Hissing waves stuck the dock moor in the twilight hour and the paling sky bathed the rushes in blue. The sun had not yet risen, and their boat creaked over the black water as the three of them pushed off.
Their passenger lay snoring, indisposed, paddy hat strewn atop a drunken face. Just like every other time, he had to pull both oars. It was a pupil's duty to move the school.
Funny how an outsider like him would also serve as its rudder.
Thankfully, just like every other time, it was as if she and him were completely alone. Once the paddles could no longer brush against the trappings of roots and rocks, it allowed for cleaner strokes as they pushed into the deeper darkness. She wanted to keep them, and part of training meant casting nets to feed them.
No matter which way the wind blew over the Devata River in this early hour, it always seemed to strike her head-on when she stood and leaned over the bow. Kenshiko brushed the frayed auburn hair out of her eyes and let it fall over her firm shoulders.
"Over there, Zosui." Two limestone spires rose at the mouth of the bay, their shadows like a gated corridor. The small fry stayed in the shallows, they had to make their passage to the wider sea.
The wooden frame of the boat rocked uneasily. The water was no longer so still. Balancing on the port frame, she held the harpoon, wrapping its cord around her wrist.
"Rice and eggs. Always complaining about the staples. Still, they stuck with us after all this time, I think they deserve a little treat once in a while." Ochazuke took the oars and pulled and the vessel rocked and swayed. "Local delicacy, a feast fit for a king, Hah, might be something different for an island boy like you."
By the time she told him to slow, the sky began to burn orange, and it seemed he was rowing them aimlessly through a pooled shadow where all the shapes bled together. Kenshiko's idle humming, the bored clicks of her tongue, and the understated snoring just past his seat were the only things that assured him he was not alone. A Tiger on the prowl, she'd been attuned to something, her instincts honed. He could hardly see her. Did she smile to herself, he wondered? Was it because she saw a target?
A sharp plunge, the scent of a salty spray wicked at his back. The silence was broken as a rush of bubbles broke the surface of the water. It was clearer now, and the first sun light broke over a row of iridescent scales between great rows of slimy, spined fins. The water struck them, he remembered, lapping as a great body fell back into the water.
"Just missed it. Come on now! If you want breakfast you gotta work for it!"
He sat behind her where she stood, perfectly balance as he pressed forward. The dark water slowly began to gleam. To see through this she depended on him to carry her ahead. She readied the barbed spear in one hand, the net in the other, and the kick of a great tail lashed forward as the creature changed course.
As he paddled, suddenly he felt himself lurched forward. The oar dipped beneath the surface of the water, causing the craft to swerve. Kenshiko's next throw took the serpentine fish right between the eyes and the line on her wrist snapped taut.
Ochazuke turned his head. As the bulky frame of the barbed fish hit the water flat, it drowned out the sound of vomiting into the bay. As Kru Kenshiko heaved the speared fish into the net, Arjan Kaibyo swore under her breath and turned back over to feign her sleep.
The Twin Tigers of Ori City. They shared the same face, but their sensibilities for the good of their inheritance were pronounced distinctly that day. One had seen a chance to prove herself; the other altered the course when she kicked the oars their student held. Caught between them, Ochazuke resumed the course as the sunrise rose over the salt spray mist between the mangroves.