Dolphin Way: Rise of the Guardians (35 page)

Sky was getting frustrated now, feeling there was something he should be doing to help. Most of his days around Forlorn Island had been pleasant enough at first. He and One Eye met and talked on many days, but sometimes they would not see each other for a day or two as they hunted around the island. Sometimes One Eye would not want to talk at all; he would frequently drift off in his mind in a trance-like state. It had taken Sky many days to slowly recognise that the old dolphin had more than reached the first level of consciousness: oneness with Ocean. All of the previous dolphins Sky had known who had reached that level, such as Silent Waters and Cloud Passing, would enter the state deliberately after a prolonged period of relaxation and meditation. You knew clearly when they were in the first level or not. But One Eye seemed to drift in and out constantly; he sometimes stopped using “i” or “me” completely when conversing, using only “we” and “us”. This had confused Sky at first, but then he had realised the old dolphin was no longer talking about himself at those times; he really felt part of the Everything, the Universal, of Ocean itself. He had somehow achieved the ultimate goal: to reach the stage where you could “no longer see where the zeta ends and Ocean begins” and Sky envied him. One Eye did not miss the company of others; for him there hardly were any “others”, he already felt a part of everything.

Sky was still unclear about what One Eye’s relationship was with the Aligners of the Way. He certainly had been an Aligner at one point, and might still be, but Sky had the impression that he was too much of a maverick even for them. Sky had asked him if he would train him in his duties as an Aligner, but he just laughed, saying that if he could just train Sky to think for himself, it would be enough. And he certainly did force him to think about things constantly. To question everything. To accept nothing.

Sky had been diverted from his troubles for a while by the conversations with One Eye, and had grown a strong affection for him. But for much of the time the old dolphin was on another plane to Sky, and now the full weight of Sky’s loneliness was descending to crush him again.

He missed the clan; Muddy, Deneb, Dusk. He missed Venus In Mist: another lost chance. Only two females had ever appealed to him, and he had lost both by being too slow, too indecisive. Now he was alone. Probably forever. In frustration he closed his eyes and called aloud: ‘What is going to happen to me?’

‘
When?’

Sky opened his eyes. One Eye was swimming towards him. Sky shook his head. One Eye never gave a signature call. Sky suddenly realised why: of course, he just didn’t see himself as an individual anymore. ‘I meant, what is going to happen to me in the future?’

‘
You want to know the future?’

‘
Well, yes; is it knowable?’

‘
Which one? Anyway, why would you want to know? What would be the point of life if you knew what was going to happen next? If your future was fixed it would mean that
nothing
you did in the present would matter. Life would become pointless; you’d just be playing a part, waiting to die on an appointed day. How crushing would that be?’

‘
I can see all that I suppose, but I wish you could just give me a straight answer sometimes.’

‘
Alright, i will. Here’s what your immediate future holds. You’re going to leave these islands.’

‘
Leave? Why? You don’t want me here anymore?’

‘
What i want is irrelevant. The time has come for you to develop to your next stage. You’ve learned some hard lessons of late, a few of them here. But now i see encouraging signs. You’ve learned to think for yourself and you seem to be starting to recognise what’s important. Maybe you even know what you want. You’ve started to recognise some of the weaknesses in Ka-Tse society; how all the zetii belief systems are struggling to keep pace with a changing Ocean. Remember when you came here you felt you had some duty to perform? This is it. Go out and do something about it.’

‘
Like the way the Guardians want to change things?’

‘
No! They are an anathema to Ocean, they are a
symptom
of the disease, not the cure. There is much of the Way that is good, but the fact that the Guardians can grow as they have shows that the Way must adapt if it is to serve zetii in this world. The zetii need individuals like you to go and tell them what to do. How to face the threat of the Guardians, the Walkers, the changing climate, the lack of food. You have been chosen as an Aligner of the Way. And the zetii need guidance from their Way now more than ever before. ’

‘
But I don’t know what to do!’

‘
At least your mind is free to think! You don’t have to be shackled by old thinking any more! You can do it. Find the problems with your mind and the solutions with your heart.’

‘
How can I help? It’s too big a task.’

‘
Remember this if nothing else: if you want something
badly
enough, if it
consumes
your mind, if it is in your thoughts in every waking moment and fills your dreams, then it
will
happen. Life is full of countless possibilities and little coincidences. Call them luck. If you’re focussed on your goal you’ll seize each useful opportunity that passes and ride every wave and current that takes you towards your goal. Nature colludes with the driven mind.’

The dolphins faced each other in the water between the columns. Sky swam gently forward and pressed his head for a moment against One Eye’s. Quietly he said, ‘Thank you, Jeii.’ He pulled away again and then froze. There was a sound: sonar. Dolphins were coming, several of them. One Eye must have heard it too but he kept looking at Sky as though this was completely expected.

Then, out of the blue, four common dolphins appeared, travelling fast. They slowed, the leader gave his signature call; Sky replied with his. The leader asked a question, but Sky barely understood a word. To his surprise, One Eye answered in what sounded like fluent Xenthos. They spoke for a while, then he turned to Sky. ‘They are scouts with a big clan close behind them. They are rather hostile; it seems that they think the Ka-Tse have broken some kind of agreement.’

‘
What agreement?’

One Eye spoke some more in Xenthos.

‘
As i understand it, the Ka-Tse were supposed to send an envoy to spend time with the Xenthos to show good will and to prove that food quotas were being maintained. But the Ka-Tse envoy never arrived.’

