A Chance Meeting

“Jiang? Jiang, get up! It’s time to go shopping!”

Jiang groaned as the sun’s light filtered in through the window and stirred him from sleep, enough to hear his aunt calling him. “Just a few more minutes, auntie,” he mumbled, sinking his face deeper into his pillow, eyes glued shut. “Just a few more…”

“Jiang, come on! You don’t want to miss out on shopping, do you?”

He sank deeper into the covers, blocking the mighty sun’s rays with his blanket and groaning loud enough for his aunt to hear. “Just a few more…”

“Jiang Zhung!” he heard her say, exasperated. That was enough to get him rolling out of bed, yawning as he opened his room door and greeted his aunt with bags under his eyes. She smiled as he saw him for a second, the joy fading out into shock as she said, “Oh, goodness, you look absolutely exhausted! What on earth were you doing last night?”

“Not getting sleep,” came the grumpy reply. “Too many drunkards were out last night and causing a ruckus. Couldn’t sleep worth a damn.”

His aunt rested her head in her hand, concerned. “Oh dear, so that’s what all the noise was!” Her eyes narrowed a little bit as she asked, “And I suppose those yelps were from you dealing with the issue personally, right?”

Jiang looked away from his aunt, saying nothing. He did wake up in the middle of the night in time to hear them, then went down to tell them to shut up… Then he remembered the glass bottle smashing his chest, the anger rising deep within, and throttling all of them before heading back to sleep. It was a very good thing he had a shirt on: the last thing he needed his aunt to see the black-and-blue proof on his chest that he was up to no good.

Not that she needed to see it. “Oh, Jiang,” she said with a small sigh, pulling him into a small hug. “I know you did it because everyone needed some better rest, but there are better ways, you know? And it doesn’t look like it was worth the effort, especially if you’re still so tired.” Jiang felt a pang of guilt as she let go of him and smiled at him gently, like he didn’t just fight last night. “Either way, if you’re still sleepy, then I can go shopping on my own, okay? You just rest.”

The thought of going to sleep again was a relief, but Jiang shook his head as he replied, “No, I can go with you. Someone’s gotta carry the heavy stuff, and, well…” He frowned as he looked over his aunt and saw her legs trembling just a little. “You’re not in the best condition for that. Besides,” he added as he recalled Yin commenting on his “unique” smell, “I need to stop at the bathhouse, anyway.”

“If you’re sure, Jiang,” his aunt replied, her smile growing on her face, “then I’ll be more than happy to have you! You should visit the bathhouse first. Maybe that’ll wake you up a little more?”

A warm bath after a sleepless night with a fight? That was an offer Jiang simply couldn’t refuse. With a pep in his step, he hurried to get some clean clothes and bring them along as they made their stop at the bathhouse, eager to start the day fresh and cleaned of dirt and bad feelings.

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The town outskirts were lively today as several townspeople browsed the local farmers market for goods, eager to come home with bright red and green apples in their baskets or enjoy a glass of milk. Everything was noisy, between the people chatting amongst themselves to haggling with the merchants over the prices of freshly caught fish. Jiang found it hard to enjoy the lively atmosphere, however, as a few people gave him odd stares, the looks that all said, “Oh, it’s him.”

So he sat on a bench, keeping away from the general hustle and bustle while watching his aunt browse through the bountiful fruits, appraising each and every one of them as if she were a banker examining gold. Several townspeople approached her to speak with her, whether it be about the market itself or the latest rumor about Lady Ling’s love life. Jiang, on the other hand, was content to lay around and keep away from other people, catching a bit of rest where he could.

He was none too happy when someone shouted, “Hey, it’s Musclehead!” He sat up and turned towards the source:  a short, brown haired girl with a mischievous smirk plastered on her face. “Hi, Musclehead!” she said as she waved at him. “Haven’t seen you in a while! We all thought you might’ve gotten eaten by a wolf or something!”

“You mean you prayed I got eaten by a wolf, Yijun,” Jiang snapped back as he put his head in his hand and glared at her.

“Aw, Muscles, I would never do that!” Yijun said as she clasped her hands and put on her best innocent look. “I prayed that you’d come back, every night and day!” She looked towards the other people around the market, then back at Jiang as she added, “I mean, who else can do all my dirty work?”

Jiang rolled his eyes. “Good to know that you appreciate me for all the free labor. So, the heck do you want?”

“Oof, right to the point, huh?” Yijun put her hands on her hips, using one hand to flick back her long, brown tresses. “Come on, can’t you just chat with me like a normal person? I mean, I’m the only other person here that actually cares to talk to you.”

