? Who’s this…?” the other woman said curiously, pointing to Yuri.
“Daji, I…” Spinch started, but choked up a bit.
“I’m sorry, I just wanted to show Yuri the fishing spot…”
Lune rubbed her temples.
“I can’t be mad at this point. I’m just glad we found you before someone else did.” she said with a sigh, before turning to Daji.
“That was nice, though. Anytime I can clear my mind without blazing my brain counts as something positive in my book.”
Daji nodded.
“I’m glad I could help ease your concerns more.”
While Yuri was still practically frozen, she saw Lune was holding her tablet. When Lune noticed Yuri’s staring, she handed it back.
“Yuri, as far as your parents are concerned, you never went in the forest today, ok?” Lune said with a smile, though said smile gave off an awful energy.
Yuri just nodded and turned to Spinch.
“I’m sorry I got you into trouble.” she whispered.
“Oi,” Lune started.
“I never said anyone was in trouble.”
Spinch’s expression shifted to that of surprise.
“I’m just trying to cover my ass. Ridley would kill me if they knew you were in potential danger.” Lune said with a sigh.
“As for you…”
“Me…?” Spinch said, their voice a slight whimper.
“It’s no big deal. Not anymore. Daji and I have been… talking. And from what she’s told me, I think… you deserve some freedom.” Lune said.
“I’m sorry, Spinch.”
Spinch didn’t have anything to say, though their eyes did light up a bit. They let go of Yuri’s hand and ran up to Lune, giving her a hug.
There was a short heartfelt moment before Lune pulled away.
“Alright, let’s go home. Bring the fish, too.”
Spinch nodded, and went to gather their things.
As the group prepared to hike back to the Harmonia estate, Spinch turned to Daji.
“I didn’t know you knew my mom.”
“There’s a lot of things you don’t know that you’ll learn with time.” she said with a smile.
Hand in hand, Spinch and Yuri returned home from their adventure – and while it was almost unnoticeable, Yuri swore that Spinch had a new light to them.
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