FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

The sun shone brightly as I drove my Jeep along unfamiliar winding roads; the top and doors were off so that Clara, my Snow Leopard wife, and I could really enjoy the trip to the coast. The sea salt smell filled my nose as I reminisced about my time in the military, going to places like Wake Island and Diego Garcia. Clara sat happily, one of her paws out of the side of the jeep like a wing; moving it up and down to catch the wind. I couldn't help but smile at my beautiful wife as she hummed happily to the radio, wearing one of my button up shirts that was far too big and shorts over a one piece swimsuit.

"Enjoying the breeze babe?" I said calmly, double checking my phone for a moment to be sure I was following the GPS directions. In response, She gave a large toothy grin as she pointed out the window toward the ocean, a sight she had never seen before.

"I LOVE it! How did Jas and Chick get a big boat for the weekend? especially one in the gulf?!" she said happily, her long fluffy tail waggling excitedly while she grinned, showing all of her teeth. I had noticed a long time ago that Sneps really enjoyed showing off their teeth when they smiled. When Clara wasn't too busy munching on her own tail she would be smiling all the time.

"I dunno what they did, but they said we have the boat for as long as we need" I replied, pulling my jeep into a parking lot near the water; the sound of waves crashing and seagulls cawing filled my head as I got out of the jeep and looked around. After a moment of searching I found Jasmine the white tiger hybrid waving from a far off dock, a smile on her muzzle.

"Over there Clara, why don't you head over and I'll grab our stuff?" I stated calmly, pointing to the now jumping and waving Jasmine.

"Oh yea!, lemme grab this though" Clara cried, grabbing her phone and running over to Jasmine. It brought a small smile to my face to see them hug happily and begin chatting as I grabbed some things out of the back of the jeep. I knew I would probably need to make more than one trip but that was life.

"Need some help carrying stuff?" I heard a familiar gruff voice behind me; Almost making me jump but I had long gotten used to this.

"Still sneaking up on me eh?" I asked as I pulled a cooler out of the back of the Jeep to swing around and look at Chick, Who had an almost innocent grin on his scarred face.

"Habit, you know how it is" he responded simply as he pulled a cooler out of the back of the jeep and opened it, checking the inside. "How's the gun training going? Clara like it?"

"yea, she's really taken to it, she LOVES the gun Olga gave her" I answered, handing Chick a large bag full of bait which he stuffs into his cooler.

"And you haven't?" Chick asked, raising an eyebrow above a scarred eye. Chick only recently healed enough so that he no longer needed his eyepatch, the damage to his eye finally now only leaving an angry scar that ran down his face.

"You know my old training, I'm used to most firearms but Clara's family is from Hong kong and before that mainland China, She's been a lil sheltered when it comes to firearms" I responded. "I tried to get her parents to come but only Momo was interested and that was just because you might have been there"

"Right, right, how's my god daughter?" Chick said placidly, ignoring the jab about Momo as he grabbed a few more bags of bait out of the back of the jeep, setting them on the cooler he was going to carry.

"She's a little bundle of energy, I thought I would get rest when she was past the diaper phase, but nope, just a different kind of tired" I admitted, shutting and locking the Jeep before following Chick to the docks towards whichever boat he managed to get for us.

"This way, The professor owed Jasmine a favor I guess, so he is letting us use his boat" Chick said casually, leading me along the docks as he easily carried his burden. I followed him, just nodding as I carried a cooler full of other types of food stuffs, while Chicks cooler was full of different kinds of bait that I didn't want mixed with the food.

"Who is the Professor?" I asked as I hefted a heavy cooler along the wooden docks, looking around at the various boats.

"I am the professor" I heard a voice calling out from above me. I had enough time to look up to see a man wearing khaki pants and a matching shirt, looking like a slight knock-off Indiana Jones, minus the whip and hat but all of the cocky attitude, sliding down a rope to the docks.

"I got this boat originally to find lost relics in the Mediterranean sea, but had to start using it to appease Jani's unstoppable love for fishing; after she almost ate a two hundred year old koi in... well nevermind, you get the picture." He sighed as he landed on the dock with practiced grace.

"Professor Anon at your service, to whom do I owe the pleasure?" he asked as he pulled a leather glove from his hand and extended it to me. I set down my burden and shook his hand earnestly.