“Only because nobody else wants to put up with your shit.” He saw her look away and whistle innocently, trying to ignore the weight of his words. After a minute, Jiang sighed and asked, “So, what stupid favor do you want from me this time? And if it has anything to do with chimera pelts, forget it.”

“Awww, but the last one you got me made a fuzzy coat! It wasn’t that bad, was it?”

Jiang stared Yijun right in the eye and replied bluntly, “I almost died for your piece of shit coat. What did I get in return? Nothing.”

Yijun huffed, crossing her arms and turning away from him as she said, “Oh, my gratitude isn’t enough for you?” When he didn’t respond, she sighed dramatically and said, “Oh well. And here I was, thinking about actually helping you out. Guess it’s not all ‘You scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours’ in this world, huh…”

Jiang grit his teeth, glaring harder at the young woman sighing dramatically again and drawing the attention of nearby townspeople. He wanted to tell her to go fuck herself, but everyone’s stares made him uncomfortable. Eventually, it became too much, slumping and rolling his eyes as hard as he could without them falling out of his head before he asked reluctantly, “Well, what is it? I don’t have all day, you know.”

In an instant, Yijun turned to him, cheery as could be, clasping her hands together as she smiled. “Oh, so you’ll do it? Great! It’s nothing special, really… I juuust want you to go get a rainbow fish and get its scales for me, that’s all.” Jiang shot her another dirty look as she added hastily, “It might be a rare sighting, but I believe in you! I mean, you were lucky enough to come out alive after fighting a chimera, right, Muscles?”

You’re out of your fucking mind, you crazy bitch, is what Jiang wanted to say so, so badly, but with all eyes on him and the possibility of a reward, he replied, “Fine, but if all you’re giving me is gratitude, I’m taking those scales and giving them to Aunt Chun instead, got it?”

For a moment, Jiang saw Yijun grimace, before she replied sweetly, “Of course, of course! Now, chop chop, I don’t have all day!”

Jiang glanced over at Aunt Chun, whose basket was looking heavier and heavier with each bit of produce she got, then looked back at Yijun and said, “You’re going to have to wait ‘til I help auntie out. Unless you’d rather-“

“Oh, no no no, you can handle it!” Yijun said, holding up her hands and waving him off. “You do you, just make sure to bring me those scales, pronto!”

Both glad that she’d leave him alone for a while and annoyed that he was coerced into doing another stupidly tedious task, Jiang hurried to his aunt’s side to help her carry things while she finished up this shopping trip. He’d need a hearty lunch and a helluva lot of patience for this particular task.

If only Ning or Yin were able to help…

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The sun’s rays glistened off the lake’s clear blue waters, shining down as Jiang sat down in the grass and set up. He took a moment soak in the warmth, enjoy the spring breeze that rolled through the fields, listen to the gentle lapping of water on the lake’s shore. The scene was beyond serene, a nice change from the bustling farmer’s market. There wasn’t anyone to glare at him, nobody to bother him. It was just him and the water… and whatever lurked beneath the surface. He made sure to bring a bucket, just in case he caught any fish worth cooking up and eating later, and brought some good bait that a few local fishermen recommended at the market. Couldn’t catch a rainbow fish if he didn’t have what they wanted, right?

Well… maybe they didn’t want it so bad, because for the past few hours, not a single rainbow fish showed up, nevermind took the bait. There were plenty of trout and bass, and some that sort of look rainbow-ish, but none were actually the brilliant, seven-colored fish with shimmering scales. At least he was getting more stuff for fish stew, but Jiang knew he fucked up when he actually accepted the seemingly impossible task.

He set the bait and cast his line again, watching the waters with a bored look. The weather was nice enough that he started to doze off, catching a few more Zzzs that he missed last night. He might as well have fallen asleep right then and there…

Then, something tugged on the line. Startled from his rest, he tugged back, but quickly found that whatever took the bait, it was damn heavy. With a mix of curiosity and excitement, he started to reel it back, putting all his strength into pulling up this catch, hoping that maybe it was a giant rainbow fish of all things.

When Jiang finally pulled it out of the water, he stared as it flew overhead. If that was a fish, it was absolutely huge.

FLOP, it went onto the ground. There, Jiang saw his mistake. It was kind of a fish… and kind of not. They had a back fin like a fish, and scales like fish to an extent, but part of them was a lot more human than fish. Maybe part Kappa, given the webbed fingers. But they definitely had some sort of flowing, green dress on, with flowing blue hair cascading over their shoulder.

