Nyk chased Syn across the living room and kitchen until they arrived at the shop's counter. A woman wearing a white apron over blue working clothes stood behind the counter and meticulously cleaned and arranged fish on display.

Focused on her task, the woman's face lit up with a warm smile when she noticed Syn and Nyk entering the room. "Good morning Nykel. By your looks, one would think you just caught a fish," she said, chuckling and raising an eyebrow at Syn, who was innocently smiling.

Nyk approached a basket of a new, dangerously-looking pile of fish bones beside her. "Morning Minda, do you have any sea beast bones we can use?" he asked, his eyes sparkling.

"Morning, auntie," said Syn, snatching a piece of steaming fish cake and ignoring Nyk's daily question. "Is Dad back yet?"

Minda shook her head. "He left again about an hour ago and said something about doing a second round. And no, no beast bones here today either."

She stopped, narrowing her eyes to look attentively at Nyk's forehead, where a bulging bump was beginning to form. "Nykel, did you run into a tree this morning?" she said as she washed and dried her hands.

Nyk, who was furtively looking at the still-steaming cakes sitting atop the table, froze and did his best to avoid looking in Syn's direction. "N-no, why?"

Minda's attention quickly changed from Nyk to Syn, who scowled under her watch. "I see... Synedra, what have you done this time?"

"I-I did nothing... he didn't deserve!" she finished defiantly.

Minda took the damp cloth from Nyk's hand and sat him in a chair, delicately looking for cuts in his head. "Stay quiet, and let me look at this."

Moments later, she handed Nyk a fish cake and turned to Synedra while submerging her hand in a small bucket of clean water. "Aha, you were saying?"

Syn backed off a little, "It's... It's payback for messing things up!" she replied, raising her arms. "His twelfth birthday is around the corner, and he's still unable to keep his word."

Nyk was eyeing the fishcake when he heard Syn. His eyebrows furrowed, and his mouth firmed, "I would never!" he exclaimed. "Nana says a great warrior must always keep his word," he said, stuffing his mouth with the fishcake right after.

"Well, this great warrior needs to train his memory more carefully," Syn retorted, "Today was an important day! We agreed weeks ago that the day before Azuria's festival, we'd meet at sunrise at the cliff to see if we could catch anything." Syn looked severely at Nyk. "And you weren't there this morning."

Nyk's eyes opened in realization. "Che feshtival ish shumorrow!?" he said, munching on the fishcake.

"Yes, Tomorrow!" she replied, "Why do you think we were off school? I woke up super early and made sure to be at the top of the hill, and you never showed up!" Syn continued, visibly shaken, "I froze for hours alone waiting for you!"

"Shorry Shyn, I fborgot," said Nyk looking down. "Oh! But I bicked up shome berries yeshterday!" he said, still munching.

"Who would want your stupid berries?... there will be shops full of fruit there, you dummy!" Syn replied.

"I'm sure by now you have enough to trade..." interrupted Minda as she removed her hand from the bucket, fog coming out of it. She then placed a few chunks of ice that she used to refill the damp cloth before returning it to Nyk.

"Yesh, Gwe have loads!" said Nyk gulping loudly, "Sorry I forgot, Syn... Maybe your Dad will bring some sea beast bones today," Nyk said, "That would be a great addition to our sale!"

The mention of her dad cheered Syn up. "Beast bones and materials, yes, that will make a great addition, although we shouldn't depend on him! It's been months since he brought any..."

Minda's eyebrows joined in a straight line. "Synedra, I wish both of you would stop putting these crazy ideas of fighting sea beasts in your Dad's head," she said worriedly. "Fishing nowadays is not as easy as it was, and the last thing we need is for him to try anything crazy because of you two."

"How is it any different?" Syn asked with suspicion. "Dad is always saying how Grandad taught him all he knew, and I don't see how things have changed here in the village if he's still doing the same things they did a gazillion years ago."

The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

"My dear Synedra, it's not that fishing has changed. The seas have," said Minda patiently.

"Is the water different than when his Dad was around?" said Nyk with wide-open eyes. "Did the sea beasts do something to the water!?"

"No, Nykel, it is not that, but you're not wrong that the sea beasts are to blame," replied Minda mysteriously.

Nyk leaned his chin on the table, "What's changed then?"

Minda sighed, "Fishing in Talorin has become more difficult because there are more sea beasts" she stopped, her jaw slightly clenching. "Maybe the ruling houses won't admit it, but we fishermen know the truth. With Garoth pressuring our boats we need to go further to fish. Further away, the attacks on our boats have doubled in the last few years." Worry etched her face.

