On the Eastside

Chapter 1 - Semi-Successful Rescue

The moon was low and full, and the ocean was calm in the quiet night air. But just off of the coast of Tiburon, a large boat with fishing nets full of hunted fish in tow. The fish were still quite alive, and they were aware that death awaited them when they reached the shore.

But there was something in the water that stealthily approached the fishing boat, and a sharp dorsal fin slowly poked out of the water a few yards away. A spotlight on the boat was being cast over the water, and nearly landed on the dorsal fin before it ducked back underwater undetected.

The fin belonged to a tiger shark, and it swam back down towards a human in scuba diving gear. But when it came close to the human, it didn't attack or even circle them threateningly; instead, it smiled a big, toothy grin of vigor.

"This is it, Kat. The ultimate prize! I can taste it already," the shark told the human while hungrily licking his lips.

"We're not here so that you can chow down, Kenny. We're here to save the poor fish," Kat chuckled with a shake of her head.

"Aw, c'mon. Just one little nibble?"

"No. And if you do eat any of them, you're not getting any seal pops for a week."

"I hate it when you say that!"

With that, Kat and Kenny swam towards the boat in silence, and made sure to avoid the roaming spotlight above the surface. But as soon as they approached one of the nets, Kenny's nostrils twitched when a strange new aroma caught his attention.

"Hey, you smell that?" Kenny muttered softly, and pointed his nose out towards the empty ocean to get a better smell.

"Smell what?" Kat asked with a cocked brow.

"I don't know…but whatever it is, it smells really good."

Kat scoffed, "You're probably just hungry."

"I'm always hungry."

"Exactly. Now, help me out here."

Kenny instantly turned around and followed Kat's gaze, and he bit down hard on the rope that supported the net. Within seconds, the net was free from the boat and it split open, allowing the large school of smaller fish to swim free. Kat noticed that Kenny was having a hard time controlling himself when he stuck his tongue out, so she gently slapped his nose to get his attention.

The tiger shark shook his head, and followed the girl to the next net to repeat his actions and rescue the others fish. But just like before, Kenny's nose was filled with the smell that drove him crazy.

"I'm telling you, Kat. This isn't your normal school of fish smell," Kenny stated firmly.

"If it's not that, then what is it?" Kat urged.

"I would've told you if I knew, but I don't. I've never smelled anything like this before."

Kat was truly perplexed now. She tried to recall as much of her tiger shark knowledge as she could, but the spotlight on the boat suddenly landed on her and the light reflected off of the bright yellow stripes on her suit.

"Damn it, I knew should've gone with the camo suit!" Kat exclaimed while swimming out of the light, knowing that her cover had been blown, "Kenny, get that last net!"

Kenny nodded and bolted right for the last net, but he noticed that the smell was suddenly much more pungent. He tried to squint to see the large mass inside, but it was too dark for him to make it out. And Kenny was so caught up in the smell that he failed to notice the harpoon that was being aimed right at him.

"Kenny!" Kat screamed at the top of her lungs, which caused the said tiger shark to finally snap out of it. It was then that he noticed the harpoon gun on the boat, and he snarled before dodging the harpoon when it was fired. He then bit down on the harpoon's line, and then swam away once the harpoon sunk to the ocean floor.

And as Kenny and Kat escaped, one of the fishermen on the boat stared out towards the shore, knowing that that was where the two intruders escaped to.

"Did we get 'm?" another fisherman, a tall and lanky man, asked while running up to him.

"No, he got away—again," the other man replied with an irritated growl, "I assume they cut all our catches free, too?"

"Uh, actually, they missed one."

The first fisherman cocked a brow, "They did?"

"Yes. I-It's the one with the big one we caught this morning."

"Oh, really?" The first fisherman paused and chuckled darkly, as he pulled out a walkie-talkie and put it up to his mouth. "Hey, Boss. Guess what? He missed your little treat for him."

"That doesn't surprise me. Tiger sharks have always been too ignorant to see all of the good things before them," a deep and suave voice answered on the other end of the walkie-talkie.

"So, what do we do with it, Boss?" the taller fisherman cut in.

