The heartless conqueror

Of The Sea

"Kaurvaki!" Jagthnath yelled. "Kaurvaki!", he yelled her name again.

He peered over the rocking boat into the clear blue water, still, he saw no sign of his daughter. He sighed, "she has gotten too daring these days..."

Kaurvaki was already down into the land of blues and greens. She loved the cool touch of the water, and the clarity of the sea allowed her to observe the diverse species of plants and fish floating about!

She had flung the net wrong on purpose. She'd rather stay secluded at the bottom of the sea than take in the stench of live fish flopping in the air as their life slowly drained away. Contrary to her upbringing, she didn't particularly enjoy the slimy fish smell, she more-so tolerated it. And the way the dead fish would stare at her in the corner of their eyes, it was very unsettling.

Her father said she was born to be a fisher-woman, but the way she remembered it was otherwise.

The first time, she had been five years of age and Jagathnath led her out on the boats.

The child curiously scanned the surface of the blue tides, clapping in delight as the little fishies leaped from wave to wave.

"Now Kaurvaki, let's focus", he gently steered her attention.

"Alright...now", her father lugged out a medium-sized fishing net, "watch".

She observed Jaganath fling the intricate net into the sea, puzzled. "Baba...what are you doing".

His eyes twinkled, "watch".

To her bewilderment, hundreds and hundreds of fish became prisoners of the net. The scatterbrain of a 5-year-old was momentarily transfixed by their raw color and beady eyes. As their life drained away, so did their brightness, and the fishies didn't seem so shining anymore. The net was the villain! 

She'd found a knife somehow, Jagathnath wasn't sure how, but many seconds later, the fish had made mayday out of that net faster than he could blink!

Luckily it was just a practice expedition, or else the entire crew would've given both Kaurvaki and her father an earful for losing a week's worth of catch.

He had to explain to her how they were fishermen, and the job of the fishermen was to catch fish. Though reluctant at first, his daughter had gotten the hang of it.

It wasn't that she didn't like being one. She enjoyed weaving nets, the salty air of sea, swirling around lazily in lagoon water. But the fish...she'd rather swim alongside them in a castle of coral than have them for supper.

She scanned the bubbling water around her. There were small corals at the very bottom, though she couldn't quite see them. Then there were the smaller fish floating around, these were the more beautiful ones of the latter. She spotted a black striped seashell with a very smooth shape a  few feet away. She waded out more and grabbed it for later.

Jagathnath was up looking over the boat. "This girl always takes so long!", he muttered to himself. "Alright, Kaurvaki! Hurry up!"

Kaurvaki heard a muffled sound. She rolled her eyes, then realizing she was in the ocean, started coughing and squeezed her eyes shut.

Idiot! You need to be more aware in the ocean!

But she couldn't reach the surface until she had unsecured the net from the caught hook.

She fiddled around in the water. It was only so long she could hold her breath!

Ugh! This happens every time!

She tried navigating her way in the water. There was some rope or net piece that she needed to feel. She started panicking.

What if I had swum too far. Na... don't be crazy. 

She wasn't afraid of the situation she was in right now, just the situation after that. How was she going to explain to her father why she had taken so long?

She slowly moved her arms around until she felt a rough knot soften in the water.

This led her to the edge of the boat. Her brain felt like it was crashing against her head by now.

She moved under the boat, being careful to make sure it didn't bump her head and unhooked the nets.

Jagathnath was starting to get very worried. He called for his daughter again, peering over the edge of the boat. He was about to dive in when her head sprang up gasping, coughing, and horribly drenched in sea-salt water.

"Kaurvaki!", he pulled her up into the boat. She was coughing very badly and was looking pale. Her normally long dark-wavy hair was in a mangled dusted with a bit of salt drying from the sun. 

She wasn't stopping her coughing, so he decided to end her troubles the old way.

He raised his hand, and slapped her back with a thud!

"OWW!"

Jagathnath sighed in relief. She was fine, and not too happy.

"Baba! That hurt!"

"Well, I'm not the one who decided to go sea venturing and nearly get herself killed!"

He put his hands on his hips and raised his eyebrows, "So? What were you doing."

Kaurvaki looked up at him and groaned as she collapsed on the floor of the boat.

"Baba! What else could I be doing! I'm really tired now. Can we PLEASE go back."

He stared at her.

"Pleeeeeees".

He huffed. "Fine".