Hero of the Ocean: Princess Mia, Lets Put a Fierce Roar!
“See? See? I said so! It’s good and safe! I was right! My Emerald Star wouldn’t sink because of such a small storm. Oooh, just look at it! Not even a single mark! It really lives up to its name!”
Esmeralda was grinning like a winner for no reason she could explain. Mia’s cheeks twitched, a quick sign of frustration that was quickly silenced by the thought that help was on the way. As long as they got home safely, she was okay with Esmeralda’s bragging. The most important question was…
“What should we do then? I think it’s too far to swim…”
They were about 400 m (400 moontales) away was the yacht.
I’m glad help is here, but honestly, that’s a long way to swim when you’re hungry. If they would only come get us…
When she thought about it, she pursed her lips.
“It would be so much easier for them to send us those little boats. Can we get their attention from here in some way?”
Abel looked at the ship.
“A little too far to shout,” he grumbled.
“Okay. I’ll go first and tell them to lower the row boats.”
He looked like a brave knight as he nodded at them and then swam away.
“Ugh, it hurts me to ask Abel to do this hard job by himself, but swimming all the way there does seem hard…”
Mia had spent so much time in water that her mind had become like water in some ways. Of course, it only went in the direction she wanted it to, so she didn’t pay attention to more practical ideas like, “The closer they got, the faster the rescuers could get to them.”
Aaaah… The sea is so beautiful. Staying afloat is so easy. All you have to do is relax
She thought as she turned back into her favourite form, the Waning Jellyfish, and stared blankly up at the sky. In her jellyfish state, she only moved her eyes, following the vast, blue sky all the way to the horizon, where it turned aquamarine.
Then she looked at the water’s surface and frowned when she saw what looked like a…dorsal fin.
“…Huh. I wonder what that is.”
She just watched idly as it cut quickly through the water. After a second, a scream came from behind her.
“Oh no! M-Milady! L-L-Look! It’s… It’s a carnivorous fish!”
“…Eh?”
When Mia heard the words, they hit her head-on with a huge “Out For Lunch” sign that was blocking her brain.
She looked blankly from the fin to Anne and back again.
As it got closer, it rose higher and higher, and she forced her slow mind to think about how big a fish a big fin would belong to.
Then she got scared. Since it was a big fish. One big carnivorous fish. In other words, her life was in danger, and she was about to be turned into fish food.
“Quick! We have to get away!” Esmeralda yelled. “Try to swim to the boat! They probably already know and are sending out row boats.!
“Hurry up, come on!”
She took hold of Anne’s arm and pulled her toward the boat.
“Eeeek! Eeeeeek!”
Mia swam to catch up with them. She skillfully spun into a back float and, uh, flutter kicked for her life. She kicked and kicked with her small, weak legs, making a lot of little splashes that didn’t do much to move her forward.
With her growing fear and already questionable technique, she was basically just making a lot of noise and not getting anywhere.
On top of that…
“Eeeeeek! Eeeeeeeek!”
Because she chose to float on her back, it was easy for her to both breathe and see. In this case, the latter turned out to be more of a curse than a blessing because it didn’t block her view of the impressively thick and unnervingly tall dorsal fin speeding toward her through the water.
“Aaaaaaaah! It’s going to get me! It’s almost there!”
Usually, people couldn’t just swim away from big carnivorous fish, like the megalodons Mia was thinking about. The thing with this dorsal fin, on the other hand, didn’t seem to be in a hurry to get to its prey. It just followed her while she paddled furiously to get away, getting closer and closer as if to play with her.
Oh, you stupid fish, you’re trying to trick me, aren’t you? Hmph! If that’s the case,
Mia stopped and stared at the predator coming toward her. Her eyes hardened with the determination of a warrior.
If this is where she had to die, so be it.
Also, if that part of the Chronicles was true, she was about to beat this huge carnivorous fish into submission, according to that part. She still has a chance to win this fight.
With her teeth clenched and her jaw set, she let out a fierce roar that was just as impressive as the war cries of seasoned veterans charging into their last battle.
At least, that’s how she meant for it to sound. For everyone else, it sounded less like a scary “Raaargh!” and more like a squeaky “Meeeeep!”
Mia didn’t have time to think about such silly things, though. She had to beat up some fish.
She started swinging her arms around in big circles, just like little boys do on the playground when they think their fast-moving fists make an impenetrable bubble that keeps everyone out.
Her random flailing of her arm, on the other hand, did the unthinkable, and everyone, except Mia, whose eyes were tightly shut, saw a miracle happen!
Mia’s hand landed with a splat on the nose of the huge creature.
Yes, it did.
She hadn’t been able to make a full fist, so she had pretty much hit the thing on the nose.
On impact, there was a bit of give, which gave her a bouncy feeling that was strange enough to make her open her eyes. When she did, she saw her aquatic enemy’s dorsal fin quickly shrinking as it ran away.
Not long after that, a rescue raft got to her.
“Sweet moons! Miss Mia! That was nothing short of amazing! You beat back a huge shark with just your hands!” Esmeralda exclaimed as she reached out to help Mia.
Mia took it, and the raft pulled her up.
“H-Ha ha… Ha ha ha… O-Of course. Who do you suppose I am? That was easy. A piece of cake! In fact, I’m ready for more!”
She said this with a proud puff of her chest, then quickly moved to the middle of the raft and held on with all her might for fear of falling off.
Then, in a tone that was both firm and desperate, she said, “Well, I think it’s time to go back. What’s holding us back? Quickly!”
… Most of you probably already know that Mia did not beat a megalodon into submission. It wasn’t even a carnivorous fish to start with.
It was a calm, flat fish that swam upright. It was called an ocean fullmoon fish in science and a moonbow in everyday speech.
Moonbows were fragile and easily hurt. They could even die from bumping into a particularly rough rock.
Mia’s awkward punch-slap wasn’t strong enough to hurt it, though, so it got away unscathed.
Wow, that was close, the poor moonbow thought as it quickly swam away. Next time, I shouldn’t let my curiosity get the best of me…
So, everything worked out well for everyone, and the peaceful seascape didn’t change.
Author’s Note:
By the way, Ocean Sunfish = Sunfish, but Ocean Full Moonfish = Moonbow can be thought of as a similar type of fish that protrudes its dorsal fin from the surface of the sea…
