Jaws vs Asotu

The wailing of the sirens was blaring out over the coast from the speakers in the harbour.

Someone had radioed ahead, it seemed.

The quay was filled with a throng of people. Now it was a throbbing mass, each component trying to go in a direction.

“Steady, there is not cause for panic,” one of the mounted police tried to assure the people.

If anything, it had the complete opposite effect. Cass shook her head. She could have told them that had been a bad choice of words.

This wasn’t happening, the people thought; those close enough to see what was going on anyway – and that wasn’t all that many. If anything else, all those boats out watching the Kalawa were in the way for any decent view – unless you happened to be up a bit higher.

A lot of those were scrambling to be the first back into safer waters.  The ocean might be big, but there wasn’t a lot of room to manoeuvre when everywhere around you, boats, ships and canoes were turning, colliding with each-other, rigging coming undone and general pandemonium was reigning.

The large grey body bumped into the keels of a couple of the boats, gliding through the water without almost any effort, rose to the surface for a moment and then disappeared again.

A couple of the more experienced asotus barked at their fellows, ordering them into line, some of the fastest ones swimming guard around the pack. They might be smaller than the shark but they were a lot more agile.

There was a frantic activity among the boats. A lot of the handlers arguing about whether they should just abandon the kalawa or stay and do battle.

The asotus too seemed in two minds. Some were paddling towards their humans as fast as they could while others were rolling and diving and trying to anticipate where the large predator would strike next.

It wasn’t like they weren’t used to fighting things ten times their own size. There were several among them that had broken their teeth on Puru. They had already proven themselves. Now they were needing to do so officially.

Silly really.

There were even some stragglers who’s humans had been too busy with rebuilding that they’d been held from taking their kalawa tests since Kelenken. Few of them were lacking in experience – just the papers to prove it.

Chali turned in the water, diving down further and further until she’d established where the bottom was.

She might have been only a pup when Puru had ransacked the island and while the grey asotu didn’t really remember the event, the same spirit that had seen a small bedraggled furball face down a blue glowing minions several times her size (even as her legs had been shaking) was still filling every inch of her body.

Besides, if the shark was being attacked by all the noise her companions were making, almost like it was being baited, then it would be looking up, not down. That worked in her favour.

Somewhere far above her, the fawn female she’d gotten to know as they’d been doing their practice runs together, wasn’t nearly as happy about the idea.

The only thing missing was the shark, and when, gliding out of the blue darkness like a silent shadow, it came, Chali promptly allowed it to pass only to dash forward and grab hold if it at the last moment.

It wasn’t easy to hold on to.

The giant shark twisted this way and that. Stop nomming my tail! he thought. I just had it cleaned. D’you KNOW how much that blasted whale-wash charges these days?

----------------
9.5TP



--------------------------
Pretty obvious where I got the inspiration for this from Although, at that size, it looks more like a megalodon strayed into the waters around asotu island