Dolphin Way: Rise of the Guardians (15 page)

‘
May the Council be informed as to why the Voice of the Others makes such a request? No zetii other than the Ka-Tse have attended a Gathering in a thousand years. Surely it is the function of the Voice of the Others to speak on behalf of all other species. What would it serve to have Xenthos present? Councillor Cloud Passing’s wisdom is renowned — he can speak very well for the Xenthos.’ He returned to the circle.

Another councillor asked permission to speak and was bidden to enter the circle. Sky recognised him as North Wind, the present Voice of Change. The middle aged dolphin edged forward with his distinctive, awkward finning action. North Wind had been born with a deformed spine which caused his tail flukes to twist out at an unusual angle. It was a disability that would have caused the early death of most dolphins, but North Wind was a fighter. Sky knew him as an outspoken individual who was often openly critical of some of the Ka-Tse traditions. But here in the Council he spoke in more moderated terms.

‘
Many have said that the Xenthos and Xa-Hana have ignored the quotas and are plundering the principle fish stocks. It is true that the Walkers can also be blamed for this, but we cannot control their actions. If the Xenthos break their word with the quotas, then how may we expect truth from them at a Ka-Tse Gathering? This would seem a waste of the Grand Council’s time.’

He withdrew and another, an elderly female, moved into the centre.

‘
While this request may be unusual, in such it fits the times. The Grand Council will again consider the matter of the quotas. While the Voice of the Others has the duty to speak for all Ocean’s creatures, there may be merit in hearing from the Xenthos themselves in this case. The situation is becoming dire as you all well know.’

Silent Waters turned to Sky. ‘The Council would know the thoughts of the Young.’

Sky hesitated, wanting to say that he could not be expected to know what all the young thought, but Silent Waters had briefed him on this very point. He should speak as though he did know; using his judgement to try to put forward the views of the younger generations as best he could.

‘
The Young are fearful for the future. There are deep concerns for the Ka-Tse: the poisons in the water, the new sounds, the sicknesses. But the most immediate problem is the lack of hunting and there are natural suspicions towards the other zeta species. There must be merit in hearing one of their members speak so that we can judge their integrity rather than guess at it.’

Sky backed into the circle. Silent Waters gave him a brief, encouraging smile with her eyes then tilted her head towards the surface. As one, they ascended to breathe then reformed the circle at the bottom.

No more requests were made to speak, so Silent Waters moved into the circle herself. ‘With due attention paid to these worthy considerations, it is now proposed that the Council respectfully accedes to the wishes of the Voice of the Others and extends this clan’s hospitality to the Xenthos envoy. Do any members of this Council dissent?’

None spoke.

‘
The Council therefore asks the respected Councillor Cloud Passing to make it so.’

‘
This zeta is honoured to carry out the wishes of the Council,’ he replied, inclining his head respectfully.

Silent Waters closed the meeting, and they all made their farewells. Sky was about to go when she called him back. ‘You spoke well at your first meeting Sky.’

‘
Thank you, Prime Mother. But I didn’t understand why there is so much resistance to hearing from the Xenthos.’

‘
When a clan experiences hard times its members look for someone or something to blame. It suits many Ka-Tse to be able to have a simple answer to their predicament. Ordinarily that might be harmless enough, but as you know, there are forces at work trying to poison their minds. Saying that we must take action against the other zetii to stop them taking more than their fair share. I have never heard of a situation like this in our past and I think it very dangerous. And speaking of danger — Cloud Passing tells me that he has selected you for more than just the task of being a Voice.’

Sky looked at her anxiously. Did she mean the Aligners of the Way?

‘
Yes, Sky, I am one of the few that know. And I think we must guard the secret more closely than ever before. The Aligners keep the Way alive. They ensure it adapts to the needs of Ocean and the zetii. There are those that do not want the zetii to be content, especially not the Ka-Tse. It suits them to have discontent among us, so they may seek to disrupt the work of the Aligners. Born Into Summer died out of her time, and she died at a very bad time for us. She was to be our Aligner. Sky, you must take great care to keep secret what you are to become. I fear for you.’

Her eyes dropped to the wound on his belly, but she said nothing more. Sky wondered if she had been told about last night.

‘
But, I have no real idea what I am becoming, Prime Mother. And Cloud Passing says he has no time to teach me!’

‘
Cloud will have a plan. Trust in his wisdom. But trust no one else lightly! You must be careful, Sky!’

Chapter 17

“
Name the young with care

Listen to the waves

Observe the stars

Will this one

Ride the surf

Or fight the current?”

- Traditional: the “grandmother’s advice” from a Naming Ceremony

Sky was fully awake with the first light of the next day and swam over to Muddy, who was close by. Muddy was clearly still in the semiconscious state that dolphins sleep in, occasionally gently swimming to the surface to breath, with one eye partially open. Sky nudged him gently to no effect twice, then, despairing, gave him a sharp jab in the ribs.

‘
Ow, why do you always have to do that?’ Muddy complained.

‘
Because it’s the only way to wake you up! You’d still be dreaming by the time Senx fell again if I let you.’

‘
No I wouldn’t, I’d be starving by then. But I
was
dreaming just now. And what a dream! I was with that lovely Moon Above Antares; we were alone in the shallows, just brushing alongside each other at first, then she turned that sweet, smooth belly towards me and…’

‘
Yes, thanks, I can imagine what happened next,’ Sky interrupted. ‘Can I remind you that as a final year Novice you’ve several more Moons of chastity to endure?’

‘
Don’t
remind me please,’ Muddy moaned, ‘it’s killing me.’

‘
Well, I know how to take your mind off it. Let’s find ourselves something to eat.’

