Pan and Mae's Winter Fishing: Chapter 1

       Over the course of the night, snow had fallen in nearly endless sheets as Mae slept. It was soundless, sinister, building up at a rapid pace until it piled halfway up the door to her log cabin. It wasn’t until the next morning that she realized just what sort of ordeal had fallen upon her. 

Mae’s teeth chattered as she slammed her entire bodyweight against the heavy oak door, each heavy breath puffing out in a crystalline cloud in front of her. Foolishly she’d let her fire go out in the night, and the meager rays of morning sunlight did little to warm the inside of her cabin as they filtered through the glass panes of her windows. 

“PAN!” Mae screamed through the door. She was immediately answered by a single, sleepy hoot. “Pan, the door! It’s covered in snow!”

The Tyto gave a long, sleepy yawn as he looked up from his burrow in the snow, the heavy blanket of powder falling off of his well insulated back feathers. Oh.. right. It definitely -had- snowed again last night! 

He gave one mighty stretch of his wings before obliging his human friend, digging away at the snowy pile until the woman could finally kick open the door.

The shivering woman spilled forth, nearly ending up face first into the snow.  “Miserable weather to be fishing in. We’ll have to dig a hole in the ice for sure!” 

Pan huffed with irritation, bowing his body in a way that mimicked how a hatchling Stryx requested food from its parents. Under no uncertain terms the Stryx was hungry, and there would be no getting out of catching fish that morning. Mae sighed. 

“Fine, I’ll get my things…” 

If it were any consolation at all, the scenery was stunning. The bitter chill meant that the sky was as crisp and dry as it could be, allowing one to see out into the distance for miles. The great mountains which were so often obscured by fog stood proudly against the backdrop of orange and yellow, with vibrant rays from the rising sun silhouetting them and casting their long, lazy shadows across the snow-laden prairies below them. The lake where they had come to fish was a favorite spot of hers, a preferred swimming spot during the warmer months, but covered in a reliable sheet of ice once they were fully into the winter season. The towering, ancient pines shielded them from the harsh winds as they moved toward the frozen shore, the occasional sound of one of their heavy limbs groaning from the weight of its snowy burden echoing crisply in the otherwise quiet winter wonderland.

Pan was eager to fish, now wide awake and eager to fill his belly during his preferred time of wakefulness. He fluffed his feathers eagerly in the young morning light, his warm-hued snowy feathers gleaming even more richly than usual.  

With his usual confidence he was first to strut out onto the ice, his scaly claws testing the strength of the frozen sheet with each step. It of course made sense for him to stride out first; if the frozen lake gave way under him he at least had the ability to fly away. Mae had no such luxury. However, there was no cracking or protest as he made his way to the center of the lake, so the young woman followed, fishing supplies strapped securely across her back. 

Pan stopped, directing his disc-shaped face to the ice for several long moments before hooting an affirmative sound. This would be the place to fish. Mae did not question it; the Tyto’s superior hearing rarely proved wrong. 

The sawing of the ice took time, and she had to go slowly so as not to work up a deadly sweat in the bitter cold. “This would be a lovely time for you to have fire breath. You know… like a proper dragon.” 

Her joke was rewarded by the Stryx mimicking her sawing motion with his wing. Hurry up!  She clucked her tongue in dismissal and resumed her work. Cheeky Tyto… 

With a hole carved from the ice, and all of the lines set with bait, all that one could do was wait and watch the tension of the lines. Mae quickly stuffed her hands back into her fur-lined mittens, eager to thaw them out after the tedious work of setting the lines. 

“Like I’ve said before… we definitely could just move to the city.” 

Pan really didn’t react to that statement with more than a shrug nowadays. It was an empty threat, after all… there was no way they’d be able to afford a city apartment. Their log cabin was all that they had, and it suited them just fine until the winter times. Even then, it really was just Mae that struggled. Sometimes, Pan thought she was lonely, needing the companionship of her own kind.

The wiggling of a line broke the stillness, and Mae sucked in an anticipatory breath. 

“A bite already! I can taste it already, no more salted pork and pickled beets tonight, Pan!” 

Mae grabbed the line and was nearly pulled straight into the water. Pan lunged forward, grabbing the woman’s parka by the hood and snatching her back. She reeled and pulled, and Pan pulled as well, lifting the woman clear off the ice. 

The fish was so large that the hole in the ice was nearly not large enough, its gaping mouth appearing from the dark depths first, followed by the wet squelching of its tubular body just barely clearing the exit. By the light of Sol and Nokt combined, it was an ugly thing… but it was food. 

It was Pan’s job to dispatch the beast, done neatly and quickly with a single snap of his powerful beak. 

“This will be food for days, Pan. Lets see if we can catch a few more. Perhaps we can trade with the old man down the hill for some of those potatoes I know he has stashed away.”