Rough Waters

The salt mist spray of the ocean whirled around the deck of the small fishing junk as the crew hauled another crate of fish into the hold. Captain Lan Amethyst, a weary skunk with matted purple and white fur, wiped the stinging drops of the sea off his cheek. Pulling his royal blue fisher’s tunic tight to ward off the chilling wind, he stood back. His second-in-command, a periwinkle hare named Rou, closed the hatch to the hold, securing the haul.

Pulling off his brown gloves and stuffing them in his pocket, Lan made his way to the port of the ship, where his daughter Lavender was alone, peering down into the gray-blue ocean. She had the same deep-purple fur as him, and was dressed in an electric-blue gi and darker sweatpants. The wind blew her long white hair away from her face, revealing her bright cyan eyes, which Lan also shared.

“Seems to be a standard operation today,” Lan said with a gentle smile. But Lavender’s face remained serious, not looking at him as she spoke.

“It’s still a while back to Arowana’s Wharf,” she said, “what if Mom’s right about Jiao?” Lan sighed, knowing he wouldn’t be able to reassure her. His wife, Lavender’s mother Zisa, was a member of the local Black Market in their fishing village of Arowana’s Wharf. Recently, she’d discovered rumors that their banking director, a rat named Xing Jiao, was hiring pirates to raid and hijack the village’s fishing junks. Lan had been a fisherman for nearly 35 years, it was the Wharf’s main source of economy, but within the past few years it had become increasingly difficult to keep up with demand, while their fleet of junks became more and more worn out. On top of that, the fishing hauls continued to dwindle as the pollution from the nearby city of Fuyou Zhong drove the sea life away. The junks were more of a liability to Jiao, it seemed. He’d stand to make five times as much money from the insurance on any junks claimed by pirates than he would on any meager hauls of fish the workers would bring in. But there was only paranoia and suspicion, no real evidence. Two crews of junks had been missing in reported accidents in the past month, but Lan didn’t want it to be true. Zisa had been worried about him, and had instructed Lavender to join him on this mission, just to keep an eye out.

“I can’t make you feel better about this, Lavender,” Lan said. “But I need you to remember your place while you’re here. If something does go wrong, you are to hide and observe, understand? You’re not on the crew list, so as long as you stay hidden you’ll be safe.”

Lavender grew frustrated, throwing her arms up and backing away from the railing to face Lan.

“But I can fight!” she insisted, pulling out one of her twin sais from the leather straps around her chest. “Mom trained me for this.”

“I know, but the bigger picture is more important. If Jiao is committing insurance fraud using pirates, we need your proof. You got that?” Lavender sighed, tilting her head down to look at the metal deck.

“Yes, Dad,” she said quietly. “I’m just frustrated.” Lan gave another warm smile before placing his paw on her left shoulder, her height nearly equal to his. Slowly, she looked up, their matching cyan eyes locking with each other.

“I see a lot of your mother in you,” Lan said. “Mind you don’t get into trouble.”

A loud crashing interrupted the moment, Lan’s ears perking to attention. A few members of his crew had knocked over a stack of metal lobster cages, causing them to shout at each other. The skunk captain hurried to address the issue before tempers could flare, leaving Lavender alone next to the railing.

Absentmindedly, she twirled the sais she had taken out earlier. A year earlier, her mother had let her accompany her to one of the Black Market’s secret dealings after Lavender had successfully infiltrated Director Jiao’s flagship, the Red Dragon’s Fortune. There, she had bartered for the twin forked daggers she proudly wore on her straps. Along with the sais, she had a single round potion bottle filled with a fluorescent green mixture she was experimenting with attached to the strap that acted as a belt. It was a new concoction she’d invented which combined her skunk musk with other ingredients to make  a disorienting cloud when activated, though she hoped she wouldn’t have to use it. Trying to relax, Lavender gazed out at the calming seas and overcast silver sky as the fisherman got back to work.