"Everyone calls me Mil, thanks for letting us use your boat for the day"

"Think nothing of it, I owed Jasmine for her help in getting my wife, Jani, into the country" He said with a sincere smile, motioning to a small beach near the docks.

The beach itself was insignificant except for a short leopard hybrid anthro wearing what looked like a ragged bikini and holding a spear made from some plexiglass farming tool for a shaft and a kitchen knife for a head. "Jani" was totally ignoring everything around her as she stood posed, spear raised, staring at the water, her long red hair tied up neatly to not get in her eyes. For a moment more I watched her, along with Chick and the Professor. In an instant, she stabbed the "Spear" down into the water then pulled out a 2 foot long fish that was impaled on her improvised weapon.

"Prof! Jani has caught lunch! Jani wants your modern spices!" She called, holding the impaled fish up and waving it at the professor. I looked back at the professor, who looked both mortified and impressed.

"I swear she can catch anything, anywhere" he mumbled mostly to himself, then explained to Me and Chick.

"I found her living in the Amazon with her tribe, they shunned her because she is a hybrid; her mother was the village shaman and her father was a missionary, so I brought her home with me" He said with a shrug. I looked over to the small beach where Jani was, only now it had Clara and Jasmine looking at the fish Jani caught. "Jasmine helped smooth over customs"

"Heh. That's just like her, anything odd about this boat?" Chick asked, looking at the 50 foot boat we are taking. It looks like every boat someone would see on the discovery channel during shark week, with the back only a foot above the water.

"Nope, just don't crash her ok?"

"Of Course, we both have boating experience plus we just wanna fish," Chick responded, still eyeing Jani and her catch.

"We'll bring her home safe and sound" I said with assurance, noticing both Jasmine and Clara staring at the fish Jani had caught with barely hidden jealousy. That would become a problem if those two didn't catch anything.

"Alright then, she's ready to go as long as you are, we'll see you when you get back" The professor said with a final smile.

"GIRLS! C'mon we're setting off!" Chick shouted, waving to Clara and Jasmine as I double checked everything. Clara and Jasmine did a sort of unhurried jog to get to the boat as Chick started its engines.

Satisfied with the preparations, I headed to the helm of our borrowed expedition ship where I met with Jasmine, Clara and Chick. Chick had on a tricorn hat as he piloted the boat gently out of the docks. Jasmine had on a smaller matching hat as she smiled happily.

Clara sidled up next to me, getting an arm wrapped around her waist as I stared out the windows at the ocean. I pulled her closer to me, earning a soft squeak in surprise. Chick had Jasmine in a similar position, her leaning on him, whispering something I wasn't supposed to hear while her paw pads traced a few of the scars on his arms.

I looked away from Chick and Jas, focusing on Clara; staring into her robin egg blue eyes. How did a broken military veteran ever get so lucky to have a wife like this? I felt her heavy purrs as I hugged her close and kissed her forehead, only for her to shoo my kiss away.

"No forehead kisses cuz I'm short! Gimme normal kisses lanky human!" She grumbled, shooing my kiss away with her free paw.

"I'm not lanky, I'm proportional" I answered before I give her a proper kiss.

"You're a Bit lanky Mil" Jasmine snarked, uttering betrayal.

I pulled away from the kiss and frowned at her. "I welcome you to my house and you betray me" I say, mimicking the godfather badly. "At least Chick knows the truth" I looked to him only to have him hide a smirk and look away, his tricorn hat slipping off his head.

"Utterly betrayed! I must regain my honor and commit sudoku" I deadpanned, pulling a leatherman from my belt and pretending to stab it into my stomach.

Clara just rolled her eyes and adjusted her glasses; taking the would-be knife from me and tucking it back into its belt pouch.

"SO dramatic, I love the lanky '' She said quietly "Plus I do enjoy the LONG parts of you" She said with a grin while wiggling her eyebrows towards Jasmine, who fake gagged.

"Gross!" Jasmine fake coughed, snuggling closer to Chick.

"Eh, speaking of gross, did you bring any special bait?" I asked Chick as he steered the seafaring vessel away from the docks with ease into the less crowded open water.