"Let her go."

Both fishermen's eyes popped wide, "What?"

"But if we let her go, we could lose our best bait to catch him," the first fisherman pointed out.

"There are literally plenty of other fish in the sea, you idiots. And besides, he needs to get acquainted with our little guest in order for this plan to work."

"But-," the taller fisherman began, only to be cut off by a loud growl on the walkie-talkie.

"You heard him. Let's bring her to the eastside, and make sure she's sedated," the first fisherman ordered, and the taller one instantly ran for the ship's helm to steer it.

As the boat bade a semi-sharp turn, the first fisherman walked to the stern and looked out behind the boat to watch the only net they had left. But there wasn't a school of fish inside of the net like the others, and was rather a much larger specimen of fish, but it was still as scared and confused as the other fish before it.

Kat and Kenny returned home soon after their run-in with the fishing boat, as Kat drove them home in a blue Jeep to allow Kenny to stick his head out whenever he wanted.

Kat had grown into a fine young woman at the age of eighteen now, and she had even grown her hair out below her shoulders. When she turned sixteen, Kat insisted on taking scuba diving lessons, and she and Kenny had been exploring the ocean and rescuing fish ever since. It was always fun for them, but it also always worried Peter and Grace. Sure, they knew their daughter was accompanied by her pet shark, but something could always go wrong.

It didn't help that Kat and Kenny didn't get home until late at night, and Kat's parents had been waiting up to scold them when they returned. Sure enough, as soon as the two walked into the dark living room, the light was switched on and Peter and Grace were sitting on the couch with their arms crossed.

"Do you have any idea what time it is, young lady?" Grace began with a grimace.

"No, sorry. I can't bring my watch underwater with me," Kat chuckled nervously.

"This isn't funny, Kat. We thought you might've gotten hurt, or worse," Peter added firmly.

"I know, and I'm sorry. But nothing bad has ever happened to me before, so, please, stop worrying."

"But something bad could happen, Pumpkin."

"Your father's right. No more scuba diving for a week."

"But-!"

"No buts. Off to bed."

Kat sighed in defeat when he mother pointed up the stairs, and Peter nodded in agreement. Both she and Kenny retreated to her room in silence, and the latter couldn't shake a worrying thought from his mind.

"Does this mean I can't have seal pops for a week either?" Kenny eventually questioned.

"No, Kenny. You can still have some," Kat sighed with a smile.

Kenny cheered and was just about to race down the stairs to get his treat, but he stopped in the doorway when he noticed the sorrowful expression on Kat's face as she sat down on her bed.

"Aw, don't be like that. It wasn't your fault," Kenny reassured while sitting down next to her.

"I know. My parents just don't understand. All I wanna do is help the marine light, but they don't see that," Kat explained in annoyance.

"So, make 'em see it. You're tenacious, Kat, and I know you won't stop until you know everyone's happy."

Kat looked up at Kenny, who smiled down at her with his usual fang-filled smile. But despite his scary appearance, Kat loved him all the same.

"You're the best pet shark ever, Ken," Kat admitted while hugging Kenny.

"And don't you forget it," Kenny joked as he hugged back.

After their hug, Kenny left Kat's room to let her get ready for bed, and the thought of the smell from earlier came rushing back to him. Of course, he couldn't smell it anymore, but the memory was still strong. He wished that Kat's parents didn't ground her from scuba diving for seven days because he honestly wanted to go back to the ocean and find the source of the smell. But Kat was family, so her parents were, too, and Kenny would do everything in his power to keep them all safe.

It feels so nostalgic to be watching Kenny the Shark again! I remember when I used to watch it on Discovery Kids with all those other good shows like Endurance, Flight 99 Down, The Saddle Club, etc.

I'm getting a little off topic, though. This story is inspired by How to Train Your Dragon 3, and I'm so excited to be writing it because I love HTTYD and Kenny the Shark unconditionally.

I've also gotta point out that I have a DeviantArt account, and you can find the link to the cover art here -

(If the link isn't showing up here, you can find the link to my gallery on my profile)

Until the next chapter, I'm TRikiD, bye-bye!