Meow! Fish! Meow! Hunter! Meow!?

[BlacKitten]

Fish.

They were slippery little fellas despite their silver scaly bodies suggesting otherwise. Deceptively evasive despite having no arms or legs, just a pair of tiny, weak looking fins and a tail. They were many of them, swimming in the blueish-green waters.

A hot, tropical summer weather, Koneko Miu wore a pink tank-top with thin laced shoulder straps, a pair of blue shorts, and a white sandal. Her chestnut-colored hair was tied up in a ponytail; her golden-hued eyes watched attentively and curiously at the lively little sea creatures meandering their way along the coast of Grove 1.

Kneeling, the petite seventeen-year-old girl stared past her own reflection and began predicting the movements of these fishes that alternated their speeds and movements to make sharp turns. Holding a long wooden shaft in her hands, the young fisherwoman began to gently submerge the net into the waters, slowly maneuvering the crisscrossing ropes with little resistance as water naturally passes through the gaps.

The key wasn’t to target the fish’s current location right now but to target the fish’s future location. While the brunette couldn’t foresee what hadn’t unfolded already, she can learn the patterns of movement. In addition, she can use crosses of elimination as to where the fish would move next. These sea creatures tended to move along a two-dimensional plane; the concept of up and down did not seem to exist for them. When fellow fishes pass by them, they can either ram into them to evade her net or swim right into her trap. It was at that moment of time, that her patiently waiting net snuck up in a flash, scooping up two fishes in one clean motion.

They weren’t all that large, but she wasn’t planning on feeding anything more than her own stomach. The two silver fishes frantically flopped and squirmed in her net that was now out of the water and in the dreadful air where these freshly caught prey couldn’t breathe.

An almost sadistic and ravenous smile grew on her face as she presented them towards the cruel fate that awaits them. The sound of sparks sounded in the distance as a fire was prepared on a pile of dry wood within an encircling ring of stones to keep the flames in check. Several shaven sticks stuck out of the ground for impaling the fish as they slowly burn to death over the hot, fiery, reddish orange fire.

“Breakfast time!” the happy-go-lucky girl cheered. She had just arrived on this island on her little ship, coming from her home island which was nothing but a war zone. She had never explored the outside world before, but this island was like a paradise. The water had a strange tint of green; there were plentiful of species of fish in the waters. The grove she currently resided in had a myriad of fish shops with fishermen and fisherwomen all passionate about the same thing as her: fish.

What an amazing island. Mangrove trees hundreds of feet in the air with a rich, lush greenery. Warm, tropical temperatures under the bright sunny sky with shades provided by the towering trees. Fresh, clean air that was devoid of the scent of gunpowder and blood. She had no idea that such a pleasant island could exist. The only thing that was missing from this place were cats.

[Phantasma]

    Taking a hand to his head, swiping his left head to the right a fine splatter of sweat lifted off. Kite had yet to get used to climates such as this, the hot air was seeping into his clothes and his previous activity had left his brow more than a little soaked. Perspiration licked his hair to his forward and he did his best to comb it back with his wetted left glove. The wild grass beneath his boots made for a crisp gallop as he explored the docks, waved off to the nameless merchant vessel that had dropped him off. He flashed a hollow grin at the bright eyed cabin boy, more or less a mess of red hair strapped to a squirrel-y little body in a worn sailors uniform and the thin stick of an old man hidden behind a hyper massive beard and hair combo. Odd to look at, kind folks, didn't even ask the Hunter for payment.

    He left into town with his pockets feeling a little lighter, it only made sense to pay them for services rendered. And that lump sum of berri tucked under their log post would be found eventually. Just to be safe the silver haired lunk increased his pace to a slightly frantic speed walk. Clearing tavern, clearing shops and clearing all the way to the outer edge of whatever civilization called the inlet home, it was only in that solitude could the guy catch his breath and think for a bit.
    
    Fishing his gloves into his pocket he pulled out a wanted poster, read over the contents once more and recommitted the image of the lawbreaker to memory before tucking it back in after it was folded a bajillion times. Supposedly there was a fishman, or at least some horrific looking scaly blob making a name for himself by punching holes into the sides of ships that come around these waters. Taking a trip in that old mans dingy had been a way to draw them out but Kit Kalisto now assumed a more direct means was needed. In silent affirmation of this fact he nodded his head, his hair flicking back and forth behind his neck, thumping against that somber black and red suit of his.

    The next few minutes were a buzz of just him making rounds through the shoreline and the small dips of the mangroves that populated the island. He took note of whatever shapes he could see beneath the waves all the while of thinking of someway to get a closer look. He settled for just people watching-- fish watching for now. Creeping low, sitting low, he used the greenery around him as cover as he waited for something to happen, someone to happen. By the time something did however it was nothing beneath the waves, it was something in the air, a kind of burning, it was clearly someone starting a fire and in turn having the flames waft something onto the air. It still didn't prevent the hunter from shooting to his feet and using both hands to firmly grasp his weapons. Only relaxing when the cooing of overhead gulls and splishes of running water weren't interrupted by cover fire or shouting.

    The cooking fish attracted his attention once more as he sighed, a million things clearing out of his head as the possibility of an attack was no longer hanging overhead. A heavy prominant brow relaxed and his, surely white pressured hands, relaxed off their respective cross-shaped daggers dropping back down into his coat pockets. 

    'Yea, I'm getting way too worked up... over a guy who can punch holes into ships. I really need to sleep more, first things first though I should probably check out what that fire is. Could be the guy, could be something else,' Kalisto confirmed to himself, abandoning the notion of idly spying for now since his cover had been disturbed and curiosity replaced hunting instinct.

    It would be a while before a ship came to dock anyway, judging from how small the place was. No one came out when the old man arrived or left, so Kalisto was oddly okay with just walking right towards the aroma. Weaving through root systems, under mangroves, tiptoeing over moss and walking through tall grass. He'd likely be heard by the skilled fisherwoman loooong before he made an appearance since he wasn't trying to be sneaky.

    That silver hair of his and those clothes made him look more ghost than man when he finally stood tall looking down at both the flame and the girl. Crossing his arms, tilting his neck up sharply to flop his bangs back over his head and flashing a flat grin for a second.