"For crabs? You bet I did, cheapest shit around." he answered with a grin, pointing to one of the coolers he packed.

"Awesome, I brought some too, after all the best bait for crabs is universal, and having more crab is better than less" I responded as I motioned to my own packed cooler.

"Hotdogs and cheez whiz"

"Chicken necks"

We both said at the same time, causing us to pause and look at each other confused.

"I've always used hot dogs and cheez whiz" He said, looking slightly concerned.

"I grew up on the Chesapeake bay using chicken necks for bait" I said back, after a moment we both shrug and laugh as he steered the boat to calmer water; its engine humming merrily as I started preparing the fishing rods and a few crab lines for the girls. Jasmine and Clara moved off to the side of the boat together for a second, their eyes flashing dangerously as they nodded to each other. I chose to ignore that and simply set out buckets of bait.

"AWWWWRIGHT! We got a bucket of chicken necks for crabs, a platter of hotdogs and cheez whiz also for crabs and some scrap clam bits for sturgeons! Get yer lines ready before we stop!" I called out, setting the bait near the edge of the boat as it glided over the water. Clara hesitantly grabbed a chicken neck, pulling it out of the plastic bag and staring at the piece between her claws.

"Love? how do I?- " She asked, motioning to the chunk of meat.

"Just tie a knot around it and chuck it into the water, then tie it off and chuck another into the drink" I answered simply as I prepared a neck, performing an easy knot then tossing it to her. Clara bobbled the neck in her paws, making a "gross" face before wrapping her tail around her and into her mouth. After tossing her first line into the water, she instantly grabbed another neck and attached it to a line while glaring at Jasmine, who did the same with a hotdog covered in cheez whiz. I watched for a moment then looked back up to Chick, motioning with my head to the new rivalry.

"Aye uh should we be concerned?" I asked pensively.

"Nah it'll be fine, they are big girls and you know how Cats are; Jasmine is still in a rivalry with your cat" He answered nonchalantly, casting out with his fishing rod and settling back into a deck chair.

"Heh true enough" I said in response as I cast out my own fishing line a bit inexpertly, being out of practice. Before I settled into my own chair I passed Chick a water bottle and an Alamo beer while fishing out my own Anchor steam beer and water. We settled in together, knowing fishing is a waiting game of patience.

Tame Impala played gently in the background mixed with the gentle lapping of waves as the salt smell of the ocean filled my nose. Seagulls cawed and carefully flew around the boat looking for scraps as Jasmine and Clara excitedly tossed lines of their preferred bait. I watched Clara as Jasmine pulled up a small crab first and internally cringed; that was going in her book of grudges.

"You know Man...This reminds me a bit of...What do I call it? The place before? My old world?" Chick said quietly as I returned my attention to the line in front of me. I thought for a moment before responding, Chick had never spoken about his time before this world to most of us. I mean, I knew he was from that other world and he talked to Jas about it but that's a trust between a man and his wife.

"How so" I responded, sounding slightly awkward to myself being unsure how to address the topic, giving him the side eye to judge his reaction. He continued looking straight ahead, eyes unfocused in a look I had seen a million times. He looked ahead over the vast ocean with a thousand yard stare, looking at something only he could see.

"The last time I met my Father was on a boat like this" Chick responded, eyes still looking far away. I stayed quiet, looking ahead once again and taking a sip from my beer, Chick did the same and took a long pull from his beer before continuing.

"Everyone called him Hawk, He was the leader of a biker gang; and while he tried to shelter me from that life, it was hard to do cuz he was a part of it" He continued, chugging the rest of his beer. "It's how I got introduced to pills" he stated bluntly.

"Yea?" I grunted in acknowledgement as I fiddled with my line, tugging it a few times.

"Yea, towards the end before I left I got to see him as-"

"AHHH CHICKY CHICKY HELP!"

"MMMPF!"

A Scream and a muffled grunt of surprise broke the atmosphere around us, making Chick and I instantly jump to our feet and rush to the sounds of panic. We almost slid off the edge of the boat due to the deck being slick with water as we came to a stop where Jasmine and Clara were crab fishing. There are two large buckets with a few crabs in it, a few smaller crabs on the deck and what looked like an angry hopping and snapping football.

"Chicky save me!" Jasmine cried as she rushed behind Chick.