As the weird fish chewed eagerly on the big, fat worm on the end of the hook, Jiang stared for a minute before he took a step back, pointed, and shouted, “Holy shit, it’s a fish lady!”

The fish lady turned to him, removing the hook from her mouth slowly and tilting her head to the side. “Huh, fish lady?” she asked, her voice sweet and delicate. “That’s a new nickname, huh?”

Upon realizing that she actually talked and actually had feelings (unlike most fish), Jiang replied, “I mean, that’s what you are! You’re half fish, half lady!” He paused a moment, then asked back, “Wait a second, did you actually just eat that thing?”

“Uh huh!” the fish lady cheerfully replied, flopping her way closer to him. “It was pretty yummy, thank you!” Her cheer faded into confusion as Jiang continued to stare at her. “Oh, I’m guessing mermaids aren’t very common here?”

Jiang shook his head. “No? Not that I know of.” He paused for a moment, then added awkwardly, “So, uh, you’re welcome for the meal, I guess?”

“That was you who gave me that?” Her eyes lit up with joy as Jiang nodded again. “Thanks again! I was pretty hungry. Travelling around the river’s kinda tiring, and I didn’t really see anything good to eat. So when I saw that worm, it was like a blessing!”

“I didn’t really do that for you, though.” Jiang scratched his head, avoiding the mermaid’s gaze and trying to work through the awkwardness. “I was looking for a different fish. You just happened to be hungry enough to snag it.”

The mermaid’s hand flew to her mouth as she gasped. “Oh, I’m sorry! I didn’t really mean to interrupt your fishing thing, I promise! But I’m still thankful that you set that.” He managed to look right into her eyes just as she smiled, some of his tension ebbing away like the ocean waves. “In return, I can give you a hand with something! Almost anything! I don’t really have anything to do or anywhere to go, and this lake’s nice enough!”

A flood of emotions hit Jiang at once: shock that a fish lady would show him gratitude over a coincidence, gratefulness that she was offering him anything at all, confusion at the fact that something like her actually existed here of all places, and guilt when his first thought was about catching that rainbow fish. He couldn’t possibly shove that responsibility onto someone else, especially not someone he just met. It was a stupid task, but it was a stupid task that he accepted, even if the circumstances were a little unfair.

Quietly, he replied, “It’s okay. You don’t owe me anything, really.”

“You sure? I did kinda interrupt your fishing,” said the mermaid apologetically. “I want to at least make up for that.”

The temptation to ask was strong, but the guilt from thinking about that was stronger. “No, it’s… don’t worry about it.” Jiang rubbed his neck, then looked at his bucket of bait and asked the mermaid, “You still hungry? I have more stuff you can eat. You can have some fish too, if you want.”

“Really?!?” To be honest, he couldn’t help but smile a tiny bit as the mermaid beamed with joy. “I am still pretty hungry, so if you don’t mind…”

“Not like I’m gonna be eating worms for dinner, so why not?” Jiang grabbed the mermaid and slipped her back into the water before handing her a whole bucket of worms and a few smaller fish he caught. Gleefully, the mermaid tucked in, slurping most of her meal up at the same rate Jiang would devour a slab of steak. And that was pretty fast. So fast, it was a bit scary.

After a few moments of another awkward silence, Jiang turned away when the mermaid said, “You’re a nice person, you know that?”

He shrugged. “I dunno about that.”

“Well, I think you are.” She paused for a moment, and then asked, “Before you go, could you tell me your name?” Another pause. “You know, when we meet again! So I don’t call you stuff like ‘human’ and ‘musclehead’ and… uh, ‘dork’?”

“Musclehead” elicited a cringe from Jiang, but “Dork”? He snorted and replied, “Guess my name’s Dork from now on. Has a nice ring to it, sorta. But…” He turned back to the mermaid with a tiny smile, the wind rustling his hair as he said, “Jiang Zhung’s the name. And yours?”

The mermaid smiled back warmly, placing her hands together in front of her. “And mine’s Kailani! I hope we meet again. Until then, have a good day!”

As he headed back to town, Jiang turned back towards the lake and saw the smile fade, Kailani’s hand clasping at her chest. She seemed so… lonely, before she dove back under the lake’s clear waters.

That night, he promised himself that he would try to visit her often. It wasn’t so often that anyone, nevermind someone like him, would be able to talk to a mermaid. And it never hurt to make another friend, either.

Maybe he should thank Yijun for the opportunity to meet a mermaid-

…Nah, that was too wild, even for him.