    "Not one for the company of a barkeep are ya'? Or are the fish really that good?" He tried to adopt a teasing tone, not wanting to lose momentum he continued.

    "Call me Rondo. Just came into port, got a little impatient and smelled your fire-- saw it once I got close enough. Gotta admit having a meal outside in a place like this would be fun. If not for the weather-- You alright if I join you for a bit? I could use the distraction. You seem pretty interesting too, if you don't mind the assumption," He offered, a touch of genuine compliment to his tone.

    This was mostly all for show though, and he was finding it hard to keep up the nice guy attitude, his smile nearly turning into a frown multiple times. His body language was... different than his words?

[BlacKitten]

Taking a squirming fish out of the net, she held it firmly in her left grip. Despite how slimy and slippery the shimmering creature was, the youth had enough skill to grip hold of it, preventing the poor suffocating fish from escaping. She then punted it at the back of its head with her right fist. With a sharp decisive blow, she rendered it unconscious. Next, she adjusted her grip on the fish such that its belly was facing towards her, and with her right hand gripped a small knife and swiftly stabbed the belly with the sharp pointed tip before cleanly slicing it across towards the tail, creating a slit for her two fingers to then be inserted and remove the body cavity that contains the guts that’s then tossed directly into the flames. Next, she scraped her blade along the skin of the fish, scraping the scales off entirely. Next, she skewered the wooden sticks through the open gaping mouth and out of the slit that she had already created. Finally, she pieced the stick back into the ground as it slightly leaned towards the flames, beginning to be cooked. The girl repeated the steps with the other fish in her net; dexterous hands rapidly slitting the flesh, removing the guts, skinning the scales, and skewering it through the mouth and out the slit.

Finally, she held both sticks in her hands, hovering them over the open flames, gradually rotating the corpses for her breakfast to be thoroughly cooked from all angles. Her nonchalant golden eyes stared at carcasses throughout the entire process, completely unfazed by the seemingly cruelty of killing and cooking living creatures that she caught herself. She was a survival; doing this much was child’s play for her.
Slowly, Miu raised her head and turned at the sound of approaching footsteps. A tall, lean, silver-haired man strode towards her, speaking to her with what sounded like a friendly tone. But with a single glance, she could tell that this man was not native to this island. With a simple visual comparison with his appearance to the civilians, he had a different attire altogether. He was sweating as if he wasn’t used to the hot tropical climate of this island. His towering height, red eyes, silver hair, he looked like nothing like the others who wear tunics and trousers of light, thin material.

The brunette smiled warmly to the man named Rondo, “Of course, would you like a fish?” She outstretched her right hand, offering the man to grip onto the stick if he so chose so. Naturally, he’d have to cook it himself if accepted the undercooked fish right now. And the youth didn’t mind sharing some of her food for she could easily catch some more fish should she wanted a bigger meal.

“My name is Chika,” she reciprocated the introduction in kind except her body language remained consistent to her welcoming tone. There was something strange about this man, but her expression didn’t reveal her observations.

[Phantasma]

"Haha, could already tell I was sneaking up to steal them? You caught me, I came all the way here just for the fish," He flashed his picture perfect teeth, taking the stick into his right hand and promptly sitting down.

    With little more than 'omph' out of his tight lipped mouth he was sitting on a butt sized rock and elevated above the grass, dirt, sand and ashes from the fire. His dark colored clothes were bathed in the dark cool shadow of the overhead mangrove trees and that exotic shade his eyes had only seemed to glow in the dim haze of the morning. Everything about him screamed grace, he just looked so relaxed and natural sitting by the bank of the fire, and for a time he simply admired the crackling flame before tucking in his stick to the dirt allowing his fish to bask in the warmth. The crackling flames providing an excellent background noise to the next sentence the young lady uttered.

    Kite met her stare, his eyes adopting a lazy half lidded nature as he forced himself to relax further so as to be as inconspicuous as possible. He could tell when he was being sized up, and though he had no proof this entire exchange was more or less a standoff between two predators. Sure Kite looked out of place, and Chika seemed to be not only used to the weather but matched the attire of the sparse folks the Kalisto youth crossed by. The main give for him, one that caused him to choke on his words while he locked eyes with his hostess, were her eyes.

    Metallic gold discs, unnatural in their color and unlike anything the man had ever seen. He wasn't enraptured by her, enchanted, but they made him momentarily more curious about their owner. Nearly dissolved the entire game he was playing. He mentally jabbed himself in the side for being so careless and he quickly let out a hasty cough, running a hand through his hair to smooth the frazzled ends down and sweep what little sweat that pulled on his face. Both gloves were now mildly damp, forcing their owner to set his hands palm down across his bent knees.

    "Chika? Nice to meet you then. You're far too kind to have offered me food so, I guess I'll be a touch more honest with you. The reaaal reason I came out here was because this place is so hot. I'd like to be nearest to the sea to feel the tradewinds, to be cooled. I didn't dress the part for tropical weather and between you and me I couldn't pull those outfits off. Ah... but even if the weather is a sinful level of heat, the wilds around the inlet are just flush with life. It's a wonder a place like this isn't subject to being a resort-- but that might just be from a lack of constant traffic. Apparently for whatever reason ships have stopped coming around as of late, I was lucky enough to even find my way here and I doubt me going through all this trouble just to visit a friend is a good sign," The silver haired liar continued to prattle on, despite going through his teeth to construct this elaborate rouse he never faltered.

    For once his body was perfectly stilled and there were next to no gives he was putting all this together on the spot. When put under pressure he was working phenomenally to probe his friend, to try and see if she had anything to say.

    Among the many possibilities, Chika being a local, Chika being another bounty hunter, Chika being a criminal, Chika being a blackmarket auctioneer-- there was way too much that Kite Kalisto didn't know! And he didn't get this far from being trusting, or being honest. So he was going to play it close to his heart and do his best to collect information. Get Chika to open up as to why she was out here, or even if she had seen some kind of lead Kite could use. He needed to work quickly, partially out of annoyance of the climate and potential discovery. Though that last part was more paranoia about his mother and the nobles back at the Kingdom.

