Ripple

by Tui Allen

  ‘Then go!’ said Nimbus abruptly. ‘Go now! She must have it immediately. I don’t think she’s dead after all, but she can’t last the hour.’

  Squelch now firmly attached himself to Rev who carried him away in haste.

  The dolphins around Ripple waited.

  ‘But Nimbus, will it work?’ Ripple heard her sister ask. ‘This could poison her even worse.’

  ‘It could. But it might work. She’ll die anyway if we don’t try something. We have only this one chance. The octopus has an effective brain and he’s sure of himself.’

  Ripple endured wave after wave of fire as the minutes crawled.

  Breathe Ripple . . .

  Beat heart . . . beat heart . . . beat . . . beat . . . beat . . .

  Another burst of activity – someone arriving. She heard Nimbus and her brother Rev.

  ‘Have you brought it?’

  ‘It’s here.’

  ‘Why were you so long?’

  ‘These creatures are rare. Squelch had trouble finding it.’

  Pearl and Echo balanced Ripple with her head above the surface. Nimbus was close by, bearing some glowing living thing that swirled on her body and pulsed with paua-coloured iridescence. Soft tentacles caressed her; a living tube entered her mouth. Honey trickled down her throat. She’d never tasted anything like it, but it reminded her of The Shade, The Shade in reverse, bright for dark, kind for cruel, cool for fiery . . . and she slipped into a coma.

  Breathe Ripple . . .

  Beat heart . . . beat heart . . . beat . . . beat . . . beat . . .

  The coma alone would have killed her by asphyxiation if it weren’t for the minds of the surrounding dolphins stimulating her to breathe.

  ~~~

  ‘Sister Sterne, you are beginning to impress me after all; that was beautifully managed. She is cooling already.’

  ‘It was nothing. All her Azuran friends requested it. I only answered their prayers in the most obvious way. Knowledge lost to memory is sometimes redeemable, even in a five-day octopus. ’

  ~~~

  Read on, or if desired . . .

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  Chapter 20: Middle of the School

  The waves of heat were shorter now and less intense. Ripple drifted towards wakefulness and felt the presence of her father. The strength of her parents pressed mental ice against every overheated blood cell in her body.

  Rigel and Pearl battled within her mind, moderating the pain. The medicine from the phosphorescent octopus worked in her blood to counteract the poison. That indomitable spark burning through the light of Ripple’s own soul fought the spiritual battle. Ripple could at any moment have escaped into the cool of the Hereafter but her spirit remained resolutely in her body, fighting the inferno. Another thread of strength helped to weave the healing spell; he was coloured midnight blue. She sensed his nearness.

  ~~~

  ‘She could still die any moment from dehydration,’ called Nimbus. ‘Bring food.’

  A call went out. ‘Bring food for Ripple! Small squid to start with.’

  It was daytime, when squid swam deep, but dolphins brought them at Nimbus’s call.

  She felt a tiny one in her mouth and swallowed it. Some minutes passed. Another squid arrived, her favourite food, the lemonade of the sea. Good fluids began circulating in her blood, diluting the poison. Squid kept arriving as though by magic in her mouth but Nimbus carefully controlled the intake. The cool intervals between the pain spells grew longer.

  Nimbus requested other fish and larger squid. Cosmo and Rush hunted hardest for Ripple. Nimbus found she could rely on these two alone to bring enough food for Ripple and her carers.

  ‘I don’t think there’s much practical astronomy going on right now,’ thought Echo. ‘I wonder why those two are so attentive.’

  Soon Ripple was turning the fish in her mouth for herself.

  My strength is returning, she thought. The poison is retreating.

  Nimbus studied Ripple’s internal organs by ultra-sound, observing the signs of dehydration fading.

  ‘She’s healing,’ she announced to Pearl. ‘But there’s organ damage. It will repair itself slowly but she’ll be weak for a long time.’

  ‘Will Ripple always carry the terrible scar on her face?’ asked Echo.

  ‘The scar on her skin will fade to a thread but see how the welt has penetrated to strike its mark on the skull? The bone-scar will outlive her. Echo you’ve been a great help. Continue nursing your sister. Bring her back to health. If you succeed I’ll be happy to teach you my vocation.’

  ‘I’ll make her so strong she’s invincible!’ Echo squeaked.

  Her tone caused Pearl to glance away from Ripple for the first time in days to regard her middle daughter closely. Pearl recalled Echo’s concentrated strength working with herself and Nimbus through these dark days. She felt a glow of pride and knew that Echo had found her vocation at last.