‘
What? Ask them if there is one with them called Trevally Outpaced.’

One Eye translated the question.

‘
Yes, he’s amongst their clan.’

‘
Please ask them to send him to me urgently; I have to talk to him. Please.’

Soon after Sky was face to face with Trevally Outpaced. The mass of the Xenthos clan, hundreds strong, teemed past behind him as they moved to their next feeding grounds.

Sky looked into the suspicious eyes of Trevally Outpaced and started hesitantly, ‘My friend, Deneb Rising, was designated as the Ka-Tse who would meet you and spend time with your clan.’

‘
Your “friend” insulted the Xenthos race and made me seem a fool to my Council!’

‘
Deneb is an honourable zeta. He would never break his word.’

‘
I only know that we agreed a day and place to meet during the Grand Council meeting. We arrived at the rendezvous on time; he never appeared.’

‘
But, you changed the day of the meeting. Didn’t you bring it forward a day?’

‘
No. The day was never changed. The Xenthos kept their word.’

‘
Are you certain?’

‘
Absolutely. We made no changes. Now I go to join my clan.’ Trevally Outpaced turned and sped off to join the retreating throng of common dolphins.

Sky turned to One Eye. ‘I have to go back to the Dune Coast Clan immediately. Something is terribly wrong.’

One Eye nodded. ‘There’s one more thing i have to tell you before you go. i told you once before that a zeta stayed here a while ago; that he had been hurt by the Guardians.’

‘
Yes, I remember you saying. Was he hurt badly?’

‘
Very badly. Physically and mentally. He told me he had been the leader of their clan and had been attacked by a younger rival.’

Sky stared at One Eye, as this sank in. ‘A younger rival?’

‘
That’s what he said. A zeta called Storm Before Darkness. He became the new leader.’

Sky spoke slowly, softly, ‘Then the zeta who came here was my father.’

‘
i thought there was something about you that was familiar.’

‘
What did he say to you?’

‘
We did not talk a lot. But he kept saying that he felt betrayed, let down. Felt that Ocean had taken everything from him, he had lost his family and two clans. He said that those he should have been able to trust the most, had treated him the worst.’

Sky was afraid of what the answer to his next question would be. ‘And what happened to him?’

‘
Like i said he was very badly hurt by that other zeta. i did what i could but he was too far gone and had lost his spirit. i’m sorry, he lasted two days, then he died.’

‘
Storm killed him?’

‘
Yes.’

‘
And I never got to meet him again. I hate that Storm Before Darkness!’

‘
Be careful with hate. It has a way of taking over.’

‘
I think I really must go now.’

‘
Yes. Farewell boy. Keep thinking for yourself.’

Sky called a farewell back. He watched the old dolphin for a moment as he swam away across the sand and disappeared into the distance. Then he noticed a curious thing: although the sunlight was bright, One Eye had not seemed to cast any shadow. He shook his head, he must have imagined it. He turned and made off at speed towards his old clan, feeling as though he carried a heavy, cold stone in his chest.

Chapter 48

“
One Cleaner ate two tuna

Two tuna ate three jacks.

Three jacks ate four crabs

Four crabs ate one Cleaner.”

- Children’s jumping song

Dusk swam away from Storm and the Guardians, still struggling to stop herself from shaking. She had never been so afraid in her life. When she had heard Storm’s distant signature call, she had rushed out of the cave without a word to Deneb. Storm was not yet in sight but had to be very close. She had muttered to Rock, ‘Excellent: he told me just what we wanted. Now: no word of this to
anyone
.’ Then she had swum quickly in the direction from which Storm should come. She met him almost immediately, but she had gone just far enough to be out of sight of the forbidden cave. He had been suspicious at first, but she had flattered him and been flirtatious, and then, best of all, she had told him that in three nights’ time the position of the planets would be right to unlock several important songs. This caught his attention. She had realised that he was especially interested in data concerning prey quotas or those containing the number and usual migration routes of other species of dolphins, so she subtly emphasised the presence of all of these in her elaboration.

All the time she was desperate to get away, to get help, but she had to play his game, to win his confidence. At last, she made her escape and now she could fly back to her clan. She had to warn the Council; they had to rescue Deneb Rising and stop the Guardians’ plan. Her greatest fear was that one of the two guards would mention her visit to the cave to Storm. She was hoping that their awe of him would make them unlikely to do this, but the thought still terrified her.

She swam as fast as she could, following the coast north then west towards the bay where her clan were still staying. She made frequent, long leaps so that she could see how much further she still had to swim. It seemed to take so long. All the time she was thinking about Deneb. A horrible dread started to creep into the corners of her mind. She had often talked to Storm about the goings on in her clan. She remembered talking about the Gathering and what would happen there, it had seemed natural and harmless to do so. Had
she
given the Guardians the information they needed to kidnap Deneb? Had she brought pain to another of her friends? She screwed up her eyes in pain. If only Sky could be here now.

Finally, she was approaching the bay. She would go straight to someone from the Council to explain and then they would do something. Deneb could still be saved. Then she heard someone up ahead of her using echolocation. A single dolphin, coming this way. Who would be coming so far in this direction alone?

She took a chance: ‘It is I, Fades Into Dusk!’

The echolocation stopped abruptly. There was a long pause, then, ‘And it is I, Green Wave Falling!’

He appeared from the blue. She felt a wave of relief. ‘Jeii, I am so glad to see you. There is an emergency — the Guardians have captured Deneb, they are going to kill him, he is in a tiny cave, he can’t breathe, the Guardians will kill him and…’