Excited, Nyk jumped off the chair, "What about pirates?"

Minda's eyes flashed in confusion. "What about them?"

"Are they having a hard time, too?" asked Nyk, as if the question was obvious.

"Nyk, I've told you before, there are no pirates in this area," interrupted Syn rolling her eyes, "It's just a rumor the ruling houses started to avoid paying compensation for damage from sea beast attacks."

"But Nana always says I have to stay away from pirates!" Nyk added nervously.

"That's enough pirate and sea beast talk," Minda flustered. "Your dad is a great sailor and Cardslinger. He'll do what needs to be done, and I hope for his well-being and yours that I don't hear anything related to sea beasts and him fighting them. Otherwise, the four of us will have a lengthy and uncomfortable chat," threatened Minda, ending the discussion. "Now, why are you two not at school?"

Syn and Nyk shared a glance. "There's no school for the rest of the week, Minda. Everyone is busy preparing for the annual festival..." replied Syn.

"BUT..." she continued, her eyes suddenly brightening, "... But not us, we're done preparing. And if we don't get anything else, we can wait here." She said, shrugging and leisurely sitting on a chair.

Minda's eyebrows rose in surprise, "You are done with the preparations?"

Hiding a grin from Minda, Syn turned to Nyk, "Yes, we're done, right Nyk?"

"We are?" Nyk asked, confused.

Syn turned back to Minda, "Of course we are."

Minda shook her head and sighed, "I see. And I assume you won't leave and let me work until you find something else to trade for tomorrow. Correct?"

Nyk suddenly seemed to catch on and joined Syn, giving Minda an innocent, well-practiced smile. "Yep, we're done. We'd need more stuff to work on..."

"Okay, okay," Minda surrendered, "Let me see what I can find for you two to trade..."

----------------------------------------

Nyk and Syn wandered through the streets of Talorin, amazed by Minda's gift. She had given them a small fishbone flute, crudely carved into a four-tone instrument. But there was a catch to the present. Minda insisted they only trade it for a good bag of sweet apples and bring her back one.

The hostile feeling he had been getting from Syn was gone now. She seemed content now that she'd gotten her revenge and was focused on making the most of the day to collect items and prepare for the next festival.

Their first stop was Talorin's post office, but old Morthik had nothing to gift this time, not that Nyk had expected much from a place full of paper and letters.

They excitedly ran to the smithy. Rodrin had been helping them forge a giant fork and a knife for the festival after they convinced him weeks ago to part with some metal scraps he wouldn't use.

"What are you planning to do with those?" the blacksmith asked, noticing the kids' enthusiasm.

"We'll use them to eat giant steaks!" Nyk replied.

The blacksmith couldn't resist a burst of laughter.

"Ignore him. These will help us attract our customer's attention tomorrow," Syn said mysteriously.

Rodric smiled warmly at the kids. "Sure, Tell me how it goes," he said, returning to his work.

Their luck at the bakery was a bust, but things improved at the Alchemist's workshop. The quiet, often grumpy Zosimos gave them the leftover herbs and roots from his latest experiments. "Potion-making is a delicate dance with herbs, roots and flowers, and I would never wish to waste any. I'll be happy you take them off my hands."

"What were they for?" Nyk asked curiously.

"Ah, that I can't tell. It's a secret," Zosimos said, winking.

"Did you jinx the potion?" Asked Nyk without thinking.

"Of course not!" Replied the Alchemist offended. "I'm a skilled alchemist that can brew anything out of plants, from pain-relieving potions to life-saving elixirs. I could even create a potion to grow a centenary tree in a week. There's no way I'd fail creating a simple portion for–" He stopped and threw Nyk a narrowed gaze.

"Was the potion for growing a tree?" Nyk pressed untiring.

"Hmph, as I said, I won't disclose my other customer's orders," Zosimos said, growing tired.

Zosimos eyes lighted with malice. "I do remember tho, a recent request from your dear grandmother. She wanted some pills to help a young, and far too short for his age, kid grow strong, some mana circulation pills and, what was it? Ah yes! A tongue-numbing potion!" he said, grinning.

Syn chuckled behind Nyk, who began to blush.

"You have your herbs, now go and let me work! And tell your Nana she owes me for this," he said, hushing them away.

Syn was covering her mouth, a smile peeking on each side as they approached the door. The Alchemist called out to them as she opened it. "On second thought, don't tell her that she owes me. I'll be doing the village a disservice if I don't prepare that tongue-numbing potion. I had no idea we needed it so urgently!" he added.

Nyk left the shop red as a beet, with Syn loudly laughing behind him.