  ~~~

  As soon as Ripple was well enough, Echo asked her how the attack happened.

  ‘I was working, not thinking of the sea around me. I can stay safe when I’m just playing my music, but this has proved I’m not so safe when I am creating it.’

  ‘And why weren’t you in the care of the minders as Delph arranged?’

  ‘The boys never really wanted me there. One day they teased me so I stopped working with them. Cosmo told me he wouldn’t let it happen again, but still I didn’t feel right about going back among them.’

  ‘Must you do this “work” Ripple?’

  ‘Right now I can’t imagine ever making music again.’

  ‘Two boys in the astro-team seemed to take some responsibility for what happened to you.’

  ‘Who?’

  ‘Cosmo and that beautiful jade-green one called Rush.’

  ‘Rush is beautiful?’

  ‘I think so.’

  ‘Echo!’

  ‘But I’m not impressed by the rest of the astro-team. I might have a few words with them.’

  ~~~

  Ripple no longer needed full time care but she swam close by her mother and sister and if neither was near, she swam among the crowd to avoid the solitude where nightmares slithered up out of the abyss. She wouldn’t dive for food because of the darkness in the deep, so Echo and Pearl fed her at times. At night the dark was everywhere and she could not escape it.

  Azure is savage. The Shade is not the only danger. The blackfin hunts the lonely too. The tiger shark, the tail-biter, the megalodon and his ilk, all think of me as a mid-morning snack. Now I’m so nearly well, I don’t want to die.

  She tried to bring her music back but her inner world had fallen silent. She listened to the continual chatter of the school and the thoughtstreams of the others sent their comforting noise through her brain. All was friendly, safe, even stimulating sometimes, so she didn’t miss music too much.

  Why did I ever bother myself about it? I must seek out a ‘normal’ vocation. I’ll see less of Echo now that she’s found her calling. I’ll be so lonely without her! I must go back to school, and find a new direction.’

  She looked out at the world hoping for a bright new future to unveil itself. There was only rain, seeping from a grey sky onto a leaden sea. Even when she closed her eyes the greyness remained. Pearl arrived at her side. The rain shone suddenly silver, as though a light shone from her that lit up the sea.

  As Ripple’s strength returned, she began attending normal classes, but more regularly than before. Pearl was pleased at this change. Ripple was quickly star of the gymnastics class again and enjoying the admiration she received for her skill. Soon all her classmates were copying her as before. Ripple gradually learned to dive for her food again, as long as she had friends beside her so that she didn’t have to face the deep alone.

  Pearl was tired after Ripple’s illness. Her appetite waned and she wasted a little. She asked Echo to look at her organs and Echo noticed some discoloration on her liver.

  ‘You must
rest mother,’ said Echo. ‘I’ll ask Nimbus what weeds might help. Let Rev hunt for you. He’ll love any excuse to do extra.’

  ~~~

  Ripple worked hard to catch up on all she’d missed throughout her illness and previous negligence of her studies. Maths was the biggest difficulty. She’d missed so much, the class had outstripped her. She made some effort but only because she knew how much Pearl wanted her to do her best.

  Whenever she hunted, she took food to her mother who was still unwell. Rev was feeding her also; Pearl’s anxious offspring cosseted her. Nimbus checked Pearl carefully and sent Rev to collect weeds that grew on the rocks near the islands. Echo fed these to her mother over a few days, insisting that Pearl chew them and suck their juices, though dolphins’ teeth are not suited to such food. Pearl soon announced she felt much better. Echo was pleased to observe the liver stain had almost vanished.

