Fenrir lets Nell fish for him with Rod while he talks to Alexander. He figures that as long as she stays robed and Bonekraka doesn't come up from below deck, which he sent Tabitha down to tell him, that there won't be any problems.

He has a feeling that this Alexander guy wouldn't mind warning the tournament's officials about his s.h.i.+p having eight people onboard when only seven are registered.

The four fis.h.i.+ng move to the opposite side of the deck to give Fenrir and Alexander a bit of privacy, but they can still hear everything.

"So, you're new and have already got a s.h.i.+p made out of steel oak? That's pretty impressive," Fenrir says.

"You could tell? Yes, she's pretty great. Let's just say that we got very, very lucky acquiring her," Alexander replies.

The two men look each other directly in the eyes.

They each know exactly what the other is like.

"Looks like you have quite the secret there. I don't suppose you'd give me any hints as to what it is?" Alexander asks, looking over at the covered object near the front of The s...o...b..ll. n.o.body but Tabitha knows what it is still.

"Hah, unfortunately, that's a secret even to me," Fenrir answers.

"A captain that doesn't know what is on his own s.h.i.+p? That sounds… odd, but if it is what you are fine with."

The two lock eyes again.

"Yeah, I'm fine with it," Fenrir says.

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Rock walks up next to Fenrir and sits down.

"Oh, that thing is pretty cute. Though, it looks made out of rock. I hope that you're careful with it. If it goes overboard then I fear it might sink straight down to the ocean floor!" Alexander says, barely putting any effort into making himself actually sound concerned.

"She is fine. She's a pretty smart girl, and she can handle some water," Fenrir replies.

Alexander smirks. "If you say so, Mr. Wolf."

"The name is Fenrir."

"Fenrir, Mr. Wolf – same thing, aren't they? I wonder, did you previously work underneath that Ull guy? I would think so given your name. Or perhaps you simply thought that choosing such a common, clichéd name would be original?"

"I just like the name. Never worked for that p.r.i.c.k, and don't care much about being original."

"Oh, by the way, what is your little boat here called?"

"The s...o...b..ll."

"You named it after an extinct animal? That surely can't end well! However, if it's the name you have chosen for your little boat, I have no right to complain. After all, tigers are on the verge of extinction as well. Well, there is a difference. Tigers are powerful predators fighting for their lives and refusing to go down without a fight. s...o...b..lls just… died out in captivity. They never got to properly spread their wings and fly, instead dying out in some small Asian country zoo."

"Yeah, I know about what happened," Fenrir replies. He wants to say something about how tigers aren't exactly faring better than s...o...b..lls were, but he'd feel wrong using a borderline-extinct animal in a d.i.c.k waving contest like this.

Though, it's hardly a contest. Alexander is a.s.serting himself while Fenrir just shrugs off whatever the other man has to say.

Even so, Fenrir is losing it. He's finding himself incapable of completely ignoring every that this other man is subtly doing. He used to be able to, but now all of these words just make Fenrir want to punch him.

Alexander smiles. "You're an interesting man, Mr. Wolf. I was wondering what sort of captain you were."

"I'm glad to know that I'm so special that you've decided to take your time to personally get to know me," Fenrir answers.

"Oh, I didn't mean it like that. I have met every single captain that will be partic.i.p.ating in the event. You were the only one I had not yet met. I figured there would not be much point given that you are still, no offense, new to this whole sort of thing."

"Well, I'm glad you were able to find some time to meet me. Anything else you wish to know about me?"

"Your bank credentials would be nice!" Alexander jokes, making himself laugh.

Fenrir forces a pity laugh. "Yeah, let me get you my login information after the tournament is over. I'll have to dig it up; it's been a while."

"Don't worry about it. It was just a joke. I don't actually need your money, but I thank you for being so considerate as to seriously offer it."

Fenrir cringes. Alexander was at least pretending to be subtle at first, but not anymore. "Silly me. Guess I misunderstood and took you seriously," Fenrir says.

"My hero! I caught one, I caught one!" Nell happily announces, skipping over to Fenrir and holding the fish up to show him with a wide smile. "I caught my first fis.h.!.+"

Fenrir grabs her by her shoulder and turns her around, but he knows that Alexander has already seen her face. He would have to be blind to not have seen it.