"Mppf!" Clara called out with her tail still in her mouth, huddling behind me.

"What is that?" Chick asked as I stepped forwards and onto the deck where the girls were fishing. I stared for a long moment at the bouncing snapping thing and give a soft chuckle in amusement upon realizing what it was. As it landed, I stepped on it with my boot, pinning it to the deck.

"Eh, just what I thought; predatory clam" I remarked calmly, "too bad they aren't good eatin'"

"A Predatory what?" Chick asked incredulously, Jasmine peeked out from behind him, her green eyes focused on the now immobile clam. I picked it up from behind to reveal an oblong oval shaped clam, about the size of a nerf football, snapping at me like a giant aquatic Venus flytrap. I shook it hard a few times and it stopped snapping.

"Clam, Didn't you have those in your previous world?" I responded as I tossed it to him, he bobbled it a bit before catching it then holding it behind its bivalve.

"No, we didn't" he remarked, eyeing the now hissing clam "Just another reason not to swim in the Ocean"

"They Are tail snappers!" Clara whimpered from behind me, her tail no longer in her mouth but held like it was a great treasure to be kept from prying hands; Jasmine nodded frantically behind Chick.

"Well, it seems bad to just let it go, is it any good for bait?" Chick asked, almost as if it understood his words, the clam started snapping again, trying to lunge towards Chicks face, to which he flinched back reflexively.

"Nah, you kill it here and it'll reproduce like a jellyfish, best to just chuck it."

"Aight, lets see how it likes this"

Chick shook the clam a few times like one would a soda, then took a wide stance with his shoulders set. In a clean fluid motion he brought the clam up and threw the thing like he was a NFL Quarterback. As the clam flew I heard a high pitch "EEEEEEEEE" until it hit the water with a hard slap.

"Nice" I remark with a nod.

"Thank you Chicky" Jasmine said, sliding to his front for a hug and a kiss.

"Next time stomp on it harder love" Clara murmured to me after giving me a small kiss "It almost got my tail"

She slid away from me with a grin, pointing to what I assume was "her bucket", which had a few more crabs in it. Jasmine gave a small half hearted sneer.

"I caught the clam though"

I just rolled my eyes and headed back to my and Chick's fishing rods, left to themselves during the commotion. Luckily, no fish had decided to grab a free meal while we were distracted. We both settled back down, holding our respective rod and line while grabbing another beer.

"I swear this world is still surprising me, fuckin clams that swim and are predators" Chick mumbled, carefully adjusting his line and pulling the rod slightly to check it. I shrugged, still not really getting his world. To think of a place of only humans and no anthros seemed...lonely.

"You're sure only humans lived in your old world?" I asked for maybe the umpteenth time, looking over at him as I took a pull from my beer.

"Just humans, no aliens, no anthros, only normal uh, feral animals" he answered with a shrug.

"Huh...still seems weird to me" I said, mimicking the shrug

He absentmindedly thumbed his reel, making a part spin like a toy as he stared out over the calm ocean. He absently grabbed his drink and took a long pull, his eyes once more focused somewhere else.

"It seems weird to me now too you know; but then again in that world I...I thought I was...i wouldn't say happy, but content" Chick slowly said as he slowly reeled his line in. "The last time I saw Hawk, He wasn't Hawk the biker or killer or criminal... just Hawk, my father. He was out for a documentary or something and I got to spend one final day with him"

I sat quietly with Chick for a while, just letting the sounds of the Ocean and the occasional cries from Jasmine or Clara fill the air.

"No no! That's too Small!" I Heard Jasmine yell at Clara only for Clara to retort "HA! That's what she said!" probably ignoring the fishing regulation. I made a mental note to check the crab sizes later.

"I Can't remember their faces," I confessed, speaking quietly.

"hm?" Chick grunted.

"My family, I see pictures but if I don't see one of them, their faces are just blurs"

"What happened to them?" Chick asked.

"Drunk driver"

Two words. On their own, they don't mean anything; but in this context it said everything. I heard Chick swear under his breath; everyone knows someone affected by a drunk driver in this world or his old one.

