The group went on a fishing trip, and as a matter of course, the sisters overdid it a little. After having been upset that the two were the only ones who hadn't caught anything yet, they enchanted some bait with a healthy dose of magic and managed to attract an almost ten-meter-long sturgeon from the depths of the lake and successfully caught it.
“Uhh, where did it go?” Still on the lake inside their boat, Ari looked rather confused as she looked at the spot above them where a massive sturgeon had just jumped over before the blonde portaled it away.
“Inside my domain, of course!” Sophia smiled at her.
“Well, yeah, I figured as much.” The jaguar rolled her eyes. “It’s not a good place for a fish, though, is it? Especially when it’s such a massive one.”
“I don’t know.” The blonde tilted her head. “I felt like the lake you and Fenny made was a good place to put it.”
“Why?!” She got loud. “That’s the relaxation place for Fen and me! There’s no space for a ten-meter-big lake monster!”
"It seemed pretty relaxed before it got hooked, if you ask me." Sophia didn't think it would be an issue. “I also think our big wolf would have fun playing with it and trying to catch it.”
“You’re probably right about the second part.” Ari could see how Fen would like that. “Well, it didn’t try to attack us and was minding its own business before getting caught, so I guess it’s alright.”
“Won’t it starve, though?” Chloe was concerned about it. “There’s nothing in terms of food, like other fish, in there, right? Sturgeons are hunters, right? Only feeding them some regular fish food probably won’t work?”
“That’s a good and important point!” The blonde nodded a couple of times. “Hmm…” She looked around for a little while. “Ari, would you mind if I dump some more fish and other water life into that lake of yours and Fen?”
“I don’t think it’s a good idea to borrow this lake, you know?” The jaguar had a bad feeling about the plan.
“I don’t want the entire lake!” She shook her head. “I just want to get enough fish to keep the big boy happy and entertained!”
“Well, if you fish for them, it would take forever, so what’s the plan?” The princess tilted her head.
“Hey!” Both sisters got loud when they heard how the tall tiger pronounced the you.
“He.” She had hoped for this reaction.
“Anyway!” Pouting for a second, the blonde then continued. “I planned to place a portal in the lake, somewhere near the ground so that no one sees it, and have fish and other lake inhabitants swim through it on their own!”
“How do you make sure the fish don’t go back, though?” Chloe got interested in Sophia’s plan. “More importantly, what if Greg uses the portal to return home?”
"A good ques-, Wait, who’s Greg?” She got confused over the name. “What person did I forget about this time?”
“It’s the big fish you two caught earlier!” The pink fox smiled at her. “It’s Greg!”
“Alright, sure!” Sophia decided not to question it.
“I like Greg!” Steph was okay with it, too.
“What if it’s a female fish?” Ari noticed a flaw.
“Greg’s a unisex name!” The sisters and Chloe unionized.
“Is it?” She didn’t believe them.
“Yes!”
“Back to the portal!” Sophia raised her voice. “I can make them one-way only! That way, the fish can swim into my domain, but they can’t come back.”
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“Oh, that’s a great solution!” Chloe gave her a thumbs up. “I didn’t know you could do that.”
“I just decided that they can do that!” The blonde reacted with a cheeky smirk. "I mean, I can already control who can go through it and who cannot, so making it one-way only is actually a much easier thing to do if you ask me.”
“If you say so?” While the pink fox couldn’t entirely follow her, she still got the gist of it.
“Okay, I’ll put the portal down right here, deep enough that you can't see it anymore." Saying so, Sophia put her hand over the water next to the boat and concentrated for a second. “That should be it. I wonder if the fish get curious and swim through.”
“Even if it doesn’t work, I think it will help a lot with other things.” Chloe scratched her cheek while saying so, “Right now, it’s basically just a big hole filled with water created by magic, right?” She looked at the jaguar.
“Pretty much.” Ari nodded.
“Lakes are usually not that sterile, are they?” The fox tilted her head. “There’s tons of algae and little critters, together with a bunch more microorganisms to make life for fish even possible in the first place.”