  ‘Great remedy!’ she thought.

  ~~~

  Once Ripple and Pearl had both recovered, Echo threw herself into her new work with Nimbus. The sisters saw less of one another, as Ripple had foreseen. However, Echo made time to pay a visit to the boys of the astronomy class. They’d just returned from a short interplanetary journey and were about to begin hunting.

  ‘Hey, look who’s coming,’ said Flip.

  ‘It’s Ripple’s good-looking big sister,’ said Rush. ‘Wouldn’t mind her in the astronomy class.’

  Cosmo looked up. ‘I think I can guess her errand.’

  Echo arrived in a graceful swoop, scattering swathes of spray.

  ‘How’s Ripple doing?’ Cosmo asked.

  ‘Fully healed, thank-you.’

  Cosmo checked his team to ensure no one was considering a swift departure.

  ‘I came to tell you that Ripple was attacked by Erishkigal because she was working alone and unguarded. You’d teased her so she no longer wished to work near you. There was good reason that Delph allowed her to make use of your minders.’

  ‘I thought that might be how it happened,’ said Cosmo. ‘I tried to persuade her to work with us again.’

  ‘At least you tried to undo the harm done, Cosmo, before it was too late. And you, Rush, helped those who worked to save her after the attack. You other three still need to admit your part in what happened. Or did you choose to ignore it?’

  There was a mumble of apology from Flip, Givan and Quin. Flip’s shame impelled him to close his eyes and dive deep.

  Echo swam away leaving them subdued, but she was satisfied they acknowledged their contribution to the disaster that had almost killed Ripple.

  Suddenly Rush left the group and raced after her. He pulled up alongside and a little in front, giving her his slipstream.

  ‘Echo I knew it was a mistake when we teased her that day. Cosmo did too. We’re all happy to have her with us again, but if there’s anything else we can do to help, just let me know.’

  ‘Ripple and I would be happy to hunt with you and Cosmo any time.’

  ‘I’d enjoy that Echo, and not just because of Ripple. The whole school is talking about the fantastic job you did of caring for your sister.’

  ‘She’s my sister! What else could I do?’

  ‘You wouldn’t leave her, not even to find food.’

  Echo laughed and leapt skywards, ‘Lucky for me we had you and Cosmo on hunting detail. We’d more food arriving than Ripple alone could ever have eaten. Perhaps you helped to save my life as well as hers.’

  ‘I’m glad,’ said Rush. ‘See the birds working ahead? Shall we hunt there now . . . together?’

  ‘Looks like good kahawai. Let’s go.’

  ~~~

  Cosmo and the others waited for Rush to return.

  Flip surfaced at last.

  ‘Where’s Rush?’ he asked.

  ‘Can’t you guess?’ said Givan.

  ‘He could do a lot worse!’ said Cosmo.

  ‘That’s ‘cos you fancy her psycho sister.’

  ‘And who do you fancy Givan?’ asked Cosmo.

  ‘Happy with whichever piece is closest when required.’

  They set off to hunt but without their usual playfulness and the catch lacked its flavour that day.

  ~~~

  Ripple was where she most liked to swim at that time, smack-bang in the middle of the main school. White clouds towering on a blue sky beguiled her, stimulating old memories. For the first time since her illness, a song awoke within her; a cloud-song. An elderly couple overheard her thought-streams.

  ‘Whatever’s that distortion?’ said the old female to her husband.

  ‘It’s her chaos.’

  ‘How can she hunt, eat, and communicate, with such turmoil?’

  ‘I’ve heard she calls it music.’

  ‘That must just be her name for chaos!’

  ‘They do say she’s mad.’

  ‘But look at her. She’s swimming like the windblown spray! Do you remember that poor dolphin who was born deranged? He moved with the grace of a tail-less seal.’

  ‘I remember. In the end he was taken by a blackfin who mistook him for just that. I can’t imagine a predator mistaking this girl for an injured creature.’

  ‘I’ve heard she suffers ridicule from the thoughtless ones among us.’

  ‘Teasing is easy to deliver, but never easy to receive.’

  ‘The way she’s swimming now reminds me of cloud formations. Her mind is a mystery but her movements make me wonder if perhaps she should be protected from ridicule.’

  Ripple came back to herself with a jolt.

  ‘My music is back!’ She tasted the sweet tang of the breeze, heard the rush of foam, saw Azure’s colours intensify and felt the ocean stroking her skin like a lover.

  ‘I’m very sorry!’ she said to the elderly couple who looked shocked.

  ‘That’s alright dear! We don’t understand but we don’t mind.’

  ‘All the same,’ she thought, ‘I can’t be unsettling others like this.’