"Who?" He asked as the back of the boat went quiet

"My parents and sister, they...they didn't suffer" I answered as I stared out over the waves, trying and failing to see their faces in my minds eye and getting generic humans "I can't even recall their voices"

"Stop talking about heavy stuff! We're having fun!" Jasmine interrupted, padding past to sit next to Chick. She grabbed a beer and popped the cap artfully with one of her claws; Clara slid into my lap and simply took the beer I had and took a long drink.

"So who won?" I asked, putting the emotions from my family away, We would talk about that later.

"We called it a draw! I got more crabs but Jas got bigger ones" Clara said with pride in her voice, wiggling happily in my lap.

"That works, you taking a break?" Chick said, clinking his bottle against Jasmine's with a smile.

"We wanted to dry our paws and maybe eat something, what didja pack?" Jasmine asked happily, her long tail flitting behind her.

"lunch meat, fresh veggies, homemade sourdough!" Clara said, sliding off my lap and going to one of the coolers.

"You made sourdough?" Jasmine asked, looking from me to Clara in confusion. I waved a hand as I shooed the question away.

"Momo made the bread and grew the veggies, she said she's got some pickles in jars for us next time and probably some kimchi" I supplied, looking away from the ocean and staring into the cooler. Momo, Clara's mom, was a refugee from Hong Kong and had taken a liking to "American living" thus a vegetable garden in her backyard complete with corn and baking her own various breads. She had packed this particular cooler when she heard we were going out and about. A quick peek showed a cooler full of sliced tomatoes, onion ringlets, lettuce, and even some jalapenos along with large slices of sourdough bread.

Jasmine's eyes lit up as she started preparing a sandwich that would make Shaggy and Scooby jealous while Clara made what I called sandwich sliders. She would pull bread slices into little pieces then just put little bits of meat and cheese on the bread, choosing to ignore the veggies.

"Eat some veggies love" I chastised, swatting her rear softly from my chair, earning a soft "eep!" in surprise.

"I hate veggies though" Clara grumbled softly as she picked at the lettuce and onions, choosing the smallest bits of both to put on her little sliders. Being a snow leopard, Clara didn't need whatever the recommended amount of vegetable servings per day, but a small amount wouldn't upset her stomach and added a few missing vitamins and minerals. Sure, she covered them with enough cheese and meat to make tasting them impossible, but at least she got them.

I stood from my seat and left my rod to make myself a sandwich, choosing not to follow Clara's little lunchable sandwich bits while also not following Jasmine's example and making a jenga tower of meat and cheese. Instead I opted for just a simple small sandwich while occasionally tossing bits of bread over the edge of the boat for birds and fish. Jasmine made Chick a sandwich while he watched our fishing lines; his eyes unfocused and looking seaward, seeing something from his past most likely.

We all ate in companionable silence, listening to the song of the sea. Seagulls cawed, the waves slapped the side of the boat, the occasional sound of something hitting the hull. It reminded me of my survival training, but instead of a fire to stare into, we all just stared out into the beautiful, deadly depths. However our seaward trance was broken as Chicks rod jumped and his reel squealed, signaling something had taken hold of his bait. The line jumped loudly and began running away before Chick managed a good grip and stopped it, making a loud grunt as he exerted himself.

Jasmine and I stood, watching as Chick began the fight to reel in whatever was on the line; we occasionally sipped our drink as Clara stood, looking from us to Chick with confusion on her muzzle.

"Honey help Chick get the fish!" She finally said, batting uselessly on my drink hand.

"No can do Love" I replied simply.

"huh?"

"Once a man hooks a fish it's up to him to reel it in without help" Jasmine said as I shooed away Clara's offending paw.

"What? That's dumb and I wanna taste the fish!" Clara said looking annoyed at Jasmine and I while looking concerned at Chick, who was slowly reeling in the fish and pulling it in slowly.

"It's tradition, I got this" Chick grunted softly, taking a hand off the reel and sipping his beer. I could see him straining but he was putting on a show for Clara. I raised one eyebrow at him but he just shrugged and went back to reeling in the fish.

"Alright, since that's going on I might as well try my hand at some crab fishing" I stated calmly, turning away from my friend and heading towards the back of the boat.

"I wanna watch though" Clara pouted, pointing out into the water to where the barely visible fishing line met the inky depths.

"That's fine love, Jasmine?"

