Animal Crossing: Crippling Debt (KalTammy x Lord DreamCrusher)

[KalTammy]

Violet couldn't help but be a little nosy, peering through what was ordered while the twins confirmed their orders had been fulfilled. All that food from the mainland made her stomach grumble a little, and she did her best not to think about how much she missed comfort foods. She knew that one day this island would be fully up and running, and that worries about food would be in the past. Hell, it wasn't like she couldn't have some of this for a little credit, Tom had already extended the offer.

Putting thoughts of food aside for now, Violet listened to the boys as they explained what was in demand. Sapphires seemed less certain a target, her rock collection had been pretty random thus far. Perhaps one day she'd find some sort of spot to do a little more purposeful mining, so for now she thought of fish. This seemed more reasonable, even if she had never fished in her life before. At the very least, learning the skill would likely expand her diet outside of fruits. "Five-hundred Bells." She pulled out her money pouch and counted out an appropriate number of coins. This was nearly a third of what money she had, but this seemed like a good investment. "Here you go boys, will I need any bait or other supplies?"

 

[Lord DreamCrusher]

The two of them paused for a moment at her question, raising their chins and tilting their heads in a way that was oddly adorable before meeting her gaze again and shaking their heads 'no'. "Bait can help get bites faster... bites faster... but a lure is included... included." They would happily take the bells once handed over and would scrounge around to find which box contained the fishing rods they had just received, ultimately producing a rather simple wooden pole but it seemed a fair purchase and sturdy enough. Thankfully the spool was already fitted with line and the end did indeed contain a rather basic fishing lure with a few metal hooks dangling off of it. It would, in theory, attract fish and ensnare them whilst being reusable. Unless she snapped the line then bait would only be a bonus and not a necessity.

As a little bit of bonus advice, surely because they too stood to benefit from the deal if she managed to catch any cherry salmon to sell them, they pointed her in the right direction for where to fish if she wanted the bonus for the week. "Cherry salmon are in rivers during spring, or so this says... so this says." They had a laptop presumably to detail their inventory and check prices and other data for goods which is what they were referring to. "You can catch different things in different places, and at different times of year... times of year."

It was currently spring, the best time of year to get a new island set up as the weather was most favorable. However, with the somewhat tropical nature of the islands in this region, it wasn't like the fall or winter months often got terribly cold. Still the weather was unpredictable and snow was certainly not unheard of so it was better safe than sorry to have picked this time of year. If she got into fishing as a pastime, or source of income, though then it seemed there was plenty of nuance to learn about.

 

[KalTammy]

"Thank you boys, I suppose I best get to teaching myself to fish." Violet had never needed to in her old life as a city-girl, having never gone on a fishing trip or such. This whole island was a life of new experiences for her and she was going to make the most of it. She had high hopes that this island could be a great community, that she could be a mayor that Tom Nook would be proud of. But if not and it all crashed and burned? Well at least she'd have new skills that might help her in a new job, though she was blissfully unaware of some of the skills the island's owner wanted to teach her.

With fishing rod in hand she made for the river by her home. One of the early trees she had cut down had left a good stump by the water and here she'd settle down to fish. While she hoped for early success she figured that much of today was probably going to be a lot of failure as she got the technique down. Still, she wouldn't let this cramp her optimism as she got to work on working down her debt.

 

[Lord DreamCrusher]

Even with such basic equipment the islands in this chain were teeming with life and resource. It would take time of course, and Violet would certainly be resting on that stump for hours today at the least if she hoped for any decent catches, but she would find bites rather frequently. The nibbles were often subtle and hard to notice for a novice such as her, and there were many cases in which doubt would creep in as to whether or not she had just missed an attempt or was just imagining things, but she wouldn't be walking away empty-handed today so long as she gave it the proper amount of time and didn't walk away too early.

By the time that evening was starting to roll around she'd caught a grand total of five fish. Not a major milestone of course but she'd certainly feel like she was getting better at the process. Many of the early attempts ended in failure from pulling on the line too quick and failing to hook the fish but, the later catches went much more smoothly. That being said, she'd only managed to catch a single cherry salmon but also had a carp, two dace, and a black bass.

Taking these all back to Nook's Cranny the twins would offer her 1,500 bells for the cherry salmon (having added 500 bells from it being in-demand), 300 each for the carp and black bass, and 200 bells a piece for the dace; coming to a grand total of 2,500 bells for her day's work. Considering she had invested five hundred bells into the rod in the first place that meant a two-thousand bell profit on what was a fairly modest result of fishing.

While there was still some time left before nightfall that Violet could use as she pleased, there was the possibility of giving Longclaw the tour of the island tonight if she wanted to. Of course, waiting until morning was also an option; it mostly just came down to whether or not the mayor wanted to show the owl around at the beginning of her day or the end of it considering she was a nocturnal creature by nature.

 

[KalTammy]

Violet was quite pleased with her days progress, making a tidy profit and working towards her debt with Nook. Oh some of that would go to getting food from the owner no doubt, but still every bit would help and she was keen to prove herself a good and responsible mayor to her new boss. Sure her focus should probably be on making the island prettier and ready for more residents, but she needed breaks between making basic paths and fences, or gathering building material.

Speaking of being a good mayor, she would go ahead and meet Longclaw tonight. Her fishing hadn't been too strenious, mostly a lot of waiting, so she had plenty of energy left for a late night visit and tour. Best get the new woman all caught up so the owl can go about her business without worry or getting lost. Granted it might be hard to get lost with so few buildings relatively close together, but better safe than sorry.