Lucky fish

The salty breeze carried with it the cries of distant seabirds as Orchid soared over the sparkling expanse of the ocean. The sun was high, sprinkling the waves below in bright light and glitter. At these heights, overlooking the shores unbothered and free, he liked to believe he was a master of the skies and seas even just momentarily.

Angling toward the shallows where the ocean floor rose to meet the reef below. These shallows were teeming with life. Schools of silvery fish darted through the water, weaving between coral formations and clusters of seaweed. It was the perfect hunting ground and the depth was easier on Orchids’ ripped wings. His single blue eye scanned the surface for easy reachable fish.

Since his accident and his broken beak, hunting fish has gotten a lot more difficult for him. Fish just seem to squirm and slip his grasp too easily. Being left with just one working eye too doesn’t exactly promise for precision. Hunting fish was already a tricky game, demanding patience, timing, and no small amount of luck. That won’t stop him from trying. If not for food then just a little bit of practice and fun.

He adjusted his wings, gliding lower until he skimmed just above the water, the tips of his wing membranes almost brushing the surface of the waves.

Orchid’s first pass over the shallows yielded little. The fish were moving too erratically, and he couldn’t find an opening. Maybe his dark coat made him far too conspicuous or he threw too large of a shadow on the waves. He circled back and perched on a jagged rock jutting out of the water, his claws gripping the rough wet surface. He just needed to wait for the right moment or a better opportunity.

Below him, the reef pulsed with activity. Colourful parrotfish nibbled at algae-covered coral, and tiny gobies darted in and out of crevices. Amidst the bustling a large school of sardines swirling near the surface caught his attention. They moved in unison, their collective shimmering creating a hypnotic display. Orchid let out a hoarse hum as he tracked them, his head tilting slightly to guess the distance.

The school shifted suddenly, breaking apart as a predator below- he recognised the shape of some sort of reef shark- lunged through their ranks. Panic rippled through the sardines, scattering them in every direction. In the first moment Orchid was pretty deflated as the fish scattered, until the fish were herd his way.

Not particularly worried about the shark, the tapejara pushed off the rock with a powerful thrust of his legs and wings, diving into the water, beak first, like black lightning. His beak snapped open, and with a precise strike, he scooped a sardine from the chaos. His long wings flapped hard as he breached the surface, droplets of salty water running down his scraped crest.

Before it could slip away, Orchid tossed the fish into the air and caught it deftly, swallowing it whole, while he lazily floated on the water like a duck. He was enough of a lightweight not to sink like a rock. The sardine was small, barely a mouthful, but it was a start and the taste satisfying. He was starting to miss that.

A bit of paddling and getting carried by the shallow waves later, he found himself back on the rock he perched on before. It seemed like it was in the right position for a surprise dive, and Orchid claimed every advantage he could get.

Unfortunately, his next few attempts were less successful. Thrice, his dives came up empty as he missed the fish completely or they squirmed out of his grasp before he could eat them, and once, a particularly daring wave nearly knocked him against the rocky formations nearby.

The tide began to shift, and with it came new opportunities as the lagoons filled with more water. Larger fish had wandered into the shallows, likely chasing the smaller prey. Mackerels, speedy barracudas and eels patrolled the coral forest on the underwater landscape and rocky shore crevices for a snack.

Feeling a little reckless, craving for fatter meats, Orchid threw caution to the wind and threw himself at a particularly sluggish mackerel like an arrow. He launched from the rock, wings angled back as he dove. The mackerel twitched as it saw the shadow descending with intent to bolt away, but it was already caught. 

Orchid’s chipped beak pierced and grasped the unfortunate fish right at the gills and this time he emerged victorious, the mackerel wriggling furiously as it’s carried towards the shoreline.

The fish was heavy, and Orchid had to fight to keep his balance and not lose his grip. His wings paddled in sync with the shallow waves. Throwing the thrashing fish against a rock on the shore, the reward was worth the effort. With the fish stunned laying in the warm sand, Orchid didn't wait to tear into the mackerel, savoring its rich, oily flavor. The energy from the meal invigorated him, and he let out a raspy chirp of triumph.

As he rested, preening his feathers clean as best as he could and letting his body warm and dry in the sun, the ocean below him shifted once again. A dark shape emerged from the deeper waters, gliding smoothly toward the reef. It was an aristocetes, a massive marine predator, its body moving like a dart through the waters.

Orchid froze in his motions and observed as the predator slinked though the waters. He was far too small to interest such a beast, he hoped, but seeing one of these animals so close to the shores was uncommon. Let alone in shallow waters as these. The aristo was hunting, and its presence already stirred chaos in the reef. Sure enough, the predator lunged into schools of fish, splashed its fins in powerful blows to knock anyone’s lights out and even speeding after loitering seals and sealions as they desperately fled on land.

Orchid watched in a mixture of awe and respect as the fish were scattered in all directions, seeking shelter among the corals and seaweed. He couldn’t hunt like the aristo with its sheer size and powerful limbs, but he could pick at the rest he didn’t eat.

With his wings largely dried, the tapejara took to the sky again, joining sea birds and other pterosaurs that caught wind of the comotion. Circling high above the reef, from this vantage point, he could see the massive aristos' path, its broad tail churning the water making the reefside bubble like an angry potion in a cauldron. Fish and mammals were scattering farther afield, moving toward open water.

Some animals chased after the prey that were blinded in fright and pursued those that were swept into deeper waters, but Orchid decided to stay and circle the marine reptile below instead. It was a risk to dip into the sauce while it boiled, but he decided to try his luck and compete against hungry gulls for the scraps while it lasted. It’s not like he was starving now that he had a meal, more like this seemed like fun to join the frey.

Spending the next hours dipping his beak in the waters, fishing for leftover scraps, and keeping a generous distance from the enormous aristo cutting through the waves. The marine reptile could effortlessly eat him in one bite and swallow him whole, but Orchid felt oddly assured in the sheer amount of birds and other pterosaurs amassing, murmurating above.

The sun was beginning to dip toward the horizon by the time the commotion calmed down again. Once the aristocetes was done chasing and swallowing whole schools of reef fish and retreating back into the vast expanses of the ocean, the infighting began as birds and airborne reptiles stole leftover scraps from one another and others dove deeper for any morsel left behind.

Orchid wasn’t eager to get his wings even more ripped and, with a full belly, he searched for a good place to perch away from the chaos the shoreline was left in. His wings ached from the hunt, but the ocean had been generous today. Glad he still had it in him to catch fish, he decided to return tomorrow.

Maybe he’ll be lucky and another marine predator far larger than himself shows up again, leaving more scraps to pick at.

(1402 words according to Google Docs)