"I'll give some support to Chicky, besides I'm all crabbed out" was Jasmine's reply.

I nodded at the response, already anticipating her answer and only asking out of courtesy. Upon reaching the end of the boat I could still see Chick confidently reeling in the fish while Clara watched, her tail back in her mouth with a nervous look in her eyes. Jasmine simply watched her husband, her eyes full of confidence. I smiled to myself, seeing my friends and wife together.

I gathered up some line and a chicken neck and began swinging it in circles at my side idly as I looked down into the water, seeing nothing but churning waves. I never was much good at normal fishing but I wasn't going to turn down a fishing trip with a free boat, especially one with good friends and the possibility of some good seafood. With practiced ease I tossed the chicken neck so it arced up over the water trailing a thin line like a streamer.

The remainder of the string was looped around my pointer and middle finger, occasionally I pulled it and felt something slip off the line, shaking smaller crabs off the bait. I stood and just let my mind wander, thinking of nothing while listening to Clara and Jasmine cheer Chick on. Heh, Clara made a good cheerleader. Maybe I should look into getting her one of those outfits...

Pain suddenly erupted from my fingers as the crab line tightened around them. instinctively I clenched my fist and yanked hard on the line thinking an undersea current had hooked my bait on a rock or submerged log. To my surprise, whatever I was hooked on moved when I yanked on the line, albeit it was heavy. My mind raced to a video I saw online of a dude throwing a magnet into the water and pulling up cool goodies. I smiled to myself, thinking I might pull up something cool as well.

I began pulling up my catch, mildly excited but at the same time not bothering to call my wife or friends because in reality I was most likely pulling up a bit of driftwood. Although a good bit of driftwood could be cool. As I pulled I began feeling twangs on the line, like someone was trying to use it as a guitar string. I was about to stop when through the water I saw a mass of mildly insectoid legs.

"Gals, I might need a hand!" I called over my shoulder as I began pulling the line up hand over hand instead of idly winding it back up.

"What happened to a Man reeling in a fish by himself?" Came Clara's snarky response. I looked over my shoulder to see Clara giving my a smug grin as she sipped her drink

"Fine, I'll just whip this thing at you" I retorted, yanking hard on the crab line. There was a Small explosion of water as a crab roughly the size of a beach ball was pulled out of the water, hit the edge of the deck with a thud, then fell back into the water. Instantly Clara's smugness dissolved into a look of panic.

"What the FUCK is that!?" Clara cried, dropping her drink and grabbing a fishing net.

"A goliath Crab. rare but big and tasty" Jasmine responded as she confidently strode over to me and looked into the water. "Just had to outdo us huh?"

"Got nothing to do with outdoing, I didn't expect to catch anything let alone this monster" I said, hauling the large crustacean onto the deck. Ten long segmented legs hit the deck along with an oval body, each leg close to 2 feet long as I tried to turn the large spider-like animal to face away from me and largely failing.

"Fuck, uh, get me something to pin it with" I called out, trying to step on it only for 2 large claws to try and grab my boot and pantleg.

"Stop and just let it happen" I grunted to the crab, still trying to get a grip on it while Clara and Jasmine ran off to grab me something.

"Here!" I heard Clara from over my shoulder, only to have a heavy and bright red thing shoved into my face and nearly hitting me. I flinched back, nearly letting the crab go and falling into the water as I took in what she had brought me. a Large fire extinguisher was held tightly in Clara's paws, a hopeful look on her muzzle while her blue eyes flashed.

"Uh... fuck it, it'll do" I said taking the fire extinguisher from her. For a moment I held it, unsure on what to do with it. Should I spray it? Nah, it might get away. Maybe let it grab the hose so I can grab it? I realized I was overthinking and simply held the top of the extinguisher then got the crabs attentions by shaking the large red cylnidar at it. As it tried to stand on the deck I brought the extinguisher down on its body, making a satisfying "THWONK" sound.

"You got it! Is it dead?" Clara cheered, peeking over my shoulder on the tips of her footpaws. I could see it was still blowing bubbles out of its mandibles and heard it hissing softly.

"Naw it's just stunned, Grab me an extra reel of fishing line" I instructed Clara, who looked confused but did as I said. Within a moment she brought it to me and I used the extra line to hog tie...crab tie? Whatever, I tied the fucker up so it couldn't escape or pinch anyone.