    The fire flickered, spat cinders, shadows played around the two and for the tall lanky hunter the darkness traced across his face and dove into his hair. Chika might've been clawing out fish mercilessly earlier, but the aura around this guy was even more dead stilled than those marine carcasses skewed in the sticks.

[BlacKitten]

The brunette sat against the rocky flat extrusion from the ground as she held her fish over the flames, watching it attentively to ensue it’s being cooked thoroughly and properly. Her peripheral vision kept track of the movements of this man named Rondo who accepted his share of the fish and sat down across from her.

According to this man, ships had been coming to this island less frequently, and he mentioned having the intention of visiting a friend here. For someone who he’d just met on first sight, this man with red-eyes sure was giving out quite a bit of details that seemed unnecessary.

“Hmm, is that so?” Miu uttered as she pulled her fish close towards her eyes, spinning the stick around to analyze every detail of her meal. Carefully, she puckered her lips and blew the steam away, cooling the fish down a bit. Her eyes could visibly see traces of natural oil oozing out, a very delicious sign indeed. She seemed relatively uninterested in the man’s narrative and much more enticed with her delectable, scrumptious-looking fish.

The youth repeatedly sniffed the fish, taking in the natural fishy scent before blowing on the carcass again. “So, you came all the way here, intending to steal the fish had I not offer it to you, huh?” She was more interested in the very first thing he said. Her mind was nothing but images of seafood.

Before she could begin drooling, she meticulously bared her fangs onto the flesh of the hot, crispy, oily fish. Her face melted with a heavenly expression. The natural oil from this species of fish provided a delicious, savory flavor on her tongue. Taking little nibbles in order to not burn herself, the brunette paid little attention to Rondo as she was far too distracted by her breakfast.

“Well, you should eat up too, Rondo,” she advised him. Otherwise, the fish given to him would be wasted. “It's best to eat it when it’s fresh,” she added as a frozen, preserved fish wasn’t quite as good as a freshly caught fish.

[Phantasma]

    Heat licked the underside of the fish, stroked heat into the deadened insides of the fallen prey. Cooked, steamy and simmering was the state of the delicacy as the stick was hoisted clean from its dirt trough. Held tightly in a gloved right hand, the stick was braced nearest to the middle by the left and brought to Kites nose. Sniffing slightly and then blowing the odorous steam wafted off into the air above, breathing around the stranger until he elected to eat. Taking free his left glove by biting the index fingers tip in his mouth, collecting the folded fabric in the same hand and pocketing it in the left chest pocket-- the satin accessory sharing a slot with a red embroidered hanky carefully kept out of sight. His hand skimmed along the surface of the fish and picked clean what scales were left, ripped at the flesh in clean swipes and made sure to avoid the bones, guiding the tender meat to his lips as he briefly closed his tired eyes and sighed in content as he enjoyed the meal and let the silence wash over himself and Chika.

    When he opened his eyes next a pile of discarded scales had formed near him and the stick nearly bare of the fish. He stopped himself, patted and clear his lips with his hand and stuck the stick firmly in the ground away from the fire pit and nearest to him. Crossing his arms over his left knee, bracing himself and leaning forward while his hands touched their opposing elbows he spoke. Continued the conversation in a remarkably more cool tone, something that was far less tried. Syllables were more fluid, less stressed and informal-- but most importantly it probably felt more natural. Even if it was delectably more colder.

    "It was a joke, the one thing I could never do was steal. Lie and cheat maybe, but stealing from a person always seemed to bother me," He breathed, his eyes tracing over the green forest floor.

    His sight followed all the way along some creeping vines that had begun strangling a nearby tree. Forming a spiraling staircase of violet leaves and red stems that dug into the tree bark. Insects avoided it, everything avoided those vines. In a forest it was organisms like these that were the most successful, parasites that stuck closely near thriving organisms. Never killing them, since that meant death, but getting just enough out of them that they could get by.

    Very suddenly he tilted his head, looked over his shoulder at Chika. Ruby pools appraised his audience before he spoke, their crimson depths like moon pools that silently watched from the curtain of messy silver hair Kite was blessed with.

    "You know, you had me going for a bit. I thought you were fishing or something, it occurred to me you might be some kind of dockworker or fishmonger. You're far too pretty for that though," Despite his words there was absolutely no warmth to that statement, and before long he had rotated fully on his rock and now supported his chin with his degloved right hand staring dead ahead at Chika.

    "You're like me, not from here. I'll admit this is more intuition then irrefutable fact. Call it a suspicion," He shrugged, rolling his shoulders and keeping his lips a thin line with his eyes keeping that tired half-lidded stare.

    "The fish was amazing by the way, I thank you for it," He nodded, taking the stick in his left hand before finishing off his meal and leaving the bones wired into the wooden stick, staking the oversized toothpick into the ground.

    The shadows that danced from the firepit were in a war song beat around Kite, circling around his feet and shrouding halves or both sides of his face as he looked at his hostess head on. Violence wasn't in his heart, wasn't in his body language any more. It was as if one was looking at a bowel of water, rippling and active as it moves but hardly expressive.

[BlacKitten]

“Ah!” Miu understood that the stealing her fish part was a lie. “That’s good.”

Supposedly, Rondo had something against stealing while lying and cheating were fine by his methods. The same couldn’t said about her as she was known to steal from the enemy’s supplies in times of war in order to strengthen her side while weakening the enemy side. Be it food or weaponry, stealing was a valid means for survival to her.

As Rondo spoke in his now cold, detached tone, contrasting his tone from earlier, he expressed his initial impression of suspecting her to be a dockworker or a fishmonger.

“Hm!” The brunette grinned. “You think I’m pretty?” Apparently, this man thought she was too pretty to be working in those professions. From where she came from, people did refer to her as Nekohime.

After Rondo complimented her on the fish being amazing, Miu closed her eyes and smiled pridefully, “Of course!” If there was one area in cooking that she specialized in, then it was seafood. Any fish-based dishes, she excelled in making them.