"Bringing complete newcomers with you? Makes sense, given that you are a new crew," Alexander says. "Anyways, we must be off. We'd rather not be knocked out of the tournament before it even begins. I hope to see you in the next tournament, Mr. Wolf."

"We'll see you tomorrow in the next round," Fenrir shouts over at Alexander as their s.h.i.+p pulls away.

Alexander flashes a smile back at Fenrir before returning his attention to his crew.

"Did I do something wrong?" Nell asks.

"You probably shouldn't have let that a.s.shole see your face," Fenrir honestly says.

"I am sorry, I was just so excited and wished to show you my first—"

"No, it's alright. Don't worry about it. It's great that you caught your first fish," he says, trying to sound excited for her.

"You mustn't force yourself, my hero."

The rest of the crew is looking over at him as well now.

"Sorry, I'm just losing my touch."

The Weeping t.i.t pulls up next to The s...o...b..ll now. "Hey, Captain Wolf! I heard some of 'at. Don't mind 'im. He's just a young lad like yourself who feels like he's got to prove himself to everybody. That's why I figured you two would get along – you'd make great rivals to motivate each other!" Jax explains.

Fenrir wants to complain, but he believes that Jax only meant well by introducing them. "It's no problem. I've known guys like him before, so I'm used to that sort of att.i.tude. He'll definitely make a good rival."

"Glad to hear it! Now, we're off to catch the rest of our fish. Good luck with yours!"

The Weeping t.i.t sails off.

The s...o...b..ll is alone on the water once more.

Nell hands Rod back over to Fenrir. "Thanks," he says. "I'm going to go fish over by the front."

He walks over to the helm of the s.h.i.+p.

Nell starts following after him, but Serra grabs her arm. "Let him be alone," Serra says.

"Are – are you sure? He seems… like something is wrong," Nell says, looking over at him with concerned eyes as he casts his line.

"Yeah, guys need s.p.a.ce sometimes," Serra says.

"She's right," Oleander joins in. "I've seen him like this before. He just needs some alone time to do his own thing. He'll act like nothing is wrong later once he's calmed down, and then you've just got to play along with him."

"Are you sure? That does not seem very healthy," Nell says.

"Trust us, I've known him for almost a decade now, and Serra here is his girlfriend."

Ca.s.siel is looking over at Fenrir as well. She knows that he needs some s.p.a.ce, but she wants nothing more than to go over there to try and comfort him.

"He'll be okay," Serra says to Ca.s.siel. They can all tell that Ca.s.siel is struggling by how she's constantly switching between turning toward him to walk over there, returning to fis.h.i.+ng, and then turning again.

"I know, but still," Ca.s.siel replies.

"We need to focus on fis.h.i.+ng. Need a lot more fish."

"Yeah, you're right. Let's catch some more fish."

The girls return to fis.h.i.+ng. Oleander and Nell switch between watching the three fis.h.i.+ng together and checking up on Fenrir.

Meanwhile, a determined beast of a man occupies The s...o...b..ll's bow.

Fenrir reels in his second fish, taking his total up to two and a half. Then he reels in another one, and another one, and another one.

Every single fish that he reels in is tossed into a barrel so that he can cast his line again as soon as possible.

He pours every last ounce of his determination into catching fish right now.

There is no way that The Soaring Wolves won't make it into the first stage of the tournament. If he has to catch all seventy fish by himself, he will.

His barrel has twenty fish in it after another two hours.

Five hours into the opening ceremony, he has secured over fifty fish in his barrel.

They already have more than enough fish in total required to secure their position in the tournament's first stage, but he refuses to stop.

"This is bad," Oleander tells the girls and Corwin.

"How so?" Nell asks.

"It's worse than I thought. He's in one of his moods. He'll act like everything is fine, but he's not going to feel better until he ruins that guy. He can't stand those kinds of guys the most. I bet he doesn't even care about Ull right now."

"He is very compet.i.tive, isn't he?"

"None of you have seen him get serious yet. Looks like you might."