"Well at least I caught something big" I said, carrying the huge crab back to the fishing chairs where Chick was still struggling with his catch. He spared a quick look at my catch and gave a smile.

"Nice, I should be done here soon" He said confidently, "Jasmine you ready?"

"Ready!" Jasmine said, adjusting her tricorn hat and gripping a large net.

I watched as Chick hoisted a 6 foot sturgeon out of the water then sprung to action, helping him get it to the net that Jasmine held while Clara stood with her phone out, taking either pictures or a video.

"Go! go! go!" Clara cheered, bouncing happily on her foot paws while we got the fish on deck. Chick cut into its gills with a buck knife that he had on his belt and slowly the fish stopped struggling.

"Should be ready in like 45 minutes" He said, wiping the knife on a napkin he got from one of our bags. Clara timidly poked at the fish with a claw, her eyes and pupils round.

"I've never had Sturgeon, but is it always so bloody?"

"You're a nurse and you're getting squeamish about a little fish blood?" I teased. poking her side gently, causing her to jump in surprise.

"People blood is different!" she retorted.

Jasmine, Chick and I all looked at each other in a bit of bewilderment at that statement, but I just shrugged and checked the time.

"Only about 2 hours till sundown, should we head back to the docks?" I asked as I fished 4 fresh beers out of one of the coolers and passed them around.

“Yea, best to head back we told the babysitter we would be back at 10" Jasmine confirmed while checking her phone for the time. Clara nodded absently, her blue eyes locked on the Sturgeon while her tail flicked side to side. I poked her gently in the side, making her jump against and swat at my hand.

“It's not going anywhere love, just wait for us to filet it and we can have a nice seafood feast, you're practically drooling looking at it"

Offended, Clara wiped her mouth with a paw quickly, then gave me a severe leer that only an offended feline could pull off.

“I'm not drooling! It just smells good and I want to try it" She grumbled at me. I gave her a smile and pulled her into a quick kiss.

“Gross, get a room" Jasmine teased as she began packing away food and dunks into their respective coolers. I just smiled at Her then let go of Clara, letting her turn round to help. She wasn't expecting me to swat her rear when she did, earning a nearly 2 foot vertical jump and a surprised “Merp!" From her.

“Don't do that!" She scolded me, swatting at me again with her large paws. I took my fuzzy beating with my hands raised in mock surrender.

“Sorry! Sorry! You're just too cute" I said through the soft barrage. Honestly her paws have so much fur on them that a balled fist is like getting hit with a koosh ball thrown by a little league player. Jasmine rolled her eyes at our antics while Chick just chuckled to himself and began steering the ship back the way we came. Wanting to also be productive and no longer being hit with a flurry of fuzzy beans, I began packing the fishing gear.

It wasn't long before the docks were back in sight, the food put away and all the fishing gear put away. I had even dumped some of the extra chicken necks into the water which gave the wildlife a veritable feast to enjoy. I wasn't going to cook and eat them. I might be adventurous with my food but I wasn't THAT adventurous.

As the dock grew closer I helped direct Chick on which way to steer and distances until the ship was securely docked and secured with sturdy ropes. I scanned the docks and the beach nearby, finding the Professor on the docks checking the ropes. However I couldn't find Jani anywhere. I shrugged and began moving coolers toward the still rising gangplank.

Clara had her phone in her paws, checking something when a small orangish blob landed on the Deck of the boat with a loud “HI!". Clara screamed in surprise, launching herself off the boat and onto the docks, landing on all fours with a soft “thump". I stood in shock as the blob coalesced into Jani, who was looking in amusement at Clara, a wide grin on her muzzle.

“The fluffy one is jumpy" she said with her grin widening. Chick and Jasmine also looked shocked, while the Professor, Who was still on the docks, just sighed loudly.

“Jani i told you to wait until the ship docked and not to swing onto them" he said with exasperation thick in his voice. I looked around and saw She had somehow taken several fishing lines, weaved them into a rope then used it to swing from a light post onto the ship's roof.

