Chapter Thirteen

Dark Mysteries

Piper remained with SlugFlukes, travelling with him day after day. The taciturn old whale shared with her much of the lore of the sea, and often she marveled at how sheltered she and the rest of her reclusive Clan had long been. In a mere fortnight, the two weeks she had spent with him, she realized how complex the sea truly was, so much more than any at Kwi Coast could have imagined. And she was filled with a swelling pride that she had survived what few of her Pod could have endured.

She had even grown less fearful of the night, for SlugFlukes’ hulking presence was forever there. And though she had not forgotten her lore of the Black Waters, many of her other fears had been curbed as she became more familiar with the night sea. And now that she had seen the notorious HunterKin, she realized that even they were vulnerable.

Still, Piper would never be able to erase the memory of the absolute fury she had seen in the eye of the great Hunter bull when he’d uttered his ghastly oath to tear out her tongue. Truly, such creatures had to be the most wicked of all living things, for what other would kill their own Kin and eat them? Was it not the HunterKin who called themselves “Masters of the Seas?” And were they not the mortal enemy RamStrong should have feared instead of the Snag-Tooth?

It seemed only SlugFlukes could answer such questions—especially about this mysterious and terrible creature called Killer Imp. For, if these Imps were so wicked and dangerous, how was it she had never heard anything about them before…not even from LoFin? But SlugFlukes had grown loathe to discuss such matters any further, and he would speak only of the sea’s beauty and the best ways to hunt and survive.

His wounds had healed considerably, though there were still ugly white gashes over his mouth, eyes, and flukes where the orcas had bitten deeply. He had gained back full control of his movements, though his swimming pattern was still erratic at times. But it was strong enough so it no longer sent out invitations to hungry Snag-Tooth. Before long, the old whale would be healthy and fit again. The remnants of cuts and sores would soon fade into the rest of the network of scars that smothered his hide.

It was during a cool morning when the air was very wet with the sea’s moisture that Piper finally asked SlugFlukes something that had troubled her for so long. They were in the midst of scouting out the prime feeding regions for plankton and krill, and for the mackerel and herring which Piper fed on, when she raised the question.

“Is it because of the HunterKin that we’ve not yet seen any SongFins?” she asked, for she ached for even a glimpse of another Whistler and the sweet sound of their shrill calls. Fond as she had grown of the old GhostFin, Piper still missed her own kind. She was disturbed that she had not come across any since the beginning of her exile—though much of that had been due to the extreme caution she had exercised in journeying the sea.

“No,” he answered quietly. “They too fell victim to the Killer Imps when those Evil Ones were here not long ago.”

Piper was startled by the answer. Not so much by what he said, but that the taciturn old whale had once more brought up the subject. She pressed him to continue, but he stiffened. She trembled at the fearful way in which one such as SlugFlukes regarded creatures so seemingly mysterious and dangerous. How was it that the Commodore and Thane SilverFlukes knew all about the Black Waters and all the other terrors of the seas, but not these Killer Imps? SlugFlukes assured her that in good time she would have answers to all her questions.

****

Another week went by. Piper found that the Pacific waters of the Western Seas were more bright and colorful than those of her eastern home. And with each passing dawn she grew fonder of SlugFlukes. His bizarre feeding habits never ceased to amaze her. It was always a spectacle to behold the awesome sight of the gray whale’s huge, cave-like mouth widening and gathering in the globs of minute brown-and-red krill creatures. Piper wondered how SlugFlukes ever found time to do anything else than feed, given the demands of his massive appetite. But how magnificent he was, she would think to herself, so gentle and wise. If only she could have brought him back to Kwi Coast; perhaps his wisdom could persuade her Pod to abandon its folly and maybe even come out from its little cove hideaway. And she wondered how Buffer would react to a creature like SlugFlukes, for he was always impressed with size and strength.

And what would Commodore RamStrong and the Elders have to say if they knew the truth about the Snag-Tooth? SlugFlukes would certainly give the High Clan something to think about. Perhaps, if she ever returned, she might convince Thane SilverFlukes of the beautiful world beyond Kwi Coast. Piper wondered if the Clan even believed her dead by now. It had been sixty dawns since she’d been cast out.

Such moments of sorrow did not go unnoticed by the insightful old whale. He sensed the young SongFin’s growing need for her old ways and, from her talk of Kwi Coast, the two invented a game. SlugFlukes would cruise along the surface when the waters churned and heaved on stormy days, causing a funnel of swells in his own wake. Then Piper would leap and twirl in it, as she had in the wakes of Floaters back at Kwi Coast. And she shuddered when the old GhostFin actually cautioned her about such play with the Humunz’ Floaters—for she had heard the very same from LoFin.