Opening her golden-hued eyes, the girl glared at the cold demeanor of this man with a whimsical expression, “You’re talking a lot differently than before.” She noted that Rondo started with a forced friendly approach, but for whatever reason, he then chose to put on this cold, calculative demeanor. “Were you putting on an act earlier? Is this the real you?” She pondered out loud.

“I wonder why you decided to switch tones now,” she expressed her reasoning. Her eyes glared at him sharply as her tone grew serious, “Is it because you got what you needed to know from me? Did you really come to me just for the fish, or was there another reason?”

Pulling the skeleton off her skewer, she tossed the bones into the flames and impaled the stick back into the ground. Despite the already humid climate, sitting around a fire did very little to help their situation. She’d imagine it was far worse for Rondo than it was for her, solely from the way they were dressed.

[Phantasma]

    "That's not a yes, then," The bounty hunter let out a deep sigh as he rose from the rock, groaning as he did so and letting his fabric slightly sag to collect and pool against his form. 

    Taking his palms he patted down his backside and his legs straightening it all. Finalized by him taking the discarded glove from his shirt pocket and putting it back around his hand, adjusting it around his wrist and tucking it in where he needed to. Precious seconds went by as he flexed his fingers working them into the material, facing towards the fire looking as if he wanted to grab it. At last, the whole show coming to a close after a minute he turned to Chika and tucked his hands into his pockets. 

    He made no move to get his knives, but in the event he needed them he had clear access. At a moments notice he could fling them out of their solid cages and stab them into whatever danger charged him. 

    "Regardless of how pretty you are, or how well you cooked, in a manner of speaking yes... I used a different tone. I had to," The bounty hunter inclined his head a bit letting his hair down before rising to meet his gaze with hers showing that uncomfortable deep crimson of his. 

    "It's hard to trust people as a bounty hunter, it doesn't help matters that I think I've seen you. Now, before you shoot up, I'm not here for you. Wouldn't even collect your bounty if you had one since you dont strike me as a bad kind of lady-- quite the opposite actually since you shared your food and haven't made a slice at me yet," He paused, taking a breath and straightening up some. 

    "I'm here in an attempt to flush out a fishman, a pirate whose hidden here and is giving his people a bad name by going out of his way to attack any ship he fancies that ports here. For personal gain, for personal entertainment, whatever, it has to stop," Rondo cleared his throat before turning to the shore, exposing his back to the Neko as a show of trust. 

    He walked forward some, feeling the wind slide against his face and carry away the uncomfortable damp. He sighed and shivered a bit as his body was cooled and refreshed in a matter of seconds. The cold air penetrating his clothes, circulating around in the fabric. Now he was just coated in various amounts of cold sweat, which was better than humid sticky sweat. The sight of the ocean trinkling just under the roots filled his field of vision, the open ocean stretching out under a clear afternoon cerulean blue sky. Clouds hanging up nearest to the blinding white sun like wings on some massive plump bird. 

    Without warning the man looked over his right shoulder and continued his conversation. At the start of this introduction his voice was soft and teasing almost matching how young his face was, the one he chose to use and had been using was rugged and hard boiled. Something you'd imagine hearing what a higher officer in the marine would sound like, or some kind of high roller pirate. A mogul. 

    "I'm glad to have gotten to met you. I truly wish my powers of observation weren't so poor that I'd have to stoop and do this. Partially because it takes away from my initial goal, but because it also wastes your own time and my own," He admitted, turn around fully and adopting that now familiar arm fold across his chest. 

    He crossed the ground once more, crunching leaves, smashing them and grass into the dirt before the soft ground of the campsite hid the slightly heavy steps he made. He only stopped when he was at enough of a distance to Chika that he could sustain a low volume vioce, and he used a quiet enough pitch that any prying ears would have a tough time hearing, covering his mouth meant folks couldn't see his lips move either and at most all it did was slightly muffle what he meant to say. 

    "My name's not Rondo either. It's Kite," He paused a bit, leaning down a bit to try and be head level with the young lass. 

    "I do lie, I do cheat. But I've had to in order to survive, to make any form of living out of this kind of work. I'll not tell a soul you were here, in turn I need you to tell me if you've seen this man," Kite enunciated his words carefully, pulling out the folded wanted poster from his right pocket and unfolding it in both outstretched arms holding for Chika to see. 

    The contents of the poster were far from flattering. The usual 'Dead or Alive' letters were scrawled past the portrait and the value of the catch was marketed in the range of 10,000,001 beri. The appearance was a massively, massively bulked up fishman of some kind though the vaguely human look suggested a merman. Just from the picture of his face alone those perfectly triangular traps around his thick neck suggested immense muscle. His skin was a pale white, whiter than even Kite. His nose was a flat button that was pushed against his angular face. A sharp chin sculpted the face to drag and made it look more like an elongated banana versus a oval or circle. His mouth was a jagged purple line filled with sharp looking teeth. And those eyes were shut beneath wrinkles. Scars battered the guys face, crossed under his eyes and looked almost like tears, the rest of the details were obscured by the mop-like black hair that nested atop the fishman. 

[BlacKitten]

Hmm. He’s a bounty hunter?

Miu took a slight interest. She had never met one of those before. While it was true that she had a bounty, the quantity was far too low to be worth any hunters’ interest. Fortunately, sharing her food with this man had aided in earning her some trust; at the very least, it seemed he didn’t see her as a hostile entity. This seemed to suggest that while he hunted those with bounties on their heads, he was only interested in those who were more nefarious.

The man eventually revealed his true intentions for being here. Apparently, there existed a pirate who had been attacking ships around here. So, the decline in ships passing by here wasn’t a lie after all. She hadn’t noticed anything of the sort on her way to this island for the girl wasn’t entirely certainly was constituted as the norm around here.

Fishman?

The fish-loving youth felt conflicted about that word. She didn’t know what a fishman was exactly, but she wondered if it was edible and tasted like ordinary fish.

“I have lots of spare time, so don’t worry too much about wasting mine,” said the brunette who rather enjoyed this man’s company. His presence gave her something to think about.

Kite?

She had suspicions that the man had lied to her about something, but she wasn’t sure which part was the lie. Apparently, his name was at least one of those lies. Fortunately, she had already reciprocated the lie by giving an alias of her own. “My name isn’t Chika either. My real name is Miu,” she corrected her identity form before. “But, I don’t mind if you continue to address me as Chika either because I think it’s a cute name.”