  ~~~

  Read on, or if desired . . .

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  Chapter 21: Via the Blackfin

  Rigel swooped in to super-charge his offspring. He found the three youngest on full action-alert, with only Aroha remaining calm, as stately in her movements as her mother.

  Rigel prodded Ripple in the side with his beak, behind her flipper. She giggled. He insisted the family swim together with Ripple leading, so his youngest could show him how her paces had returned. Then he let Rev and Echo take turns in front. They finished with a family romp with all three younger ones trying to outdo one another and their father in displays of high-flying exuberance.

  Rigel was keen to become acquainted with Squelch, the famous octopus who’d saved his daughter’s life. Rev led them to Squelch’s cave. He let the octopus ride on everyone in turn. Afterwards, the family swam south to a shoal area rich with food, where they hunted and played together for days. Rigel told them of his travels in the universe and his many strange encounters there.

  He took the opportunity to swim alone with Ripple.

  ‘You’re very good at keeping your mind veiled, my dear,’ he said. ‘If I didn’t know better, I’d think you were no more than an empty-headed frothy.’

  Ripple did not reply, so he continued.

  ‘Pearl has spoken to me of this music of yours. Is that what you hide?’

  Ripple leapt and dived and he entered her slipstream, finding her moves original and satisfying to follow.

  ‘Music felt like the focus of my life,’ Ripple said. ‘But I’ve decided to look for some other vocation, because music cannot be communicated and it led to my brush with the Shade.’

  ‘Show me this music.’

  ‘You’ll see only chaos.’

  ‘I’m expecting that. It won’t bother me.’

  He watched as she relaxed her mental barriers to reveal a rich intellect flowering behind them.

  ‘I’ll play you a song about the constellation containing the star you’re
named after.’

  During her performance, he kept his reactions to himself.

  ‘I see why your mother’s worried,’ he said, when she’d finished. ‘But you say it’s not chaos to you? So what is it like?’

  ‘It can be sad, happy, or majestic, but always beautiful. It makes me want to leap and move. There’s no chaos. How might I make others hear it as I do?’

  Rigel considered this. Father and daughter continued swimming, with Ripple choosing the moves and Rigel in her slipstream. Suddenly he seized the lead and his powerful wash dragged her along. He laughed when he heard her wondering if even death could stop such progress, but he swam on, considering everything he knew of his daughter.

  ‘You must continue with this task alone,’ he said, ‘since there are none to teach you. You must not give up but you must study widely in case you find the key to communicating your work within one of the other disciplines. Mathematics is vital to many tasks. Could it hold the key to your problem?’

  ‘I detest mathematics!’

  ‘Why?’

  ‘Calculations are boring. Numbers have no emotion. My work is all about emotion and sound. How could mathematics have anything to do with it?’

  ‘My work is all about mind power,’ Rigel countered. ‘How could physical fitness have anything to do with it? The body plays little part in our journeys. We leave them behind like unwanted luggage. But only the dolphins with the strongest and fittest bodies ever make it to their first mission beyond Azure. There may be some field of expertise, as vital to music as physical fitness is to astronomy, and as seemingly unrelated.’

  ‘But how shall I recognise it?’ she asked, diving beside him under one of the short steep waves driven by the fresh westerly.

  ‘Learn, learn, and learn, until the answer comes. Mathematics is a good starting point. Give Axis your full attention in future.’

  He let his lead evaporate and she lost her rhythm, but recovered in a heartbeat. He followed in perfect synchrony, pleased to observe how smoothly she accepted the lead he’d offered.

  ~~~

  Ripple took her father’s advice. She studied widely, struggling at first in some subjects, particularly mathematics. He’d advised her to continue her music. She did want to of course but thought it unfair on other dolphins in the main school. Working alone had proven too dangerous; besides, her mother forbade her from ever working alone again.