They cruised the shallow water around one end of the bay, searching for food. There were several small coral heads protruding from the sand and swarms of bright orange anthias darted back into the shelter of the coral as they passed. Soon things started to look more promising, however, and they both intoned a quick thanking to Senx for those that must be sacrificed that they might live. In one spot they found a good sized shoal of fusiliers. The dolphins managed to snatch several of them as they rocketed into its midst, when the shoal exploded in a panic of metallic blue bodies.

Later, Muddy discovered that there were a few flat fish buried just below the sand. Invisible to the eye, they reflected the dolphins’ sonar distinctly and were easy enough to spot. As they found each one, they gave it a short burst of high power sound to stun it before snatching it up. There were several there, and as no quotas had been set for that species they could hunt without restraint for once. An hour after sunrise they had fed quite well and swam back to the bay, taking turns to leap from the water as they swam.

As they entered the bay and began to hear the chatter of the clan, they made their signature calls. An excited young dolphin approached them and called: ‘Muddy River Mouth-Jeii, come play with us!’

‘
Some of my students from yesterday;’ Muddy explained. ‘Shall we spend a little while with them?’

‘
Why not? It’s full moon now so let’s enjoy our day off. Let’s see what they are doing.’

The young dolphin led them to where a sandy depression fringed with rock and broken coral created a natural amphitheatre where five young ones were playing. They had a long strand of green algae and one by one they would take it centre stage and show off to their friends. The others circled about and called encouragement or good-natured insults to the performer depending on the show they put on.

The two older dolphins watched one shoot in to take her turn, neatly hooking the algae on the tip of a pectoral fin. She swooped and dived with the translucent green strip strung out alongside her as a banner; she only finally lost it when she attempted to spin around her own axis and it slipped off her fin.

‘
Me next!’ called a petite but exuberant dolphin of about a year and a half old. Sky recognised her as Pebbles Rolling, a bundle of energy and always talking. She chose to hook the strand on her dorsal fin; a much harder trick, as it was then behind her line of sight and the dorsal fin slopes back more than the pectoral.

‘
Watch this, watch this,’ she called, trying to swim forward at speed with her back arched and her nose towards the sand. At first it worked but when she tried to add a rhythmic rocking back and forth, she soon lost it.

‘
Muddy! Muddy! Muddy!’ the group chanted and he looked sheepishly at Sky. ‘They obviously like you,’ Sky said quietly to him. ‘Let’s see if we can do a double act! You hook it from below and stay level; I’ll do the fancy stuff.’

Muddy barrelled under the algae with Sky just behind him and hooked the strand on his dorsal fin. At the same moment, Sky swam over him and flipped onto his back so that the tip of his dorsal fin was pressed against Muddy’s. Off they swam at speed with the green banner trapped at the join between their fins, Sky on his back, both tails pumping up and down in unison.

The young dolphins cheered in delight as the pair did a lap of the depression in formation, only losing their strand as they peeled apart at the end of their circuit.

‘
Oh, Muddy River Mouth-Jeii, please, please teach us how to do that!’ cried Pebbles.

Muddy gave an embarrassed sideways look at Sky, who was smiling to himself. ‘Well, some other time perhaps— Touches The Sky and I have important things to do just now.’

As they left the noisy group trying to emulate their trick, Sky whispered, ‘What important things would they be?’

‘
Nothing of course, but I wanted to leave while we still look good. You know very well that you did all the work in that trick; I just swam along the seabed! Should I have said something?’

‘
Well, your students seem to think the world of you, and I see no reason to disillusion them. Come on, let’s look for the rest of the clan, it’s nearly noon.’

They swam back along parallel to the shore, following the lines of the ripples in the sandy areas. Soon they came across nine young adults who were trying to out do each other with their bubble art creations; practising in preparation for the competitions to be held at the Gathering. Deneb Rising was amongst them.

As they arrived, one left the seabed, catapulting herself upwards, shooting through the silver barrier of the surface. The other dolphins watched the broken image of her grey body cartwheel through the air until she fell sideways back through the surface. At that moment she shot in a half-roll diagonally downwards, dragging a tunnel of silver behind her which gently drifted upwards behind her.

The others cheered her on, and then quieted as Deneb took his turn. He, too, started his leap almost vertically, and with great power, jumping eight times his body length above the water. He re-entered with almost no splash, but immediately executed a series of rapid, tight loops, exhaling air from his blowhole as he did so. The resulting bubble painting was a near-perfect spiral of dancing bubbles which swirled in his wake.

Sky joined the others in congratulating him on such a fine creation, ‘You will take all the prizes with a dive like that Deneb, no wonder you get the pick of any hunt — you get faster every time I see you!’

‘
Then you’d
all
better learn to swim like our esteemed “leader-in-waiting” or get used to being hungry!’ Sky recognised the owner of the gruff, mocking tone before he turned to see North Wind. ‘Instead of making pretty pictures, you would all do well to concentrate on the real business of the Gathering: finding a way to stop our children having the food stolen from their mouths!’

Deneb, unfazed by North Wind’s usual aggressive manner, confronted him. ‘And what do you mean by that?’

‘
You know very well what I mean: other zetii, those pretty Xenthos and oh-so happy, leaping, Za-Hana are flouting the agreed quotas and taking our food!’

‘
There is no actual proof of that,’ Deneb reminded him, ever the diplomat, ‘many think that the real reason for our current problems are the Walkers.’

‘
Current problems?’ North Wind sneered, ‘This is not a
current
situation, lad, this is the decline of zetii civilisation that you’re all witnessing. Have you understood nothing of the Seekers reports? Everything is bad — the fish stocks are depleting at a rate they can’t recover from, the water near the coasts is turning to poison, the very air is being damaged, and Ocean is warming up like never before. What’s going on? Do we have to wait for another Great Alluvium before anyone realises that we should have done something?’