Kite began to ask if he had ever seen his target before.

“I see,” the brunette nodded, understanding Kite’s position better now. With a wanted poster presented to her, she looked at the wrinkly brown piece of rectangular paper with a picture of a strange creature. It was humanoid, yet with the pale-white skin, flat nose, purple lips, and an oblong face, this figure didn’t appear entirely human. Was this what a ‘fishman’ supposed to look like? And, it had over ten times the bounty than her own – all that from damaging ships.

“I have not,” she answered sincerely. To her recollection, the youth no recollection of ever encountering such a hideous looking creature. “But,” the girl stood up from her seat, grabbing the shaft of her net as she strode towards the shores. “If you understand the patterns of your prey, then...,” with a clean stroke of her wooden polearm, the brunette quickly scooped up another fish, now flopping inside the crisscrossing ropes, “… you can predict where they’ll make their next move.”

Droplets of water trickled down, casting rippling rings against the greenish-blue waters which disturbed the fishes down below.

“You said that this target of yours likes to attack ships,” said the girl as she walked back, quickly killing the fish, slitting its belly, removing its guts, and scraping off the scales. “Then have you tried to bait him with a ship worthy of being attacked?” she suggested. Understanding the movements, habits, and patterns of one’s prey was a crucial to predict their next move and to manipulate them to dance in the palm of one’s hand. If Kite already knew what his prey’s desire, then he had the power to lead and entice his target into a trap.

Skewering the fish with a stick from before, Miu patiently began cooking the carcass over the open fire as she sat back in her original seat, apparently not having her fill yet. Her meal was halved than she originally intended due to this bounty hunting showing up. Now, she had to cook another one just to make up for it.

[Phantasma]

    "It's not to simple Miu-san. Even while we've been eating fish, sitting by the fire, I haven't heard a ship dock once. This guy... Hawes Drace, he's clearly hitting here because he knows just when a ship's about to arrive," Kite proclaimed rather ominously, looking up at the sky and sighing a bit as he cleared his throat and began to walk back to his rock.

    Taking the paper into one hand he tightly folded the parchment into a series of smaller squares, each time the paper touched itself a little more of it disappeared while the thickness doubled. Before long it was deposited into his left pocket, a cube of its former two dimensional self. Meanwhile the folder took to sitting himself and once again folding his arms across his knees, idly looking back at the cat-girl before continuing his chatter. The way he walked, talked, seemed to be a lazy crawl at this point and every word he chose clearly had some meaning. A stark contrast to how much he was babbling before.

    "When I smelled the fire I initially thought you were some lookout and you were trying to signal Hawes but, if he's really attacking ships seaside it could easily be he hates humans. I also couldn't tell you were lying about your name," He added with a shrug, unwrapping his right hand from his knee and gesturing off in Miu's general direction with a satin wave.

    "You could've injured me at any time. Especially after I revealed all this," He nodded before retracting his hand, turning his head to the shore and placing his chin onto the outstretched length of his arms.

    Another long rolling breath exited his body, his chest heaving out and then slowly going back. Plans fluttered in his mind and for the first time in a while he was silent while he contemplated their next move, taking into account he had one more pair of hands. He retraced his steps and what he was thinking about days prior coming to this inlet. About how he was going to go about doing this assuming that there was some kind of shore contact-- because nothing short of physically sitting at the docks could've given a person that kind of advantage. It would have had to have been someone that was always in possession of knowing just when someone was going to arrive.

    In less than potentially two minutes the silence was broken from a manly gasp coming from the general area of Kite Kalisto. Those red eyes of his were beaming with the spark of an idea, and they locked onto Miu, a ghost of a legitimate smirk was upon those lips of his.

    "Why would he be putting people on shore to watch for ships? Why would he just be doing all of this solo by watching from the water? He isn't. Can't. No one can be in that many places at the right time... and on a small island like this," He took a pause for a dramatic effect.

    "A shop. A shop on this small island would need a regularly timed restock and that's how he's been doing this..!" Kite immediately went to his feet in a flash of black fabric, his coat tails fluttering in protest towards the rather fast extraction.

    "Should've realized that the moment I set foot here, really must be losing my touch," Kite muttered to himself in a brief moment of disdain before pocketing his hands and heading towards Miu, his intent was to offer his hand to help her up since she seemed oh-so keen to see this through.

    Instead he stood perfectly still, his eyes growing wide as a loud sound pierced the under-grove. Even this far off that piercing drumroll that echoed high and low was very clearly a gunshot, and from the harsh impact to a nearby tree it was damn close. The wood splintering sent pins of alertness chattering through the bounty hunters body as he ducked low. His crouched form leaned forward and pushed off the dirt, stirring up a cloud and wave of forest dirt, as he attempted to not only extinguish the fire but tackle Miu safely to the ground. He used his left arm as a brace to initiate the grapple, and if she managed to avoid it she'd at least know what direction to land in. That shot had been to their backs, meaning whatever it was had to be off to the shore, directly in front.

    "Yoiyoiyoiyoiyoi.... yoi," A laugh gurgled from the water, the ordinarily placid surface erupting into a cloud of disturbed murky fluid, a solid shape moving behind the brief curtain and clouding the horizon.

    "Me-sa be thinking you ate the scouts because-sa you be knowing they-da watch you. But-sa to be thinkin' the smarty spies be children-da? Yoiyoiyoiyoiyoiyoiyoiyoi!" The laughing continued while the water pelted plant life and water alike, the owner of the rather grating nasally voice bleeding into sight.

    It was an exact photo-perfect replica of a nightmare that could walk. That button nose, that impossibly sharp chin that practically dragged the face down with it as well as those squinted lined eyes! But it didn't stop there, the skin was a blinding shade of white while the entirety of its surface was dotted with scars or bruises of some kind, even a few tattoos. A black stringy mess of hair flowed from the peak of the fish mans head and carried around to his waist, hiding a majority of his back and parts of his upper shoulder. His chest was huge, his arms were equally as massive ending in razor-sharp points. He was bare chested and every line, every sag, every... inch of his disturbingly large torso and arms were out of the world to see. Most laughable of all perhaps was his lower body. Wearing a pair of orange and white Hawaii flower swimming trunks were these itty-bitty looking sticks that somehow supported such a disproportionately large body. Much like watching someone slip on butter or a slick surface the figure bobbed and weaved up the sides of the roots and headed towards the camp site, cracking his knuckles as he did so.

