A Pirate's Life for Mei

Sniper

Hanging out in the bay, waiting for the cat to wake up and depart, she saw more and more creatures in the water around her. Was this what the ocean had been like before humans had come along, so alive and full of wonderful things? She spotted fish of all colours, a rainbow under the sea. There were even a pair of sea turtles! Too bad neither was big enough to haul her away to safety. But it was exciting seeing these famous beings for the first time. Feeling brave and safe enough from the jaguar this far out, she dared to duck her head and take a look under the surface.

The water was so clear! The fish shimmered like jewels. A tiny ray swam by, flat body impossibly graceful. She stood back up, gasping for air and laughed at how beautiful it all was. She might be in prison but she was seeing sights like this for the first time in her life. Who would have thought?

She looked to shore and saw the jaguar laying on its side, watching her. Well, it could watch all it wanted. She was thankful that cats hated water.

As if it could read her mind, the jaguar lazily rolled over and got to its feet. Then it padded down to the water's edge. Hesitating only a second to sniff the surf bubbles, it casually sauntered into the ocean.

Mei's jaw dropped as the jaguar doggy-paddled (kitty paddled?) around in the blue water, like it was perfectly at home there. She freaked out. That was crazy! Cats didn't— Oh, wait, wasn't there a species of big cat that liked water? Was that jaguars? Then again, hadn't she seen pictures of tigers swimming, too? Actually, she'd seen footage of lions splashing around in pools and rivers while hunting. Maybe being scared of the water was only a house cat thing.

Luckily for her, the jaguar did not seem inclined to swim towards her. It paddled about, just enjoying the swim. Fish seemed to catch its eye and it watched them go by. But when a sea turtle swam close, the jaguar got excited and dove after it.

She laughed as she watched the great cat trying to catch the turtle with no luck. Then she realized that she had an opportunity. With the cat in the water, should she return to the beach and make her escape?

Or should she try the same thing she'd done with the sailors and try to kill it while it struggled in the surf?

She watched the jaguar dive again, only to come up empty as the sea turtle smoothly swam off. No, she was too soft-hearted for that. It was a wild animal. It was only doing what came naturally to it. And it hadn't even been hostile to start with. The first time she'd sighted it, the great cat had just watched her from up in its tree. Even the second time, when it had come out of the grass and surprised her, it hadn't necessarily been about to attack. She'd been the one to lose herself and shout at it and shoot at it. No wonder it had treated her like a threat after that.

Killing it felt wrong. There must be another way for her to survive. Except...the jaguar was swimming closer. It saw her. It watched her. And it was paddling towards her.

Breathing hard and too nervous to make for shore, she foolishly froze. And saw a dark shape go by underwater.

The cat chased after it. After the sea turtle.

She stood there, bouncing slightly in the saltwater. The rapier was hidden below the surface in a nervous, iron grip.

The jaguar was so close. All she had to do was lunge forward and stab. It wasn't even looking at her. Its flank was wide open. She could drive the steel into its ribs or its belly. It would fight back; it might even kill her. Or maybe she could swim off and let it die in the water.

All these thoughts flashed by in an instant. Yet despite the temptation, she stayed her hand.

Maybe it was because she'd grown up in an era of growing environmental awareness. Ever since she was a kid in school, she'd heard the message that animals were dying out and needed to be preserved.