“Jani wanted to see the catches and you are all too slow!" She said with a pout that didn't quite reach her eyes. “Now lemme see" she demanded, going to Jasmine with a smile. Jasmine gave her a slightly fragile smile while I leaned over the ship railing to check on my wife. Clara landed like a feline would and was scowling up towards Jani, her long tail thrashing side to side in annoyance.

“She did that on purpose" She said in annoyance as she ascended the now erected gangplank.

“No she didn't, She has close to zero social skills" The professor clarified, motioning to Jani. “She was shunned by her tribe until I brought her here. No parents, no one to raise her. The tribes people didn't let her starve but that's it, she was living in a ruined mud hut that the tribes children would intentionally sabotage"

Clara's scowl faded to something more akin to pity as She watched Jani happily gush about the sturgeon Jasmine was showing her. Jani started opening coolers around her, oblivious to the social faux pas she was committing with fervor. Finally she reached the one I had stored the giant crab in. Her eyes lit up and she grabbed it by the shell and held it up above her head with reverence.

“Prof! They have a water spider!"

“Crab Jani" the professor corrected

“Yes, the water crab! They are delicious! Jani has never seen one so big" She cried, holding it in front of her with awe in her eyes. She began carrying the crab off the ship as the crustacean wiggled and tried to escape her grip.

“Jani you can't just steal their catch" the professor called, only for her to start running with it towards the beach. It was almost comical seeing a 4 foot something feline carrying an overly large crab that was trying (and failing) to get away.

“Just let her have it, I don't think we have a pot big enough to boil it anyway. Consider it extra thanks for letting us borrow the boat" I sighed, watching as she got to the beach where her fire was still smoldering. Unceremoniously she threw the still struggling crab into the fire, making it struggle harder as she used her spear to push hot coals all over the poor creature.

“Prof! Jani is so happy persons and pretty cats returned back with water spider!" She called loudly, as she shoveled more burning embers into the crab.

“It's a crab Jani; and be sure to thank them for it" The professor called back with a slight grin. We all watched in morbid curiosity; the unloading of the boat totally forgotten as Jani began doing some sort of dance around the fire. Eventually, the string binding the crab burned away, letting the half cooked crab rise from the fire and start trying to scuttle its way back into the ocean. Without missing a single step in her dance, Jani stabbed the head of her spear through its head…body… thing. Jani then added singing to her dance, her dance simple yet elegant while the now thoroughly dead crab cooked with her occasionally dipping it in the ocean.

“Huh, that's new" Chick said with a grin as he watched her dance, it was hard not to watch her. After all she was only wearing a very ragged looking bikini. Shut up, she's cute and jiggly.

“You haven't tried introducing her to new clothes professor?" Jasmine asked with a slight look of concern in her muzzle as she watched Jani break a leg off the crab with a declaration of “spiders cooked!" Before cracking it open to suck out the meat.

“I've tried, but anything I get her she cuts to make smaller because she doesn't want it to restrict her movement. She's used to having to run and hide in the jungle. You can take the cat out of the rainforest but can't easily take the rainforest out of the cat"

I continued unloading our things from the boat while Clara decided to join Jani on the beach, with Jani being all too eager to share the crab and teach Clara her dance. I snorted to myself as Clara took off her shirt at Jani's prompting, revealing her swimsuit. I stared at my wife for a moment, admiring her figure as I walked to the jeep.

It only took a little bit to fully unload the boat with Chick and the professor. Jasmine had opted to join Jani and Clara, all three of them eating crab legs and dancing around the fire. It was actually quite amusing and cute to see them all having so much fun together. however we had one last thing to do before we could leave; filet the caught sturgeon. I had no experience fileting Sturgeon personally, so I left it to Chick.

Rolling a Filleting knife on his fingers like one would normal roll a coin, Chick then quickly cut the fish into more manageable pieces, splitting the bounty between the two of us while I evened out the amount of crabs in the buckets. in the End we both had a bucket of crabs and a whole lot of fish, some of which we shared with the professor for a boat tax. As the sun set on the horizon Chick, the professor and i Clinked beer bottles while watching Jasmine, Clara and Jani eat crab legs on the beach.

"Cat girls are pretty" I said simply making The professor and Chick nod in solidarity.

The day wasn't the most exciting I had had, but it wasn't the dullest. It was just a day with friends, fishing and beer, And that counted as a good day.