    "Me-sa already-a be seein' you do the ducking. No use for the hidings!" He proclaimed out with glee and an embarrassing amount of confidence!

[BlacKitten]

Miu gleefully watched her fish being cooked over the open flames while listening to Kite theorizing over the mystery of the ship-attacking fishman. Rolling the skewer between her fingers, she rotated the marine animal around and around, allowing heat to be absorbed into it from all sides.

According to Kite, the fishman, Hawes Drace, hadn’t been attacking as of late due to the lack of incoming ships arriving at the dock. But to the master seafood chef, that wasn’t much of a problem. There were two reasons why this was beneficial to them. First, if no more ships are arriving, no more ships could be attacked. Any when a ship does inevitably arrive, they can catch the culprit in the act through the simple assumption that the target seemingly knows whenever a ship arrives as Kite mentioned.

Kite continued with mentioning his suspicions of the youth acting as a lookout and trying to signal Hawes. He also didn’t notice that the girl lied about her name.

Miu laughed. “I’m not doing anything sophisticated like that. I’m just here to eat fish, nothing more, nothing less.” She had a very simple lifestyle. It was as the saying goes: ‘If life gives you fish, you eat them!’

“Hates humans huh,” she stared at the fish that she had just killed.

Is it because I’m eating their people? But they’re so delicious.

Then again, fishes ate other fishes, so hating humans for eating them would just be hypocrisy.

As the bounty hunter continued to theorize and ponder deeply, the skillful fish murderer began gently blowing the steam away from her second round of roasted fish on a stick. She noticed that this man was acting a bit differently than even just a few minutes ago. First, faking friendliness, next cold and detached, and now more expressive and openly explaining his thought process. There was a clear evolution of trust being established between them.

BANG!

A gunshot resonated, a sound the girl was all too familiar with. A sharp piecing impact onto a mangrove tree trunk; it had missed. Or perhaps it was a warning shot. The sound unexpectedly came from the waters by the coast that they were dwelling in. As her golden-hued eyes flickered in the direction, she caught a glimpse of an ugly white-skinned creature just before being tackled to the ground by Kite who’s reacting to the gunshot in a protective manner. The girl rolled softly on her back, now looking skywards at the beautiful mangrove branches above with lush greenery. Nonchalantly, she shoved the body of the cooked the fish in her mouth, slowly chewing the hot oily soft meat that was just about ready to be finished anyways.

Next, she heard a strange gurgling laugh from the bizarre creature in the waters who spoke the human tongue with a weird speech pattern.

“Mm?” With the fish held in her mouth, Miu looked onward with a casual glance at the fishman. Was she eating a scout right now? Did fishes even have the intelligence to know how to scout? She had always thought they were dumb creatures who lived for the sole purpose of giving her their nutrients.

The talking humanoid marine animal in the waters appeared just like the picture of the bounty poster that Kite had showed her, but Hawes Drace was a lot uglier looking in person than in picture.

The brunette turned her eyes towards her net, lifting it up by the shaft and glaring at the rim of the hoop that supports the crisscrossing ropes. “Hmm…,” she hummed to herself with the fish in her mouth before gazing back at the hideous looking creature.

“I need a bigger net.”

[Phantasma]

    Miu was close to Kites chest by the time the voice started growing closer, pins and needles coursed through the bounty hunter. His nerves firing, screaming, demanding that he get ready for a fight. He barely registered rolling to the side and letting the brunette stand and get her grounding back, rising to his own feet in less than a few second after. Wind sheared past the group, a fine spray of water from the reverse cannonball the fish man had performed. He was deceivingly fast and by the time the hunter though to duck behind some trees it was already too late, he cursed that fact.

    "Hawes Drace?" Kite called out, his hands groping around to rest on the hilts of the crosses attached to his hip.

    "Me-sa Hawe-s Drace-da," The fish man answered, rounding around them and cutting them off from fleeing the scene forcing the duo to turn if they wanted to keep track of him.

    The rancid odor that curled off his sleek form nearly made Kite gag and he had to take breathes in through his teeth. He wasted no time and immediately turned on his right heel to fly into a jab with his unsheathed knifes. A flurry of bright shiny metal kissed the open air as the hunter performed his strikes, his limbs more like a blur than solid shape, his body followed a similar pace as it flung towards the fishman.

    "FWOOOOOOOO," Bellowed out the fishman, opening his mouth wide, possibly as big as his own head.

    From within that chasm came out a flurry of transparent ghostly looking bubbles that distorted the air and whatever showed through them. The current of that sud-y attack was much like a column and the only gaps existing therein being tiny, sparse or nonexistent. It forced the charging swordsman to kick his left foot out and divert his path to that of nearest to the treelines of the nearby mangrove, the path that led back to the city. Rather than throw the needle-fine weapons the hunter instead started running around the fishmans backside, but Hawes was ready for that and spun on his tiny tiny legs, becoming noticeably quicker as he did so.

    "You-sa bout'-da finding that me-sa quick to!" The poisonous sweetness of his words sat in with mere moments to spare.

    He was deflating, that tall broad body was getting smaller and smaller as the bubbles flooded the nearby area sticking to the ground or trees. If they weren't careful, it could be them too. At this point additionally the swollen pirate had been reduced to the state of his legs, lean and scrawny like drift wood with his head being the only well-proportioned part existing. That hair of his wafted and the bubbles nearest to him just idly hovered, curiously he wasn't making any moves to track or follow Kite as the hunter tried popping and cutting his way to him.

    This whole time Kite had gotten maybe a few bubbles stuck to him while the vast majority were popped, but he was starting to find it difficult to maneuver. In his focused assault of trying to fling himself at the pirate he had failed to notice something that perhaps his friend would. Every step, jump, carried him for a little longer than should be necessary. By now he was barely making any noise as he walked. He was floating, ever so slightly.
    
