Chapter 60
Were they actually good friends? Alistar couldn’t help but wonder as they continued to jeer at one another. Though the two were constantly at odds, he knew from his weeks of ghosting along with the Dozen that Zech primarily hung out with Jaden and Woods.
An hour into the competition, Zech caught his fourth fish.
"Another one!" laughed the lean, sandy-haired boy. "Watch the master as he works."
So far, Jaden had only caught one, while Alistar hadn’t even felt a nibble since his first bit of bait had been stolen.
Alistar sighed to himself as he watched several fish swim by, sensing dozens of smaller life forms in the area that he took to be other aquatic creatures. I wish they would just take a bite already. He preferred his uncle Raidon’s method of using a spear, and was tempted to try to find a suitable branch to fashion into one.
"It’s the rod." Jaden eyed the other boy’s fish with jealousy. Peering into the water-filled bucket where six fish were now clinging to life, Jaden turned to look at Alistar. "Wow, you’re really bad at this, aren’t you?"
"You’ve only caught one." Alistar pulled his line in and cursed inwardly. His grasshopper was missing.
"That’s right, I’ve already caught one." The boy dug another grasshopper out of his pocket and dropped it onto Alistar’s lap. One of its legs was still twitching. "Keep going, patience is the key to catching fish."
Zech chuckled as he recast his line.
Alistar picked up the grasshopper and frowned. As far as he was concerned, this method of catching fish was too slow. His inability to catch anything hadn’t bothered him until Jaden had pointed it out, his competitive spirit surging to the surface.
"Zech," he said politely, "the other day you said I could have this rod?"