“That is true!” Sophia agreed with her. “Most of those are also just passively floating through the water and so will definitely go through the portal sooner or later. For the fish, I guess we just have to wait and hope.”
“We could also start with the fish we already caught?” Anna pointed at the basin full of fish next to her feet.
“Nope, those are dinner.” The blonde had other plans for them.
“Fair enough.” The princess couldn’t say anything there.
----------------
Having been satisfied with their catch, the sisters especially, the group explored the lake with their rented boat for a little longer before eventually getting closer to the city again. From there, they entered one of the canals leading into Gativa to row through the waterways that were going everywhere along the streets. Before that, Sophia had also put their caught fish into her domain, though. Having them in the basins between their feet would’ve been a little much, after all.
“Alright, who wants to take over?” Having just entered the city, Sophia pointed at the paddle she had been using until now. “How about it, Chloe?” She looked at the fox. “You were the most interested in a boat ride the other day, so it would only make sense to be in charge of it at least once, right?”
"If no one minds that we'll travel at an incredibly slow pace, I’d like to give it a try!” The fox nodded a couple of times. “My arms aren’t the strongest, after all.”
“What you do at night with me speaks a different language, though.” Steph just had to. “Good things, I want to add.”
“That’s my fingers.” She shook her head. “My arms are noodles.”
“…” The dog-girl paused for a second. “That point goes to you.”
“Alright, let’s swap seats.” Not wanting them to get sidetracked even more, Sophia carefully stood up from the middle bench of their boat and pointed at the spot where Chloe was sitting next to Maya.
"Okay!" Nodding again, the two swapped places, and the fox-girl, together with Steph, took care of maneuvering the boat through the canals inside the city.
“Am I right in guessing that you did that because you didn't want to be responsible for bumping into anything or anyone in those tight canals?”
“No comment~.” The blonde just smiled at her.
“You sure are cheeky.”
“Ehehe~.”
“By the way, didn’t we also want to buy a boat or two?” While paddling through the canals, Ari got curious about that. "For inside the domain to have around for projects."
“We absolutely will!” Sophia gave her a thumbs up. “Step, you mentioned that the rental place told you where we can buy them?”
“Yup!” She nodded. “I was thinking about heading there, too. I have no idea how to get there from here, though.” The dog-girl looked around. “Well, there aren’t many options to go, either, so I guess we just keep going and end up there eventually?”
“Sounds like a plan to me!”
Having agreed on that, the group continued to travel through the city for a while longer. On their way, the girls also came across the lovely café again and decided to make a quick stop there. After all, they had been quite active during the day and more than earned themselves a sweet treat.
“Okay, I have to admit, that was pretty good.” Back on the boat, Ari looked rather satisfied after having visited the café for the first time after the other couples had been there before the other day. “The cake really was amazing!”
“True!” Anna agreed with her. “The steakhouse we went instead before was amazing, too, though. But, as we’ll have fish tonight, something sweet for a late lunch works~.”
“Something sweet always works!” Maya’s opinion differed a little.
“True!” Chloe felt the same as the cat-girl.
“Both always work!” The sisters didn't understand why there was even any dispute over this.
“Fair.” The others had nothing to add.
After this conclusion, they rowed through the canal for another half an hour before eventually arriving at a different corner of the city, which led into the lake at the back of it.
“Oh, I think that’s the place!” Steph pointed at the dock with the massive Boats for Sale sign above it.
“You think?” Ari rolled her eyes.
“No need for the sass!” The dog-girl didn’t appreciate it.
Afterward, they tied their rental boat to the dock and went to look at the offerings available. There weren’t overly fancy options to get, they all had roughly the same shape as the rented boat, but they were new, and it was possible to choose from a variety of colors. In the end, each couple got their own boat for future activities in the domain. Sophia and Maya got a green one, Anna and Ari went for a dark blue, and Steph and Chloe settled on a red one after a bit of back and forth.