    The bubbles sticking to him were starting to lift him off the ground. How he wasn't noticing was a mystery but perhaps it lay with the nature of Kite's assault. His expression was no longer calm or a fake-friendly, it was a grin. A mad kind of grin, while his eyes had a dark flame lit up in them. A hungry fire that clearly wanted to consume whatever was in front of him.

    Hawes let out a yawn and chuckle as he watched his bubbles being plowed through, intent to instead turn his attention to Miu. His eyes were glued to her and he smiled showing those sharp glass-shard looking teeth. With a wave of his hand he intensified the bubbles in her direction hoping to get a few on her as well. This whole fight might just be in his favor.

[BlacKitten]

Chewing on her beloved fish, Miu watched attentively at the skirmish between Kite and Hawes Drace, human versus fishman. Unblinking golden gems observed curiously, nibbling mouth draining the juices and oil from the roasted fish on a stick. It was like watching a theater play with front row seats.

As much as she enjoyed eating seafood, the brunette had to admit that this creature did not look particularly appetizing. But, this fishman sure had some fun-looking abilities. With a loud bellow, Hawes unleashed a stream of bubbles from his large gaping mouth.

“Ooo!” the girl's eyes sparkled in awe as the pretty soapy bubbles floated and drifted about.

She watched as Kite run towards the trees and strategically tried to target his foe from behind. However, the aquatic being had another trick up his sleeve. The white-skinned fishman began to deflate like a beachball with a punctured hole, making his body lither and thinner. While Hawes hadn’t made any actions to demonstrate his increased speed, he deflated right after making the remark that he can be quick as well.

“!” Miu stared at the bounty hunter curiously as the man began to float off the ground during his frenzy. To her surprise, the bubbles that were struck onto Kite were uplifting him into the air and reducing the momentum the man was trying to generate with every movement.

That looks fun!

Soon, her turn was about to come as the fishman sets his eyes on the girl. He had a smile full of sharp triangular white teeth. With a single gesture of his webbed hand, Hawes manipulated the lingering bubbles in the surroundings, directing them towards the girl.

With a meat-less skeleton of a fish being held in her mouth and a regular net attached to a wooden pole in her hands, the harmless-looking girl, who was sitting on her rocky seat throughout the entire scene, was ready. Slowly, she began to stand up before pivoting on the balls of her feet with the grace and fluidity of a dancer. Her arm swung to the side, swooshing her net to capture the nearing bubbles into her net and finishing her moment with a downward flick of her polearm towards the campfire.

A net full of bubbles smashed into the hot burning black timber full of ashes, sparks, and smoke. The intensive heat was enough to pop the accumulated bubbles almost simultaneously.

“There we go,” said the brunette who resourcefully used her fishing net and the dying out flames of the campfire to eliminate the bubbles which this creature seemed to be capable of controlling.

“You-sa bout’-da find out the power of a fishman!” The now thinner Hawes Drace lunged for the girl with a sudden propulsion from his feet. “We’re-sa ten times stronger than you-sa humans!”

“Mmm…,” Miu held a playful look on her face. She had no trouble believing that this wanted fishman, with a bounty tens times her own, was significantly stronger and faster than her.

Taking a single stride forward, she held her shaft with both hands, turned her waist and swung her arms with an overhead swing. Suddenly, a rain of debris began flying towards the incoming fishman.

“Hot-sa!” The white-skinned marine creature was bombarded by randomly flying pieces of burned, glowing timber, ashes, and powdery soot. “Hot! Hot! Hot!” The scorching hot temperatures stopped the fishman in his tracks, just a few strides away from reaching the girl.

A cheap trick from the human girl, one that couldn’t be repeated. His bubbles may have dwindled down, but he could always recreate more. However, in his deflated form, he couldn’t release nearly as many bubbles as demonstrated earlier. The fishman bellowed out with a wide-open mouth, "FWOOOOOOOO!"

Intercepting the Hawes’ timing, Miu responded by grabbing the tailbone of the fish skeleton in her mouth and flung it forth as if it were a dagger. She was no expert with throwing knives, but at this range and with such a giant gaping hole of a mouth, it was hard to miss.

A streak of white pieced through the initial cluster of bubbles and struck him right into his ginormous mouth. “Kah!” He froze stiff, choking as something was caught in his throat. The spiky ribs of the skeleton pricked against the interior of his mouth, an uncomfortable sensation.

Stepping inwards, Miu delivered her final blow, thrusting with the butt-end of her shaft into the solar plexus of her opponent. Her attack forced the fishman to cough out the skeleton before staggering back.

He’s pretty durable.

The brunette quickly leaped back. She thought her last assault could do more damage, but the fishman remained standing.

[Phantasma]

    "You got some moves Chika, time to show you mine!" Kite howled out with glee as he continued to charge head long into the bubble cloud, popping and swiping at the floating orbs in a flurry of movement. 

    Each splatter was replaced with a tag along to the formal wear sticking to Kite. He was like a black blur as he went about collecting bubble after bubble, turning on his heels, ducking, sliding, twirling around to thin down the herd until only a scant few remained. Even when the current of smoke pooled up from the burning net or when Miu lodged a fishbone into the bounties gullet Kite was still on clean up duty. The conclusion of the minutes sweep was the gentleman now had a mass of translucent orbs sticking to his back that defied the pull of gravity. At this very moment Kite Kalisto was slightly airborne and that grin was now a toothy smile as he kicked himself off the ground towards the bumbling fishman. 

    The guy was winded, didn't even have time to react when Kite bashed into his backside with his right elbow. The full body spear caused the form of the nonhuman to shudder and a satisfying crunch echoed out into the surrounding air, but Kite was far from done. He used the flesh that gave, the bruised spot, as a pivot point to whirl around to the fishmans front and deliver a series of fast jabs with his knives, only instead of the sharp points somewhere during the transition he had flipped them around to their pommels. 

    He pummeled the fishman with the pommels directly into his gut, a spot previously sore thanks to Miu. 

