Marachius Ainsley

What Do I Do Now?

It was another sunny day in Stormwind. The summer heat was starting to build within the city, but that didn’t stop the citizens from going around from shop to shop, looking for the various items on their lists.

Outside the Cathedral Square, Marachius sat on the side of the canal with his fishing rod in hand and a small cup, bucket, and an extra rod sitting on the ground beside him. The water in the canal slapped against the side as the day’s breeze moved the surface around. Marc had already cast his line a couple of times when he heard footsteps coming up behind him. Looking back over his shoulder, he saw a familiar teenager walking towards him with a fishing rod in his hand.

“Nice fishing pole,” Marachius offered as the teenager sat down on the canal’s edge.

“I just got it. Told my father that I liked fishing, so he got me one.”

“That was nice of him,” Marachius replied with a nod before he looked back to the water and cast his line again. 

The teenager reached over to the cup and dug out a worm to place on his hook. Soon, the two were quietly passing the time as they sent their lines out. After a few minutes, the teenager brought in the first fish of the afternoon. It wasn’t the biggest that had been caught, but Marachius noted the smile on the young man’s face as he reeled it in and pulled it off the hook, placing it in the bucket. 

“That was a good one,” the teenager said with a grin as he reached over and dug another worm out of the cup.

Marachius took a moment to look at the fish inside the bucket. It was a decent sized catch and would make a pretty good meal, he thought to himself. Then a shadow fell across the bucket. Looking up, the paladin saw a young boy standing behind them, looking to see what was inside.

“Hello, Ben,” Marachius said with a smile.

“Hi,” the young boy answered quietly.

Out of the corner of his eye, Marachius noticed his fishing partner watching. 

“What are you up to?”

"Nothin’,” Ben replied. “You catch that?” he asked, pointing to the bucket.

“He did, actually,” Marachius answered, nodding to the teen beside him. “Want to give it a shot?”

“Never done it before,” Ben said hesitantly.

“That’s okay. Everyone has to learn to start with. Go ahead and sit down right here,” Marachius added, patting the ground between him and the teen. Slowly, Ben sat down beside them, his feet dangling over the water in the canal.  Marachius handed him his fishing pole.  “First, you hold the pole like this. Then you fling the hook out into the water like this,” he said, holding onto the fishing pole above where Ben’s hands were. The hook landed on the water with a plop and then sunk below the surface.

“Now what?”

“Now we wait.”

Ben held the pole in front of him, swaying it back and forth a little as he watched the water. Marachius kept a close watch on the young boy, but also shot glances at the teen as well who was continuing to cast his own line.

Suddenly, the pole gave a slight jerk in Ben’s hands.

“What’s happening?”

“You got a bite,” Marachius explained calmly.

“What do I do?”

“Reel him in slowly,” the teen offered, appearing somewhat excited by the prospect of another fish being caught. “Turn this, but not too fast.”

After a minute, Ben managed to reel the fish in. Marachius helped to steady the pole as Ben pulled on it and lifted the fish into the air. The teenager reached out and grabbed the line, pulling the fish over land and unhooking it. He then handed the fish to Ben.

“What do I do with it?” Ben asked, his own excitement showing.

“They go in the bucket,” the teenager answered. Ben dropped the fish into the bucket, a little splash of water leaping over the side.

“What do we do now?”

“Here,” the teenager said as he reached for the cup. “Now we have to put some more bait on the hook.” Ben watched as another worm was dug out and speared onto the hook. “Okay, you’re ready to try again.”

Tentatively, Ben flicked the rod and sent the hook out into the water again. It didn’t go as far as the previous time, but it was good enough.

“Good job,” Marachius said as he reached beside him and picked up the rod that had been laying on the ground. Slowly, he reached over to the cup and pulled out another worm to bait his hook with.