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Sapphire blue surrounded me, the occasional glint of light reflection passing over my peripheral as I gazed straight into the endless array of open water. Every twenty seconds or so an enormous sea creature would gracefully swim directly in front of me, causing me to smile as I watched their gills move.

Something I took notice of each time I came here was the way adults stepped back and children cowered when the Great White shark glided along the glass closest to the visitors of the aquarium.

I took a few steps closer.

My smile expanded as the magnificent creature gracefully moved through the water directly in front of me. It felt as if she noticed my presence specifically as she circled around the enormous tank and passed in front of me once more, slower than before. Amusement laced my grin as I chuckled a little at the large fish who almost seemed to be showing off for me.

Most people would say she's a scary beast, motivated solely by irrational anger and selfish hunger.

What I think is that she is deeply misunderstood. Scars stretched over her vast body, only adding to the menacing appearance that was observed by others from a distance. I never understood that logic.

Shouldn't we be afraid of the thing that gave her the scars?

Sighing deeply, I felt a pang sharply pierce through my chest due to the nostalgia that the shark provided me. I've been coming to visit her since she was rescued and brought to this aquarium for rehabilitation. I tried my best for a while to not become too attached as I knew she would be released back into the ocean upon her full recovery. But I couldn't bring myself to avoid her like everyone else did.

"Don't worry," I murmured as the graceful animal slowly passed in front of me again. "I don't think you're scary."

My voice was so low and quiet that I didn't think anyone would hear me, yet I found my cheeks began to heat up immediately as someone spoke up from beside me.

"Her name is Jaya. Short for Jayachandra."

My head naturally turned to guide my eyes to the source of the voice, finding that it belonged to a young woman slightly taller than me with caramel skin and short brunette hair. I briefly took notice of the lanyard around her neck, identifying her as one of the aquarium employees. She met my gaze and offered me a smile that resembled a heart shape, and I gave a minuscule tilt of my mouth in return, probably not as charming as her expression.

"Jaya," I echoed, flicking my eyes back over to the Great White. "Did you find her in Indonesia?"

The young woman seemed shocked by my words and watched me silently for a moment with wide brown eyes before responding. "Yes, how did you know?" She chuckled, sliding her hands into the pockets of her jacket.

I hummed and observed the graceful movements of the large fish as I explained. "Jayachandra is an Indonesian name meaning 'the one who won'. Also Indonesia suffers the most from plastic waste and pollution, and the scars on her tail and abdomen mimic the shape and size of a plastic six-pack ring."

Immediately feeling embarrassed for rambling, I bowed my head and avoided eye contact with the stranger who stared at me in silence.

Shut up. you're so annoying, my brain told me.

"That's very observant of you," the woman replied with a smile, surprising me. "You're right. We found her off the coast of Maluku with a six-pack ring stuck over her tail. It must have been there for quite some time as her skin was healing and closing over parts of the plastic. We brought her back here so we could safely sedate her and remove the ring painlessly."

Mild anger sizzled in the pit of my stomach at the idea of innocent creatures like Jaya suffering such painful experiences all because some jerk couldn't wait to find a recycling can. People don't consider how severe the consequences of impatience prove to be. It made me sick with heartbreak.

"She must have been very scared," I mumbled, moreso to myself as I admired her scarred body gliding through the tank's waters.

The young woman nodded. "She was. It took a few months for us to gain her trust," she explained. "Now she lets us hold her dorsal fin when we swim with her."

My smile returned involuntarily at the thought. "That's good she's healing mentally too," I expressed. Lifting my eyes to the woman, I added, "It sounds like you played a vital role in her rescue and recovery."

She shrugged. "My mentor took the lead on rescuing her. I assisted in capturing her but not in removing the plastic," she informed me. "My job was mostly making sure she got plenty of exercise but didn't overdo it when her stitches were fresh. I'm mostly just an aquarist for the sharks here."

"That's cool. I bet it's fun," I replied.

She nodded. "It is. You should come by before six in the morning sometime. That's around the time I typically work with Jaya on her therapy," she smiled at me.

Nodding vigorously, the woman chuckled at my enthusiasm. "Okay. I will," I promised. "How do you help her? Does she cooperate?"

"She always does now. Sharks are extremely intelligent so I think she knows what I'm doing," she explained with an endearing smile as she directed her sparkling gaze up to Jaya who now circled the top of the tank above us. "A technique I found has really helped her recover is learning to drift more often."

My eyes returned to the woman as she continued.

"Sharks are more timid than we think. They appear so tough and scary but they feel fear. They don't typically drift unless they sense that they are entirely alone and are sleeping. Jaya needed to learn to drift more often than not when her tail was freshly stitched. I just swam alongside her and would gently press my hand to her wounds whenever she would beat her tail for momentum. After a few days, she seemed to understand what I was trying to do and learned to halt her movements and drift when I put my hand on her wounds."

My heart warmed at the thought. "Humans can learn from her."

"I agree," the woman nodded affirmatively before sending me a grin. "I'm Geunhae."

Attempting to return the friendly gesture with as much internal courage and bravery as I could manage for someone with little social skill, I replied, "Nice to meet you. I'm Chaisai."

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author's note
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Thank you so much for reading!

What do you think of the prologue?

This may seem uneventful or unecessary, but this introduction to Volcano will be important to keep in mind for the entirety of Chaisai's story.

Please comment & vote 💬⭐️