    "BLARGHACKHCKFLPSHPSHHHH," Hawes heaved forward and launched out a final spray of bubbles onto the bounty hunter, in a storm of withheld suds he disappeared. 

    Kite was more bubble than man and started heading skylong, but not before he waved to Miu with a cocksure grin planted on his face. For a second his teeth even looked slightly angular, sharpened, but one couldn't be sure when he was speedily heading off towards the sun and clouds above. In but a few seconds apparently the addition of all those bubbles had him climbing feet, yards, sailing at speeds that left his clothes to flap in the wind. Even Hawes who was just now recovering had his jaw drop a little before he triumphantly posed with his hands on his hips. 

    "Me-sa should-da be the knowin' that-sa you kiddins' be the dumbin'! Me-sa bubblin' can send ya' flying! He-sa making the big booming soon! Yoi yoiyoiyoiyoiyoiyoiyoiiiiii~!" The pirate laughed and lightly tapped his belly as if to avoid the massive bruise the two unlikely allies had left. 

SPOILER: Click to show

{Spoiler}

    Meanwhile Kite was nearing the canopy of the Mangrove trees when he finally decided that he had ridden the lift long enough. Unceremoniously he took his blades in either hands and proceeded to pop the massive bubble that had slowly coalesced on his back. A gentle sigh exited the mucus prison as the shape was violated by a swords edge, wind roared in the bounty hunters ears as he dropped meters down to the forest floor all the while spinning his blades, taking care to loop his fingers around the hilt to further their acceleration. He was like a massive quiet anvil, his form fitting clothes giving little to flip away in the wind and give the fishman reason to look up. 

    "Deep," Kite spoke, the wind snatched his words and distorted them causing the fishman to flinch as he looked left to right, moving his arms before making a mad dash towards Miu clearly intent on stopping whatever she had planned. 

    But it wasn't her talking. 

    "CUTTER!" Kite Kalisto blasted his voice out at such an octave it sounded more like a warsong than a voice, at which point the fishman stopped dead in his tracks and looked up. 

    His eyes, for once, opening into massive white dinner plates with tiny little black holes. His tongue lulled out of his mouth in a sharp point while he pressed has palms to the side of his face. A nervous kind of scream formed and escaped his body before the impact. 

    In slow motion the hunter fell seemingly, feet just before the impact the image of a bird clawing its prey came to mind. Those spinning blades were angled perfectly with their hilts to ram against the thickened skull of the fishman in the hopes of knocking him out from sheer concussive force. The force of the hit being made known from the uncomfortably loud bang, the collision of Kite forcing the fishman to the ground and the fact that the target no longer moved other than an occasional leg twitch. 

    The silver haired diver was tossed off seconds before the criminal hit the ground and a few groans were given as he shakily rose to his feet, dusting himself off with knives in either hand. Eyeing the downed pirate with a grin still plastered on his face. His breathing, slightly labored, his body, sore and his clothes kind of dirty. 

    "Would've... taken a heavy rock to down him. Had to improvise... got the idea once the bubbles hit, heh," Kite winced a bit, bracing his side and wobbling a bit before he steadied himself nearly turning his fingers white from how hard he gripped his blades. 

    He didn't think the guy was downed, or if he was, not for long. 

[BlacKitten]

Standing aside, Miu held her fishing net her back, smiling innocently in front of the pufferfish fishman who’s coughing repeatedly to regain his breath.

While his back was turned, the fishman was ambushed by a sudden assault from behind. Light as a feather, the bounty hunter had heightened the speed of his engagement by taking advantage of the bubbles stuck onto his body, providing an upward lift. An elbow struck the white-skinned amphibian in the back followed by a barrage of blows in the front. A spray of bubbles involuntarily covered the blade-wielding man even further, enough to cause the human to suspend up into the air.

The fishman laughed out loud at the sight of the bounty hunter being sent up into the sky, further and further away from the ground. Despite the blows he received, the aquatic creature remained standing, turning his attention back towards the girl who stood at a safe distance away as if afraid to get close. Hawes pressed his hand against his neck angled his head downwards while tensing his face. Appearance-wise, this little girl should be child’s play for someone like him. Humans were weak. He shouldn’t be having this much of a hard time, but just seeing that sweet smile of hers was enough to throw salt to the wound. It wasn’t as if he was up against some muscular brute of a man; it was just a single unarmed cute little girl with nothing spectacular about her. But every time he tried to do make a move, this crafty little annoyance had countered it with some cheap trick.

“I don’t think I can beat you in a close-range brawl,” admitted the youth, holding the shaft behind her back and leaving herself wide open. There was a sense of confidence in her face as if to say that no matter what the fishman does, she had something up her sleeve to counter it.

While Hawes wholeheartedly agreed with her statement, he had to remind himself that this could very easily be a trap. Perhaps this girl was just trying to entice him to get closer. But he could see viable way for her to defend against him. All she had was a wooden fishing net that he could easily snap in half if given the opportunity.

Immediately, the fishman rushed towards her with a more cautious expression on his face. But, unfortunately, he was being wary of the wrong person this time.

Without looking up, Miu’s peripheral vision took notice of a plummeting man, diving straight towards the fishman from above. “But I think I can at least distract you,” said the girl who closed her eyes with an air of certainty.

Immediately, Hawes looked up as Kite slammed down. Hilts rammed against the skull of the fishman, rendering the victim to collapse on the ground.

In contrast to Kite who seems to be staggering with his clothes stained with gross-looking substance, the brunette stood idly by, appearing relatively unscathed. By relying on tactics and trickery, she didn’t have to exert much energy.

Sighing in relief, the girl took ease, “I didn’t think you’d find your target so quickly.” This all started with the bounty hunter looking for Hawes who’s been attacking ships that arrived onto this island. But rather than setting up any elaborate traps, their target came to them, making the first move.

But her eyes soon widened upon sighting a pair of webbed hands gripping the ground, fingers digging into the earth as the white-skinned, purple-lipped fishman began to rise. “Me-sa not done yet!” Bloodshot fish eyes fueled with rage. Hawes began to clamber up, directing his rage at the one who struck him in the head.

“Watch out!” Miu called out to the bounty hunter for the wanted fishman planned on targeting the man first.