Times such as these were merry ones, and they allowed Piper to push her sorrow into the back of her mind, giving SlugFlukes a relief from her persistent queries about the ruthless Killer Imps. The time was coming, though, when she would finally see them—and he knew he would then have to restrain her from making the terrible mistake of answering the call of fellow SongFin that were doomed.

It came one day while SlugFlukes was teaching her to conserve air on deeper dives. They were well below the hundred-foot level that dolphins normally held to. SlugFlukes, of course, had the resources to remain under twice as long as dolphins and at much greater depths. Now he had taught Piper to do the same, restricting the amount of bubbles she blew out and only at intervals. It allowed her to go longer without having to surface as frequently. He knew it would benefit her in time.

The cry came, distant and sharp, during one of those long dives. Whistlers. There was no mistaking the sound, and Piper felt every fiber of her being quiver in nervous excitement. She grew unbearably restless. She wanted to be off with them, but SlugFlukes grew suddenly very cross with her, telling her she would be following them to her doom. Piper no longer cared for cautions and lessons, or further talk of the HunterKin and Snag-Tooth and Killer Imps. Now she wanted only to feel the gentle rubbing of the silky Whistler skin and to be among their chatty, gossipy antics once more. It made her recall when a small band of wanderlust Rovers had swept by once. She had wished they would stop to talk and romp a bit with her and the old GhostFin. But the porpoises had been in a hurry and scurried along, as if a matter of great urgency was upon them.

“They know these waters,” SlugFlukes had said. “The Rovers are more cautious than our Western SongFins. They have witnessed the coming of the Killer Imps—and they do not wish to tarry where there is such peril.”

Killer Imps…perils, thought Piper as she recalled the coming and going of the porpoise band. She had finally grown weary of it all. As much as she had come to love this gentle giant of the sea, she had begun to wonder if age had touched him. But she did not wish to aggravate him further, so she restrained herself and did her best to ignore the distant call of the Western Whistlers. There would be more of them, she felt sure.

As the days went on, Piper could not help feeling that SlugFlukes’ obsession with the Killer Imps was not unlike the Commodore’s dread of the Snag-Tooth. Hadn’t the loss of their Pods driven them both into wild fears of other creatures? She began to understand the Commodore a bit more and wondered now if she should have scorned him so. She saw plainly, through SlugFlukes’ misery, what the slaughter of loved ones might cause. Perhaps these Killer Imps were just simple hunters like the Snag-Tooth. It was hard to believe there could be anything so horrible in this wonder of a sea. She no longer wanted to dwell on these mysterious marauders that SlugFlukes spoke of with such dread.

A sandy shoreline was not far off, and it brought back familiar feelings. Piper was homesick. The looming sight of the nearing coastline was a comfort to her, and though there were sharks the size of dolphins roaming these coastal waters, it did not alarm her. The Snag-Tooth here seemed a natural part of this environment, paying little heed to anything else around them. There were dusky sharks and bull sharks, with their brown-and-gray markings, and even the sleek blues, whose sinister appearance yet bore an air of majesty and grace. Piper wondered if she ever might speak with one of these Snag-Tooth and perhaps learn from them something of their ways—rather than always being told everything by others. Whether the sharks were ignoring her due to SlugFlukes’ intimidating presence or because they had already fed, she did not know. But they did fascinate her. It was the first time she had ever been able to observe the Snag-Tooth so openly, and without fear.

Throughout their approach into the shallow coastal zone, SlugFlukes had grown very somber—off somewhere in his own thoughts. He had been aware of Piper’s growing fascination with the very different world of the West, and he was pleased by it. Even her probing queries about where they were going did not seem to bother him as much. He knew that a probing mind was an active one. The time he’d spent with the young SongFin made him understand what it would have been like had the chance to father a youngling been granted him. And he did not want to see this beautiful creature meet the same fate as his onetime Clan. But he also understood she was growing restless and that the time was near when she would learn one of the most horrid truths of the sea.

One day, as Piper tumbled and careened in the roaring breakers of SlugFlukes’ wake, the gray giant homed in on the sounds of a small pod of spinner dolphins a few miles off the coast of Iki, Japan. From the direction of their movements, and the unmistakable traits of the fish they chased, he knew their destination—and their fate.

“Today, Piper,” he said, halting suddenly and causing her to crash into the slow-rolling swells, “today, you will learn the lesson few have learned and lived to tell. What you will see this day you will pass on to your own younglings, and they shall pass it on to theirs,” he added darkly. “Ask few questions and watch closely. And above all”—the gray whale’s crusty face hardened—“stay by me at all times if you wish to see another dawn. Now come!”